slug: cold-war

label: Cold War

description: 1947–1991 tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies

section: Economy & Finance

date: April 16

text: April 16 – American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch describes the post–World War II tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States as a "Cold War".

title: 1947

section: Events › April

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: February 17

text: February 17 – Cold War: The Voice of America begins to transmit radio broadcasts into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union

title: 1947

section: Events › February

date: July 26

text: July 26 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into law to create the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

title: 1947

section: Events › July

date: March 12

text: March 12 – The Cold War begins: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed, to help stem the spread of Communism.

title: 1947

section: Events › March

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Cold War: The Berlin Blockade begins.

title: 1948

section: Events › June

date: May 12

text: May 12 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts the Berlin Blockade.

title: 1949

section: Events › May

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs, German émigré physicist, confesses to a British MI5 interrogator that he is a Soviet spy: for seven years, he passed top secret data on U.S. and British nuclear weapons research to the Soviet Union. Fuchs is formally charged on February 2.

title: 1950

section: Events › January

date: August 15

text: August 15–19 – Cold War: 1953 Iranian coup d'état – Overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, by Iranian military in favour of strengthening the monarchical rule of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with the support of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (as "Operation Ajax") and the United Kingdom.

title: 1953

section: Events › August

section: Culture & Society

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Van Cliburn wins the International Tchaikovsky Competition for pianists in Moscow, easing Cold War tensions.

title: 1958

date: December 1

text: December 1 – Cold War: Antarctic Treaty – 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty that sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent (the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).

title: 1959

section: Events › December

section: Crime & Justice

date: August

text: Cold War: American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced in Moscow to 10 years in prison for espionage.

title: 1960

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: July 1 – Cold War: A Soviet Air Force MiG-19 fighter plane flying north of Murmansk, Russia, over the Barents Sea, shoots down a six-man RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force. Four of the U.S. Air Force officers are killed, and the two survivors are held prisoner in the Soviet Union.

title: 1960

section: Climate & Environment

text: October 12 – Cold War: Shoe-banging incident – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, his way of protesting the discussion of the Soviet Union's policies toward Eastern Europe.

title: 1960

section: Events › October

text: December 2 – Cold War: In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro announces he is a Marxist–Leninist, and that Cuba will adopt socialism.

title: 1961

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Berlin Crisis: Confrontation at Checkpoint Charlie – A standoff between Soviet and American tanks in Berlin, Germany, heightens Cold War tensions.

title: 1961

date: August 2

text: August 2 – U.S. President Richard Nixon visits Romania, becoming the first incumbent U.S. president to visit a communist state since the start of the Cold War.

title: 1969

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea.

title: 1969

section: Events › November

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, to begin the SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

title: 1969

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Cold War: Soviet Air Force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko lands a MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaidō in Japan, and requests political asylum in the United States.

title: 1976

section: Events › September

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Able Archer 83: Many Soviet officials misinterpret this NATO exercise as a nuclear first strike, causing the last nuclear scare of the Cold War.

title: 1983

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by Soviet Union Air Force Su-15 Flagon pilot Major Gennadi Osipovich near Moneron Island when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace. All 269 on board are killed, including U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald.

title: 1983

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.

title: 1985

date: October 11

text: October 11–12 – Cold War: Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe, which end in failure.

title: 1986

text: December 1 – Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) its monopoly on power. Egon Krenz, the Politburo and the Central Committee resign two days later.

title: 1989

date: May 3

text: May 3 – Cold War: Perestroika – The first McDonald's restaurant in the USSR begins construction in Moscow. It will open on January 31, 1990.

title: 1989

text: November 17 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution – A peaceful student demonstration in Prague, Czechoslovakia, is severely beaten back by riot police. This sparks a revolution aimed at overthrowing the Communist government (it succeeds on December 29).

title: 1989

date: November 20

text: November 20 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution – The number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.

title: 1989

date: November 28

text: November 28 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution – The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power (elections held in December bring the first non-Communist government to Czechoslovakia in more than forty years).

title: 1989

text: November 7 – Cold War: The Communist government of East Germany under prime minister Willi Stoph resigns, although SED leader Egon Krenz remains as head of state.

title: 1989

date: November 9

text: November 9 – Cold War and Fall of the Berlin Wall: East German official Günter Schabowski accidentally states in a live broadcast press conference that new rules for traveling from East Germany to West Germany will be put in effect "immediately". Late this evening, East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time in decades. In the first week, travel visas will be issued to around 25% of the East German population. One of several significant events on 9 November in German history.

title: 1989

date: October

text: October – Cold War: Perestroika – Nathan's Famous opens a hot dog stand in Moscow.

title: 1989

date: October 24

text: October 24 – Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti reveals the existence of Operation Gladio, a clandestine NATO "stay-behind" operation in Italy during the Cold War.

title: 1990

date: August 1

text: August 1 – 2024 American–Russian prisoner exchange: 26 individuals are released from Ankara Esenboğa Airport in the largest prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia since the Cold War.

title: 2024

text: June 25 – The Axiom Mission 4 is launched. The mission involves four astronauts, including the first astronauts from Poland (Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski) and India (Shubhanshu Shukla) since the end of the Cold War.

title: 2025


slug: cologne

label: Cologne

description: most populous city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

year_label: 12 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Roman armies based at Xanten, Cologne and Mainz campaign beyond the Rhine.

title: 12 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: The Franks, who invaded the Roman Empire near Cologne in 257, reach Tarraco in Hispania.

title: 259

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Saloninus, son of Gallienus, is proclaimed Augustus by his troops. Postumus besieges Cologne, where Silvanus is praetorian prefect and Roman ruler of Gaul.

title: 260

text: The Germans destroy the Roman fleet on the Rhine; Bonosus is proclaimed emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne).

title: 280

text: Constantine raids the territory of the Bructeri and builds a bridge across the Rhine at Cologne.

title: 308

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: History of the Jews in Germany: Jews in modern-day Germany are documented for the first time, in Colonia Agrippinensium (modern-day Cologne).

title: 321

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Frankish invasion of 388: Rebellious Franks led by Marcomer, Sunno and Genobaud invade the Roman Empire with plunder and threaten Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne). A part of the invaders are destroyed by the Romans in the charcoal forest (present-day Belgium). The Roman general Quintines pursues the invaders on Frankish soil and is ambushed. His army is surrounded and defeated by the Franks.

title: 388

date: April 7

text: April 7 – Attila's forces invade Gaul and sack Metz. The major cities of Strasbourg, Worms, Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Reims, Tournai, Cambrai, Amiens and Beauvais are destroyed by the Huns.

title: 451

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Religion & Belief

text: Civil War within the Pepinid clan: A revolt erupts between the Neustrian Franks and Frisians. King Radbod forces bishop Willibrord and his Benedictine monks to flee, and advances as far as Cologne (Germany). Frisia (modern-day Netherlands) once again becomes independent.

title: 714

section: Deaths

text: Dagobert III dies of an illness and is succeeded by Chilperic II, son of Childeric II, as king of Neustria. Charles Martel is freed from prison at Cologne, and is proclaimed Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia at the capital Metz.

title: 715

text: Battle of Cologne: Charles Martel, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, is defeated by the Neustrians under King Chilperic II and his mayor Ragenfrid near Cologne (now part of Germany), who have invaded Austrasia to impose their will on the competing Frankish factions of Theudoald and Plectrude, the child grandson (and designated heir) and widow respectively of Pepin of Herstal. Simultaneously, Radbod, king (or duke) of the Frisians, attacks Austrasia and allies with the Neustrians. Charles is forced to flee into the mountains of the Eifel (Ardennes).

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire › Europe

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Battle of Vincy: Charles Martel invades Neustria and defeats the forces of King Chilperic II at Vincy, near Cambrai. He pursues him and his mayor of the palace Ragenfrid to Paris, before turning back to deal with his stepmother Plectrude at Cologne, to turn over half the wealth of his late father Pepin of Herstal. Charles allows both Plectrude and his nephew Theudoald (who at eleven was still a little child) to live (a gesture uncommon for the time), and obliges her to accept his sovereignty.

title: 717

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

text: Saxon Wars: Widukind and his close followers return to Saxony from Denmark. He probably makes alliances with the Danes and the northwestern Slav tribes. Saxon rebels destroy the fortress of Karlsburg and sack Deutz (near Cologne), but are unable to cross the Rhine. They are driven back by the garrison of Koblenz, but then ambush and defeat the Frankish pursuers. Counter-attacking Frankish forces pursue the Saxons up the Lahn Valley, and defeat them near Leisa.

title: 778

text: King Charlemagne abandons his channel project (see 793), and attacks the Saxon rebels from the north, supported by a second Frankish army under his son Charles the Younger, which crosses the Rhine at Cologne from the west; threatened from two directions, the Saxons surrender near Paderborn (Westphalia).

title: 794

text: Summer – Viking raiders sack the cities of Paris, Cologne, Aachen, Worms and Toulouse.

title: 861

text: Danish Vikings loot along the Rhine. They settle on an island near Cologne, but are driven off by the combined forces of Lothair II and the Saxons.

title: 863

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Gunther, archbishop of Cologne

title: 873

text: St. Cecilia's Church (Cäcilienkirche) is founded as a college for women. It is now home of the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne.

title: 881

text: Wilbert, archbishop of Cologne

title: 889

section: Births

text: Gero, archbishop of Cologne (approximate date)

title: 900

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Gero, archbishop of Cologne

title: 976

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Gisela of Swabia, wife of Conrad II, is crowned as the Queen consort of Germany by Archbishop Pilgrim in a ceremony at Cologne. The royal couple then make a tour of Germany, traveling to Aachen (9/23), Nijmegen, Liege (10/2), Gendt (11/14), Dortmund and Minden.

title: 1024

section: Events › July–September

date: August 18

text: August 18 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, marries Eupraxia of Kiev (daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod I) at Cologne. She is crowned and assumes the name Adelaide (or Adelheid).

title: 1089

text: Spring – Peter the Hermit begins his preaching of the First Crusade, traveling from Berry (in central France) across Champagne, and down the Meuse Valley to Cologne (modern Germany). He gathers the People's Crusade (some 40,000 supporters), which departs about April 20. Peter's speeches appeal not only to nobles and knights, but also laborers, tradesmen and peasants (among them are former brigands and criminals).

title: 1096

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

text: Frederick I becomes archbishop of Cologne, and begins the construction of the castle of Volmarstein.

title: 1100

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Emperor Henry IV escapes his captors at Ingelheim. He enters into negotiations at Cologne with English, French and Danish noblemen, and begins to collect an army to oppose his son Henry V but dies at Liège after a 49-year reign. Henry leads a successful expedition against Count Robert II of Flanders and is forced to swear his allegiance to him.

title: 1106

text: Henry II of England grants special trading privileges to the Hansa merchants of Cologne in London who lend him money at interest.

title: 1157

section: Events

text: Rainald of Dassel brings relics of the Three Magi from Milan to Cologne as a gift for Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

title: 1164

text: William Marshal, Norman knight and head of the household of Henry the Young King, is accused of having an affair with Henry's wife, Queen Margaret of France. Although contemporary chroniclers doubt the truth of these accusations. Henry starts the process to have his marriage annulled, William leaves the royal retinue, undergoing a period of self-imposed exile, and goes on a pilgrimage to Cologne.

title: 1182

section: Events › By place › England

date: June 5

text: June 5 – War of the Limburg Succession – Battle of Worringen: Brabantian forces under Duke John I defeat the coalition army of Cologne, Luxemburg, and Nassau at Worringen (in a struggle to conquer the Duchy of Limburg). John liberates the city of Cologne from rule by the Electorate of Cologne, which has previously been one of the major ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1288

date: August 25

text: August 25 – Count Gottfried IV of Ambsbe, who has no children, sells Arnsberg to the Duchy of Westphalia by way of the Archbishop of Köln, for 30,000 guilders, allowing Westphalia to complete its reunification.

title: 1368

date: February 11

text: February 11 – In Germany, the Rhine river rises high enough in the Mosel River Valley during a flood that horses reportedly drown in the streets at Koln

title: 1374

section: Events › January–March

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Rupert, King of Germany, is crowned King of the Romans at Cologne.

title: 1401

date: September 9

text: September 9 – The city of Köln (Cologne), already separate from the surrounding Köln is granted the status of a "free imperial city" by the Holy Roman Empire, with representation in the Imperial Diet and self-government within the Empire.

title: 1475

text: Printing of the first edition of William Tyndale's New Testament Bible translation into English in Cologne is interrupted by anti-Lutheran forces and Tyndale flees to Worms (finished copies reach England in 1526).

title: 1525

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Science & Discovery

text: Georg Braun begins publication of his urban atlas, Civitates orbis terrarum, in Cologne.

title: 1572

date: September 26

text: September 26 – General Raimondo Montecuccoli, commander of the army of the Holy Roman Empire, joins forces with the Brandenburg troops commanded by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg and the two groups assemble at Halberstadt, to attack the French and the bishops of Münster and Cologne.

title: 1672

date: February 10

text: February 10 – The first worldwide carnival parade takes place in Cologne, Prussia.

title: 1823

date: July 1

text: July 1 – In Cologne, the Wallraf–Richartz Museum of art opens.

title: 1861

date: January 31

text: January 31 – British and Belgian troops leave Cologne.

title: 1926

text: June 11 – Cologne school massacre: In Cologne, West Germany, Walter Seifert attacks students and teachers in an elementary school with a flamethrower, killing 10 and injuring 21.

title: 1964

text: September 5 – German Autumn: Employers Association President Hanns Martin Schleyer is kidnapped in Cologne, West Germany. The kidnappers kill three escorting police officers and his chauffeur. They demand the release of Red Army Faction prisoners.

title: 1977


slug: colombia

label: Colombia

description: country in South America

year_label: 500 BCE

section: Health & Medicine

text: The world population reaches 100,000,000—85,000,000 in the Eastern Hemisphere and 15,000,000 in the Western Hemisphere, primarily Mesoamerica and northern South America (Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela).

title: 500 BC

section: Events › By topic › Demographics

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Chocontá: The northern (zaque) tribes of the pre-Columbian Muisca Confederation (central Colombia) are beaten by the southern (zipa) tribes.

title: 1490

text: The first black slaves arrive in Colombia.

title: 1511

date: July 29

text: July 29 – Santa Marta, the first city in Colombia, is founded by Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas.

title: 1525

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin America, patron saint of Colombia (d. 1581)

title: 1526

text: Spanish counquistadors in what are now Peru and Colombia become the first Europeans to discover the potato, one of the staple foods for the indigenous residents, while exploring the houses of who have fled from their homes. Pedro Cieza de León, part of the expedition to Colombia, mentions the potato in a book that he publishes 16 years later while Don Juan Castellanos refers to the edible plant as part of a military report on raiding an Inca village in Peru. The potato is introduced to Europe more than 30 years later, in 1570.

title: 1537

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Spanish conquest of the Muisca: Bacatá, the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation, is conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, effectively ending the Confederation in the Colombian Eastern Andes.

title: 1537

section: Events › April–June

date: March 8

text: March 8 – Chipatá, now in the Santander Department of the Republic of Colombia, is founded by the Spanish conquistadors Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his brother Hernán Pérez de Quesada as the first settlement in what will become the Spanish colony of Nueva Granada, which will later be divided into the nations of Colombia and Venezuela.

title: 1537

date: August 6

text: August 6 – Bogotá, Colombia is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

title: 1538

date: December 15

text: December 15 – In the Spanish colony of Nueva Granada (now the Republic of Colombia, Spanish conquistador Baltasar Maldonado and his troops fight a final battle at Duitama (now the Boyacá Department) against the indigenous armies of the Muisca Confederation, led by Tundama.

title: 1539

section: Events › October–December

text: January 6 – Spanish Captain Hernando de Santana founds the city of Valledupar, in modern-day Colombia.

title: 1550

date: October 9

text: October 9 – Saint Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin America, patron saint of Colombia (b. 1526)

title: 1581

date: May 24

text: May 24 – Providence Island in the Caribbean, settled by English Puritans and a haven for English pirates off the coast of modern-day Colombia, is captured in a joint operation of the Spanish Navy in an attack led by Don Francisco Díaz Pimienta, and the Portuguese Navy led by the Count of Castel-Melhor Sousa. The expedition takes 770 prisoners, 380 slaves and a fortune in plundered gold and silver.

title: 1641

date: May 6

text: May 6 – General Bernard Desjean, Baron de Pointis of France carries out an attack and pillaging of the Spanish South American fort of Cartagena de Indias (now in Colombia) with 1,200 soldiers and 650 pirate mercenaries. The French attackers overwhelm the city for the next 18 days. The Baron reneges on a contract to share the wealth with the pirates, who will come back to Cartagena a second time and makes a more violent attack.

title: 1697

date: May 27

text: May 27 – Spain creates the Viceroyalty of New Granada in South America from the northern section of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The viceroyalty, with a capital at Bogotá, later declares independence and splits up into what become the nations of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

title: 1717

text: Marian apparition at Las Lajas in Colombia.

title: 1754

text: August 6 – The city of Santa Cruz de Mompox, in modern-day Colombia, declares independence from the Spanish Empire.

title: 1810

date: July 20

text: July 20 – First Republic of New Granada: Patria Boba: A junta of seven patriots, led by José Acevedo y Gómez, assemble in Bogotá in the Viceroyalty of New Granada (modern-day Colombia), to declare its independence from the Spanish Empire, the first South American nation to break away from Spain as the third oldest independent republic state after Haiti.

title: 1810

text: August 7 – Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar is victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia. Colombia acquires its definitive independence from Spanish rule.

title: 1819

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: August 28

text: August 28–September 2 – The solar storm of 1859, the largest geomagnetic solar storm on record, causes the Northern lights to be visible as far south as Montería, Colombia and knocks out telegraph communication (this is also called the Carrington event).

title: 1859

section: Climate & Environment

date: May 8

text: May 8 – In New Granada (modern-day Colombia) the southern state of Cauca secedes from the central government, in protest at the suggestion of increase of presidential powers; Magdalena and Bolívar join it; civil war erupts.

title: 1860

section: Events › May

date: October 25

text: October 25 – In the Granadine Confederation (modern-day Colombia), rebel troops of the southern states defeat government forces.

title: 1862

section: Events › October

date: November 3

text: November 3 – Separation of Panama from Colombia: With the encouragement of the United States, Panama proclaims itself independent of Colombia.

title: 1903

section: Events › November

date: January 7

text: January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama.

title: 1909

section: Events › January–February

date: December 30

text: December 30 – Humberto Gómez and his mercenaries seize Arauca in Colombia and declare the Republic of Arauca. He proceeds to pillage the region before fleeing to Venezuela.

title: 1916

section: Events › December

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Ten people, including musician Carlos Gardel, are killed in a collision between two Ford Trimotor airplanes at Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín, Colombia.

title: 1935

section: Events › June

date: December 12

text: December 12 – A landslide in western Colombia leaves 200 dead.

title: 1970

text: Colombian looters find the lost 1st millennium city of Ciudad Perdida; it is not reached by official archaeologists until 1976.

title: 1972

date: July 23

text: July 23 – The Avianca Building in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers a serious fire, in which four people are killed.

title: 1973

section: Events › July

text: December 12 – The 8.2 Tumaco earthquake shakes Colombia and Ecuador with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 300–600, and generating a large tsunami.

title: 1979

date: April 27

text: April 27 – The Dominican embassy siege in Colombia ends with all remaining hostages released after the guerrillas are allowed to escape to Cuba.

title: 1980

section: Events › April

date: February 27

text: February 27 – M-19 guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in Colombia, holding 60 people hostage, including 14 ambassadors.

title: 1980

section: Events › February

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Colombian Avianca Flight 011 crashes near Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, killing 181 of the 192 on board.

title: 1983

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Armero tragedy: The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts, killing an estimated 23,000 people, including 21,000 killed by lahars, in the town of Armero, Colombia.

title: 1985

text: March 17 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border, killing 143 people.

title: 1988

text: August 19–21 – In response to the murder of a judge, a provincial police chief, and presidential candidate Galán, the authorities of Colombia arrest 11,000 suspected Colombian drug traffickers.

title: 1989

text: May 29 – An attempted assassination of Miguel Maza Marquez, director of the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) in Bogotá, Colombia is committed by members of the Medellín Cartel, who kill four and injure 37.

title: 1989

text: November 27 – Colombian domestic passenger flight Avianca Flight 203 is bombed by the Medellín drug cartel in an (unsuccessful) attempt to kill presidential candidate for the 1990 elections César Gaviria Trujillo. All 107 people on board as well as three people on the ground are killed.

title: 1989

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

title: 1991

text: April 9 – A jury in Miami, Florida, convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel.

title: 1992

text: July 22 – Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison, fearing extradition to the United States.

title: 1992

text: September 28 – Law enforcement officials in the United States, Colombia and Italy announce that they have arrested more than 165 people on money laundering charges related to cocaine trafficking.

title: 1992

text: December 2 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down by police.

title: 1993

text: September 4 – The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia attack a military base in Guaviare, Colombia, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare that will claim the lives of at least 130 Colombians.

title: 1996

text: January 25 – The 6.2 Colombia earthquake strikes western Colombia, killing at least 1,900 people.

title: 1999

text: June 8 – The government of Colombia announces it will include the estimated value of the country's illegal drug crops, exceeding half a billion US dollars, in its gross national product.

title: 1999

text: October 25 – Telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea debuts on RCN Televisión in Colombia. It will give rise to Ugly Betty and at least a dozen other versions worldwide.

title: 1999

text: February 4 – Civic mobilizations in Colombia against FARC, under the name One million voices against FARC.

title: 2008

text: July 2 – Íngrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages are rescued from FARC rebels by Colombian security forces.

title: 2008

text: August 16 – AIRES Flight 8250, a Boeing 737–700, crashed on landing at San Andrés, Colombia, killing two.

title: 2010

text: February 23 – Venezuelan presidential crisis: President Maduro severs diplomatic ties with Colombia amid attempts to send humanitarian aid to the country across the border.

title: 2019

text: April 28 – Colombia formalizes its membership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), becoming the 37th nation of the organization.

title: 2020

text: March 26 – Militants in the Philippines, Syria, Yemen, and Libya agree to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a ceasefire; some accept medical aid for themselves and civilians in their communities. Colombia and Venezuela discuss a common response to the global pandemic, and the UAE airlifts aid to Iran.

title: 2020

text: September 4 – The La Línea highway tunnel, the longest road tunnel in South America at a length of 8.65 kilometres (5.37 mi), is opened in Colombia after 14 years of construction and several delays.

title: 2020

text: November 19–November 26 – The 2022 Central American and Caribbean Beach Games are held in Santa Marta, Colombia.

title: 2022


slug: colombo

label: Colombo

description: largest city and de facto capital of Sri Lanka

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Portuguese explorer Lourenço de Almeida and his fleet encounter a storm and are driven to the island of Sri Lanka and travels to Colombo. The King of Kotte, Dharma Parakramabahu IX, allows Almeida to build a trade station and a Roman Catholic chapel.

title: 1505

date: February 18

text: February 18 – In modern-day Sri Lanka, the siege of Colombo by King Rajasinha I of Sitawaka ends when Portuguese Admiral Pedro Teixeira arrives with a fleet of 80 ships and frees the capital of Portuguese Ceylon. King Rajasinha and his troops flee back to his capital at Seethawakapura.

title: 1588

section: Events › January–March

section: Crime & Justice

date: July 14

text: July 14 – King Dominicus Corea (Edirille Bandara) is beheaded by the Portuguese in Colombo, Ceylon.

title: 1596

section: Events › July–September

date: May 12

text: May 12 – The Dutch capture the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking the start of Netherlands colonial rule of Dutch Ceylon.

title: 1656

date: February 15

text: February 15 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Invasion of Ceylon (1795) ends when Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of Ceylon, surrenders Colombo peacefully to British forces.

title: 1796

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Edward Harper, the "father of broadcasting" in Ceylon, arrives in Colombo to take up his post as Chief Engineer of the Ceylon Telegraph Department.

title: 1921

date: April 5

text: April 5 – WWII: Easter Sunday Raid – Aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attack Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Royal Navy cruisers and are sunk southwest of the island.

title: 1942

section: Health & Medicine

date: April 21

text: April 21 – In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Central Bus Station Bombing kills 113 civilians.

title: 1987

section: Economy & Finance

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Colombo Central Bank bombing: an explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing at least 86 people and injuring 1,400.

title: 1996

section: Events › January

text: April 21 – A series of Islamist bomb attacks occur at eight locations in Sri Lanka, including three churches, four hotels and one housing complex in Colombo, on Easter Sunday, leaving 259 people dead and over 500 injured. It is the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since the Sri Lankan Civil War ended in 2009.

title: 2019


slug: colonial-brazil

label: Colonial Brazil

description: Portuguese possession in South America (1500-1808)

date: January 26

text: January 26 – Spanish navigator Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reaches the northern coast of Brazil.

title: 1500

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The Portuguese crown divides Colonial Brazil into fifteen donatory captaincies, hereditary titles similar to duchies. Rodrigo Ricupero, A Formação da Elite Colonial no Brasil (de 1530 a 1630) (Almedina Brasil, 2020),

title: 1534

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires in what is now Argentina.

title: 1536

section: Culture & Society

date: March 12

text: March 12 – Recife is founded by the Portuguese, in Brazil.

title: 1537

date: March 29

text: March 29 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil's first capital, is founded by Tome de Sousa.

title: 1549

date: January 25

text: January 25 – São Paulo, Brazil, is founded.

title: 1554

date: March 1

text: March 1 – The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro by Estácio de Sá.

title: 1565

date: January

text: January – 8-year-old António Vieira arrives from Portugal with his parents in Bahia (modern-day Salvador) in Colonial Brazil, where he will become a diplomat, noted author, leading figure of the Church, and protector of Brazilian indigenous peoples, in an age of intolerance.

title: 1616

date: February 6

text: February 6 – The colony of Quilombo dos Palmares, created by rebel African slaves in Brazil, is destroyed by the bandeirantes, colonial troops under the command of Domingos Jorge Velho. After a successful attack on its capital, Cerca do Macaco, the last King of Dos Palmares, Zumbi, flees after a reign of more than 13 years, but is later captured and executed.

title: 1694

section: Deaths

date: November 18

text: November 18 – Aleijadinho, Colonial Brazil-born sculptor and architect (b. 1730 or 1738)

title: 1814

section: Deaths › July–December


slug: colony-of-virginia

label: Colony of Virginia

description: former British colony in North America

date: April 26

text: April 26 – English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia, later moving up the James River.

title: 1607

section: Events › April–June

date: January 10

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

title: 1616

section: Events › January–February

date: August 20

text: August 20 – A group of "twenty and odd" enslaved Africans, onboard the privateer ship White Lion (the first in the state of Virginia), are landed at Point Comfort in colonial Virginia.

title: 1619

date: May 24

text: May 24 – After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia's charter is revoked, and it becomes a royal colony.

title: 1624

date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Commonwealth of England government passes a law prohibiting trade between English merchants and English colonies that had sided with Charles II over Oliver Cromwell. Specifically labeled as rebel colonies for purposes of the ban are the North American colonies of Virginia and the Somers Isles (alias Bermuda), as well as the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Antigua.

title: 1650

section: Events › October–December

date: March 8

text: March 8 – John Casor becomes the first legally recognized slave in what will become the United States, as a court in Northampton County in the Colony of Virginia issues its decision in the Casor lawsuit, the first instance of a judicial determination in the Thirteen Colonies holding that a person who has committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.

title: 1655

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 30

text: July 30 – Virginia colonist Nathaniel Bacon and his makeshift army issue a Declaration of the People of Virginia, instigating Bacon's Rebellion against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.

title: 1676

date: May 1

text: May 1 (O.S.) – A series of five student orations at the College of William & Mary precipitate the Colony of Virginia's capital moving from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, resulting in the establishment of Williamsburg.

title: 1699

date: November

text: November – In Williamsburg, capital of the Colony of Virginia in America, construction of the Capitol Building is completed.

title: 1705

date: May 28

text: May 28 – French and Indian War: Battle of Jumonville Glen – The war begins when George Washington, 22, leads a company of militia from the Colony of Virginia, in an ambush on a force of 35 French Canadians.

title: 1754

date: November 19

text: November 19 – A separate peace treaty is signed between the Cherokee Indians and the Colony of Virginia, bringing the Anglo-Cherokee War to a close.

title: 1761

date: November 7

text: November 7 – American Revolution: John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, British royal governor of the Colony of Virginia, signs Dunmore's Proclamation, declaring martial law and offering freedom to slaves of Patriots who run away from their owners and join the Loyalist forces (formal proclamation November 15) thus losing the support of planters who see slaves as their vital livelihood.

title: 1775

section: Events › July–December


slug: colorado

label: Colorado

description: state of the United States of America

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Pike Expedition: During his second exploratory expedition, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike sees a distant mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains (later named Pikes Peak in his honor).

title: 1806

date: April 9

text: April 9 – San Luis, the oldest permanent settlement in the state of Colorado, is founded by settlers from Taos, New Mexico.

title: 1851

date: August 1

text: August 1 – Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.

title: 1876

section: Events › August

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Meeker Massacre: Nathan Meeker and others are killed in an uprising at the White River Ute Indian reservation in Colorado.

title: 1879

section: Events › September

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law, Charlie Mason, discover the Indian ruins of Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado.

title: 1888

section: Events › December

text: November 7 – Colorado women are granted the right to vote.

title: 1893

section: Events › November

section: Climate & Environment

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Dust Bowl: "Black Sunday", the great dust storm in the United States hits eastern New Mexico and Colorado, and western Oklahoma the hardest (it will be made famous by Woody Guthrie, in his "dust bowl ballads").

title: 1935

section: Events › April

date: April 1

text: April 1 – The U.S. Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorize the founding of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.

title: 1954

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: October 2

text: October 2 – The Wichita State University football team's "Gold" plane crashes in Colorado, killing most of the players. They were on their way (along with administrators and fans) to a game with Utah State University.

title: 1970

section: Events › October

date: July 4

text: July 4 – The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.

title: 1972

section: Events › July

date: June 16

text: June 16 – Father's Day bank massacre: Four security guards are shot to death during a bank robbery at the United Bank Tower in Denver, Colorado, United States. The former police officer subsequently charged with the crime is acquitted, and the case remains unsolved.

title: 1991

section: Events › June

date: June 2

text: June 2 – In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

title: 1997


slug: colosseum

label: Colosseum

description: ancient Roman amphitheatre, a landmark of Rome, Italy

year_label: 72 CE

section: Culture & Society

text: Vespasian starts the building of the Colosseum; the amphitheatre is used for gladiatorial games and public spectacles, such as sea battles, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas of Classical mythology.

title: AD 72

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

year_label: 95 CE

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Roman consul Manius Acilius Glabrio is ordered by Domitian to descend into the arena of the Colosseum to fight a lion. After he kills the animal, Domitian banishes and puts him to death.

title: AD 95

section: Religion & Belief

text: Trajan's Column near the Colosseum in Rome is completed to commemorate the Emperor's victory over the Dacians in the Second Dacian War.

title: AD 113

text: The Colosseum is badly damaged by fire (lightning) which destroys the wooden upper levels of the amphitheater.

title: 217

text: The Colosseum is restored after being damaged.

title: 238

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum at Rome to commemorate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. As part of the ceremony Constantine is expected to make a sacrifice to Rome's traditional gods, but he refuses to do so.

title: 315

text: Emperor Honorius closes the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), in an austerity move that abolishes amusements.

title: 405

text: The walls of Rome's Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) crack during an earthquake.

title: 422

text: The last gladiatorial fights are held in the Colosseum in Rome.

title: 438

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: September 9

text: September 9 – 1349 Apennine earthquakes. An earthquake in Rome causes extensive damage, including the collapse of the southern exterior facade of the Colosseum.

title: 1349

section: Events › January–December


slug: columbanus

label: Columbanus

description: Irish missionary and saint (540-615)

section: Births

text: Columbanus, Irish missionary (or 543)

title: 540

text: Columbanus, Irish missionary (d. 615)

title: 543

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Columbanus, Irish missionary, gathers 12 companions for his journey to Britain, probably to the Scottish coast. After a short time, he crosses the English Channel and lands in Brittany (France).

title: 585

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Columbanus, Irish missionary, obtains from King Guntram the Gallo-Roman castle Luxovium (Luxeuil-les-Bains), where he founds the Abbey of Luxeuil.

title: 590

text: Columbanus and Gallus begin their missionary work in Bregenz, near Lake Constance (Switzerland).

title: 610

text: Columbanus moves to Italy and establishes the monastery of Bobbio (approximate date).

title: 612

section: Deaths

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Columbanus, Irish missionary (b. 543)

title: 615

text: Fourth Council of Mâcon: A council of Christian bishops approves the Monastic Rule of Saint Columbanus in the city of Mâcon (Burgundy).

title: 627

text: The Book of Kells is written and illuminated in a Columban monastery, in Ireland (approximate date).

title: 800


slug: commagene

label: Commagene

description: ancient armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic period

year_label: 228 BCE

text: Arsames I, king of Armenia, Sophene and Commagene

title: 228 BC

year_label: 109 BCE

text: Sames II Theosebes Dikaios, king of Commagene

title: 109 BC

year_label: 70 BCE

text: Mithridates I, king of Commagene

title: 70 BC

year_label: 38 BCE

text: Antiochus I, king of Commagene (b. c. 86 BC)

title: 38 BC

year_label: 29 BCE

text: Antiochus II, Armenian prince of Commagene (executed)

title: 29 BC

year_label: 20 BCE

text: Mithridates II, king of Commagene (Armenia)

title: 20 BC

text: Mithridates III, king of Commagene (Armenia)

title: 12 BC

year_label: 17 CE

text: Antiochus III, King of Commagene

title: 10s

section: Deaths › 17 AD

year_label: 38 CE

text: Julius Archelaus Antiochus, prince of Commagene (d. AD 92)

title: 30s

section: Births › 38 AD

year_label: 52 CE

text: Julia Iotapa, queen of Commagene (approximate date)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 52 AD

year_label: 65 CE

text: Philopappos, Greek prince of Commagene (d. AD 116)

title: AD 65

text: Julia Balbilla, princess of Commagene

title: AD 72

year_label: 92 CE

text: Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes, prince of Commagene (b. AD 38)

title: AD 92

text: A monument to Philopappos, prince-in-exile of old Commagene (a buffer-state between Rome and Parthia) is erected in Athens.

title: AD 114

text: Philopappos, prince of Commagene (b. AD 65)

title: AD 116


slug: commodus

label: Commodus

description: 17th Roman Emperor (180–192)

date: August 31

text: August 31 – Commodus, Roman emperor (d. 192)

title: AD 161

text: Emperor Marcus Aurelius appoints his sons Commodus and Marcus Annius Verus as co-rulers (Caesar), while he and Lucius Verus travel to Germany.

title: AD 166

date: November 27

text: November 27 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of Imperator, and makes him Supreme Commander of the Roman legions.

title: AD 176

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Lucius Aurelius Commodus Caesar (age 15) and Marcus Peducaeus Plautius Quintillus become Roman Consuls.

title: AD 177

text: Bruttia Crispina marries Commodus, and receives the title of Augusta.

title: AD 178

section: Conflict & Security

text: Northern British from beyond Hadrian's Wall invade the North of modern-day England, causing Emperor Commodus to allow swathes of Northern cities to establish city walls.

title: AD 180

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius dies after a week's illness at his camp in Vindobona (modern Vienna). He is succeeded by his son Commodus (age 18).

title: AD 180

text: Imperator Lucius Aurelius Commodus and Lucius Antistius Burrus become Roman Consuls.

title: AD 181

text: Emperor Commodus escapes death at the hands of assassins, who have attacked him at the instigation of his sister Lucilla and a large group of senators. He puts many distinguished Romans to death on charges of being implicated in the conspiracy; Lucilla is exiled to Capri.

title: AD 182

text: Nobles of Britain demand that Emperor Commodus rescind all power given to Tigidius Perennis, who is eventually executed.

title: AD 185

section: Health & Medicine

text: Tigidius Perennis, his family and many others are executed for conspiring against Commodus.

title: AD 185

text: A part of Rome burns; Emperor Commodus orders the city to be rebuilt, under the name Colonia Commodiana.

title: AD 190

text: Julius of Rome, Roman politician (executed by Commodus)

title: AD 190

section: Science & Discovery

text: c. 191–192 – The sculpture of Commodus as Hercules, from Esquiline Hill, Rome, is made (it is now kept at Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome).

title: AD 191

section: Events › By topic › Art

date: December 31

text: December 31 – Emperor Commodus alarms the Senate, by appearing dressed as a gladiator for his new consulship on January 1. His mistress Marcia finds her name on the imperial execution list, and hires champion wrestler Narcissus to assassinate Commodus; the Antonines Dynasty ends.

title: AD 192

text: December 31 – Commodus, Roman emperor (b. 161)

title: AD 192

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard.

title: AD 193

text: Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius.

title: AD 195


slug: commonwealth-of-england

label: Commonwealth of England

description: historic republic on the British Isles (1649–1660)

date: January 30

text: January 30 – The deposed King Charles I is beheaded outside the Banquet Hall in the Palace of Whitehall, London. The Commonwealth of England, with a republican form of government, replaces the monarchy as the form of government of England and members of the Long Parliament serve as government. Charles, Prince of Wales declares himself as King of England, Scotland and Ireland pending restoration of the monarchy.

title: 1649

section: Events › January–March

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The Commonwealth of England's navy Robert Blake blockades a surviving English Royalist fleet commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the Tagus estuary at Lisbon. Rupert breaks out on October 12.

title: 1650

date: October

text: October – An English diplomatic team, headed by Oliver St John, goes to The Hague to negotiate an alliance between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic.

title: 1651

section: Events › October–December

date: August 26

text: August 26 – First Anglo-Dutch War: Battle of Plymouth – A fleet from the Commonwealth of England attacks an outward-bound convoy of the Dutch Republic, escorted by 23 men-of-war and six fire ships, commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter; the Dutch escape.

title: 1652

section: Events › July–September

date: February 4

text: February 4 – At Edinburgh, the parliamentary commissioners of the Commonwealth of England proclaim the Tender of Union to be in force in Scotland, annexing the Scottish nation with the concession that Scotland would have 30 representatives in the parliament of the English Commonwealth.

title: 1652

date: December 12

text: December 12 – The dissolution of Barebone's Parliament is voted by its members after having passed laws for the Commonwealth of England.

title: 1653

date: December 16

text: December 16 – The Instrument of Government in England becomes Britain's first written constitution, under which Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, being advised by a remodelled English Council of State. This is the start of The First Protectorate, bringing an end to the first period of republican government in the country, the Commonwealth of England.

title: 1653

text: July 4 – Barebone's Parliament, named for a prominent Puritan member, Praise-God Barebone, opens its session in London with elected representatives to pass laws for the Commonwealth of England.

title: 1653

date: April 11

text: April 11 – A commercial treaty between England and Sweden is signed.

title: 1654

section: Events › April–June

date: December 11

text: December 11 – Sir William Petty wins the contract from the Commonwealth of England to make a survey of Ireland.

title: 1654

section: Events › October –December

date: January 27

text: January 27 – The third and final session of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland is opened by Lord Protector Richard Cromwell, with Chaloner Chute as the Speaker of the House of Commons, with 567 members. "Cromwell's Other House", which replaces the House of Lords during the last years of the Protectorate, opens on the same day, with Richard Cromwell as its speaker.

title: 1659

date: May 21

text: May 21 – The Kingdom of France, the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic sign the Concert of The Hague, agreeing a common stance on the Second Northern War.

title: 1659

date: April 25

text: April 25 – The Convention Parliament, a new House of Commons for England, freely elected with no requirement for candidates to swear loyalty to the Commonwealth of England, assembles in London to work out the restoration of the monarchy.

title: 1660


slug: commonwealth-of-nations

label: Commonwealth of Nations

description: political association of mostly former British Empire territories

text: March 17 – Marie Stopes opens the first birth control clinic in the British Empire in London, UK.

title: 1921

section: Events › March

date: November 15

text: November 15 – The Balfour Declaration is approved by the 1926 Imperial Conference, making the Commonwealth dominions equal and independent.

title: 1926

section: Events › November

text: February 4 – Ceylon (later known as Sri Lanka) becomes an independent country, within the British Commonwealth adopting King George VI as the King of Ceylon.

title: 1948

section: Events › February

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Royal Navy frigate HMS Amethyst goes up the Yangtze River, to evacuate British Commonwealth refugees escaping the advance of Mao's Communist forces. Under heavy fire, she grounds off Rose Island. After an abortive rescue attempt on April 26, she anchors 10 mi km upstream. Negotiations with the Communists to let the ship leave drag on for weeks, during which time the ship's cat Simon raises the crew's morale.

title: 1949

section: Events › April

date: April 28

text: April 28 – The 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference issues the London Declaration, enabling India (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth' (held by the ruling British monarch), and renaming the organization, from the 'British Commonwealth' to the 'Commonwealth of Nations'.

title: 1949

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Apartheid: The South African Citizenship Act suspends the granting of citizenship to Commonwealth of Nations immigrants after 5 years, and imposes a ban on mixed marriages.

title: 1949

section: Events › June

date: April 18

text: April 18 – The Commonwealth Immigrants Act in the United Kingdom removes free immigration from the citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, requiring proof of employment in the U.K. This comes into effect on 1 July.

title: 1962

date: December 9

text: December 9 – Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Julius Nyerere as president.

title: 1962

section: Events › December

date: October 4

text: October 4 – Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of the Commonwealth of Nations begin negotiations in London.

title: 1965

section: Events › September–October

date: July 10

text: July 10 – The Bahamas gains full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.

title: 1973

section: Events › July

date: October 21

text: October 21 – The Commonwealth Heads of Government issue the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment, making environmental sustainability one of the Commonwealth of Nations's main priorities.

title: 1989

section: Events › October

date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Maldives announces its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations.

title: 2016


slug: communism

label: Communism

description: political and socioeconomic ideology

section: Conflict & Security

date: March 12

text: March 12 – The Cold War begins: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed, to help stem the spread of Communism.

title: 1947

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 22

text: May 22 – To fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine. This Act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.

title: 1947

section: Events › May

date: November 24

text: November 24 – McCarthyism: The United States House of Representatives votes 346–17 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten", after the screenwriters and directors refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of communist influences in the movie business. The ten men are blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios on the following day.

title: 1947

section: Crime & Justice

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Harry Dexter White and Donald Hiss refute allegations of Communism by Whittaker Chambers, before the HUAC.

title: 1948

section: Events › August

date: January 25

text: January 25 – The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) is established by the Soviet Union and other communist nations.

title: 1949

section: Events › January

date: July 27

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

title: 1953

date: April 22

text: April 22 – Senator Joseph McCarthy begins hearings investigating the United States Army for being "soft" on Communism.

title: 1954

date: June 9

text: June 9 – McCarthyism: Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy, during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army, saying, "Have you, at long last, no decency?" The exchange results in the decline of McCarthy's popularity.

title: 1954

date: July 14

text: July 14 – Groups of Kurdish and communist militias rebel in Kirkuk, Iraq against the central government.

title: 1959

date: April 17

text: April 17 – The Khmer Republic surrenders, when the Communist Khmer Rouge guerilla forces capture Phnom Penh ending the Cambodian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Cambodian civilians.

title: 1975

date: April 30

text: April 30 – Vietnam War – Fall of Saigon: The Vietnam War concludes as Communist forces from North Vietnam take over Saigon, resulting in mass evacuation of the remaining American troops and South Vietnam civilians. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally and is replaced with a temporary Provisional Government.

title: 1975

date: December 2

text: December 2 – In Laos, the Second Indochina War ends, when the communist party of the Pathet Lao takes over Vientiane and defeats the Kingdom of Laos, forcing King Sisavang Vatthana to abdicate and creating the Lao People's Democratic Republic. This ends the Laotian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Laotian civilians, but effectively begins the Insurgency in Laos with the Pathet Lao fighting the Hmong people, Royalist-in-exile and the Right-wings.

title: 1975

date: July 2

text: July 2 – North Vietnam dissolves the Provisional Government of South Vietnam and unites the two countries to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

title: 1976

date: December 31

text: December 31 – Poland's president signs the Balcerowicz Plan, ending the Communist system in Poland in favor of a capitalist system, leading to abandonment of the Warsaw Pact.

title: 1989

date: June 4

text: June 4 – 1989 Polish legislative election: Solidarity's victory in the first round is the first of many anti-communist revolutions of 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe.

title: 1989

section: Culture & Society

date: October 7

text: October 7 – The communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party votes to reorganise itself as a socialist party, to be named the Hungarian Socialist Party.

title: 1989


slug: compiegne

label: Compiègne

description: French commune in Oise

section: Deaths

date: November 29

text: November 29 – King Chlothar I ("the Old") dies at Compiègne at age 64. The Merovingian dynasty is continued by his four sons (Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I), who divide the Frankish Kingdom and rule from the capitals at Paris, Orléans, Reims and Soissons, respectively.

title: 561

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Religion & Belief

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon abbot, refuses to be consecrated in Northumbria as bishop, and travels to Compiègne (France) to be consecrated by Agilbert, archbishop of Paris.

title: 665

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Tassilo III, duke of Bavaria, recognizes the supremacy of King Pepin III ("the Short") at an assembly held at Compiègne (Northern France), and becomes a vassal of the Frankish Kingdom. He swears an oath (commendatio) to Pepin, and promises his allegiance.

title: AD 757

text: Emperor Louis the Pious returns from a campaign in Brittany, and is captured by his son Pepin I, king of Aquitaine. He is put under house arrest at Compiegne, and his wife Judith is incarcerated at Poitiers.

title: 830

date: August

text: August – Treaty of Compiègne: King Charles the Bald cedes the Cotentin Peninsula to Salomon, duke ('king') of Brittany, after he had sent his son-in-law Pascweten to negotiate a peace. Charles orders the fortification of the cities of Tours, Le Mans and Compiègne.

title: 867

date: December 8

text: December 8 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned by Hincmar as king (not emperor) of the West Frankish Kingdom, in the church of Compiègne. The imperial throne will remain vacant until 881.

title: 877

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: 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

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundian troops, led by John II, Count of Ligny, while leading an army to relieve Compiègne. After her surrender to Lyonnel de Wandomme, she is turned over to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and incarcerated at the castle of Beaulieu-les-Fontaines.

title: 1430

section: Events › April–June

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Napoleon Bonaparte orders the establishment of five military camps to defend the coast of France, located at Bayonne, Ghent, Saint-Omer, Compiègne, Saint-Malo, and one in the occupied Netherlands, at Utrecht. Each one has 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry to defend it.

title: 1803


slug: concubinage

label: Concubinage

description: an official union of lesser status than a marriage, often with status inequality between the partners

text: Beautiful Lady Yu, Chinese concubine and imperial consort

title: AD 179

text: Emperor Jìn Ān Dì, age 14, succeeds his father Emperor Xiaowu as ruler of the Eastern Jin dynasty after he is murdered by his concubine Honoured Lady Zhang.

title: 396

section: Events › By place › China

text: Pan Yunu, concubine of Xiao Baojuan

title: 501

text: Dowager Cao, concubine of Xuan Di

title: 562

text: Maria al-Qibtiyya, concubine of Muhammad

title: 637

section: Births

text: Yang Guifei, concubine of Xuan Zong (d. 756)

title: 719

text: Caliph Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi is poisoned by one of his concubines. He is succeeded by his son Al-Hadi, who becomes the fourth ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 785

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

date: April 18

text: April 18 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered, probably at Corbridge, by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. Another rival, Torhtmund, slays Ealdred in revenge. Northumbria is plunged into chaos. The patrician Osbald is placed on the throne, but is deserted by his supporters after only 27 days. He flees from Lindisfarne to Pictland. Another faction brings back Æthelred I's old back-from-the-dead rival, Eardwulf, as the new king. He dismisses his wife and publicly takes a concubine. Eardwulf is alienated from Archbishop Eanbald of York.

title: 796

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Yang, consort and concubine of Chinese Emperor Wenzong, forced suicide

title: 840

date: February 22

text: February 22 – Wang, empress and concubine of Mu Zong

title: 845

text: Bayan Khutugh, Mongol concubine and empress (d. 1365)

title: 1324


slug: confederate-states-of-america

label: Confederate States of America

description: former country in North America formed by the Southern United States during the American Civil War (1861-1865)

date: May 7

text: May 7 – Varina Davis, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (d. 1906)

title: 1826

section: Births › January–June

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Lawrence Sullivan Ross, Confederate brigadier general, Texas governor and president of Texas A&M University (d. 1898)

title: 1838

section: Births › July–September

date: December 10

text: December 10 – American Civil War: A rebel government representing Kentucky is accepted into the Confederate States of America, although Kentucky officially remains part of the United States.

title: 1861

section: Events › December

date: July 21

text: July 21 – First Battle of Bull Run – At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war ends in a Confederate victory.

title: 1861

section: Events › July

date: March 11

text: March 11 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.

title: 1861

section: Events › March

date: March 21

text: March 21 – Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, gives the infamous Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Georgia, in which he declares that slavery is the natural condition of blacks, and the foundation of the Confederacy.

title: 1861

date: March 4

text: March 4 – American Civil War: The "Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.

title: 1861

date: May

text: Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which lasts until September 3, when Confederate forces enter the state.

title: 1861

date: May 13

text: May 13 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality", which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.

title: 1861

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah P. Benjamin Secretary of War.

title: 1861

section: Events › November

date: November 7

text: November 7 – Battle of Belmont – In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant (in his first combat leadership role) overrun a Confederate camp, but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.

title: 1861

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Trent Affair – The stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent, and arrests two Confederate envoys, James Mason and John Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.

title: 1861

date: October 21

text: October 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Ball's Bluff – Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops, in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is also killed in the fighting.

title: 1861

section: Events › October

date: September 3

text: September 3 – Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.

title: 1861

section: Events › September

date: November 14

text: November 14 – President Abraham Lincoln approves the plan by General Ambrose Burnside to capture the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia. This plan leads to a disastrous Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13.

title: 1862

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The American clipper ship Anglo Saxon (westbound) is captured and burned by Confederate privateer Florida off the south coast of Ireland.

title: 1863

date: January 1

text: January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing proclaims the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's four million slaves and immediately frees 50,000 of them, with the rest freed as the Union Army advances. This event marks the start of America's Reconstruction Era.

title: 1863

date: August 18

text: August 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, forcing the Confederates to use wagons.

title: 1864

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: February 17

text: February 17 – The tiny Confederate hand-propelled submarine H. L. Hunley sinks the , using a spar torpedo in Charleston Harbor, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship, although the submarine and her crew of eight are also lost.

title: 1864

section: Events › February

text: & May 15 – Battle of New Market – Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army, forcing Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.

title: 1864

date: April 14

text: April 14 – Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: President of the United States Abraham Lincoln is shot while attending an evening performance of the farce Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth.

title: 1865

section: Events › April

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

title: 1865

date: November 6

text: November 6 – American Civil War: The CSS Shenandoah, last remnant of the Confederate States of America and its military, surrenders in Liverpool after fleeing westward from the Pacific.

title: 1865

date: July 15

text: July 15 – Reconstruction Era: Georgia becomes the last former Confederate state of America to be readmitted to the Union.

title: 1870

date: May 22

text: May 22 – Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act of 1872 into law, restoring full civil rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.

title: 1872

date: October 16

text: October 16 – Varina Davis, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (b. 1826)

title: 1906

section: Deaths › July–December

date: July 3

text: July 3 – The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

title: 1938

section: Science & Discovery

date: August 8

text: August 8 – The US Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.

title: 2000


slug: confucianism

label: Confucianism

description: Chinese ethical and philosophical system

year_label: 403 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Marquis Wen of Wei ascends to power in Wei. He sponsors Confucianism and employs able political advisors such as Li Kui, Wu Qi, and Ximen Bao.

title: 403 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 268 BCE

section: Births

text: Fu Sheng (Master Fu), Chinese Confucian scholar (d. 178 BC)

title: 268 BC

year_label: 264 BCE

text: The Confucian philosopher Xunzi visits the State of Qin. He writes of his and others' admiration for the government officials of Qin, who he says are serious and sincere, free from the tendency to form cliques. The Qin officials are disciplined by a meritocracy of rather harsh methods imposed by the Legalist philosophy.

title: 264 BC

year_label: 213 BCE

text: Emperor Qin Shi Huang and Prime Minister Li Si order all Confucian writings destroyed in the burning of books and burying of scholars.

title: 213 BC

year_label: 191 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Emperor Hui of Han lifts the ban on Confucian writings ordered in 213 BC.

title: 191 BC

year_label: 179 BCE

text: Dong Zhongshu, Chinese scholar who is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state (d. 104 BC)

title: 179 BC

year_label: 178 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Fu Sheng (Master Fu), Chinese Confucian scholar and writer (b. 268 BC)

title: 178 BC

year_label: 136 BCE

text: Confucianism is adopted as the state religion in China by Emperor Wu.

title: 136 BC

year_label: 134 BCE

text: On the advice of philosopher Dong Zhongshu, Emperor Wu of Han promotes Confucianism as the official doctrine of the Han dynasty and assigns special merit to the Book of Rites, the Classic of Music, the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, I Ching (the Book of Changes) and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

title: 134 BC

year_label: 104 BCE

text: Dong Zhongshu, Chinese scholar who promoted Confucianism at the central court of the Han dynasty (b. 179 BC)

title: 104 BC

year_label: 81 BCE

text: Sang Hongyang and 60 Confucian scholars debate over the state monopoly of Iron and Salt.

title: 81 BC

year_label: 30 CE

text: Jia Kui, Chinese Confucian philosopher (d. AD 101)

title: 30s

section: Births › 30 AD

text: Wang Su, Chinese official and Confucian scholar (d. 256)

title: AD 195

section: Crime & Justice

text: Three Disasters of Wu: The Northern Wei dynasty begins persecuting Buddhists, having heretofore encouraged them. The drain of manpower and tax money to temples and monasteries has threatened the secular government, and the reaction is fierce: monks and nuns are murdered, temples and icons destroyed. All men under age 50 are prohibited from joining any monastic order in a program that will continue until 450, helping the Confucianist philosophy of the Han dynasty to gain dominance over Buddhism.

title: 446

text: Ouyang Xun, Confucian scholar (d. 641)

title: 557

text: Prince Shotoku, imperial regent of Empress Suiko, issues a Seventeen-article constitution, based on both Confucian and Buddhist principles in Japan.

title: 604

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Ouyang Xun, Confucian scholar and calligrapher (b. 557)

title: 641

text: Emperor Kōtoku establishes the Taika Reform: a land reform based on Confucian ideas and philosophies from China (approximate date)

title: 645

section: Events › By place › Japan

text: Choe Chung, Korean Confucian scholar and poet (d. 1068)

title: 984

text: Choe Chung, Korean Confucian scholar (b. 984)

title: 1068

text: Zhang Shi, Chinese Confucian scholar (d. 1181)

title: 1133

text: Ou Shizi, Chinese Confucian scholar (d. 1324)

title: 1234

section: Culture & Society

text: The Hongwu Emperor of the Chinese Ming dynasty issues a decree ordering every country magistrate in the empire to open a Confucian school of learning.

title: 1369

section: Events › Dates unknown

text: The iconoclast and Confucian scholar Li Zhi commits suicide while in a Chinese prison, during the late Ming dynasty; he had taught that women were the intellectual equals of men and should be given equal opportunity in education; he was charged with spreading "dangerous ideas".

title: 1602

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: confucius

label: Confucius

description: 5th-century BCE Chinese philosopher and politician

year_label: 551 BCE

date: September 28

text: September 28 – Confucius, Chinese philosopher (d. 479 BC)

title: 551 BC

year_label: 536 BCE

text: Min Sun, disciple of Confucius

title: 536 BC

year_label: 522 BCE

text: Ran Qiu, leading disciple of Confucius

title: 522 BC

year_label: 521 BCE

text: Fu Buqi, disciple of Confucius.

title: 521 BC

year_label: 520 BCE

text: Duanmu Ci, student of Confucius

title: 520 BC

year_label: 501 BCE

text: Confucius is appointed governor of Chung-tu.

title: 501 BC

year_label: 481 BCE

text: Sima Niu, the highest ranking aristocrat among the disciples of Confucius

title: 481 BC

year_label: 479 BCE

text: Confucius, Chinese philosopher (b. 551 BC)

title: 479 BC

year_label: 1 CE

text: AD 1 – Confucius is given his first royal title (posthumous name) of Baocheng Xuan Ni Gong.

title: 0s

section: Events › China

year_label: 58 CE

section: Health & Medicine

text: In China, sacrifices to Confucius are ordered in all government schools.

title: 50s

section: Events › 58 AD › China

year_label: 79 CE

text: A commission of scholars canonizes the text of works of Confucius and his school.

title: AD 79

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Confucian shrine of Munmyo in Korea is destroyed by fire.

title: 1592


slug: conglomerate-company

label: Conglomerate (company)

description: large company involved in many industries

section: Economy & Finance

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Global conglomerate Jardine Matheson is founded in Canton (modern day Guangzhou) in Qing dynasty China by Scottish merchants.

title: 1832

section: Events › July–September

text: Valley Falls Company, a predecessor of Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate and holdings company in the United States, is founded in Rhode Island.

title: 1839

date: December 14

text: December 14 – Compagnie Générale des Eaux, predecessor of Vivendi and Veolia, a global media conglomerate, is founded in Paris, France.

title: 1853

section: Events › October–December

text: Iwai Fumisuke Shoten (岩井文助商店), predecessor of Japanese conglomerate Sojitz, is founded in Osaka.

title: 1862

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Thyssen, predecessor of the Thyssen Krupp worldwide conglomerate, is founded in Duisburg, Germany.

title: 1891

section: Events › September

date: August 1

text: August 1 – The Park Seung-jik shop, predecessor of South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group, is founded in Joseon (the kingdom of Korea).

title: 1896

section: Events › August

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Lotte Group, a global conglomerate in Northeast Asia (South Korea and Japan), is founded.

title: 1948

section: Events › June

date: February

text: February – Multi-business conglomerate Virgin Group is founded as a discount mail-order record retailer by Richard Branson in the UK.

title: 1970

section: Events › February


slug: connacht

label: Connacht

description: province in Ireland

section: Deaths

text: Amalgaid mac Fiachrae, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 440

text: Dauí Tenga Uma, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: AD 500

text: Eógan Bél, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 542

date: January

text: January – Ailill Inbanda, king of Connacht (Ireland) (killed in battle)

title: 549

text: Echu Tirmcharna, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 556

text: Áed mac Echach, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 575

text: Uatu mac Áedo, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 600

text: Colmán mac Cobthaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 622

text: Rogallach mac Uatach, Irish king of Connacht (murdered)

title: 649

text: Loingsech mac Colmáin, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 655

text: Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 663

text: Cenn Fáelad mac Colgan, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 682

text: Muiredach Muillethan, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 702

section: Conflict & Security

text: High King Loingsech mac Óengusso and his forces are routed during an invasion of Connacht (Ireland). He is killed by the men of King Cellach mac Rogallaig (approximate date).

title: 703

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Cellach mac Rogallaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 705

text: Domnall mac Cellaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 728

text: Cathal mac Muiredaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 735

text: Áed Balb mac Indrechtaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 742

text: Forggus mac Cellaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 756

text: Dub-Indrecht mac Cathail, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 768

text: Donn Cothaid mac Cathail, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 773

text: Flaithrí mac Domnaill, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: AD 777

text: Tipraiti mac Taidg, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 786

text: Artgal mac Cathail, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 791

text: Cináed mac Artgail, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 792

text: Colla mac Fergusso, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 796

text: Muirgius mac Tommaltaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 815

text: Diarmait mac Tommaltaig, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 833

text: Cathal mac Muirgiussa, king of Connacht

title: 839

text: Fergus mac Fothaid, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 843

text: Áed mac Conchobair, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: AD 888

text: Tadg mac Conchobair, king of Connacht (Ireland)

title: 900

date: September 13

text: September 13 – Battle of Belach Mugna: In an alliance with the kings Cerball mac Muirecáin of Leinster, Cathal mac Conchobair of Connacht, and Cellach mac Cerbaill of Osraige, High King Flann Sinna defeats the forces of King Cormac mac Cuilennáin of Munster near Castledermot (County Kildare).

title: 908

section: Events › By place › Ireland

text: Ceallach ua Maílcorgus, Irish chief poet of Connacht

title: AD 999

text: Mael Ruanaidh Ua Dubhda, king of Connacht

title: 1005

text: Cathal mac Conchobar mac Taidg, king of Connacht

title: 1010

text: Art Uallach Ua Ruairc, Irish king of Connacht

title: 1046

section: Births

text: Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, Irish king of Connacht (d. 1156)

title: 1088

text: Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, Irish king of Connacht (d. 1198)

title: 1116

text: Ruaidrí na Saide Buide, king of Connacht

title: 1118

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Treaty of Windsor: High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair relinquishes his title and agrees to submit to Henry II as vassal of Connacht in Ireland.

title: 1175

section: Religion & Belief

text: Ballintubber Abbey is founded by King Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair of Connacht, in Ireland.

title: 1216

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Cathal Crobdearg Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht (b. 1153)

title: 1224

text: Siege of Galway in Ireland: Norman forces under Richard Mór de Burgh invade Connacht and desolate a large portion of the country. He besieges Galway, but is forced to retreat after a week-long inconclusive battle.

title: 1230

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Connacht in Ireland is finally conquered by the Hiberno-Norman Richard Mór de Burgh; Felim Ua Conchobair is expelled.

title: 1235

section: Events

date: May 10

text: May 10 – Battle of Cameirge in Ulster: The Milesian Irish septs of the Ó Dónaills from Donegal, the Ó Néills from Armagh and the Ó Dochartaighs of Connacht defeat the last Tuatha Dé Danann sept, the Meic Lochlainn of Tír Eoghain and Inishowen under Domhnall mac Muirchertaigh Mac Lochlainn. From now on the Kings of Tír Eoghain will all be of the Ó Néill dynasty, Brian Ua Néill becoming sole ruler.

title: 1241

date: August 15

text: August 15 – First Battle of Athenry: Gaelic forces of Connacht besiege Athenry Castle in County Galway in Ireland, but are repelled by the Normans under Jordan de Exeter, Sheriff of Connacht.

title: 1249

text: Battle of Creadran Cille: Norman invading forces under Maurice FitzGerald are driven out by Gofraid O'Donnell in northern Connacht (Ireland). On May 20, FitzGerald is killed in personal combat by O'Donnell.

title: 1257

text: Felim McHugh O'Connor (Feidhlimid Ó Conchobair), Irish King of Connacht (d. 1316)

title: 1293

text: Ruaidri Caech MacDermot succeeds Conchobair Óg MacDermot as King of Magh Luirg, in what later becomes northeast Connacht, Ireland.

title: 1404


slug: connecticut

label: Connecticut

description: state of the United States of America

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: April 22

text: April 22 – The Paugussett tribe, granted reservations in the British colony of Connecticut in North America, sell a large amount of tribal land to Captain Joseph Hawley including several towns in Fairfield County: Shelton, Trumbull, Derby and Monroe.

title: 1662

section: Events › April–June

text: July 15 – The Narragansett tribe signs a peace treaty with Connecticut.

title: 1675

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Major John Talcott and his troops begin sweeping Connecticut and Rhode Island, capturing large numbers of Native Americans from Algonquian tribes and exporting them out of the English colonies as slaves.

title: 1676

date: June 12

text: June 12 – The Indian coalition attacks Hadley, Massachusetts, but are repelled by Connecticut troops.

title: 1676

date: December 20

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

title: 1686

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Boston Revolt: Edmund Andros, former governor of the Dominion of New England, escapes from Boston to Connecticut, but is recaptured.

title: 1689

date: October 20

text: October 20 – James Hillhouse, American politician and congressman from Connecticut, 1791 until 1810 (d. 1832)

title: 1754

date: February 2

text: February 2 – Uriah Tracy, American politician and congressman from Connecticut, 1793 until 1807 (d. 1807)

title: 1755

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Connecticut cedes to the United States all of its claims to lands between the 41st and 42nd parallels north and west of the Connecticut Western Reserve.

title: 1786

date: January 9

text: January 9 – Connecticut ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fifth U.S. state.

title: 1788

section: Events › January–March

date: July 19

text: July 19 – Uriah Tracy, American politician and congressman from Connecticut, 1793 until 1807 (b. 1755)

title: 1807

section: Deaths › July–December

date: December 29

text: December 29 – James Hillhouse, American politician and congressman from Connecticut, 1791 until 1810 (b. 1754)

title: 1832

section: Climate & Environment

date: August 9

text: August 9 – The Wallingford Tornado of 1878, the deadliest tornado in Connecticut history, destroys the town of Wallingford, killing 34 people and injuring more than 70.

title: 1878

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: August 14

text: August 14 – The first claimed powered flight is made, by German-born American aviator Gustave Whitehead, in his Number 21, in Connecticut.

title: 1901

section: Events › July–August


slug: conon

label: Conon

description: ancient Athenian general and admiral

year_label: 406 BCE

text: Alcibiades is replaced by a board of generals. Athens sends a member of the board, Admiral Conon, to relieve the siege of Mytilene. To defend Lesbos, Conon is forced to move his numerically inferior fleet from Samos to the Hekatonnesi islands near Methymna. When Callicratidas attacks him, Conon is forced back to Mytilene, where he is blockaded by Callicratidas' Spartan fleet.

title: 406 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 405 BCE

text: After their victory in the Battle of Arginusae over the Spartans, the Athenian fleet follows the reappointed Spartan admiral, Lysander, to the Hellespont. The Athenian fleet under Admiral Conon is destroyed by the Spartans under Lysander in the Battle of Aegospotami in the Sea of Marmara and Conon flees to Cyprus.

title: 405 BC

year_label: 400 BCE

section: Health & Medicine

text: With the outbreak of the war between Sparta and the Persians, the Athenian admiral, Conon, obtains joint command, with Pharnabazus, of a Persian fleet.

title: 400 BC

section: Events › By place

year_label: 396 BCE

text: The Persians assemble a joint Phoenician, Cilician, and Cypriot fleet, under the command of the experienced Athenian admiral, Conon, and seize Rhodes.

title: 396 BC

section: Events › By place › Persian Empire

year_label: 394 BCE

text: The Athenian general Conon, the Persian satrap Pharnabazus and Evagoras, King of Salamis, win an overwhelming naval victory over the Spartans under Peisander in the Battle of Cnidus (near Rhodes). Following this victory, Conon and Pharnabazus sail along the coast of Ionia, expelling Spartan governors and garrisons from the cities, although they fail to reduce the Spartan bases at Abydos and Sestos. With the Spartan bid for building an empire crumbling, Persia gains mastery of the Aegean.

title: 394 BC

year_label: 393 BCE

text: The Athenian general Conon and the Persian satrap Pharnabazus sail to mainland Greece, where they raid the coast of Laconia and seize the island of Cythera, where they leave a garrison and an Athenian governor.

title: 393 BC

year_label: 392 BCE

section: Deaths

text: During the Corinthian War, the Spartans dispatch an ambassador, Antalcidas, to the Persian satrap Tiribazus, hoping to turn the Persians against the allies by informing them of Conon's use of the Persian fleet to begin rebuilding the Athenian empire. Learning of this, the Athenians send an embassy led by Conon to present their case to the Persians at Sardis. Alarmed by Conon's actions, Tiribazus arrests him, and secretly provides the Spartans with money to equip a fleet. Although Conon quickly escapes, he dies in Cyprus without returning to Athens.

title: 392 BC

text: Conon, Athenian general (approximate date)

title: 392 BC

year_label: 378 BCE

text: Timotheus, the son of the Athenian general Conon, is elected strategos of Athens.

title: 378 BC


slug: conrad-ii-holy-roman-emperor

label: Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

description: Holy Roman Emperor

section: Culture & Society

date: September 4

text: September 4 – Conrad the Elder is elected as the new King of Germany by an assembly of imperial princes and nobles at Kamba, receiving more votes than his cousin Conrad the Younger, son of Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia

title: 1024

section: Events › July–September

date: March 6

text: March 6 – In the Duchy of Aquitaine in France, the Aquitanian barons and prelates meet at Maillezais, to discuss the claims by William the Fat, son of the Duke of Aquitaine Guillaume le Grand (William the Great) to rule the vacant throne of the Kingdom of Italy (primarily Lombardy and Tuscany) within the Holy Roman Empire. The title is eventually claimed by Conrad the Salic.

title: 1025

text: Spring – King Conrad II, "the Elder", assembles an army of thousands of armored knights for an expedition into Italy. He besieges Pavia and marches to Milan, where he is crowned with the Iron Crown by Archbishop Aribert as king of the Lombards. Duke William V ("the Great") of Aquitaine, who is already en route for Italy, decides to renounce his claim to the Lombard throne and turns back.

title: 1026

section: Events › Asia › Europe

date: March 26

text: March 26 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II ("the Elder") and his wife Gisela of Swabia as Holy Roman Emperor and Empress, respectively, in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Cnut the Great, King of Denmark and England, attends the coronation, proving his position as sole ruler of the Danish North Sea Empire.

title: 1027

section: Events › By Place › Europe

date: April 14

text: April 14 – The 10-year-old Henry III (the Black), son of Emperor Conrad II (the Elder), is elected and crowned king of Germany in Aachen Cathedral by Pilgrim, archbishop of Cologne.

title: 1028

section: Conflict & Security

date: July

text: July – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) leads an invasion into Hungary. He plunders the lands west of the River Rába but suffers from the consequences of the scorched earth tactics used by the Hungarians. Conrad, threatened by starvation, is forced to retreat to Germany. King Stephen I (St. Stephen) pursued his forces, which were defeated and captured by the Hungarians at Vienna.

title: 1030

text: Summer – After a failed invasion in the previous year, the Holy Roman Empire concludes a peace with the Kingdom of Hungary; Emperor Conrad II is forced to cede the lands between Leitha and Fischa to King Stephen I.

title: 1031

date: September 6

text: September 6 – King Rudolph III dies without any heirs. He bequeaths his entire dominions to Emperor Conrad II (the Elder), dispatching to him the Holy Lance and ring of St. Maurice, symbols of Burgundian investiture.

title: 1032

text: February 2 – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) holds an assembly at the Abbey of Payerne and is crowned King of Burgundy. He claims dominion over the Kingdom of Burgundy which is incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1033

text: Spring – Emperor Conrad II (the Elder) leads a German military expedition via the Rhone River into Burgundy, while two Italian armies led by Archbishop Aribert and Boniface III (margrave of Tuscany) head over the Alps and join with Count Humbert I at Great St. Bernard Pass.

title: 1034

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Emperor Conrad II ("the Elder") grants the city of Koper (modern Slovenia) town rights, and some degree of self-government, within the Holy Roman Empire.

title: 1035

text: Pope Benedict IX is briefly forced out of Rome, but returns with the help of the elder Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor.

title: 1036

text: Spring – A revolt in northern Italy is started by Archbishop Aribert of Milan. King Henry III (eldest son of Emperor Conrad II) travels south of the Alps to quell it.

title: 1037

text: Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor ("the Elder") travels to Southern Italy and holds court in Troia. He orders Pandulf IV of Capua to restore the territories of Monte Cassino. Pandulf holes himself up in the fortress of Sant'Agata de' Goti, and dispatches tribute (300 lb of gold) and his son as hostage to Troia as a token of peace. Conrad accepts his offer, but the son escapes. Conrad goes on the offensive and seizes Capua, and gives it to Guaimar IV of Salerno.

title: 1038

date: June 4

text: June 4 – Conrad II ("the Elder"), Holy Roman Emperor

title: 1039

text: June 4 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, ("the Elder") dies of gout in Utrecht after a 12-year reign. He is succeeded by his 21-year-old son, Henry III ("the Black"), who also becomes king of Italy and Burgundy.

title: 1039


slug: conrad-iii-of-germany

label: Conrad III of Germany

description: Hohenstaufen dynasty king (r. 1138–1152)

section: Births

text: Conrad III, king of Italy and Germany (d. 1152)

title: 1093

section: Religion & Belief

text: Lothair II (supported by Pope Honorius II) asks Frederick II to restore to the crown the estates that he has inherited from Henry V. Frederick refuses, and by year's end a succession dispute breaks out between the House of Welf and the House of Hohenstaufen. The latter is led by Frederick and his brother Conrad III, duke of Franconia.

title: 1125

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Conrad III (with support of the imperial cities, Swabia and Austria) is elected and crowned as anti-king of Germany at Nuremberg.

title: 1127

date: June 29

text: June 29 – Conrad III, anti-king of Germany, is crowned "King of Italy" by Archbishop Anselmo della Pusterla at Monza in Lombardy.

title: 1128

date: October

text: October – Conrad III, duke of Franconia, gives up his title as King of Italy in opposition with Lothair III. He receives a pardon and recovers his estates.

title: 1135

date: March 7

text: March 7 – Conrad III is elected as King of Germany, in the presence of the papal legate Theodwin at Koblenz. He is crowned at Aachen six days later (on March 13), and acknowledged in Bamberg by several German princes of southern Germany. Henry X (the Proud), son-in-law and heir of the late King Lothair III, refuses his allegiance to Conrad. He is deprived of all his Saxon territories, which are given to Leopold IV (the Generous).

title: 1138

text: Spring – King Conrad III enfeoffs Henry II ("Jasomirgott"), a member of the House of Babenberg, with the County Palatine of the Rhine (belonging to the Holy Roman Empire).

title: 1140

text: Summer – Conrad III enters Bohemia to reinstate his brother-in-law Vladislaus II as duke, whose half-sister Gertrude of Babenberg he is married. Conrad lays siege to the Prague Castle.

title: 1142

text: Spring – King Conrad III gives Bavaria to his half-brother Henry II ("Jasomirgott"). His wife, Gertrude (daughter of the late Emperor Lothair III) dies in childbirth at Klosterneuburg Monastery in Lower Austria on April 18.

title: 1143

date: December 25

text: December 25 – Diet of Speyer: King Conrad III takes the cross and secures the election of his 10-year-old son Henry as his successor in Germany.

title: 1146

date: May

text: May – July – A German expeditionary force (some 20,000 men) under King Conrad III leaves Regensburg and passes into Hungary. The German nobility is headed by Conrad's nephew and heir, Frederick I, duke of Swabia. On July 20, Conrad crosses into the Byzantine Empire, and reaches Sofia – where Michael Palaiologos (a nephew of Emperor Manuel I) gives Conrad an official welcome and provides the Crusaders with food.

title: 1147

section: Events › By place › Second Crusade

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: March 7 – King Conrad III recovers from his wounds and leaves Constantinople with his household. He is well supplied with money by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and uses these funds to recruit pilgrims to augment the forces that remain to him. Conrad and his re-equipped Crusaders sail with a Byzantine fleet to Palestine. The fleet is scattered by storms and lands in different ports.

title: 1148

date: February 8

text: February 8 – Battle of Flochberg: German forces under Henry VI defeat the army of the House of Welf at Bopfingen. At the same time, King Conrad III besieges Welf forces at Braunschweig in Saxony, but he lifts the siege when confronted by Henry the Lion.

title: 1150

date: February 15

text: February 15 – King Conrad III dies after a 14-year reign at Bamberg. He is succeeded by his 29-year-old nephew Frederick I (Barbarossa), duke of Swabia, who is crowned as King of the Germans at Aachen several days later, on March 9. Frederick becomes sole ruler of Germany and receives the royal insignia, despite the fact that Conrad has a 6-year-old son, Frederick IV, who becomes duke of Swabia.

title: 1152