slug: nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine

label: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

description: one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

date: August 25

text: August 25 – Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1917)

title: 1841

section: Births › July–December

date: July 7

text: July 7 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1926)

title: 1843

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1922)

title: 1845

date: May 15

text: May 15 – Élie Metchnikoff, Russian microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1916)

title: 1845

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1936)

title: 1849

date: May 1

text: May 1 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1934)

title: 1852

section: Births › April–June

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)

title: 1853

date: March 14

text: March 14 – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and scientist, recipient of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1915)

title: 1854

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1940)

title: 1857

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1932)

title: 1857

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)

title: 1857

date: August 11

text: August 11 – Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician, pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1930)

title: 1858

section: Births › July–August

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1904)

title: 1860

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Willem Einthoven, Dutch inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)

title: 1860

date: June 20

text: June 20 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1947)

title: 1861

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1936)

title: 1866

date: September 25

text: September 25 – Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1945)

title: 1866

date: April 23

text: April 23 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1928)

title: 1867

date: June 27

text: June 27 – Hans Spemann, German embryologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1941)

title: 1869

date: June 13

text: June 13 – Jules Bordet, Belgian immunologist, microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1961)

title: 1870

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1944)

title: 1873

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Otto Loewi, German-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1961)

title: 1873

date: November 15

text: November 15 – August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1949)

title: 1874

section: Births › November

date: November 29

text: November 29 – António Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician and neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1955)

title: 1874

text: September 6 – John Macleod, Scottish-born physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)

title: 1876

date: August 28

text: August 28 – George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)

title: 1878

date: October 5

text: October 5 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1970)

title: 1879

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish biomedical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1955)

title: 1881

date: October 8

text: October 8 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)

title: 1883

section: Births › September–October

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1982)

title: 1886

date: September 26

text: September 26 – Archibald Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1977)

title: 1886

date: July 22

text: July 22 – Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-born American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1973)

title: 1888

date: December 21

text: December 21 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1967)

title: 1890

text: September 16 – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)

title: 1893

text: August 15 – Gerty Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1957)

title: 1896

text: February 10 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)

title: 1897

text: September 24 – Howard Florey, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1968)

title: 1898

text: August 25 – Sir Hans Krebs, German-born British biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1981)

title: 1900

text: March 23 – Karl Landsteiner first reports his discovery of an accurate means for classifying a system of blood type, which will universally be referred to as the ABO blood group system and for which he will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930.

title: 1900

text: June 16 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1992)

title: 1902

text: January 27 – John Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1997)

title: 1903

text: November 7 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1989)

title: 1903

text: October 22 – George Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1989)

title: 1903

text: February 22 – Renato Dulbecco, Italian-born American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)

title: 1914

text: February 5 – Alan Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1998)

title: 1914

text: August 20 – Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)

title: 1915

text: February 28 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1987)

title: 1915

text: November 19 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)

title: 1915

text: December 15 – Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand-born physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)

title: 1916

text: July 15 – Élie Metchnikoff, Russian microbiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)

title: 1916

text: June 8 – Francis Crick, English molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)

title: 1916

text: July 27 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1841)

title: 1917

text: March 31 – Emil von Behring, German winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)

title: 1917

text: November 22 – Andrew Huxley, English scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)

title: 1917

text: October 2 – Christian de Duve, English-born biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2013)

title: 1917

text: January 23 – Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1999)

title: 1918

text: April 1 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2012)

title: 1919

text: April 6 – Edmond H. Fischer, Swiss American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2021)

title: 1920

text: June 17 – François Jacob, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2013)

title: 1920

text: July 19 – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)

title: 1921

text: January 9 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)

title: 1922

text: May 18 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)

title: 1922

text: July 28 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2011)

title: 1925

text: May 23 – Joshua Lederberg, American molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2008)

title: 1925

text: January 21 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)

title: 1926

text: January 13 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)

title: 1927

text: July 5 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1853)

title: 1927

text: April 6 – James D. Watson, American geneticist; recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2025)

title: 1928

text: January 30 – Johannes Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1867)

title: 1928

text: November 5 – Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician, pathologist, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1858)

title: 1930

text: September 16 – Sir Ronald Ross, British physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)

title: 1932

text: October 17 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist and neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1852)

title: 1934

text: February 27 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian psychologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1849)

title: 1936

text: March 7 – David Baltimore, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2025)

title: 1938

text: December 18 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

title: 1939

text: April 13 – Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

title: 1941

text: January 1 – Martin Evans, British biologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate

title: 1941

text: July 1 – Alfred G. Gilman, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2015)

title: 1941

text: October 20 – Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

title: 1942

text: November 5 – Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1873)

title: 1944

text: November 26 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist, winner of Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

title: 1948

text: September 13 – August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)

title: 1949

text: March 5 – Sir Charles Sherrington, British physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)

title: 1952

text: December 13 – António Egas Moniz, Portuguese neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1874)

title: 1955

text: January 17 – Katalin Karikó, Hungarian-born biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate

title: 1955

text: March 11 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1881)

title: 1955

text: October 26 – Gerty Cori, Austrian-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)

title: 1957

text: October 13 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

title: 1965

text: August 1 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1883)

title: 1970

text: February 16 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1879)

title: 1970

text: June 13 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

title: 1972

text: August 16 – Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1888)

title: 1973

text: February 1 – George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)

title: 1976

text: May 31 – Jacques Monod, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1910)

title: 1976


slug: nobel-prize

label: Nobel Prize

description: set of annual international awards, primarily 5 established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

section: Births

date: July 27

text: July 27 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)

title: 1835

date: October 31

text: October 31 – Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)

title: 1835

date: November 12

text: November 12 – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)

title: 1842

date: January 5

text: January 5 – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)

title: 1846

section: Births › January–June

date: May 5

text: May 5 – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)

title: 1846

text: November 15 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1946)

title: 1862

section: Births › October–December

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Rudyard Kipling, Indian-born English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)

title: 1865

section: Births › November–December

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1959)

title: 1869

section: Births › January–March

date: August 26

text: August 26 – James Franck, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)

title: 1882

section: Births › August

date: November 7

text: November 7 – C. V. Raman, Indian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)

title: 1888

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)

title: 1890

section: Births › March

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)

title: 1894

section: Culture & Society

date: November 27

text: November 27 – At the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death.

title: 1895

section: Events › November

date: December 10

text: December 10 – The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm, on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

title: 1901

section: Events › December

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Luc Montagnier, French virologist and Nobel Prize winner (d. 2022)

title: 1932

section: Deaths

date: January 4

text: January 4 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

title: 1961

section: Deaths › January


slug: nominoe

label: Nominoe

description: Duke and Prince of Brittany

section: Religion & Belief

text: Nominoe, a noble Briton, is appointed by Louis I as count of Vannes in Brittany (approximate date).

title: 819

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Nominoe, duke of Brittany, is designated missus imperatoris (imperial emissary) by Louis the Pious, at Ingelheim (modern Germany).

title: 831

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Battle of Blain: Breton forces under Erispoe, count of Vannes, defeat the Franks led by Renaud d'Herbauges, near the town of Messac, at the River Vilaine. This battle marks a Breton war between Charles the Bald and Nominoe, duke of Brittany.

title: 843

text: Summer – King Charles the Bald struggles against the repeated rebellions in Aquitaine, and against the Bretons in West Francia. He besieges Bernard I at the Battle of Toulouse, while Duke Nominoe raids into Maine, and plunders other Frankish territory.

title: 844

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Battle of Ballon: Frankish forces (3,000 men) led by Charles the Bald are defeated by Nominoe, count of Vannes, near Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine. After the battle, Brittany becomes a regnum 'kingdom' within the Frankish Empire.

title: 845

text: Summer – Breton forces under Nominoe occupy the Frankish cities of Nantes and Rennes. He makes raids in Anjou and threatens Bayeux. King Charles the Bald recognizes him as duke of Brittany.

title: 846

text: Danish Vikings land in the Breton March (western part of Gaul). Duke Nominoe of Brittany fails to withstand them in battle, but succeeds in buying them off with gifts and persuading them to leave (approximate date).

title: 847

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Battle of Jengland: Duke Erispoe takes command of the Breton forces after his father Nominoe, king of Brittany, dies. He continues an offensive against the Franks in alliance with Lambert II of Nantes. In Ille-et-Vilaine near Grand-Fougeray (Brittany), Erispoe defeats a Frankish-Saxon army (4,000 men) led by King Charles the Bald.

title: 851

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Nominoe, king (or duke) of Brittany

title: 851


slug: norman-conquest-of-southern-italy

label: Norman conquest of southern Italy

description: historical event in the European Middle Ages

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus, an Italian nobleman, revolt in Bari against the Catepanate of Italy (a province of the Byzantine Empire). He and his brother-in-law Dattus (or Datto) mobilise a large army and invade southern Italy.

title: 1009

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Lombard Revolt: Mahmoud the Fat of Bari rises up against the Lombard rebels, led by Melus, and delivers the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy. Melus is forced to flee to Salerno, and his brother-in-law Dattus escapes to Monte Cassino, but their families are taken captive, and carted off to Constantinople.

title: 1011

text: Melus of Bari makes a second attempt against Byzantine-held Southern Italy. To support his cause, he hires Norman mercenaries, unwittingly triggering the rise of Norman rule over southern Italy.

title: 1016

text: A Zirid expeditionary force invades Sicily and takes Palermo from the Normans, but fails to fully reconquer the island.

title: 1036

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Zoë recalls Synodianos, governor of the Catepanate of Italy, and replaces him with George Maniakes (the disgraced head of the Sicilian campaign). All of Apulia is in the hands of the Lombard rebels.

title: 1042

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Richard Drengot besiege and capture Capua. He takes the princely title from Prince Landulf VIII.

title: 1058

date: August 23

text: August 23 – Robert Guiscard, count of Apulia and Calabria, signs the Treaty of Melfi with Pope Nicholas II. Nicholas recognises the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and accepts the titles of Guiscard as duke of Sicily.

title: 1059

text: Norman conquest of southern Italy: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard (duke of Apulia and Calabria) lay siege to the Byzantine city of Bari.

title: 1068

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Norman conquest of southern Italy: Italo-Norman forces under Robert Guiscard de Hauteville and Richard I of Capua, conquer the fortress city of Salerno after a short siege.

title: 1076

date: February

text: February – Norman conquest of Sicily: The Normans conquer Noto and complete the 30-year-long conquest of Sicily from the Moorish rulers. Duke Roger Borsa (a son of Robert Guiscard) surrenders his share in the castles of Calabria, and receives his inheritance of Palermo. He grants charters to various towns and encourages urban planning in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1091


slug: normandy

label: Normandy

description: geographical and cultural region which extends over a part of France and the British Channel Islands

text: Vigor becomes bishop of Bayeux. He opposes paganism and founds a monastery later known as Saint-Vigor-le-Grand (Normandy).

title: 513

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Philibert, Frankish abbot, receives a gift from King Clovis II of Neustria, and founds Jumièges Abbey in Normandy.

title: 654

text: Mont Saint-Michel, built by Aubert, bishop of Avranches, has its beginnings in an oratory on Mont Tombe, on the coast of Normandy (approximate date).

title: 709

section: Events › By topic › Architecture, real estate

text: Hugh of Champagne, cousin of Charles Martel, enters the monastery of Jumièges (Normandy), and embraces the religious life as abbot.

title: 718

date: July 20

text: July 20 – Ansegisus, Frankish abbot and advisor of former emperor Charlemagne, dies at Fontenelle Abbey in Normandy (or 833).

title: 834

text: Summer – Vikings sail up the River Seine and devastate the city of Rouen in Normandy. They burn the Benedictine monastery of Jumièges Abbey; 68 captives are taken, and returned on payment of a ransom, by the monks of St. Denis.

title: 841

section: Births

text: Luitgarde, duchess consort of Normandy (d. 978)

title: 914

text: The "Shroud of Saint Josse", a rich silk Samite camel cloth from Khurasan, is made. It is preserved in the Abbey of Saint-Josse-sur-Mer, near Caen (Normandy) (approximate date).

title: 961

section: Events › By topic › Art

text: The Abbey of Bec is founded at Le Bec-Hellouin in Normandy (modern France).

title: 1039

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Jews from Rouen in Normandy settle in England at the invitation of King William I.

title: 1070

section: Events

text: A rebellion against Henry I of England breaks out in Normandy.

title: 1118

section: Events › By place › France

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: April 10

text: April 10 – John, King of England, permits Jews to live freely in England and Normandy.

title: 1201

text: Angers and Normandy are captured by Philip II of France.

title: 1204

date: December 4

text: December 4 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy), in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.

title: 1259

date: July 3

text: July 3 – The English fleet attempts to sail from Portsmouth to Normandy, but is forced back by contrary winds.

title: 1346

date: September

text: September – Hundred Years' War: The French burn Portsmouth, England; the English raid Picardy and Normandy.

title: 1369

section: Events › July–September

date: July 29

text: July 29 – The Army of England, led by King Henry V, begins the siege of Rouen, the capital of Normandy in France. The siege lasts almost six months before the Burgundian French defenders surrender

title: 1418

date: January 19

text: January 19 – Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England, which brings Normandy under the control of England.

title: 1419

section: Events › January–March

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Battle of Baugé: A small French force, led by Gilbert Motier de La Fayette, surprises and defeats a smaller English force under Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, a brother of King Henry V of England, in Normandy. Thomas, heir to the throne and Crown Prince, is killed in the attack, along with about 1,000 other of men.

title: 1421

date: April 22

text: April 22 – In France, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, is granted the control of the county of Mortain in Normandy by the Duke of Bedford, Regent for King Henry VI in France, as a reward for his military service during the war against the French.

title: 1427

section: Events › April–June

date: September 29

text: September 29 – In Normandy, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York of England's House of Plantagenet, completes his five-year term as Lieutenant-general of British-occupied France and Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset takes his place. He returns to England on October 20.

title: 1445

date: July

text: July – Hundred Years' War: The French invade Normandy.

title: 1449

date: August 12

text: August 12 – Cherbourg, the last English territory in Normandy, surrenders to the French.

title: 1450

date: June 5

text: June 5 – French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege Caen in English-occupied Normandy in France, attacking the fortress commanded by Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset.

title: 1450

date: November 11

text: November 11 – King Henry IV of France begins the siege of Rouen, the Spanish-held capital of Normandy. The Spanish Navy arrives after five months and King Henry abandons the siege on April 20.

title: 1591

section: Events › October–December

date: April 20

text: April 20 – King Henry IV of France ends the siege of Rouen, the Spanish-held capital of Normandy, five months after its November 11 commencement, as the Spanish Navy arrives to relieve the city.

title: 1592

date: November 30

text: November 30 – In Normandy, the revolt of the va-nu-pieds is crushed by the troops of French Army Colonel Jean de Gassion under orders of Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, with 300 of the rebels killed.

title: 1639

text: Camembert cheese reputedly first made by Marie Harel, a farmer from Normandy.

title: 1791

section: Events › Date unknown

date: June

text: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast, in preparation for D-Day.

title: 1944

section: Events › June


slug: normans

label: Normans

description: historical ethnical group of Northwestern Europe

section: Conflict & Security

text: Summer – King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") is captured by the Normans and handed over to Hugh the Great. In return for the release of Louis, Laon surrenders to him in compensation.

title: 945

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Melus of Bari makes a second attempt against Byzantine-held Southern Italy. To support his cause, he hires Norman mercenaries, unwittingly triggering the rise of Norman rule over southern Italy.

title: 1016

text: Summer – Melus of Bari, a Lombard nobleman, revolts and is supported by Norman mercenaries at Capua. He marches into Apulia to catch the Byzantine army off-guard. Melus defeats the Byzantines on the banks of the Fortore River and ravages the territory in Apulia.

title: 1017

section: Events › Europe

date: October

text: October – Battle of Cannae: The Lombard adventurer Melus of Bari and his Norman mercenaries are decisively defeated by the Byzantine army, led by the Catepan Basil Boioannes.

title: 1018

text: Duke Sergius IV of Naples donates the County of Aversa to a band of Norman mercenaries led by Rainulf Drengot, who support him in the war with Capua.

title: 1027

section: Events › By Place › Europe

text: Rainulf Drengot, head of a mercenary band of Norman knights, is approached by Duke John V of Gaeta and is persuaded to change sides. With Norman help, Duke Sergius IV recovers Naples from Capuan occupation.

title: 1029

text: Summer – Drogo of Hauteville, count of Apulia and Calabria, meets Pope Leo IX in southern Italy – who has been sent by Emperor Henry III (the Black) to re-establish the "freedom of the Catholic Church". Drogo is forced to promise Pope Leo to stop the Normans from pillaging the Lombard countryside. On his way back (August 10), Drogo is assassinated near Bovino by a Byzantine conspiracy.

title: 1051

section: Events › By place › Continental Europe

text: Battle of Mortemer: The Normans, led by Duke William the Conqueror, defeat a French army (near Mortemer), as it is caught pillaging and plundering. King Henry I of France withdraws his main army from the Duchy of Normandy as a result. Guy I, Count of Ponthieu, is captured during the course of the battle.

title: 1054

text: Norman forces under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. Muslim ruler Ayyub ibn Tamim's forces oppose them. The Normans and the Muslim army meet at the Battle of Misilmeri. The Norman forces defeat the Muslim army. Ayyub ibn Tamim flees from Sicily. The Norman conquest of the island continues to expand.

title: 1068

date: January 10

text: January 10 – The Normans under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I ("Boso") conquer Palermo (after a one year siege). Roger receives the keys of the city, and Robert invests him with the title of Count of Sicily. The Emirate of Sicily rules only the southern part of the island, with Syracuse as the capital (until 1091).

title: 1072

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Battle of Montesarchio: Prince Pandulf IV, co-ruler of Benevento, is killed while fighting the Normans in southern Italy.

title: 1074

date: October 18

text: October 18 – Battle of Dyrrhachium: After taking the island of Corfu, Robert Guiscard advances to Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës), and lays siege to the city. Alexios I Komnenos attempts to defend Illyria from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated by Guiscard, outside Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital city of Illyria.

title: 1081

text: Spring – The Normans under Duke Robert Guiscard take Dyrrhachium (modern-day Durrës) in Illyria and advance inland, capturing most of Macedonia and Thessaly. Robert is forced to leave Greece to deal with an uprising in Italy. He leaves his son Bohemond in charge of the army, who lays siege to the city of Larissa. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos mobilizes a new army, and with the support of 7,000 Seljuk Turks he clears Thessaly from the Normans.

title: 1082

date: February

text: February – Norman conquest of Sicily: The Normans conquer Noto and complete the 30-year-long conquest of Sicily from the Moorish rulers. Duke Roger Borsa (a son of Robert Guiscard) surrenders his share in the castles of Calabria, and receives his inheritance of Palermo. He grants charters to various towns and encourages urban planning in Apulia and Calabria.

title: 1091

text: The Normans under Lord Robert Fitzhamon continue their occupation of southern Wales with Pembroke Castle being constructed by Arnulf de Montgomery.

title: 1093

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: As part of the Norman expansion southward, Count Routrou II enters the service of King Alfonso I (the Battler) of Aragon.

title: 1114

section: Religion & Belief

text: Pope Gelasius II grants the status of Crusade to the Christian effort in the Ebro Valley, attracting numerous Gascon, Occitan and Norman knights.

title: 1118

section: Events › By place › Spain

text: The Almoravid fleet attacks Sicily to suppress the Italo-Norman raiders. The same year the Muslim population of Malta rebels against the Normans.

title: 1122

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Battle of Nocera: Rebel Normans under Count Ranulf II defeat the Sicilian forces, led by King Roger II. Seven hundred knights are captured, and Roger is forced to retreat to Salerno.

title: 1132

date: July 17

text: July 17 – Battle of Fraga: The Castellan troops led by King Alfonso I (the Battler) defeat the Almoravid army, thanks to a timely intervention of a Norman Crusader army from Tarragona, led by Robert Bordet.

title: 1133

section: Crime & Justice

text: Spring – Emperor Manuel I Komnenos recovers Corfu with the help of the Venetians, who defeat the Sicilian fleet. During the three-month siege, Byzantine admiral Stephen Kontostephanos is killed by a stone thrown by a catapult. Manuel prepares an offensive against the Normans; King Roger II sends a fleet (some 40 ships) under George of Antioch, to pillage the suburbs of Constantinople.

title: 1149

text: Tunis is reconquered from the Normans, by the Almohad caliphs.

title: 1159

text: The successors of Robert Bordet leave Catalonia for Mallorca, marking the end of the attempts to create a Norman principality in Iberia.

title: 1171

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Battle of Demetritzes: A reinforced Byzantine army under Alexios Branas decisively defeats William II, ending his invasion of the Byzantine Empire. Thessaloniki is recaptured, and the Normans are pushed back to Italy. Many Norman ships are lost to storms.

title: 1185


slug: norsemen

label: Norsemen

description: historical ethnolinguistic group of people originating in Scandinavia

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The town of Dyflin (meaning "Black Pool") or Dublin (modern Ireland) is founded by Norwegian Vikings, on the south bank of the River Liffey. The settlement is fortified with a ditch and an earth rampart, with a wooden palisade on top. The Norsemen establish a wool weaving industry, and there is also a slave trade. An artificial hill is erected, where the nobility meets to make laws and discuss policy.

title: 841

section: Events › By place › Ireland

text: Battle of Thimeon: King Louis III ("the Younger") defeats Vikings (probably Norsemen) from England, near Charleroi, north of the River Sambre. During the battle 5,000 Vikings are killed.

title: 880

date: November 25

text: November 25 – Siege of Paris: Viking forces, under the Norse chieftains Sigfred and Sinric, sail up the River Seine for eastern France, with a fleet of 300 longships (10,000 men). They appear before Paris, and offer to spare the city if they are allowed free passage, by paying them tribute (Danegeld). Their request is denied.

title: 885

text: King Anarawd of Gwynedd's shaky alliance with the Vikings collapses. His kingdom is ravaged by the Norsemen. Anarawd is forced to ask for help from Alfred the Great and submits to his overlordship. Alfred imposes oppressive terms and forces Anarawd's confirmation in the Christian Church, with Alfred as 'godfather'.

title: 894

text: Winter – The Norsemen are expelled from Dublin. After a brief foray into Seisyllwg (Wales), a group, under the Viking lord Ingimundr, settle in the Wirral with the agreement of Lady Æthelflæd of the Mercians.

title: 902

section: Events › By place › Britain And Ireland

text: Norse settlers under the Viking warlord Ingimundr, revolt against the Mercians and try to capture the city of Chester. They are beaten off.

title: 905

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

text: Bjarni Herjólfsson, a Norse-Icelandic merchant captain and explorer, becomes the first inhabitant of the Old World to discover the mainland of the Americas.

title: 986

section: Events › By topic › Exploration

section: Culture & Society

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Thorstein Olafssøn marries Sigrid Bjørnsdatter in Hvalsey Church, in the last recorded event of the Norse history of Greenland.

title: 1408

section: Events › July–December


slug: north-africa

label: North Africa

description: northernmost region of the African continent

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: c. 3000 BC: Early agriculture in North Africa.

title: 30th century BC

section: Events

year_label: 631 BCE

text: Cyrene, a Greek colony in present-day Libya, North Africa, is founded by emigrants from the island of Thera (approximate date).

title: 631 BC

year_label: 309 BCE

text: Leaving his brother Antander to continue the defence of Syracuse, Agathocles lands in North Africa with the aim of distracting the Carthaginians from their siege of Syracuse. Agathocles concludes a treaty with Ophellas, ruler of Cyrenaica. He then takes advantage of the civil unrest in Carthage and nearly succeeds in conquering the city.

title: 309 BC

section: Events › By place › Carthage

year_label: 49 BCE

date: August 24

text: August 24 – Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in North Africa by the Pompeians under Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia (whom he defeated earlier in the Battle of Utica) in the Battle of the Bagradas, after which he commits suicide.

title: 49 BC

section: Events › By place and Date › Roman Republic

year_label: 70 CE

section: Climate & Environment

text: Panic strikes Rome as adverse winds delay grain shipments from Africa and Egypt, producing a bread shortage. Ships laden with wheat from North Africa sail 300 miles to Rome's port of Ostia in 3 days, and the 1,000 mile voyage from Alexandria averages 13 days. The vessels often carry 1,000 tons each to provide the city with the 8,000 tons per week it normally consumes.

title: AD 70

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Timgad (Thamugas), a Roman colonial town in North Africa, is founded by Trajan.

title: AD 100

section: Health & Medicine

text: Plague sweeps North Africa in the wake of a locust invasion that destroys large areas of cropland. The plague kills as many as 500,000 in Numidia and possibly 150,000 on the coast before moving to Italy, where it takes so many lives that villages and towns are abandoned. (or was it around 125 BC)

title: AD 125

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Emperor Hadrian visits the Roman province of North Africa, in order to inspect Legio III Augusta stationed at Lambaesis. For strategic reasons, the legionnaires are located in the Aurès Mountains.

title: AD 128

text: July 17 – Twelve Christian inhabitants of Scillium in Numidia are executed in Carthage (also in North Africa) (known as the Scillitan Martyrs) – they had refused to swear an oath to the Emperor.

title: AD 180

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: In North Africa, Legio III Augusta is dissolved. Until its reconstitution in 253, Africa is defended by auxiliary forces only.

title: 238

text: The elephant becomes extinct in North Africa (approximate date).

title: 300

text: Spring – The Vandals, led by Genseric ("Caesar King"), invade North Africa. They land with a force of 80,000 men including Alans, and Germanic tribesmen with their families from the Iberian Peninsula, across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The Vandal fleet raids the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and blockades the grain and oil supply to Italy.

title: 429

text: Spring – The Vandals under King Genseric extend their power in North Africa along the Mediterranean Sea, and lay siege to Hippo Regius (where Augustine has recently been bishop).

title: 430

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The Vandals establish a North African granary that enables them to enforce their will on other nations, who are dependent on North Africa for grain and other food staples.

title: 439

text: End of the Vandal War (439-442): Emperor Valentinian III signs a peace treaty with King Genseric, and recognises the Vandal Kingdom. He grants him sovereignty over most of Africa. Genseric gives back Sicily and Mauretania (Algeria and Morocco). This marks the end of the Vandal migrations; they settle in North Africa, with Carthage as their capital.

title: AD 442

text: Leptis Magna (modern Libya) is sacked by Berber (Moor) raiders. Gelimer leads a successful expedition in North Africa.

title: 523

text: Summer – Emperor Justinian I holds a war council in Constantinople. His advisers warn him against launching an expedition to North Africa, because of the supply-lines (1,000 miles into Vandal waters) and the huge drain on the imperial treasury. Justinian appoints Belisarius to command the Byzantine army.

title: 533

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: March

text: March – King Gelimer surrenders to Belisarius, after spending a winter in the mountains of Numidia. He and large numbers of captured Vandals are transported to Constantinople. The Vandal Kingdom ends, and the African provinces return to the Byzantine Empire.

title: 534

text: A Christian basilica is completed at Leptis Magna in North Africa.

title: 535

text: Plague of Justinian: Bubonic plague appears suddenly in the Egyptian port of Pelusium, spreading to Alexandria and, the following year, to Constantinople. This is the beginning of a 200-year-long pandemic that will devastate Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

title: 541

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Arab armies continue their military expansion into North Africa and lay siege to Tripoli. The city is captured after one month.

title: 643

text: Spring–summer – Arab forces under Hasan ibn al-Nu'man capture Carthage, ending Byzantine rule in North Africa. The defeated Byzantine fleet revolts and proclaims Tiberios III, who deposes Leontios after a brief siege of Constantinople, Byzantine Emperor.

title: 698

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: From North Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr lands in Iberia (Al-Andalus), with an army of 18,000 Arabs and Berbers. He joins the Islamic conquest and captures the city of Seville (Andalusia), where he meets stiff resistance after 3-months of siege.

title: 712

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Battle of the Nobles: The Berber rebels under chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati defeat and overwhelm the Umayyad forces of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri, near Tangier (Northern Morocco), undermining Arab domination in Islamic North Africa. The rebellion spreads in Al-Andalus (Spain), causing governor Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab to withdraw Moorish troops from many garrisons north of the Pyrenees.

title: 740

text: The Great Berber Revolt: Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik appoints Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi as governor (wali) of Ifriqiya (North Africa). A fourth expedition is sent from Syria by the Umayyad Caliphate to crush the rebellion in the Atlas region, but is defeated at the Battle of Bagdoura, in the plain of the Ghrab (modern Morocco). The counter-attack of the Kharijite rebels to the East is successful, but fails to conquer Kairouan from the loyalists. A more radical branch of the Tunisian Kharijites, (the Sufrists) however, manages to take the city soon after.

title: 741

text: In Rome, Pope Zachary closes down a slave market, where Venetian merchants had been selling Christian captives to the Muslims in North Africa.

title: 748

text: Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri, ruler of Ifriqiya (North Africa), dispatches a Muslim army and reconquers Tripolitania from the Ibadites (a puritanical Khaijite sect), driving their remnants south into the Nafusa Mountains (northwestern Libya).

title: 752

text: Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam is recognized as imam of the Ibadis, in Maghreb (western North Africa).

title: AD 777

text: Sijilmasa (in present-day Morocco) is founded as the departure point for caravans between North Africa and the western Sudan (approximate date).

title: 800

section: Events › Africa

date: May

text: May – Euphemius, Byzantine admiral, organises an uprising in Sicily against Emperor Michael II. He proclaims himself Emperor (with the title of basileus) in Syracuse, independent from Constantinople. In turn, Euphemius is defeated by Byzantine troops (reinforcements from the East), and is driven out to North Africa.

title: 826

text: Byzantine–Arab War: Muslim reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Al-Andalus (modern Spain) defeat Byzantine forces under Theodotus in Sicily, but a plague once again compels them to retreat to Mazara del Vallo, and evacuate to North Africa.

title: 830

text: The future founder of the Fatimid Caliphate, Abdallah al-Mahdi and his family migrate to North Africa. They claim to be descendants of Fatimah, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

title: 900

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

date: March 18

text: March 18 – The Fatimid Dynasty founded by Shiite Muslims in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia) gains suzerainty over the Aghlabid Dynasty in North Africa. Emir Ziyadat Allah III escapes to the Near East, unable to secure any help from the Abbasid Caliphate to regain his emirate.

title: 909

text: Caliph Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid Caliphate replaces the unpopular governor Ibn Abi Khinzir with Ali ibn Umar al-Balawi. But the Sicilian lords find this unacceptable and decide to declare independence of Sicily. They acknowledge allegiance to the Abbasid caliph Al-Muqtadir and acclaim an Aghlabid prince, Ahmed ibn Khorob, as emir of Sicily. The Sicilians re-launch their conquest of Byzantine Calabria, while Ahmed ibn Khorob in Sicily leads a successful assault against the North African cities of Sfax and Tripoli.

title: 913

date: July 4

text: July 4 — At the age of 12, Shabbethai Donnolo, who will become one of the most prominent physicians in Italy and the doctor to the Byzantine court, is kidnapped by Arab slavers as a Fatimid expeditionary force, led by Jafar ibn Obeid, lands in Abruzzo in southern Italy and overruns Apulia and the city of Otranto. After defeating the Byzantine garrisons, the Arabs lay siege to the castle of Oria and destroy it, killing the defenders and taking the women and children as slaves back to North Africa. Donnolo's family pays a ransom and the Fatimid Amir Abu Ahmad Ja'far ibn 'Ubaid sets him free.

title: 925

section: Events › By date › July – December

text: Summer – The Slavic-Arab leader Sabir defeats a small Byzantine fleet and seizes Termoli (in Molise, on the Adriatic coast). He returns to Africa laden with booty and slaves.

title: 929

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Abu Yazid, a Kharijite Berber leader who has led a rebellion against the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya, is defeated in the Hodna Mountains (modern-day Algeria). Caliph al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah sets about restoring the Fatimid dominion over North Africa.

title: 947

text: Caliph Al-Mu'izz transfers the royal residence of the Fatimid Caliphate from El-Mansuriya (modern Tunisia) to the newly founded city of Cairo in Egypt. Egypt becomes the autonomous centre of the Fatimid Caliphate. He leaves general Buluggin ibn Ziri to govern the Western North African territories, which will become the province of Al-Maghreb (meaning the West).

title: 973

text: An episode of plague and famine breaks out in North Africa.

title: 1004

text: The Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia, begin their invasion in the Maghreb (North Africa). They are organized by the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate to punish their former Zirid vassals.

title: 1049

date: August 9

text: August 9 – Battle of Al-Dimas: An Italo-Norman campaign in North Africa ends with their troops being massacred by Zirid forces near Mahdia (modern Tunisia).

title: 1123

section: Events › By date › July–September

text: In the first commercial treaty between the Almohad Caliphate and a Christian power, the Republic of Genoa obtains trading rights in the port of North Africa.

title: 1137

text: Normans conduct a series of raids in North Africa, including Annaba (modern Algeria) and the Nile Delta.

title: 1154

text: December 1 – A rebellion arises among the Muslim subjects in the region of Valencia. As a punishment, King James I of Aragon ("the Conqueror"), issues an order of expulsion of the Muslims from his realm, leading numerous people into exile in Andalusia and North Africa.

title: 1247

text: December – Reconquista: Ferdinand III issues an edict to expel the Almohads out of Seville. Many Muslims sail to North Africa and others travel to Granada in Al-Andalus.

title: 1248

text: May – King Alfonso X ("the Wise") of Castile and León, at a meeting in Jaén, demands military support from Muhammad I, ruler of Granada, and relinquishes the ports of Tarifa and Algeciras to prepare an invasion of North Africa.

title: 1262

text: Summer – An Aragonese expeditionary army under King Peter III lands in North Africa at Collo, in proclaimed support of a rebellion of the governor of Constantine, Ibn Wazir. The revolt is suppressed by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim I, ruler of the Hafsid Sultanate. Peter, wary of the situation in Sicily, sails off and fails to take advantage of the state of rebellion in North Africa. Ibrahim stabilizes his power and styles himself emir of the sultanate.

title: 1282

text: June 3 – At Tunis, Abu Faris Abd al-Aziz al-Mutawakkil becomes the new of Caliph of the Hafsid Sultanate of Ifriqiya in North Africa

title: 1394

text: June 28 – Capture of Mahdia (1550): The Spanish Armada arrives in North Africa to begin the process of capturing the fortress of Mahdia (now in Tunisia) from control of the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1550


slug: north-america

label: North America

description: continent in the Americas

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: c. 1200 BC: Ancestral Puebloan civilization in North America. (approximate date)

title: 1200s BC (decade)

section: Events and trends

section: Culture & Society

text: The Hopewell tradition (North America) ceases to be the dominant culture (approximate date).

title: 600

section: Events › By place › Meso- and South America

text: The town of Cholula is founded in central Mexico (later said to be the oldest continuously occupied town in all of North America).

title: 620

section: Events › By place › America

section: Science & Discovery

date: May 1

text: 1 May – A solar eclipse affects areas along a line from Central America, through eastern North America, the North Atlantic, Ireland, Great Britain and Germany.

title: 664

section: Events › By place › North America & Europe

text: Vikings, led by Leif Erikson, establish small settlements in and around Vinland in North America (approximate date).

title: 1001

section: Events › By place › North America

date: April 30

text: April 30 – The brightest supernova ever recorded, SN 1006, occurs in the constellation of Lupus. It is observed and described in China, Japan, Iraq, Egypt, and Europe and possibly depicted in North American rock art. Modern astronomers now consider its distance at about 7,200 light-years. The supernova provides enough light to read by on a night with a dark moon.

title: 1006

section: Events › By topic › Astronomy

text: Viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni attempts to found a settlement in North America (approximate date).

title: 1010

section: Events › By place › American

text: The Welsh prince Madoc (son of King Owain ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd) sails to North America, in his ship the Gwennan Gorn, and founds a colony.

title: 1170

section: Events › By topic › Folklore

text: According to fringe theorists, the Scottish explorer Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, reaches North America.

title: 1398

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Gaspar Corte-Real, Portuguese navigator, makes the first documented European landing in North America since c. 1000 A.D.

title: 1501

date: April 2

text: April 2 – Juan Ponce de León and his expedition become the first Europeans known to visit Florida, landing somewhere on the east coast. One of the expedition, Juan Garrido, becomes the first African known to visit North America.

title: 1513

section: Events › April–June

text: The first printing press in North America is set up in Mexico City.

title: 1539

section: Events › Undated

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay, Florida with 600 soldiers, with the goal of finding gold. He also introduces pigs into North America.

title: 1539

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Massive flooding of the Mississippi River and the Arkansas River begins in southeastern North America over a 40 day period while Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his team are passing through. The event is noted by the chronicler of the DeSoto Expedition, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

title: 1543

section: Events › January–March

date: June 11

text: June 11 – Humphrey Gilbert is granted letters patent from the English crown to establish a colony in North America.

title: 1578

text: French Huguenot Pierre de Gua is granted royal permission to settle in North America, founding the colony of Acadia.

title: 1603

date: January 1

text: January 1 – The New Netherland Company is granted a three-year monopoly in North American trade, between the 40th and 45th parallels.

title: 1615

text: The first book to be printed in North America (the Bay Psalm Book) is published.

title: 1640

date: September 19

text: September 19 – Treaty of Hartford: the English Commonwealth's Connecticut Colony and the Dutch Republic's colony of New Netherland establish their frontiers in North America.

title: 1650

section: Events › July–September

section: Religion & Belief

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Jewish arrival in New Amsterdam: 23 Sephardic Jews arrive as refugees from Brazil and settle in New Amsterdam, forming the nucleus of what will be the second largest urban Jewish community in history, that of New York City, and of Congregation Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in North America.

title: 1654

text: Jean Talon completes a census of New France, the first census in North America.

title: 1666

date: January 27

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

title: 1678

date: April 10

text: April 10 – A total eclipse of the Sun takes place over North America, with its peak over the region occupied by the Lakota Sioux people in modern-day South Dakota.

title: 1679

date: February 13

text: February 13 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony issues the first paper money in North America, in lieu of coins, two months after a December 20 law authorizing the printing. The oldest known specimen, for 20 Massachusetts shillings bears the date "Feb. 3, 1690" based on the British old style calendar in use at the time.

title: 1691

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The Recruiting Act 1703 goes into effect in England, providing for the forcible enlistment of able-bodied but unemployed men into the English Army and Royal Navy in order to fight in Queen Anne's War in North America. The Act expires at the end of February 1704.

title: 1703

text: The first Amish move to North America.

title: 1727

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America.

title: 1734

section: Events › January– March

date: June 16

text: June 16 – King George's War: The British capture Cape Breton Island in North America from the French.

title: 1745

date: March 22

text: March 22 – Royal assent is given to the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765, historically referred to as the Stamp Act, imposing the first direct tax levied from Great Britain on the thirteen American colonies, effective November 1. The revenue measure (which requires the purchase of a stamp to be affixed for validation of all legal documents, but also to licensed newspapers and even playing cards and dice) is made to help defray the costs for British military operations in North America, including the French and Indian War.

title: 1765

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: March 27

text: March 27 (Good Friday) – The Great Alaskan earthquake, the second-most powerful known (and the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history) at a magnitude of 9.2, strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.

title: 1964

section: Events › March

text: October 18 – The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in North America, helping revitalize the home video game industry after the video game crash of 1983.

title: 1985

section: Events › October

date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Nintendo 3DS has its first release in Japan, following later releases in Europe on March 25, North America on March 27, and Australia on March 31.

title: 2011

section: Events › February


slug: north-carolina-general-assembly

label: North Carolina General Assembly

description: legislature of North Carolina

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Royal Colony of North Carolina Governor George Burrington asks the North Carolina General Assembly to pass an act establishing a town on the Cape Fear River, in what is seen as a political move to shift the power away from the powerful Cape Fear plantation class. The town is laid out in 1733, and incorporated as Wilmington in 1740.

title: 1731

section: Culture & Society

date: February 20

text: February 20 – The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the town of Newton as Wilmington, North Carolina, named for Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington and patron of Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston.

title: 1740

text: The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Kingston, named for King George III, as the county seat of Dobbs County, North Carolina. The name is later shortened to Kinston in 1784.

title: 1762

date: March 12

text: March 12 – The North Carolina General Assembly establishes Wake County (named for Margaret Wake, the wife of North Carolina Royal Governor William Tryon) from portions of Cumberland, Johnston and Orange counties. Bloomsberry (later known as Wake Courthouse) is made the informal county seat.

title: 1771

section: Climate & Environment

text: To avoid severe flooding, Martinsborough, North Carolina is moved to higher ground 3 mi km west. The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Martinsborough as the new seat of Pitt County, 3 years after its founding.

title: 1774

date: January 29

text: January 29 – After a second petition for partition from its residents, the North Carolina General Assembly abolishes Bute County, North Carolina (established 1764) by dividing it and naming the northern portion Warren County (for Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren), the southern portion Franklin County (for Benjamin Franklin). The General Assembly also establishes Warrenton (also named for Joseph Warren) to be the seat of Warren County, and Louisburg (named for Louis XVI of France) to be the seat of Franklin County.

title: 1779

text: The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Washington, North Carolina.

title: 1782

text: The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the town of Morgansborough, named for Daniel Morgan. The town is designated as the county seat for Burke County, North Carolina and is subsequently renamed Morgan, later shortened to Morganton.

title: 1784

text: The town of Martinsborough, North Carolina, named for Royal Governor Josiah Martin in 1771, is renamed "Greenesville" in honor of United States General Nathanael Greene by the North Carolina General Assembly (the name "Greenesville" is later shortened, to become Greenville).

title: 1786

text: The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Waynesborough, and designates it the seat for Wayne County, North Carolina. The town becomes extinct after 1865.

title: 1787

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town.

title: 1847

text: January 27 – The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the North Carolina Railroad, to complete a rail line from Goldsboro through Raleigh, and Salisbury to Charlotte.

title: 1849

date: January 20

text: January 20 – The North Carolina General Assembly in the United States charters the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, to run from Goldsboro through New Bern, to the newly created seaport of Morehead City, near Beaufort.

title: 1854

date: February 15

text: February 15 – The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the Western North Carolina Railroad, to build a rail line from Salisbury to the western part of the state.

title: 1855


slug: north-carolina

label: North Carolina

description: state of the United States of America

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: March 21

text: March 21 – da Verrazzano's expedition makes landfall at Cape Fear at what is later the U.S. state of North Carolina.

title: 1524

date: January

text: January – A Spanish force under the command of Captain Juan Pardo establishes Fort San Juan, in the Native American settlement of Joara. The fort is the first European settlement in modern-day North Carolina.

title: 1567

date: June 4

text: June 4 – Walter Raleigh sends Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore the Outer Banks of Virginia (modern-day North Carolina), with a view to establishing an English colony; they locate Roanoke Island.

title: 1584

date: January 7

text: January 7 – Sir Walter Raleigh appoints John White to be the Governor of the Roanoke Colony, to be established later in the year by English colonists on Roanoke Island off the coast of the modern-day U.S. state of North Carolina. White and 121 other colonists depart from Portsmouth on three ships on May 8 and arrive at Croatoan Island on July 22.

title: 1587

date: July 22

text: July 22 – Roanoke Colony: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off North Carolina, to re-establish the deserted colony.

title: 1587

date: March 8

text: March 8 – The Province of Carolina incorporates the town of Bath, making it the first incorporated town in modern-day North Carolina. The town becomes the political center and de facto capital of the northern portion of the Province of Carolina until Edenton is incorporated in 1722.

title: 1705

text: January – Cary's Rebellion: The Lords Proprietor appoint Edward Hyde to replace Thomas Cary, as the governor of the North Carolina portion of the Province of Carolina. Hyde's policies are deemed hostile to Quaker interests, leading former governor Cary and his Quaker allies to take up arms against the province.

title: 1711

text: After many years of settlement, the Town on Queen Anne's Creek is established as a courthouse for Chowan County, North Carolina. The town is renamed Edenton in 1720, and incorporated in 1722.

title: 1712

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Tuscarora War: Fort Neoheroka falls to the Carolina militia, effectively ending the Tuscarora nation's military strength. Two Tuscaroran allies, the Machapunga and Coree tribes, continue offensive actions against North Carolina.

title: 1713

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Pirates Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet accidentally run aground in the ship Queen Anne's Revenge after sailing into Topsail Inlet in the British colony of North Carolina. Learning of the royal pardon available to all pirates who surrender before September 5, Teach negotiates a settlement with Colonial Governor Charles Eden for a pardon for himself, Bonnet and the rest of his crew in return for the Governor receiving some of the pirates' plunder.

title: 1718

section: Events › April – June

date: May 22

text: May 22 – Sailing the Queen Anne's Revenge English pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, leads 400 sailors in four ships, and blockades the port of Charleston, South Carolina for an entire week, plundering all arriving ships. After their departure, Queen Anne's Revenge and Adventure are both lost at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina; a week later. Blackbeard allows Stede Bonnet to command the Revenge (which is renamed the Royal James) once again. Bonnet rescues 25 sailors abandoned by Blackbeard on a sandbar and continues his life of piracy.

title: 1718

date: September 27

text: September 27 – The Battle of Cape Fear River begins as pirate Stede Bonnet and his crew on the Royal James are confronted in North Carolina by Colonel William Rhett and the ships Henry and Sea Nymph.

title: 1718

text: The Tuscarora people leave North Carolina as a result of European colonization.

title: 1720

text: The Town on Queen Anne's Creek, North Carolina is renamed Edenton, in honor of North Carolina Governor Charles Eden; it is incorporated in 1722.

title: 1720

date: November 23

text: November 23 – The Province of Carolina charters New Bern as Newbern (the town later becomes the capital of North Carolina until Raleigh is founded).

title: 1723

section: Events › October–December

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Seven of the original eight Lords Proprietor of the Province of Carolina sell their shares back to the British crown. The 1710 division of the Province is made permanent and the area is reorganized into the Royal Colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina.

title: 1729

date: August 25

text: August 25 – The first group of the United Brethren church, commonly called the Moravians, leaves Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on a mission to find 100000 acre of land on which to build "Villages of the Lord" for German emigres to settle upon in America; after a 450 mile journey, they arrive in Edenton, North Carolina on September 10 and eventually purchase the Wachovia Tract, a set of lands in the western North Carolina colony.

title: 1752

date: August 7

text: August 7 – The Unity of Brethren, a branch of the Moravian Church, receives a grant the Wachovia Tract, 99985 acre km2 of land (approximately 157 square miles), in western North Carolina, for the benefit of German-speaking immigrants to America. The area now includes Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

title: 1753

date: September 2

text: September 2 – A powerful hurricane strikes the east coast of the British colony of North Carolina, killing 150 people and sinking five British and colonial merchant ships at Portsmouth Island.

title: 1755

text: The Royal Colony of North Carolina establishes a new county from the eastern portion of Granville County and names it Bute County for John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who had recently resigned his post as Prime Minister of Great Britain. In 1779 the State of North Carolina abolishes the county, when it forms Warren County from the northern portion and Franklin County from the southern portion.

title: 1764

date: October 25

text: October 25 – The Edenton Tea Party takes place in North Carolina, marking the first major gathering of women in support of the American cause.

title: 1774

date: December 21

text: December 21 – American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina reorganizes into the State of North Carolina after adopting its own constitution. Richard Caswell becomes the first governor of the newly formed state.

title: 1776

section: Events › November–December

title: 1779

date: October 22

text: October 22 – North Carolina rescinds its resolution ceding its western territory (Washington District, modern-day Tennessee) to the United States, after earlier giving Congress two years to accept the terms.

title: 1784

date: November 21

text: November 21 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the 12th U.S. state.

title: 1789

date: February 25

text: February 25 – North Carolina cedes its western territories (modern day Tennessee) to the federal government.

title: 1790

date: March 20

text: March 20 – A new capital of North Carolina, and seat of the newly formed Wake County, is established after North Carolina State senator and surveyor William Christmas submits his design for the city. A few months later, the capital is officially named Raleigh, in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh.

title: 1792

section: Births

date: September 5

text: September 5 – William Alexander Graham, United States Senator from North Carolina (1840–1843), Confederate States Senator (1864–1865) (d. 1875)

title: 1804

section: Births › July–December

text: October 25 – Construction begins on the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in North Carolina. Due to a lack of support in Raleigh, the route is revised to run from Wilmington to the Petersburg Railroad in Weldon.

title: 1836

text: Duke University is established in North Carolina.

title: 1838

date: December

text: December – The Western Railroad is chartered to build a railroad from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to the coal fields of Egypt, North Carolina.

title: 1852

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: September 12

text: September 12 – The sinks off the coast of North Carolina with the loss of 425 lives.

title: 1857

date: June 17

text: June 17 – The Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad opens, operating 95 miles from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to New Bern, North Carolina.

title: 1858

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse is lighted for the first time (its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles).

title: 1859

text: April 26 – American Civil War: Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, at Durham Station, North Carolina.

title: 1865

text: January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Union forces launch a major amphibious assault against the last seaport held by the Confederates, Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

title: 1865

text: March 22 – In North Carolina, William Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.

title: 1871

text: August 11 – William Alexander Graham, United States Senator from North Carolina, (1840–1843), Confederate States Senator (1864–1865) (b. 1804)

title: 1875

text: March 11 – The North Carolina Legislature issues a charter for the creation of Elon College.

title: 1889

text: October 15 – Hurricane Hazel makes U.S. landfall; it is the only recorded Category 4 hurricane to strike as far north as North Carolina

title: 1954

text: August 17–20 – Hurricane Bob hits North Carolina and New England, killing 17 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage.

title: 1991

text: September 3 – In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.

title: 1991

text: March 23 – Green Ramp disaster: two military aircraft collide over Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, United States, causing 24 fatalities.

title: 1994

text: July 12 – Hurricane Bertha: made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 storm, causing $270 million in damage ($ in present-day terms) to the United States and its possessions and many indirect deaths.

title: 1996

text: September 5 – Hurricane Fran makes landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina as a Category 3 storm with 115 mph sustained winds. Fran caused over $3 billion in damages ($ in present-day terms) and killed 27 people, mainly in North Carolina. The name "Fran" was retired due to the extensive damage.

title: 1996

text: September 18 – Hurricane Isabel makes landfall in North Carolina.

title: 2003


slug: north-korea

label: North Korea

description: sovereign state in East Asia

section: Conflict & Security

text: December – Goryeo–Khitan War: Khitan forces of the Liao dynasty invade Goryeo (North Korea). Goryeo forces led by General Kang Kam-ch'an annihilates the Khitan army at Kusong.

title: 1018

section: Events › By place › Asia

date: September 9

text: September 9 – Japanese troops in Keijō (modern-day Seoul) formally relinquish control over Southern Korea to the United States Army Military Government in Korea, while Soviet forces control Northern Korea from Heijō (modern-day Pyongyang), effectively ending 35 years of Korea under Japanese rule and beginning the Division of Korea at the 38th parallel.

title: 1945

section: Events › September

date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) established its first diplomatic and friendly relations with newly proclaimed Communist China (PRC) between the two nations.

title: 1949

date: June 25

text: June 25 – The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People's Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.

title: 1950

section: Events › June

date: January 4

text: January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).

title: 1951

section: Events › January

date: July 27

text: July 27 – The Korean War ends, with the Korean Armistice Agreement: The United Nations Command (Korea) (United States), China and North Korea sign an armistice agreement at Panmunjom, and the north remains communist, while the south remains capitalist. No formal peace treaty is ever signed.

title: 1953

section: Events › July

date: November 2

text: November 2 – North Korean commandos ambush a UN command control consisting of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

title: 1966

section: Events › November

date: April 15

text: April 15 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

title: 1969

section: Events › April

date: August 18

text: August 18 – At Panmunjom, North Korea, two United States soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Korean Demilitarized Zone which has obscured their view.

title: 1976

section: Events › August

date: December 1

text: December 1 – Laura Ling, American journalist imprisoned by North Korea in 2009

title: 1976

section: Births › December

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 19

text: September 19 – North Korean agents abduct Yutaka Kume from Noto Peninsula starting the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.

title: 1977

date: July 1

text: July 1 – A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet, en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea, crashes into the Fouta Djall Mountains of Guinea, killing all 23 people on board.

title: 1983

date: October 9

text: October 9 – The Rangoon bombing kills South Korea's Foreign Minister, Lee Bum Suk, and 21 others. The perpetrators are believed to be North Koreans.

title: 1983

section: Economy & Finance

date: March 12

text: March 12 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea announces that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites, beginning the 1993–94 North Korean Nuclear Crisis.

title: 1993

section: Deaths

date: July 8

text: July 8 – North Korean President Kim Il Sung dies, but officially continues to hold office.

title: 1994

text: September 5 – The Government of North Korea adopts a military dictatorship on its 50th anniversary. The constitution is amended, and the late Kim Il Sung is enshrined as the eternal President.

title: 1998

date: February 10

text: February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it says it perceives from the United States.

title: 2005

text: September 19 – North Korea agrees to stop building nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and cooperation.

title: 2005

date: February 13

text: February 13 – North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization, receiving in return energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

title: 2007

date: July 11

text: July 11 – South Korea suspends all trips to North Korea's Mount Kumgang after a 53-year-old South Korean tourist is shot and killed by a North Korean sentry.

title: 2008

section: Science & Discovery

date: April 5

text: April 5 – North Korea launches a rocket from its Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, which it says is carrying the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

title: 2009

section: Health & Medicine

date: May 25

text: May 25 – North Korea announces that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in North Hamgyong Province. The United Nations Security Council condemns the reported test.

title: 2009

section: Events › May

date: March 26

text: March 26 – The ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 personnel, sinks off the country's west coast, killing 46. In May, an independent investigation blames North Korea, which denies the allegations.

title: 2010

text: November 23 – North Korea shells Yeonpyeong Island, prompting a military response by South Korea. The incident causes an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and prompts widespread international condemnation. The United Nations declares it to be one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War.

title: 2010

date: April 13

text: April 13 – Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, explodes shortly after launch. The United States and other countries had called the impending launch a violation of United Nations Security Council demands. The launch was planned to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the republic.

title: 2012

date: December 12

text: December 12 – North Korea successfully launches satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2.

title: 2012

section: Events › December

date: February 12

text: February 12 – North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.

title: 2013

date: February 7

text: February 7 – North Korea launches a reconnaissance satellite named Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into space, it is condemned internationally as a long-range ballistic missile test.

title: 2016

text: September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".

title: 2016

date: February 11

text: February 11 – North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.

title: 2017

text: February 13 – Assassination of Kim Jong-nam: Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the half-brother of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed after being attacked by two women with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

title: 2017

date: September

text: United States Passports become invalid to travel to North Korea, in response to the death of Otto Warmbier.

title: 2017

date: September 3

text: September 3 – North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

title: 2017

text: April 27 – 2018-19 Korean peace process: Kim Jong Un crosses into South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross the Demilitarized Zone since its creation in 1953.

title: 2018

text: May 24 – Foreign journalists report that tunnels in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been destroyed by the North Korean government in a move to reduce regional tensions.

title: 2018

text: May 5 – In North Korea, clocks are adjusted to UTC+9 (GMT+09:00) to the same as South Korea

title: 2018

text: June 20–21 – Chinese President Xi Jinping makes a state visit to North Korea. It is his first visit to the country as president and the first visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader since Hu Jintao's visit 14 years prior.

title: 2019

text: June 16 – North Korea demolishes the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, established in 2018 to improve relations.

title: 2020

text: September 14 – North Korea demonstrates two short-range ballistic missiles that land just outside Japan's territorial waters; and then only hours later South Korea demonstrates its first submarine-launched ballistic missile.

title: 2021

text: December 3 – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law during a late-night address broadcast live on YTN television, accusing the country's main opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea and engaging in anti-state activities.

title: 2024


slug: north-macedonia

label: North Macedonia

description: country in southeastern Europe

section: Climate & Environment

text: An earthquake destroys the city of Scupi (modern-day Skopje, North Macedonia), in what once was the Roman province of Moesia Superior.

title: 518

section: Events › By place › Balkans

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Balkans are freely overrun by the Slavs, who settle in large numbers in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia and parts of Greece. The western territories of modern-day Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia and Dalmatia) suffer raids from the Avars, who settle in this region.

title: 615

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Kuber, brother of Asparukh of Bulgaria, defeats the Avars in Syrmia (Pannonia). He leads his followers of around 70,000 people to Macedonia (modern North Macedonia).

title: 685

section: Religion & Belief

text: Naum of Preslav, a Bulgarian missionary, founds a monastery on the shores of Lake Ohrid (modern-day North Macedonia), which later receives his name.

title: 905

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Clement of Ohrid, Bulgarian scholar, writer and enlightener of the Slavs, dies. He is regarded as the first bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the founder of the first Slavic Literary School. Clement is buried in his monastery, Saint Panteleimon, in Ohrid (modern North Macedonia).

title: 916

text: Battle of Skopje: Emperor Basil II defeats the Bulgarian forces near Skopje (modern North Macedonia). Leaving his army behind, Samuel of Bulgaria manages to escape. Basil continues his campaign and besieges the fortress of Pernik. By the end of the year Basil has reconquered about half of the Bulgarian Empire.

title: 1004

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

date: May 14

text: May 14 – The Siege of Svetigrad is started by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II against an Albanian fortress at Svetigrad, now Kodžadžik in North Macedonia. After two and a half months, the siege is successful in capturing the fortress.

title: 1448

section: Events › April–June

date: September 15

text: September 15 – At the Battle of Ohrid in what is now North Macedonia, ends with the Albanian leader Skanderbeg and a supplementary force from the Venetian Republic, luring an estimated 10,000 Ottoman Empire soldiers out of the walled city of Ohrid, then captures the group as prisoners and seizes the city.

title: 1464

section: Events › July–September

section: Culture & Society

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Dimitri Atanasescu founds the first Romanian school in the Balkans for Aromanians in Trnovo, in the Ottoman Empire (modern-day North Macedonia). By the early 20th century, the number of these schools will have risen to 106.

title: 1864

date: July 26

text: July 26 – An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,800 dead.

title: 1963

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Dissolution of Yugoslavia: The Republic of Macedonia becomes independent, beginning a name dispute with Greece.

title: 1991

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: November 20

text: November 20 – An Avioimpex Yakovlev Yak-42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, North Macedonia. All 8 crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.

title: 1993

date: June 12

text: June 12 – Greece and the Republic of Macedonia reach a deal to end a 27-year naming dispute between both countries, which would result in Macedonia being officially renamed the Republic of North Macedonia.

title: 2018

text: February 12 – The Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia, officially ending a decades-old dispute with Greece and paving the way for the former's integration into NATO and the EU.

title: 2019

section: Events › February

date: May 8

text: May 8 – In North Macedonian elections, the right-wing party VMRO-DPMNE wins in a landslide in the parliamentary elections, while its presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is elected as the first female president of the country in the second round of the presidential election.

title: 2024


slug: north-pole

label: North Pole

description: one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Led by George W. De Long, the ill-fated United States Jeannette Expedition departs San Francisco, in an attempt to reach the North Pole, by pioneering a route through the Bering Strait.

title: 1879

section: Events › July

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Frederick Cook claims to have reached the North Pole on this date.

title: 1908

section: Events › April

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Robert Peary sets sail for the North Pole.

title: 1908

date: April 6

text: April 6 – Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and four Inuit explorers – Ootah, Ooqueah, Seegloo and Egigingwah – come within a few miles of the North Pole.

title: 1909

section: Events › March–April

section: Science & Discovery

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Roald Amundsen and his crew fly over the North Pole, in the airship Norge.

title: 1926

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Explorer Richard E. Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett claim to be the first to fly over the North Pole in the Josephine Ford monoplane, taking off from Spitsbergen, Norway and returning 15 hours and 44 minutes later. Both men are immediately hailed as national heroes, though some experts have since been skeptical of the claim, believing that the plane was unlikely to have covered the entire distance and back in that short an amount of time. An entry in Byrd's diary, discovered in 1996, suggests that the plane actually turned back 150 miles short of the North Pole, due to an oil leak.

title: 1926

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The airship Italia crashes at the North Pole; one of the occupants is Italian general Umberto Nobile. A rescue expedition leaves for the Pole on May 30. Roald Amundsen will be among those who lose their lives in the search for survivors.

title: 1928

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: August 3

text: August 3 – The nuclear-powered submarine becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.

title: 1958

section: Events › August

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The fourth International Polar Year, a $1.73 billion research program to study both the North Pole and South Pole, is launched in Paris.

title: 2007

section: Events › March

date: June 10

text: June 10 – An annular solar eclipse is visible from Canada, Greenland, the North Pole, and the Russian Far East.

title: 2021

section: Events › June


slug: north-sea

label: North Sea

description: marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean

year_label: 56 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Autumn – Julius Caesar leads an attack on the Morini and the Menapii tribes of the Belgae on the North Sea. They withdraw into their forests, creating difficulties for Caesar's supply lines. The onset of bad weather forces him to pull back into Gallia Belgica.

title: 56 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 13 BCE

text: Drusus is granted governor of Gaul and mobilises a Roman army to beat the Germans back across the Rhine. He travels to the North Sea and pays tribute to the Frisii.

title: 13 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Far from Carausius' fleet, in the rivers of Gaul, Maximian builds a fleet to contest control of the North Sea and re-take Britain.

title: 288

text: Radbod, king of the Frisians, retreats to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea (approximate date).

title: 697

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: King Charlemagne issues the Capitulare Saxonicum, making Westphalian, Angrian and Eastphalian Saxons equal to other peoples in the Frankish Kingdom. The Nordalbian Saxons revolt; a Frankish fleet is sent to the North Sea coast of Germany. It lands in Hadeln, a marshy coastal region between the Weser and Elbe estuaries, near modern-day Cuxhaven. Charlemagne invades northern Saxony, and again accepts the submission of the Saxons.

title: 797

section: Climate & Environment

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Great floods around the North Sea and English Channel.

title: 1099

section: Events › By topic › Natural events

text: The Zeeland archipelago is created by a massive storm in the North Sea.

title: 1134

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

text: Frederick I grants Hamburg the status of a free imperial city and tax-free access (or free-trade zone) up the Lower Elbe into the North Sea. He also grants the right to fish, to cut trees and the freedom of military service.

title: 1189

section: Events › By place › Continental Europe

date: December 14

text: December 14 – A huge storm and associated storm tide in the North Sea and English Channel, known as St. Lucia's flood in the Netherlands, kills thousands and reshapes the coastline of the Netherlands and England. In the Netherlands, a fringing barrier between the North Sea and a shallow lake collapses, causing the fifth-largest flood in recorded history – which creates the Zuider Zee inlet, and kills over 50,000 people. It also gives sea access to Amsterdam, allowing its development as an important port city.

title: 1287

date: January 16

text: January 16 – The "Grote Mandrenke" storm tide strikes the Netherlands, England, Germany and Denmark, destroying the Danish settlement of Rungholt in the Duchy of Schleswig, and the Humber estuary port of Ravenser Odd in England. The East Frisian island of Buise is broken into two by North Sea floods.

title: 1362

section: Events › January–December

text: May 24 – The Treaty of Stralsund ends the second war between Denmark and the Hanseatic League, an alliance of market towns across northern Europe along the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

title: 1370

date: May 14

text: May 14 – The two-day Battle of Sluys concludes on the North Sea off of the coast of the Netherlands as England's Royal Navy, led by the Admiral, Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester attempts to blockade the Flemish port of Sluis and more than 100 ships stationed there. Jean de Vienne, Admiral of France, makes a successful counter-attack and the Royal Navy ships sail back to England to defend London.

title: 1385

date: November 19

text: November 19 – The St. Elizabeth's flood of the North Sea devastates parts of Flanders, Zeeland and Holland.

title: 1404

section: Events › October–December

date: November 17

text: November 17–19 – St. Elizabeth's flood: The coastal area near Dordrecht in the Netherlands is flooded, due to the extremely high tide of the North Sea; 72 villages are drowned, killing about 10,000 people, and the course of the Meuse is changed.

title: 1421

date: February 22

text: February 22 – St. Peter's Flood: A first storm tide in the North Sea strikes the coast of Germany, drowning thousands. The island of Juist is split in half, and the western half of Buise is probably washed away.

title: 1651

section: Events › January–March

date: October 8

text: October 8 – First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of the Kentish Knock – In a battle fought near the shoal called the Kentish Knock in the North Sea, about 30 km mi from the mouth of the River Thames, the Dutch are forced to withdraw.

title: 1652

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Western Europe's Great Frost of 1709, the coldest period in 500 years, begins during the night, lasting three months, with its effects felt for the entire year. In France, the Atlantic coast and Seine River freeze, crops fail, and 24,000 Parisians die. Floating ice enters the North Sea.

title: 1709

date: December 24

text: December 24–25 – Christmas flood: A disastrous flood hits the North Sea coast, between the Netherlands and Denmark; thousands die or lose their houses.

title: 1717

date: August 18

text: August 18 – The 1783 Great Meteor passes on a 1,000-mile track across the North Sea, Great Britain and France, prompting scientific discussion.

title: 1783

date: June 21

text: June 21 – The Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea to the Baltic across the base of the Jutland peninsula in Germany, is officially opened.

title: 1895

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Sweden's Department of Foreign Affairs hosts a conference for delegates from Germany, Denmark, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and Sweden to make agreements on fishing in the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

title: 1899

date: October 21

text: October 21 – Russo-Japanese War: Dogger Bank incident – The Russian Baltic Fleet fires on British trawlers it mistakes for Japanese torpedo boats, in the North Sea.

title: 1904

section: Events › October

date: September 9

text: September 9 – Helgoland Island air disaster: The first fatalities aboard a German airship occur, when the Imperial German Navy Zeppelin dirigible LZ 14 is forced down into the North Sea off Heligoland during a thunderstorm, killing 16 of the 22 men on board.

title: 1913

section: Events › September

date: May 31

text: May 31–June 1 – WWI: Battle of Jutland, between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, the war's only large-scale clash of battleships. The result is tactically inconclusive, but British dominance of the North Sea is maintained

title: 1916

section: Events › May

text: December 24 – WWII: Fifty German V-1 flying bombs, air-launched from Heinkel He 111 bombers flying over the North Sea, target Manchester in England, killing 42 and injuring more than 100 in the Oldham area.

title: 1944

section: Events › December

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Storm over the North Sea: Belgian pirate radio station Radio Uylenspiegel is knocked off the airwaves, never to operate again.

title: 1962

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Heavy storms and high tides result in the North Sea flood of 1962 on Germany's North Sea coast, mainly around Hamburg; more than 300 people die and thousands lose their homes.

title: 1962

text: December 24 – The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea.

title: 1969

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Norway begins oil production in the North Sea.

title: 1971

text: July 6 – The Piper Alpha production platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires, killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners. 61 workers survive.

title: 1988

text: September 8 – Partnair Flight 394 crashes into the North Sea with the loss of 125 lives. The accident was due to the structural failure of the rudder of the Convair 580 caused by the use of counterfeit aircraft parts.

title: 1989