slug: xuanzang

label: Xuanzang

description: 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar (602–664)

text: Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler (d. 664)

title: 602

section: Religion & Belief

text: Xuanzang is fully ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of 20.

title: 622

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk, sets out for India from the Tang dynasty capital Chang'an on a pilgrimage.

title: 629

text: Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk (bhikkhu), travels across the Gobi Desert to Kumul. Following the Tian Shan mountain range of Central Asia westwards, he arrives in Turpan.

title: 630

text: Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk, crosses the Indus River at Hund and travels to Kashmir ("Heaven on Earth") in northwestern India (approximate date).

title: 631

text: Xuanzang, Chinese traveler, writes about two huge statues of Buddha carved out of a mountainside in the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan).

title: 632

text: Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk, returns to China after a 16-year pilgrimage to India. He is greeted with much honor by Emperor Taizong.

title: 645

section: Science & Discovery

text: Xuanzang completes his book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, which later becomes one of the primary sources for the study of medieval Central Asia and India.

title: 646

title: 664


slug: yan-state

label: Yan (state)

description: ancient state in northern China during the Shang, Zhou, and Warring States periods (11th century BC – 222 BC)

year_label: 694 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: 694 BC—Duke Hei Jian(黒肩) of Zhou killed King Zhuang of Zhou and plotted to help Prince Ke(克) assume the throne. Xin Bo(辛伯) reported it to King Zhuang, and killed Duke Hei Jian. Prince Ke defected to Yan.

title: 690s BC

section: Events and trends

year_label: 658 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: End of the rule of Duke Zhuang in Yan.

title: 658 BC

section: Events

year_label: 241 BCE

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

title: 241 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 227 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Jing Ke, Chinese retainer and assassin of the Yan State

title: 227 BC

year_label: 226 BCE

text: The Qin generals Wang Jian, Li Xin and Wang Ben conquer western Yan and its capital Ji. To secure peace, king Xi of Yan executes his son Crown Prince Dan, who is wanted for the attempted assassination of the king of Qin, Ying Zheng.

title: 226 BC

year_label: 222 BCE

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

title: 222 BC

year_label: 209 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The rebels restore the monarchies of Chu, Qi, Yan, Zhao, Wei and (in 208) Han.

title: 209 BC

year_label: 204 BCE

text: Han Xin completes the conquest of Zhao and receives the surrender of Yan. He captures the Zhao capital of Handan and defeats Chu relief forces sent by Xiang Yu.

title: 204 BC


slug: yang-di-pertuan-agong

label: Yang di-Pertuan Agong

section: Births

date: April 8

text: April 8 – Sultan Iskandar of Johor, 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2010)

title: 1932

section: Births › April

date: August 31

text: August 31 – The Federation of Malaya gains independence from the United Kingdom, subsequently celebrated as Malaysia's National Day. Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya. The country's new Constitution had come into force on August 27. The Alliance Party and its successor are the ruling coalition until 2018.

title: 1957

section: Events › August

date: July 30

text: July 30 − Abdullah of Pahang, sixteenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia

title: 1959

section: Births › July

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya (modern-day Malaysia), dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.

title: 1960

section: Events › April

date: September 1

text: September 1 – Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.

title: 1960

section: Events › September

date: September 20

text: September 20 – The term of Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, as the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, ends.

title: 1975

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra of Kelantan, becomes the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

title: 1975

date: March 29

text: March 29 – Sultan Yahya Petra of Kelantan, the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Head of State) of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang.

title: 1979

section: Events › March

date: April 26

text: April 26 – Sultan Iskandar of Johor becomes Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, in succession to Sultan Ahmad Shah, whose term ended the previous day.

title: 1984

text: April 26 – Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu, Sultan of Perak, becomes the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, succeeding Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail.

title: 1989

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu ends his term as the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

title: 1994

text: April 26 – Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, becomes the 10th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

title: 1994

text: April 26 – Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor becomes the 11th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

title: 1999

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Sirajuddin of Perlis becomes the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia.

title: 2001

section: Events › December

date: November 19

text: November 19 – The 2022 Malaysian general election results in a hung parliament, which is the first in the country's history. Long-time opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is appointed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Abdullah as prime minister five days later to break the political deadlock and form a unity government.

title: 2022

section: Events › November

section: Culture & Society

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Sultan of Johor Ibrahim Iskandar ascends the throne as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

title: 2024

section: Events › January


slug: yangtze-river

label: Yangtze River

year_label: 486 BCE

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: The first part of the Grand Canal of China is built during the reign of King Fuchai of Wu. It links the Yangtze River with the Huai River, and is a measure to ship ample amount of supplies north for intended wars with the northern states of Song and Lu.

title: 486 BC

text: The Eastern Jin dynasty loses its territories to the north of the Yangtze River, to the benefit of the Xiongnu and the Xianbei. The Former Zhao state is proclaimed; Liu Can and the state ruling family at Pingyang is executed in a coup d'état by Jin Zhun, who is in turn overthrown by Shi Le and Liu Yao.

title: 318

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Winter – Northern Qi, one of the Northern Dynasties, is conquered by Northern Zhou under Emperor Wu Di. He orders the last ruler (Gao Wei) and other members of the Gao clan to commit suicide. Northern China, above the Yangtze River, is once again brought under the control of a single power.

title: 577

text: Fall – The Liang dynasty ends: Emperor Wéndi of the Sui dynasty abolishes Western Liang and expands his territory into the lower valley of the Yangtze River. He sends his official Gao Jiong to the capital Jiangling, to pacify the citizens. The former emperor Xiao Jing Di becomes a vassal and is named the Duke of Liang.

title: 587

text: Emperor Wéndi of the Sui dynasty prepares a campaign against the Chen dynasty. He amasses 518,000 troops along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, stretching from Sichuan to the Pacific Ocean.

title: 588

text: Emperor Yángdi completes the Grand Canal; it provides an unbroken inland ship transport between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. The canal network is 1,776 km (1,400 miles) long—linking five river systems—and extends from Beijing to the city of Hangzhou.

title: 609

text: The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China introduces the census registration system of lijia, or the hundreds-and-tithing system, throughout the Yangzi Valley. This system groups households into units of ten and groups of one hundred, whereupon their capacities for paying taxes and providing the state with corvée labor service can be assessed. The system becomes fully operational in 1381, when it counts 59,873,305 people living in China (the historian Timothy Brook asserts that the number was much higher, somewhere between 65 million and 75 million).

title: 1371

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 2

text: December 2 – Jingnan campaign: Rebel General Zhu Di adopts a new approach in his war against the Chinese Imperial troops and departs from Beiping to drive troops southward to the Yangtze River, capturing Dong'e, Dongping, Wenshang, and Pei over the next two months.

title: 1401

section: Events › October–December

date: June 3

text: June 3 – Jingnan campaign: After crossing the Huai River into what is now Jiangsu province, and taking Yangzhou (May 18) and Luhe (May 19), the Yan Army of Zhu Di crosses the Yangtze River at Guazhou and is within striking distance of the Imperial Chinese capital at Nanjing by June 8, forcing Emperor Zhu Yun Wen to prepare terms of surrender that include granting the Yan Kingdom areas north of the Yangtze. Zhu Di refuses.

title: 1402

section: Events › April–June

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: In China, the Emperor Cheng Zu moves the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, commissions the Yongle Encyclopedia, one of the world's earliest and largest known general encyclopedias, and orders his coastal provinces to build a vast fleet of ships, with construction centered at Longjiang near Nanjing; the inland provinces are to provide wood and float it down the Yangtze River.

title: 1403


slug: yangtze

label: Yangtze

description: Longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Xiakou: Warlord Sun Quan battles his rival Huang Zu along the Yangtze River near Wuhan.

title: 203

section: Events › By place › China

section: Climate & Environment

text: A great Chinese famine in the Huai-Yangtze area, late in the year, drives many people to cannibalism (approximate date).

title: 761

text: Battle of Langshan Jiang: The Wuyue navy (500 dragon ships) under Prince Qian Yuanguan who is preparing an invasion to attack the Wu Kingdom, defeats the naval forces of General Peng Yanzhang on the Yangtze River. Due to the use of flamethrower ships (using gunpowder to ignite petrol, like Greek fire) Qian Yuanguan manages to destroy 400 enemy ships and captures 7,000 prisoners.

title: 919

section: Events › By Place › China

text: Jin–Song Wars: The Battle of Tangdao (November 16) and Battle of Caishi (November 26–27) on the Yangtze River, between the Jin dynasty and the Song dynasty in China result in two pivotal Song naval victories.

title: 1161

text: Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty: The Mongols under Ögedei Khan penetrate deep into the Southern Song. The important city of Xiangyang, gateway to the Yangtze plain, capitulates to them.

title: 1236

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Kublai sends his envoy Hao Jing to negotiate with Song dynasty Chancellor Jia Sidao, after the small force left by Kublai south of the Yangtze River is destroyed, by a Chinese army of the Southern Song dynasty. Chancellor Jia Sidao imprisons the entire embassy of Kublai. This slight will not be forgotten by Kublai, but he is unable to assault the Song, due to the civil war with his rival brother Ariq Böke.

title: 1260

date: March

text: March – Mongol forces (some 200,000 men) under Bayan of the Baarin ("Hundred Eyes") defeat a Chinese army of 130,000 men led by the Song chancellor Jia Sidao on the Yangtze River. Sidao sends an emissary to Bayan to discuss a truce, but he declines to negotiate. Dowager Empress Xie Daoqing strips Sidao of his rank and titles, and he is later on her orders executed by one of his own guards as he is being sent to exile in Fujian.

title: 1275

date: May

text: May – Under the direction of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Emperor Hongwu, the Ming conquest of Xia begins as troops from China, led by Generals Fu Youde and Tang He invade what is now the Sichuan province from the north, while Admiral Liao Yongzhong leads an attack on Xia's east coast and along the Yangtze river.

title: 1371

date: June

text: June–November – 1931 China flood: the Yangtze and Huai Rivers flood in a populous region, leaving an estimated 422,000 dead (150,000 drowned) with many more dying of consequential starvation and disease in the aftermath.

title: 1931

section: Events › June

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: December 12

text: December 12 – USS Panay incident: Japanese bombers sink the American gunboat on the Yangtze in China; the United States accepts the Japanese statement that this was unintentional.

title: 1937

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

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Captain Kerans of HMS Amethyst decides to make a break after nightfall, under heavy fire from the Chinese People's Liberation Army on both sides of the Yangtze River, and successfully rejoins the fleet at Woosung the next day.

title: 1949

section: Events › July

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Yangtze River Floods: in China the Yangtze river breaks through the main bank; before this, from August 1–5, peripheral levees collapsed consecutively in Jiayu County Baizhou Bay. The death toll exceeds 12,000, with many thousands more injured.

title: 1998


slug: yaroslav-the-wise

label: Yaroslav the Wise

description: Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054

section: Births

text: Yaroslav I (the Wise), Russian grand prince (d. 1054)

title: 978

date: July 22

text: July 22–23 – Battle of the River Bug: Polish forces under Bolesław I defeat Yaroslav the Wise near the River Bug. Yaroslav retreats to Novgorod, abandoning Kiev.

title: 1018

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Deaths

text: Sviatopolk I dies, and is succeeded by his brother Yaroslav I (the Wise). He becomes the Grand Prince of Kiev with the support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian (Viking) mercenaries. Yaroslav consolidates the Kievan state, through both cultural and administrative improvements, and military campaigns.

title: 1019

text: The first mention is made of Tartu, Estonia, as Grand Prince Yaroslav I (the Wise) of Novgorod and Kiev defeats the Estonians and finds a fort named Yuryev (modern-day Tartu). The Rus' will hold the fortress for 30 or 31 years.

title: 1030

text: King Mieszko II is forced to escape Poland after an attack of Grand Prince Yaroslav I ("the Wise") of Kiev, who installs Mieszko's half-brother Bezprym onto the Polish throne.

title: 1031

text: Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev makes an agreement with Duke Casimir I the Restorer of Poland that recognizes Chervyen as part of Kiev. The agreement is sealed with a double marriage – Casimir to Maria Dobroniega (a daughter of Vladimir the Great), and Iziaslav to Gertrude, Casimir's sister.

title: 1043

date: February 20

text: February 20 – Yaroslav the Wise, Kievan Rus' grand prince (b. c.978)

title: 1054

date: March 3

text: March 3 – Battle on the Nemiga River: The three sons of Grand Prince Yaroslav I (the Wise) – Iziaslav I, Sviatoslav II, and Vsevolod I – defeat the forces under Vseslav of Polotsk.

title: 1067


slug: yazid-i

label: Yazid I

description: second caliph of the Umayyad caliphate (646-683)

text: Yazid I, Muslim Caliph (d. 683)

title: 645

section: Religion & Belief

text: Caliph Muawiyah I receives an invitation from Saborios, Byzantine commander of the troops in Armenia, to help overthrow Constantine IV in Constantinople. He sends a Muslim army under his son Yazid, against the Byzantine Empire.

title: 668

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Spring – Arab forces that have taken Chalcedon, on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, threaten the Byzantine capital Constantinople. The Muslim-Arabs are decimated by famine and disease. Yazid, the Arab commander, retreats to the island of Cyzicus (modern Turkey).

title: 669

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Winter – Arab forces under Yazid (son of caliph Muawiyah I) retire to Cyzicus (Turkey). For the next 4 years the Arab fleet installs a loose blockade around Constantinople.

title: 674

text: Summer – Siege of Constantinople: Caliph Muawiyah I sends his son Yazid with Muslim reinforcements to Constantinople. At the same time, the Byzantines have to face a Slavic attack on Thessaloniki and Lombard attacks in Italy.

title: 676

text: Autumn – Siege of Constantinople: Emperor Constantine IV confronts the Arab besiegers in a head-on engagement. The Byzantine fleet, equipped with Greek fire, destroys the Muslim fleet at Sillyon, ending the Arab threat to Europe, and forcing Yazid (a son of caliph Muawiyah I) to lift the siege on land and sea. The victory also frees up forces that are sent to raise the two-year siege of Thessalonica by the local Slavic tribes.

title: 678

text: Yazid I, son of Muawiyah I, becomes the sixth caliph (second Umayyad caliph) but Kufans in Mesopotamia rebel and invite Hussein ibn Ali (grandson of Muhammad) to take the throne.

title: 680

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Yazid I, Muslim caliph (b. 647)

title: 683

date: November 14

text: November 14 – Caliph Yazid I dies at Damascus, after a 3-year reign marked by civil war. He is succeeded by his son Muawiya II as ruler of the Umayyad Caliphate.

title: 683


slug: yellow-river

label: Yellow River

description: major river in China

year_label: 214 BCE

text: The Qin armies under Meng Tian campaign against the Xiongnu and other northern peoples and expand their territories along the north basin of the Yellow River. They subjugate the Luliang region, drive back the Xiongnu tribes to the northwest of the Ordos Plateau, and seize Gaoque, Mt. Tao and Beijia.

title: 214 BC

year_label: 129 BCE

text: The Han diplomat Zhang Qian escapes Xiongnu custody and resumes his mission of forming an anti-Xiongnu alliance with the Yuezhi. He reaches the State of Dayuan in the Ferghana Valley, whose trade with the Han had been prevented by the Xiongnu and who supply Zhang with guides. Zhang then travels to the states of Kangju, Greater Yuezhi and Daxia (Bactria). He also learns of the Parthian Empire, Daqin, the Caspian Sea and the source of the Yellow River.

title: 129 BC

year_label: 11 CE

text: The Yellow River experiences a major flood. This flood is credited for the downfall of the short-lived Xin dynasty.

title: 10s

section: Events › 11 AD › China

year_label: 18 CE

text: After a flooding of the Yellow River in China, farmers are forced to rebel. Emperor Wang Mang reacts by sending an army (some 100,000 men) against the agrarian rebels. The rebel leaders, concerned that during battle it will become impossible to tell friend from foe, order that their men color their eyebrows red – and this is where the name Chimei ("The Red Eyebrows") comes from.

title: 10s

section: Events › 18 AD › China

text: Cao Cao controls the Yellow River basin and northern China. Sun Quan rules southern China. Liu Bei controls Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing).

title: 219

date: May 17

text: May 17 – Empress Dowager Hu, regent of Northern Wei, having resorted to an old monarchist tool and executed lovers who have displeased her, is drowned in the Yellow River along with the nominal emperor, the baby Yuan Zhao, and prince Yuan Yong by order of General Erzhu Rong, who places 21-year-old Yuan Ziyou on the throne as Emperor Xiaozhuang of Northern Wei.

title: 528

section: Events › By place › Asia

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Emperor Yángdi completes the Grand Canal; it provides an unbroken inland ship transport between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. The canal network is 1,776 km (1,400 miles) long—linking five river systems—and extends from Beijing to the city of Hangzhou.

title: 609

date: January 18

text: January 18 – An Lushan Rebellion: The eastern capital of Luoyang falls to the 200,000-strong army of the rebel general An Lushan, who defeats loyalist forces under Feng Changqing. The rebels cross the Yellow River, and march on to capture the cities Chenliu and Yingyang (modern Zhengzhou, Henan).

title: 756

section: Events › By place › Chinese Empire

date: January 11

text: January 11 – Emperor Tai Zong of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty invades the Later Jin (Five Dynasties), resulting in the destruction of the Later Jin. Khitan forces head southwards to the Yellow River, but must return to their base in present-day Beijing in May after Tai Zong dies of an illness.

title: 947

text: Jin–Song War: Jurchen forces reach the Yellow River Valley, two days after New Year. Remnants of the court flee south, including much of the populace, and communities such as the Kaifeng Jews.

title: 1126

text: Yuanqu County (also known as Wanting County) in China is destroyed by a flood of the Yellow River.

title: 1168

text: The Yellow River experiences a major course change, taking over the Huai River drainage system for the next 700 years.

title: 1194

text: Spring – The Mongols led by Genghis Khan begin their first invasion against the Western Xia state (or Xi Xia). They push up along the Yellow River, capturing several garrisons and defeating an imperial army. The Mongols besiege the capital Zhongxing – which holds a well-fortified garrison of some 70,000 men (hastily reinforced with another 50,000). Genghis lacks the proper equipment and experience to take the city. In October, an attempt to flood the city by diverting the Yellow River is disastrous and floods the Mongol camp, forcing the Mongols to withdraw.

title: 1209

text: After securing all Jin lands north of the Yellow River, Genghis Khan receives a message that Xuan Zong has moved his capital to Kaifeng. He returns to Zhongdu and precedes the city with the help of thousands of Chinese engineers. The Mongols starve the city out (the inhabitants are forced to eat the dead). The garrison, with a short supply of ammunition for the cannons holds out for the winter.

title: 1214

date: October 8

text: October 8 – 1642 Yellow River flood: Some 300,000 people die in the intentional breaking of the dams and dykes of the Yellow River, done by the Ming dynasty defenders of Kaifeng to break the siege by the large rebel force of Li Zicheng.

title: 1642

section: Events › October–December

date: June 27

text: June 27 – Taiping Rebellion: The Northern Expeditionary Force crosses the Yellow River.

title: 1853

date: June 5

text: June 5 & 7 – The 1938 Yellow River flood is created by the Nationalist government in central China, breaching embankments during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War, in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces. The flood kills at least 400,000, covers and destroys thousands of square kilometers of farmland, and shifts the mouth of the Yellow River hundreds of kilometers to the south.

title: 1938


slug: yemen

label: Yemen

description: country in West Asia

section: Conflict & Security

text: Approximate date – Himyar king Shammar Yahri'sh conquers Hadhramaut, Najran and Tihamah, unifying the territory later known as Yemen.

title: 275

text: Dhu Nuwas seizes the throne of the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen. He attacks the Aksumite garrison at Zafar, capturing the city and burning the churches.

title: 522

section: Events › By place › Arabia

text: Arethas, leader of the Christian community in Yemen

title: 523

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Kaleb, king of Aksum, collects a fleet and crosses from Africa to conquer Yemen. He establishes better trade ports on the Red Sea.

title: 525

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Yūsuf Dhū Nuwas, king of the Himyarite Kingdom (Yemen).

title: 525

text: Abraha, Christian ruler of coastal Yemen, who was acting as a general for the Christian kingdom in Abyssinia, begins a military expedition in Arabia against the predominantly pagan Quraysh of Mecca, known as the Year of the Elephant.

title: 570

text: The Persian Empire overthrows the Axumite- and Byzantine-affiliated regimes in Yemen (Arabian Peninsula).

title: 574

text: King Khosrau II sends a Persian expedition to South Arabia and conquers Yemen. He establishes a military base to control the sea trade with the East (approximate date).

title: 599

section: Events › By place › Persia

text: Ridda Wars: Abu Bakr, caliph (khalifa) of the Rashidun Caliphate, launches a military campaign against the Arab tribe of Kinda, which inhabits the region of Najran (Yemen).

title: 633

text: Ali al-Sulayhi, sultan of Yemen, Tihamah and Mecca (d. 1066)

title: 966

text: Al-Mahdi al-Husayn, Zaidi imam of Yemen (d. 1013)

title: 987

text: Al-Mahdi al-Husayn, Zaidi imam of Yemen (b. 987)

title: 1013

text: Arwa al-Sulayhi, queen and co-ruler of Yemen (d. 1138)

title: 1048

text: Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami, imam of Yemen, killed

title: 1053

text: Asma bint Shihab, queen and co-regent of Yemen

title: 1087

text: Arwa al-Sulayhi, queen and co-ruler of Yemen (b. 1048)

title: 1138

date: February

text: February – Saladin's brother Turan-Shah sails with an army and supporting fleet to conquer the Hejaz and Yemen.

title: 1174

section: Events › By place › Egypt

date: December 26

text: December 26 – Al-Mahdi Muhammad bin al-Mutahhar, the Shi'ite Muslim Imam of the Zaidiyyah state in Yemen, leads Zaidi troops to victory in a battle in the Sheref district against the Sunni Muslim Rasulid sultanate that dominates most of Yemen. A 10-year ceasefire agreement is brokered between Zaidiyyah and the Rasulid Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Da'udsultan.

title: 1311

section: Events › October – December

text: Al-Afdal al-Abbas succeeds Al-Mujahid Ali as Rasulid Sultan of Yemen.

title: 1363

section: Events › Date unknown

date: November 2

text: November 2 – Al-Nasir Muhammad Salah al-Din, Imam of the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam in Yemen, dies at San'a from injuries sustained from being thrown off of his mule. Nasir's death is not announced for two months while his son Al-Mansur Ali bin Salah ad-Din becomes the new Imam but three other claimants attempt to claim the office as well.

title: 1391

date: December 30

text: December 30 – The Ming Chinese explorers, commanded by Admiral Zheng He, arrive in Yemen to open trade with the Arab kingdom, and the admiral is brought to the court of the Emir Al Malik al Nasir. The Chinese stay until January 27.

title: 1418

date: February 14

text: February 14 – In Yemen, the Imam Al-Mansur Ali bin Salah ad-Din of the Zaidi state becomes of one of the victims of a plague sweeping the kingdom. His son, an-Nasir Muhammad, becomes the new Imam but dies four weeks later.

title: 1436

section: Events › January–March

text: Merchants carry coffee from Yemen to Mecca (approximate date).

title: 1490

date: September 17

text: September 17 – Based in Kamaran, an island in the Red Sea, the Mamluk Egyptian Admiral Selman Reis leads of fleet 19 ships in an unsuccessful attempt to take Yemen and Aden.

title: 1516

section: Events › July–September

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Battle of al-Shihr on the Arabian Peninsula (in what is now Yemen): Troops from Portugal fight against the Kathiri Sultanate, ruled by the Emir Mutran bin Mansur. After a battle of one day, the Portuguese sack the capital, Al-Shihr, and establish a port on the Indian Ocean.

title: 1523

date: November 15

text: November 15 – A fleet of 60 Ottoman Navy ships, commanded by Piri Reis, arrives at the port of Aden (now in Yemen) and captures the city in slightly more than three months, by February 26, 1548.

title: 1547

text: Dutch traders smuggle the coffee plant out of Mocha, a port in Yemen on the Red Sea, and cultivate it at the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens. The Dutch later introduce it to Java.

title: 1616

text: The Ottomans are expelled from Yemen.

title: 1635

section: Culture & Society

date: December 25

text: December 25 – The Yemeni Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Ta'izz.

title: 1965

section: Events › November–December

section: Climate & Environment

date: December 13

text: December 13 – The 6.2 North Yemen earthquake shakes southwestern Yemen with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 2,800.

title: 1982

section: Events › December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: May 22

text: May 22 – Cold War: The leaders of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen announce the unification of their countries as the Republic of Yemen.

title: 1990

section: Events › May

date: July 7

text: July 7 – 1994 civil war in Yemen: Aden is occupied by troops from North Yemen.

title: 1994

date: February 27

text: February 27 – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh formally transfers power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, after a year of mass protests, ending his 33-year-long reign.

title: 2012

section: Events › February

date: August 23

text: August 23 – A UAE military intelligence operation in the country of Yemen frees one British hostage.

title: 2015

section: Events › August

date: January 22

text: January 22 – After Houthi forces seize the presidential palace, Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigns after months of unrest.

title: 2015

section: Events › January

date: January 7

text: January 7 – Two gunmen belonging to Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch kill 12 people and injure 11 more at the Paris headquarters of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, prompting an anti-terrorism demonstration attended by over a million people and more than 40 world leaders.

title: 2015

date: March 10

text: March 10 – The UN warns that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

title: 2017

section: Events › March

date: April 8

text: April 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Saudi–led coalition declares a unilateral ceasefire in its operations against Houthi forces in Yemen in accordance with United Nations-led efforts.

title: 2020

section: Events › April

date: April 19

text: April 19 – At least 90 people are killed and another 322 injured in a crowd crush during a Ramadan charity event in Sanaa, Yemen.

title: 2023

section: Health & Medicine

text: August 21 – Saudi Arabia is accused of mass killing hundreds of African migrants attempting to cross its border with Yemen.

title: 2023


slug: yokohama

label: Yokohama

description: designated city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

section: Economy & Finance

date: July

text: July – Japan Brewery, predecessor of Kirin Holdings, is founded in Yokohama, Japan.

title: 1885

section: Events › July

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: December 17

text: December 17 – English adventurer Thomas Stevens concludes the first circumnavigation by bicycle in Yokohama, having set out on his penny-farthing from San Francisco in 1884.

title: 1886

text: February 27 – Japanese immigration to South America, primarily Peru, begins as the ship Sakura Maru departs from Yokohama with 790 men employed by the Morioka-shokai Sugar Company. The group arrives in Callao on April 3.

title: 1899

date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing more than 100,000 people.

title: 1923

section: Events › September–October

section: Crime & Justice

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, a Japanese American suspected of being wartime radio propagandist "Tokyo Rose", is arrested in Yokohama.

title: 1945

section: Events › September

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 24

text: April 24 – Sakuragichō train fire: in Yokohama, Japan, a fire on a train kills more than 100.

title: 1951

date: February 16

text: February 16 – Nearly 100 die in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.

title: 1955

date: November

text: Tsurumi rail accident: A triple train disaster in Yokohama kills 161.

title: 1963

section: Events › November

section: Science & Discovery

date: September 27

text: September 27 – The largest tanker ship at this time, Tokyo Maru, is launched in Yokohama, Japan.

title: 1965


slug: yongle-emperor

label: Yongle Emperor

description: emperor of Ming dynasty China from 1402 to 1424

section: Births

date: May 2

text: May 2 – Yongle Emperor of China (d. 1424)

title: 1360

section: Culture & Society

date: July 17

text: July 17 – The Ming dynasty prince Zhu Di of Yan is formally crowned as the Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming at Nanjing, marking the end of the Jingnan campaign.

title: 1402

section: Events › July–September

text: In China, the Emperor Cheng Zu moves the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, commissions the Yongle Encyclopedia, one of the world's earliest and largest known general encyclopedias, and orders his coastal provinces to build a vast fleet of ships, with construction centered at Longjiang near Nanjing; the inland provinces are to provide wood and float it down the Yangtze River.

title: 1403

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: January 23

text: January 23 – The Yongle Era in China begins with the first day of the Chinese New Year, six months after King Zhu Di of the Yan State arrived at Nanjing, deposed the southern Chinese Emperor Zhu Yun Wen, and proclaimed himself as the Emperor Cheng Zu.

title: 1403

section: Events › January–March

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Under the Emperor Cheng Zu, China continues to build its fleet, ordering the construction of 50 new seagoing ships from the Capital Guards in Nanjing.

title: 1404

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 11

text: May 11 – Ming conquest of Đại Ngu: China's Emperor Chengzu sends two battalions to invade the Kingdom of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) under the command of the Duke Zhu Neng.

title: 1406

section: Events › April–June

section: Deaths

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Abdul Majid Hassan, the Sultan of Brunei, sets off on a voyage to China at the invitation of the Emperor Cheng Zu and arrives in the capital, Nanjing, by September, becoming the first foreign monarch to make a peaceful visit to the Chinese Empire. While visiting, the Sultan becomes ill and dies on October 19.

title: 1408

section: Events › July–December

date: May 19

text: May 19 – During his campaign against the Eastern Mongols, China's Emperor Cheng Zu stops with his troops at Minluanshu and orders the carving of an inscription on rocks at the north bank of the Kerulen river, declaring "In the eighth year of the Yongle geng yin, fourth month ding you, sixteenth day ren zi, the Emperor of the Great Ming passed here with six armies during the punitive expedition against the barbarian robbers."

title: 1410

text: Under the reign of Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming China, work begins to reinstate the ancient Grand Canal of China, which fell into disuse and dilapidation during the previous Yuan dynasty. Between 1411 and 1415, a total of 165,000 laborers dredge the canal bed in Shandong, build new channels, embankments, and canal locks. Four large reservoirs in Shandong are also dug, in order to regulate water levels, instead of resorting to pumping water from local tables. A large dam is also constructed, to divert water from the Wen River southwest into the Grand Canal.

title: 1411

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Ming dynasty Chinese Admiral Zheng He returns to Nanjing after his third voyage, and presents the ruler Vira Alakesvara, captured during the Ming–Kotte War, to China's Emperor Cheng Zu.

title: 1411

date: December 18

text: December 18 – China's Emperor Cheng Zu orders the fourth of the Ming treasure voyages, to be led by Admiral Zheng He.

title: 1412

section: Events › October–December

date: April 6

text: April 6 – China's Emperor Cheng Zu departs from Beijing to lead a military campaign against the Oirat Mongols.

title: 1414

text: The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use; restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Emperor Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north, towards his new capital at Beijing. With this action, the food supply crisis is solved by the end of the year.

title: 1415

date: November 14

text: November 14 – China's Emperor Cheng Zu and his fleet return to Nanjing from his fourth expedition for treasure after having been away since 1413.

title: 1416

date: March 19

text: March 19 – (26 Muharram 822 AH) Sultan al-Malik al-Nāsir of Yemen presents a set of Yemeni gifts for the Chinese envoy to Aden to take back to China's Emperor Cheng Zu, after having received gifts from the Chinese in January.

title: 1419

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Beijing ("Northern Capital") is officially designated the capital of Ming dynasty China by the Yongle Emperor, replacing Nanjing, during the same year that the Forbidden City, the seat of government, is completed and construction begins on the Temple of Heaven in the new capital city.

title: 1420

date: August

text: August – China's Emperor Cheng Zu launches his fourth campaign against the Northern Yuan.

title: 1423

date: April 1

text: April 1 – China's Emperor Zhu Di, angry over the refusal of the Mongolian vassal Arughtai to pay tribute, departs from Beijing with an army of almost one million troops on a campaign in Inner Mongolia.

title: 1424

date: August 12

text: August 12 – China's Yongle era Emperor, Zhu Di, dies at the age of 64 while leading an expedition of almost one million soldiers in an attempt to capture the Mongol leader Arughtai. The Emperor suffers a fatal stroke at at Yumuchuan in what is now Inner Mongolia, while Arughtai has escaped.

title: 1424

section: Events › July –September

date: September 7

text: September 7 – Prince Zhu Gaochi of China becomes the Hongxi Emperor (Emperor Renzong) of the Ming dynasty, beginning the Hongxi era, after the August 12 death of his father, the Emperor Zhu Di.

title: 1424

date: January 8

text: January 8 – The interment of Ming dynasty China's Yongle Emperor, who died on August 12, takes place at the Chang Mausoleum in Beijing's Ming tombs.

title: 1425

section: Events › January – March

text: A series of seven customs offices and barriers are installed along the Grand Canal of China, during the reign of the Ming Dynasty's Yongle Emperor.

title: 1429


slug: york-minster

label: York Minster

description: cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, UK

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 23

text: April 23 – A fire destroys the English city of York Minster, including its Church. The church is later rebuilt as a more impressive structure, containing thirty altars.

title: 741

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Princes Ælf and Ælfwine of Northumbria, the sons of former king Ælfwald I, are persuaded to leave their sanctuary in York Minster, and are immediately forcibly drowned in Wonwaldremere, at the instigation of King Æthelred I.

title: 791

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: King Eardwulf of Northumbria, worried about further rivals, has ealdorman Moll killed. Former king Osbald dies as an abbot in exile. He is buried in an unmarked grave in York Minster.

title: 799

text: King Sweyn II of Denmark lands a fleet in the Humber in support of the Northumbrian rebels and they join him to burn York, attacking its two castles and destroying the old Minster.

title: 1069

section: Events › By place › England

text: The rebuilding of York Minster in England begins.

title: 1070

section: Events

date: June 4

text: June 4 – A fire destroys much of the city of York, including 39 churches and York Minster.

title: 1137

text: The rebuilding of York Minster begins.

title: 1220

date: June 21

text: June 21 – 10-year-old Joan of England, eldest daughter of the late King John, marries the 21-year-old King Alexander II of Scotland at York Minster.

title: 1221

section: Religion & Belief

date: July 3

text: July 3 – The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, England, commonly known as York Minster, is declared complete and consecrated.

title: 1472


slug: york

label: York

description: city in North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

text: Britain is divided: in the north, Lower Britain (Britannia Inferior) is administered from the fortress at Eburacum (modern York), and in the south, Upper Britain (Britannia Superior) is controlled by the legions at Deva Victrix (Chester) and Isca Augusta (Caerleon) with its capital at Londinium (London).

title: 208

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

date: February 4

text: February 4 – Emperor Septimius Severus, having fallen ill, dies in Eboracum (modern-day York) while on campaign in Britain after an 18-year reign. He is later deified by the Senate. His sons Caracalla and Geta succeed him as joint Roman emperors.

title: 211

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

title: 305

date: July 25

text: July 25 – Constantius I dies outside Eboracum (modern-day York). Constantine, aged 23 or 24, is declared emperor by his troops. Emperor Galerius grants Constantine the title of Caesar, and elevates Flavius Valerius Severus to emperor in the Western part of the Roman Empire.

title: 306

text: King Edwin of Northumbria refortifies the city walls of York, probably including the building of the so-called Anglian Tower (approximate date).

title: 631

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, brings stonemasons, plasterers and glaziers from France and Italy to build Ripon Cathedral (England).

title: 672

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, is at the height of his power and owns vast estates throughout Northumbria. After his refusal to agree to a division of his see, Ecgfrith and Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, have him banished from Northumbria.

title: 678

text: King Æthelwalh of Sussex gives Wilfrid, exiled bishop of York, lands in Selsey to found a cathedral, named Selsey Abbey.

title: 681

text: Wilfrid, bishop of York, becomes an advisor of Cædwalla, and is sent to the Isle of Wight to evangelise the inhabitants.

title: 686

text: Willibrord, Anglo-Saxon missionary, travels from York with 12 Benedictine monks to Westkapelle, (modern Netherlands) to Christianize the pagan Frisians.

title: 690

text: Berhtwald, archbishop of Canterbury, calls the Council of Austerfield to decide the rights of Wilfrid, some-time bishop of York. He is offered Ripon Abbey if he will relinquish his claims as bishop. Wilfrid rejects this offer and appeals to Rome.

title: 702

text: Wilfrid, Anglo-Saxon bishop, travels to Rome again, and is supported in his struggle to retain his see of York by the pope. On his way Wilfrid stops in Frisia (modern Netherlands), to visit Willibrord.

title: 703

section: Crime & Justice

text: King Eadberht of Northumbria marches his army north to attack the Picts. King Æthelbald of Mercia takes advantage of his absence, and ravages the city of York. Internal struggles re-emerge in Northumbria with the murder of Eardwine, probably the son of the late usurping king Eadwulf I.

title: 740

text: King Eadberht of Northumbria abdicates the throne in favour of his son, Oswulf. He enters the monastery attached to the cathedral of York.

title: 758

section: Health & Medicine

text: Unrest in the Northumbrian Church appears to lead to the expulsion of King Alhred, who is driven from his capital York. He sails from Bamburgh into exile amongst the Picts, where he is received by King Ciniod I. He is replaced by Æthelred I, the 11-year-old son of the late king Æthelwald Moll.

title: 774

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Great Heathen Army of the Vikings rides north to Northumbria. The Northumbrians are preoccupied with a civil war, and the Danes enter York unopposed.

title: 866

text: The Danes, led by Viking chieftain Ivar the Boneless, 'make peace' with the Mercians (by accepting Danegeld). Ivar leaves Nottingham on horseback, and returns to York.

title: 869

text: Autumn – The Great Heathen Army returns to Northumbria, to put down a rebellion at York. King Ecgberht I and his archbishop, Wulfhere, are expelled by the Northumbrians and flee to Mercia.

title: 872

text: Battle of Strangford Lough: King Halfdan I leaves for Ireland, in an attempt to claim the Kingdom of Dublin from his rival Bárid mac Ímair. He is killed in battle at Strangford Lough, and a probable interregnum follows in York.

title: 877

text: Ragnall ua Ímair, a Viking chief from Ireland, takes control of the Norse Kingdom of York (also referred to as Jórvik) and the English-ruled Earldom of Northumbria. He establishes himself as king at York.

title: 919

section: Events › By Place › Britain

date: October 3

text: October 3 – Northumbria revolts against Tostig Godwinson, who is exiled. He takes refuge with his brother-in-law, Count Baldwin V in Flanders (modern Belgium). The Northumbrian nobles choose Morcar (or Morkere) as earl at York.

title: 1065

date: October 6

text: October 6 – Harold II marches south from Stamford Bridge (near York) to counter the threat of the invasion by William. Reaching London within five days, he leaves a short time later. After a two-day march he and his army reach Caldbec Hill.

title: 1066

section: Events › Europe › England and Scotland

text: William I begins a campaign in the East Midlands to put down the rebellions at Nottingham, Stafford, Lincoln and York.

title: 1068

text: Winter of 1069–1070 – Harrying of the North: King William the Conqueror quells rebellions made by his English subjects against his rule, campaigning through the north of England with his forces, burning houses, crops, cattle and land from York to Durham, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 people, mainly from starvation and winter cold.

title: 1069

date: January 28

text: January 28 – Northumbrians kill the new Norman earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines, at Durham, and attack York.

title: 1069

title: 1137

date: March 16

text: March 16 – A massacre and mass-suicide of the Jews in York, results in the deaths of 150–500 Jews in Clifford's Tower.

title: 1190

section: Events › By place › Europe › England

date: September 25

text: September 25 – Treaty of York: King Henry III signs an agreement with Alexander II of Scotland at York. Alexander subjects to Henry's sovereignty and renounces the Scottish claims to Northumberland, Westmorland and Cumberland. This establishes the Anglo-Scottish border in a form with the future status of several feudal properties and marks the end of Scotland's attempts to extend its frontier southward.

title: 1237

date: October 18

text: October 18 – King Edward II summons a council to meet at York, but several nobles (the earls of Lancaster, Lincoln, Warwick, Oxford and Arundel) refuse to attend due to Piers Gaveston's attendance. Since he returned from exile, Gaveston tries to alienate the nobles from the king.

title: 1309

section: Events › October – December

date: May 30

text: May 30 – King Edward II of England makes a 13-year truce with Scotland at York. Despite the truce, Edward refuses to accept Robert the Bruce as ruler of an independent Scottish kingdom.

title: 1323

section: Events › April – June

title: 1472

section: Events › July–September

date: October 10

text: October 10 – English barrister Robert Aske becomes the leader of the Pilgrimate of Grace rebels, whose numbers have grown to 9,000 and marches with them to York.

title: 1536

date: December 13

text: December 13 — An English counterattack against the Northern rebels begins as Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, marches from York with 10,000 men against the rebels' 6,000. The rebels disperse and flee northward back to Scotland, ending the Rising of the North.

title: 1569

date: March 11

text: March 11 – English Roman Catholic priest, Thomas Atkinson, is hanged, drawn, and quartered at York, at age 70 (he will be beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 22, 1987).

title: 1616

section: Events › March-April

date: January 1

text: January 1 – At the same time, rebels within the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Fairfax take control of York and await the arrival of Monck's troops.

title: 1660

date: January 11

text: January 11 – Colonel Monck and Colonel Fairfax rendezvous at York and then prepare to proceed southward toward London. gathering deserters from Lambert's army along the way.

title: 1660


slug: yorkshire

label: Yorkshire

description: historic county of England

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Battle of the Winwaed: King Oswiu of Bernicia defeats his rival, King Penda of Mercia at Cock Beck, near what later will be Leeds (Yorkshire). Kings Cadafael Cadomedd of Gwynedd and Œthelwald of Deira, allies of Mercia, withdraw their forces before the battle begins. It marks the defeat of the last credible pagan force in England. It also sows the seeds which will lead to Anglo-Saxon acceptance of the Catholic Church (approximate date).

title: 655

text: Hilda, Anglo-Saxon abbess, founds a monastery at Streaneshalch, on the Yorkshire coast at Whitby (England).

title: 657

text: Olaf Guthfrithson, a Norse-Irish chieftain, is killed while raiding an ancient Anglian church at Tyninghame (Northern Northumbria). He is succeeded by his cousin Olaf Sigtryggsson as ruler of Jórvik (modern Yorkshire).

title: 941

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Northumbria is divided by King William II into the counties of Northumberland, County Palatine of Durham, Yorkshire, Westmorland and Lancashire.

title: 1089

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Fountains Abbey soon to join the Cistercian order, is founded near Ripon in Yorkshire.

title: 1132

date: March 5

text: March 5 – Rievaulx Abbey is founded by the Cistercian order, near Helmsley in Yorkshire.

title: 1132

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Battle of the Standard: King David I of Scotland gives his full support to Matilda (daughter of the late King Henry I), and invades the north of England – travelling as far south as Lincolnshire. The Scottish army (some 15,000 men) is defeated by English forces under Earl William le Gros in Yorkshire. David retreats to Carlisle and reassembles an army.

title: 1138

text: Byland Abbey is established on its final site in Yorkshire, England, by the Cistercians.

title: 1177

section: Events › Date unknown

date: May

text: May – Having captured Berwick-upon-Tweed, Scottish forces under King Robert the Bruce raid Yorkshire and burn Northallerton, Boroughbridge and Knaresborough (where some 140 houses are destroyed). They also terrorize the citizens of Ripon, who are spared destruction, on payment of 1,000 marks.

title: 1318

date: October 14

text: October 14 – "Great Raid": Battle of Old Byland – Scottish forces led by King Robert the Bruce defeat the English army in Yorkshire. During the battle, Robert and his highlanders charge themselves in a flanking position, from where the English troops are overrun, the most significant Scots victory over the English since Bannockburn in 1314. Edward II narrowly escapes capture and is forced to abandon his personal equipment, silver plate, jewelry and horse trappings. He flees with his retinue to Bridlington.

title: 1322

text: Mount Grace Priory is established in Yorkshire, England.

title: 1398

date: March 29

text: March 29 – At the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire, the newly proclaimed Yorkist King Edward IV defeats the Lancastrians, led by the Duke of Somerset, to make good his claim to the English throne. The battle, which claims the lives of at least 6,000 supporters of King Henry VI and at least 3,000 of King Edward's men, remains one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil.

title: 1461

section: Events › January–March

date: September 22

text: September 22 – After being tracked down by King Edward IV and taken prisoner at Southampton, the rebel Thomas Neville is beheaded at Middleham Castle in his native Yorkshire.

title: 1471

date: April 28

text: April 28 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, is killed in the village of South Kilvington in Yorkshire while meeting with John à Chambre in an attempt to stop the Yorkshire rebellion of 1489, which had started over King Henry VII's raising of taxes in Northumberland and Yorkshire.

title: 1489

section: Events › April–June

date: January 16

text: January 16 – Bigod's Rebellion, an uprising by Roman Catholics, led by Francis Bigod against Henry VIII of England and Protestant Rebellion, begins with an unsuccessful attempt to seize Scarborough Castle in Yorkshire.

title: 1537

section: Culture & Society

text: King James's School, Knaresborough in Yorkshire is founded by Dr. Robert Chaloner, and the charter is signed by King James I of England.

title: 1616

section: Events › September-October

date: June 30

text: June 30 – First English Civil War: Battle of Adwalton Moor – Royalists gain control of Yorkshire.

title: 1643

date: July 2

text: July 2 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor – The Parliamentarians crush the Royalists in Yorkshire, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England.

title: 1644

section: Climate & Environment

text: December 13 – Wold Cottage meteorite: A meteorite falls at Wold Newton, a hamlet in Yorkshire in England. This meteorite fall is subsequently used as a literary premise by science fiction writer Philip José Farmer, as the basis for the Wold Newton family.

title: 1795

section: Events › July–December

date: September 30

text: September 30 – The first Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning is held, starting in Paris. The winning team, piloting the balloon United States, lands in Fylingdales, Yorkshire, England.

title: 1906

section: Events › September–October

date: July

text: The first Cottingley Fairies photographs are taken in Yorkshire, England, apparently depicting fairies (a hoax not admitted by the child creators until 1981).

title: 1917

section: Events › July


slug: yuan-dynasty

label: Yuan dynasty

description: Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China (1271–1368)

text: In Korea, the Sambyeolcho Rebellion begins against the Goryeo dynasty, a vassal state of the Yuan dynasty.

title: 1270

section: Events › Asia

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Great Yuan" (大元; dà yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty in China.

title: 1271

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: In Korea, the Sambyeolcho Rebellion against the Goryeo dynasty (a vassal state of the Yuan dynasty) ends as rebel forces are defeated.

title: 1273

text: In Japan, a 20 kilometer stone wall defending the coast of Hakata Bay at Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu is completed; it is built in response to the attempted Yuan dynasty Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274.

title: 1277

text: Migration of the (Southern) Song dynasty: Some 50,000 citizens of the Song dynasty in China become the first recorded inhabitants of Macau, as they seek refuge from the invading armies of the Yuan dynasty. They also stay for a short period in (New) Kowloon.

title: 1277

date: February 13

text: February 13–14 – Battle of Thị Nại Bay: A Mongol-led Yuan expeditionary force (some 5,000 men) lands on the beach, near Champa's capital Vijaya in Vietnam. Despite being outnumbered, the Yuan invaders break the Cham defensive line and force King Indravarman V to retreat to the Western Highlands, where he wages a successful guerrilla campaign against the occupying Yuan forces.

title: 1283

text: In the Lao kingdom of Muang Sua, King Panya Leng is overthrown in a coup d'état led by his son, Prince Panya Khamphong, which is likely to have been supported by the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty in China.

title: 1286

section: Deaths

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Kublai Khan dies; by this time the separation of the four khanates of the Mongol Empire (the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Golden Horde in Russia, the Ilkhanate in Persia, and the Yuan Dynasty in China) has deepened.

title: 1294

date: May 10

text: May 10 – King Kyawswa of Pagan and his son, Crown Prince Theingapati, are executed at Myinsaing, by the three brothers of the Myinsaing Kingdom (nominally Kyawswa's viceroys), for submitting and being a vassal to the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (since 1297).

title: 1299

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Beijing Temple of Confucius is erected during the reign of Emperor Temür Khan (or "Chengzong") of the Chinese Yuan dynasty.

title: 1302

text: Ambassadors from the Mongol rulers of Central Asia and the Yuan Dynasty announce to Toqta Khan, Mongol ruler of the Golden Horde, their general peace proposal. Toqta accepts the supremacy of Emperor Temür Khan and all yams (postal relays) and commercial networks across the Mongol khanates reopen. In response, Toqta solidifies his rule upon the Rus' princes, who pledge allegiance to him at an assembly in Pereyaslavl.

title: 1304

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 19

text: September 19 – At Tabriz (now in Iran) Öljaitü the Mongol Ikhanate, receives the Mongol ambassador from Yuan dynasty China.

title: 1305

section: Events › July – September

date: August 15

text: August 15 – Yesün Temür, emperor of the Yuan dynasty (b. 1293)

title: 1328

date: August 30

text: August 30 – Khutughtu Khan, Emperor Mingzong of Yuan, emperor of the Yuan dynasty and the Mongol Empire (b. 1300)

title: 1329

text: Jayaatu Khan Tugh Temür, Emperor Wenzong of the Yuan dynasty (b. 1304)

title: 1332

text: The sultan of Delhi Muhammad bin Tughluq chooses Ibn Battuta to lead a diplomatic mission to Yuan Dynasty China.

title: 1341

text: The Red Turban Rebellions break out in China, leading to permanent weakening of the Mongolian-run Yuan dynasty.

title: 1351

text: After years of begging and being a Buddhist monk, the penniless Chinese peasant Zhu Yuanzhang joins the Red Turban Rebellions against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China; he will later become the first emperor of the Ming dynasty.

title: 1352

text: Zhu Yuanzhang, one of the leaders in the Red Turban Rebellion, captures the city of Nanjing from the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in China; from then on it becomes his base of power, and the capital of a new dynasty he would establish in 1368, the Ming dynasty.

title: 1356

text: August 30–October 4 – Battle of Lake Poyang: The Dahan rebel forces of Chen Youliang are defeated by the Red Turban Rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang, during the final decade of Yuan dynasty control over China. Zhu's naval forces of 200,000 are pitted against Chen's naval forces of 650,000 troops, in what is not only the largest naval battle of the medieval age, but also one of the largest naval battles in history.

title: 1363

section: Events › January–December

date: March 8

text: March 8 – Princess Noguk of the Yuan dynasty and queen consort of Goryeo

title: 1365

text: Zhu Yuanzhang, leader of the Red Turban Rebellion that will overthrow the Yuan dynasty and establish the Ming dynasty two years later, begins building the walls for a new capital city at Nanjing.

title: 1366

date: January 12

text: January 12 – Zhu Yuanzhang declares himself as Emperor of China and forces Emperor Huizong of the Yuan dynasty to flee the capital, Yingtian (now Nanjing).

title: 1368

date: July 20

text: July 20 – In the continued conquest of Yuan dynasty China by the Ming dynasty, General Chang Yuchun captures the Yuan capital, Shangdu, forcing the Yuan Emperor Huizong to flee further northward.

title: 1369

date: June 6

text: June 6 – At Yingchang, now part of the Hexigten province of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara is crowned as Emperor of the Northern Yuan, the remaining portion of the Chinese territory that had been ruled by the Yuan dynasty prior its overthrow in 1368 by the rulers of the Ming dynasty. Prince Ayushiridara is the son of the late Emperor Huizong of Yuan.

title: 1370

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Emperor Huizong, who was the last Chinese ruler of the Yuan dynasty (from 1333 to 1368) and ruler of a portion of Inner Mongolia after his defeat in 1368, dies at the age of 49.

title: 1370

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür succeeds his father, Biligtü Khan Ayushiridara, as ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty in Mongolia.

title: 1378

date: January 6

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

title: 1382

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Under the reign of Emperor Cheng Zu of Ming China, work begins to reinstate the ancient Grand Canal of China, which fell into disuse and dilapidation during the previous Yuan dynasty. Between 1411 and 1415, a total of 165,000 laborers dredge the canal bed in Shandong, build new channels, embankments, and canal locks. Four large reservoirs in Shandong are also dug, in order to regulate water levels, instead of resorting to pumping water from local tables. A large dam is also constructed, to divert water from the Wen River southwest into the Grand Canal.

title: 1411


slug: yucatan-peninsula

label: Yucatán Peninsula

description: peninsula in Central America

section: Births

date: March 30

text: March 30 or March 31 – Kʼukʼ Bahlam I, king of Palenque (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico)

title: 397

section: Science & Discovery

text: Earliest recorded date at Chichen Itza on the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico) (approximate date).

title: 455

section: Events › By place › Mesoamerica

text: Tulum, Maya walled city, on the Yucatán Peninsula (modern Mexico) is first mentioned on a stele inscription.

title: 564

text: Uxmal becomes the capital of a large state in the Puuk hills region of northern Yucatán (modern Mexico). The city is connected by causeways (sakbe) to other important Puuk sites, such as K'abah, Sayil, and Labna (approximate date).

title: 850

section: Events › Middle East › Mesoamerica

date: March 4

text: March 4 – The first intentional landing by Europeans on the coast of Mexico takes place as the Cordoba Expedition arrives at Cabo Catoche on the Yucatán Peninsula, now in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Spaniards are attacked by the Mayans after being invited to visit, and a battle breaks out with 13 Spaniards ambushed and 15 Mayans killed.

title: 1517

section: Conflict & Security

text: Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo attempts an invasion of the Yucatán, but is driven out by the Maya peoples.

title: 1528

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Conquistador Francisco de Montejo claims Chichen Itza as capital of Spanish-ruled Yucatán.

title: 1531

date: July 14

text: July 14 – Convention of London between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain: British settlements on the Mosquito Coast of Central America are to be evacuated; Spain expands the territory available to the British in Belize on the Yucatán Peninsula, for cutting mahogany.

title: 1786

section: Events › July–September

text: An insurrection breaks out in Tizimín, beginning the campaign for the independence of Yucatán from Mexico.

title: 1838

date: September 12

text: September 12 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.

title: 1988

section: Events › September

date: September 14

text: September 14–27 – Hurricane Isidore crosses Cuba, the Yucatán Peninsula, and Louisiana.

title: 2002


slug: yugoslavia

label: Yugoslavia

description: 1918–1992 country in Southeastern Europe

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

title: 615

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: September 13

text: September 13 – The position of Patriarch of the Serbs, established on April 9, 1346 as the authority over the Serbian Orthodox Church, is abolished by order of Sultan Mustafa III of the Ottoman Empire; the patriarchate is not re-established until 1920 following the creation of Yugoslavia at the end of World War One.

title: 1766

date: June 20

text: June 20 – Puniša Račić kills three opposition representatives in the Yugoslavian Parliament, and injures three others, in a gun attack.

title: 1928

section: Events › June

date: November 29

text: November 29 – The second session of AVNOJ, the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia, is held in Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to determine the post-war ordering of the country.

title: 1943

section: Events › November

date: November 28

text: November 28 – Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations.

title: 1950

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 20

text: November 20 – In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Đilas is arrested after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito.

title: 1956

date: November 10

text: November 10 – The Treaty of Osimo is signed between Italy and Yugoslavia, resolving their dispute over Trieste. Under the agreement, a majority of the land area and residents go to Italy.

title: 1975

section: Economy & Finance

date: March 24

text: March 24 – The first McDonald's restaurant in a country run by a Communist party opens in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was later followed by one in Budapest, and in 1990 in Moscow, and Shenzhen, China.

title: 1988

section: Events › March

date: February 22

text: February 22 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 808 is voted on, deciding that "an international tribunal shall be established" to prosecute violations of international law in Yugoslavia. The tribunal is established on May 25 by Resolution 827.

title: 1993

section: Events › February


slug: yunnan

label: Yunnan

description: province of China

year_label: 135 BCE

text: A Han military campaign against the Dian Kingdom establishes a military commandery in the Yunnan region.

title: 135 BC

section: Events › By place › China

year_label: 109 BCE

text: Han campaigns against Dian: Emperor Wu launches a new campaign against the Dian Kingdom and establishes the Yizhou commandery in Yunnan during the dynasty's expansion southward.

title: 109 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Mongol forces under Kublai Khan conquer the Dali Kingdom (modern-day Yunnan). The population migrates to Siam (modern Thailand).

title: 1253

text: Spring – Mongol forces under Uriyangkhadai conduct a campaign against local Yi and Lolo tribes in Vietnam. He returns to Gansu and sends messengers to the court of Möngke Khan informing him that Yunnan is firmly under Mongolian control. Möngke Khan honors and rewards Uriyangkhadai for his military achievements.

title: 1257

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Battle of Ngasaunggyan: A Burmese army (some 80,000 men) led by King Narathihapate (or Sithu IV) invades Mongol territory in Yunnan. The invasion is repelled by the Mongol forces, who counterattack, reaching as far south as the fortress city of Kaungsin ("Gold Teeth"), which guards the Bhamo Pass in northern Myanmar. Later, the Burmese Pagan Empire begins to disintegrate after several Mongol invasions under Kublai Khan.

title: 1277

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Ming dynasty of China annexes the areas of the old Kingdom of Dali, in modern-day Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, inhabited by the Miao and Yao peoples. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese (including military colonists) will migrate there from the rest of China.

title: 1381

section: Events › Date not known

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Ming dyansty China, ruled by the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, completes the conquerst of Yunnan the remaining portion of China still occupied by the Yuan dyansty in what is now the Yunnan province. General Fu Youde leads 250,000 Ming Chinese troops overwhelming the smaller Yunnan force of Mongol and Chinese Muslim troops.

title: 1382

section: Events › April–June

date: December 27

text: December 27 – The Imperial Chinese Army invades the Lan Na kingdom, covering an area now divided between Myanmar, Thailand and China's Yunnan province.

title: 1405

section: Events › October–December

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Chinese troops commanded by General Zhang Fu cross into Vietnam from Guanxi while those of Mu Sheng cross from Yunnan.

title: 1406

text: April 9 – A Burmese Army force of 16,000 men, commanded by Thado Dhamma Yaza II of Prome and Nawrahta Minsaw of Lan Na to suppress the rebellious of the Shan States in the modern-day Yunnan province of China, is welcomed by King Nanda Bayin at the royal capital, Pegu, after a successful punitive expedition. The commanders bring with them the rebel chief from the Sanda state.

title: 1583

date: December 28

text: December 28 – In China, General Wu Sangui begins the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, a rebellion against the Qing dynasty by killing the Governor of the Yunnan province, Zhu Guozhi. Within 10 days, he leads troops on an expedition to take over the neighboring Guizhou province and by 1676 controls 11 of China's provinces.

title: 1673

section: Deaths

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Revolt of the Three Feudatories in southern China: rebel general Wu Sangui, lord of the Yunnan fief, takes the imperial crown, names himself monarch of "The Great Zhou", based in the Hunan province, with Hengyang as his capital. He contracts dysentery over the summer and dies on October 2, ending the rebellion against the Kangxi Emperor.

title: 1678

section: Events › January–March

date: December 7

text: December 7 – Wu Shifan, grandson of Chinese general Wu Sangui, commits suicide at Kunming in Yunnan province, ending the 8-year Revolt of the Three Feudatories against the Kangxi Emperor and the Qing dynasty in China.

title: 1681

section: Climate & Environment

date: September 6

text: September 6 – At least 6,000 people are killed when an 8.0 magnitude earthquake shakes the Chinese province of Yunnan destroying buildings, homes and temples.

title: 1833

section: Health & Medicine

text: The third plague pandemic breaks out in Yunnan, China. This bubonic plague pandemic eventually spreads to all inhabited continents, and ultimately leads to more than 12 million deaths in India and China (estimated 15 million worldwide) making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. The pandemic is considered active until 1960.

title: 1855

section: Events › Undated

date: March 16

text: March 16 – At 22:42 local time a 7.0 earthquake shakes the Chinese province of Yunnan killing 5,000 people.

title: 1925

date: January 5

text: January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 14,621 are killed and 30,000 injured.

title: 1970

section: Events › January


slug: yusuf-ibn-tashfin

label: Yusuf ibn Tashfin

description: leader of the Almoravid dynasty (r. 1061–1106), founder of Marrakech and a key figure in consolidating power in southern Morocco before expanding into Al-Andalus

section: Births

text: Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sultan of Morocco (d. 1106)

title: 1009

section: Conflict & Security

text: Abu Bakr ibn Umar of Almoravids, appoints Yusuf ibn Tashfin as steward of Sous and northern provinces, while campaigning in the southern provinces. Upon his return, daunted by Yusuf's new-found power, Abu Bakr sees any attempts at recapturing his post as politically unfeasible and returns to the fringes of the Sahara to settle the unrest of the southern frontier.

title: 1061

section: Events › By place › Africa

section: Culture & Society

date: May

text: May – Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah marries Yusuf ibn Tashfin, leader of the Almoravids, and becomes his queen and co-regent.

title: 1071

text: The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, besieges Ceuta. Since the city can receive help from the sea, the siege will last until 1083.

title: 1078

text: The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, conquers Tangier, Badis and Hunayn.

title: 1080

text: Almoravid forces (supported with fighters from local Andalusian provinces), under Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin, besiege Aledo, but are forced to retreat, by the arrival of Spanish troops of King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile.

title: 1088

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: A third Almoravid expedition is launched in Al-Andalus, designed to finally subdue the Taifa's Kingdoms. The cities of Córdoba, Seville, Granada, Málaga, Almería and Ronda fall to the troops of Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin.

title: 1090

text: Summer – Almoravid forces launch a new campaign in Al-Andalus (modern Spain). Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin, leader of the Almoravid Empire, is honored with the title of Amir al Muslimin ("Commander of the Muslims").

title: 1097

text: Summer – Almoravid forces under Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin besiege Valencia, which is defended by Jimena Díaz, widow of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. The city holds out until May 1102.

title: 1101

date: May 5

text: May 5 – The short-lived principality created by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar ends: Valencia is captured by Almoravid forces under Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin. It is later recaptured, evacuated and burned by King Alfonso VI.

title: 1102

text: The Almoravid emir, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, sends a maritime expedition to Palestine from Sevilla to ward off the Crusaders and perhaps to reconquer Jerusalem. The fleet of about seventy ships rushes into a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, and is never seen again.

title: 1105


slug: zadar

label: Zadar

description: city and settlement in Zadar County, Croatia

year_label: 384 BCE

text: The Greeks found the colony of Pharos at the site of today’s Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, defeating Iadasinoi warriors brought in for its defense.

title: 384 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

text: Giustiniano Participazio deposes his younger brother Giovanni I, and is appointed doge of Venice. Giovanni, who is part of a pro-Frankish faction, is exiled to Zara (modern Croatia).

title: 827

date: July 15

text: July 15 – Ordelafo Faliero, doge of Venice, defeats Hungarian troops under King Stephen II, who have arrived to relieve Zadar; the remaining towns of Dalmatia surrender to Venice.

title: 1116

text: King Stephen II of Hungary regains Dalmatia from the Republic of Venice while the Venetians are on a naval expedition. Doge Ordelafo Faliero dies in battle (near Zadar) against the Hungarians. Faliero is succeeded by Domenico Michiel, who reconquers more territory and agrees to a 5-year truce with Hungary.

title: 1117

text: King Béla III of Hungary and Croatia goes to war with Venice in an effort to recover Dalmatia. The city of Zadar (located on the Adriatic Sea) accepts Béla's suzerainty.

title: 1181

section: Events › Europe

text: Orio Mastropiero, doge of Venice, secures loans from the Venetian nobility to finance the siege of Zadar. Pledging the income from the Salt Office becomes a staple of the city's finance.

title: 1187

section: Events › By topic › Economy

text: November 10–24 – Siege of Zara: The Crusaders under Boniface of Montferrat besiege and conquer Zara (modern-day Zadar) in Dalmatia. Despite letters from Innocent III forbidding such an action, and threatening excommunication. The leading citizens of Zara hang banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic faith. Nevertheless, the Crusaders breach and sack the city, killing many.

title: 1202

section: Events › By place › Fourth Crusade

section: Religion & Belief

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Enrico Dandolo takes the cross and agrees to lead a Venetian force, which, in an outburst of Crusading enthusiasm, reaches some 21,000 men – the largest contingent of the Fourth Crusade. He proclaims the debts will be wiped if the Crusaders take the 'rebel' Dalmatian city of Zara (modern-day Zadar) which has pledged its loyalty to Emeric, king of Hungary and Croatia. The Zara proposal causes disquiet in the Crusader ranks and also upsets Pope Innocent III who threatens to excommunicate those who attack Zara.

title: 1202

date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Crusader army evacuates Zara (modern Zadar) and sets sail to Corfu; Boniface of Montferrat and Doge Enrico Dandolo stay behind to await Prince Alexios Angelos. After a brief pause at Durrës (modern Albania), the fleet reaches Corfu. Meanwhile, news of its approach (through spies) has reached Emperor Alexios III Angelos at Constantinople. He gives order to strengthen the city walls and the fortifications.

title: 1203

date: March 14

text: March 14 – The Italian town of Chioggia concludes an alliance with the Croatian towns of Zadar and Trogir against the Republic of Venice, which lsts until 1412.

title: 1381

date: August 5

text: August 5 – The coronation of Ladislaus of Naples as King of Hungary and Croatia takes place in Zara (now Zadar in Croatia), where Ladislaus had arrived on July 19. His reign lasts less than four months before he is deposed.

title: 1403

section: Events › July–September

text: The Republic of Venice purchases the port of Zadar from Hungary.

title: 1409

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: zagreb

label: Zagreb

description: capital city of Croatia

text: King Ladislaus I of Hungary founds a diocese (alongside the bishop's see) in Zagreb.

title: 1094

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 16

text: November 16 – King Béla IV issues the Golden Bull to the inhabitants of Gradec (modern-day Zagreb) and Samobor in Croatia. By this golden bull, Béla proclaimes Gradec a royal free city.

title: 1242

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Croatian troops, led by General Alapic, defeat the peasant rebellion in the Battle of Stubica, then begin a violent campaign of vengeance against the conquered rebels. Rebellion leaders Matija Gubec and Ivan Pasanec are taken as prisoners of war for a trial for treason at Zagreb.

title: 1573

section: Events › January–March

date: September 23

text: September 23 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the status and privileges of a university to the Jesuit Academy in Zagreb, the precursor to the modern University of Zagreb.

title: 1669

date: November 9

text: November 9 – A major earthquake strikes Zagreb and destroys many buildings, including Zagreb Cathedral.

title: 1880

section: Events › November

date: October 8

text: October 8 – An earthquake in the Zagreb area leads Andrija Mohorovičić to identify the Mohorovičić discontinuity.

title: 1909

section: Events › September–October

date: April 26

text: April 26 – HŠK Građanski Zagreb (predecessor of GNK Dinamo Zagreb), a Croatian Association football club, is founded in Zagreb.

title: 1911

section: Events › April

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria: Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, 19, assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Duchess Sophie, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering the July Crisis overnight and eventually World War I. Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo and Zagreb break out.

title: 1914

section: Events › June

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: August 30

text: August 30 – An express train bound for Germany from Belgrade derails in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), killing more than 150 passengers.

title: 1974

section: Events › July–August

date: September 10

text: September 10 – Zagreb mid-air collision: A British Airways Trident and a Yugoslav DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia (modern-day Zagreb, Croatia), killing all 176 aboard.

title: 1976

section: Events › September

date: May 13

text: May 13 – The Dinamo–Red Star riot takes place at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb, Croatia between the Bad Blue Boys (fans of GNK Dinamo Zagreb) and the Delije (fans of Red Star Belgrade).

title: 1990

section: Events › May

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 12

text: May 12 – The mummified body of Hedviga Golik is found in her apartment in Zagreb, Croatia 42 years after her death.

title: 2008


slug: zamora-spain

label: Zamora, Spain

description: city in Castile and León, Spain

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: King Alfonso III repopulates the city of Zamora with Mozarabs (Iberian Christians who have lived under Moorish rule) from Toledo in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 893

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Battle of Zamora: In Al-Andalus, Ibn al-Qitt and Abū Naṣr ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Alī al-Sarrāj call for a small jihad, but are defeated by King Alfonso III.

title: 901

section: Deaths

date: January 19

text: January 19 – King García I dies at Zamora (Spain) after a 4-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Ordoño II, who becomes king of Galicia and León. Ordoño continues his expansion and settles his court in León.

title: 914

text: August 5 – Battle of Alhandic: Abd-al-Rahman III defeats the garrison of those loyal to Ramiro II at Zamora, in the context of the Spanish Reconquista.

title: 939

text: King Ordoño III dies at Zamora after a 5-year reign. He is succeeded by his half-brother Sancho I as ruler of León (modern Spain).

title: 956

text: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers and razes the city of Zamora, as part of his effort to seize the Christian-dominated north of the Iberian Peninsula.

title: 981

text: Almanzor (Al-Mansur), de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, continues his offensive against the kingdoms of León and Castile. King Bermudo II escapes to Zamora; the city resists for four days, but is finally sacked and captured.

title: 988

text: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, assaults and partially destroys the city of Santiago de Compostela. He is accompanied in his raid by Christian Portuguese lords, who all receive a share of the booty. On their way, they sack the cities of Zamora and León.

title: 997

text: King Ferdinand I of León ("the Great") begins his campaign against al-Andalus. He conquers Seia from the Christian allies of the Muslim taifas. In a drive to consolidate his southern border in Portugal he re-populates the city of Zamora with some of his Cantabrian (montañeses) subjects.

title: 1055


slug: zanj-rebellion

label: Zanj Rebellion

description: slave revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa), provoked by mercilessly harsh labor conditions in salt flats, and on the sugar and cotton plantations of southwestern Persia, revolt.

title: 869

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) capture the Abbasid seaport of Al-Ubullah at the Persian Gulf, and cut off communications with Basra (modern Iraq).

title: 870

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

date: September

text: September – Battle of Basra: Zanj rebels in Mesopotamia sack and capture Basra (see Zanj Rebellion).

title: 871

text: The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) defeat the Abbasid forces, led by caliphal regent Al-Muwaffaq (brother of caliph Al-Mu'tamid). Hostilities in Mesopotamia (Southern Iraq) will preoccupy Al-Muwaffaq, and the Zanj will remain on the offensive over the next several years.

title: 872

text: Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa) in Mesopotamia seize Wasit (modern Iraq), and establish a presence in the Persian province of Khuzestan.

title: 878

text: Zanj Rebellion: The Abbasid Caliphate concentrates its efforts against the Zanj rebels in Mesopotamia. The Abbasid general Al-Mu'tadid leads an expeditionary force (10,000 men) to suppress the revolt. This marks the turning-point of the war.

title: 879

text: Zanj Rebellion: Abbasid general Al-Muwaffaq lays siege to the Zanj capital of Mukhtara, using his base on the opposite side of the River Tigris.

title: 881

text: The Zanj Rebellion: Abbasid general Al-Muwaffaq brings in Egyptian forces, to help him in his two-year siege of the Zanj capital Mukhtara. He captures the city, and crushes the revolt that has devastated Chaldea (modern Iraq) since 869.

title: 883


slug: zanj

label: Zanj

description: name used to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants

title: 869

title: 870

title: 871

title: 872

title: 878

title: 879

title: 881

title: 883


slug: zaragoza

label: Zaragoza

description: municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain

text: The Visigoths capture the city of Dertosa in Catalonia. They arrest and execute the Roman usurper Peter, sending his head as a trophy to Zaragoza (Spain).

title: 506

text: King Childebert I and his brother Chlothar I invade Visigothic Spain. They capture Pamplona, but Zaragoza withstands a siege and the Franks retreat to Gaul. From this expedition Childebert brings back to Paris a relic, the tunic of Saint Vincent.

title: 542

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Continuing campaigns of Muslim domination of the Iberian Peninsula. Arab forces raid the valley of the Ebro River, and capture the fortress city of Zaragoza. Musa ibn Nusayr is made protector (wali) of Al-Andalus, with his capital at Seville (approximate date).

title: 714

text: A Frankish army (supported by Burgundians, Bavarians, Bretons, Lombards, and Visigoths) under King Charlemagne invades Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and conquers the cities of Pamplona and Barcelona. However, the Franks are halted at Zaragoza, in the thughur or frontier zone of the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 778

text: Bahlul ibn Marzuq, a Vascon-Muslim military leader, revolts in Zaragoza against the Arab-Muslim government of Al-Andalus.

title: 798

section: Events › By place › Iberia

text: Al-Andalus: Saragossa rises against the Emirate of Córdoba. Emir Al-Hakam I sends a Muslim army under General Amrus ibn Yusuf, and retakes the city.

title: 802

text: Almoravid forces under Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf occupy Zaragoza (modern Spain), bringing all of Andalusia's Muslim states under Almoravid control.

title: 1110

text: Battle of Martorell: The Almoravid governor of Zaragoza, Muhàmmad ibn al-Hajj, launches an expedition against the County of Barcelona, but is defeated in an ambush near Martorell.

title: 1114

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Alfonso the Battler expels the Moors from Zaragoza. The Aragonese reconquer many of the valleys of the Jalón and the Jiloca.

title: 1118

section: Events › By place › Spain

section: Culture & Society

text: The School of Arts in Zaragoza, Spain is founded (later known as the University of Zaragoza in the 16th Century).

title: 1335

section: Events › Date unknown

date: February 11

text: February 11 – The coronation of Ferdinand I as King of Aragon takes place at Zaragoza.

title: 1414

section: Religion & Belief

text: September 23 – Pope Calixtus III issues a papal bull granting a seven-year indulgence to any Christian who makes a pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza in Spain's Kingdom of Aragon

title: 1456

section: Events › July–September

date: September 15

text: September 15 – Peter Arbues is assaulted while praying in the cathedral at Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragon, now part of Spain; he dies on September 17. He had been appointed Inquisitor of Aragon by the Inquisitor General, Tomás de Torquemada, in the campaign against heresy and Spanish Judaism.

title: 1485

date: July 12

text: July 12 – A fire at a hotel in Zaragoza, Spain, leaves 72 dead, the worst hotel fire in Europe in decades.

title: 1979

section: Events › July

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: June 14

text: June 14 – Expo 2008 opens in Zaragoza, Spain, lasting to September 14, with the topic "Water and sustainable development".

title: 2008


slug: zeeland

label: Zeeland

description: province of the Netherlands

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

title: 1134

section: Events › By place › Western Europe

text: September – Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland are inherited by Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and remain part of the imperial crown domain until 1347.

title: 1345

section: Events

section: Climate & Environment

date: November 19

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

title: 1404

section: Events › October–December

date: November 5

text: November 5 – St. Felix's flood devastates Zeeland: a large part of the Verdronken Land van Reimerswaal is lost leading to decline of the city of Reimerswaal.

title: 1530

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Capture of Brielle: The Sea Beggars, Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle. This leads to a wave of uprisings in Holland and Zeeland against Spanish Habsburg rule, leaving most of those provinces (with the exception of Amsterdam) under rebel control.

title: 1572

section: Events › April–June

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Documents for the Union of Delft are signed by Dutch leader Willem van Oranj to create a federation of Holland and Zeeland.

title: 1576

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The second Union of Brussels is formed, first without the Protestant counties of Holland and Zeeland (which is accepted by King Philip II of Spain), later with the Protestants, which means open rebellion of the whole of the Netherlands.

title: 1577

section: Events › January–March

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Five of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic (with the exception of Zeeland and Holland) sign the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours, recognizing Francis, Duke of Anjou as the Republic's sovereign.

title: 1580

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Prince Frederick Henry is sworn in as the stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland.

title: 1625

text: Approximate date – Last inhabitants leave the original city of Reimerswaal in Zeeland.

title: 1632

date: July 4

text: July 4 – William III of Orange is appointed Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland.

title: 1672

date: August 21

text: August 21 – Battle of Texel (Kijkduin): The Dutch fleet under Michiel de Ruyter defeats the English and French fleet. This prevents England's Blackheath Army from landing in Zeeland.

title: 1673

text: April 26 – In the Netherlands, the jurisdiction of Willem, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland (on the west coast, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and Zeeland (southwest coast, including Middelburg, Zeeland), increases in the Dutch Republic as his followers in the inland States of Utrecht (Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel) designate him as the hereditary stadtholder. In 1689, he becomes the King of England in addition to his role as the Stadtholder of the Netherlands.

title: 1674

date: May

text: Rotterdam is subjected to savage terror bombing by the Luftwaffe; 980 are killed, and 20,000 buildings destroyed. General Henri Winkelman announces the surrender of the Dutch army (outside Zeeland) to German forces.

title: 1940

section: Events › May

text: Zeeland is overrun by German forces, ending the Battle of the Netherlands and beginning full German occupation of the Netherlands (Noord-Beveland surrenders on May 18, and the remaining Dutch troops are withdrawn from Zeelandic Flanders on May 19).

title: 1940

date: January 31

text: January 31–February 1 – The North Sea flood of 1953 kills 1,836 people in the southwestern Netherlands (especially Zeeland), 307 in the United Kingdom, and several hundred at sea, including 133 on the ferry in the Irish Sea.

title: 1953

section: Events › January


slug: zen-master

label: Zen master

description: profession

section: Births

text: Không Lộ, Vietnamese Zen master (approximate date)

title: 1016

text: Jinul (or Chinul), Korean Zen master (d. 1210)

title: 1158

text: Kangan Giin, Japanese Zen Master (d. 1300)

title: 1217

date: February 18

text: February 18 – Tettsū Gikai, Japanese Zen Master (d. 1309)

title: 1219

text: Mugai Nyodai, Japanese Zen Master (d. 1298)

title: 1223

section: Deaths

text: Kangan Giin, Japanese Buddhist scholar and Zen Master (b. 1217)

title: 1300

date: October 18

text: October 18 – Tettsū Gikai, Japanese monk and Zen Master (b. 1219)

title: 1309

text: September 29 – Keizan Jōkin, Japanese Zen Master (b. 1268)

title: 1325


slug: zen

label: Zen

description: school of Mahāyāna Buddhist Tradition

text: Shenxiu, Chinese Zen Buddhist patriarch (d. 706)

title: 607

text: Huineng, Chinese Zen Buddhist patriarch of the Tang dynasty (d. 713)

title: 638

text: Nanyue Huairang, Chinese Zen Buddhist patriarch (d. 744)

title: 677

text: Shenxiu, Chinese Zen Buddhist patriarch

title: 706

text: Mazu Daoyi, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 788)

title: 709

text: Huineng, Chinese Zen Buddhist patriarch (b. 638)

title: 713

text: Baizhang Huaihai, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 814)

title: 720

text: Layman Pang, Chinese Chán (Zen) Buddhist (d. 808)

title: 740

text: Zhaozhou, Chinese Zen Buddhist master (d. 897)

title: 778

text: Mazu Daoyi, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 709)

title: 788

text: Layman Pang, Chinese (Zen) Buddhist (b. 740)

title: AD 808

text: Baizhang Huaihai, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 720)

title: 814

text: Huangbo Xiyun, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk

title: 850

text: Yúnmén Wényǎn, Chinese Zen master (or 864)

title: 862

text: Yúnmén Wényǎn, Chinese Zen master (or 862)

title: 864

text: Deshan Xuanjian, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk

title: 865

text: Zhaozhou, Chinese Zen Buddhist master (b. 778)

title: 897

text: Yongming Yanshou, Chinese Zen master (d. 975)

title: 904

text: Dayang Jingxuan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1027)

title: 943

text: Yunmen Wenyan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk

title: 949

text: Dayang Jingxuan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 943)

title: 1027

text: Touzi Yiqing, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1083)

title: 1032

text: Furong Daokai, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1118)

title: 1043

text: Danxia Zichun, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1117)

title: 1064

text: Touzi Yiqing, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1032)

title: 1083

text: Zhenxie Qingliao, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1151)

title: 1088

text: Dahui Zonggao, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1163)

title: 1089

text: Zishou Miaozong, Chinese Zen master (d. 1170)

title: 1095

text: Xuedou Zhijian, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1192)

title: 1105

text: Danxia Zichun, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 1064)

title: 1117

section: Science & Discovery

text: A collection of Zen Buddhist koans is compiled, in the Chinese Blue Cliff Record.

title: 1125

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: August 10

text: August 10 – Dahui Zonggao, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk (b. 1089)

title: 1163

text: Xueting Fuyu, Chinese Zen Buddhist abbot (d. 1275)

title: 1203

text: Musō Soseki, Japanese Rinzai Zen monk and teacher (d. 1351)

title: 1275

text: Meihō Sotetsu, Japanese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1350)

title: 1277

date: May 9

text: May 9 – Kokan Shiren, Japanese Zen patriarch (d. 1347)

title: 1278

text: Shuho Myocho, Japanese teacher and Zen Master (d. 1338)

title: 1283

text: In Japan the temple of Nanzen-ji at Kyoto is established by Emperor Kameyama. This temple becomes one of the most important religious schools within the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism and includes multiple sub-temples.

title: 1291

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Kokan Shiren, Japanese Rinzai Zen patriarch and celebrated Chinese poet (b. 1278)

title: 1347