slug: boston

label: Boston

description: capital city of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and seat of Suffolk County

year_label: 650 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: Wine pitcher (oenochoe) from Rhodes is begun, finished in 625 BC. It is now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

title: 650 BC

section: Events

year_label: 470 BCE

text: Pan Painter makes a "bell krater" (an earthenware piece that is used to mix water and wine) which has a red-figure decoration of Artemis slaying Actaeon. It is now preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (approximate date).

title: 470 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 450 BCE

text: The statue Woman and maid in the style of Achilles Painter, white-ground and black-figure decoration on a lekythos, with additional painting in tempera, starts being made (finished about ten years later). It is now kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (approximate date).

title: 450 BC

section: Events › By topic › Arts

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 30

text: July 30 – John Winthrop helps in founding a church in Massachusetts, which will later become known as First Church in Boston.

title: 1630

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: September 17

text: September 17 (September 7 Old Style) – The settlement of Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony is founded.

title: 1630

date: September 7

text: September 7 – Governor John Winthrop passes a resolution declaring "that Trimontaine" on Shawmut peninsula shall be called Boston from now on.

title: 1630

date: February 5

text: February 5 – Puritan leader Roger Williams arrives in Boston.

title: 1631

section: Events › January–March

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Boston Latin School, the oldest school in what will become the United States of America, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1635

section: Events › April–June

date: April 3

text: April 3 – Preacher John Wheelwright is banished from Boston and founds Exeter, New Hampshire.

title: 1638

date: June 26

text: June 26 – The Wampanoag warriors begin a three-day assault on English colonial towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America, with an assault on the villages of Rehoboth and Taunton. At the same time, Massachusetts troops march to Swansea, to join the Plymouth Colony troops. The warriors elude colonial troops and leave Mount Hope for Pocasset, Massachusetts. The Mohegan tribe travels to Boston, in order to assist the English colonists against the Wampanoags.

title: 1675

text: The first coffeehouse in North America opens in Boston.

title: 1676

date: August 28

text: August 28 – The Irish Donation of 1676 is shipped from Dublin, to relieve Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

title: 1676

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Metacomet and his Wampanoags attack Northampton, Massachusetts; meanwhile, the Massachusetts Council debates whether a wall should be erected around Boston.

title: 1676

text: July 27 – Nearly 200 Nipmuc tribesmen surrender to the English colonists in Boston.

title: 1676

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: November 27

text: November 27 – A fire in Boston, Massachusetts, is accidentally set by a careless and sleepy apprentice, who drops a lighted candle, or leaves it too near some combustible substance; this is the largest fire known at this time in the district. The Rev. Increase Mather’s church, dwelling and a portion of his personal library are destroyed.

title: 1676

section: Events › October–December

section: Health & Medicine

date: January 21

text: January 21 – The first medical publication in America (a pamphlet on smallpox) is produced in Boston.

title: 1677

date: January 27

text: January 27 – The first fire engine company in North America goes into service in Boston.

title: 1678

text: November 27 – A fire in Boston, Massachusetts, burns all of the warehouses, 80 houses, and all of the ships in the dockyards.

title: 1679

date: December 20

text: December 20 – Edmund Andros arrives in Boston to become the British Governor of the newly created Dominion of New England, which includes most of the what are now the U.S. states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and much of the eastern portion of New York. The unpopular Andros, who reigns as a dictator after being appointed by King James II, is driven out of office in 1689 after the overthrow of James, and the Dominion of New England is broken up into its constituent colonies.

title: 1686

text: Boston suffers a smallpox epidemic.

title: 1689

date: April 18

text: April 18 – Boston revolt: Unpopular New England Governor Sir Edmund Andros and other officials are overthrown by a "mob" of Bostonians. Andros, an appointee of James II of England, is disliked for his support of the Church of England and revocation of various colonial charters.

title: 1689

date: September 25

text: September 25 – The only issue of Publick Occurrences is published in Boston, Massachusetts, before being suppressed by the colonial authorities.

title: 1690

section: Crime & Justice

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Scottish-born pirate captain William Kidd is arrested and imprisoned in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, after being tricked by his former patron New York Governor Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont.

title: 1699

date: October 18

text: October 18 – Trial begins in Boston for six pirates who had survived the April 26 wreck of Samuel Bellamy's ships Whydah and the Mary Anne. Five of them (John Brown, Hendrick Quintor, Thomas Baker, Peter Cornelius Hoof and John Shuan) are convicted on October 22 of piracy and robbery and hanged on November 15.

title: 1717

date: April 21

text: April 21 – The deadliest outbreak of smallpox in the history of Boston begins when the British ship HMS Sea Horse arrives in Boston Harbor with a crew of sailors who had survived a smallpox epidemic. One of the Seahorse crew who had cleared quarantine develops symptoms the next day and infects other people in a lodging house. Over the next 10 months, 5,759 cases of smallpox are recorded in Boston and 844 people die of the disease.

title: 1721

date: July 17

text: July 17 – The British ship Catherine founders in a storm off of Nova Scotia's Cape Sable Island during its voyage from Ireland to Boston, killing 98 of the 201 people on board.

title: 1737

section: Science & Discovery

date: October 21

text: October 21 – Benjamin Franklin's view of a lunar eclipse from Philadelphia is spoiled by a rainstorm; several days later, he learns that residents of Boston received the same storm hours after the eclipse, demonstrating that weather moves from west to east.

title: 1743

date: April 4

text: April 4 (March 24, old style) – Under the command of British Army General William Pepperrell, the first 4,300 American colonists in the New England Army depart Boston to liberate the French North American colony of Nova Scotia. The flotilla of 80 military transports and 18 armed escorts is scattered by a storm, but the first troops disembark at Canso, Nova Scotia, on April 15 and begin training while waiting for the arrival of the Royal Navy squadron commanded by Admiral Peter Warren.

title: 1745

date: November 17

text: November 17–19 – The Knowles Riot breaks out in Boston, Massachusetts, protesting impressment into the British Royal Navy.

title: 1747

date: March 20

text: March 20 – The Great Fire of Boston, Massachusetts, destroys 349 buildings and marks the biggest conflagration in the American colonies up to this time.

title: 1760

date: August 14

text: August 14 – In protest of the Stamp Act, Bostonians attack the home of official Andrew Oliver.

title: 1765

section: Events › July–December

date: August 26

text: August 26 – In protest of the Stamp Act, Bostonians destroy the home of lieutenant governor Thomas Hutchinson.

title: 1765

date: October 28

text: October 28 – A boycott, of 38 types of goods imported from England, is resolved by Boston merchants meeting at Faneuil Hall as a response to the taxes imposed by Great Britain, and one of the first "Buy American" campaigns is started in order to encourage the purchase of items manufactured and produced in the 13 colonies. Copies of the agreement, to be signed by participating merchants, are circulated beyond the Province of Massachusetts Bay to other colonial provinces in New England.

title: 1767

section: Events › October –December

text: September 22–29 – The Massachusetts Convention of Towns, assembling in Boston, resolves on a written objection to the impending arrival of British troops rather than more militant action but causes panic in London.

title: 1768

text: February 22 – Christopher Seider, an 11-year-old boy in Boston in the British Province of Massachusetts Bay, is shot and killed by a colonial official, Ebenezer Richardson. The funeral sets off anti-British protests that lead to the massacre days later.

title: 1770

text: November 10 – Four ships – the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, the Beaver and the William – depart Britain for America, carrying the first Indian tea to be subject to the newly enacted taxes. The William is lost in a storm; the Dartmouth is the first ship to reach Boston, docking on November 28.

title: 1773

text: January 27 – An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and feathers British customs collector and Loyalist John Malcolm, for striking a boy and a shoemaker, George Hewes, with his cane.

title: 1774

text: March 17 – American Revolutionary War: Threatened by Patriot cannons on Dorchester Heights, the British evacuate Boston, ending the 11‑month Siege of Boston.

title: 1776

text: March 4 – American Revolutionary War: American Patriots capture Dorchester Heights, dominating the port of Boston.

title: 1776

text: March 11 – General Lafayette embarks on at Rochefort, arriving in Boston on April 28, carrying the news that he has secured French men and ships to reinforce the American side in the American Revolutionary War.

title: 1780

text: March 5 – The last celebration of Massacre Day is held in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1783

text: March 1 – The Ohio Company of Associates is organized by five businessmen at a meeting at the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern in Boston to purchase land from the United States government to form settlements in the modern-day U.S. state of Ohio.

title: 1786

text: January 21 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts. The anonymous author is William Hill Brown.

title: 1789

text: April 29–May 8 – The first American ships reach Japan, brigantine Lady Washington captained by John Kendrick of Boston, and the brig Grace.

title: 1791

text: The State Street Corporation is founded, in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1792

text: December 30 – Wearing masks at balls is forbidden in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1809

text: December 25 – The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance, in Boston.

title: 1815

text: March 19 – Boston, Massachusetts, is incorporated as a city following a vote.

title: 1822

text: January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1831

text: August 11–12 – Ursuline Convent riots: A convent of Ursuline nuns is burned near Boston.

title: 1834

text: June 11 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, fueled by ethnic tensions between the Irish and the Yankees.

title: 1837

text: November 27 – The American Statistical Association is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1839

text: John Augustus develops the concept of probation in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1841

text: Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" is published in The Pioneer, a Boston magazine.

title: 1843

text: May – Frederick Douglass's autobiographical Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is published by the Boston Anti-Slavery Society.

title: 1845

text: November 1 – In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, the Boston Female Medical School (which later merges with Boston University School of Medicine), opens.

title: 1848

text: March 16 – Nathaniel Hawthorne's historical novel The Scarlet Letter is published in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1850

text: January 23 – The flip of a coin, subsequently named the Portland Penny, determines whether a new city in the Oregon Territory will be named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning.

title: 1851

text: March 20 – Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is published in book form in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1852

text: May 28 – American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African-American regiment, leaves Boston to fight for the Union.

title: 1863

text: July 17 – In Boston, Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established as the first dental school in the United States.

title: 1867

text: July 20 – Children's Hospital Boston is founded by Dr. Francis Henry Brown and other Harvard Medical School graduates, as a 20-bed facility in the South End of Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1869

text: November 9 – Great Boston Fire of 1872: In Boston, Massachusetts, a large fire begins to burn on Lincoln Street (the 2-day disaster destroys about 65 acre km2 of the city, 776 buildings, much of the financial district and causes US$60 million in damage).

title: 1872

text: October 25 – The first performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans von Bülow as soloist.

title: 1875

text: April 12 – Mary Baker Eddy founds the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1879

text: February 28 – The first vaudeville theater is opened, in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1883

text: November 26 – A two-day blizzard known as the Portland Gale piles snow in Boston, severely impacting the Massachusetts fishing industry and several coastal New England towns.

title: 1898

text: October 6 – The Sinfonia Club, later to become the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity, is founded at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston by Ossian Everett Mills.

title: 1898

text: October 29 – In Amherst, New York, nurse Jane Toppan is arrested for murdering the Davis family of Boston with an overdose of morphine; she will confess to at least 31 killings.

title: 1901

text: September 28 – Classes begin at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts, established under the terms of Franklin's will.

title: 1908

text: April 20 – Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts opens.

title: 1912

text: January 15 – Great Molasses Flood: A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 people and injuring 150.

title: 1919

text: October 12 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston.

title: 1928

text: November 28 – Cocoanut Grove fire: A fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, kills 491.

title: 1942

text: December 23 – J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray perform the world's first successful kidney transplantation, in Boston, Massachusetts.

title: 1954

text: July 31 – At Fenway Park in Boston, the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game tie occurs, when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain (the only tie until 2002).

title: 1961

text: November 3 – Pan Am flight 160, a Boeing 707-321C, crashes at Logan International Airport, Boston, killing three people.

title: 1973

text: October 1–7 – Pope John Paul II makes a six-city visit to the United States, starting in Boston.

title: 1979

text: January 4 – 1987 Maryland train collision: An Amtrak train en route from Washington, D.C. to Boston collides with Conrail engines at Chase, Maryland, United States, killing 16 people.

title: 1987

text: March 18 – Twelve paintings and a Shang dynasty vase, collectively worth $100 to $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts by two thieves posing as police officers.

title: 1990

text: January 31 – Boston, Massachusetts, United States faces a hoax bomb scare, as a result of LED placards of Ignignokt and Err from Aqua Teen Hunger Force being mistaken as an improvised explosive device.

title: 2007


slug: boulogne-sur-mer

label: Boulogne-sur-Mer

description: French commune in Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Carausius, naval commander at Bononia (modern-day Boulogne), is given the task of clearing the English Channel of Frankish and Saxon pirates.

title: 285

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Constantius retakes some of the Gallic territories from the usurper Carausius. He conquers the crucial port of Bononia (modern Boulogne).

title: 293

section: Conflict & Security

text: Summer – Constantine joins his father at Bononia (Boulogne) in Gaul; they cross the Channel to Britain and make their way to Eboracum (York), capital of Britannia Secunda and home to a large military base. They campaign with success against the Picts.

title: 305

date: October 2

text: October 2 – King Henry III of England travels to Boulogne for an attempt to broker peace with his barons by King Louis IX of France.

title: 1263

section: Events › By place › England

date: March 24

text: March 24 – "Rough Wooing": England and France sign the Treaty of Boulogne, by which England withdraws from Boulogne in France and returns territorial gains in Scotland.

title: 1550

date: June 15

text: June 15 – After several attempts, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion, Pierre Romain, set off in a balloon from Boulogne-sur-Mer, but the balloon suddenly deflates (without the envelope catching fire) and crashes near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, killing both men, making it the first fatal aviation disaster.

title: 1785

date: June 6

text: June 6 – Beginning of the Allied sovereigns' visit to England: Tsar Alexander I of Russia and King Frederick William III of Prussia sail from Boulogne-Sur-Mer to Dover on board the Royal Navy ship HMS Impregnable as guests of George, Prince of Wales, the regent during the incapacity of King George III.

title: 1814

date: August 31

text: August 31 – The chartered ship Amphitrite sinks off Boulogne-sur-Mer while transporting 108 British female convicts and 12 children from Woolwich in England to New South Wales in what is now Australia. All of the passengers die, along with 13 of the 16 crew, leaving 3 survivors.

title: 1833

section: Events › July–September


slug: brandenburg

label: Brandenburg

description: state in North-East of Germany

text: Great Slav Rising: The Polabian Slavs (Wends), mainly Lutici and Obotrite tribes living east of the Elbe River revolt against Christianity and their subjugation to the German (former East Frankish) realm of the Holy Roman Empire. They invade northern Germany, sacking the cities of Havelberg, Brandenburg and Hamburg.

title: 983

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: The House of Brandenburg is founded, when Albrecht the Bear is made head of the Nordmark.

title: 1134

section: Events › By place › Scandinavia

section: Culture & Society

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Albert the Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first Margrave.

title: 1157

section: Events

text: The Polish land of Lebus is incorporated into the German state of Brandenburg, marking the start of Brandenburg's expansion into previously Polish areas (Neumark).

title: 1252

date: February 10

text: February 10 – The Raid on Brandenburg begins as Polish-Lithuanian forces led by Władysław I Łokietek, "the elbow-high", King of Poland, and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Gediminas, raid the territories of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (within the Holy Roman Empire), with the sanction of Pope John XXII. Władysław regards the Neumark (East Brandenburg) as Polish territory.

title: 1326

section: Events › January – March

date: December 16

text: December 16 – The Treaty of Eberswalde is signed between Pomerania-Stettin (ruled by Otto II and Casimir V) and Brandenburg (ruled by the Elector Frederick I), temporarily ending the Uckermark War between the two duchies. In return for payment by Brandenburg, Pomerania-Stettin gives up Uckermark, Boitzenburg and Zehdenick.

title: 1415

text: The margraves of Brandenburg are granted Polish approval to inherit the Duchy of Prussia, creating the state of Brandenburg-Prussia.

title: 1618

section: Events › Date unknown

date: July 27

text: July 27 – The Netherlands and Brandenburg sign a military treaty.

title: 1655

date: January 5

text: January 5 – Franco-Dutch War – Battle of Turckheim: The French defeat Austria and Brandenburg.

title: 1675

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Brandenburg defeats the Swedish Army in the Battle of Fehrbellin.

title: 1675

date: January 18

text: January 18 – The electorate of Brandenburg–Prussia becomes the Kingdom of Prussia, as Elector Frederick III is proclaimed King Frederick I. Prussia remains part of the Holy Roman Empire. It consists of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia. Berlin is the capital.

title: 1701

section: Events › January–June


slug: bratislava

label: Bratislava

description: capital city of Slovakia

date: July 4

text: July 4–6 – Battle of Pressburg: At "Brezalauspurc" (probably modern-day Bratislava in Slovakia), the advancing East Frankish army (60,000 men) is annihilated by the Hungarians led by Grand Prince Árpád. Duke Luitpold and Archbishop Dietmar I are killed, together with 19 dukes, 2 bishops and 3 abbots. The East Frankish Kingdom loses control of the March of Pannonia.

title: 907

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Peace of Pressburg: Kings Ottokar II and Stephen V sign a peace agreement at Pressburg, settling territorial claims, following the failed invasion of Hungary by Ottokar in April. In the agreement, Stephen promises not to support Ottokar's opponents in Carinthia, and Ottokar renounces the castles he and his partisans occupy in Hungary.

title: 1271

text: King Andrew III of Hungary ("the Venetian") gives royal town privileges to Bratislava, modern-day capital of Slovakia.

title: 1291

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: February 13

text: February 13 – King Charles I of Hungary and King John of Bohemia sign an alliance agreement at Nagyszombat in Bohemia (modern Trnava in the Republic of Slovakia), to proceed against the Austrian Habsburgs who occupy Pressburg (modern Bratislava, capital of Slovakia).

title: 1327

text: King Matthias Corvinus founds the first university in Slovakia, the Universitas Istropolitana in Bratislava.

title: 1467

date: December 17

text: December 17 – At Pozsony in western Hungary (now Bratislava in Slovakia), the Diet elects the Archduke Ferdinand as the King of Hungary.

title: 1526

section: Events › October–December

date: February 24

text: February 24 – Ferdinand of the House of Habsburg is formally crowned as King of Bohemia at Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia).

title: 1527

section: Events › January–March

section: Religion & Belief

date: September 25

text: September 25 – The coronation of Rudolf as King of Hungary takes place at St. Martin's Cathedral in Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia).

title: 1572

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Ferdinand II, a proponent of the Counter-Reformation, is crowned as King of Hungary at a meeting of the Bohemian diet at Pressburg.

title: 1618

date: June 16

text: June 16 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, is crowned as the King of Hungary and Croatia at Pressburg, now the Slovakian capital of Bratislava

title: 1647

section: Events › April–June

date: June 25

text: June 25 – Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen Regnant of Hungary in Bratislava.

title: 1741

date: December 26

text: December 26 – The Peace of Pressburg between France and Austria is signed in the Primate's Palace, Pressburg (modern-day Bratislava).

title: 1805

date: June 5

text: June 5 – Hungarian Revolution of 1848: The first Russian troops, led by Lieutenant General Fyodor Sergeyevich Panyutin, who come in the aid of the Habsburgs, cross the Hungarian border at Pozsony, in order to crush the Hungarian revolution.

title: 1849

date: January 1

text: January 1 – The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.

title: 1919

section: Events › January

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: November 24

text: November 24 – TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.

title: 1966

section: Events › November

section: Deaths

date: October 12

text: October 12–October 13 – 2022 Bratislava shooting, killing 3 (including the perpetrator) and injuring one. The shooting occurred outside of a gay bar in Bratislava known as Tepláreň. Two people (excluding the perpetrator) died as a result of the shooting. Juraj Vankulič, a non-binary person, and Matúš Horváth, a bisexual man. The perpetrator (Juraj Krajčík) was found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot the morning after the attack.

title: 2022

section: Events › October


slug: brazil

label: Brazil

description: country in South America

section: Science & Discovery

date: July 20

text: July 20 – A partial solar eclipse, part of the Solar Saros 120 cycle, is visible to the natives of southern South America in what are now Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.

title: 1023

section: Events › July–September

date: September 5

text: September 5 – The Kingdom of Portugal ratifies its agreement with Spain, the Treaty of Tordesillas, conceding that Spain has jurisdiction of most of the New World, with the exception of what will eventually become the Portuguese colony of Brazil, initially a longitude of 42°30' W.

title: 1494

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: November 1

text: November 1 (All Saints) – Amerigo Vespucci discovers and names Baía de Todos os Santos, in Brazil.

title: 1501

text: January 1 – Portuguese explorers, led by Gonçalo Coelho, sail into Guanabara Bay, Brazil, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name Rio de Janeiro.

title: 1502

date: January 22

text: January 22 – São Vicente is established as the first permanent Portuguese settlement in Brazil.

title: 1532

text: November 1 – French Navy Vice-Admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon leads a small fleet of two ships and 200 soldiers and colonists to take possession of Serigipe Island, near modern-day Rio de Janeiro in Brazil at Guanabara Bay, and builds Fort Coligny.

title: 1555

text: German adventurer Hans Staden publishes a widely translated account of his detention by the Tupí people of Brazil, Warhaftige Historia und beschreibung eyner Landtschafft der Wilden Nacketen, Grimmigen Menschfresser-Leuthen in der Newenwelt America gelegen ("True Story and Description of a Country of Wild, Naked, Grim, Man-eating People in the New World, America").

title: 1557

date: December 10

text: December 10 – For administrative purposes, the Kingdom of Portugal divides its colony in Brazil into two colonies, with one Governor-General at Rio de Janeiro and another at Bahia. The two colonies will be reunified on April 12, 1578.

title: 1572

section: Health & Medicine

text: Physician Aleixo de Abreu is granted a pension of 16,000 reis, for services to the crown in Angola and Brazil, by Philip III of Spain, who also appoints him physician of his chamber.

title: 1616

section: Conflict & Security

date: September 12

text: September 12 – Eighty Years' War – Battle of Albrolhos: A Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, defeats a Dutch fleet off the coast of Brazil.

title: 1631

date: July 12

text: July 12 – Portugal and the Dutch Republic sign a Treaty of Offensive and Defensive Alliance at The Hague. The treaty is not respected by both parties, and as a consequence has no effect in the Portuguese colonies (Brazil and Angola) that are under Dutch rule.

title: 1641

date: April 19

text: April 19 – First Battle of Guararapes: The Portuguese army defeats the Dutch army, in the north of Brazil.

title: 1648

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Portugal recaptures the South American city of Recife from the Netherlands after a siege of more than two years during the Dutch-Portuguese War, bringing an end to Dutch rule of what is now Brazil. The Dutch West India Company has held the city (which they call Mauritsstad) for more than 23 years.

title: 1654

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Portugal and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of The Hague, whereby the Dutch Republic's South American colony of Nieuw-Holland is sold to Portugal for the equivalent of roughly 63000 kg of gold, and incorporated into Brazil. The territory includes much of what will later become the Brazilian states of Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. Among the major Dutch settlements lost are Mauritsstad (Recife), Fort Schoonenborch (Fortaleza), Nieuw-Amsterdam (Natal), and Frederikstadt (João Pessoa).

title: 1661

text: 1727–1800 – Lt. Col. Francisco de Mello Palheta smuggles coffee seeds to Brazil in a bouquet, starting a coffee empire.

title: 1727

date: March 16

text: March 16 – In Paris, representatives of Spain and Portugal sign an armistice bringing an end to the Spanish–Portuguese War over the area now occupied by the nation of Uruguay and the area now occupied by the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. The news does not reach the fighting parties until five months later.

title: 1737

date: January 13

text: January 13 – The Treaty of Madrid between Spain and Portugal authorizes a larger Brazil than had the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, which originally established the boundaries of the Portuguese and Spanish territories in South America.

title: 1750

date: February 10

text: February 10 – The massacre of the Guaraní rebels in the Jesuit reduction of Caaibaté takes place in Brazil after their leader, Noicola Neenguiru, defies an ultimatum to surrender by 2:00 in the afternoon. On February 7, Neenguiru's predecessor Sepé Tiaraju has been killed in a brief skirmish. As two o'clock arrives, a combined force of Spanish and Portuguese troops makes an assault on the first of the Seven Towns established as Jesuit missions. Defending their town with cannons made out of bamboo, the Guaraní suffer 1,511 dead, compared to three Spaniards and two Portuguese killed in battle.

title: 1756

text: January 1 – The importation of slaves into the United States is formally banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect. However Americans still continue the slave trade by transporting Africans to Cuba and Brazil.

title: 1808

text: January 22 – Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil: John (Dom João), Prince Regent, and the Braganza royal family of Portugal arrive in their colony of Brazil in exile from the French occupation of their home kingdom.

title: 1808

section: Economy & Finance

text: October 12 – Banco do Brasil, a major financial group in South America, founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1808

date: July 9

text: July 9 – The United Provinces of South America (today Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil) declares independence from Spain.

title: 1816

date: August 22

text: August 22 – The town of Araraquara, Brazil, is founded.

title: 1817

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portugal's King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.

title: 1822

date: May 5

text: May 5 – Emperor Pedro I of Brazil inaugurates Brazil's first Assembleia Geral, with 50 Senators and 102 Deputies.

title: 1823

date: April 26

text: April 26 – The Treaty of Commerce and Navigation is signed between Brazil and Denmark, establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

title: 1828

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Slave trading is forbidden in Brazil.

title: 1831

date: February 3

text: February 3 – Battle of Caseros, Argentina: The Argentine provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, allied with Brazil and members of Colorado Party of Uruguay, defeat Buenos Aires troops under Juan Manuel de Rosas.

title: 1852

text: May 5 – Border Treaty between Brazil and Venezuela: The two countries agree their borders should be traced at the water divide, between the Amazon and the Orinoco basins.

title: 1859

date: May 1

text: May 1 – The Treaty of the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay against Paraguay is formally signed, following the outbreak of the Paraguayan War.

title: 1865

section: Events › May

text: In the aftermath of the Paraguayan War, the new government of Paraguay makes peace with Brazil, granting reparations and territorial concessions.

title: 1872

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Argentina is the first country to recognize the abolition of the monarchy in Brazil.

title: 1889

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Flamengo, a well known professional football club in Brazil, is officially founded.

title: 1895

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: April 17

text: April 17 – The first Minas Geraes-class battleship is laid down for Brazil, by Armstrong Whitworth on the River Tyne, in England, triggering the South American dreadnought race.

title: 1907

section: Events › April

text: September 10 – The first Minas Geraes-class Dreadnought battleship for Brazil, Minas Geraes, is launched at Armstrong Whitworth's yard on the River Tyne in England, catalysing the "South American dreadnought race".

title: 1908

text: October 12 – The association football team Coritiba is founded in Curitiba, Brazil.

title: 1909

text: September 1 – Sport Club Corinthians Paulista is founded in Brazil by railwaymen; its Association football team will be the first FIFA Club World Cup champions in 2000.

title: 1910

text: April 14 – Santos FC, a Brazilian association football club, is founded in State of Sao Paulo.

title: 1912

text: February 10–17 – Modern Art Week in São Paulo marks the start of Modernism in Brazil.

title: 1922

text: November 10 – Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas announces the Estado Novo ("New State"), thence becoming dictator of Brazil until 1945.

title: 1937

text: October 24 – The United Nations is founded by ratification of its Charter, by 29 nations including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Egypt, Brazil, Haiti, Luxembourg, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and others.

title: 1945

text: June 16 – Maracanã Stadium, which becomes a well-known sports venue of Brazil, opens in Rio de Janeiro, in advance of the opening of the 1950 FIFA World Cup in the country on June 24.

title: 1950

text: September 18 – Rede Tupi, the first television broadcast network in South America, is founded in Brazil.

title: 1950

text: January 26 – The Ibirapuera Planetarium (the first in the Southern Hemisphere) is inaugurated in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

title: 1957

text: October 1 – The Africanized bee is accidentally released in Brazil.

title: 1957

text: December 17 – A circus tent fire in Niterói, Brazil kills 323.

title: 1961

text: August 14 – A huge and devastating forest fire hits the region around Paraná State, Brazil. According to government documents, two million hectares (4.94 million acres) are lost to burning and 110 persons perished.

title: 1963

text: April 11 – The Brazilian Congress elects Field Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco as President of Brazil.

title: 1964

text: April 26 – Rede Globo is founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1965

text: March 1 – Brazilian police arrest Franz Stangl, ex-commander of Treblinka and Sobibór extermination camps.

title: 1967

text: March 28 – Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is shot by the police in a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students. The aftermath of his death is one of the first major events against the military dictatorship.

title: 1968

text: November 20 – A bridge still under construction, called Elevado Engenheiro Freyssinet, falls over the Paulo de Frontin Avenue, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 48 people are killed and several injured. Reconstructed, the bridge is a part of the Linha Vermelha elevate.

title: 1971

text: July 4 – Psychiatrist and leader of the global anti-asylum movement Franco Basaglia visits the Colônia de Barbacena Psychiatric Hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and compares the facility to Nazi concentration camps, a move that momentum to psychiatric reform in the country that same year.

title: 1979

text: July 9 – Pope John Paul II visits Brazil; seven people are crushed to death in a crowd waiting to see him at afternoon Mass at the stadium in Fortaleza.

title: 1980

text: January 15 – Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule.

title: 1985

text: June 6 – The remains of Josef Mengele, the physician notorious for Nazi human experimentation on inmates of Auschwitz concentration camp, buried in 1979 under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, are exhumed in Embu das Artes, Brazil.

title: 1985

text: March 15 – Vice-president José Sarney, upon becoming vice president, assumes the duties of president of Brazil, as the new president Tancredo Neves had become severely ill the day before. Sarney would later become Brazil's first civilian president in 21 years, upon Neves' death on April 21.

title: 1985

text: December 17 – Brazil holds the second round of its first free election in 29 years; Fernando Collor de Mello is elected to serve as president from 1990.

title: 1989

text: March 15 – Fernando Collor de Mello takes office as President of Brazil, Brazil's first democratically elected president since Jânio Quadros in 1961. The next day, he announces a currency freeze and freezes large bank accounts for 18 months.

title: 1990

text: July 11 – A solar eclipse of record totality occurs in the Northern hemisphere and is witnessed by hundreds of millions of people in Hawaii, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

title: 1991

text: March 26 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur.

title: 1991

text: December 28 – Actress Daniella Perez is murdered in Rio de Janeiro, after being stabbed 18 times with scissors by actor Guilherme de Pádua and his then-wife Paula Thomaz. The crime shocked Brazil, due to both the victim and the murderer being romantic partners in the telenovela De Corpo e Alma, which aired on TV Globo.

title: 1992

text: June 8 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

title: 1992

text: October 2 – A riot breaks out in the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil, resulting in the Carandiru massacre.

title: 1992

text: December 17 – Brazil's Supreme Court rules that former President Fernando Collor de Mello may not hold elected office again until 2000 due to political corruption.

title: 1993

text: November 2 – In a race won by Brazilian driver Felipe Massa, British driver Lewis Hamilton ends in 5th place in 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix and becomes the first black driver to win the Formula One World Championship, and the second youngest driver to achieve the feat at the age of 23.

title: 2008

text: October 28 – Dilma Rousseff is elected, becoming the first (and, so far, the only) female president from Brazil.

title: 2010

text: June 12 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup started with hosts Brazil defeating Croatia 3–1.

title: 2014

text: November 5 – In Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, a tailings dam of iron ore collapses, causing 19 deaths and releasing a toxic mudflow to pollute the Doce River.

title: 2015

text: August 31 – The Brazilian Senate votes (61–20) to impeach the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff. The Vice President of Brazil, Michel Temer, who had assumed the presidential powers and duties as Acting President of Brazil during Rousseff's suspension, takes office for the remainder of her term.

title: 2016

text: January 25 – A mine tailings dam breaks in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil. At least 248 people are killed, with 22 missing.

title: 2019

text: January 8 – Following the 2022 Brazilian general election and the inauguration of Lula da Silva as president of Brazil, supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian National Congress, the Supreme Federal Court and the Presidential Palace of Planalto.

title: 2023

text: March 29 – Brazil and China sign an agreement to trade in their own currencies, ceasing the usage of the United States dollar as an intermediary.

title: 2023

text: November 10–21 – The COP30 summit is held in Belém, Brazil, focusing on the role of the Amazon rainforest in climate action.

title: 2025


slug: brenner-pass

label: Brenner Pass

description: mountain pass at the international border between Austria and Italy

date: June

text: June – Battle of Verona: The Visigoths, under command of King Alaric I, invade Italy again, and advance through the Brenner Pass. Stilicho, with an army of 30,000 men, defeats the Goths north of Verona. Alaric makes a truce, and withdraws eastward to Illyricum.

title: 403

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Winter – King Arnulf of Carinthia leads an East Frankish expedition into Italy, after he is recognized as overlord of France and Burgundy. Arnulf descends with an army over the Brenner Pass, and meets King Berengar I at a peace conference at Trento. Berengar grants him two counties in the Val d'Adige (Northern Italy), and does homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as king of Lombardia, and returns to Germany.

title: AD 888

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Fall – King Otto I crosses the Brenner Pass and takes his army into Italy. He is accompanied by his brothers, Henry I (duke of Bavaria), Bruno I, and Conrad the Red (duke of Lotharingia). Otto faces no opposition and they arrive in Pavia. Berengar II has departed the day before and entrenched himself in San Marino. Otto receives the homage of the Italian nobility, marries Adelaide, and declares himself King of the Lombards.

title: 951

text: Summer – Otto I leads an expeditionary force into northern Italy through the Brenner Pass at Trento, to assist the beleaguered young Pope John XII. He proceeds towards Pavia – King Berengar II sends his son and co-ruler Adalbert II from Rome at the head of a large army to seize control of the Upper Adige and contest Otto's entry.

title: 961

text: Spring – King Otto III starts his first expedition to Italy from Regensburg, and proceeds over the Brenner Pass. News of Otto's arrival prompts Crescentius II (the Younger), patrician (the de facto ruler) of Rome, to invite Pope John XV (exiled in Tuscany) back to Rome. Otto arrives in Verona, and receives ambassadors of Doge Pietro II Orseolo of Venice.

title: 996

text: Spring – King Henry II crosses with an expeditionary force through the Brenner Pass to Trento. After initial military successes against Arduin of Ivrea, he receives the homage of the Italian clergy and Lombard noble families.

title: 1004

date: November

text: November – Emperor Henry II conducts his fourth Italian military campaign. He crosses the Brenner Pass with a 60,000-strong army, and reaches Verona, where he receives Lombard levies. Henry proceeds to Mantua and then into Ravenna, to spend Christmas there.

title: 1021

date: July 26

text: July 26 – After their victories at the Pontlatzer Bridge and the Brenner Pass, Tyrolese farmers drive out the Bavarian Elector, Maximilian II Emanuel, from North Tyrol and thus prevent the Bavarian Army, which is allied with France, from marching on Vienna during the War of the Spanish Succession. This success, at low cost, is the signal for the rebellion of the Tyrolese against Bavaria, and Elector Maximilian II Emanuel has to flee from Innsbruck. The Bavarian Army withdraws through Seefeld in Tirol back to Bavaria.

title: 1703


slug: brescia

label: Brescia

description: Italian city in Lombardy

section: Culture & Society

text: The family portrait medallion, traditionally called the Family of Vunnerius Keramus, is made (it is later placed in the Brescia Cross, and then in the Museo Civico dell'Etá Cristiana, Brescia).

title: 250

section: Events › By topic › Art and science

text: King Agilulf besieges Cremona, and with the assistance of the Slavs the city is destroyed. He captures Padua and Mantua (Northern Italy); its territory is divided between the Lombard duchies of Brescia and Bergamo.

title: 603

text: Rothari (formerly duke of Brescia) marries widowed Queen Gundeberga, and succeeds Arioald as king of the Lombards. During his reign, he puts many insubordinate nobles to death.

title: 636

text: Alahis, duke of Brescia, starts a civil war in Northern Italy. He besieges Cunipert on an island in Lake Como (Lombardy), who breaks out with Piedmontese troops.

title: 688

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Adelard becomes the new Duke of Spoleto upon the death of his father, Suppo I, who ruled much of Italy including Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, and Bergamo. Adelard reigns for only five months before dying in August.

title: 824

section: Events › By date

text: Spring – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army, joining up with the deposed king Berengar I at Verona. He conquers Brescia after little resistance, and sacks Bergamo after a one-month siege. The cities of Milan and Pavia open their doors to Arnulf. Emperor Guy III escapes from Pavia, to hide in the mountains of Spoleto (Umbria).

title: 894

text: A Hungarian mercenary force led by Dursac and Bogát defeats an army of insurgents, who plans to overthrow their ally, Emperor Berengar I, at Brescia.

title: 921

text: Winter – The Hungarians invade Saxony and force King Henry I (the Fowler) to retreat into the Castle of Werla. He makes a pact and agrees to pay them tribute for 9 years. They return to the Po Valley and sack the cities of Bergamo, Brescia and Mantua (Northern Italy).

title: 924

date: March 6

text: March 6 – German forces led by Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, capture Milan; much of the city is destroyed three weeks later on the emperor's orders. The fortifications are demolished and the churches are destroyed. The population is dispersed, and the commune abolished. The fate of Milan leads to the submission of Brescia, Piacenza, and many other northern Italian cities.

title: 1162

section: Climate & Environment

date: December 25

text: December 25 – The 1222 Brescia earthquake is so powerful that the inhabitants of Brescia leave their city en masse and camp outside so that falling buildings would not crush them, according to chronicler Salimbene de Adam.

title: 1222

text: Summer – Emperor Frederick II assembles an expeditionary force (some 15,000 men) to crush the rebellious Lombard League. He crosses the Alps to Verona – where he is joined by Lord Ezzelino III da Romano, including troops from Brescia, Vicenza, Padua and Treviso. Frederick relies on his allies for support and in doing so, he provokes the opposition of earlier supporters, such as the House of Este, which now sides with the Lombards.

title: 1237

date: July 11

text: July 11 – Siege of Brescia: Emperor Frederick II begins the siege of Brescia. He rejects the negotiations of the Lombard League and insists on unconditional surrender to the imperial forces in northern Italy. This blocks all possibilities of a peaceful settlement. Milan and five other Lombard cities are attacked. In early October, after a successful sortie by the city's defenders, Frederick is forced to lift the siege.

title: 1238

date: September 16

text: September 16 – After a four-month siege, Guelph rebels in the Italian city of Brescia surrender to Cangrande I della Scala, Lord of Verona and officer of King Henry VII.

title: 1311

section: Events › July – September

date: December 13

text: December 13 – The siege of Brescia in Italy, started on September 25 by troops of the Duchy of Milan under condottieri Niccolò Piccinino to liberate the city from its control by the Republic of Venice, is raised after the arrival of Scaramuccia da Forlì. According to tradition, two Brescian martyrs from the second century, Saints Faustinus and Jovita, appear on the top of the city walls and repel the cannonballs fired at the city, and the Milanese abandon the siege.

title: 1438

section: Events › October–December

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Brescia Explosion: The city of Brescia, Italy is devastated when the Church of San Nazaro is struck by lightning. The resulting fire ignites 200,000 lb (90,000 kg) of gunpowder being stored there, causing a massive explosion, which destroys 1/6 of the city and kills 3,000 people.

title: 1769

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly debuts at La Scala in Milan, to no great acclaim. On May 28 a revised version opens in Brescia, to huge success.

title: 1904

section: Events › February


slug: brest-france

label: Brest, France

description: port city in the Finistère department, Brittany, France

date: April 28

text: April 28 – Hundred Years' War: The French re-capture most of Brittany from the English, but are unable to take Brest, and John IV, Duke of Brittany, is forced into exile.

title: 1373

section: Events › April–June

text: May 1– With a larger squadron of almost 60 ships, Arundel departs from Orwell and sails to the British-controlled French port of Brest, at the time under siege by Jean de Montfort.

title: 1387

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, leads an English expedition into France and burns the port city of Brest.

title: 1512

section: Science & Discovery

date: December 24

text: December 24 – The French ship Soleil Royal, a three-decker First Rank ship with 104 guns, is launched at Brest Dockyard.

title: 1692

date: October 24

text: October 24 – Iberville and Bienville sail from Brest to the Gulf of Mexico, to defend the southern borders of New France.

title: 1698

section: Religion & Belief

date: May 16

text: May 16 – A British Order in Council of 16 May 1806 declares all ports from Brest (France) to the Elbe to be under a state of blockade by the British Royal Navy.

title: 1806

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: February 11

text: February 11–13 – WWII: Operation Cerberus: A Kriegsmarine (German navy) squadron comprising the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen and their escort, dash from Brest through the English Channel to German ports; the British fail to sink any of them.

title: 1942

date: June 8

text: June 8 – The wreck of German battleship Bismarck, which was sunk in 1941, is located about 600 mi km west of Brest, France.

title: 1989

section: Events › June


slug: brian-boru

label: Brian Boru

description: High King of Ireland

section: Births

text: Brian Boru, High King of Ireland (approximate date) (d. 1014)

title: 941

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Sulcoit in Ireland: The Irish of the Dál gCais led by Brian Boru defeats the Viking forces of Limerick. After the battle the Dál gCais seize and burn the Viking stronghold of Limerick. Ending of Norse expansion in Ireland.

title: 968

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Battle of Glenmama: The combined forces of Munster and Meath under Brian Boru (High King of Ireland) inflict a crushing defeat on the allied armies of Leinster and Dublin near Lyons Hill (County Kildare).

title: AD 999

section: Crime & Justice

text: Brian Boru attacks the Uí Néill in Ireland.

title: 1001

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Brian Boru, king of Leinster and Munster, becomes High King of Ireland. After the submission of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, Brian Boru makes an expedition to the North.

title: 1002

section: Events › By place › British Isles

text: High King of Ireland Brian Boru makes a second expedition to the north, to take hostages from the northern kingdoms. During this campaign he visits Armagh – making an offering of 20 ounces of gold to the church and confirming to the apostolic see of Saint Patrick, ecclesiastical supremacy over the whole of Ireland.

title: 1005

text: Brian Boru visits Ulster, and remains unchallenged.

title: 1006

text: Máel Mórda mac Murchada starts a rebellion against High King Brian Boru in Ireland, which ends in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf.

title: 1012

section: Events › By place › Ireland

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeats a Norse-Irish alliance, although himself killed.

title: 1014


slug: brindisi

label: Brindisi

description: Italian comune

year_label: 83 BCE

text: Spring – Lucius Cornelius Sulla returns to Italy from his campaigns in Greece and lands with his legions unopposed at Brundisium. He defeats the popular forces of Gaius Norbanus in the Battle of Mount Tifata.

title: 83 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

text: The Via Traiana is constructed at the Emperor Trajan's personal expense; the road connects Benevento with Brundisium (Brindisi).

title: AD 109

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

date: May 8

text: May 8 – Battle of Forino: The Byzantine army, led by Constans II, is defeated by the Lombards under Romuald I. He seizes Taranto and Brindisi, receiving military aid from the Bulgar Alcek horde, who are settled in the area of Ravenna.

title: 663

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Venice sends a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but the attack fails. Muslim troops conquer the city of Brindisi (approximate date).

title: 841

text: Summer – Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard invade Apulia, and capture the cities of Taranto and Brindisi (under control of the Byzantine Empire). Guiscard prepares a Sicilian expedition against the Saracens and returns to Calabria (Southern Italy), where his brother Roger Bosso waits with siege engines.

title: 1060

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: October

text: October – Bohemond I, Italo-Norman prince of Taranto (the son of Duke Robert Guiscard), departs to join the First Crusade. He crosses the Adriatic Sea from Brindisi with his army (some 4,000 men), and arrives in Vorë. While traveling, Bohemond gives strict orders not to plunder Byzantine villages.

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: May 28

text: May 28 – King William I (the Bad) lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Apulia. He defeats the Byzantine army at Brindisi and recaptures Bari.

title: 1156

section: Health & Medicine

date: August

text: August – Emperor Frederick II musters a German expeditionary force in Apulia. The crowded conditions and high heat contribute to discontent and disease among the assembled troops. On September 24, an epidemic of malaria enfeebles the army at Brindisi. Several thousand Crusaders led by Henry IV, duke of Limburg, and French and English mercenaries under the bishops Peter des Roches and William Briwere, arrive at Acre.

title: 1227

date: May

text: May – Frederick II arrives at Cyprus, where he attends the wedding proxy of the 12-year-old King Henry I (the Fat) to Alice of Montferrat – whose father is one of his staunch supporters in Italy. On June 10, Frederick lands at Brindisi, where the papal army under his father-in-law John of Brienne has invaded the Italian territories in Campania (→ War of the Keys).

title: 1229

section: Events › By place › Sixth Crusade

date: May 17

text: May 17 – The Ottoman Empire invaded southern Italy, attacking the cities of Apulia, Otranto and Brindisi, in a campaign that would last until November 22.

title: 1537


slug: brisbane

label: Brisbane

description: capital city of Queensland, Australia

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: May – History of Brisbane: The Australian city of Brisbane is founded.

title: 1825

section: Events › April–June

date: June 6

text: June 6 – The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created, by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales (Queensland Day). Brisbane is declared the capital.

title: 1859

text: Brisbane Grammar School is founded, providing the opportunity for secondary education for the first time in the colony of Brisbane in Australia.

title: 1868

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Climate & Environment

date: January 21

text: January 21 – Brisbane receives a one-day rainfall of 465 mm in (a record for any Australian capital city).

title: 1887

section: Events › January

section: Culture & Society

date: June 29

text: June 29 – The United Retail Federation is established in Brisbane, Australia.

title: 1887

date: June 9

text: June 9 – Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew complete the first flight across the Pacific Ocean, from the mainland United States to Australia, in the Fokker F.VII aircraft Southern Cross. Having left Oakland, California on May 31, they reach Brisbane via Honolulu and Fiji.

title: 1928

date: October 20

text: October 20–November 3 – Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first eastward crossing of the Pacific Ocean, from his native Brisbane, Australia, to San Francisco, in the Lockheed Altair Lady Southern Cross. The November 3 Hawaii–San Francisco leg is the first eastward flight from Hawaii to North America.

title: 1934

section: Events › September–October

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: January 11

text: January 11 – The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, at this time the world's longest prestressed concrete free-cantilever bridge, is opened.

title: 1986

date: April 30

text: April 30 – World Expo 88 opens in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

title: 1988

section: Events › April


slug: bristol

label: Bristol

description: city in South West England, United Kingdom

section: Crime & Justice

text: Autumn – The 9-year-old Henry of Anjou, a son of Empress Matilda, lands on the south coast of England with his uncle, Earl Robert of Gloucester and several knights. Henry travels to Bristol, centre of Angevin opposition to King Stephen, where he is educated by Master Matthew. Meanwhile, Robert captures Lulworth Castle, Rufus Castle ("Bow and Arrow Castle") on the Isle of Portland and Wareham Castle.

title: 1142

section: Events › By place › England

text: Henry II grants the city of Bristol ('Brycgstow') a Royal charter, and is divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset (until 1373).

title: 1155

section: Conflict & Security

text: Black Monday, Dublin: A group of 500 recently arrived settlers from Bristol are massacred by warriors of the Irish O'Byrne clan. The group (accompanied by women and children) leaves the safety of the walled city of Dublin to celebrate Easter Monday near a wood at Ranelagh, and are attacked without warning. Although a relatively obscure event in history, it is commemorated by a mustering of the Mayor, Sheriffs, and soldiers on the day, as a challenge to the native tribes for centuries afterwards.

title: 1209

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: King Henry III of England grants his eldest son the Lord Edward areas of land including crown lands in Wales, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gascony. He is also given the cities of Bristol, Stamford and Grantham. The reason for these concessions is to give Edward experience of governing lands of his own before becoming a king. Edward is granted the Three Castles in Wales, Skenfrith Castle, White Castle and Grosmont Castle.

title: 1254

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: June 25

text: June 25 – Piers Gaveston is exiled for the second time by the Parliament, due to possible corruption and exploited personal gains. As compensation for the loss of the Earldom of Cornwall, which is another condition of his exile, Gaveston is granted land worth 3,000 marks annually in Gascony. Further to this, he is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland – so that a certain amount of honour can be maintained despite the humiliation of the exile. Gaveston is also threatened with ex-communication by Pope Clement V. Edward II accompanies him to Bristol, from where he sets sail for Ireland.

title: 1308

section: Events › April – June

section: Economy & Finance

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Bristol perambulation: Bristol is made a county corporate, the first town in he Kingdom of England outside London to be granted this status.

title: 1373

section: Events › July–September

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Italian-born explorer John Cabot sets sail from Bristol in England, on the ship Matthew (principally owned by Richard Amerike), looking for new lands to the west (some sources give a May 2 date).

title: 1497

text: May – In "early May", the John Cabot expedition departs from Bristol on a second expedition westward to find a sea route between England and Japan.

title: 1498

text: Bristol merchants return from Newfoundland (first so named this year from a letter) to England, carrying three native people and cod from the Grand Banks.

title: 1502

date: September 23

text: September 23 – The first Inuit to see Europe— Kalicho, Arnaq, and Arnaq's son, Nutaaq— are brought as captives of Martin Frobisher when HMS Gabriel arrived in England at Bristol. All three were captured on Baffin Island, and none of the three survive to the end of the year.

title: 1577

date: July 5

text: July 5 – John Guy sets sail from Bristol, with 39 other colonists, for Newfoundland.

title: 1610

date: March 4

text: March 4 – English Civil War: Prince Rupert leaves Oxford for Bristol.

title: 1645

section: Events › January–March

date: October 29

text: October 29 – The 1831 Bristol riots ("Queen Square riots") in Bristol (England) begin, in connection with the Great Reform Bill controversy. Quelled by the authorities and the military on October 31, 100 city centre properties are destroyed, at least 120 are estimated to have been killed, 31 of the rioters will be sentenced to death and a colonel facing court-martial for failure to control the riot commits suicide.

title: 1831

section: Events › October–December

date: July 19

text: July 19 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel's is launched from Bristol; it will be the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

title: 1843

date: May 12

text: May 12 – The first ever official English County Championship cricket match begins in Bristol; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire, by eight wickets.

title: 1890

section: Events › May

text: June 29 – The International Exhibition opens at the "White City", Ashton Gate, Bristol. It closes on August 15, and the site is used as a military depot.

title: 1914

section: Events › June

date: April 2

text: April 2 – The St Pauls riot breaks out in Bristol.

title: 1980


slug: britannia

label: Britannia

description: national personification of the United Kingdom

year_label: 60 CE

text: The following events in Roman Britain (Britannia) take place in AD 60 or 61:

title: AD 60

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

year_label: 61 CE

title: AD 61

text: Hadrian's Wall is completed in Britain. Built mostly of stone in the east and with a wooden palisade in the west. They construct at least 16 forts, with about 15,000 legionaries digging ditches, quarrying rock and cutting stone, preventing idleness which led to unrest and rebellions in the ranks.

title: AD 128

text: Merchants in Britain build structures outside the forts of Hadrian's Wall, and offer goods and services (including brothels) to Roman soldiers, who receive salaries in a region that otherwise has virtually no ready money.

title: AD 132

text: A revolt of the Brigantes tribe in Britannia is suppressed by Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

title: AD 143

text: Clodius Albinus, who had been proclaimed emperor in Britain, crosses into Gaul with his legions, while at the same time recruiting new soldiers. He is soon the head of an army of 150,000 men, according to Cassius Dio. Severus, still in Mesopotamia, hastily returns to Rome.

title: AD 195

text: Hadrian's Wall in Britain is partially destroyed.

title: AD 196

text: Battle of Châlons: The Emperor Aurelian invades Gaul to campaign against the Gallic Empire (Gaul and Britain). In the Catalaunian Plains, the Romano-Gallic Emperor Tetricus I surrenders to Aurelian and leaves his army without an emperor. The Gallic army is then crushed by Aurelian in a major battle. With the conquests of the Palmyrene Empire and the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire is united again. However, the heavy losses incurred by the Gallic forces compromises the Rhine frontier.

title: 274


slug: british-army

label: British Army

description: United Kingdom military land warfare branch of the British Armed Forces

date: August 25

text: August 25 – The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, and the second most senior, is formed.

title: 1537

text: The "Brown Bess" muzzle-loading smoothbore musket becomes the British Army's standard infantry firearm for land combat for more than a century.

title: 1722

section: Events › Date unknown

date: May 21

text: May 21 – War of the Austrian Succession: King George II of Great Britain orders the British Army to prepare for an invasion of Prussia to defend his Electorate of Hanover.

title: 1741

section: Events › April–June

date: June 20

text: June 20 – A garrison of the British Army in India is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.

title: 1756

date: February 17

text: February 17 – "The greatest fleet that had ever put out for America" departs from Portsmouth with 250 ships

title: 1759

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 29

text: August 29 – Cherokee chief Attakullakulla and British Army officer Major James Grant meet at Fort Prince George in the Province of South Carolina and begin negotiations to end the Anglo-Cherokee War.

title: 1761

date: April 27

text: April 27 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Ridgefield: The British Army defeats Patriot militias, galvanizing resistance in the Connecticut Colony.

title: 1777

section: Culture & Society

text: The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, a British Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment, is formed by the Earl of Cassillis at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire.

title: 1794

text: The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, a British Army Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment, formed by The Earl of Cassillis at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire in 1794, is adopted onto the British Army List.

title: 1798

date: December

text: December – First Anglo-Afghan War: British and Presidency armies set out from Punjab in support of Shah Shujah Durrani's claim to the throne of Afghanistan.

title: 1838

date: April 16

text: April 16 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief is accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign (which continues until July 23).

title: 1847

text: Florence Nightingale and her team of 38 trained volunteer nurses, having set out on October 21 from England, arrive at Selimiye Barracks in Scutari in the Ottoman Empire, to care for British Army troops wounded in the Crimean War.

title: 1854

section: Births

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Frederick Maurice, British Army officer, military correspondent, writer and academic (d. 1951)

title: 1871

section: Births › January–February

text: February 17 – Major General Charles George Gordon of the British Army is appointed Governor-General of the Sudan.

title: 1877

section: Events › February

date: July 1

text: July 1 – General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell–Childers reforms of the British Army's organization, comes into effect.

title: 1881

section: Events › July

date: January 17

text: January 17 – Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War: British redcoats enter the Ashanti capital, Kumasi, and Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I is deposed.

title: 1896

section: Events › January

date: April 14

text: April 14 – British Army troops in Hong Kong attack the Walled City of Kowloon, based on intelligence that Chinese Imperial Army troops have been stationed behind the walls to subvert Britain's 1898 lease.

title: 1899

text: October 20 – In the first major clash of the Second Boer War, the Battle of Talana Hill, the British Army drives the Boers from a hilltop position, but with heavy casualties, including their commanding general Sir Penn Symons.

title: 1899

section: Events › October

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Second Boer War: Battle of Spion Kop – Boer troops defeat the British Army.

title: 1900

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Second Boer War: Battle of Tweebosch – South African Boers win their last battle over the British Army, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

title: 1902

section: Events › March

section: Deaths

date: July 26

text: July 26 – Howth gun-running: former British civil servant and novelist Erskine Childers and his wife Molly sail into Howth in Ireland and land 2,500 guns for the nationalist Irish Volunteers from a German dealer. British Army troops of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, returning to Dublin having been called out to assist police in attempting to prevent the Volunteers from moving the arms to the city, perpetrate the Bachelor's Walk massacre, firing on a crowd of protestors at Bachelors Walk, killing three; a fourth man dies later from bayonet wounds and more than 37 others are injured.

title: 1914

date: September 6

text: September 6 – The prototype military tank is first tested by the British Army.

title: 1915

section: Events › September

date: April 24

text: April 24–30 – The Easter Rising occurs in Ireland. Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood proclaim an Irish Republic, and the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army occupy the General Post Office and other buildings in Dublin, before surrendering to the British Army. A total of 485 Irish Volunteers, British soldiers and Irish civilians were killed as well as 2,200 wounded and 16 rebel leaders would be executed.

title: 1916

date: September

text: The British Army's Egyptian Expeditionary Force launches the Battle of Megiddo, incorporating the Battle of Sharon, and the Battle of Nablus, an attack in the Judaean Mountains. This day are fought the Battle of Tulkarm, and the Battle of Arara, which break the Ottoman front line stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the Judaean Mountains, while the Battle of Tabsor extends into September 20.

title: 1918

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Siege of Spin Boldak (Third Anglo-Afghan War). This is the last time the British Army uses an escalade.

title: 1919

date: August 3

text: August 3 – Irish War of Independence: Catholics riot in Belfast, in protest at the continuing British Army presence.

title: 1920

section: Events › August

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sir William Robertson is promoted to Field Marshal, the first man to rise from private (enlisted 1877) to the highest rank in the British Army.

title: 1920

date: July 11

text: July 11 – The Irish War of Independence ends under the terms of the truce (signed on 9 July) which becomes effective at noon between the British Army and the Irish Republican Army.

title: 1921

date: May 25

text: May 25 – Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed, and over 80 are captured by the British Army which surrounds the building.

title: 1921

date: March 6

text: March 6 – Operation Flavius: A Special Air Service team of the British Army shoots dead 3 unarmed members of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Active service unit in Gibraltar.

title: 1988

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army shoot and kill Major Michael Dillon-Lee and Private William Robert Davies of the British Army. Dillon-Lee is killed outside his home in Dortmund, Germany and Davies is killed at a railway station in Lichfield, England.

title: 1990

date: May 22

text: May 22 – Off-duty British Army soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is murdered in Woolwich, southeast London, by Islamic terrorists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

title: 2013


slug: british-columbia

label: British Columbia

description: province of Canada

section: Climate & Environment

text: The Mount Edziza volcanic complex erupts in northern British Columbia, Canada.

title: 700

section: Events › By place › North America

text: The Mount Edziza volcanic complex in British Columbia, Canada, produces an explosive eruption that deposits the Sheep Track Member.

title: 950

section: Health & Medicine

date: March 13

text: March 13 – A smallpox epidemic in San Francisco spreads to British Columbia.

title: 1862

date: July 20

text: July 20 – British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.

title: 1871

section: Events › July–September

section: Religion & Belief

date: April 6

text: April 6 – The settlement of Vancouver, British Columbia, is incorporated.

title: 1886

section: Events › April

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: June 13

text: June 13 – The Great Vancouver Fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia.

title: 1886

date: June 21

text: June 21 – "Treaty 8", the most comprehensive of the eleven Numbered Treaties, is signed between the British Crown on behalf of Canada, with various Cree groups of the First Nations, ceding 320000 sqmi of land in the northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, as well as a portion of the Northwest Territories, to the Canadian government.

title: 1899

date: December 6

text: December 6 – A magnitude (M w ) 7.2 earthquake shakes British Columbia.

title: 1918

section: Events › December

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The Oakridge Transit Centre opens in Vancouver, British Columbia.

title: 1948

date: June 15

text: June 15–July 1 – In New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia, thousands of acres of forests are destroyed in fires.

title: 1951

date: December 9

text: December 9 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes into Slesse Mountain near Chilliwack, British Columbia. All 62 people aboard, including five Canadian Football League players, are killed.

title: 1956

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: May 2

text: May 2 – Expo 86, the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, a World's fair, opens in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

title: 1986

section: Events › May

section: Conflict & Security

text: June 15 – A riot broke out in Vancouver, British Columbia in the aftermath of the Boston Bruins' win over the Vancouver Canucks in game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.

title: 2011


slug: british-east-india-company

label: British East India Company

section: Culture & Society

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Sir Thomas Roe, a representative of England's East India Company, arrives in Ahmedabad at India's Mughal Empire, and seeks an audience with the Emperor, Shah Jahan. The Emperor receives Roe in an audience three weeks later, on January 6.

title: 1617

section: Events › October–December

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal Empire in northern India, gives an audience for the first time to a representative of the British East India Company, receiving Sir Thomas Roe at the capital at Ahmedabad.

title: 1618

section: Events › January–March

date: March 9

text: March 9 – Amboyna massacre: Ten English merchants in the service of the British East India Company, together with nine Japanese and one Portuguese, are executed by agents of the Dutch East India Company in Ambon, Maluku (Amboyna).

title: 1623

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is sighted and named by Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company ship Royal Mary.

title: 1643

date: September 21

text: September 21 – The British East India Company takes over Bombay under a Royal Charter of March 27.

title: 1668

text: The British East India Company receives Chinese permission to build a trading station at Canton. Tea sells in Europe for less than a shilling a pound, but the import duty of 5 shillings makes it too expensive for most English people to afford; hence smuggled tea is drunk much more than legally imported tea.

title: 1684

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 5

text: December 5 – John Goldsborough arrives in Madras as the new administrator of the British East India Company.

title: 1692

section: Economy & Finance

date: September 5

text: September 5 – A charter is granted by King William III of England to the new East India Company of England, called "the New Company" or "the English Company" to break the monopoly that has existed in India since 1689 with the existing British East India Company.

title: 1698

date: October 11

text: October 11 – William Aislabie resigns as the British East India Company's administrator of Bombay and the company's territories and is replaced at year's end by Charles Boone.

title: 1715

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 15

text: January 15 – James Macrae, a former captain of a freighter for the British East India Company, is hired by the Company to administer the Madras Presidency (at this time, the "Presidency of Fort St. George"), and begins major reforms. The area administered is most of Southern India, including what is now the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, parts the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and the union territory of Lakshadweep.

title: 1725

date: September 18

text: September 18 – John Deane, a colonial administrator of Britain's British East India Company, returns to Calcutta (Kolkata) after an absence of more than two years, and takes office at Fort William to return to administering the Bengal Presidency, an area now covering the Indian state of West Bengal and the nation of Bangladesh.

title: 1728

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The British East India Company signs a treaty with the Maratha Empire to gain the right of free trade within the territory.

title: 1739

date: April 13

text: April 13 – The British East India Company ship Princess Louisa is wrecked off the coast of Maio Island in the Cape Verde Islands, killing 49 of her 179 crew.

title: 1743

section: Events › April–June

date: December 3

text: December 3 – Battle of Arnee in India (Second Carnatic War): A British East India Company–led force under Robert Clive defeats and routs a much larger Franco-Indian army, under the command of Raza Sahib, at Arni.

title: 1751

date: September 24

text: September 24–October 6 – Battle of Manila: Troops of the British East India Company take Manila from the Spanish, leading to the British occupation of Manila and its being made an open port.

title: 1762

date: July 7

text: July 7 – The British East India Company declares Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, to be deposed.

title: 1763

date: October 22

text: October 22 – Battle of Buxar: The British East India Company defeats the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, the Nawab of Awadh, and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.

title: 1764

date: January 29

text: January 29 – One week before his death, Mir Jafar, who had been enthroned as the Nawab of Bengal and ruler of the Bengali people with the support and protection of the British East India Company, abdicates in favor of his 18-year-old son, Najmuddin Ali Khan.

title: 1765

text: April 13 – Warren Hastings begins his service for the British East India Company as Governor of Bengal, arriving at the company's headquarters at Fort William, outside of Calcutta, and including what are now parts of northeast India and Bangladesh. Hastings serves for two years, then later becomes Governor-General of India.

title: 1772

date: April 27

text: April 27 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act (coming into force on May 10), designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

title: 1773

date: February 26

text: February 26 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.

title: 1775

section: Events › January–June

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The Peshwa of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company sign the Treaty of Purandar in which the British are able to secure Salsette Island and accept Sawai Madhavrao as a new Peshwa. The Marathas agree not to recognise existence of the French in India.

title: 1776

section: Events › March–April

date: August 11

text: August 11 – Captain Francis Light acquires the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah on behalf of the British East India Company, renaming it Prince of Wales Island in honour of the heir to the British throne, and establishing the settlement of George Town. This is the first colony of the British Empire in Southeast Asia.

title: 1786

date: October 14

text: October 14 – Orissa, an area of India along the Bay of Bengal that comprises the modern-day Indian state of Odisha, is occupied by the British under the British East India Company, after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The Maratha Empire formally cedes the area in the Treaty of Deogaon, signed on December 17.

title: 1803

text: British recruits to the British East India Company (and subsequently to the Indian Civil Service) are required to learn at least one Indian language fluently.

title: 1809

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Empire.

title: 1818

text: January 6 – The Treaty of Mandeswar brings an end to the Third Anglo-Maratha War, ending the dominance of Marathas, and enhancing the power of the British East India Company, which controls territory occupied by 180 million Indians.

title: 1818

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Baji Rao II, Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy, surrenders to Sir John Malcolm of the British East India Company, bringing an end to the Third Anglo-Maratha War and giving the company control of almost all of modern-day India.

title: 1818

text: March 9 – The First Anglo-Sikh war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore. Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company, and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria.

title: 1846

date: March

text: March – The British East India Company annexes Jhansi State in India under the doctrine of lapse.

title: 1854

date: April 8

text: April 8 – Mangal Pandey is hanged for mutiny against the British East India Company army; the execution is a precursor event to the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

title: 1857

date: May 10

text: May 10 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: The 3rd Light Cavalry of the British East India Company's army rebels against its British officers, thus beginning the rebellion.

title: 1857


slug: british-empire

label: British Empire

description: overseas possessions of England and later the United Kingdom (1607–1997)

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Sir Humphrey Gilbert, on the site of the modern-day city of St. John's, claims the island of Newfoundland on behalf of England, marking the beginning of the British Empire.

title: 1583

section: Events › July–September

text: January 1 – The British Empire (except Scotland, which had changed New Year's Day to January 1 in 1600) adopts today as the first day of the year as part of adoption of the Gregorian calendar, which is completed in September: today is the first day of the New Year under the terms of last year's Calendar Act of the British Parliament.

title: 1752

date: January 16

text: January 16 – In India, the Siege of Pondicherry ends as the British Empire captures Pondichéry from the French colonial empire.

title: 1761

title: 1786

date: January 18

text: January 18 – The Dutch Cape Colony capitulates to British forces, the origin of its status as a colony within the British Empire.

title: 1806

date: March 25

text: March 25 – The United Kingdom Slave Trade Act becomes law abolishing the slave trade in most of the British Empire with effect from 1 May (slavery itself is abolished in British colonies in 1833).

title: 1807

date: August 28

text: August 28 – The British Slavery Abolition Act 1833, beginning the process of giving slaves in much of the British Empire their freedom, receives royal assent, with an effective date of August 1, 1834. A £20 million fund is established to compensate slaveowners.

title: 1833

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire, by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

title: 1834

text: August 1 – Most former slaves in the British Empire are released from apprenticeships, giving them full emancipation under terms of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

title: 1838

text: August 1 – Remaining former slaves in the British Empire are released from apprenticeships under terms of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

title: 1840

date: June 26

text: June 26 – At a ceremony in London, Queen Victoria awards the first 66 Victoria Crosses to British troops, for actions during the Crimean War.

title: 1857

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Lagos Treaty of Cession between the British Empire and Dosunmu, Oba of Lagos, by which the latter, under threat of military bombardment, cedes Lagos Island to Britain, whilst retaining his title and powers, subject to English law, and allowing the British Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron to have a base there to prevent the slave trade.

title: 1861

section: Events › August

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Canadian Confederation: The British North America Act of 29 March comes into force, creating the Dominion of Canada, the first independent dominion in the British Empire.

title: 1867

section: Events › July

date: March 30

text: March 30 – The Battle for Kushka triggers the Panjdeh Incident, which nearly gives rise to war between the British Empire and Russian Empire.

title: 1885

section: Events › March

date: June 20

text: June 20 – The British Empire celebrates Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th year of her reign.

title: 1887

section: Events › June

date: October 1

text: October 1 – The British Empire takes over Balochistan.

title: 1887

section: Events › October

date: June 22

text: June 22 – The British Empire celebrates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, marking the 60th year of her reign. No other British monarch will celebrate such a jubilee until Victoria's great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth II in 2012.

title: 1897

text: July 7 – Britain take over the Fulani Empire.

title: 1903

date: August 3

text: August 3 – British expedition to Tibet: The British expedition under Colonel Francis Younghusband takes Lhasa, Tibet.

title: 1904

date: August 4

text: August 4 – World War I: German invasion of Belgium – At 08:02 (local time) Imperial German Army troops enter Belgium, bringing the July Crisis to a climax. At 23:00 (GMT) the British entry into World War I takes place when King George V in London declares war on Germany for this violation of Belgian neutrality (protected by the Treaty of London (1839)) and especially to defend France. This means a declaration of war by the whole British Empire against the German Empire. The United States declares neutrality.

title: 1914

section: Health & Medicine

text: January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored and cooled.

title: 1916

section: Events › January

date: January 12

text: January 12 – The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, part of the British Empire, is established in modern-day Tuvalu and Kiribati.

title: 1916

text: July 1–November 18 – WWI: Battle of the Somme, opening with explosion of the British Y Sap and Lochnagar mines and the Battle of Albert: More than one million soldiers die, with 57,470 British Empire casualties on the first day, 19,240 of them killed, the British Army's bloodiest day. The immediate result is tactically inconclusive.

title: 1916

date: November 11

text: November 11 – The first Remembrance Day is observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.

title: 1919

section: Events › November

date: March 15

text: March 15–16 – Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement. Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.

title: 1920

date: April 24

text: April 24 – The first portion of the Imperial Wireless Chain, a strategic international wireless telegraphy network created to link the British Empire, is opened, from the UK to Egypt.

title: 1922

date: May

text: The Anglo-Soviet Treaty of 1942, to help establish a military and political alliance between the USSR and the British Empire, is signed in London by foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov.

title: 1942

date: August 14

text: August 14 – The Muslim majority regions formed by the Partition of India gain independence from the British Empire as the Dominion of Pakistan. While the transition is officially at midnight on this day, Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, compared with India on the 15th, because the Pakistan Standard Time is 30 minutes behind the standard time of India.

title: 1947

date: March 31

text: March 31 – The former British colony of Newfoundland joins Canada, as its 10th province.

title: 1949

date: August 31

text: August 31 – The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago becomes fully independent of the United Kingdom's British Empire.

title: 1962


slug: british-india

label: British India

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: January 10

text: January 10 – English diplomat Sir Thomas Roe presents his credentials to the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, in Ajmer Fort, opening the door to the British presence in India. Roe sailed in the Lyon under the command of captain Christopher Newport, best known for his role in the Virginia colonies.

title: 1616

section: Events › January–February

section: Culture & Society

date: August 22

text: August 22 – The British East India Company buys a strip of land from King Peda Venkata Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire for the construction of Fort St. George, the first settlement of British India, so founding modern-day Chennai, capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (celebrated as Madras Day).

title: 1639

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Sir Warren Hastings, who has been governing India on behalf of King George III as the Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William (later British India), resigns. Sir John Macpherson administers British India until General Charles Cornwallis arrives 19 months later.

title: 1785

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The University of Calcutta is established in Calcutta, as the first multidisciplinary modern university in South Asia. The University of Bombay is also established in Bombay, British India, this year.

title: 1857

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Indus Valley Region (i.e., Pakistan Region) is incorporated as part of British India, for the next 90 years until 1947.

title: 1857

section: Events › October–December

date: October 6

text: October 6 – Section 377 of the British Indian penal code was enacted in British India.

title: 1860

date: November 12

text: November 12 – The Durand Line is established as the boundary between British India and Afghanistan, by a memorandum of understanding signed by Sir Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India, and Abdur Rahman Khan, Amir of Afghanistan.

title: 1893

date: August 8

text: August 8 – The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, signed in Rawalpindi, ends the Third Anglo-Afghan War, with the United Kingdom recognising the right of the Emirate of Afghanistan to manage its own foreign affairs and Afghanistan recognising the Durand Line as the border with British India.

title: 1919

date: December 23

text: December 23 – Visva-Bharati College is founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, Bengal Presidency, British India.

title: 1921

section: Events › December

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 18

text: March 18 – In British India, Mahatma Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for sedition (he serves only two).

title: 1922

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Pakistan Movement: The Lahore Resolution, calling for greater autonomy for what will become Pakistan in British India, is drawn up by the All-India Muslim League during a three-day general session at Iqbal Park, Lahore.

title: 1940


slug: british-isles

label: British Isles

description: group of islands in northwest Europe

section: Religion & Belief

text: Missionaries begin to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity throughout much of what will later be the British Isles (approximate date).

title: 598

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Degsastan: King Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeats the combined forces of the Strathclyde Britons and Scots under Áedán mac Gabráin, establishing the supremacy of the Angles in the northern part of what will become known as the British Isles.

title: 603

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Rædwald installs Edwin as king of Northumbria, effectively confirming him as bretwalda. He takes power in his native Deira and in Bernicia. His reign marks the domination of Northumbria as leading Anglo-Saxon state of the British Isles.

title: 616

text: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the first appearance of Vikings in England. The Viking raid on Portland in Dorset is the first of its kind recorded in the British Isles, including Ireland. The reeve of Dorchester (a local high-ranking official) goes to greet them after they land, perhaps accustomed to welcoming Scandinavian merchants. He is killed. Viking attacks increase in intensity over the coming decades.

title: 789

date: July 18

text: 18 July (traditional date) – Battle of Hafrsfjord: Norse chieftain Harald Fairhair wins a great naval victory at Hafrsfjord, outside Stavanger. He becomes (at age 18) the first king of Norway. Harald's conquests and taxation system lead many Viking chiefs and their followers to emigrate to the British Isles, and (later) to Iceland.

title: 872

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Deaths

date: September

text: September – The 7-year-old Margaret, Maid of Norway, queen-designate and heir to the crown of Scotland, dies en route to the British Isles in Orkney, leading to thirteen competitors for the crown of Scotland, a succession crisis.

title: 1290

section: Climate & Environment

date: December 6

text: December 6 – The British Isles are hit by a great storm, creating large areas of sand dunes on Anglesey.

title: 1330

section: Events › January–December

date: April 2

text: April 2 – The Treaty of Brussels is signed, creating an alliance between Philip IV of Spain and the exiled Royalists of the British Isles, led by Charles II.

title: 1656

section: Events › April–June

text: An old woman known as Janet (Jenny) Horne of Loth, Sutherland becomes the last alleged witch in the British Isles to be executed, when she is burned at the stake in Dornoch, Scotland. (Some sources give the date as June 1722.)

title: 1727

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: british-museum

label: British Museum

description: national museum in London, United Kingdom

text: c. 1400 BC – 1350 BC – Garden of Nebamum (Pond in a Garden) wall painting from the tomb of Nebamum, Thebes. Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. It is now kept in The British Museum, London.

title: 1400s BC (decade)

section: Events and trends

year_label: 647 BCE

text: Ashurbanipal and his Queen in the Garden, from the palace at Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq), is made. It is now at the British Museum, London.

title: 647 BC

section: Events › Middle East

year_label: 460 BCE

text: A statue of Apollo is cast (approximate date), of which today remains one leg, preserved at the Louvre, and the head, known as the Chatsworth Head, preserved at the British Museum.

title: 460 BC

section: Events › By topic › Arts

year_label: 438 BCE

text: Three seated Goddesses (possibly Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite), from the east pediment of the Parthenon, are made (finished in 432 BC). They are now kept at The British Museum in London.

title: 438 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

text: The Ionic frieze on the north side of the Parthenon, is created (finished in 432 BC). Parts of this frieze are now preserved in museums in Europe, including the Horsemen (at the British Museum, London), and the Marshals and Young Women (now at Musée du Louvre, Paris), which once formed part of the Procession on the frieze.

title: 438 BC

year_label: 350 BCE

text: The building of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum in Turkey) is completed (approximate date). It is the grave of the Persian satrap and Carian ruler Mausolos and is built under the direction of his wife Artemisia. The mausoleum, which is considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is today partly preserved at the British Museum in London.

title: 350 BC

year_label: 306 BCE

text: A four-drachma coin, picturing Alexander the Great, is issued by Lysimachos from this time until 281 BC. At least one of them is now preserved at the British Museum in London.

title: 306 BC

section: Events › By place › Thrace

text: The making of a detail of Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress to Court Ladies (attributed to Gu Kaizhi and being from the Six Dynasties period) begins (approximate year) and is completed in 406. It is now kept at the British Museum, London.

title: 344

text: 361–363 – A Julian the Apostate coin is issued. It is now kept at the British Museum, London.

title: 361

date: June 7

text: June 7 – The British Museum is established in London, by Act of Parliament.

title: 1753

date: January 15

text: January 15 – The British Museum opens at Montagu House in London after six years of development.

title: 1759

section: Events › January–March

date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Rosetta Stone is presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London, which in turn presents it to the British Museum.

title: 1802

text: Work begins on the British Museum in London, designed by Robert Smirke, and the Altes Museum in Berlin, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

title: 1823

section: Events › Undated

date: February 7

text: February 7 – A drunken visitor smashes the Portland Vase in the British Museum, requiring months of repair work.

title: 1845