slug: delhi

label: Delhi

description: megacity and union territory of India

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Battle of Tarain: Sultan Muhammad of Ghor invades northern India, but is defeated by Rajput forces under Prithviraja III, ruler of Ajmer and Delhi. Prithviraj marches against the Ghurid army (some 100,000 men) with infantry, cavalry, and an elephant force. He repulses the Ghurid invasion near Taraori (some 70 miles of Delhi), Muhammad escapes the battlefield.

title: 1191

text: Ghurid forces under Qutb al-Din Aibak capture Delhi. General Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji sacks and burns the ancient city of Nalanda, India's greatest Buddhist seat of learning, and the university of Vikramashila.

title: 1193

text: Mongol invasion of India (1297–1298): Mongol forces led by Qutlugh Khwaja invade the Sindh region of the Delhi Sultanate and occupy the castle of Sivistan (modern Pakistan). Sultan Alauddin Khalji sends an army under Zafar Khan, who defeats the Mongols, on February 6. Some 20,000 Mongols are killed in the ensuing battle. The survivors are put into chains and brought to Delhi, where they are trampled to death by elephants.

title: 1298

text: Mongol invasion of India: Mongol forces appear outside Delhi and begin the siege of the city. Alauddin Khalji and a Delhi vanguard army return to the capital, while the Delhi garrison resists assaults of the Mongols.

title: 1303

section: By place › Asia

date: June 23

text: June 23 – General Malik Kafur arrives at Delhi and presents to Sultan Alauddin the treasures captured from Warrangal.

title: 1310

text: March 20 – Having secured the surrender of King Prataparudra of Kakatiya during the siege of Warangal, General Malik Kafur of the Delhi Sultanate begins his return journey to Delhi. He will arrive on June 23.

title: 1310

date: May 6

text: May 6 – In India, Veera Virupaksha Ballala, son and heir of Emperor Veera Ballala III of the Hoysala Empire, returns to the capital, Halebidu (now a ruins in the state of Karnataka), after two years as a hostage. Emperor Ballala III had agreed to leave his son behind at Delhi for two years as part of his surrender to the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji.

title: 1313

section: Deaths

text: January 4 – Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate dies after a 19-year reign at Delhi. He is succeeded by his 5-year-old son, Shihabuddin Omar, with the support of Alauddin's general Malik Kafur. During his reign, a power struggle occurs between Malik Kafur and the Khalji family.

title: 1316

section: Culture & Society

text: February 1 – Sikandar Shah is crowned Sultan in a ceremony at Delhi.

title: 1394

title: 1398

section: Events › October–December

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: October 14

text: October 14 – Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq of Delhi is restored to power.

title: 1401

date: April 19

title: 1451

section: Events › April–June

date: April 21

text: April 21 – Battle of Panipat: Babur becomes Mughal emperor, invades northern India and captures Delhi, creating the Mughal Empire, which lasts until 1857.

title: 1526

date: April 6

text: April 6 – In India, Sher Shah Suri, who had been the Mughal Empire's Governor of the Bihar Subah province, declares the founding of the Sur Empire and crowns himself as Emperor in a ceremony at Delhi.

title: 1538

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Upon the death of his father, Sultan Islam Shah Suri, 12-year-old Firuz Shah Suri becomes the Sultan of the Sur Empire at Delhi, but he is murdered within a few days.

title: 1554

date: June 22

text: June 22 – Adil Shah Suri becomes the Sultan of the Sur Empire at Delhi in India after Sikandar Shah Suri is forced to flee from the Mughal Empire forces.

title: 1555

date: January 24

text: January 24 – In India, at the Sher Mandal in Delhi, the Mughal Emperor Humayun trips while descending the stairs from his library and strikes the side of his head against a stone step, sustaining a fatal injury. He never regains consciousness and dies seven days later.

title: 1556

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Second Battle of Panipat: Fifty miles north of Delhi, a Mughal army defeats the forces of Hemu and recaptures Delhi for the Mughal Empire, guaranteeing Akbar's rule.

title: 1556

date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Battle of Delhi is fought in India, at Tughlaqabad) near Delhi between forces of the Sur Empire (ruled by Muhammad Adil Shah) and the Mughal Empire (ruled by Akbar the Great). General Hemchandra Vikramaditya (Hemu) of the Suris overwhelms the forces commanded by the Mughal Governor of Delhi, Tardi Beg Khan within one day.

title: 1556

date: March 22

text: March 22 – The Peacock Throne of India's Mughal Empire is inaugurated in a ceremony in Delhi to support the seventh anniversary of Shah Jahan's accession to the throne as Emperor.

title: 1635

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Construction begins on the Red Fort in Delhi (India) for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who is transferring his capital there from Agra.

title: 1638

date: June 19

text: June 19 – The coronation of Muhammad Mu'azzam as the new Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah I, takes place in Delhi

title: 1707

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Muhammad Shah is crowned as the 12th Mughal Emperor of India at Shahjahanabad (modern-day Delhi), 12 days after the death of Shah Jahan II from tuberculosis.

title: 1719

text: November 13 – India's Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah defeats his brother, pretender Muhammad Ibrahim, in a battle at Hasanpur (in Uttar Pradesh). Ibrahim is returned to incarceration at the citadel of Shahjahanabad, part of modern-day Delhi.

title: 1720

text: March 20 – Nader Shah occupies Delhi, India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne, including the Koh-i-Noor.

title: 1739

date: January 14

text: January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 100,000 Maratha soldiers and civilians in battle and in a subsequent massacre, regaining territory lost by the Mughal Empire and restoring the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, to the throne in Delhi as the nominal ruler.

title: 1761

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor of India, makes a triumphant return to Delhi 15 years after having been forced to flee.

title: 1772

date: May 11

text: May 11 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian combatants capture Delhi from the British East India Company.

title: 1857

text: September 20 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: British forces recapture Delhi, compelling the surrender of Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor.

title: 1857

date: December 12

text: December 12 – The Delhi Durbar is held to mark the coronation of George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India, and the transfer of the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi.

title: 1911

section: Events › December

date: January 12

text: January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India.

title: 1948

section: Events › January

date: November 1

text: November 1–4 – Anti-Sikh mass murder takes place in Delhi and various parts of India following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

title: 1984

section: Events › November

date: October 3

text: October 3–14 – 2010 Commonwealth Games takes place in Delhi, India.

title: 2010

section: Events › October

date: December 8

text: December 8 – A fire at a factory in Delhi, India, kills 43 people and injures at least 50 others.

title: 2019

text: May 12 – COVID-19 pandemic in India: The country's death toll exceeds 250,000. Delhi cremation grounds were running out of places while hundreds of bodies were reported washed up on the banks of the Ganges.

title: 2021


slug: delian-league

label: Delian League

description: Association of ancient Greek city-states under Athenian hegemony

year_label: 478 BCE

text: The Delian League is established

title: 478 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 477 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Greek maritime cities around the Aegean Sea no longer wish to be under Spartan control and at Delos offer their allegiance, through Aristides, to Athens. They form the Delian League (also known as the Confederacy of Delos) with Cimon as their principal commander.

title: 477 BC

year_label: 476 BCE

text: Under the leadership of Kimon, the Delian League continues to fight Persia and to remove the Ionian cities from Persian administration. The conquest of Eion on the Strymon from Persia is led by Cimon.

title: 476 BC

year_label: 472 BCE

text: Carystus in Euboea is forced to join the Delian League after the Athenians attack the city (approximate date).

title: 472 BC

year_label: 469 BCE

text: The island of Naxos wishes to secede from the Delian League, but is blockaded by Athens and forced to surrender. Naxos becomes a tribute-paying member of the Delian League. This action is considered high-handed and resented by the other Greek city states.

title: 469 BC

year_label: 465 BCE

text: Thasos revolts from the Delian League. The revolt arises from rivalry over trade with the Thracian hinterland and, in particular, over the ownership of a gold mine. Athens under Kimon lays siege to Thasos after the Athenian fleet defeats the Thasos fleet

title: 465 BC

year_label: 460 BCE

text: The First Peloponnesian War breaks out between the Delian League (led by Athens) and a Peloponnesian alliance (led by Sparta), caused in part by Athens' alliance with Megara and Argos and the subsequent reaction of Sparta. The Athenians have built long walls for the Megarans to their port at Nisaea, thereby earning the enmity of Megara's old rival Corinth.

title: 460 BC

year_label: 457 BCE

text: Athens, the leader of the Delian League, comes into conflict with Corinth and its ally Sparta (leader of the Peloponnesian League) over Megara. Nicomedes of Sparta, regent for King Pleistoanax, leads an army of 11,500 hoplites into Boeotia to help Thebes put down a rebellion by Phocis.

title: 457 BC

year_label: 455 BCE

text: Athens, under Athenian general Tolmides, sends 100 ships around the Peloponnesus and they set fire to the Spartan naval base at Gythion. As a result, Athens gains the agreement of the Achaean cities to join the Delian League. Athenian forces then go on to attack the Spartan allies on the Corinthian Gulf. Athens is now able to confine Sparta to the southern Peloponnesus.

title: 455 BC

year_label: 454 BCE

text: Pericles declares that the Delian League's considerable treasury at Delos is not safe from the Persian navy and has the treasury transferred to Athens, thus strengthening Athens' power over the League.

title: 454 BC

year_label: 450 BCE

text: Athenian general Cimon sails to Cyprus with two hundred triremes of the Delian League. From there, he sends sixty ships to Egypt to help the Egyptians under Amyrtaeus, who are fighting the Persians in the Nile Delta. Cimon uses the remaining ships to aid an uprising of the Cypriot Greek city-states against Persian control of the island. He lays siege to the Persian stronghold of Citium on the southern west coast of Cyprus. However, the siege fails and Cyprus remains under Phoenician (and Persian) control.

title: 450 BC

year_label: 440 BCE

text: Samos, an autonomous member of the Delian League and one of Athens' principal allies with a substantial fleet of its own, quarrels with Miletus. Miletus, also a member of the Delian League, appeals to Athens for assistance. Pericles decides in favour of Miletus, so Samos revolts. Pericles then sails to Samos with a fleet to overthrow its oligarchic government and install a democratic one. Sparta threatens to interfere. However, at a congress of the Peloponnesian League, its members vote not to intervene on behalf of Samos against Athens.

title: 440 BC

year_label: 431 BCE

text: The Spartans, led by King Archidamus II, invade Attica effectively starting the first phase of the Peloponnesian War, actually the second of such wars, between the Athens-led Delian League and the Sparta-led Peloponnesian League. The Spartans lay waste to the countryside around Athens. Athenian leader, Pericles, does not seriously oppose them, rather withdrawing the rural population of the country districts within Athens' city walls. Instead, he pursues active naval warfare and reduces any danger from the island of Aegina by replacing its native population with Athenians.

title: 431 BC


slug: delphi

label: Delphi

description: ancient town in Fokida, Greece

year_label: 548 BCE

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: The Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece is damaged in a fire. The Alcmaeonids rebuild the structure.

title: 548 BC

section: Events

year_label: 530 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: The Temple of Apollo at Delphi is built (approximate date).

title: 530 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art and architecture

text: The Siphnian Treasury in Delphi is begun (approximate date).

title: 530 BC

text: Battle between the Gods and the Giants, fragments of the north frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, from the Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi, is begun (approximate date). It is now at the Delphi Archaeological Museum.

title: 530 BC

year_label: 491 BCE

text: Cleomenes I engineers the deposing of Spartan co-ruler Demaratus (and his replacement by Cleomenes’ cousin Leotychidas) by bribing the oracle at Delphi to announce that this action was divine will. The two Spartan kings successfully capture the Persian collaborators in Aegina.

title: 491 BC

year_label: 470 BCE

text: The Charioteer, in the Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi, is created in commemoration of a victory in the Pythian Games of 478 or 474 BC (approximate date). It is now preserved at the Delphi Archaeological Museum.

title: 470 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 449 BCE

section: Climate & Environment

text: The Second Sacred War erupts between Athens and Sparta, when Sparta forcefully detaches Delphi from Phocis and renders it independent.

title: 449 BC

year_label: 448 BCE

text: Pericles leads the Athenian army against Delphi to restore the sanctuary of the oracle of Delphi to Phocis.

title: 448 BC

year_label: 400 BCE

text: Theodorus from Phokaia in Asia Minor, builds the Tholos of Delphi, the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia in Delphi (approximate date).

title: 400 BC

section: Events › By topic

year_label: 373 BCE

text: The Temple of Apollo in Delphi is destroyed by an earthquake.

title: 373 BC

year_label: 356 BCE

text: The Phocians capture and sack Delphi in whose territory the famous temple and oracle stand. A sacred war is declared against them by the other members of the Great Amphictyonic League. The Phocians, led by two capable generals, Philomelus and Onomarchus, use Delphi's riches to hire a mercenary army to carry the war into Boeotia and Thessaly.

title: 356 BC

year_label: 335 BCE

text: Returning to Macedonia by way of Delphi (where the Pythian priestess acclaims him "invincible"), King Alexander III of Macedonia advances into Thrace in order to secure the Danube as the northern boundary of the Macedonian kingdom. After forcing the Shipka Pass and crushing the Triballi, he crosses the Danube to disperse the Getae. Turning west, he then defeats and shatters a coalition of Illyrians who are invading Macedonia.

title: 335 BC

year_label: 216 BCE

text: The Roman historian Quintus Fabius Pictor is sent to Delphi in Greece to consult the Oracle for advice about what Rome should do after its defeat in the Battle of Cannae.

title: 216 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 172 BCE

text: Eumenes II of Pergamum travels to Rome to warn the Roman Senate of the danger from Perseus of Macedon. On his return from Rome, Eumenes II is nearly killed at Delphi and Perseus is suspected of being the instigator.

title: 172 BC

year_label: 138 BCE

text: Hymn to Apollo is written and inscribed on stone in Delphi; it is the earliest surviving notated music, in a substantial and legible fragment, in the western world.

title: 138 BC

section: Events › By topic › Arts and sciences


slug: demetrius-i-soter

label: Demetrius I Soter

description: Ruler of Seleucid Empire from 162 to 150 BC

year_label: 188 BCE

text: Through the peace treaty of Apamea (in Phrygia), the Romans force the Seleucid king, Antiochus III, to surrender all his Greek and Anatolian possessions as far east as the Taurus Mountains, to pay 15,000 talents over a period of 12 years and to surrender to Rome the former Carthaginian general Hannibal, his elephants and his fleet, and furnish hostages, including the king's eldest son, Demetrius. Rome is now the master of the eastern Mediterranean while Antiochus III's empire is reduced to Syria, Mesopotamia, and western Iran.

title: 188 BC

year_label: 187 BCE

section: Births

text: Demetrius I Soter, king of Syria (approximate year)

title: 187 BC

year_label: 175 BCE

text: King Seleucus IV of Syria arranges for the exchange of his brother Antiochus for Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV, who has been a hostage in Rome following the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC. However, Seleucus IV is assassinated by his chief minister Heliodorus, who then seizes the Syrian throne.

title: 175 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 162 BCE

text: With the aid of the Greek statesman and historian Polybius, the son of the former Seleucid king Seleucus IV Philopator, Demetrius escapes from Rome, where he has been held as a hostage for many years, and returns to Syria to claim the throne from his cousin Antiochus V. In the resulting dispute, Antiochus V and his regent, Lysias, are overthrown and put to death. Demetrius then establishes himself on the Seleucid throne.

title: 162 BC

year_label: 161 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The rebel Seleucid general and ruler of Media, Timarchus, who has distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, treats Demetrius I's violent accession to the Seleucid throne as the excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm from Media into Babylonia.

title: 161 BC

section: Events › by side › Seleucid Empire

text: The Jewish High Priest Menelaus, who is supported by the Hellenist party, is removed from office and is executed. His successor is a moderate member of the Hellenic party, Alcimus. However, when Alcimus executes sixty Jews who are opposed to him, he finds himself in open conflict with the Maccabees. Alcimus flees from Jerusalem and goes to Damascus to ask the Seleucid king, Demetrius I, for help.

title: 161 BC

year_label: 160 BCE

text: The Seleucid king, Demetrius I Soter defeats a Jewish rebellion at Palestine.

title: 160 BC

section: Deaths

text: Timarchus, Seleucid nobleman, possibly from Miletus in Anatolia, appointed governor of Media in western Iran by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and who has rebelled against his successor, Demetrius I Soter, until he is killed in a battle with Demetrius' forces

title: 160 BC

year_label: 158 BCE

text: At the request of the Romans, Ariarathes V, king of Cappadocia, rejects a proposal from the Seleucid king, Demetrius I, for him to marry the sister of Demetrius I. In response, Seleucid forces attack Cappadocia and remove Ariarathes V from the Cappadocian throne. Demetrius I then replaces him with Orophernes Nicephorus, a supposed son of the late king, Ariarathes IV. With Ariarathes V deprived of his kingdom, he flees to Rome.

title: 158 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

year_label: 157 BCE

text: After Ariarathes V has been deposed from the Cappadocian throne by the Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter and has fled to Rome, the new king of Cappadocia, Orophernes, sends two ambassadors to Rome to join the Seleucid emissaries of Demetrius in opposing Ariarathes V's return to power. Despite their efforts, Ariarathes V is restored to his throne by the Romans. However, Rome allows Orophernes to reign jointly with him. The joint government, however, does not last long, as Ariarathes V becomes sole king of Cappadocia shortly afterwards.

title: 157 BC

year_label: 153 BCE

text: The Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt deteriorate to the point where they support a rival claimant to the Syrian throne, Alexander Balas, who claims to be the son of the former Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and, therefore, a first cousin of Demetrius. He has been "discovered" by Heracleides, a former minister of Antiochus IV and brother of Timarchus, who has been executed by Demetrius I Soter in 160 BC after leading a revolt against him in Media.

title: 153 BC

year_label: 152 BCE

text: The pretender to the Seleucid throne, Alexander Balas, makes contact with Jonathan Maccabeus offering him terms even more favorable than those offered by the king Demetrius I Soter. In particular, Alexander offers him the official appointment as High Priest in Jerusalem. In response, Jonathan withdraws his support from Demetrius and declares his allegiance to Alexander. Thus Jonathan becomes the first member of his family to achieve appointment as High Priest.

title: 152 BC

year_label: 150 BCE

text: The pretender to the Seleucid throne, Alexander Balas, who claims to be the son of the late Antiochus IV, defeats the Seleucid king, Demetrius I Soter, in battle and kills him. The Roman Senate, along with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum and Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt, support Alexander Balas and he becomes the ruler of the Seleucid Empire. Demetrius I Soter's son, Demetrius, goes into exile in Crete.

title: 150 BC

text: Demetrius I Soter, Seleucid king of Syria (b. c. 187 BC)

title: 150 BC


slug: demetrius-poliorcetes

label: Demetrius Poliorcetes

year_label: 312 BCE

text: At the end of the year, Ptolemy invades Antigonus' territories in Palestine with an army of 18,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. The resulting Battle of Gaza leads to a triumph for Ptolemy over Antigonus' son, Demetrius.

title: 312 BC

section: Events › By place › Syria/Mesopotamia/Babylonia

text: Demetrius rallies the remnants of his army at Tripolis and summons reinforcements from the garrisons of upper Syria and Cilicia; he also writes his father, Antigonus, and urges him to send help. Meanwhile Ptolemy captures Acre, Joppa, Samaria and Sidon, and starts to besiege Tyre.

title: 312 BC

year_label: 311 BCE

text: Through clever diplomacy Antigonus is able to lull the Nabateans into a false sense of security. Demetrius, with a force of 4,000 light infantry and 4,000 cavalry, is sent to make another raid on Petra. The Nabateans, reacting quickly, are able to foil the attack. Demetrius negotiates terms with the Nabateans and returns to his father with hostages and gifts (including 700 camels)

title: 311 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor/Syria/Palestina

text: Ptolemy tries to occupy Syria; he himself campaigns in Coele Syria (southern Syria) while he sends Killes, one of his generals, into northern Syria to finish off the remnants of Demetrius Poliorcetes' army. Demetrius defeats Killes at Myus and Antigonus enters Syria in force. So, after only a few months, Ptolemy evacuates his forces from Syria.

title: 311 BC

year_label: 310 BCE

text: Antigonus orders Nicanor, one of his generals, to invade Babylonia from the east and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to attack it from the west. Nicanor assembles a large force but is surprised and defeated by Seleucus at the river Tigris, and his troops are either cut to pieces or defect to the enemy. Similarly, Demetrius Poliorcetes fails to oust Seleucus.

title: 310 BC

section: Events › By place › Babylonia

year_label: 307 BCE

text: Upon becoming ruler of Epirus, Pyrrhus allies himself with his brother-in-law, Demetrius and through him with Antigonus.

title: 307 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

text: Demetrius captures Megara and there he restores the old constitution as well.

title: 307 BC

text: At the beginning of June (the 26th day of the Attic month of Thargelion: Plut. Dem. 8,3) Demetrius, son of Antigonus, launches a surprise attack on Pireaus, Athens' harbour; his forces are able to secure control of the entire port city, except the fortress on the Munychia which remains in the hands of Dionysius, the commander of Cassander's garrison in Athens.

title: 307 BC

text: Demetrius captures the fortress on the Munychia and razes it to the ground. The old democracy, with the old constitution, is re-established in Athens under the leadership of Stratocles and Demochares. The grateful Athenians honour Antigonus and Demetrius as divine saviours (theoi soteres).

title: 307 BC

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Antigonus prepares an expedition to Greece under his son Demetrius. They gather a fleet of 250 ships and a large army in western Asia Minor. Antigonus gives his son 5.000 talents and some of his top officers, chief among them Medius of Larissa and Aristodemus of Miletus.

title: 307 BC

year_label: 306 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes lands on Cyprus and besieges Menelaus, brother of Egypt's ruler, Ptolemy I Soter, at Salamis. Ptolemy Soter, coming to his brother's aid, is decisively defeated in the Battle of Salamis. The battle completely destroys the naval power of Egypt and results in the capture of Cyprus by Demetrius. This gives Demetrius' father, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, control of the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.

title: 306 BC

section: Events › By place › Cyprus

year_label: 305 BCE

text: Antigonus I Monophthalmus sends his son Demetrius to initiate the Siege of Rhodes, as the city has refused him armed support against Ptolemy.

title: 305 BC

section: Events › By place › Syria

year_label: 304 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes and the Rhodians come to a truce, with the agreement that the city should be autonomous, should keep its own revenue and that the Rhodians should be allies of Antigonus unless he is at war with Ptolemy.

title: 304 BC

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes invades mainland Greece for Asia-Minor, drives Cassander out of central Greece and liberates Athens. In return, the Athenians bestow on him a new religious honour, synnaos (meaning "having the same temple") of the temple of the goddess Athena.

title: 304 BC

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Demetrius shows ingenuity in devising a new siege engine: a wheeled siege tower named Helepolis (or "Taker of Cities"), which stands 40 meters tall and 20 meters wide and weighs 180 tons.

title: 304 BC

year_label: 303 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes invades the Peloponnese and occupies Corinth, Sicyon, and Argos in the Peloponnese, and Achaea, Elis and almost all of Arcadia join his side.

title: 303 BC

year_label: 302 BCE

text: Antigonus' son Demetrius Poliorcetes attacks Cassander's forces in Thessaly. Cassander loses his possessions south of Thessaly to Demetrius. Antigonus and Demetrius crown their success by renewing the pan-Hellenic league. Ambassadors from all the Hellenic states (with the exception of Sparta, Messenia and Thessaly) meet at Corinth to elect Antigonus and Demetrius protectors of the new league.

title: 302 BC

year_label: 301 BCE

text: In the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, the armies of Antigonus, the ruler of Syria, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Judea, and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes are defeated by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus. Antigonus is killed in the battle.

title: 301 BC

year_label: 300 BCE

text: After the death of his wife Apama, Seleucus marries Stratonice, daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes.

title: 300 BC

year_label: 297 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes returns to Greece with the aim of becoming master of Macedonia. While Demetrius is in Greece, Lysimachus seizes his possessions in Asia Minor.

title: 297 BC

year_label: 296 BCE

text: Ptolemy makes peace with Demetrius Poliorcetes, to whom he betrothes his daughter Ptolemais.

title: 296 BC

year_label: 295 BCE

text: Athens falls to Demetrius Poliorcetes after a bitter siege, and its tyrant Lachares flees into exile.

title: 295 BC

year_label: 294 BCE

text: Archidamus IV, king of Sparta, son of Eudamidas I and grandson of Archidamus III, is defeated by Demetrius Poliorcetes of Macedonia in a battle at Mantinea. Sparta is saved only because Demetrius is called away by the threatening activities of his rivals Lysimachus and Ptolemy.

title: 294 BC

year_label: 293 BCE

text: The Boeotians revolted against Demetrius Poliorcetes, the King of Macedon. They received help from the Aetolians and the Spartans.

title: 293 BC

year_label: 292 BCE

text: While Demetrius Poliorcetes is campaigning in Boeotia, he receives news that Lysimachus, the ruler of Thrace, has been taken prisoner by Dromichaetes. Hoping to seize Lysimachus's territories in Thrace, Demetrius delegates command of his forces in Boeotia to his son, Antigonus and immediately marches north. However, while he is away, the Boeotians rise in rebellion, but are defeated by Antigonus, who bottles them up in the city of Thebes and puts them under siege.

title: 292 BC

year_label: 291 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes joins his son, Antigonus, in the siege of Thebes. As the Thebans defend their city stubbornly, Demetrius forces his men to attack the city at great cost. Demetrius finally takes the city after using siege engines to demolish its walls.

title: 291 BC

year_label: 288 BCE

text: The Macedonian King, Demetrius Poliorcetes, faces a combined attack from Lysimachus and Phyrrhus, king of Epirus, after Seleucus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus form a coalition to block plans by Demetrius to invade Asia Minor.

title: 288 BC

year_label: 287 BCE

text: The Macedonians resent the extravagance and arrogance of Demetrius Poliorcetes and are not prepared to fight a difficult campaign for him. When Pyrrhus of Epirus takes the Macedonian city of Verroia, Demetrius' army promptly deserts and goes over to Pyrrhus' side as he is much admired by the Macedonians for his bravery. At this change of fortune, Phila, the mother of Antigonus, kills herself with poison.

title: 287 BC

year_label: 286 BCE

text: As Demetrius Poliorcetes and his army are chased across Asia Minor to the Taurus Mountains by the armies of Lysimachus and Seleucus, in Greece his son Antigonus meets with success. Ptolemy's fleet is driven off and Athens surrenders to Antigonus.

title: 286 BC

year_label: 285 BCE

text: Demetrius Poliorcetes is deserted by his troops and surrenders to Seleucus at Cilicia, where Seleucus keeps him a prisoner.

title: 285 BC

year_label: 283 BCE

text: Following Demetrius Poliorcetes' death in captivity as a prisoner of Seleucus, his son Antigonus assumes the title of King of Macedonia, though in name only, as King Lysimachus of Thrace is in control of Macedonia. Demetrius' remains are given to Antigonus and he is honoured with a grand funeral in Corinth. After this, Demetrius is interred in the town of Demetrias which he had founded.

title: 283 BC


slug: democratic-party-united-states

label: Democratic Party (United States)

description: American political party

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Horatio Seymour, 18th Governor of New York, 1868 Democratic Party Presidential Nominee (d. 1886)

title: 1810

section: Births › January–June

date: February 9

text: February 9 – Samuel J. Tilden, 25th Governor of New York, 1876 Democratic Party Presidential Nominee (d. 1886)

title: 1814

date: November 7

text: November 7 – 1848 United States presidential election: Whig Zachary Taylor of Louisiana defeats Democrat Lewis Cass of Michigan, in the first U.S. presidential election held in every state on the same day.

title: 1848

section: Events › October–December

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 14

text: May 14 – The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance is founded in the United States. It lynches two gangsters, arrests most Democratic Party officials, and disbands itself on August 18.

title: 1856

section: Events › April–June

date: November 4

text: November 4 – 1856 United States presidential election: Democrat James Buchanan defeats former President Millard Fillmore, representing a coalition of Know Nothings and Whigs, and John C. Frémont of the fledgling Republican Party, to become the 15th President of the United States.

title: 1856

date: March 31

text: March 31 – James M. Cox, Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920 (d. 1957)

title: 1870

section: Births › January–March

text: November 4 – Democrats gain control of the United States House of Representatives for the first time since 1860.

title: 1874

section: Events › November

text: November 4 – 1884 United States presidential election: Democratic governor of New York Grover Cleveland defeats Republican James G. Blaine in a very close contest, to win the first of his non-consecutive terms.

title: 1884

date: August 4

text: August 4 – Samuel J. Tilden, 25th Governor of New York, 1876 Democratic Party presidential nominee (b. 1814)

title: 1886

section: Deaths › July–December

date: February 12

text: February 12 – Horatio Seymour, 18th Governor of New York, 1868 Democratic Party presidential nominee (b. 1810)

title: 1886

section: Deaths › January–June

date: November 6

text: November 6 – 1888 United States presidential election: Democratic Party incumbent Grover Cleveland wins the popular vote, but loses the Electoral College vote to Republican challenger Benjamin Harrison, therefore losing the election.

title: 1888

date: November 2

text: November 2 – 1920 United States presidential election: Republican U.S. senator Warren G. Harding defeats Democratic governor of Ohio James M. Cox and Socialist Eugene V. Debs, in the first national U.S. election in which women have the right to vote.

title: 1920

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Al Smith accepts the Democratic nomination for the US presidential election, with WGY/W2XB simulcasting the event on radio and television.

title: 1928

section: Events › August

text: November 6 – 1928 United States presidential election: Republican Herbert Hoover wins by a wide margin, over Democratic New York Governor Al Smith.

title: 1928

section: Climate & Environment

date: November 8

text: November 8 – 1932 United States presidential election: Democratic governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory, having promised a New Deal and repeal of Prohibition.

title: 1932

text: November 5 – 1940 United States presidential election: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt decisively defeats Republican challenger Wendell Willkie, and becomes the United States' first and only third-term president.

title: 1940

date: September 8

text: September 8 – Bernie Sanders, American politician, U.S. Senator (D-Vt.) and 2016 presidential candidate

title: 1941

section: Births › September

date: October 26

text: October 26 – Hillary Clinton, American politician, First Lady, US Senator (D-Ny.), Secretary of State, and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate

title: 1947

section: Births › October

text: June 22 – Elizabeth Warren, American academic and politician, U.S. Senator (D-Mass.) since 2013

title: 1949

section: Births › June

text: November 4 – 1952 United States presidential election: Republican General Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democratic Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson (correctly predicted by the UNIVAC computer).

title: 1952

section: Events › November–December

text: November 6 – 1956 United States presidential election: Republican incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower defeats Democratic challenger Adlai Stevenson, in a rematch of their contest 4 years earlier.

title: 1956

date: July 15

text: July 15 – James M. Cox, Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920 (b. 1870)

title: 1957

section: Deaths › July

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 30

text: November 30 – U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy announces his candidacy for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, challenging incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson over the Vietnam War.

title: 1967

date: March 16

text: March 16 – U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy enters the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

title: 1968

section: Events › March–April

text: November 5 – 1968 United States presidential election: Republican candidate Richard Nixon defeats the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate George Wallace.

title: 1968

text: November 5 – The Democratic Party makes big gains nationwide in House, Senate, and Gubernatorial elections.

title: 1974

text: November 4 – 1980 United States presidential election: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter and is elected the 40th President of the United States.

title: 1980

text: November 8 – The United States Vice-president and Republican nominee George H. W. Bush defeats the Democratic nominee and Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, in the 1988 United States Presidential Election.

title: 1988

text: November 5 – 1996 United States presidential election: Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeats his Republican challenger, Bob Dole and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot.

title: 1996

text: November 4 – 2008 United States presidential election: Democratic U.S. Senator Barack Obama defeats Republican candidate John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the United States, making him the first African-American to be elected to the office.

title: 2008


slug: democratic-republic-of-the-congo

label: Democratic Republic of the Congo

description: country in Central Africa

date: March 30

text: March 30 – A total eclipse of the Sun takes place and is visible over central Africa, with totality over the Opala Territory in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

title: 1680

section: Events › January–March

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: September 12

text: September 12 – King Leopold II of Belgium hosts the Brussels Geographic Conference, on the subject of colonizing and exploring central Africa. By the event's conclusion, a new international body named the International African Association (indirect forerunner of the modern Congo state) is established.

title: 1876

section: Events › September

text: Kinshasa (the capital of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) is founded by Henry Morton Stanley as a trading outpost called Léopoldville.

title: 1881

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 6

text: August 6 – In the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Albert Kalonji declares the independence of the Autonomous State of South Kasai.

title: 1960

date: December 1

text: December 1 – Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Republic of the Congo, is arrested by the troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu.

title: 1960

section: Events › December

date: December 14

text: December 14 – Antoine Gizenga proclaims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that he has taken over as the country's premier.

title: 1960

date: December 7

text: December 7 – The United Nations Security Council is called into session by the Soviet Union, in order to consider Soviet demands for the Security Council to seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.

title: 1960

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Joseph Kasa-Vubu is elected as the first President of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo.

title: 1960

section: Events › June

section: Health & Medicine

date: November 14

text: November 14 – Belgium threatens to leave the United Nations over criticism of its policy concerning the Republic of the Congo.

title: 1960

date: November 22

text: November 22 – The United Nations supports the government of Joseph Kasavubu and Joseph Mobutu in the Republic of the Congo.

title: 1960

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Colonel Joseph Mobutu takes power in Republic of the Congo via a military coup.

title: 1960

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Congolese President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismisses Patrice Lumumba's entire government, and also places Lumumba under house arrest.

title: 1960

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Katangan Prime Minister Moise Tshombe begins negotiations to rejoin the Congo.

title: 1962

section: Events › March

date: August 5

text: August 5 – The Simba rebel army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo captures Stanleyville, and takes 1,000 Western hostages.

title: 1964

date: June 26

text: June 26 – Moise Tshombe returns to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from exile in Spain.

title: 1964

date: November 24

text: November 24 – Congolese lieutenant general Mobutu ousts Joseph Kasavubu and declares himself president.

title: 1965

date: July 23

text: July 23 – Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.

title: 1966

section: Events › July

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Troops of Belgian mercenary commander Jean Schramme revolt against Mobutu Sese Seko, and try to take control of Stanleyville, Congo.

title: 1967

date: June 30

text: June 30 – Moise Tshombe, former president of Katanga and former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is kidnapped and taken to Algeria.

title: 1967

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: November 4–5 – In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mercenaries of Jean Schramme and Jerry Puren withdraw from Bukavu, over the Shangugu Bridge, to Rwanda.

title: 1967

date: April 23

text: April 23 – President Mobutu releases captured mercenaries in the Congo.

title: 1968

date: December 23

text: December 23 – Law 70-001 is enacted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, amending article 4 of the constitution and making the country a one-party state.

title: 1970

date: January 10

text: January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

title: 1977

section: Events › January

date: January 17

text: January 17 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people.

title: 2002

text: June 30 – Warring parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sign a peace accord, bringing an end to the Second Congo War.

title: 2003

date: January 24

text: January 24 – A peace deal is signed in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, ending the Kivu conflict.

title: 2008

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Central African Republic President François Bozizé flees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after rebel forces capture the nation's capital, Bangui.

title: 2013

date: March 21

text: March 21 – The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence.

title: 2016

date: August 1

text: August 1 – The 2018 Kivu Ebola outbreak begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It becomes the second-deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus on November 29, surpassed only by the 2013 West African Ebola virus epidemic.

title: 2018

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: November 24 – 2019 Busy Bee crash: A plane crashes shortly after takeoff in a densely populated area of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing all 19 people on board and at least 10 more on the ground.

title: 2019

text: November 7 – Former Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda is sentenced to 30 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity, the longest sentence ever handed down by the International Criminal Court.

title: 2019

date: April 10

text: April 10 – Kivu Ebola epidemic: The Democratic Republic of the Congo reports the first case of Ebola since February 2020. The outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people since August 2018.

title: 2020

section: Events › April

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Kivu Ebola epidemic: The World Health Organization reports six new cases of Ebola, and UNICEF reports five deaths, in a renewed outbreak of the disease in Mbandaka, Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

title: 2020

text: March 27 – The M23 offensive begins in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

title: 2022

text: March 10 – Kivu conflict: Angola announces the deployment of troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following the failure of a ceasefire between government forces and M23 rebels in North Kivu.

title: 2023

text: March 4 – Kivu conflict: Burundi deploys 100 troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help fight insurgencies by militias, including M23.

title: 2023

text: March 8 – Allied Democratic Forces jihadist insurgents use machetes to kill about 35 people in the village of Mukondi, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

title: 2023

text: May 4 – A series of floods and landslides strikes villages in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in over 400 deaths.

title: 2023

text: May 19 – A coup d'état attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reportedly led by Christian Malanga leads to unrest in Kinshasa. Government soldiers quickly intervene, arresting the coup leaders and reportedly restoring calm.

title: 2024

text: April 15 – A motorized wooden boat capsizes after catching fire in the Congo River near the town of Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 148 people.

title: 2025

text: June 27 – The U.S., with Qatari support, brokers a preliminary peace treaty between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, ending their armed conflict that started in 2022.

title: 2025


slug: demosthenes

label: Demosthenes

description: classical Athenian statesman and orator (384–322 BC)

year_label: 384 BCE

section: Births

text: Demosthenes, Greek statesman and orator (d. 322 BC)

title: 384 BC

year_label: 351 BCE

text: Demosthenes tries to get the Athenians to cease depending on paid mercenaries and return to the old concept of a citizen army. He also delivers his First Philippic, warning Athenians of the folly of believing that Philip's ill health will save Athens from the Macedonians. In response, Athens' citizens vote for increased armaments.

title: 351 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 347 BCE

text: In the wake of the Macedonian victory at Olynthus, Athens seeks to make peace with Macedonia. Because his financial policy is based on the assumption that Athens should not be involved in major wars, the Athenian leader, Eubulus, works for peace with Philip II of Macedon. Demosthenes is among those who support a compromise.

title: 347 BC

year_label: 346 BCE

text: The Athenian politicians, Demosthenes and Timarchus, prepare to prosecute Aeschines for treason after he has sought to reconcile the Athenians to Macedonia's expansion into Greece. Eubulus loses his influence on Athenian affairs.

title: 346 BC

year_label: 345 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Supported by Thebes and Thessaly, Macedonia takes over Phocis' votes in the Amphictyonic League, a Greek religious organisation formed to support the greater temples of Apollo and Demeter. Despite some reluctance on the part of the Athenian leaders, Athens finally accepts Philip II's entry into the Council of the League. The Athenian statesman Demosthenes is among those who recommend this stance in his oration On the Peace.

title: 345 BC

year_label: 344 BCE

text: The Athenian statesman, Demosthenes, travels to Peloponnesus, in order to detach as many cities as possible from Macedon's influence, but his efforts are generally unsuccessful. Most of the Peloponnesians see Philip II as the guarantor of their freedom, so they send a joint embassy to Athens to express their grievances against Demosthenes' activities. In response to these complaints, Demosthenes delivers the Second Philippic, which is a vehement attack against Philip II.

title: 344 BC

year_label: 343 BCE

section: Crime & Justice

text: The Athenian statesman Demosthenes has Aeschines indicted for treason. However, Aeschines drags up the inappropriate past of one of Demosthenes' associates, Timarchus and is acquitted by a narrow margin.

title: 343 BC

year_label: 342 BCE

text: Philip begins a series of campaigns in Thrace with the aim of annexing it to be a province of Macedonia. When the Macedonian army approaches Thracian Chersonese (the Gallipoli Peninsula), an Athenian general named Diopeithes ravages this district of Thrace, thus inciting Philip's rage for operating too near one of his towns in the Chersonese. Philip demands his recall. In response, the Athenian Assembly is convened. Demosthenes convinces the Athenians not to recall Diopeithes.

title: 342 BC

section: Events › By place › Macedonia

year_label: 341 BCE

text: Demosthenes delivers his Third Philippic. In it, he demands resolute action against Philip II. Demosthenes now dominates Athenian politics and is able to considerably weaken the pro-Macedonian faction led by Aeschines. As a result, Demosthenes becomes controller of the Athenian navy.

title: 341 BC

year_label: 340 BCE

text: The Athenians give Demosthenes a public vote of thanks after Philip's unsuccessful siege of Byzantium.

title: 340 BC

year_label: 338 BCE

text: Athens arranges an alliance with Euboea, Megara, Achaea, Corinth, Acarnania and some other states in the Peloponnesus. However, the most desirable ally for Athens is Thebes. Therefore, the Athenian leader, Demosthenes, goes to the Boeotian city and secures an alliance with Thebes despite the efforts of a Macedonian deputation to persuade Thebes to join with Macedonia. In return, Athens agrees to Thebes controlling Boeotia, Thebes being in command solely on land and jointly at sea, and Athens paying two thirds of the campaign's cost.

title: 338 BC

year_label: 336 BCE

text: Aeschines brings a suit against Ctesiphon for illegally proposing the award of a crown to the Athenian leader Demosthenes in recognition of his services to Athens.

title: 336 BC

year_label: 335 BCE

text: The admiration of Alexander for the Athenian orator and diplomat, Demades, leads the conqueror to treat Athens leniently despite its involvement in the rebellion. A special Athenian embassy led by Phocion, an opponent of the anti-Macedonian faction, is able to persuade Alexander to give up his demand for the exile of the leaders of the anti-Macedonian party, particularly Demosthenes.

title: 335 BC

year_label: 330 BCE

text: Aeschines continues to try to prevent Demosthenes from being awarded a golden crown for his services to Athens. The case, which has begun in 336 BC, finally concludes with the overwhelming defeat of Aeschines, largely because of Demosthenes' brilliant speech for Ctesiphon (On the Crown).

title: 330 BC

year_label: 324 BCE

text: Alexander the Great's treasurer, Harpalus, fearing arrest, flees from Susa to Athens. On arriving in Athens, he is imprisoned by the Athenians after a proposal of Demosthenes and Phocion, despite Hypereides' opposition, who wanted an immediate uprising against Alexander. Harpalus brings with him considerable wealth collected from the spoils of Alexander's conquest of Asia. This money is entrusted to a committee led by Demosthenes.

title: 324 BC

year_label: 323 BCE

text: Following Alexander the Great's death, the Athenians recall Demosthenes from exile and provide the money to pay his fine.

title: 323 BC

year_label: 322 BCE

text: The Athenian orator and diplomat, Demades, regains his citizenship so that he and Phocion can negotiate a peace with Antipater, thus concluding the Lamian War. Before setting out he persuades the citizens of Athens to pass the death sentence upon Demosthenes and his followers (including Hypereides, leader of the Athenian patriotic party). Demades' embassy results in a peace disadvantageous to the Athenians, with the Athenians forced to accept the occupation of Athens' port, Piraeus, by the Macedonians.

title: 322 BC

section: Deaths

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Demosthenes, Athenian statesman, recognized as the greatest of ancient Greek orators (b. 384 BC)

title: 322 BC

section: Culture & Society

text: Aldus Manutius publishes his edition of Demosthenes in Venice.

title: 1504


slug: denis-of-portugal

label: Denis of Portugal

description: King of Portugal

date: October 9

text: October 9 – Denis I ("the Poet King"), king of Portugal (d. 1325)

title: 1261

text: June 26 – King Denis of Portugal ("the Poet King") marries the 11-year-old Elizabeth of Aragon, daughter of Peter III, in Trancoso. Elizabeth receives the towns of Óbidos, Abrantes and Porto de Mós as part of her dowry. Denis, known for his poetry, writes several poems and books, with topics of administration and hunting. During his reign, Lisbon becomes one of Europe's centers of art and culture.

title: 1282

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Treaty of Alcañices: Kings Denis of Portugal ("the Poet King") and 11-year-old Ferdinand IV of Castile ("the Summoned") (under the guidance of his mother, Queen-Regent Maria de Molina) sign a treaty between Portugal and Castile, which establishes an alliance of friendship and mutual defense, leading to a peace of 40 years between the two kingdoms.

title: 1297

date: January 23

text: January 23 – King Ferdinand IV of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile, having recently reached the age of majority at age 16, marries 12-year-old Princess Constance, the only daughter of King Dinis of Portugal, in a ceremony at Valladolid.

title: 1302

section: Events › January–March

date: March 8

text: March 8 – King Denis of Portugal, "the Poet King", grants Póvoa de Varzim a charter, the Foral, giving royal lands to 54 families, who found a municipality known as Póvoa around Praça Velha.

title: 1308

section: Events › January – March

date: February 15

text: February 15 – King Denis of Portugal grants the Magna Charta Privilegioum, charter for Portugal's first university, now the University of Coimbra. Joseph M. M. Hermans and Marc Nelissen, Charters of Foundation and Early Documents of the Universities of the Coimbra Group (Leuven University Press, 2005) p. 38.

title: 1309

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 30

text: July 30 – (21 Safar 709 A.H.) Siege of Algeciras: Castilian forces led by Ferdinand IV "the Summoned"") begin the siege of Algeciras, capital of the Emirate of Granada. King Denis I of Portugal ("the Poet King") sends a contingent of 700 knights to support the siege. He provides Ferdinand, in accordance with his friendship, a loan of 16,600 silver marks.

title: 1309

section: Events › July – September

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: December 12

text: December 12 – The Portuguese Royal Navy, with 20 warships, is created by order of King Denis. The Navy has 20 armed galleys as warships, under the command of Admiral Manuel Pessanha and will celebrate its 700th anniversary in 2017 as the oldest continuously serving navy in the world.

title: 1317

section: Events › October – December

date: February 1

text: February 1 – Manuel Pessanha of Genoa is appointed as the first Chief Admiral of Portugal (Almirante-mor) by King Denis, and charged with organizing a permanent navy for the kingdom, with 20 warships and hiring Genoese captains to recruit sailors. The organization of the Portuguese Royal Navy is completed by December 12.

title: 1317

date: January 7

text: January 7 – Afonso IV becomes the new King of Portugal upon the death of his father, King Denis I.

title: 1325


slug: denmark-norway

label: Denmark-Norway

date: February 20

text: February 20 – Hans, King of Denmark dies at the age of 58 from injuries sustained in being thrown from a horse. He is succeeded by his 32-year-old son Christian II as ruler of Denmark-Norway.

title: 1513

date: July 22

text: July 22 – Christian II becomes King of Denmark-Norway.

title: 1513

section: Events › July–September

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Denmark-Norway declares war on Sweden, then captures Kalmar.

title: 1611

section: Events › April–June

text: December 12 – Swedish Field Marshal Lennart Torstensson's forces enter Danish territory in Holstein, beginning the Torstenson War.

title: 1643

section: Events › October–December

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Torstenson War: Battle of Colberger Heide – The Dano-Norwegian and Swedish fleets fight a naval battle off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle is indecisive but represents a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet.

title: 1644

date: October 20

text: October 20 – Christina, Queen of Sweden, who has been the legal ruler of Sweden for almost 18 years, has an elaborate coronation ceremony at the castle of Jacobsdal near Stockholm. The coronation had originally been planned for her 18th birthday in 1644 but was delayed by a war with Denmark-Norway.

title: 1650

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Just six months after winning territory from Denmark-Norway in war and subsequent treaty, Sweden's King Charles X Gustav declares a second war against Denmark. By August 11, the King's troops have surrounded Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, while the Swedish Navy blocks the harbor to prevent the city from being resupplied, and begins bombardment.

title: 1658

date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Rigsraad (High Council) of Denmark is abolished and Denmark-Norway becomes an absolute monarchy as King Frederik III is recognized by the nobility as being entitled to have his throne passed to his descendants by hereditary monarchy.

title: 1660

date: July 11

text: July 11 – The Netherlands and Denmark-Norway sign a defense treaty.

title: 1673

date: November 22

text: November 22 – The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye, negotiated by Johann Patkul, is signed at a palace of the Tsar of Russia Peter the Great, and representatives of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony to provide for the partition of Swedish Empire between Saxony, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Kingdoms of Denmark-Norway and the Russian Empire. The attack on Sweden, which takes place on February 22, starts the Great Northern War.

title: 1699

date: April 11

text: April 11 – Great Northern War: the Battle of Fladstrand takes place at sea near Fladstrand, Jylland, between Swedish and Danish forces.

title: 1712

section: Events › April –June

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Sweden and Denmark-Norway sign an armistice, halting combat in the Great Northern War between them, with final terms agreed to in the Treaty of Frederiksborg on July 3, 1720.

title: 1719

date: January 13

text: January 13 – Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway.

title: 1741

date: March 15

text: March 15 – Denmark-Norway concludes a treaty of friendship with France, a day after the expiration of its 1739 treaty with Great Britain.

title: 1742

date: January 14

text: January 14 – Christian VII becomes King of Denmark-Norway.

title: 1766

section: Economy & Finance

date: August 18

text: August 18 – The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway charters six settlements in Iceland to trade with it, thus ending the Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly, and founding Reykjavík.

title: 1786

text: January 14 – Treaty of Kiel: Frederick VI of Denmark cedes the Kingdom of Norway into personal union with Sweden, in exchange for west Pomerania. This marks the end of the real union of Denmark-Norway.

title: 1814

section: Events › January


slug: denmark

label: Denmark

description: country in Northern Europe

year_label: 350 BCE

text: Tollund Man, human sacrifice victim on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, possibly the earliest known evidence for worship of the Norse god Odin (approximate date)

title: 350 BC

text: In Nydam Mose (Denmark), the Nydam oak boat is sacrificed by the Danes (the boat is excavated in the 1830s, when a local farmer finds weapons, including swords and spears).

title: 320

section: Events › By topic › Culture and Religion

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: In Denmark, construction of the Kanhave Canal across the island of Samsø is completed. Although the canal is only about 500 metres long, it is one of the largest engineering projects undertaken in Denmark during the Early Middle Ages.

title: 729

text: Hedeby, an important trading settlement, in the Danish-northern German borderland is founded (approximate date).

title: 770

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

title: 778

section: Births

text: Harald Klak, king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 785

section: Religion & Belief

date: June 8

text: June 8 – Viking raiders attack the Northumbrian coast, arriving in longships from either Denmark or Norway, and sacking the monastery of Lindisfarne. Many of the monks are killed or enslaved. It is the first Viking attack on a monastery in the British Isles, although it is not the first known Viking attack in the British Isles. The first attack came in 789, when Vikings raided the settlement of Portland in Dorset.

title: 793

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Viking Age: First Viking raid, by Danes against the Baltic coast. Godfred destroys the Slav settlement of Reric (near present-day Wismar), used as a strategic trade route. The population is displaced or abducted, to Hedeby (Denmark).

title: AD 808

text: King Godfred of the Danes leads 200 Viking ships to plunder the Frisian coast, and forces the merchants to pay 100 pounds of silver. He claims Northern Frisia as Danish territory.

title: 810

text: Treaty of Heiligen: King Hemming of Denmark concludes a peace treaty with Emperor Charlemagne in present-day Rendsburg. The southern boundary of Denmark is established at the Eider River.

title: 811

text: At the death of king Hemming of Denmark two claimants to the throne, Sigfred and Anulo, meet in battle but are both killed. Harald and Reginfrid, brothers of Anulo, becomes joint kings of Denmark.

title: 812

text: King Harald Klak of Denmark receives the Frisian county of Rüstringen, as a gift from Emperor Louis the Pious.

title: 826

text: The town of Clondalkin (modern Ireland) is sacked by Vikings from Denmark, and the monastery is burnt to the ground.

title: 832

section: Events › By place › Britain and Ireland

text: Danish Viking raiders, led by King Rorik, conquer Dorestad and Utrecht (modern-day Netherlands). Emperor Lothair I recognizes him as ruler of most of Friesland.

title: 850

text: Danish Viking raiders enter the Thames Estuary, and plunder Canterbury and London. They land at Wembury near Plymouth, but are defeated by Anglo-Saxon forces led by King Ethelwulf of Wessex. His eldest son Æthelstan of Kent, accompanied by Ealdorman Ealhhere, attacks a Viking fleet off the coast at Sandwich, and captures nine of the enemy vessels while the remainder flees.

title: 851

title: 852

text: Viking chieftains Rorik and Godfrid Haraldsson return to Denmark, to gain power after the death of King Horik I. During a civil war, they are forced to go back to Friesland.

title: 854

text: Horik I, Viking king of Denmark

title: 854

text: Viking chieftain Rorik, with the agreement of King Lothair II, leaves Dorestad with a fleet and forces his rival Horik II to recognise him as ruler over Denmark (approximate date).

title: 857

text: Ragnar Lodbrok, king of Denmark and Sweden

title: 865

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: King Burgred of Mercia appeals to Æthelred I for help in resisting the Great Heathen Army. The Danes occupy Nottingham, and stay through the winter without any serious opposition.

title: 868

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: The Danes, led by Ivar the Boneless and King Olaf of the Dublin Vikings, besiege Dumbarton in Scotland, the capital of King Artgal of Stratchlyde. After a siege of four months, the citadel is captured and destroyed.

title: 870

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

title: 871

date: June

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

title: 875

text: The Great Heathen Army, led by Guthrum, captures the fortress of Wareham (Dorset), and is met by a Viking army (3,500 men) from the sea, which lands at Poole Harbour. King Alfred the Great traps the Vikings, and demands hostages in return for a peace agreement. The Danes divide their forces; half flees to Exeter, where they besiege the town while the other half escape in their ships, but are lost in a storm near Swanage.

title: 876

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

title: 886

text: Spring – Prince Edward, the son of King Alfred the Great, defeats the Danish Viking raiders at Farnham, and forces them to take refuge on Thorney Island. At the same time, Danes from East Anglia sail around the Cornish coast, and besiege Exeter.

title: 893

date: December 13

text: December 13 – Battle of the Holme: The Anglo-Saxon army is defeated by the Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred I) at Holme. Æthelwold is killed, ending his revolt against King Edward the Elder.

title: 902

section: Events › By place › Britain And Ireland

text: The Danish Vikings invade Anglesey after being driven out of Dublin (see 902). They fail to gain a foothold in Wales, and sail on to Chester.

title: 903

text: Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, a daughter of King Alfred the Great, builds a burh or fortified dwelling at Warwick and repairs Eddisbury hill fort. She leads the Mercians in their fight against the Danish invaders.

title: 914

date: July 17

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

title: 924

section: Events › July—September

text: King Henry I ("the Fowler") pacifies the territories to the north, where the Danish Vikings have been harrying the Frisians by sea. He defeats the Danes petty King Gnupa, and conquers Hedeby.

title: 934

text: King Edmund I regains (with the help of Danish settlers) the territory he ceded to Olaf Guthfrithson. He conquers Northumbria and cedes Cumberland to Malcolm I, king of the 'Picts and Scots'.

title: 944

section: Events › By place › England

text: Gorm the Old, king of Denmark. He was born before 900 and may have died as late as 964.

title: 958

text: Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark, consolidates his rule over Jutland and Zealand. He adopts Christianity, erecting a carved stone at Jelling to honour his parents. It features a runic inscription (best-known in Denmark) and an image of Christ surrounded by interlace. The other Scandinavian kingdoms slowly convert to Christianity (approximate date).

title: 960

date: April 17

text: April 17 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and Norway (d. 1014)

title: 963

text: The last of the Jelling stones was erected in Denmark by the king Harald Bluetooth; a monumental incident in danish history, often referred to as the birth of Denmark as a nation unified under the religion of Christianity.

title: 965

text: Battle of Danevirke: Emperor Otto II defeats the rebel forces of King Harald I, who has invaded Nordalbingia (modern-day Holstein), to shake off imperial overlordship. Otto's armies swiftly subdue the Danes, consolidating the frontier between Scandinavia and Northern Germany. Meanwhile, Henry II begins a rebellion against his cousin Otto. He forges alliances with Bavarian and Saxon nobles.

title: 974

date: March 18

text: March 18 – King Edward the Martyr is murdered at Corfe Castle (Dorsetshire) upon the orders of his step-mother Ælfthryth (or Elfrida). He is succeeded by his half-brother Æthelred II (the Unready) who becomes king of England. During his reign Æthelred tries to keep his realm from being overrun by Danish Viking invaders.

title: 978

text: King Harald Bluetooth orders the construction of the Viking ring fortress of Trelleborg (modern Denmark).

title: 980

text: King Harald Bluetooth invades Norway, pillaging southwest Norway all the way to Stad, where he encounters Haakon Sigurdsson (the de facto ruler of Norway) and his army. He flees back to Denmark, ending the invasion.

title: 982

text: King Harald Bluetooth rebels against the overlordship of Otto II. A Danish Viking army under his son Sweyn Forkbeard invades the March of Schleswig – along the northern border of modern Denmark. The Sorb Slavs in northern Germany overrun and conquer the March of Zeitz (Marca Geronis) from Saxon control.

title: 983

text: Emma of Normandy, noblewoman, queen consort of England (twice), Denmark and Norway (d. 1052; approximate date)

title: 984

text: Harold II (Bluetooth), king of Denmark and Norway

title: 985

text: Winter – King Harald II (Bluetooth) dies after a 28-year reign (driven into exile). He is succeeded by his son Sweyn Forkbeard as ruler of Denmark and Norway.

title: 986

text: March 18 – The city of Odense (located on the island of Funen) in Denmark is founded. King Otto III grants trade rights and to the neighbouring settlements.

title: 988

text: The city of Lund, Sweden is founded, during the reign of the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard (approximate date).

title: 990

text: A Danish Viking fleet, under Olaf Tryggvason, sails up the Thames Estuary, and besieges London. King Æthelred II (the Unready) pays Olaf 16,000 lbs of silver (Danegeld).

title: 994

text: Cnut (the Great), king of Denmark, Norway and England (d. 1035)

title: 995

text: The First Battle of Alton: Danish invaders defeat the English.

title: 1001

text: A Danish Viking fleet under Sweyn Forkbeard lands in Norfolk. Ealdorman Ulfcytel orders his Anglo-Saxon troops to burn the raiding ships. The plan fails and Ulfcytel's small army is defeated by the Vikings.

title: 1004

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

title: 1013

text: February 3 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)

title: 1014

text: February 3 – King Sweyn Forkbeard dies at Gainsborough after a reign of five weeks. He is succeeded by Harald II who becomes king of Denmark, while Cnut is elected by the Vikings of the Danelaw as king of England.

title: 1014

text: Summer – King Cnut the Great of Denmark launches an invasion of Mercia and Northumbria in England.

title: 1015

text: Cnut ("the Great"), King of England, travels to Denmark to succeed his brother Harald II on the Danish throne.

title: 1018

text: Harthacnut (or Cnut III), king of Denmark (d. 1042)

title: 1018

text: Sweyn II (Estridsson), king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1019

text: Cnut the Great sails from England to Norway with a fleet of 50 ships. He defeats Olaf Haraldsson and is crowned king of Norway. Cnut becomes the sole ruler of England, Denmark and part of Sweden (known as the Danish North Sea Empire).

title: 1028

text: November 12 – Cnut, king of Denmark, Norway and England

title: 1035

text: Harald III, king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1040

text: Canute IV ("the Holy"), king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1042

text: June 8 – Magnus the Good becomes king of Denmark after the death of Harthacnut. Despite a claim to the throne by Sweyn II, Magnus takes control of Denmark.

title: 1042

text: Ingegerd, queen of Denmark and Sweden (approximate date)

title: 1046

text: October 25 – Harald Hardrada becomes sole king of Norway on the death of his nephew and co-regent Magnus I ("the Good"). The crown of Denmark passes to Sweyn II.

title: 1047

text: Olaf I ("Hunger"), king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1050

text: March 6 – Emma of Normandy, queen consort of England (twice), Denmark and Norway (b. 984)

title: 1052

text: Adela of Flanders, queen of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1064

text: Niels (or Nicholas), king of Denmark (d. 1134)

title: 1065

text: June – Denmark signs a treaty with England; Sweyn II and his forces leave the country.

title: 1070

text: April 28 – Sweyn II Estridsson, king of Denmark

title: 1076

text: Harald Kesja ("the Spear"), king of Denmark (d. 1135)

title: 1080

text: April 17 – King Harald III of Denmark dies after a 4-year reign and is buried at Dalby Church in Scania (modern Sweden). He is succeeded by his brother Canute IV ("the Holy") as ruler of Denmark.

title: 1080

text: April 17 – Harald III, king of Denmark (b. 1040)

title: 1080

text: Construction begins on St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense (modern Denmark).

title: 1081

text: July 10 – Canute IV ("the Holy"), king of Denmark

title: 1086

text: Eric II ("the Memorable"), king of Denmark (approximate date)

title: 1090

text: August 18 – Olaf I of Denmark ("Hunger") dies after a 9-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother Eric I ("the Good") as king of Denmark.

title: 1095

text: August 18 – Olaf I ("Hunger"), king of Denmark

title: 1095

text: April 19 – King Canute IV of Denmark is canonized as a saint under the name San Canuto.

title: 1101

text: July 10 – Eric I, king of Denmark

title: 1103

text: Adela of Flanders, queen consort of Denmark (b. 1064)

title: 1115

text: Ingegerd, queen of Denmark and Sweden (b. 1046)

title: 1120

text: January 14 – Valdemar I (the Great), king of Denmark (d. 1182)

title: 1131

text: June 25 – Niels (or Nicholas), king of Denmark

title: 1134

text: Harald Kesja ("the Spear"), king of Denmark (b. 1080)

title: 1135

text: September 18 – Eric II, king of Denmark (b. 1090)

title: 1137

text: Sophia of Minsk, queen of Denmark (d. 1198)

title: 1140

text: August 27 – Eric III, king of Denmark (House of Estridsen)

title: 1146

text: October 23 – Battle of Grathe Heath: A civil war in Denmark ends with the death of King Sweyn III. Valdemar I of Denmark becomes king of all Denmark, and restores and rebuilds the country.

title: 1157

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

title: 1168

text: May 9 – Valdemar II (the Conqueror), king of Denmark (d. 1241)

title: 1170

text: Vordingborg Castle is completed by King Valdemar I of Denmark as a defensive fortress.

title: 1175

text: October 23 – Adela of Meissen, queen consort of Denmark

title: 1181

text: May 12 – King Valdemar I (the Great) dies after a 28-year reign in which he has gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire. He is succeeded by his 19-year-old son Canute VI, who becomes ruler of Denmark.

title: 1182

text: May 12 – Valdemar I (the Great), king of Denmark (b. 1131)

title: 1182

text: September – Guy of Lusignan receives reinforcements of some 12,000 men from Denmark, Germany, England, France, and Flanders. He encircles Acre with a double line of fortified positions. On September 15, Saladin launches a failed attack on Guy's camp.

title: 1189

text: King Philip II (Augustus) marries Ingeborg of Denmark, daughter of King Valdemar I (the Great). After the marriage, Philip changes his mind, wishes to obtain a separation, and attempts to send her back to Denmark.

title: 1193

text: June 1 – Gertrude of Bavaria, queen consort of Denmark

title: 1197

text: November 12 – Canute VI, king of Denmark (b. 1163)

title: 1202

text: The Oeselians ravage Danish Scania. The returning pirates later skirmish with the German settlers of Riga, near Visby in Gotland.

title: 1203

text: Valdemar the Young, king of Denmark (d. 1231)

title: 1209

text: July 18 – Battle of Gestilren: Sverker the Younger, the exiled former King of Sweden, is defeated and killed by the reigning King Erik Knutsson. After the battle, Erik takes the Swedish throne and marries Princess Rikissa of Denmark, daughter of the late King Valdemar I of Denmark to improve the relations with Denmark, which had supported King Sverker.

title: 1210

text: Eleanor of Portugal, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1231)

title: 1211

text: May 24 – Dagmar of Bohemia, queen of Denmark

title: 1212

text: Eric IV (the Plowpenny), king of Denmark (d. 1250)

title: 1216

text: Abel (Valdemarsen), king of Denmark (d. 1252)

title: 1218

text: Christopher I (or Christoffer), king of Denmark (d. 1259)

title: 1219

text: March 27 – Berengaria of Portugal, queen consort of Denmark (b. 1198)

title: 1221

text: Livonian Crusade – The Danish fail in their attempt to conquer Saaremaa Island from the Estonians.

title: 1222

text: Livonian Crusade: The Estonians revolt against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and Denmark, and for a brief period reconquer all of their strongholds except for Tallinn.

title: 1223

section: Events › Other events, by place › Europe

text: August 28 – Eleanor of Portugal, queen consort of Denmark

title: 1231

text: August 10 – Eric IV (Ploughpenny), king of Denmark

title: 1250

text: December 25 – Christopher I of Denmark is crowned King of Denmark, in the Lund Cathedral.

title: 1252

text: Agnes of Brandenburg, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1304)

title: 1257

text: Euphemia of Pomerania, queen consort of Denmark (d. 1330)

title: 1285

text: November 22 – Eric V (Klipping), king of Denmark (b. 1249)

title: 1286

text: November 25 – Treaty of Templin: After ending the war between the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Denmark, Brandenburg is forced to negotiate a truce. King Eric VI, his ally Duke Henry the Lion and Waldemar the Great sign a peace treaty in Templin. Brandenburg agrees to transfer Burg Stargard and Arnsberg castle to Mecklenburg. They also surrender the territories of Schlawe-Stolp, located on the Baltic coast, to Pomerania.

title: 1317

text: August 15 – The coronation of King Christopher II of Denmark (who has ruled since 1320) takes place at Vordingborg, with his son Prince Erik Christoffersen being crowned alongside him as the samkonge, a junior co-monarch.

title: 1324

text: King Valdemar IV Atterdag of Denmark reconquers Scania, which has been in Swedish possession since 1332.

title: 1360

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

title: 1362

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

title: 1370

text: October 24 – Margaret I of Denmark becomes Regent of Denmark after the death of her father, Valdemar IV.

title: 1375

text: July 20 – Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden publishes the Treaty of Kalmar, proposing the personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland).

title: 1396

text: June 17 – Erik of Pomerania is crowned in Kalmar (Sweden) as ruler of the Kalmar Union, a personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland) engineered by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, his great-aunt and adoptive mother, who retains de facto power in the realm.

title: 1397

text: Gotland passes under Danish rule.

title: 1408

text: April 23 – Malmö, at this time in Denmark, receives its current coat of arms.

title: 1437

text: July 29 – The War in Gotland begins in Scandinavia as an army from Sweden, commanded by Generals Magnus Gren and Birger Trolle, invades the island of Gotland, at the time ruled by Denmark. The invasion is repelled by Erik of Pomerania, ruler of the island and the former King of Sweden and Denmark.

title: 1448

text: February 24 – King Charles VIII of Sweden is declared deposed after fleeing from Stockholm to Danzig following a rebellion. The Archbishop of Sweden, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, and statesman Erik Axelsson Tott become co-regents of Sweden. The coup leaders then offer the throne to Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway.

title: 1457

text: June 19 – After Queen consort Dorothea of Denmark visits Rome, Pope Sixtus IV issues a papal bull permitting King Christian I to establish a university in Denmark

title: 1475

text: June – Gribshunden, the flagship of King Hans Oldenburg of Denmark sinks off the coast of Ronneby in Sweden while King Hans is ashore to negotiate with Sten Sture the Elder to restore the power of the Kalmar Union. According to some accounts, the sinking (and the death of more than 150 crew) happened after an explosion and fire, though explorations of the shipwreck centuries later show no indication of burning.

title: 1495

text: May 27 – Swedish War of Liberation: The city of Kalmar in Sweden, occupied by troops of Denmark, falls to a Swedish Army force led by Arvid Västgöte after the city's magistrates agree to leave the northern gate of the city open. Kalmar Castle surrenders on June 4. With the fall of Kalmar, only Stockholm remains as a site of the Danish occupation.

title: 1523

text: August 20 – Diet of Odense (Denmark): King Frederick I declares religious tolerance for Lutherans, permits marriage of priests and forbids seeking papal pallium (approval) for royal appointments of Church officials.

title: 1527

text: April 10 – King Frederick I of Denmark, ruler of the Danes since 1523 and later elected, but never crowned, King of Norway, dies at the age of 61. The vacancy leaves a dispute over his successor, which soon becomes the Count's Feud (Grevens Fejde) between the Roman Catholic supporters of the former King Christian II of Denmark, and the Lutheran supporters of Frederick's son, proclaimed to be King Christian III.

title: 1533

text: June 8 – Battle of Bornholm: Combined Swedish and Danish fleets defeat the Hanseatic navy.

title: 1535

text: July 29 – The Count's Feud ends when Copenhagen surrenders to King Christian III of Denmark. On August 6 he marches into the city and on August 12 arrests the country's bishops, thus consolidating the Protestant Reformation in Denmark.

title: 1536

text: February 26 – Valkendorfs Kollegium is founded in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1589

text: August 24 – Christian IV of Denmark-Norway refuses to let Tycho Brahe return to Denmark.

title: 1597

text: February 11 – Battle of Vittsjö: King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and 3,000 of his troops are forced to retreat from Denmark. The 17-year old king almost drowns while attempting to ride his horse across a frozen lake, but is rescued by two other members of his cavalry. The horse is lost.

title: 1612

text: January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden.

title: 1613

text: December 24 – Denmark's first postal service is launched by order of King Christian IV.

title: 1624

text: December 25 – Polish and Danish forces defeat a Swedish Army in the Battle of Kolding in Denmark.

title: 1658

text: July 11 – Representatives of England (led by King Charles II) and Denmark (led by King Christian V) sign a treaty of alliance and commerce, the Treaty of Copenhagen.

title: 1670

text: July 14 – Battle of Landskrona: Sweden and its 13,000 troops, under the command of King Charles XI, successfully repel a 12,000-man invasion force from Denmark, commanded by King Christian V.

title: 1677

text: May 31 – Scanian War: Battle of Møn – Danish ships clash with a Swedish fleet under Niels Juel, between Fehmarn and Warnemünde; the Danish defeat the Swedish and capture a number of ships.

title: 1677

text: September 17 – Troops from Denmark invade and capture the Swedish island of Rügen and drive out the local population. Five months later, on January 18, 1678, Sweden recaptures the island. Nine months later, troops from Denmark and Brandenburg invade for a third time and capture the island again on October 22, 1678. Eight months later, Denmark is given the island back under a treaty ending the Swedish-Brandenburg War on June 29, but by then, the island of Rügen is in ruins. In modern times, the island becomes a vacation resort in Germany.

title: 1677

text: April 4 – Anne Palles becomes the last accused witch to be executed for witchcraft in Denmark, after having been convicted of using powers of sorcery. King Christian V accepts her plea not to be burned alive, and she is beheaded before her body is set afire.

title: 1693

text: November 15 – Rákóczi's War of Independence: Battle of Zvolen (in modern-day Slovakia) – The Kurucs defeat the Austrians and their allies (Denmark, Hungary and the Serbs).

title: 1703

text: November 26 – The inauguration of the newly built Kastelskirken takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 1704

text: December 20 – Great Northern War: the Battle of Gadebusch is Sweden's final great victory in the war, preventing the loss of the city of Stralsund to Danish and Saxon forces.

title: 1712

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

title: 1717

text: January 3 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.

title: 1749

text: March 30 – The Rigshospitalet, national hospital of Denmark, is founded at Copenhagen.

title: 1757

text: January 17 – Johann Friedrich Struensee and Queen Caroline Matilda are arrested, leading to his execution and her banishment from Denmark.

title: 1772

text: March 11 – The First League of Armed Neutrality is formed by Russia with Denmark and Sweden to try to prevent the British Royal Navy from searching neutral vessels for contraband (February 28 O.S.).

title: 1780

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

title: 1828

text: The Icelandic trade is opened to merchants other than Danes.

title: 1854

text: January 16 – Denmark rejects an Austrian-Prussian ultimatum to repeal the Danish Constitution, which says that Schleswig-Holstein is part of Denmark.

title: 1864

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

title: 1931

text: April 11 – The 1935 Danish general election is held, resulting in Thorvald Stauning becoming the first Social Democratic Prime Minister of Denmark.

title: 1935

text: January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.

title: 1973

text: June 1–10 – Pope John Paul II visits Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

title: 1989

text: July 1 – The Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden is officially opened for traffic.

title: 2000

text: November 29 – The European Union agree to an €85 billion rescue deal for Ireland from the European Financial Stability Facility, the International Monetary Fund and bilateral loans from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.

title: 2010

text: February 14–15 – A lone gunman leaves 2 people dead in a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, Denmark.

title: 2015

text: June 14 – Canada and Denmark end their competing claims for Hans Island by dividing the island roughly in half, ending what was referred to as the Whisky War.

title: 2022

text: December 31 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announces her abdication effective January 14, 2024, after 52 years on the throne.

title: 2023

text: January 14 – February 2 – The 2025 World Men's Handball Championship is held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway, and is won by Denmark.

title: 2025


slug: denmarknorway

label: Denmark–Norway

description: political union (1524–1814)

date: April 15

text: April 15 – Denmark–Norway buys the Estonian island of Ösel, from its last prince-bishop.

title: 1560

section: Conflict & Security

date: August 13

text: August 13 – Northern Seven Years' War: Denmark–Norway and the Free City of Lübeck declare war against the Kingdom of Sweden.

title: 1563

date: May 30

text: May 30 – At Bornholm, the Danish fleet fires on the Swedish navy, leading to a Danish defeat and precipitating the Northern Seven Years' War.

title: 1563

section: Deaths

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Christian IV becomes king of Denmark–Norway, upon the death of his father, Frederick II.

title: 1588

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 23

text: August 23 (August 13 Old Style) – The Treaty of Brömsebro is signed between Sweden and Denmark–Norway, ending the Torstenson War and ceding Jemtland, Herjedalen, Gotland and Ösel (Saaremaa) to Sweden, which also holds the province of Halland for a period of 30 years, as a guarantee.

title: 1645

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Second Anglo-Dutch War – The Treaty of Breda ends the war by England against the Dutch Republic, France and Denmark and Norway. In the Americas, the Dutch retain control of Surinam, the English retain New Netherland and the French Acadia.

title: 1667

date: August 17

text: August 17 – Battle of Halmstad (fought at Fyllebro): Sweden gains a decisive victory over Denmark–Norway.

title: 1676

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Scanian War: Battle of Öland – A combined fleet of the Dutch Republic and Denmark–Norway decisively defeats the Swedish Navy, which loses its flagship Kronan.

title: 1676

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Representatives of the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden sign the last of the nine Treaties of Nijmegen, ending the last of the conflicts that began during the Franco-Dutch War.

title: 1679

text: August 18 (August 7 O.S.) – The Peace of Travendal is concluded between the Swedish Empire, Denmark–Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal. On the same day, Augustus II, King of Poland, and Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, enter the war against Sweden.

title: 1700

date: February 22

text: February 22 (Gregorian), February 12 (Julian) – The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia, by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor".

title: 1700

section: Events › January–March

section: Science & Discovery

date: March 1

text: March 1 (Gregorian) – Protestant Germany and Denmark–Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar.

title: 1700

date: June 28

text: June 28 – A treaty is signed in Dresden to re-establish an alliance between the Kingdoms of Denmark–Norway and the Electorate of Saxony, on behalf of King Frederik IV of Denmark–Norway and Saxony's King Augustus II.

title: 1709

date: July 8

text: July 8 – The Battle of Dynekilen: The Swedish fleet is defeated by a Danish–Norwegian fleet.

title: 1716

date: September 24

text: September 24 – The Theater War begins, when the army of Denmark–Norway invades Sweden.

title: 1788


slug: desiderius

label: Desiderius

description: King of the Lombards from 756 to 774

text: Summer – Duke Liutprand of Benevento attains majority, and rebels against Lombard rule. King Desiderius defeats him, and grants his duchy to Arechis II (son of Liutprand). He marries Adelperga, daughter of Desiderius, and establishes friendly (but largely independent) relations with the Lombard Kingdom.

title: 758

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: August

text: August – Byzantine troops invade the Papal States, in alliance with King Desiderius of the Lombards. King Pepin III ("the Short") intervenes, and begins negotiations between the Lombards and Pope Paul I. Desiderius promises to end the hostilities, but on condition that Pepin sends back Lombard hostages held by the Franks.

title: 763

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Pope Stephen III succeeds Paul I as the 94th pope of the Catholic Church. The antipope Constantine II is overthrown at Rome, through intervention by King Desiderius of the Lombards, after a brief reign (see 767).

title: 768

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Charlemagne signs a peace treaty with Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria, and marries the Lombard princess Desiderata (daughter of King Desiderius). He travels to the Lombard court at Pavia to conclude arrangements. Pope Stephen III opposes the marriage, and protests about a Frankish-Lombard alliance.

title: 770

date: December 4

text: December 4 – King Carloman I, youngest son of Pepin III ("the Short"), dies (of a severe nosebleed, according to one source) at the Villa of Samoussy, leaving his brother Charlemagne sole ruler of the now reunified Frankish Kingdom. Gerberga, the widow of Carloman, flees with her two sons to the court of King Desiderius of the Lombards, at Pavia.

title: 771

text: King Desiderius of the Lombards, enraged by the repudiation by Charlemagne of his daughter Desiderata, proclaims Gerberga's sons lawful heirs to the Frankish throne. He attacks Pope Adrian I for refusing to crown them, and invades the Duchy of the Pentapolis. Desiderius marches on Rome, and Adrian turns to the Franks for military support.

title: 772

text: Siege of Pavia: Charlemagne besieges Pavia, which is poorly stocked with food. King Desiderius remains in the capital, and orders his son Adalgis to defend Verona to guard Gerberga, and the children of Carloman I. After a short siege, Adalgis flees to Constantinople, where he is received by Emperor Constantine V. Meanwhile, the Franks capture the cities of Verona and Mortara.

title: 773

date: June

text: June – King Desiderius surrenders the independence of the Lombards to the Franks, and is exiled to Corbie Abbey (Picardy). Charlemagne annexes northern Italy as a sub-kingdom, and takes the title of Rex Langobardorum. Some Lombards flee south to Benevento, which remains independent; Duke Arechis II retitles himself "Prince of Benevento".

title: 774

text: Desiderius, king of the Lombards (approximate date)

title: 786

text: Byzantine troops led by Adalgis, son of former Lombard king Desiderius, invade southern Italy. His attempts are thwarted by the Franks, who attack territories in Benevento, obtaining notably the annexion of Chieti (Spoleto).

title: 788

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire


slug: despotate-of-epirus

label: Despotate of Epirus

description: former country

text: Theodore I Laskaris flees to Nicaea after the capture of Constantinople, and establishes the Empire of Nicaea; Byzantine successor states are also established in Epirus and Trebizond.

title: 1204

section: Events

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Peter II of Courtenay is crowned emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople at Rome, by Pope Honorius III. Shortly after his coronation, Peter borrows some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer Durazzo for them. He fails in this enterprise and seeks to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey, he is seized by troops of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, despot of Epirus, and is put in prison.

title: 1217

section: Events › Other events by place › Europe

text: Ivan Asen II becomes ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire, during his reign he will add Epirus, as well as parts of Albania and Macedonia to his realm.

title: 1218

date: December

text: December – Theodore Komnenos (Doukas), ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, captures Thessaloniki – beginning the de facto Byzantine Empire of Thessalonica. Later, Theodore Komnenos was crowned Byzantine emperor but is not recognized as such by the rest of the Greek or Latin population.

title: 1224

section: Events › October – December

text: Spring – The Epirote–Nicaean conflict (1257–59) begins between the Despotate of Epirus and the Empire of Nicaea. Despot Michael II Komnenos Doukas revolts and defeats the Nicaean army under George Akropolites. The Epirote and Serbian forces join their attacks against Michael, who sends his forces into Macedonia and marches on to Thessalonica. In response, Michael is attacked – on the west coast of Epirus – by Manfred of Sicily. Manfred first occupies the major Ionian Islands, including Corfu. Then he lands on the Albanian coast and takes Durazzo, Berat, Valona and their environs.

title: 1257

text: Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, Latin ruler (despot) of Epirus

title: 1297

date: April 19

text: April 19 – Philip I, Prince of Taranto, in his capacity as King of Albania, gives the title of Philip, Despot of Romania to his second eldest son Prince Philip II. Despite the mention of Romania, the despotate is a part of Albania, and the title gives rights of Philip II to Epirus in Greece.

title: 1319

section: Events › April – June

text: The Despotate of Epirus is conquered by the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1337

section: Events › Date unknown

text: Stefan the Mighty, Emperor of Serbia, conquers Thessaly and Epirus.

title: 1348

date: April 1

text: April 1 – Carlo I Tocco arrives at Ioannina in Greece to become the new ruler of the former Byzantine state, the Despotate of Epirus.

title: 1411

section: Events › April–June

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Esau de' Buondelmonti, ruler of Epirus

title: 1411