slug: war-of-the-spanish-succession

label: War of the Spanish Succession

description: major European conflict (1700–1714) after the death of Charles II

section: Culture & Society

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Louis XIV of France accepts the Spanish crown on behalf of his grandson Philip of Anjou of the House of Bourbon, who becomes Philip V of Spain (reigning for 44 years – with a short break – to 1746), thus triggering the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714).

title: 1700

section: Conflict & Security

text: July 9 – The Battle of Carpi, the first skirmish in the War of the Spanish Succession, takes place in Italy when French troops under the command of Nicolas Catinat are attacked by Austrian forces led by Prince Eugene of Savoy.

title: 1701

date: August 15

text: August 15 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Luzzara – Forces of the Holy Roman Empire fail to break through the French-Savoyard position in Lombardy.

title: 1702

date: February 1

text: February 1 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Cremona: The Duc de Villeroy, commander of the French Army, is taken as a prisoner of war by the Austrian Army.

title: 1702

date: June 2

text: June 2 – English General John Churchill, later the Duke of Marlborough, takes command of the alliance of English, Dutch and German troops in the War of the Spanish Succession.

title: 1702

text: May 14 (N.S.) – War of the Spanish Succession: War is declared on France by the Grand Alliance (Kingdom of England, Dutch Republic and Holy Roman Empire).

title: 1702

date: September 30

text: September 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Cádiz – A month-long Anglo-Dutch amphibious operation under English Admiral Sir George Rooke fails to take the Spanish port.

title: 1702

date: February 20

text: February 20–March 10 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Kehl – French forces under the command of the Duc de Villars capture the fortress of the Holy Roman Empire at Kehl, opposite Strasbourg on the Rhine.

title: 1703

text: November 15 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Speyerbach (in modern-day Germany) – The French defeat a German relief army, allowing the French to take the besieged town of Landau two days later, for which Tallard is made a Marshal of France.

title: 1703

date: September 12

text: September 12 – War of the Spanish Succession: Habsburg Archduke Charles is proclaimed King of Spain, but never exercises full rule.

title: 1703

date: September 7

text: September 7 – War of the Spanish Succession: The town of Breisach is retaken for France by Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard.

title: 1703

date: August 3

text: August 3 (July 23 Old Style) – War of the Spanish Succession – Gibraltar is captured from Spain, by English and Dutch forces under Sir George Rooke.

title: 1704

date: March 23

text: March 23 – War of the Spanish Succession: The English Navy ships HMS Kent, HMS Bedford and HMS Antelope intercept two newly-built Spanish warships, Porta Coeli and Santa Teresa off of the coast of Cape Spartel, as the Spaniards attempt to sail into the Strait of Gibraltar. The two Spanish ships are captured after a seven-hour battle and taken toward Lisbon, but the Santa Teresa sinks along the way.

title: 1704

date: March 7

text: March 7 – War of the Spanish Succession: Prince Karl of Habsburg, brother of Joseph I, the Holy Roman Emperor and a pretender to the throne of Spain, arrives in Portugal on the English warship HMS Royal Katherine as part of George Rooke's English fleet sailing into Lisbon.

title: 1704

text: September 12 – War of the Spanish Succession: The siege of the French-held German town of Landau, by Holy Roman Empire troops under the command of Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden begins and lasts for more than ten weeks before the French surrender on November 23. During the siege, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I visits the area in a newly-developed vehicle, a convertible horse-drawn carriage that has a removable roof. The style of vehicle itself is later called a "landau".

title: 1704

date: August 31

text: August 31–September 5 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Zoutleeuw is carried out by the alliance of Dutch, English, Scottish and Holy Roman Empire troops against the French-held fortress of Zoutleeuw (in modern-day Belgium).

title: 1705

date: July 18

text: July 18 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Battle of Elixheim is fought near the city of Tienen (in modern-day Belgium). A troop of soldiers under the command of England's Duke of Marlborough kills 3,000 French troops under the command of the Duc de Valleroy and forces the retreat of the others, breaking the "Lines of Brabant". Because his soldiers have marched all night and then fought the battle over a full day, Marlborough is unable to send them in pursuit of Villeroy's troops.

title: 1705

text: April 27 – War of the Spanish Succession: After a siege of 14 days, a French and Spanish army fails to take control of Barcelona, which had been captured by Habsburg armies in 1705.

title: 1706

date: August 4

text: August 4 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Spanish Bourbon armies of King Philip V retake Madrid from the Portuguese and Habsburg Austria troops that had entered the city in June.

title: 1706

date: June 28

text: June 28 – War of the Spanish Succession: Troops dispatched from Portugal capture Madrid and proclaim the Habsburg dynasty's Archduke Charles of Austria to be the King Carlos III of Spain, after the Bourbon ruler, Philip V, has fled.

title: 1706

date: May 23

text: May 23 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Ramillies: English, Dutch, German, Swiss and Scottish troops led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeat Franco-Bavarian forces in the Low Countries.

title: 1706

date: April 25

text: April 25 (April 14 Old Style) – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Almansa: The Bourbon army of Spain and France (with Irish mercenaries) under the French-born Englishman James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, soundly defeats the allied forces of Portugal, England, and the Dutch Republic led by the French-born Huguenot (in English service) Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway. Following this, Philip V of Spain promulgates the first Nueva Planta decrees, bringing the Kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon under the laws of the Crown of Castile.

title: 1707

date: July 29

text: July 29–August 21 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Toulon: The Allies are obliged to withdraw, but the French fleet is effectively put out of action.

title: 1707

section: Events › July– September

date: November 30

text: November 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Pensacola ends, with the Spanish successfully defending their fort.

title: 1707

section: Events › October– December

date: September 18

text: September 18–October 4 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, led by troops under the command of Alexandre Maître, begins and lasts for 16 days. On the final day, General Maitre begins the attack that takes the fortress within 45 minutes.

title: 1707

text: September 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: the conquest by Austrian troops, of the Italian peninsula city state of Gaeta, is accomplished after a three-month siege led by General Wirich Philipp von Daun.

title: 1707

date: July 11

text: July 11 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Oudenarde – Allied forces under the command of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeat the French in the Spanish Netherlands.

title: 1708

section: Events › July–December

date: June 8

text: June 8 – War of the Spanish Succession: Wager's Action, a naval confrontation, takes place between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet off Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea. Spanish galleon San José explodes and sinks with the loss of almost all her 600 crew and an estimated 8.8 million ounces troy weight in gold; her wreck is located in 2015.

title: 1708

section: Events › January–June

date: October 12

text: October 12 – War of the Spanish Succession: Dutch, British and Austrian forces capture Lille after a two-month siege, although the citadel continues to hold out for another six weeks.

title: 1708

date: July 30

text: July 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: Tournai is captured by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy.

title: 1709

date: October 9

text: October 9 – War of the Spanish Succession: The British army captures Mons.

title: 1709

date: August 20

text: August 20 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Saragossa: The Spanish-Bourbon army, commanded by the Marquis de Bay, is soundly defeated by the forces of the Habsburg monarchy, under Guido Starhemberg and their allies.

title: 1710

date: December 10

text: December 10 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Villaviciosa: The indecisive battle between retreating Austrian-Dutch forces and a Franco-Spanish army is fought out.

title: 1710

text: December 8 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Brihuega: An outnumbered British force under James Stanhope is forced to surrender.

title: 1710

text: July 27 – The Battle of Almenar takes place in the Iberian theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession.

title: 1710

text: August 9 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough with an army of 30,000 besieges Bouchain in the War of the Spanish Succession. The siege lasts 34 days and results in the last major victory for Churchill.

title: 1711

text: April 11 – The Second Treaty of Utrecht between Great Britain and France ends the War of the Spanish Succession. France cedes Newfoundland, Acadia, Hudson Bay and St Kitts to Great Britain.

title: 1713

text: December 9 – As part of the agreements made at Utrecht to end the War of the Spanish Succession, Great Britain and Spain sign a treaty of commerce and navigation.

title: 1713

text: July 9 – The Junta de Braços (parliament) of the Principality of Catalonia votes in favour of staying in the War of the Spanish Succession against Philip V of Spain. Army of Catalonia raised.

title: 1713

text: March 7 – The Treaty of Rastatt is signed between Austria and France, concluding the War of the Spanish Succession between them. Austria receives the Spanish territories in Italy (the Kingdom of Naples, Duchy of Milan and Kingdom of Sardinia), as well as the Southern Netherlands; and from France, Freiburg and Landau. The Austrian Habsburg Empire reaches its largest territorial extent yet, with Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor succeeding Philip V of Spain, as ruler in the ceded territories.

title: 1714

text: September 11 – War of the Spanish Succession: Barcelona is taken after a year's siege, and Catalonia surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies.

title: 1714

text: Filippo Juvarra starts rebuilding the church of San Filippo Neri, Turin, in which the roof had collapsed, during the siege of Turin, during the War of the Spanish Succession.

title: 1715


slug: warring-states-period

label: Warring States period

description: period in Chinese history from approximately 475 to 221 BCE

year_label: 481 BCE

text: The Spring and Autumn period, which had begun in 722 BC, ends and compilation of the Spring and Autumn Annals ceases. It gives way to the Warring States period.

title: 481 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 432 BCE

text: The Chinese Marquis Yi of Zeng is buried (approximate date) with lavish tomb items including a 65 set of bronze bells (bianzhong) with five octave musical scale and two musical tones that can be produced by each bell. Marquis Yi was from the State of Chu during the Warring States phase of the Zhou dynasty.

title: 432 BC

year_label: 403 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The states of Han, Zhao and Wei receive official recognition as Marquesses from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, confirming the Partition of Jin. This is one of the traditional starting points of the Warring States period.

title: 403 BC

year_label: 342 BCE

text: In the course of the Warring States period, the army of the state of Qi defeats the army of the state of Wei in the Battle of Maling. This battle involves the military strategy of the general Sun Bin (descendant of Sun Tzu), and is the first battle in recorded history to give a reliable account of the handheld crossbow with trigger mechanism.

title: 342 BC

year_label: 340 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Xuan of Chu, Chinese king of Chu (Warring States Period)

title: 340 BC

year_label: 334 BCE

text: The rulers of Wei and Qi agree to recognize each other as kings, formalizing the independence of the Warring States and the powerlessness of the Zhou dynasty.

title: 334 BC

year_label: 310 BCE

section: Births

text: Huiwen of Zhao, Chinese king of Zhao (Warring States Period) (d. 266 BC)

title: 310 BC

year_label: 278 BCE

text: Qu Yuan, Chinese poet from southern Chu who lived during the Warring States period. His works are mostly found in an anthology of poetry known as Chu Ci (b. c. 340 BC)

title: 278 BC

year_label: 273 BCE

text: Xi of Han, Chinese king of Han (Warring States Period)

title: 273 BC

year_label: 265 BCE

text: Xiang of Qi, Chinese king of Qi (Warring States Period)

title: 265 BC

year_label: 263 BCE

text: Qingxiang of Chu, Chinese king of Chu (Warring States Period)

title: 263 BC

year_label: 257 BCE

text: Bai Qi, Chinese general of the Qin State (Warring States Period)

title: 257 BC

year_label: 243 BCE

text: Xinling, Chinese statesman and general (Warring States Period)

title: 243 BC

year_label: 229 BCE

text: Li Mu, Chinese general of the Zhao State (Warring States Period)

title: 229 BC

year_label: 228 BCE

text: Ai of Chu, king of the Chu State (Warring States Period)

title: 228 BC

year_label: 227 BCE

text: Huan Yi, Chinese general of the Qin State (Warring States Period)

title: 227 BC

year_label: 222 BCE

text: Xi of Yan, king of the Yan State (Warring States Period)

title: 222 BC

year_label: 221 BCE

text: The state of Qi – by now the only other independent state in China –, is invaded by the Qin generals Wang Ben, Li Xin and Meng Tian and surrenders after offering minimal resistance. Ying Zheng, the king of Qin unifies China and proclaims himself the First Emperor, as he is the first Chinese sovereign able to rule the whole country, thus ending the Warring States period. He is known by historians as Qin Shi Huang.

title: 221 BC

year_label: 196 BCE

text: Xin, Chinese king during the Warring States period

title: 196 BC


slug: wars-of-the-roses

label: Wars of the Roses

description: dynastic civil war in England from 1455 to 1487

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, Lancastrian military commander during the English Wars of the Roses (d. 1464)

title: 1436

text: probable – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, English nobleman and military commander during the Wars of the Roses (d. 1471)

title: 1438

date: December 15

text: December 15 – At the Battle of Clyst Heath, part of the Bonville–Courtenay feud fought during the Wars of the Roses, Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon defeats the Baron William Bonville. Bonville had made the attack after the October 23 murder of his councillor, the lawyer Nicholas Radford.

title: 1455

section: Events › October–December

date: May 22

text: May 22 – The Wars of the Roses begin in England at the Battle of St Albans, as Richard, Duke of York, captures King Henry VI as a prisoner of war.

title: 1455

section: Events › April–June

date: March 25

text: March 25 – The Loveday is staged in London, by which Henry VI of England attempts to unite the warring factions who have triggered the Wars of the Roses.

title: 1458

section: Events › January–March

date: September 23

text: September 23 – Wars of the Roses: At the Battle of Blore Heath in the Kingdom of England, Yorkists under Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, defeat a Lancastrian force.

title: 1459

section: Events › July–September

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Wars of the Roses – Richard of York, set to be the next King of England, is killed along with his son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, at the Battle of Wakefield as a Lancastrian army under Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland decisively defeats the Yorkists. York's son Edward becomes leader of the Yorkist faction and the heir to the English throne.

title: 1460

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Wars of the Roses: Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Edward, Earl of March (eldest son of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York) land in England at Sandwich, Kent with an army, and march on London.

title: 1460

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Wars of the Roses: King Henry VI of England is deposed by Edward, Duke of York.

title: 1461

date: March 12

text: March 12 – Wars of the Roses in England – At the Battle of Losecoat Field, the House of York (supporters of King Edward IV) defeats the House of Lancaster (supporters of the former King Henry VI, led by Sir Robert Welles). Welles is captured and confesses that he had been hired by the Earl of Warwick and by King Edward's brother, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence to overthrow the King. Warwick and Clarence flee England and Welles is beheaded.

title: 1470

date: May 28

text: May 28 – The Earl of Oxford, commander of what remains of the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses against the Yorkists and King Edward IV of England, makes an unsuccessful attempt to land an army at Essex at the village of St Osyth.

title: 1473

date: January 18

text: January 18 – King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York are married, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York, and ceremonially ending the Wars of the Roses.

title: 1486


slug: warsaw

label: Warsaw

description: capital and largest city of Poland

date: June 16

text: June 16 – At a meeting of the Polish nobles at Sieradz, Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia announces that he will claim the crown as King of Poland. Queen Elizabeth of Hungary sends an army of 12,000 soldiers two months later to devastate the Duchy of Masovia and its capital, Warsaw, forcing Siemowit to give up his claims to the throne .

title: 1383

date: April 5

text: April 5 – 1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election: Polish and Lithuanian nobles gather at Warsaw to elect a successor to King Sigismund II Augustus, who had died the previous July 7. The vote comes down to four candidates, from France, the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and Russia.

title: 1573

text: King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.

title: 1596

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Warsaw becomes the capital of Poland.

title: 1609

text: Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.

title: 1644

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Swedish King Karl X Gustav occupies Warsaw (Poland).

title: 1655

text: July 30 – After a battle of three days, Swedish and Brandenburger troops led by King Charles X Gustav of Sweden, defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, near Warsaw and recapture the recently liberated capital.

title: 1656

date: June 21

text: June 21 – Poland's capital, Warsaw, is recaptured by Poland's John II Casimir Vasa 11 months after the capital had fallen on July 25, 1655 to Sweden.

title: 1656

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Authorized representatives of King John III Sobieski of Poland and Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire sign a military alliance treaty in Warsaw.

title: 1683

date: May 15

text: May 15 (May 4 O.S.) – King Charles XII of Sweden and his troops walk unopposed into Warsaw after troops capture the city.

title: 1702

date: August 19

text: August 19 – In Warsaw as Stanislas Leszczynski appears to be on the verge of being elected King of Poland, Russia, Austria and Saxony sign Löwenwolde's Treaty (named for Russian diplomat Karl Gustav von Löwenwolde), pledging to go to war to place Frederick Augustus, son of the late King Augustus II, on the throne.

title: 1733

date: January 8

text: January 8 – The Quadruple Alliance treaty is signed at Warsaw by Great Britain, Austria, the Dutch Republic and the Duchy of Saxony.

title: 1745

date: April 17

text: April 17–19 – Kościuszko Uprising – Warsaw Uprising: The Polish people overthrow the Russian garrison in Warsaw.

title: 1794

date: November 4

text: November 4 – Battle of Praga: Russian General Alexander Suvorov storms Warsaw in the war against the Polish Kościuszko Uprising and captures Praga, one of its suburbs, unwittingly killing many civilians.

title: 1794

date: November 28

text: November 28 – French troops enter Warsaw.

title: 1806

text: September 8– Battle of Warsaw: The Army of Russia takes the Polish capital after a two-day battle to crush the Polish uprising.

title: 1831

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: In Poland, silver manufacturer Schiffers & Co. is founded in Warsaw.

title: 1888

date: January 31

text: January 31 – WWI: Battle of Bolimów – Germany's first large-scale use of poison gas as a weapon occurs, when 18,000 artillery shells containing liquid xylyl bromide tear gas are fired on the Imperial Russian Army, on the Rawka River west of Warsaw; however, freezing temperatures prevent it being effective.

title: 1915

section: Events › January

date: June 9

text: June 9 – The Soviet Union executes 20 people for alleged espionage in retaliation for the assassination two days earlier of Pyotr Voykov, the Soviet ambassador to Poland, at the railway station in Warsaw. Voykov had been shot by 19-year-old Boris Kowerda, an exiled Russian, in retaliation for having signed the death warrants in 1918 for Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian Imperial Family.

title: 1927

section: Events › June

date: September 15

text: September 15 – WWII: Diverse elements of the German Wehrmacht surround Warsaw, and demand its surrender. The Poles refuse, and the siege begins in earnest.

title: 1939

section: Events › September

date: August

text: The Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.

title: 1944

section: Events › August

date: May 14

text: May 14 – Eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty in Warsaw, Poland, that is called the Warsaw Pact (it will be dissolved in 1991).

title: 1955

section: Events › May

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: February 15

text: February 15 – A suspected gas explosion in a Warsaw bank kills 49 people.

title: 1979

section: Events › February

date: March 14

text: March 14 – LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, Poland, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.

title: 1980

section: Events › March

date: May 9

text: May 9 – A Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-62 airliner, operated by LOT Polish Airlines, crashes into a forest just outside Warsaw, killing all 183 people on board.

title: 1987

date: June 8

text: June 8 – UEFA Euro 2012, hosted by Poland and Ukraine, begins in Warsaw, with a match between Poland and Greece, which ends 1-1.

title: 2012

date: October 21

text: October 21 – American Eric Lu wins the quinquennial XIX International Chopin Piano Competition at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Poland.

title: 2025

section: Events › October


slug: washington-d-c

label: Washington, D.C.

description: capital city of the United States of America

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: 1210–1211 – Shazi creates the Pen Box, from Persia (Iran) or Afghanistan (it is now kept at Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.).

title: 1210

section: Events › By topic › Art and Culture

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: July 16

text: July 16 – U.S. President George Washington signs the Residence Act into law, establishing a site along the Potomac River as the District of Columbia and the future site of the capital of the United States. The move comes after the bill is narrowly approved on July 1 by the Senate, 14 to 12, and on July 9 by the House, 32 to 29. At the same time, plans are made to move the national capital from New York to Philadelphia until the Potomac River site can be completed.

title: 1790

date: September 9

text: September 9 – The capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., is named after the incumbent 1st President George Washington.

title: 1791

date: October 13

text: October 13 – Foundation of Washington, D.C.: The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion (known as the White House after 1818) is laid.

title: 1792

date: June 3

text: June 3 – U.S. President John Adams moves to Washington. Because the President's Mansion is still under construction, President Adams takes up residence at Tunnicliffe's City Hotel near the unfinished U.S. Capitol Building.

title: 1800

date: February 18

text: February 18 – The War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom (including Canada) officially ends, following ratification of the Treaty of Ghent (1814) in Washington, D.C.

title: 1815

section: Culture & Society

date: April 8

text: April 8 – Gallaudet University is founded in Washington, D.C., as the first university for the deaf and hard of hearing.

title: 1864

section: Events › April

section: Health & Medicine

text: February 18 – Carlos Finlay introduces his discovery of the transmission of Yellow Fever by mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, in the Fifth International Sanitary Conference held in Washington, D.C.

title: 1881

date: January 13

text: January 13 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.

title: 1888

section: Conflict & Security

date: October 11

text: October 11 – In Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded.

title: 1890

date: January 7

text: January 7 – The Inter-American Monetary Commission meets in Washington, D.C.

title: 1891

date: March 25

text: March 25 – Coxey's Army (of the unemployed), the first significant protest march in the United States, departs from Massillon, Ohio, for Washington, D.C.

title: 1894

date: February 12

text: February 12 – The 1st Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance takes place in Washington, D.C.

title: 1902

text: May 15 – The United States Post Office Department begins the world's third regular airmail service, between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

title: 1918

date: May 10

text: May 10 – The National Pan-Hellenic Council is founded in Washington, D.C.

title: 1930

date: April 9

text: April 9 – African-American singer Marian Anderson performs before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of a public high school by the federally controlled District of Columbia. First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt resigns from the DAR because of their decision.

title: 1939

date: March 17

text: March 17 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

title: 1941

date: September 11

text: September 11 – Construction on the Pentagon begins in Washington, D.C.

title: 1941

date: February 2

text: February 2 – The first issue of Human Events is published in Washington, D.C.

title: 1944

section: Economy & Finance

date: April

text: April – Children's Bargain Town, a predecessor of toy and child-related retailer Toys "R" Us, is founded in Washington, D.C., United States.

title: 1948

date: April 4

text: April 4 – The North Atlantic Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., creating the NATO defense alliance.

title: 1949

section: Crime & Justice

date: June 21

text: June 21 – Playwright Arthur Miller appears before the House Un-American Activities Committee in Washington, D.C.

title: 1956

date: January 27

text: January 27 – A Soviet-American executive agreement on cultural, educational and scientific exchanges, also known as the "Lacy–Zarubin Agreement", is signed in Washington, D.C.

title: 1958

date: March 29

text: March 29 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.

title: 1961

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Carrie, an American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma, is premiered in 17 theaters in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area.

title: 1976

section: Events › November

date: October 14

text: October 14 – National March for gay rights takes place in Washington, D.C., involving tens of thousands of people.

title: 1979

section: Religion & Belief

date: October 7

text: October 7 – Pope John Paul II ends his first U.S. papal visit in Washington, D.C., with his first-ever visit to the White House.

title: 1979

text: January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., United States, then falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 people.

title: 1982

date: November 6

text: November 6 – 1984 United States presidential election: Republican President Ronald Reagan defeats Democratic former Vice President Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote, the highest since Richard Nixon's 61% popular vote victory in 1972. Reagan carries 49 states in the electoral College; Mondale wins only his home state of Minnesota (by a mere 3,761 vote margin) and the District of Columbia.

title: 1984

date: April 19

text: April 19 – Washington, DC post-hardcore band Fugazi release their debut studio album Repeater on Dischord Records.

title: 1990

date: July 1

text: July 1 – In the U.S., telephone services go down in Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and San Francisco as a result of a software bug, affecting nearly 12 million customers.

title: 1991

section: Events › July

date: May 16

text: May 16 – Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress during a 13-day royal visit in Washington, D.C.

title: 1991

date: October 16

text: October 16 – The Million Man March is held in Washington, D.C. The event was conceived by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

title: 1995

text: January 29 – 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision: A United States Army Black Hawk helicopter with three occupants on board, collides with a Bombardier CRJ700 operated by PSA Airlines with 64 occupants on board in Washington, D.C., United States. There were no survivors.

title: 2025


slug: washington-state

label: Washington (state)

description: state of the United States of America

date: July 9

text: July 9 – British explorer David Thompson posts a notice at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern-day Washington), claiming the area for the United Kingdom.

title: 1811

section: Events › July–September

text: One of the original segments of the historic Pacific Highway (United States) in Washington (state) in Clark and Cowlitz counties is established.

title: 1850

section: Events › Date unknown

date: February 22

text: February 22 – President Grover Cleveland signs the Enabling Act of 1889, admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states.

title: 1889

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Washington is admitted as the 42nd U.S. state.

title: 1889

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Elisha P. Ferry is inaugurated as first governor of Washington.

title: 1889

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The British four-masted sailing ship Andelana capsizes during a storm in Commencement Bay off the coast of the U.S. state of Washington, with the loss of all 17 of her crew.

title: 1899

section: Events › January

date: March 2

text: March 2 – Mount Rainier National Park is established in the U.S. state of Washington.

title: 1899

date: August 28

text: August 28 – American Messenger Company, predecessor of United Parcel Service, is founded in Washington (state).

title: 1908

section: Events › August

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: March 22

text: March 22 – Washington state's Grand Coulee Dam begins to generate electricity.

title: 1941

section: Science & Discovery

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington. Over 800 copycat sightings are reported throughout the US in the coming following weeks.

title: 1947

section: Events › June

date: June 15

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

title: 1951

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Starbucks coffee shop is founded in the U.S. state of Washington.

title: 1971

date: November 24

text: November 24 – During a severe storm over Washington State, a man calling himself Dan Cooper (later misreported as D. B. Cooper) parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he had hijacked, with US$200,000 in ransom money, and is never seen again.

title: 1971

date: February 13

text: February 13 – An intense windstorm strikes western Washington and sinks a 1.3 km mi long section of the Hood Canal Bridge.

title: 1979

section: Climate & Environment

date: May 18

text: May 18 – The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington (state) kills 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage.

title: 1980

section: Events › May

date: December 6

text: December 6 – The U.S. state of Washington becomes the first jurisdiction in the modern world to officially legalize the possession of cannabis for personal use.

title: 2012

section: Events › December


slug: wehrmacht

label: Wehrmacht

description: unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945

date: August 8

text: August 8 – The Wehrmacht swears a personal oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler.

title: 1934

section: Events › July–August

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 21

text: May 21 – In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler announces the reintroduction of conscription to the Wehrmacht, in violation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles.

title: 1935

date: March 7

text: March 7 – In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and Locarno Treaties, Nazi Germany reoccupies the Rhineland. Hitler and other Nazis later admit that the French army alone could have destroyed the Wehrmacht.

title: 1936

section: Events › March–April

date: September 22

text: September 22 – WWII: A joint victory parade is staged by the Wehrmacht and Red Army in Brest-Litovsk, at the end of the Invasion of Poland.

title: 1939

section: Events › September

date: August 16

text: August 16 – The Holocaust: Units of the Wehrmacht and the Einsatzgruppen (as part of Operation Barbarossa) start killing Jewish children, signalling the start of the Jewish Genocide.

title: 1941

section: Culture & Society

date: July

text: Germany introduces the Ostvolk Medal for Soviet personnel in the Wehrmacht.

title: 1942

date: January 18

text: January 18 – WWII: Soviet officials announce that the Red Army has broken the Wehrmacht's siege of Leningrad as part of Operation Iskra, opening a narrow land corridor to the city. Georgy Zhukov is promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union.

title: 1943

date: July 12

text: July 12 – WWII: Main engagement of the Battle of Prokhorovka – The Wehrmacht and the Red Army fight to a draw in one of the largest tank battles in military history.

title: 1943

date: April

text: Retreating German troops destroy all the bridges over the Adige in Verona, including the historic Ponte di Castelvecchio and Ponte Pietra.

title: 1945

section: Events › April


slug: wei-qing

label: Wei Qing

description: Han dynasty general

year_label: 139 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: Wei Zifu enters Emperor Wu's palace as a concubine and becomes pregnant. Enraged, Liu Piao, the mother of the childless Empress Chen Jiao (wife of Emperor Wu), kidnaps Zifu's brother Wei Qing, who is rescued by Gongsun Ao. Wu responds by advancing the careers of members of the Wei family.

title: 139 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 129 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Autumn: Emperor Wu launches his first offensive into the northern steppe against the Xiongnu and their allies. The invasion consists of four armies, each of 10,000 cavalrymen. Two of the four armies are defeated, namely those of Li Guang and Gongsun Ao, and only the army of Wei Qing achieves a victory. Although a modest success, Wei Qing's victory is the first Han success against the Xiongnu. Moreover, it is won at Longcheng, a sacred site far to the north, beyond the Gobi Desert, where the Xiongnu offer sacrifices.

title: 129 BC

year_label: 128 BCE

text: The Han general Wei Qing, with an army of 30,000 cavalrymen, defeats a Xiongnu army north of Yanmen. The Han general Li Xi attacks the Xiongnu further to the east, riding out of Dai Prefecture.

title: 128 BC

year_label: 127 BCE

text: Wei Qing defeats a Xiongnu army near Gaoque. He then invades the Ordos Plateau, defeats the Xiongnu and their Baiyang and Loufan allies in the battles of Puni and Fuli, and then defeats the main Xiongnu force. The conquered territory becomes Shuofang Commandery. Wu orders the foundation of Shuofang City, and the system of defenses that had been built by the Qin dynasty general Meng Tian are repaired.

title: 127 BC

year_label: 124 BCE

text: Spring: The Han general Wei Qing, with an army of 30,000 cavalry, proceeds from Gaoque into Xiongnu territory, and in a night attack surrounds the Tuqi King of the Right in his camp. The Tuqi escapes, but numerous petty chiefs are captured in this and a second engagement.

title: 124 BC

year_label: 123 BCE

text: Spring: The Han General-in-Chief Wei Qing launches two invasions of Xiongnu territory from Dingxiang, defeating two Xiongnu armies and killing or capturing several thousand of the enemy.

title: 123 BC

year_label: 119 BCE

text: Spring: Han Chinese forces under the General-in-Chief Wei Qing and the cavalry general Huo Qubing invade the Xiongnu Empire.

title: 119 BC

year_label: 106 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Following the death of General-in-Chief Wei Qing, his sister Empress Wei Zifu and nephew Crown Prince Liu Ju begin to lose influence at court.

title: 106 BC

text: Wei Qing, Chinese general of the Han dynasty

title: 106 BC


slug: wei-state

label: Wei (state)

description: ancient Chinese state during the Warring States period

year_label: 455 BCE

text: Spring and Autumn period: The Battle of Jinyang begins with the armies of Zhi, Wei and Han laying siege to Jinyang.

title: 455 BC

year_label: 381 BCE

text: Wu Qi, Chinese military general, Prime Minister of the State of Chu, also a servant of the State of Lu (born in Wei, 440 BC)

title: 381 BC

year_label: 362 BCE

text: The states of Qin, Han and Zhao defeat the state of Wei and Qin captures the prince of Wei. The Battle of Shaoliang is then fought between Qin and Wei, which Wei loses, whereupon Qin captures the prime minister of Wei.

title: 362 BC

year_label: 354 BCE

text: The State of Qi is victorious over the State of Wei in the Battle of Guiling, a conflict which involves the military strategy of Sun Bin.

title: 354 BC

year_label: 342 BCE

text: In the course of the Warring States period, the army of the state of Qi defeats the army of the state of Wei in the Battle of Maling. This battle involves the military strategy of the general Sun Bin (descendant of Sun Tzu), and is the first battle in recorded history to give a reliable account of the handheld crossbow with trigger mechanism.

title: 342 BC

year_label: 293 BCE

text: The State of Qin, led by commander Bai Qi, wins a decisive victory over the States of Wei and Han in the Battle of Yique. He then captures territories in Han before invading and capturing further territories in Wei.

title: 293 BC

year_label: 241 BCE

text: Five of the seven major warring states: Chu, Zhao, Wei, Yan, and Han, form an alliance to fight the rising power of Qin. King Kaolie of Chu is named the leader of the alliance, and Lord Chunshen the military commander, with Pang Nuan of Zhao also serving as a general. The coalition penetrates as far as the Qin town of Zui, west of the strategic Hangu Pass and in the Qin heartland of Guanzhong, but they are defeated. Afterwards, Chu moves its capital east to Shouchun, further away from the threat of Qin. Qin counterattacks, sacking the Wei city of Chaoge.

title: 241 BC

year_label: 205 BCE

text: Han Xin defeats Wei Bao and conquers the kingdom of Wei.

title: 205 BC

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Basalawarmi, the Yuan dynasty Prince of Liang (now in the Henan province), commits suicide at his palace in Kaifeng after having been forced to retreat from the Ming dynasty armies.

title: 1382

section: Events › January–March


slug: weimar-republic

label: Weimar Republic

description: Germany in the years 1918/1919–1933

section: Births

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Walther Rathenau, German statesman, Weimar Republic foreign minister (d. 1922)

title: 1867

section: Births › September–October

date: January 19

text: January 19 – 1919 German federal election, first under the Weimar Republic and the first in Germany with female suffrage.

title: 1919

section: Events › January

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: October 16

text: October 16 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler gives his first speech for the German Workers' Party (DAP).

title: 1919

section: Events › October

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Germany declares its neutrality in the Polish–Soviet War.

title: 1920

section: Events › July

date: March 13

text: March 13–17 – Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz's Kapp Putsch (an attempted coup in Germany) briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin, but fails due to public resistance and a general strike.

title: 1920

section: Events › March

section: Economy & Finance

date: May 5

text: May 5 – London Schedule of Payments sets out the World War I reparations payable by the German Weimar Republic and other countries considered successors to the Central Powers – 132 billion gold marks ($33 billion), in annual installments of 2.5 billion.

title: 1921

text: Wracked by rapid inflation and political assassinations, and motivated by hostility and arrogance as well, the Weimar Republic announces its inability to pay more, and proposes a moratorium on reparations for 3 years.

title: 1922

section: Events › Date unknown

date: April 16

text: April 16 – The Treaty of Rapallo marks a rapprochement between the Weimar Republic and Bolshevik Russia.

title: 1922

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Weimar Republic foreign minister Walther Rathenau is assassinated; the murderers are captured on July 17.

title: 1922

text: June 24 – Walther Rathenau, German statesman, Weimar Republic foreign minister (assassinated) (b. 1867)

title: 1922

section: Deaths › June

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Gustav Stresemann is named Chancellor of Germany, and founds a coalition government for the Weimar Republic, where hyperinflation means that more than 4,600,000 marks are now needed to buy a single American dollar.

title: 1923

date: September 8

text: September 8 – The German Weimar Republic joins the League of Nations.

title: 1926

date: April 22

text: April 22 – Austria, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United States recognize the Spanish Republic.

title: 1931

date: May 30

text: May 30 – German chancellor Heinrich Brüning is dismissed by President von Hindenburg. President Hindenburg asks Franz von Papen to form a new government, known as the "Government of the President's Friends", which is openly dedicated to the destruction of democracy and the Weimar Republic. The downfall of Brüning is largely the work of Schleicher, who has been scheming against him since the beginning of May. Schleicher takes the position of Defense Minister in his friend Papen's government.

title: 1932


slug: weimar

label: Weimar

description: city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany

text: April 16 – William III, count of Weimar and Eichsfeld

title: 1039

text: William IV, count of Weimar and Orlamünde

title: 1062

section: Culture & Society

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The "Fruitbearing Society" (Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) of German scholars is founded in Weimar.

title: 1617

section: Events › July–September

text: Johann Sebastian Bach is appointed as chamber musician and organist, at the court in Weimar.

title: 1708

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell is first performed at Weimar, under the direction of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

title: 1804

date: August 28

text: August 28 – Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin (including the Bridal Chorus) premieres under the direction of Franz Liszt, in Weimar.

title: 1850

date: April 25

text: April 25 – The Bauhaus architectural and design movement is founded in Weimar, Germany.

title: 1919

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Bauhaus closes in Weimar and moves to a building in Dessau designed by Walter Gropius.

title: 1925


label: Wembley Stadium (1923)

description: former stadium in Wembley Park, London

date: April 28

text: April 28 – The original Wembley Stadium in London, England, opens its doors to the public for the first time, staging the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.

title: 1923

section: Events › March–April

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Sheffield Wednesday beat West Bromwich Albion 4–2 at Wembley Stadium in England to win the FA Cup final.

title: 1935

section: Events › April

date: September 10

text: September 10 – The first World Speedway Championship is held at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It is won by Australian Lionel Van Praag, with Englishman Eric Langton second and Australian Bluey Wilkinson third.

title: 1936

section: Events › September–October

date: November 25

text: November 25 – Match of the Century (1953 England v Hungary football match): The England national football team loses 6–3 to Hungary at Wembley Stadium, their first ever loss to a continental team at home.

title: 1953

section: Events › November

date: May 2

text: May 2 – 1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest defeat Luton Town 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.

title: 1959

section: Events › May

date: May 22

text: May 22 – A.C. Milan beats Benfica 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, London and wins the 1962–63 European Cup (football).

title: 1963

date: July 30

text: July 30 – England beats West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley after extra time.

title: 1966

date: March 4

text: March 4 – Queens Park Rangers become the first 3rd Division side to win the English Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, defeating West Bromwich Albion 3–2.

title: 1967

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Aston Villa win the English Football League Cup at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final.

title: 1975

section: Health & Medicine

date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at Wembley Stadium, London, is televised live to over one billion people and raises millions of dollars for AIDS research.

title: 1992


slug: wenceslaus-iv-of-bohemia

label: Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia

description: king of Bohemia and Germany (1361–1419)

date: October 2

text: October 2 – Wenzel of Luxembourg, son of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is installed by the Empire as the new Margrave of Brandenburg, ending the war with Pomerania and entering into an alliance with the Pomeranian dukes.Buchholz (1999), p.161

title: 1373

section: Events › October–December

section: Religion & Belief

date: June 10

text: June 10 – Wenceslaus the Idle, son of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is elected King of the Romans by the prince-electors.

title: 1376

section: Events › April–June

date: January 6

text: January 6 – At the Great Hall of the Conciergerie in Paris, King Charles V of France hosts the Banquet of the Three Kings with his uncle, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the Emperor's son, Wenzel the Idle, King of the Romans as his guests (along with 800 German and French knights), to celebrate the friendship between the nations. The banquet, held on the day of the Feast of the Epiphany, has three courses, with 10 dishes in each course.

title: 1378

section: Events › January–March

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: September 25

text: September 25 – King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia grants Count Bernhard of Wurttemberg permission to rebuild fortresses that had been destroyed during the war with the Swabian League, despite an order by the Holy Roman Emperor Karl that forbids rearmament within the Empire.

title: 1381

section: Deaths

date: December 7

text: December 7 – Wenceslaus II the Lazy, who is also King of Bohemia, becomes the new Duke of Luxembourg upon the death of his uncle, Duke Wenceslaus I.

title: 1383

date: July 26

text: July 26 – The Treaty of Heidelberg ends a fight between the Süddeutscher Städtebund (South German League of Cities, with 28 member cities) and the allies of Wenceslaus IV, King of Germany.

title: 1384

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Smil Flaška of Pardubice, the Supreme Provincial Scribe of the Kingdom of Bohemia, joins the League of Lords (Panská jednota), a group of nobles opposed to the rule of King Wenceslaus IV.

title: 1395

section: Conflict & Security

text: April 25 – Hussite Wars: King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia decides to stop fighting the war against the rebel Jan Žižka in Budějovice.

title: 1409

date: August 16

text: August 16 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia, King of Bohemia since 1378 (b. 1361)

title: 1419

text: August 16 – King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia dies of a heart attack at the age of 58, leading to the outbreak shortly thereafter of the Hussite Wars.

title: 1419


slug: wends

label: Wends

description: ethnic group , name given by the Germanic peoples to the Slavic peoples of Weonodland in central and northern Europe

text: Part of Samo's rebellion, Alciocus leads 9,000 Bulgars from Pannonia to refuge with Dagobert (who massacres them), then, with 700 survivors, settles with the Wends, under the protection of Walluc.

title: 632

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Emperor Louis the Pious begins a military campaign against the Wends and Sorbs. Duke Tunglo surrenders his son as hostage, and submits to Frankish rule (approximate date).

title: 825

text: Winter – Gero succeeds his brother Siegfried after his death. King Otto I appoints him as count and margrave of a vast border region around Merseburg that abuts the Wends on the River Saale (Lower Saxony).

title: 937

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

title: 983

date: April 13

text: April 13 – Pope Eugene III issues a bull (known as the Divina dispensatione), permitting Conrad III to attack the Polabian Slavs (or Wends) under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Anselm of Havelberg. The Crusaders are allowed to wear sacred crosses, and Bernard of Clairvaux instructs the Germans how to treat the Slavs under their control. "With God's help", says the abbot, "they shall be either converted or slaughtered".

title: 1147

text: Absalon, Danish archbishop and statesman, leads the first synod at Lund. He is granted land around the city of "Havn" (modern-day Copenhagen) and fortifies the coastal defence against the Wends.

title: 1167

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Valdemar I ("the Great") of Denmark conquers the Wendish capital at Arkona on the island of Rügen (modern Germany). The Wends become Christians and subject to Danish suzerainty.

title: 1168

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Eric X is crowned – which is the first known coronation of a Swedish king. He strengthens his relationship with his brother-in-law, King Valdemar II of Denmark ("the Conqueror"). Shortly after, Valdemar conquers Danzig (modern-day Gdańsk) on the Baltic coast, and Eastern Pomerania from the Slavonic Wends.

title: 1210


slug: weser

label: Weser

description: river in north-western Germany

year_label: 16 CE

text: Germanicus employs the North Sea fleet to avoid dangerous rivers, embarking an army in the Rhine Delta, aboard circa 1,000 ships. He defeats the Germans at the Amisius river estuary and the Weser, but during its return, the Roman fleet is partially destroyed by storms.

title: 10s

section: Events › 16 AD › Roman Empire

text: Charles Martel consolidates his power, proclaims Clotaire IV king of Austrasia in opposition to Chilperic, and deposes Rigobert, bishop of Reims, replacing him with Milo. He marches against Radbod, king (or duke) of the Frisians, and pushes him back into his territory (later part of the Netherlands). Charles sends the Saxons back over the Weser River, and secures the Rhine border—in the name of Clotaire.

title: 717

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne leads a Frankish expedition from the Middle Rhine into disputed territory lost by the Franks in 695. He starts a campaign against the Saxons and seizes Eresburg, destroying the Irminsul (Saxon sacred tree) near Paderborn. Charlemagne devastates several major Saxon strongholds, and forces them to retreat beyond the Weser River. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, he installs a number of garrisons.

title: 772

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne holds a major assembly at Quierzy (Northern France). He leads a Frankish army into Saxony to retake the castrum of Syburg (near Dortmund), then rebuilds and garrisons fortified Eresburg. He reaches the Weser at a place called Braunsberg, where the Saxons stand for battle, but are defeated when Frankish troops cross the river.

title: 775

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne assembles a Frankish army at Düren, crosses the Rhine at the modern town of Wesel, and defeats the Saxons in battle near Bocholt (North Rhine-Westphalia). All the main Westphalian leaders are captured, except Widukind. Charlemagne crosses the Weser, Oker and Ohre rivers into Eastphalian territory, where local leaders submit to Frankish rule and hand over hostages. Widukind remains in northern Saxony, and relies on guerrilla warfare.

title: 779

text: Autumn – Charlemagne returns from his campaign in Italy, and musters a Frankish army of available troops in Bavaria. He then marches to Saxony, probably to Eresburg. Charlemagne marches north, down the Weser to the Aller River, making camp near Verden.

title: 782

section: Crime & Justice

text: Frisian–Frankish War: Count Theoderic is sent to Frisia, to muster troops for another offensive against the Avar Khaganate. He is attacked and probably killed by Saxon rebels, near the mouth of the Weser River. The Frisians revolt, and Charlemagne deports Saxon families from north of the river Elbe.

title: 793

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

text: The city of Rinteln is founded on the northern bank of the Weser River in Lower Saxony (modern Germany).

title: 1150


slug: wessex

label: Wessex

description: Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain

section: Births

text: Cerdic, first king of Anglo-Saxon Wessex (approximate date)

title: 467

text: Cerdic of Wessex and his son, Cynric, land somewhere on the south coast, probably near the Hampshire-Dorset border. Their followers establish the beginnings of the Kingdom of Wessex.

title: 495

section: Events › By place › Britannia

text: Cerdic becomes the first king of the Kingdom of Wessex.

title: 519

text: Cynric becomes king of Wessex.

title: 534

text: Cynric, king of Wessex, captures the fortress city of Old Sarum.

title: 552

section: Culture & Society

text: Ceawlin succeeds his father Cynric as king of Wessex (approximate date).

title: 560

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Cuthwine, prince of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 565

text: Cedda, prince of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 590

text: Battle of Woden's Burg: After the mass killing at Woden's Burg, near Marlborough (South West England), Ceawlin is deposed as king of the West Saxons. His son Cuthwine is taken prisoner and goes into exile.

title: 592

text: Cutha Cathwulf, prince of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 592

text: Ceawlin, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 593

text: Ceolwulf succeeds his brother Ceol as king of Wessex. He becomes regent of Ceol's son Cynegils who is too young to inherit the throne.

title: 597

text: Ceol, king of Wessex (England)

title: 597

text: Cynegils becomes king of the West Saxons, or Wessex, after the death of his uncle Ceolwulf (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). He rules from 611 to 643 and shares power to some extent with his eldest son, Cwichelm, who may have been given Upper Wessex (approximate date).

title: 611

text: Ceolwulf, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 611

text: Battle of Bampton: King Cynegils of Wessex defeats the invading Britons in Dumnonia (modern Devon). They use the Roman road eastward from Exeter to Dorchester, and are intercepted by the West Saxons marching south.

title: 614

text: Sigeberht becomes king of Essex, after his father Sæward and uncle Sexred are killed in battle against the West Saxons.

title: 617

text: King Edwin of Northumbria defeats the West Saxons under Cynegils, who has tried to thwart the growing strength of Edwin by having him assassinated. Edwin obliges Cynegils to acknowledge Northumbria's supremacy.

title: 626

text: Battle of Cirencester: King Penda of Mercia defeats the West Saxons at Cirencester (South West England) in what later will be Gloucestershire. After reaching an agreement, he takes control of the Severn Valley and the minor kingdom of the Hwicce.

title: 628

text: Birinus, Frankish missionary, lands at the port of "Hamwic" (now in the St. Mary's area of Southampton), on his mission to reconvert the West Saxons in England. About this time, the St Mary's Church is founded.

title: 634

text: Cwichelm, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 636

text: Cynegils, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 643

text: King Oswiu of Northumbria invades Pengwern (modern Wales) and kills King Cynddylan in battle, near the River Trent. Cynddylan's brother Morfael and the rest of the royal family flee to Glastening (Wessex).

title: 656

text: Battle of Peonnum: King Cenwalh and the Wessex Saxons make a push against Dumnonia (South West England). They are victorious at Penselwood in Somerset, and the Dumnonia-Wessex border is set at the River Parrett (approximate date).

title: 658

text: Cædwalla, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 659

text: Cenberht, West Saxon king in Wessex

title: 661

section: Climate & Environment

text: Conflict erupts between King Sighere of Essex and his brother Sæbbi, as they struggle for overlordship between Mercia and Wessex.

title: 665

text: King Cenwalh of Wessex dies after a 31-year reign, in which he has lost much of his territory to Welsh and Mercian forces. He is succeeded by his widow Seaxburh. His sub-kings divide Wessex amongst themselves (approximate date).

title: 672

text: Cenwalh, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 672

section: Deaths › Date unknown

text: Æthelburg, queen of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 673

text: King Æscwine succeeds his father Cenfus as ruler of Wessex (approximate date).

title: 674

text: Seaxburh, queen of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 674

text: King Wulfhere of Mercia dies after a 17-year reign, in which he has extended his sway over much of England south of the Humber River, including Essex, Surrey, and part of Wessex north of the Thames. Wulfhere is succeeded by his brother Æthelred.

title: 675

text: King Cædwalla of Wessex becomes overly ambitious in a power-struggle with his rival, King Centwine, for Wessex overlordship. He is banished into the forests of Chiltern and Andred.

title: 680

text: The West Saxons, led by King Centwine, drive the Britons of Dumnonia (West Country) to the sea (possibly around Bideford).

title: 682

text: King Centwine of Wessex dies after a 9-year reign and is succeeded by his distant cousin, Cædwalla, who manages to fully re-unite the sub-kingdoms of Wessex. He attacks Sussex with a large army, and kills King Æthelwealh in battle, in the South Downs (Hampshire). He is expelled by Æthelwealh's ealdormen, Berthun and Andhun, who jointly rule the South Saxons. Cædwalla invades Kent, lays it waste, and carries off an immense booty.

title: 685

text: Centwine, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 685

text: King Cædwalla of Wessex establishes overlordship of Essex, and invades Kent for a second time. King Eadric is expelled, and Cædwalla's brother Mul is installed in his place. The sub-kings Berthun and Andhun are killed, and Sussex is subjugated by the West Saxons.

title: 686

text: April 20 – Cædwalla, abdicated king of Wessex

title: 689

text: King Ine of Wessex establishes his West Saxon "Law of Codes", to regain authority in his kingdom. He consolidates Wessex's territory in the western peninsula (approximate date).

title: 693

section: Events › Britain

text: King Ine of Wessex begins to dispense with Wessex sub-kings and replace them with ealdormen (approximate date).

title: 700

text: King Ine of Wessex becomes estranged from the kings Sigeheard and Swæfred of Essex, who are sheltering exiled rivals to the Wessex throne. At a council at Brentford, the latter agree to banish the exiles in return for Ine not attacking their kingdom.

title: 705

text: Eoppa, king of Wessex (d. 781)

title: 706

text: The Wessex-born missionary Boniface sets out for Frisia a second time. He travels to Rome, where Pope Gregory II sends him on a mission to convert the Saxons in Lower Saxony (modern-day Germany).

title: 718

text: King Ine of Wessex defeats Prince Cynewulf, an unknown relation making a push for the throne of Wessex.

title: 721

text: Battle of Hehil: The West Saxons are defeated by a combined Viking and Cornish army, at Cornovii in Cornwall (approximate date).

title: 722

date: November 30

text: November 30 – Wessex-born Boniface is ordained as bishop of Germany by Pope Gregory II. Under the protection of Charles Martel (mayor of the palace), he concentrates his religious work in Hessia and Thuringia.

title: 722

text: King Æthelbald of Mercia overruns a large portion of Somerset, and wrests the county from Wessex control (approximate date).

title: 731

text: King Æthelheard of Wessex dies after a 14-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother (and probably distant relative) Cuthred. Æthelbald of Mercia takes control of Berkshire from Wessex.

title: 740

text: King Æthelbald of Mercia joins forces with Wessex and attacks Gwent and Powys in Mid Wales (approximate date).

title: 743

text: Cuthred, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 756

text: Egbert, king of Wessex (or 771)

title: 769

text: King Offa of Mercia subdues the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Kent and Wessex (approximate date).

title: 774

text: Cyneheard is executed and succeeded by Beorhtric, through the support of King Offa of Mercia. His rival claimant to the Wessex throne, a distant nephew of the late king Ine, named Egbert, is driven across the Channel.

title: 786

text: Cyneheard the Ætheling, nobleman of Wessex

title: 786

text: Æthelwulf, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 795

text: King Beorhtric of Wessex dies after drinking a chalice of poison intended for his wife, Eadburh. She flees to the court of Charlemagne, who accepts a portion of her wealth and makes her abbess. Prince Egbert returns to Wessex, and is accepted as the new king.

title: 802

text: The Vikings land on the Cornish coast, and form an alliance with the Cornish to fight against Wessex.

title: 807

text: Battle of Gafulford: The men of Cornish Dumnonia clash with the West Saxons at modern-day Camelford (approximate date).

title: 825

text: King Egbert of Wessex invades Mercia, ousts his rival Wiglaf, and attempts to rule directly from Wessex. He is recognized as overlord (bretwalda) of other English kingdoms.

title: 829

text: King Wiglaf of Mercia regains control from Wessex, and returns to the throne.

title: 830

text: Battle of Carhampton: Danish Vikings arrive in the Wessex areas of Somerset and North Devon. Ecgberht, King of Wessex fights them but is forced to withdraw.

title: 836

text: Æthelberht, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 836

text: Ecgberht, King of Wessex, dies after a 37-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Æthelwulf ("Noble Wolf") as ruler of Wessex. Æthelwulf's eldest son, Æthelstan, is made sub-king of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex, under his father.

title: 839

text: Judith of Flanders, queen of Wessex and countess of Flanders (approximate date)

title: 843

text: Æthelred I, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 847

text: Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (d. 899)

title: 849

text: A Viking fleet of 350 vessels enters the Thames Estuary before turning north, and engages the Mercian forces under King Beorhtwulf. The Mercians are defeated, and retreat to their settlements. The Vikings then turn south and cross the river somewhere in Surrey; there they are slaughtered by a West Saxon army, led by King Æthelwulf and his son Aethelbald, at Oak Field (Aclea).

title: 852

text: King Burgred of Mercia appeals to Æthelwulf, king of the West Saxons, for help against the rebellious Welsh king Rhodri the Great. Æthelwulf agrees to send help, and Wales is subdued as far north as Anglesey.

title: 853

text: Osburh, queen of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 854

text: Spring – King Æthelwulf of Wessex decides to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by his youngest son Alfred (age 6) and a large retinue. He divides the kingdom between his two eldest sons; Æthelbald receives the western part of Wessex, while Æthelberht becomes ruler over Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex.

title: 855

text: October 1 – King Æthelwulf of Wessex marries the 12- or 13-year-old Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, at Verberie (Northern France). She is crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims. The marriage is a diplomatic alliance between Wessex and the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 856

text: January 13 – Æthelwulf, king of Wessex

title: 858

text: January 13 – King Æthelwulf of Wessex dies after an 18-year reign, and is succeeded by his eldest son Æthelbald. He marries his father's young widow Judith (daughter of Charles the Bald), and becomes sole ruler of Wessex. His brother, Æthelberht, is left to rule Kent and the south-east of England.

title: 858

text: Summer – Viking raiders led by Weland sail to England and attack Winchester (the capital of Wessex), which is set ablaze. He spreads inland, but is defeated by West Saxon forces, who deprive him of all he has gained.

title: 860

text: December 20 – Æthelbald, king of Wessex

title: 860

text: Autumn – King Æthelberht of Wessex dies after a 5-year reign, and is buried at Sherborne Abbey (Dorset). He is succeeded by his brother Æthelred I, as ruler of Wessex.

title: 865

text: The Danes, led by Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bagsecg, invade Wessex and take the royal estate at Reading (Berkshire), which Halfdan makes his headquarters. A naval Viking contingent sails up the Thames River.

title: 870

text: The English retreat onto the Berkshire Downs. The Great Heathen Army, led by the Danish Viking kings Halfdan and Bagsecg, march out after the Saxons. Six pitched battles are fought between the Danes and Wessex. Of two of them the place and date are not recorded, the others are:

title: 871

text: April 23 – Æthelred I, king of Wessex

title: 871

text: Edward the Elder, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 874

text: June – The Great Heathen Army, led by Guthrum, moves on Cambridge. He later returns to Wessex, to establish a winter quarter. King Alfred the Great fights the Danes in a naval engagement.

title: 875

text: Treaty of Wedmore: Guthrum agrees to a peace treaty and is baptised, taking the name of Aethelstan. England is divided between Wessex in the south, and the Vikings in the Danelaw up north. Guthrum returns to East Anglia.

title: 878

text: King Alfred the Great establishes a series of fortified villages (or burhs) to protect Wessex against Viking raids. He creates a standing army to defend the strategic ports, and builds a network of well-maintained army roads (known as herepaths).

title: 879

text: King Æthelred II of Mercia marries Princess Æthelflæd, daughter of King Alfred the Great. He accepts Wessex overlordship, and demotes himself to become "Lord of the Mercians".

title: 884

text: King Alfred the Great of Wessex recaptures London from the Danish Vikings, and renames it Lundenburh. Slightly upstream from London Bridge, he builds a small harbor called Queenhithe. Alfred hands the town over to his son-in-law Æthelred, lord of Mercia. A street system is planned out in the town, with boundaries of 1,100 yards from east to west, and around 330 yards from north to south.

title: 886

text: Lord Æthelred II of the Mercians is struck down with a debilitating illness. His wife, Princess Æthelflæd (a daughter of Alfred the Great) of Wessex, joins him as joint ruler of Mercia (approximate date).

title: AD 888

text: Æthelhelm, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 890

text: Asser, bishop of Sherborne, writes his Life of King Alfred in Wessex. He studies for 6 months each year in Alfred's household.

title: 893

text: Summer – King Alfred the Great orders the building of English warships (almost twice as long as the longships) on the Itchen at Southampton, against the Danish Viking raiders in Wessex.

title: 896

text: King Alfred the Great makes his eldest son Edward the Elder co-ruler of Wessex in preparation for his accession to the English throne.

title: 898

text: October 26 – King Alfred the Great dies after a 28-year reign in which he has forced invading Danish Vikings to withdraw, consolidated England around Wessex, divided parts of Mercia into shires, compiled the best laws of earlier kings, encouraged learning by bringing famous scholars to Wessex and made his own translations of Latin works. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Edward the Elder as king of Wessex.

title: 899

text: October 26 – Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (b. 849)

title: 899

text: Ælfweard, king of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 902

text: August 5 – Battle of Tettenhall: King Edward the Elder attacks the joint-Kings Eowils and Halfdan of Norse York. All three Viking monarchs are killed in battle (one chronicle mentions a third brother) and the Viking army is decisively defeated by allied forces of Mercia and Wessex. The co-Kings are succeeded by Ragnall ua Ímair.

title: 910

text: July 17 – Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, is killed in battle at Farndon-Upon-Dee while leading an army against a revolt by some of the Cambrians and Mercians. During his 25-year reign, he gained direct control over Mercia, including some of the Danelaw, the Danish-occupied areas. Edward's oldest son, Æthelstan, is proclaimed the new King of England, while some supporters among the West Saxons support Ælfweard, to be Edward's successor as King of Wessex.

title: 924

text: July 17 – Edward the Elder, king of Wessex

title: 924

text: King Æthelstan of Wessex and Mercia annexes Northumbria, and forces Wales and Strathclyde to accept his sovereignty along with the Picts and the Scots (approximate date).

title: 926

text: June 19 – At Laon, Louis IV, the 14-year old son of the late King Charles the Simple, is crowned King of West Francia after being recalled from Wessex by Hugh the Great, count of Paris. Hugh, whose father, King Robert I, was killed in battle near Soissons in 923, is given the title Duke of the Franks and becomes the second most powerful man in the West Frankish Kingdom. The crowning of Louis IV follows the death of King Rudolph I at Auxerre earlier in the year.

title: 936

text: A great storm sweeps across Wessex and many houses are destroyed, 1,500 in London alone (a significant proportion of the town).

title: 944

text: Eadric, ealdorman of Wessex (approximate date)

title: 949

text: Mercia and Northumbria rebel against King Eadwig and switch their allegiance to his brother Edgar. The English nobles (in support of the church) agree to divide the kingdom along the Thames River, with Eadwig keeping Wessex and Kent in the south and Edgar ruling in the north. Edgar's advisers recall Dunstan from Flanders (see 956).

title: 957

text: Summer – Danish Viking raiders led by Sweyn Forkbeard (accompanied by his son Cnut) sail from Denmark to attack England. Again London defends itself and the Vikings move elsewhere, plundering Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria. King Æthelred the Unready sends his sons Edward and Alfred to Normandy. Æthelred retreats to the Isle of Wight and follows them later into exile.

title: 1013

text: October 18 – Battle of Assandun: Cnut defeats Edmund Ironside, leaving the latter as king of Wessex.

title: 1016

text: Cnut divides England into four earldoms: Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria.

title: 1017

text: November 12 – King Cnut the Great dies at Shaftesbury, leaving the rule of England in dispute between his sons Harthacnut and Harold Harefoot. The earls of Northumbria and Mercia support Harold's claim, while Godwin (Earl of Wessex) supports Harthacnut. Harold is elected as regent (or joint ruler) of England. Cnut is buried in the Old Minster, in Winchester.

title: 1035

text: Eustace II, count of Boulogne, visits England and is received with honour at the court by King Edward the Confessor. In Dover a fight breaks out between the Norman visitors and the locals, resulting in the deaths of several people. Edward blames the people of Dover and orders Godwin, earl of Wessex, to deal with them. Godwin refuses to obey Edward's order, and in response Edward raises an army and forces the Godwin family into exile.

title: 1051

text: Summer – Godwin, Earl of Wessex, sails with a large fleet up the Thames to London, forcing King Edward the Confessor to reinstate him into his previous position of power.

title: 1052

text: April – Harold Godwinson succeeds his father Godwin as earl of Wessex. He invites the exiled Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II, to return in the hope that he can claim the English throne from King Edward the Confessor.

title: 1053

text: Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, is shipwrecked on the shores of Ponthieu (Normandy). He is captured by Count Guy I who takes him as hostage to his castle of Beaurian.

title: 1064


slug: west-francia

label: West Francia

description: former kingdom (843–987)

section: Religion & Belief

date: May 20

text: May 20 — Thirteen months before his death, Louis the Pious, successor to his father Charlemagne, consents to the division of Charlemagne's empire among his sons in a declaration at Worms. Upon Louis I's death in 840, Lothair (age 45) is devised Middle Francia that includes Switzerland and northern Italy; Louis the German (Louis II), age 36, receives Eastern Francia that includes much of Germany; and Charles the Bald (17) gets West Francia that incorporates most of France.

title: 839

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Oaths of Strasbourg: King Louis the German, ruler of East Francia, and his half-brother Charles the Bald, ruler of West Francia, meet with their armies at Strasbourg. They agree to swear allegiance (recorded in vernacular languages) to each other, and to support each other against their brother Lothair I (nominal emperor of all the Frankish kingdoms and the Holy Roman Empire).

title: 842

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 1

text: November 1 – Louis the Stammerer, king of West Francia (d. 879)

title: 846

text: Frankish forces under King Charles the Bald invade southern France, and conquer the territory of Toulouse. He appoints Fredelo as count (comté) of Toulouse, who founds the Rouergue dynasty. Aquitaine is submitted to the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 849

text: Treaty of Angers: Charles the Bald meets Erispoe in Angers, and acknowledges him as "king of Brittany". He recognizes the authority of Breton rule over the areas around Nantes, Rennes and Pays de Retz, which become part of the Breton March, a border zone. Erispoe takes the oath to Charles as king of the West Frankish Kingdom (but not an hommage lige which would be an allegiance). To mark the sovereignty of the Breton state, the future Dukes of Brittany are crowned as "Duke, king in their lands".

title: 851

text: Adelaide, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 850)

title: 853

date: October 1

text: October 1 – King Æthelwulf of Wessex marries the 12- or 13-year-old Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, at Verberie (Northern France). She is crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims. The marriage is a diplomatic alliance between Wessex and the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 856

text: Summer – King Louis the German, summoned by the disaffected Frankish nobles, invades the West Frankish Kingdom and secures Aquitaine for his nephew Pepin II ("the Younger"). King Charles the Bald flees to Burgundy; he is saved by the help of the bishops, and by the fidelity of the family of the Welfs, who are related to Judith (second wife of former emperor Louis the Pious).

title: 858

text: Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)

title: 859

text: Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 859)

title: 860

text: Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 865)

title: 863

text: Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 863)

title: 864

title: 865

text: Carloman II, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (approximate date)

title: 866

date: March

text: March–April – Wilfred the Hairy (ruler of the Catalan counties) with other supporters of Louis the Stammerer (King of West Francia) defeat noble supporters of the rebel Bernard of Gothia.

title: 878

date: September 7

text: September 7 – Pope John VIII crowns Louis the Stammerer as king of the West Frankish Kingdom, in the cathedral at Troyes.

title: 878

date: April 10

text: April 10 – King Louis the Stammerer dies at Compiègne, after a reign of 18 months. He is succeeded by his two sons, Louis III and Carloman II. They are crowned at Ferrières Abbey, and rule the West Frankish Kingdom together as joint-kings.

title: 879

date: September 17

text: September 17 – Charles the Simple, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 929)

title: 879

date: December

text: December – Treaty of Ribemont: Louis the Younger and the kings of the West Frankish Kingdom sign a treaty. The young Frankish monarch, Louis III, is reduced to merely Neustria.

title: 880

date: August 3

text: August 3 – Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: The West Frankish kings Louis III, and his brother Carloman II, rout Viking raiders (near Abbeville).

title: 881

date: August 5

text: August 5 – King Carloman II becomes sole ruler of the West Frankish Kingdom, after the accidental death of his brother, Louis III. His power is limited by rebellious nobles in Burgundy.

title: 882

text: August 5 – Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 882

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Carloman II, king of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 884

date: October

text: October – Siege of Paris: Count Odo slips through Viking-controlled territory, to ask the king of West Francia Charles the Fat for support. He returns with a relief force, and reaches safety within the walls. Charles arrives later with a large army, and establishes a camp at Montmartre. After negotiations he promises the Vikings tribute (Danegeld) worth 700 Livres (equivalent to 257kg of silver), and allows them to sail up the River Seine, to over-winter in Burgundy.

title: 886

text: Frederuna, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 917)

title: 887

date: January 13

text: January 13 – Emperor Charles III (the Fat) dies at Neidingen, after having suffered repeat bouts of an illness that may have been epilepsy. The Frankish Empire is split again, and falls apart into separate kingdoms. Count Odo, the hero of the Siege of Paris, is elected king of the West Frankish Kingdom, and crowned at Compiègne by Walter, archbishop of Sens. Other Frankish noblemen support the 8-year-old Charles the Simple (the posthumous son of the late king Louis the Stammerer).

title: AD 888

text: The 13-year-old Charles III (the Simple), the posthumous son of Louis the Stammerer, is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom at the Reims Cathedral—though he is not recognized as such by King Odo (or Eudes) until 898.

title: 893

text: Emma, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 934)

title: 894

text: King Odo (or Eudes) takes a large army against Rheims, and forces anti-king Charles the Simple to flee to Germany. King Arnulf of Carinthia, throwing off his agreements with Odo, charges his illegitimate son Zwentibold to invade the West Frankish Kingdom, and re-install Charles on the throne.

title: 895

date: January 1

text: January 1 – King Odo I (or Eudes) dies at La Fère (Northern France) after a 10-year reign. His rival, the 18-year-old Charles the Simple in Laon, gains sovereignty and becomes ruler (with no real authority) of the West Frankish Kingdom. This puts an end to five years of civil war between the Frankish nobles.

title: 898

text: January 1 – Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 898

date: November 10

text: November 10 – Adelaide, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 901

text: Autumn – King Charles III (the Simple) and Rollo, leader of the Vikings, sign a peace agreement (Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte). In return for his homage and conversion to Christianity, Rollo becomes a vassal and is made Count of Rouen; this is the beginning of the duchy of Normandy. He divides the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and prevents any other Vikings sailing up the Seine to attack the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: AD 911

text: The nobles of Lotharingia under Gilbert, duke of Lorraine, revolt against King Charles III ("the Simple"). They recognize King Henry I ("the Fowler") as their sovereign. Charles invades Lotharingia as far as Pfeddersheim (near Worms), but retreats when he learns that Henry is mobilizing an army to attack the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 920

text: Louis IV, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 920)

title: 921

text: Summer – The West Frankish nobles revolt and depose King Charles III (the Simple) after a 24-year reign. He seeks refuge in Lotharingia and is replaced by Robert I, a brother of the late King Odo, who is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom in the cathedral at Rheims.

title: 922

date: June 15

text: June 15 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I is killed; the Frankish army, led by Charles the Simple, is defeated and routed near Soissons. Charles is captured and imprisoned at Péronne. The nobles elect Robert's son-in-law Rudolph, duke of Burgundy, as king of the West Frankish Kingdom (until 936).

title: 923

text: June 15 – Robert I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (b. 860)

title: 923

text: October 7 – Charles the Simple, former king of West Francia, dies in prison at Péronne, leaving Rudolph with no opposition except that of Count Herbert II of Vermandois.

title: 929

text: Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine, besieges Douai in West Francia.

title: 930

text: Rollo, duke of Normandy, dies at Rouen after an 11-year reign. He is the first leader of the Viking settlers to establish an independent dukedom (a vassal of the West Frankish Kingdom). His eldest son, William Longsword, becomes the second ruler of Normandy (approximate date).

title: 931

text: Prince Edwin, the youngest son of the late King Edward the Elder, is drowned en route to the West Frankish Kingdom and buried at Saint-Bertin.

title: 933

text: November 2 – Emma, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 934

text: Fall – Otto I defeats in two campaigns a series of uprisings in Saxony, Franconia and Lotharingia. He signs a "friendship pact" with King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") of the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 938

text: Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 986)

title: 941

text: Summer – King Otto I invades the West Frankish Kingdom with an expeditionary force, but his armies are not strong enough to take the key cities of Laon, Reims and Paris. After three months, Otto ends his campaign without defeating his rival Hugh the Great. He manages to depose Hugh of Vermandois from his position as archbishop of Reims, restoring Artald of Reims to his former office.

title: 946

text: Emma of Italy, queen of the West Frankish Kingdom (approximate date)

title: 948

text: November 12 – Lothair III is crowned by Artald, archbishop of Reims, at the Abbey of Saint-Remi as king of the West Frankish Kingdom. His mother, Queen Gerberga of Saxony, appoints Hugh the Great as regent.

title: 954

text: September 10 – Louis IV, king of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 954

text: June 16 – Hugh the Great, count of Paris, dies at Dourdan. He is succeeded by his eldest son Hugh Capet, who is recognized as Duke of the Franks by his cousin Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 956

text: Louis V, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 987)

title: 966

text: Fall – Otto II invades the West Frankish Kingdom accompanied by Charles and ravages the cities of Reims, Soissons (where he halts at the Abbey of Saint Médard for devotions) and Laon. Lothair III escapes and flees to Paris, where he is besieged by imperial forces. Charles is proclaimed 'King of the Franks' by Dietrich I, bishop of Metz, at Laon.

title: 977

text: June 8 – Louis V, nicknamed le Fainéant (the Do-Nothing), is crowned as the co-emperor of West Francia at Paris by his father, King Lothair. Upon Lothair's death on March 2, 986, Louis becomes the sole ruler.

title: 979

text: Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-German war of 978–980. Lothair renounces his claim on Lower Lorraine, while Otto promises to recognize Lothair's son Louis V as the rightful heir of the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 980

text: March 2 – King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) dies after a 32-year reign at Laon. He is succeeded by his 19-year-old son Louis V as ruler of the West Frankish Kingdom.

title: 986

text: March 2 – Lothair III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (b. 941)

title: 986

text: July 3 – After the last Carolingian king of West Francia, Louis V, had died in May, Hugh Capet is crowned king at Noyon.

title: 987

text: May 21 – Louis V, king of the West Frankish Kingdom

title: 987


slug: west-germany

label: West Germany

description: Federal Republic of Germany in the period between its formation on 23 May 1949 and German reunification on 3 October 1990

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Puma, a global sports goods brand, is founded in Bavaria, West Germany, by Rudolf Dassler, having split from his brother "Adi".

title: 1948

section: Events › June

section: Economy & Finance

date: June 21

text: June 21 – The Deutsche Mark becomes the official currency of the future Federal Republic of Germany.

title: 1948

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) is officially established (until 1990).

title: 1949

section: Events › May

text: September 7 – The first Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany convenes in Bonn. They will elect Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor while the Federal Convention, a constitutional body consisting of the Bundestag members and a same number of representatives of the States, elect the liberal Theodor Heuss as President of Germany on 12 September.

title: 1949

section: Events › September

date: October 19

text: October 19 – The state of war between the United States and Germany is officially ended.

title: 1951

section: Events › October

date: August 14

text: August 14 – West Germany joins the IMF and the World Bank.

title: 1952

section: Events › July–August

date: January 15

text: January 15 – British security forces in West Germany arrest 7 members of the Naumann Circle, a clandestine Neo-Nazi organization.

title: 1953

section: Events › January

text: January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany.

title: 1957

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Berlin Crisis of 1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin, and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe (until 1989, when Berlin and Germany both reunified in 1990, following the Fall of the Berlin Wall). On August 22 Ida Siekmann jumps from a window in her tenement building trying to flee to the West, becoming the first of at least 138 deaths at the Wall.

title: 1961

section: Events › August

date: August 24

text: August 24 – First games played in the Bundesliga, the primary professional Association football league in West Germany, replacing the Oberliga.

title: 1963

date: February 1

text: February 1 – Around 2,600 political prisoners are released by East Germany, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from West Germany.

title: 1966

section: Events › February

date: October 21

text: October 21 – Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.

title: 1969

date: March 19

text: March 19 – Ostpolitik: The leaders of West Germany and East Germany meet at a summit for the first time since Germany's division into two republics. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is greeted by cheering East German crowds as he arrives in Erfurt for a summit with his counterpart, East German Ministerpräsident Willi Stoph.

title: 1970

section: Events › March

date: September 18

text: September 18 – The two German Republics, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), are admitted to the United Nations.

title: 1973

date: April 24

text: April 24 – Guillaume Affair: exposure of an East German spy Günter Guillaume within the West German government, leading to the resignation of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.

title: 1974

section: Events › March–April

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Launch of the Volkswagen Golf in West Germany, a modern front-wheel drive hatchback which is expected to replace the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, holder of the world record for the car with the most units produced.

title: 1974

text: March 29 – Germany's first elected Green Party representatives take their seats in the West German Bundestag, dressed in jeans and sweaters and accompanied by bongo drums.

title: 1983

date: June 10

text: June 10 – A Soviet soldier defects to West Germany across the inner German border, the first such defection since 1976.

title: 1984

date: May 27

text: May 27 – At the Prater Stadium of Vienna, Porto of Portugal defeats Bayern München of West Germany 2–1 and wins its first European Cup.

title: 1987

text: September 7 – Erich Honecker makes a visit to Bonn, the first (and last) visit by an East German head of state to West Germany.

title: 1987

text: June 10–25 – West Germany hosts the UEFA Euro 1988 football tournament, which is won by the Netherlands.

title: 1988

text: January 1 – The New York Times discloses involvement of West German company Imhausen and Salzgitter AG in building a chemical weapon plant in Rabta, Libya.

title: 1989

date: July 1

text: July 1 – German reunification: East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, the West German Deutsche Mark becoming the official currency of the East also. The Inner German border (constructed 1945) also ceases to function.

title: 1990

section: Events › July


slug: western-australia

label: Western Australia

description: state of Australia

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Lenaert Jacobszoon and the crew of the Dutch East India Company ship Mauritius become the first Europeans to sight what is now the Australian state of Western Australia, landing at the North Cape.

title: 1618

section: Events › July–September

section: Conflict & Security

date: October 2

text: October 2 – In what is now the state of Western Australia, administered at the time by the Dutch East India Company, seven members of the crew of the Batavia are hanged on the Abrolhos Islands for their massacre of 125 passengers and crew.

title: 1629

section: Events › October–December

date: July 26

text: July 26 – William Dampier's expedition to New Holland (Australia), in HMS Roebuck, reaches Dirk Hartog Island, at the mouth of what he calls Shark Bay in Western Australia, and he begins producing the first known detailed record of Australian flora and fauna.

title: 1699

date: August 1

text: August 1 – The Dutch East India Company trading ship Zuytdorp leaves the Netherlands on an ill-fated voyage to Indonesia bearing a load of freshly minted silver coins. The wreck site remains unknown until the mid-20th century, on a remote part of the Western Australian coast between Kalbarri and Shark Bay.

title: 1711

text: The VOC Zuytdorp is wrecked off the coast of Western Australia.

title: 1712

section: Events › Date unknown

date: February 6

text: February 6 – The Swan River Colony is renamed Western Australia.

title: 1832

section: Events › January–March

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: October 12

text: October 12 – End of penal transportation from Britain as the last convict ship, the Hougoumont, departs from Portsmouth on an 89-day passage to Western Australia. 62 Fenians are among the transportees.

title: 1867

date: February

text: The Flying Foam massacre, a massacre of Indigenous Australians around Flying Foam Passage in Western Australia by white colonial settlers begins and lasts until May.

title: 1868

date: January 1

text: January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minister of Australia.

title: 1901

section: Culture & Society

date: March

text: March – The Group Settlement Scheme in Western Australia begins.

title: 1921

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Mining corporation Rio Tinto admits to blowing up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The firm later issues an apology to the two Aboriginal peoples who are the traditional owners of the site.

title: 2020


slug: western-europe

label: Western Europe

description: western part of the European continent

section: Health & Medicine

text: Smallpox arrives in Western Europe for the first time (approximate date).

title: 600

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: October 10

text: October 10 – Battle of Tours: The Frankish and Burgundian forces under Charles Martel defeat a large army of Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, near Poitiers, halting the Islamic advance into Western Europe; Rahman Al Ghafiqi is killed during the battle. Charles extends his authority in the south of France, which gives him the nickname Martellus ("The Hammer"). The outcome of the victory is a turning point, and establishes a balance of power between Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire.

title: 732

section: Religion & Belief

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III as Charles I, with the title "Emperor of the Romans". The coronation takes place during Mass at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, on Christmas Day. The Frankish Empire is formed in Western Europe, which is not recognized by Empress Irene at Constantinople. This triggers a series of disputes with the Byzantines around who is officially ruling the former Western Roman Empire.

title: 800

section: Events › Europe

text: William I (the Pious) of Aquitaine, donates land in Burgundy for the building of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to the saints Peter and Paul. Hence the Abbey of Cluny, becomes the largest in the West. In the foundation charter, William renounces all rights to the monastery and nominates Berno as the first abbot of Cluny (Eastern France). He places the monastery directly under the control of the Papal See.

title: 910

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Spring – Emperor Otto II (the Red) leads the imperial court to Rome, making the city his imperial capital, and receives nobles from all parts of Western Europe. Otto makes plans to conquer Byzantine Italy.

title: 981

text: March – Emperor Alexios I Komnenos send envoys to Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza and appeals to the Christian states of Western Europe for military aid against the Seljuk Turks. Urban responds favourably, hoping to heal the Great Schism of 40 years earlier, and to reunite the Catholic Church under papal primacy by helping the Eastern churches.

title: 1095

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The counties of Flanders and Hainaut (modern Belgium) are united under Count Baldwin VIII. Flanders, a feudal fiefdom of France, becomes an important, wealthy independent state of Western Europe.

title: 1191

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Pope Nicholas IV proclaims a crusade against the 26-year-old King Ladislaus IV, who had lost credibility by favoring his semi-pagan Cuman subjects in Hungary, and in general refusing to conform to the social standards of Western Europe. Meanwhile, the Hungarian government loses more power because the clergy and most of the nobles rule the kingdom independently.

title: 1288

section: Climate & Environment

text: "Year without winter" – An exceptionally rare instance of uninterrupted transition, from autumn to the following spring, in England and the mainland of Western Europe.

title: 1290

section: Events › By topic › Climate and Weather

text: January 1 – Protestant nations in Western Europe, except England, start using the Gregorian calendar. Catholic nations have been using the Gregorian calendar since its introduction in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.

title: 1700

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Berlin Crisis of 1961: Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin, and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe (until 1989, when Berlin and Germany both reunified in 1990, following the Fall of the Berlin Wall). On August 22 Ida Siekmann jumps from a window in her tenement building trying to flee to the West, becoming the first of at least 138 deaths at the Wall.

title: 1961