slug: early-muslim-conquests

label: Early Muslim conquests

description: historical process in 7th–8th centuries CE

date: August 15

text: August 15–20 – Battle of Yarmouk: In engagements along the Yarmouk River, Muslim forces (25,000 men) of the Rashidun Caliphate, led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, decisively defeat the armies of the Byzantine Empire, effectively completing the Muslim conquest of Syria. It will be regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests, after the death of Muhammad.

title: 636

section: Events › By place › Arabia

section: Climate & Environment

text: First Islamic Civil War: An armed revolt erupts in Egypt; several Muslim sympathisers travel to Medina to rally support, beginning the fitna (literally meaning the 'trail of faith'). The Muslim expansion comes to a halt as the martial energies of the Islamic forces are directed inwards.

title: 656

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Muslim Conquest: Arab forces of the Umayyad Caliphate resume the push to capture Persian lands, and begin to move towards the lands east and north of the plateau, towards Greater Khorasan (Iran) and the Silk Road along Transoxiana.

title: 662

section: Events › By place › Arab Empire

text: Constans II moves the imperial court from Constantinople to Syracuse. He tries to stop the Arab conquest of Sicily, and restores Rome as seat of the Byzantine Empire. Constans strips sacred altar vessels from churches all over Rome.

title: 663

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Muslim Conquest: Arab forces under Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra begin launching raids from Persia, striking at Multan in the southern Punjab (modern Pakistan). Muslims conquer the city of Kabul, invading from eastern Afghanistan.

title: 664

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Muslim troops (7,000 men) led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar, and begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (now Spain and Portugal). Tariq begins his Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, which during the decade he occupies and brings under Umayyad sovereignty.

title: AD 711

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

title: 712

text: Emperor Theodosios III concludes a peace treaty with Kormesiy, son of Tervel of Bulgaria, in an effort to secure support against the Arab invasion in Anatolia (modern Turkey). The treaty recognizes the Bulgarian borders, including the newly gained lands of Zagore (see 705). Theodosios agrees to pay annual tribute, and exchange refugees charged with conspiracy against the legal ruler. Goods can only be imported or exported with a state seal. Bulgarian merchants gain official access to the trade market in Constantinople.

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire


slug: earth

label: Earth

description: third planet from the Sun in the Solar System

year_label: 350 BCE

section: Science & Discovery

text: Aristotle argues for a spherical Earth using lunar eclipses and other observations. Also he discusses logical reasoning in Organon.

title: 350 BC

section: Events › By topic › Science

year_label: 200 BCE

text: The first good measurement of the distance between Earth and the Sun is made by Eratosthenes (approximate date). By studying lunar eclipses, his result is roughly 150 000 000 km. The currently accepted value is 149 597 870 691 ± 30 metres.

title: 200 BC

section: Events › By topic › Astronomy

year_label: 13 CE

section: Culture & Society

text: Strabo publishes his book on the shape of the Earth.

title: 10s

section: Events › 13 AD › Greece

year_label: 44 CE

text: Pomponius Mela writes De situ orbis, a geography of the Earth.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 44

text: Flames destroy the great Library of Alexandria, established in the Mouseion in the fourth century BC. Among the items lost in the fire are works of science, including parchments by the Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos asserting that the Earth orbits the Sun, and dozens of dramatic works by Euripides and Sophocles.

title: 391

section: Events › By topic › Literature

text: Aryabhata, Indian astronomer and mathematician, comes up with concepts of mathematical equations, one of which explains the rotation of the Earth on its axis. This concept is far ahead of its time and he is fairly accurate in his description of it. He also comes up with a lot of other ideas about the Solar System, but many of them are flawed because he considers the Earth to be the center of the universe. Aryabhata is often given credit for coming up with the number zero and using it as a placeholder.

title: 511

section: Events › By topic › Inventions

section: Health & Medicine

text: The population of the Earth rises to about 208 million people (approximate date).

title: 600

section: Events › By topic › World

section: Religion & Belief

text: Khalid ibn Abd al-Malik al-Marwarrudhi and Ali ibn Isa al-Asturlabi travel to the Plain of Sinjar (modern Iraq), under orders of Caliph Al-Ma'mun, to measure the size of the Earth.

title: 827

date: April 10

text: April 10 – Halley's Comet passes approximately 5 million km from Earth, its closest ever approach.

title: 837

text: An increase in concentration, recorded in tree rings, as well as and isotopes, recorded in ice cores, suggests that a strong solar storm may have hit the Earth in either 993 or 994.

title: 993

text: An increase in carbon-14 concentration, recorded in tree rings, suggests that a strong solar storm may have hit the Earth in either 993 or 994.

title: 994

text: Walcher of Malvern, an English astronomer and mathematician, creates a system of measurement for the Earth using degrees, minutes and seconds of latitude and longitude.

title: 1120

text: Jean Picard begins measurement of 1 degree of Earth's meridian arc in France.

title: 1669

section: Events › Date unknown

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Lexell's Comet (D/1770 L1) passes the Earth at a distance of 2184129 km, the closest approach by a comet in recorded history.

title: 1770

section: Events › July– September

date: June 30

text: June 30 (June 17 OS) – The Tunguska event near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russian Empire, is believed to have been caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment, at an altitude of 5 – 10 above the Earth's surface.

title: 1908

section: Events › June

date: October 3

text: October 3 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 8 – U.S. astronaut Walter Schirra orbits the Earth six times, in the Sigma 7 space capsule.

title: 1962

section: Events › October

date: December 24

text: December 24 – Apollo program: The crewed U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole, as well as having traveled further away from Earth than any people in history. Anders photographs Earthrise. The crew also give a reading from the Book of Genesis.

title: 1968

section: Events › November–December

date: May 26

text: May 26 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth, after a successful 8-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first crewed Moon landing.

title: 1969

section: Events › May

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Apollo 15 returns to Earth.

title: 1971

section: Events › August

date: December 19

text: December 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.

title: 1972

section: Events › December

date: December 7

text: December 7 – Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026, is launched to the Moon and The Blue Marble photograph of the Earth is taken. The mission also includes five mice.

title: 1972

date: July 11

text: July 11 – NASA's first orbiting space station, Skylab, begins falling back Earth as its orbit decays after more than six years.

title: 1979

section: Events › July

date: February 14

text: February 14 – The Pale Blue Dot photograph of Earth is sent back from the Voyager 1 probe after completing its primary mission, from around 5.6 billion kilometers (3.5 billion miles) away.

title: 1990

section: Events › February

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Soyuz TM-18: Valeri Polyakov begins his 437.7-day orbit of the Earth, eventually setting the world record for days spent in orbit.

title: 1994

section: Events › January

date: January 22

text: January 22 – The last signal from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft is received, some 12.2 billion kilometers (7.6 billion mi) from Earth.

title: 2003

date: July 23

text: July 23 – The Solar storm of 2012 is an unusually large coronal mass ejection emitted by the Sun which barely misses the Earth by nine days. If it had hit, it would have caused up to US$2.6 trillion in damages to electrical equipment worldwide.

title: 2012

date: May 31

text: May 31 – The largest tornado ever recorded hits El Reno, United States. This rain-wrapped, multiple-vortex tornado was the widest tornado ever recorded, and results in eight deaths, including four storm-chasers. Measurements from mobile weather radars revealed extreme winds up to 296 mph (476 km/h) within the vortex, among the highest observed wind speeds on Earth. As it crosses U.S. 81, the tornado grows to a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km).

title: 2013

date: July 31

text: July 31 – Mars makes its closest approach to Earth since 2003, four days after reaching opposition.

title: 2018

text: April 10 – The ESA/JAXA space probe BepiColombo makes its final gravity assist around Earth and begins to depart for Venus, where it will make several gravity assist maneuvers before finally arriving at Mercury in 2025.

title: 2020

section: Events › April

date: April 29

text: April 29 – (52768) 1998 OR2, a near-Earth asteroid that is 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) wide, makes a close approach of 0.042 AU (6.3 million km; 16 LD) to Earth. It will not approach closer than this until 2079.

title: 2020

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: April 17

text: April 17 – The Soyuz MS-17 mission concludes, returning three crewmembers of Expedition 64 to Earth from the International Space Station.

title: 2021

date: May 2

text: May 2 – The SpaceX Crew-1 mission ends, returning four crew members of Expedition 64 and 65 to Earth from the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon Resilience.

title: 2021

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: April 17 – The atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life.

title: 2025


slug: east-anglia

label: East Anglia

description: region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

year_label: 60 CE

section: Deaths

text: Prasutagus, king of the Iceni (modern East Anglia), dies leaving a will which passes his kingdom to his two daughters and the Roman Empire. The Roman army, however, annexes the kingdom as if conquered, depriving the nobles of their hereditary lands and plundering the land. The king's widow, Boudica, is flogged and forced to watch their daughters publicly raped. Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, call in their loans.

title: AD 60

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

year_label: 61 CE

text: Prasutagus, king of the Iceni (modern East Anglia), dies leaving a will which passes his kingdom to his two daughters and the Roman Empire. The Roman army however annexes the kingdom as if conquered, depriving the nobles of their hereditary lands and plundering the land. The king's widow, Boudica, is flogged and forced to watch their daughters publicly raped. Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, call in their loans.

title: AD 61

section: Culture & Society

text: Edwin of Northumbria takes refuge in East Anglia; he marries Cwenburga, daughter of king Cearl of Mercia (according to the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum).

title: 615

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: King Cenwalh of Wessex returns from a 3-year exile in East Anglia, to reclaim his kingdom. He gives 3,000 hides of land around Ashdown to his nephew Cuthred, possibly sub-king of Berkshire (England).

title: 648

text: The Mercians under King Penda move on East Anglia, destroy the monastery at Burgh Castle and expel King Anna who probably flees to Magonsæte (approximate date).

title: 650

text: Æthelthryth, Anglo-Saxon princess, returns to East Anglia and founds the Abbey of Ely (Cambridgeshire). At about this time a small nunnery is also founded in her name, in Stow Green.

title: 673

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Ceolred becomes king of Mercia, after his cousin Coenred abdicates the throne. Dynastic rivalries lead to the banishment of his second cousin, prince Æthelbald, who flees to the East Anglian controlled Crowland Fens.

title: 709

section: Conflict & Security

text: Battle of Ellandun: King Egbert of Wessex defeats Beornwulf of Mercia near Swindon. The battle marks the end of the Mercian domination of southern England. The kingdoms of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex submit to Wessex, and East Anglia acknowledges Egbert as overlord (bretwalda).

title: 825

text: King Beornwulf of Mercia invades East Anglia, but is killed in battle. He is succeeded by Ludeca, as ruler of Mercia.

title: 826

text: Autumn – The Great Heathen Army, led by Ivar the Boneless and Ubba, invades East Anglia and plunders Peterborough. King Edmund the Martyr is captured, tortured, beaten and used for archery practice (or 869).

title: 870

text: Æthelwald, ealdorman of East Anglia

title: 962

text: Æthelwine, ealdorman of East Anglia

title: 992

text: King Sweyn I (Forkbeard) lands with a Danish Viking fleet in East Anglia, ravaging the countryside. Northumbria surrenders to him (approximate date).

title: 1003

section: Events › By place › England

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

title: 1017

section: Events › England

text: Spring – King Sweyn II of Denmark joins rebels in England led by Hereward the Wake and captures the Isle of Ely in The Fens of East Anglia. On June 1 Hereward sacks Peterborough Abbey with support from Sweyn's Danes.

title: 1070

section: Events

text: Spring – First Barons' War: The English army, led by John, King of England ("Lackland"), sacks the town of Berwick-on-Tweed and raids southern Scotland. John pushes up towards Edinburgh over a ten-day period. On his return, he puts down a revolt in East Anglia. On March 24, he arrives at Hertford to deal with the challenge of a coming French invasion.

title: 1216

section: Events › By continent › Europe

date: July 8

text: July 8 – Kett's Rebellion, with 18,000 troops led by Robert Kett, breaks out at Wymondham in East Anglia, against fences and enclosures put up by wealthy landowners. and in Oxfordshire, against landowners associated with religious changes.

title: 1549

section: Events › July–September

date: August 3

text: August 3 – Queen Mary I of England arrives in London from East Anglia.

title: 1553


slug: east-francia

label: East Francia

description: country in Western Europe from 843 to 962; predecessor to the Kingdom of Germany

date: October

text: October – Charlemagne marries Fastrada, the 18-year-old daughter of a Frankish count named Rudolph, and makes her his queen at Worms. The probable reason behind the marriage is to solidify a Frankish alliance east of the Rhine, against the Saxons in Lower Saxony (modern Germany).

title: 783

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: The Avars, who are allied with Tassilo III, invade East Francia (modern Germany). This begins the Frankish-Avar conflict.

title: 788

section: Births

text: Louis the German, king of East Francia (approximate date)

title: 810

text: Louis the Younger, king of East Francia (or 830)

title: 835

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

title: 842

text: First raid of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin at the request of Rastislav of Moravia against the East Frankish Kingdom.

title: 862

section: Events › By place › Central Europe

text: King Louis the German suppresses the revolt of his son Carloman (for the second time), who wants a partition (mainly of Bavaria) of the East Frankish Kingdom.

title: 863

text: King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. Carloman receives Bavaria (with more lands along the Inn River). He gives Saxony to Louis the Younger (with Franconia, and Thuringia) and Swabia (with Raetia) to Charles the Fat. Louis arranges marriages into the local aristocracy, for his sons to hold important territories along the frontiers.

title: 865

text: Rastislav, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia, dies in prison after he is condemned to death for treason, by Louis the German. He is succeeded by his nephew Svatopluk I, who becomes a vassal of the East Frankish Kingdom.

title: 870

section: Crime & Justice

text: Carloman, son of King Charles the Bald, is hauled before a secular court and condemned to death – for plotting against his father. He is blinded, but avoids imprisonment by escaping to the East Frankish Kingdom, where his uncle, Louis the German, gives him protection.

title: 873

date: August 28

text: August 28 – Louis the German, king of the East Frankish Kingdom

title: 876

text: August 28 – King Louis the German dies at Frankfurt, while preparing for war against his brother Charles II ("the Bald"), ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The East Frankish Kingdom is divided among his three sons: Carloman receives Bavaria and styles himself "King of Bavaria". Louis the Younger receives Saxony (with Franconia and Thuringia), and Charles the Fat receives Swabia (with Raetia).

title: 876

text: Conrad I, king of the East Frankish Kingdom (approximate date)

title: 881

date: January 20

text: January 20 – King Louis the Younger dies in Frankfurt. He leaves his territory to his younger brother, Emperor Charles the Fat, who becomes sole ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom.

title: 882

text: January 20 – Louis the Younger, king of the East Frankish Kingdom

title: 882

text: Svatopluk I, ruler (knyaz) of Great Moravia, conquers Lower Pannonia (today's Southwestern Hungary and Northern Croatia), during the succession strife in the East Frankish Kingdom (approximate date).

title: 883

date: November 25

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

title: 885

date: November 17

text: November 17 – East Frankish magnates revolt against the inept emperor Charles III (the Fat) in an assembly at Frankfurt, and depose him. His nephew Arnulf of Carinthia, the illegitimate son of former king Carloman of Bavaria, is elected ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. Charles yields his throne without a struggle, and retires to Neidingen.

title: 887

text: Winter – King Arnulf of Carinthia leads an East Frankish expedition into Italy, after he is recognized as overlord of France and Burgundy. Arnulf descends with an army over the Brenner Pass, and meets King Berengar I at a peace conference at Trento. Berengar grants him two counties in the Val d'Adige (Northern Italy), and does homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as king of Lombardia, and returns to Germany.

title: AD 888

section: Economy & Finance

text: Arnulf of Carinthia has his illegitimate son Zwentibold recognized, as heir of the East Frankish Kingdom. He supports the claim of Louis the Blind as king of Provence, after receiving a personal appeal from Louis's mother, Ermengard, who comes to see Arnulf at Forchheim (Northern Bavaria). Arnulf grants the town of Osnabrück trade and coinage privileges.

title: 889

text: Vladimir, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, signs a military alliance with Arnulf of Carinthia of the East Frankish Kingdom. This alliance works against the pro-Byzantine policy of his father.

title: 892

text: An East Frankish expeditionary force under Zwentibold, the eldest son of King Arnulf of Carinthia, crosses the Alps into Friuli. He makes junction at Verona, with the army of the deposed king Berengar I, and proceeds to lay siege to Pavia. After a three-month campaign, Zwentibold receives orders to head back to Bavaria, in case of a Magyar intervention.

title: 893

text: Louis the Child, king of the East Frankish Kingdom (d. 911)

title: 893

text: Spring – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army, joining up with the deposed king Berengar I at Verona. He conquers Brescia after little resistance, and sacks Bergamo after a one-month siege. The cities of Milan and Pavia open their doors to Arnulf. Emperor Guy III escapes from Pavia, to hide in the mountains of Spoleto (Umbria).

title: 894

text: Árpád, head of the confederation of the Hungarian tribes, comes to an agreement with the prince of the Moravians, Svatopluk II, that Hungarian and Moravian armies will together expel the Eastern Franks from Pannonia.

title: 894

date: December

text: December – Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy, at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army. He arrives in Pavia and reorganizes the Lombard state. Arnulf partitions the northern part of the kingdom: the western half (March of Lombardy) and the eastern half (March of Verona).

title: 895

date: February

text: February – King Arnulf of Carinthia invades Italy at the head of an East Frankish expeditionary army. He storms Rome (the Leonine City), and has himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Formosus at St. Peter's. Arnulf sets out to establish his authority in Spoleto, but suffers a stroke; he is forced to call off the campaign, and returns to Bavaria.

title: 896

date: December 8

text: December 8 – Arnulf of Carinthia, king of the East Frankish Kingdom

title: 899

text: December 8 – Arnulf of Carinthia dies from paralysis following a stroke and is entombed in St. Emmeram's Abbey at Regensburg (Bavaria). He is succeeded by his 6-year-old son Louis III (the Child) as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. Arnulf's counselor Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz, becomes regent and guardian of the young king. Louis (possibly at the instigation of Hatto) claims Lotharingia from his half-brother Zwentibold and with the support of the East Frankish nobles he provokes a civil war. The Lombard throne is left temporarily vacant.

title: 899

section: Religion & Belief

date: February 4

text: February 4 – The 7-year-old Louis IV ("the Child") is proclaimed king of the East Frankish Kingdom at an assembly at Forchheim (Bavaria). Because of his young age, the reins of government are entirely in the hands of others – the Frankish nobles and bishops. The most influential of Louis' councillors are Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz, and Solomon III, bishop of Constance.

title: 900

date: July 4

text: July 4–6 – Battle of Pressburg: At "Brezalauspurc" (probably modern-day Bratislava in Slovakia), the advancing East Frankish army (60,000 men) is annihilated by the Hungarians led by Grand Prince Árpád. Duke Luitpold and Archbishop Dietmar I are killed, together with 19 dukes, 2 bishops and 3 abbots. The East Frankish Kingdom loses control of the March of Pannonia.

title: 907

text: August 3 – Battle of Eisenach: An invading Hungarian force defeats the East Frankish army under Duke Burchard, killing him, together with Duke Egino and Rudolf I, bishop of Würzburg. The Hungarians devastate Thuringia and Saxony as far north as Bremen, returning home with many spoils.

title: 908

date: June 12

text: June 12 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis IV (the Child), using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors. Count Gausbert, the actual commander of the East Frankish army (because Louis IV is only 16 years old at this time), is killed in the battle.

title: 910

text: Louis IV, king of the East Frankish Kingdom (b. 893)

title: AD 911

date: September 24

text: September 24 – King Louis IV (the Child), the last Carolingian ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom, dies at Frankfurt am Main after an 11-year reign. The East Frankish dukes elect Conrad I at Forchheim as the king of the East Frankish Kingdom. Charles III is elected as king of Lotharingia. Conrad is chosen through the influence of Louis' guardian and regent, Hatto I, archbishop of Mainz.

title: AD 911

text: German dukes Henry the Fowler of Saxony and Arnulf I (the Bad) of Bavaria claim themselves to be sovereign princes, not recognizing the authority of their overlord, King Conrad I of the East Frankish Kingdom, as he is not a Carolingian. Duke Erchanger II of Swabia and Conrad's brother, Duke Eberhard III of Franconia, support the Conradines.

title: 912

text: The Hungarians, after attacking Swabia, sack and burn Basel (modern Switzerland). They invade Lorraine in Lotharingia, destroying Verdun and Moyenmoutier, and many monasteries in Alsace. Duke Arnulf I (the Bad) with Hungarian military aid, reconquers his land from King Conrad I of the East Frankish Kingdom. After this event, Bavaria and Swabia agree to pay tribute to the Hungarians.

title: 917

date: December 23

text: December 23 – King Conrad I, injured at one of his battles with Arnulf I (the Bad), dies at his residence in Weilburg Castle after a 7-year reign. On his deathbed Conrad persuades his younger brother Eberhard III to offer the East Frankish crown to Henry the Fowler, the duke of Saxony. Conrad is buried in Fulda Cathedral (also the burial place of Boniface) in Germany.

title: 918

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He recognizes the stem duchies (uniting them in a German confederation) and all their sovereign privileges. Two of the four most influential duchies, Bavaria and Swabia, do not accept his rule. Henry fortifies Magdeburg against the Magyars.

title: 919

section: Events › By Place › Europe

text: Summer – King Henry I (the Fowler) defeats his rival Arnulf I (the Bad), duke of Bavaria, in two campaigns. Arnulf is besieged at Regensburg and forced to accept peace negotiations, recognising Henry as sole sovereign of the East Frankish Kingdom (Germany).

title: 921

text: Early 929 – Siege of Gana: German king Henry the Fowler besieges Gana with an East Frankish army and conquers the stronghold. He establishes the fort of Meissen nearby.

title: 929

text: March 15 – Battle of Merseburg: King Henry I ("the Fowler") defeats the Magyars near Merseburg after his refusal to pay the annual tribute. During Henry's lifetime they never raid the East Frankish Kingdom again.

title: 933

text: A Hungarian army invades Franconia and occupies Fulda. They are attacked by East Frankish forces and forced to go westwards. Otto I moves against the rebellious Elbe Slavs.

title: 936

text: July 2 – Henry the Fowler, king of the East Frankish Kingdom

title: 936

text: Magdeburg becomes the capital of the East Frankish Kingdom, after a Diet held by King Otto I (approximate date).

title: 937

text: Hugh the Great, count of Paris, rebels against King Louis IV ("d'Outremer") and gains support from William I, duke of Normandy. Hugh, along with Herbert II, count of Vermandois, Arnulf I, count of Flanders and William pay homage to King Otto I (ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom), and support him in his struggle against Louis.

title: 939

text: King Hugh of Provence dispatches an embassy to King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom, offering a large sum of cash if he promises not to provide assistance to Berengar of Ivrea. Otto refuses this offer.

title: 944

text: Boleslav I, duke of Bohemia, signs a peace treaty with King Otto I of the East Frankish Kingdom. He becomes his ally, but he probably wasn't forced to resume the payment of tribute.

title: 950

text: Summer – At the Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I), joined by German nobles and bishops, Berengar of Ivrea pays homage. He becomes a vassal of the East Frankish Kingdom. Otto leaves a strong garrison at Pavia in the hands of his son-in-law Conrad the Red, duke of Lotharingia.

title: 952

text: February 2 – King Otto I (the Great) is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, ending Rome's feudal anarchy. Otto's wife Adelaide is anointed as empress; the East Frankish Kingdom and the Kingdom of Italy are unified into a common realm, called the Roman Empire.

title: 962

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

title: 983


slug: east-germany

label: East Germany

description: 1949–1990 country in central Europe, unified into modern Germany

date: February 19

text: February 19 – Konrad Adenauer tries unsuccessfully to negotiate with East Germany, to begin reunification.

title: 1950

section: Events › February

date: February 8

text: February 8 – The Stasi is founded in East Germany, and acts as a secret police until 1990.

title: 1950

date: July 13

text: July 13 – East Germany announces the formation of its National People's Army.

title: 1952

section: Events › July–August

date: May 1

text: May 1 – East Germany threatens to form its own army.

title: 1952

section: Events › May–June

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying.

title: 1953

section: Events › January

date: January 24

text: January 24 – Leader of East Germany Walter Ulbricht announces that agriculture will be collectivized in East Germany.

title: 1953

date: March 25

text: March 25 – The Soviet Union recognises the sovereignty of East Germany. Soviet troops remain in the country.

title: 1954

section: Events › March

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after nine years in a British prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.

title: 1959

section: Events › June

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: August 13

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

title: 1961

section: Events › August

date: August 17

text: August 17 – East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, leading to mass protests on the Western side.

title: 1962

date: May 5

text: May 5 – Twelve East Germans escape to the West via a tunnel under the Berlin Wall.

title: 1962

section: Events › May

date: February 1

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

title: 1966

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: July 6

text: July 6 – Langenweddingen level crossing disaster: A level crossing collision between a train loaded with children and a tanker-truck near Magdeburg, East Germany, kills 94 people, mostly children.

title: 1967

section: Events › July

date: April 4

text: April 4 – Fragments of burnt human remains believed to be those of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children are crushed and scattered in the Biederitz river at a KGB center in Magdeburg, East Germany.

title: 1970

section: Events › April

date: March 19

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

title: 1970

date: April 24

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

title: 1974

section: Events › March–April

date: December 1

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

title: 1989

section: Events › December

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The border between East Germany and Czechoslovakia is reopened.

title: 1989

section: Events › November

date: November 3

text: November 3 – East German refugees arrive at the West German town of Hof after being allowed through Czechoslovakia.

title: 1989

date: November 7

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

title: 1989

section: Health & Medicine

date: October 3

text: October 3 – The government of East Germany closes the country's border with Czechoslovakia to prevent further emigration to the West.

title: 1989

section: Events › October

text: April 24 – Cold War: West Germany and East Germany agree to merge currency and economies on July 1.

title: 1990

date: July 1

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

title: 1990

date: June 13

text: June 13 – Cold War: The destruction of the Berlin Wall by East Germany officially starts, 7 months after it was opened the previous November.

title: 1990


slug: east-india-company

label: East India Company

description: British trading company (1600–1874)

date: June 18

text: June 18 – Sailing across the South Atlantic Ocean towards England, near the end of their voyage around the world, Thomas Cavendish and his East India Company fleet stumble across the Portuguese-controlled island of Saint Helena. While Saint Helena has been under the control of Portugal for 80 years, England had been unaware of its existence.

title: 1588

section: Events › April–June

date: December 31

text: December 31 – The East India Company is granted a Royal charter in the Kingdom of England for trade with Asia.

title: 1600

section: Events › October–December

date: April 22

text: April 22 – The first expedition of the East India Company sets sail from England for the Spice Islands with John Davis as pilot-major.

title: 1601

date: February 13

text: February 13 – The first East India Company fleet leaves England on its voyage to the East Indies.

title: 1601

section: Events › January–March

date: September 5

text: September 5 – Hamlet is performed aboard the East India Company ship Red Dragon, under the command of Capt. William Keeling, anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone, the first known performance of a Shakespeare play outside England in English, and the first by amateurs.

title: 1607

section: Events › July–September

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 30

text: November 30 – Battle of Swally: Forces of the British East India Company and Portugal engage off the coast of India, resulting in an English victory.

title: 1612

text: September 5 – England's East India Company gets its first warships and establishes the "'Honourable East India Company's Marine'" to protect its freighters. The force develops over the centuries into the Royal Indian Navy and, after India's independence in 1947, the Indian Navy.

title: 1612

date: October 28

text: October 28 – Keichō embassy: Hasekura Tsunenaga departs Japan in the Date Maru with a Japanese diplomatic mission to the Holy See, scheduled to first travel to Acapulco in New Spain, with a goal of concluding an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company, permitting English merchants to live and trade in Japan.

title: 1613

section: Culture & Society

date: August 22

text: August 22 – The British East India Company buys a strip of land from King Peda Venkata Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire for the construction of Fort St. George, the first settlement of British India, so founding modern-day Chennai, capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (celebrated as Madras Day).

title: 1639

date: November 6

text: November 6 – The oldest hospital in India, the Government General Hospital, is opened at Madras by the English East India Company for the treatment of ill soldiers.

title: 1664

date: February 21

text: February 21 – In India, Shivaji Bhonsale of the Maratha Empire captures the English East India Company's trading post at Sadashivgad (in the modern-day Indian state of Karnataka).

title: 1665

date: June 12

text: June 12 – The British East India Company arranges a commercial treaty with the Maratha Empire after Henry Oxenden, the company's deputy governor, meets Emperor Shivaji for his recent coronation.

title: 1674

date: August 10

text: August 10 – English sea captain Robert Knox of the East India Company publishes his book An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, about his adventures, 20-years imprisonment and escape from Ceylon.

title: 1681

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Sir John Child of England becomes the new Governor of Bombay province and, unofficially, Governor-General of all of the settlements of the East India Company in India. With the exception of a rebellion by Captain Richard Keigwin during the year 1684, Child expands British control until involving the British in a war with the Mughal Empire.

title: 1681

date: June 8

text: June 8 – The English trading freighter Johanna is wrecked off of the coast of South Africa with the loss of 10 of her 114 crew, becoming the first of Britain's East India Company fleet to be lost.

title: 1682

date: December 27

text: December 27 – Richard Keigwin leads a rebellion against the East India Company to take over as Governor of Bombay and most of the British territory in India, driving out Governor Sir John Child and arresting the Deputy Governor, Charles Ward. Keigwin surrenders the office less than a year later.

title: 1683

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Richard Keigwin, who had arrested the East India Company's Governor of Bombay in 1683, Josiah Child and had taken over as the unauthorized administrator of Bombay, turns control back to the company and its envoy, Sir Thomas Grantham, receiving a general pardon.

title: 1684

date: January 6

text: January 6 – American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony on behalf of the East India Company, and is succeeded by William Gyfford.

title: 1685

date: August 4

text: August 4 – Portuguese soldiers hired by the East India Company mutiny rather than follow orders to join the war in Bengal. The ringleaders are quickly arrested and executed, and the mutiny ends.

title: 1686

date: January 3

text: January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on residences within the city walls. Gyfford places security forces at all entrances to the city and threatens to banish anyone who fails to pay their taxes, as well as to confiscate the goods of merchants who refuse to make sales. A compromise is reached the next day on the amount of the taxes.

title: 1686

date: February 11

text: February 11 – In India, troops under the command of Job Charnock of the East India Company, preparing to go to war against the Nawab of Bengal, Shaista Khan of the Mughal empire, destroy his fortresses located at Thana.

title: 1687

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The English East India Company expands its influence, and a Committee of the House of Commons is formed to deal with the concerns of the Company.

title: 1689

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Economy & Finance

text: September 5 – A charter is granted by King William III of England to the new East India Company of England, called "the New Company" or "the English Company" to break the monopoly that has existed in India since 1689 with the existing British East India Company.

title: 1698

date: June 16

text: June 16 – The English East India Company founds a settlement on Pulo Condore (modern-day Côn Sơn Island) off the coast of southern Vietnam as an entrepôt for ships travelling between India and China.

title: 1702

date: February 25

text: February 25 – John Stackhouse is appointed by the British East India Company as the new President of the Bengal Presidency and serves for seven years.

title: 1732

date: April 7

text: April 7 – Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone, a polygar in Tamil Nadu, raises slogans and launches a rebellion against Company rule in India due to his opposition to the East India Company's tax collection policies.

title: 1750

date: April 2

text: April 2 – A naval fleet, led by Commodore William James of the East India Company, captures Tulaji Angre's fortress Suvarnadurg from the Marathas.

title: 1755

date: July 17

text: July 17 – In a convoy of ships from Great Britain, returning to India for the East India Company, the lead ship Doddington (on her third voyage) wrecks in Algoa Bay near modern-day Port Elizabeth in South Africa, losing 247 of its 270 passengers and crew, together with a chest of gold coins from Robert Clive worth £33,000. In 1998, 1,400 coins from the wreck site are offered for sale, and in 2002 a portion is given to the South African government. Around twenty survivors of the wreck are eventually able to make safety after an open boat voyage.

title: 1755

date: January 2

text: January 2 – Seven Years' War: The British East India Company Army, under the command of Robert Clive, captures Calcutta, India.

title: 1757

text: June 23 – Battle of Plassey: 3,000 troops serving with the British East India Company under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000 strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah with the help of Mir Jafar, at Plassey in India, marking the first victory of the East India Company over India, which lasts until 1857.

title: 1757

date: March 23

text: March 23 – The British East India Company takes control of Chandannagar and forces out the French Indian administrators.

title: 1757

section: Births

text: February 1 – David Ochterlony, Massachusetts-born general with the East India Company (d. 1825)

title: 1758

date: June 10

text: June 10 – The crisis of 1772 is triggered when, following the flight of their partner Alexander Fordyce to France, the London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down (which has been speculating in East India Company stock) suspends payment. The resultant panic causes other banks to fail, extends to Scotland, Amsterdam and the Thirteen Colonies and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy.

title: 1772

text: December 16 – Boston Tea Party: A group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor, in protest against British tax policies.

title: 1773

text: March 6 – Raghunathrao, Peshwa of the Maratha Empire in India, signs the Treaty of Surat with the British Governor-General Warren Hastings in Bombay ceding the territories of Salsette and Bassein to the British East India Company along with part of the revenues from Surat and Bharuch districts in return for military assistance. This leads to the First Anglo-Maratha War fought between the British and the Marathas, ending with the Treaty of Salbai in 1782.

title: 1775

text: December 16 – East India Company: Hada and Mada Miah lead a rebellion in the Indian subcontinent against East India Company officer Robert Lindsay and his troops in Sylhet Shahi Eidgah.

title: 1782

text: April 9–28 – Second Anglo-Mysore War: Siege of Bednore – Tipu Sultan of Mysore with 100,000 troops besieges 1600 British East India Company troops who are obliged to surrender with honours of war.

title: 1783

text: August 10 – The British East India Company packet ship Antelope (1781) is wrecked off Ulong Island in the Palau (Pelew) group, resulting in the first sustained European contact with those islands.

title: 1783

text: August 13 – Parliament of Great Britain passes Pitt's India Act (An Act for the better Regulation and Management of the Affairs of the East India Company and of the British Possessions in India). It requires the governor-general to be chosen from outside the Company and makes company directors subject to parliamentary supervision.

title: 1784

text: October 22 – Capitulation of the French garrison at Hyderabad to East India Company troops under James Kirkpatrick, British Resident.

title: 1798

text: July 10 – Vellore Mutiny: Indian sepoys mutiny against the East India Company, for the first time.

title: 1806

text: May 31 – Mauritius campaign of 1809–11 – Action of 31 May 1809 in the Bay of Bengal: The French frigate Caroline, operating from Isle de France (Mauritius), captures most of a British East India Company fleet

title: 1809

text: July 1 – After a war that began on November 5, 1817, the forces of the East India Company defeat Baji Rao II in battle and acquire control over the Maratha Empire.

title: 1818

text: October 13 – A treaty is entered between the Raja of Cutch Deshalji II, and East India Company, placing the Cutch State under Company rule.

title: 1819

text: July 15 – David Ochterlony, Massachusetts-born general with the East India Company (b. 1758)

title: 1825

text: The British East India Company colony of the Straits Settlements is established.

title: 1826

section: Events › Date unknown or spanning multiple periods

text: The British East India Company monopoly on China trade ends. It appoints a Tea Committee to assess the potential of Assam tea.

title: 1834

text: The British East India Company negotiates a lease of the Darjeeling area west of the Mahananda River, from the Kingdom of Sikkim.

title: 1835

text: January 6–13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, by Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan.

title: 1842

text: December 22–23 – Battle of Ferozeshah (Anglo-Sikh War): East India Company forces are victorious over those of the Sikh Empire.

title: 1845

text: Naga raids on the East India Company, 1851–65.

title: 1851

text: February 7 – The Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah, is exiled to Metiabruz and the state is annexed by the British East India Company.

title: 1856

text: August 2 – The Government of India Act, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, transfers the territories of the British East India Company and their administration to the direct rule of the British Crown, through a Secretary of State for India.

title: 1858


slug: easter

label: Easter

description: Christian commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus

section: Science & Discovery

text: Anicetus meets with Polycarp of Smyrna to discuss the Computus, the date of Easter in the Christian liturgical calendar.

title: AD 154

section: Events › By topic › Religion

section: Religion & Belief

text: A church council is held in Caesarea over the date of Easter.

title: AD 196

date: May 20

text: May 20 – First Council of Nicaea: Constantine summons an ecumenical council of bishops in Nicaea (Turkey). The Nicene Creed, adopted on June 19, declares that the members of the Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) are equal. The council decides that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Arius is exiled to Illyria; his works are confiscated and consigned to the flames.

title: 325

text: Victorius of Aquitaine computes new tables for celebrating Easter.

title: 457

text: Augustine of Canterbury meets with the Welsh bishops at Aust near Chepstow. He accuses them of not adopting the Roman Christian way of dating Easter, and persuades them to accept the teaching of baptism (according to the Roman Rite).

title: 602

text: Synod of Whitby: King Oswiu of Northumbria calls for a meeting at Whitby Abbey to settle the church practices in his kingdom—those of the Celtic Church (of Wales, Scotland and the north of England – preached by Irish missionaries) or the Roman Church (of the south of England). The matters discussed include how to calculate the date of Easter. It is decided to follow the practice of Rome. As a result, many Irish clergy leave Northumbria and return to Ireland.

title: 664

text: Council of Birr: The northern part of Ireland accepts the Roman calculations for celebrating Easter. At this synod Adomnán, abbot of Iona (Scotland), promulgates his Cáin Adomnáin ("Law of the Innocents").

title: 697

text: Archbishop Elfodd of Gwynedd persuades the Welsh Church to accept the Roman dating of Easter, as agreed by the British Church at the Synod of Whitby (see 664).

title: 768

text: King Charlemagne spends Easter in Treviso (northern Italy), after putting down a rebellion in Friuli and Spoleto. He removes Hrodgaud of Friuli from power, and reforms the duchy as the March of Friuli (military frontier district). Co-conspirators who support the revolt are Arechis II, duke of Benevento, and Adalgis, son of former Lombard king Desiderius. Frankish counts are placed in the cities of Friuli.

title: 776

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Saxon Wars: King Charlemagne spends Easter in Nijmegen, and leads a large Frankish army to Paderborn, where a general assembly of Carolingian and Saxon leaders had been summoned. Saxon lands are integrated into the Frankish Kingdom, and divided into missionary parishes. Duke Widukind and his followers flee to King Sigfred of Denmark, seeking refuge and support.

title: AD 777

date: April 29

text: April 29 – A delegation under Balian of Ibelin is sent to Tiberias, to reconcile with Raymond III, prince of Galilee. After Easter, a second delegation (supported by the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller) is sent to Tripoli, but the situation remains unchanged.

title: 1187

section: Events › By place › Levant

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 22

text: April 22 – On the first Sunday after Easter, the French ship Ste Marie is shipwrecked on England's Isle of Wight at Chale Bay. Residents nearby loot the ship of its cargo, casks of wine belonging to Regimus de Depe of Aquitaine. As an act of penance, the Lord of Chale, Walder de Godeton, builds the St Catherine's Oratory.

title: 1313

section: Events › April – June

date: April 19

text: April 19 – At Easter, the Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328 breaks out in the Byzantine Empire as Co-Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos flees Constantinople to Adrianople, where he sets up his court and initiates an uprising against his grandfather, the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. The 24-year-old Andronikos is joined by Theodore Synadenos and John Kantakouzenos in the rebellion. Syrgiannes Palaiologos leads an expeditionary army towards the capital, forcing the emperor to negotiate.

title: 1321

date: January 12

text: January 12 – Western Schism: King Charles VI of France sends a letter to the Antipope Benedict XIII at Avignon, giving an ultimatum to Benedict and the other Avignon Papacy proponents to end the schism in the Roman Catholic Church against the Roman Obedience, headed by Pope Gregory XII. King Charles VI threatens that unless the schism ends by Ascension Day, 40 days after Easter (in 1408, April 24, with Ascension Day on June 3), France will end its support of the Avignon Obedience.

title: 1408

date: January 15

text: January 15– The Compacts of Basel are ratified by the Council of Basel in Switzerland, as the Roman Catholic Church ends its campaign against the Hussites. Among other things, the Church authorizes Hussite priests to administer sacramental wine to their congregations as part of the Communion during the Eucharist before Easter without declaring the same to be heresy, but stops short of allowing the Communion wafer.

title: 1437

date: April 5

text: April 5 (Easter Sunday) – Anabaptist Jan Matthys is killed by the Landsknechte, who laid siege to Münster on the day he predicted as the Second Coming of Christ. His follower John of Leiden takes control of the city.

title: 1534

date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Westminster Conference 1559 opens at Westminster Hall in London with nine leading Catholic churchmen, and nine Protestant reformers of the Church of England. The conference adjourns on April 3 for Easter and never reconvenes.

title: 1559

date: April 1

text: April 1 – J. S. Bach's later Easter Oratorio in its first version is performed at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig on Easter Sunday.

title: 1725

date: April 25

text: April 25 – Easter occurs on the latest possible date (the next time is in 1886).

title: 1734

text: April 25 – Easter occurs on the latest possible date (last time 1886; next time 2038) in the Western Christian Church.

title: 1943

section: Events › April

date: April 21

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

title: 2019


slug: eastern-orthodox-church

label: Eastern Orthodox Church

description: second-largest Christian church

section: Deaths

date: March 10

text: March 10 – Cyrion and Candidus, Armenian Orthodox priest and saints

title: 320

date: December 12

text: December 12 – Saint Spyridon, Greek-Cypriot Orthodox bishop and saint (b. 270)

title: 348

date: November 26

text: November 26 – Paul I of Constantinople, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and saint.

title: 350

text: Eusebius of Emesa, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and saint (b. 290)

title: AD 360

section: Deaths › Date unknown

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Auxentius of Mopsuestia, Byzantine Orthodox priest and saint

title: AD 360

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Abramios the Recluse, Byzantine Orthodox priest and saint

title: AD 360

date: December 24

text: December 24 – George of Cappadocia, Byzantine Orthodox archbishop and saint

title: 361

text: December 24 – George of Laodicea, Byzantine Orthodox archbishop and saint

title: 361

date: August 5

text: August 5 – Eusignius of Antioch, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and martyr (b. 252)

title: 362

date: December 10

text: December 10 – Gemellus of Ancyra, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and saint

title: 362

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Reginos, Greek Orthodox bishop and saint

title: 362

date: June 28

text: June 28 – Basil of Ancyra, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and saint

title: 362

date: October 20

text: October 20 – Artemius, Egyptian Orthodox martyr and saint

title: 362

date: May 30

text: May 30 – Isaac of Dalmatia, Byzantine Orthodox priest and saint

title: AD 383

text: The Synod of Toledo (Spain) tries to add the filioque clause to the Nicene Creed. The Eastern Orthodox Church refuses to go along with this idea.

title: 447

date: February 23

text: February 23 – Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. He chooses Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles as architects. The material for the construction is brought from all over the empire, such as large stones from quarries in Porphyry, Egypt. More than 10,000 people are employed.

title: 532

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine troops drive the extremist Monophysite party out of Alexandria, and establish Theodosius I as patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

title: 535

text: Jacob Baradaeus consecrates Sergius of Tella as patriarch of Antioch, opening a permanent schism between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

title: 544

text: Eustathius of Mtskheta, Orthodox Christian saint

title: 550

text: The new Hagia Sophia (cost: 20,000 pounds of gold), with its numerous chapels and shrines, octagonal dome and mosaics, becomes the centre and most visible monument of Eastern Orthodoxy.

title: 563

date: September 2

text: September 2 – John IV ("the Faster"), patriarch of Constantinople, dies after a 13-year reign in which he has mediated disputes between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Monophysites.

title: 595

text: Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Heraclius, ill, infirm, and unpopular with the Eastern Orthodox Church, is unable to personally lead the Byzantine army to resist the Muslim conquest of the Levant. He sends his brother Theodore to assemble forces to retake the newly won Muslim territories. Monophysites and Jews throughout Syria welcome the Arab invaders, as they are discontented with Byzantine rule.

title: 634

text: Sophronius becomes patriarch of Jerusalem. He sends synodical letters to Pope Honorius I and the Eastern patriarchs, explaining the Orthodox belief, by renouncing Monothelitism.

title: 634

text: Heraclius issues his Ekthesis, espousing the Monothelete doctrine (that there is only one will in Christ), and setting it forth as the official doctrine of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Ekthesis is vigorously opposed, notably by Maximus the Confessor.

title: 638

date: September 16

text: September 16 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council (see 680) ends at Constantinople. The council reaffirms the Orthodox doctrines of the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and condemns monothelitism.

title: 681

text: The Quinisext Council is held in Constantinople; it lays the foundation for the Orthodox canon law. Justinian II suppresses non-Orthodox religious practices, and orders the arrest of Pope Sergius I; the militias of Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna refuse, and take the pope's side.

title: 692

text: The Church of Nubia transfers its allegiance, from the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Coptic Church (approximate date).

title: 719

text: Second Council of Nicaea: Empress Irene restores the veneration of icons (images of Christ and saints). This is a major victory of the monks, who will advance extensive claims to complete freedom for the Eastern Orthodox Church in religious matters. This ends the iconoclastic period in the Byzantine Empire.

title: AD 787

date: March 11

text: March 11 – Feast of Orthodoxy – Official end of Iconoclasm: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire.

title: 843

text: During the Council of Shirakavan representatives of the Armenian, Byzantine and West-Syrian Churches convenes to discuss church union. Though this is not achieved, an agreement is formulated which allows for the peaceful co-existence of Orthodox and non-Chalcedonians in the Byzantine-Armenian borderlands.

title: 862

text: The Byzantine Empire invades Bulgaria in order to impose Orthodox Christianity on Boris I.

title: 863

text: The Christianization of Bulgaria begins: Boris I, Knyaz of the Bulgarian Empire, is converted to Orthodox Christianity. His family and high-ranking dignitaries accept the Orthodox faith at the capital, Pliska - from this point onwards the rulers of the Bulgarian Empire are known as ‘Tsars’ rather than ‘Khans’.

title: 864

date: September 15

text: September 15 – Ludmila, Bohemian duchess and widow of Bořivoj I, is murdered by her daughter-in-law Drahomíra at Tetín (modern Czech Republic). Ludmila will be canonised and become the patron saint of Bohemia and is venerated in the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches.

title: 921

text: Olga of Kiev, ruler and regent of Kievan Rus', converts to the Eastern Orthodox Church, from paganism (approximate date).

title: 957

text: Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus', marries Anna Porphyrogenita (sister of Basil II) and converts to Christianity. He is baptized at Cherson in the Crimea, taking the Christian name of Basil (in honor of his brother-in-law). Vladimir returns in triumph to Kiev, and begins the Christianization of Kievan Rus' to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

title: 988

text: Hilarion of Kiev (or Ilarion) becomes the first non-Greek metropolitan bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Church, in Kiev.

title: 1051

text: Neophytos of Cyprus, Cypriot Orthodox priest (d. 1214)

title: 1134

date: April

text: April – John XXI sends a papal embassy to Constantinople to force Michael VIII Palaiologos, his 18-year-old son and heir Andronikos and Patriarch John XI Bekkos to reaffirm their allegiance to the Union of Lyon in the Palace of Blachernae. Michael refuses to accept a religious union of the Greek Orthodox Church with Rome.

title: 1277

date: May 1

text: May 1 – William of Villehardouin, prince of Achaea, dies. By the terms of the Treaty of Viterbo, his lands passed under the direct control of Charles I, king of Sicily. Charles appoints a bailiff to rule the Latin principality. In response, Charles swears fealty to the new pope, Nicholas III, on May 24. He promises not to attack or invade the Byzantine Empire because Nicholas has hopes to unify the Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church.

title: 1278

text: Council of Blachernae: The Eastern Orthodox Church repudiates the Union with the Catholic Church, declared in the Second Council of Lyon.

title: 1285

text: Matthew I of Constantinople becomes the new Patriarch to lead the Eastern Orthodox Church to replace the previous Patriarch, Callistus II Xanthopoulos.

title: 1397

text: May 17 – Callistus II Xanthopoulos becomes the new Patriarch to lead the Eastern Orthodox Church after the death of the previous Patriarch Antony IV.

title: 1397

text: January 4 – The Cetinje Octoechos (Цетињски октоих, an Eastern Orthodox octoechos (liturgy), first tone), the first incunabulum written in the Serbian recension of Church Slavonic, and the first book printed in Cyrillic in Southeast Europe, is completed in Cetinje.

title: 1494

text: May 24 – In an attempt to reform the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutheran missionaries meet with Jeremias II Tranos, the Ecumenical Patriarch, at his residence in Constantinople, and present him with a Greek translation of the Augsburg Confession. Jeremias sends the missionaries, Jakob Andreae and Martin Crusius, three rebuttals to define the objections he has to the Lutheran document, declaring the reasons why the Eastern Orthodoxy has no desire for reformation.

title: 1575

text: Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius I succeeds Silvester.

title: 1590

text: December 2 – The proposal for the Union of Brest (moving the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Roman Catholic Church) is made in a petition by the Metropolitan Michael Rohoza in a petition to Sigismund, monarch of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland. After a similar petition to Pope Clement VIII on June 12, 1595, the Union will be proclaimed on October 8, 1596.

title: 1594

text: November 20 – Callinicus, Metropolitan of Heraclea dies suddenly only one day after being elected the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the highest office in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Callinicus is said to have paid a record fee to the Ottoman Sultan to guarantee his appointment.

title: 1726

text: July 16 – Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation issued in order to regulate organization of Eastern Orthodox Church in Habsburg monarchy.

title: 1779

text: July 2 – Ivan Kasatkin lands on Hakodate, and introduces the Eastern Orthodox Church into Japan.

title: 1861

text: February 1 – Theodosius of Skopje, Bulgaria Orthodox religious leader and saint (b. 1846)

title: 1926

text: November 27–30 – An ecumenical meeting of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church at Nicaea is held to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.

title: 2025


slug: eastern-roman-empire

label: Eastern Roman Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Huns under Uldin cross the lower Danube and attack the Eastern Roman Empire, setting fire to frontier forts and taking control of the Castra Martis (modern Bulgaria). The Romans negotiate for peace, but Uldin demands an exorbitant gold tribute in return for his withdrawal. This demand is rejected and Anthemius forces the Huns back across the Danube.

title: 408

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: King Yazdegerd II of Persia signs a peace treaty after a short war with the Eastern Roman Empire. Theodosius II sends his commander, Anatolius, to conclude his terms and promise not to build any new fortifications along the border territories.

title: 441

section: Events › By place › Persia

text: Theodosius II sends an embassy to Attila; Priscus of Panium, envoy for the Eastern Roman Empire. Priscus records one of the few eyewitness accounts of the Hun kingdom.

title: 447

section: Events › By place › Byzantium

section: Culture & Society

date: August 25

text: August 25 – Pulcheria is forced to marry and co-rule the Eastern Roman Empire. She gives the imperial diadem to the Illyrian (or Thracian) officer and senator Marcian, age 58, and is crowned as empress in the Hippodrome at Constantinople, in the first religious coronation ceremony.

title: 450

section: Health & Medicine

text: Rome is threatened by Attila but not attacked, due to a last-minute effort by Leo I. Threatened by news of reinforcements from the Eastern Roman Empire and the plague breaking out among the Huns, Attila is persuaded to withdraw.

title: 452

date: February 7

text: February 7 – Leo I, a Thraco-Roman (or Dacian) high-ranking officer, becomes the new emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, reigning for nearly 20 years. He is first to accept the Byzantine crown from the hands of the patriarch of Constantinople.

title: 457

date: January 9

text: January 9 – Emperor Zeno abdicates under pressure, as his wife's uncle Basiliscus stages a coup d'état at Constantinople, with support from Zeno's trusted adviser and fellow Isaurian Illus. Basiliscus usurps the throne and is proclaimed new emperor (Augustus) of the Eastern Roman Empire. He begins a 20-month reign; Zeno and his supporters flee to Isauria.

title: 475

date: August

text: August – Basiliscus, Roman usurper, is deposed and Zeno is restored as emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. With the support of his adviser Illus, he besieges Constantinople, but the Senate opens the gates, allowing him to resume the throne. Basiliscus flees to sanctuary in a church, but surrenders himself and his family after extracting a solemn promise from Zeno not to shed their blood. Basiliscus is sent to a fortress in Cappadocia, where he later dies from starvation.

title: 476


slug: eastern-wu

label: Eastern Wu

description: one of the Three Kingdoms of China (222-280)

section: Births

text: Lü Dai, general of the Eastern Wu state (Three Kingdoms) (d. 256)

title: AD 161

text: Zhu Huan, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state (d. 238)

title: AD 177

date: July 5

text: July 5 – Sun Quan, Chinese emperor of the Eastern Wu state (d. 252)

title: AD 182

text: Hu Zong, Chinese general, official and poet of the Eastern Wu state (d. 242)

title: AD 183

text: Sun Shao, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state (d. 241)

title: AD 188

text: Ling Tong, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state (d. 217)

title: AD 189

text: Luo Tong, Chinese official of the Eastern Wu state (d. 228)

title: AD 193

text: Battle of Xiaoting/Yiling: The Chinese state of Shu Han is defeated by Eastern Wu.

title: 222

section: Events › By place › China

text: Battle of Dongkou: The Chinese state of Cao Wei is defeated by Eastern Wu.

title: 223

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: A merchant from the Roman Empire, called "Qin Lun" by the Chinese, arrives in Jiaozhi (modern Hanoi), and is taken to see King Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, who requests him to make a report on his native country and people. He is given an escort for the return trip, including a present of ten male and ten female "blackish-colored dwarfs." However, the officer in charge of the Chinese escort dies, and Qin Lun has to continue his journey home alone.

title: 226

text: Lü Fan, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state

title: 228

date: June

text: June –October – Battle of Shiting: The Eastern Wu Kingdom defeats the Cao Wei Kingdom.

title: 228

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: June 23

text: June 23 – Chinese warlord Sun Quan formally declares himself emperor of the Eastern Wu state. The city of Jianye (modern Nanjing) is founded as the capital of Eastern Wu. The independent kingdoms in Cambodia and Laos become Eastern Wu vassals.

title: 229

text: Liu Ji, Chinese official and politician of the Eastern Wu state (b. 185)

title: 233

text: Sun Xiu, Chinese emperor of the Eastern Wu state (d. 264)

title: 235

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: A Chinese expeditionary force from the Eastern Wu state discovers the island of Taiwan.

title: 239

text: Sun Hao, Chinese emperor of the Eastern Wu state (d. 284)

title: 243

text: Sun Liang succeeds his father Sun Quan, as emperor of the Chinese state of Eastern Wu.

title: 252

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Sun Quan, founder of the Eastern Wu state (b. 182)

title: 252

text: Zhuge Ke, Chinese general and regent of the Eastern Wu state (b. 203)

title: 253

text: Sun Xiu succeeds his brother Sun Liang as emperor of the Chinese state of Eastern Wu.

title: 258

text: Sun Liang, Chinese emperor of the Eastern Wu state (b. 243)

title: 260

text: Sun Hao succeeds Sun Xiu as emperor of the Chinese state of Eastern Wu.

title: 264

text: Zhu (or Jing), Chinese empress of the Eastern Wu state

title: 265

text: Sun Fen, Chinese prince of the Eastern Wu state

title: 270

text: Sun Hao, Chinese emperor of the Eastern Wu state (b. 243)

title: 284


slug: ebro

label: Ebro

description: river in Spain

year_label: 210 BCE

text: Following the death of his father, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and his uncle, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, at the hands of the Carthaginians, the young Publius Cornelius Scipio takes over command of the Roman troops in Spain. His appointment reflects the Roman Senate's dissatisfaction with the cautious strategy of the propraetor, Gaius Claudius Nero, then commander in Spain north of the Ebro.

title: 210 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

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

title: 714

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Muslim forces under Abd al-Malik ibn Katan al-Fihri, governor (wali) of Al-Andalus, cross the Pyrenees and ravage both sides of the mountains. He establishes colonies along the Ebro Valley, and within Basque territory. The Moorish main military efforts are in Catalonia, Aragon, Navarre and Septimania (Southern France), strengthening the towns already in their hands.

title: 733

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Charlemagne conquers Catalonia, as far south as the River Ebro and the Balearic Islands. The counties come under the rule of Bera, count of Barcelona. He signs a three-year peace treaty with the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 812

text: Galindo Aznárez I, Frankish count, usurps the Catalan counties (pagi) of Pallars and Ribagorza, in the Spanish March (modern Spain), a buffer zone between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River.

title: 833

date: July 26

text: July 26 — At the Battle of Valdejunquera, the Muslim forces of the Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III of Córdoba, defeat the Christian armies of King Ordoño II of León and King Sancho I of Pamplona. The decisive battle at the Val de Junquera takes place following the Emir's pre-emptive strike and his invasion of the upper Douro valley and the capture of Osma. The Arab army proceeds on to the upper Ebro, restoring and replenishing Umayyad garrisons in the region.

title: 920

section: Events › By place › Iberian Peninsula

text: Roger I of Tosny, a Norman nobleman, leaves the battlefield of the Ebro Valley after terrorising the Saracens and capturing several towns and castles during the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain).

title: 1024

text: Ramon Berenguer III ("the Great"), count of Barcelona, inherits Cerdanya (located between the Pyrenees and the Ebro River) which becomes part of the Principality of Catalonia.

title: 1117

text: The Almoravids lose their control of the Ebro valley:

title: 1118

section: Events › By place › Spain

text: King Afonso I ("the Great") of Portugal takes Abrantes from the Almoravids. Ramon Berenguer IV conquers the lower Ebro plain (between 1148–1149).

title: 1148


slug: ecgfrith-of-northumbria

label: Ecgfrith of Northumbria

description: King of Northumbria

text: Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria (approximate date)

title: 645

text: Battle of Two Rivers: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria defeats the Picts under King Drest VI, in the vicinity of Moncreiffe Island, near Perth (Scotland). After the battle the Picts are reduced to slavery, and subject to the yoke of captivity for the next 14 years.

title: 671

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Deaths

text: King Domangart mac Domnaill of Dál Riata (Scotland) dies, and is succeeded by his nephew Máel Dúin mac Conaill. He probably submits to King Ecgfrith of Northumbria as his overlord.

title: 673

text: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria defeats a coalition led by the Mercians. He annexes the region of Lindsey (Lincolnshire).

title: 674

section: Religion & Belief

text: King Æthelred of Mercia defeats the Northumbrian forces under King Ecgfrith, in a battle near the River Trent. Archbishop Theodore helps to resolve differences between the two, Æthelred agreeing to pay a weregild to avoid any resumption of hostilities (approximate date).

title: 678

text: King Æthelred of Mercia marries Princess Osthryth, sister of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (approximate date).

title: AD 679

text: Wilfrid returns to Northumbria, with papal support, but is imprisoned by King Ecgfrith, and again exiled. He travels to the Kingdom of Sussex and begins to evangelise the people.

title: 680

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria requests that the monks of Monkwearmouth found a new monastery at Jarrow (or 682).

title: 681

text: King Ecgfrith requests Benedict Biscop to build a second monastery at Jarrow (Northumbria). Benedict leaves Monkwearmouth with 20 monks, (including his protégé, the young Bede).

title: 682

text: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria sends a punitive expedition to Ireland under his ealdorman Berht, laying waste to the territory of Meath, ruled by High King Fínsnechta Fledach.

title: 684

date: May 20

text: May 20 – Battle of Dun Nechtain: The Picts under King Bridei III revolt against their Northumbrian overlords. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, advises King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (Bridei's cousin) not to invade Pictland (modern Scotland). Undeterred, Ecgfrith marches his army north to engage the enemy near Dunnichen. The Picts, possibly with Scottish and Strathclyde Briton help, defeat the Saxon guard, killing Ecgfrith, who has reigned for 15 years, routing his army and forcing the Anglo-Saxons to withdraw south of the River Forth.

title: 685

text: May 20 – Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria

title: 685

section: Crime & Justice

text: Adomnán, Irish abbot of Iona, visits the court of King Ecgfrith, to ransom Irish captives (60 Gaels who had been captured in a Northumbrian raid).

title: 687

section: Events › By place › Europe › Britain


slug: ecuador

label: Ecuador

description: sovereign state in South America

section: Climate & Environment

text: The last known eruption of Chimborazo (modern Ecuador) occurs.

title: 550

section: Events › By place › Americas

section: Conflict & Security

text: April – Battle of Puná: Francisco Pizarro defeats the native inhabitants of the island of Puná, off of the coast of what is now the South American nation of Ecuador.

title: 1531

section: Events › April–June

date: December 6

text: December 6 – Over 200 Spanish settlers, led by conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar, found what becomes Quito, Ecuador.

title: 1534

section: Events › October–December

date: July 25

text: July 25 – The city of Guayaquil, now the largest city in the South American nation of Ecuador is founded by Spanish conqueror Francisco de Orellana in the location of a Quechua native village of the same name. Orellana names the city "Santiago de Guayaquil".

title: 1538

section: Events › July–September

date: March 28

text: March 28 – In what is now the capital of Ecuador, San Francisco de Quito is declared a city by the decree of King Charles I of Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru.

title: 1541

section: Events › January–March

date: March 1

text: March 1 – Off of the coast of what is now Ecuador, the English galleon Golden Hind, captained by Francis Drake, captures the Spanish freighter Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (unofficially called "Cagafuego") and its cargo, including 26 tons of silver and 1,000 pounds of gold.

title: 1579

date: July 1

text: July 1 – Anglo-Spanish War: Action of Atacames Bay – English privateer Richard Hawkins in the Dainty is attacked and captured by a Spanish squadron off Esmeraldas (now in Ecuador).

title: 1594

date: August 15

text: August 15 – The Portuguese expedition led by Pedro Teixeira completes the first ascent of the Amazon River, crossing the Quijos River and arriving at Quito in Ecuador soon after (the same trip had been made in the opposite direction, in 1541).

title: 1638

date: May 27

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

title: 1717

section: Science & Discovery

text: Charles Marie de La Condamine, with François Fresneau Gataudière, makes the first scientific observations of rubber, in Ecuador.

title: 1736

section: Events › Date unknown

date: October 3

text: October 3 – French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine and a team of surveyors begin the first measurements at the Equator to determine the exact meridian arc measurement of distance between points separated by one degree of longitude in order to make a precise calculation of the Earth's circumference. The initial measurements of this French Geodesic Mission to the Equator, made in what is now Ecuador, last until November 3. The same year the French Geodesic Mission to Lapland took place. Both confirm Isaac Newton's prediction that the Figure of the Earth is flattened at the poles.

title: 1736

text: Ecuador, part of Real Audiencia of Quito, becomes a part of New Granada, instead of Peru.

title: 1739

date: December 3

text: December 3 – Ecuadorian scientist Pedro Vicente Maldonado departs from Brazil in order to purchase the most state-of-the-art equipment for the French Geodesic Mission

title: 1743

date: September 1

text: September 1 – The revolt in Quito (at this time part of Spain's Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada; the modern-day capital of Ecuador) is ended peacefully as royal forces enter the city under the command of Guayaquil Governor Pedro Zelaya. Rather than seeking retribution from the Quito citizens over their insurrection that has broken the monopoly over the sale of the liquor aguardiente, Zeleaya oversees a program of reconciliation.

title: 1766

date: April 4

text: April 4 – The Cotopaxi volcano erupts in what is now Ecuador, at the time part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, covering the towns of Hambato and Tacunga with ash, but not causing fatalities.

title: 1768

date: August 10

text: August 10 – Ecuador declares independence from Spain.

title: 1809

text: July 26 – Guayaquil Conference: José de San Martín arrives in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to meet Simón Bolívar.

title: 1822

date: May 13

text: May 13 – Ecuador separates from Gran Colombia.

title: 1830

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.

title: 1831

date: February 12

text: February 12 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.

title: 1832

date: September 24

text: September 24 – Battle of Guayaquil: Ecuadorian forces, led by Juan José Flores and Gabriel García Moreno, take the port of Guayaquil from Supreme Chief Guillermo Franco, who is backed by Peruvian forces.

title: 1860

section: Events › September

date: March 25

text: March 25 – The Republic of Ecuador is consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, carried out by President Gabriel García Moreno and supported, blessed and specified by Pope Pius IX.

title: 1874

section: Events › March

date: June 26

text: June 26 – The eruption of the volcano Cotopaxi in Ecuador causes severe mudflows that wipe out surrounding cities and valleys, killing 1,000.

title: 1877

section: Events › June

section: Culture & Society

date: June 5

text: June 5 – The Liberal Revolution begins in Ecuador, making the civil war more intense in the country.

title: 1895

date: November 15

text: November 15 – 1922 Guayaquil general strike: During a 3-day strike action in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, police and military fire into a crowd, killing at least 300.

title: 1922

section: Events › November

date: August 5

text: August 5 – In Ecuador, the 6.8 Ambato earthquake kills more than 5,000, and destroys a number of villages.

title: 1949

section: Events › August

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Waorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them.

title: 1956

section: Events › January

date: February 15

text: February 15 – President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.

title: 1972

section: Events › February

date: December 12

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

title: 1979

section: Events › December

date: March 6

text: March 6 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurs in Napo Province in northeast Ecuador, killing roughly 1,000 people.

title: 1987

section: Economy & Finance

date: March 13

text: March 13 – The United States dollar becomes the official currency of Ecuador, replacing the Ecuadorian sucre.

title: 2000

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: April 19

text: April 19 – The Quito Ultratumba nightclub fire in Quito, Ecuador, kills 19 people and injures at least 24 more.

title: 2008

section: Events › April

date: March 2

text: March 2 – Venezuela and Ecuador move troops to the Colombian border, following a Colombian raid against FARC guerrillas inside Ecuadorian territory, in which senior commander Raúl Reyes is killed.

title: 2008

date: April 16

text: April 16 – An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 strikes northwestern Ecuador killing 676 people and injuring over 6,000. Widespread damage was caused across Manabí Province, with structures hundreds of kilometres away from the epicenter collapsing.

title: 2016