slug: berber-people

label: Berber people

year_label: 17 CE

text: Tacfarinas, Numidian deserter from the Roman army, begins a guerrilla war against the Romans. He leads his own Musulamii tribe and a coalition of Berbers, attacking the Limes Tripolitanus, a fortified zone (limes) of the Roman Empire in Africa.

title: 10s

section: Events › 17 AD › Africa

text: In Africa, the dissident Berber prince Firmus is delivered to the Romans by his brother Gildon.

title: 375

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Genseric seizes lands from the Berbers and destroys church buildings all over Mauretania. He goes on a rampage forcing Bonifacius, Roman governor, to retreat to the fortified coastal town of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba).

title: 429

text: Leptis Magna (modern Libya) is sacked by Berber (Moor) raiders. Gelimer leads a successful expedition in North Africa.

title: 523

section: Events › By place › Africa

date: December 15

text: December 15 – Battle of Tricamarum: Gelimer assembles an army of about 50,000 men at Bulla Regia (Numidia), and advances towards Carthage. Belisarius moves out to meet the Vandals; he leads the Byzantine cavalry (5,000 men) into battle. Without waiting for his infantry to come up, he charges, despite odds of almost 10-to-1, and throws Gelimer in confusion. Belisarius captures the Vandal camp by storm. Tzazo is killed in an all-cavalry fight, and Gelimer is forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Tunis with the Berbers.

title: 533

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: A Muslim Arab army led by Uqba ibn Nafi reaches Morocco, before being forced back into Cyrene by the Berbers.

title: 681

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Berber forces led by Queen Kahina ("The Diviner") are crushed by Arab invaders at Aures (Algeria). She has rallied the Berbers since the collapse of Byzantine power (see 647).

title: 698

section: Religion & Belief

text: Salih I ibn Mansur founds the Muslim Kingdom of Nekor (Morocco). He converts the local Berber tribes to Islam.

title: 710

text: The Great Berber Revolt: The Berbers break out in revolt against the Umayyad rulers at Maghreb, in response to the oppressive, (and, by Islamic law, illegal) tax-collection and slave-tribute. The rebellion is led by the chieftain (alleged water-carrier) Maysara al-Matghari. He successfully seizes Tangier, and rapidly captures much of western Morocco. The Berber rebellion which erupts not only undermines caliphal rule and fragments the wilayat or province of Ifriqiya (North Africa), but paves the way for the emergence of autonomous local Arab dynasties.

title: 739

text: The Berber tribes in the recently conquered region of Galicia (northwest Spain) rebel. This facilitates the establishment of an independent kingdom in the Cantabrian Mountains under King Alfonso I of Asturias.

title: 740

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: Arab forces under Abd al-Malik ibn Katan al-Fihri, governor (wali) of Al-Andalus, suppress the Berber rebellion in the region of Mértola (modern Portugal).

title: 742

text: Salih ibn Tarif proclaims himself a prophet among the Barghawata, a confederation of Berber tribes in modern-day western Morocco.

title: 744

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: The city of Sijilmasa (modern Morocco) is founded by the Miknasa, a Zenata Berber tribe. They adopt Kharijism-Islam, and establish the Emirate of Sijilmasa in the northern Sahara. It becomes a wealthy trading center as the western end-point of the Trans-Saharan trade.

title: AD 757

text: The Zenata Berber tribe of Banu Ifran rebels against the Abbasid Caliphate, and creates an independent state centered around Tlemcen (modern Algeria). Their tribal chief Abu Qurra rebuilds the city (formerly, the Roman colonia Pomaria).

title: 765

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: The Kharijite Berbers of Tlemcen and Tiaret try to conquer Ifriqiya from the Abbasid Caliphate, but fail to capture the capital of Kairouan (modern Tunisia).

title: AD 767

text: In al-Andalus, the Berber tribal chieftain Saqiya ibn Abd al Wahid al-Miknasi leads a rebellion against the Emirate of Córdoba, in the present-day Spanish province of Extremadura.

title: 768

section: Events › By place › Iberian Peninsula

text: Emir Idris I, founder of the Idrisid dynasty and kingdom of Morocco, is poisoned on orders of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. He is succeeded by his son Idris II (only just two months old), who is raised by his mother Kenza among the Berbers of Volubilis.

title: 791

text: The Berber Kutama tribesmen under Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah capture the cities of Kairouan and Raqqada. The capital city of the Rustamid imamate, Tihert is destroyed. The remaining Ibadi are forced into the desert.

title: 909

text: Abu Yazid, a Kharijite Berber leader, launches a rebellion in the Aurès Mountains (modern Algeria) against the Fatamids, seeking aid from the Caliphate of Córdoba in Al-Andalus.

title: 944

date: August 19

text: August 19 – Abu Yazid, a Kharijite Berber leader who has led a rebellion against the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya, is defeated in the Hodna Mountains (modern-day Algeria). Caliph al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah sets about restoring the Fatimid dominion over North Africa.

title: 947

date: October 31

text: October 31 – Surrounded by a Berber army, the French Navy evacuates the presidio of Jijel, a Mediterranean Sea port in what is now the Republic of Algeria, after having captured it from the Algiers Regency on June 12.

title: 1664


slug: berbers

label: Berbers

description: ethnic group indigenous to North Africa

section: Conflict & Security

text: Hadrian leads a punitive campaign against Berbers who had been raiding Roman towns in Roman Mauretania.

title: AD 123

text: Cyprian, Christian writer of Berber descent, becomes bishop of Carthage.

title: 249

text: In Africa, the Berbers massacre Roman colonists.

title: 256

text: Having first crossed into Africa in 296, Emperor Maximian concludes his campaigns against the Quinquegentiani and other Berbers. His campaigns had ranged as far as Mauretania in the west and Tripolitania in the east. Julianus, a rebel leader in Africa, throws himself into a fire after the Romans breach the walls of his stronghold.

title: 299

section: Births

text: Antalas, Berber tribal leader (approximate date)

title: AD 500

text: Musa ibn Nusayr defeats the Berber forces in Algeria, ending resistance against the Arabs (approximate date).

title: 700

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

section: Deaths

date: February 6

text: February 6 – Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik dies after a 19-year reign, in which the Arab expansion in Europe has been stopped and the Umayyad Caliphate has come under pressure from the Turks in Central Asia and Berbers in North Africa. He is succeeded by his nephew Al-Walid II, who has Khalid al-Qasri, former governor of Iraq, imprisoned and tortured.

title: 743

text: The Warfajuma Berbers and their Sufrite allies sweep up from southern Tunisia and capture Kairouan, killing Emir Habib Al-Fihri and putting an end to the Fihrid dynasty. In the meantime, the Ibadites that Ibn Habib had driven out of Tripoli return, rallied by their imam Abu al-Khattab al-Ma'afiri in Jebel Nefusa, the Ibadites recapture Tripoli.

title: AD 757

text: The Saracens, under the Berber leader Kalfun, capture the Byzantine city of Bari (Southern Italy). He becomes the first ruler of the Emirate of Bari, and expands his influence on the Italian mainland with raids.

title: 847

text: Abu Yazid, Kharijite Berber leader (d. 947)

title: 873

text: Abu 'Abdullah al-Shi'i leads the rebellion of the Kutama Berbers (a movement of the Shiʿite Fatimids), against the Aghlabid emirate in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia).

title: 901

date: January 24

text: January 24 – The Fatimid general, Hubasa ibn Yusuf of the Kutama Berber tribe, marches out with his troops to invade Egypt. He follows the coastline, and takes possession of the only two towns of any size Syrte and Ajdabiya, without a struggle. The garrisons of the two towns—the westernmost outposts of the Abbasid Caliphate—have already fled.

title: 914

text: Sicilian Berbers in Agrigento revolt and depose the independent Emir Ahmed ibn Khorob. They offer Sicily to the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia). Caliph Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah welcomes this turn of events, but refuses to grant the Berber rulers their autonomy. He sends a Fatimid expeditionary force under Abu Said Musa which lands in Sicily and, with some difficulty, takes control of the island. Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah appoints Salam ibn Rashid as the emir of Sicily. Ahmed ibn Khorob is dispatched to Raqqada and executed.

title: 916

text: Ha-Mim proclaims himself a prophet and a messenger of Islam, among the Ghomara Berbers near the city of Tétouan (modern Morocco).

title: 925

text: The Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba invades and conquers the city of Ceuta, which was ruled by the Berber dynasty Banu Isam.

title: 931

section: Events › By place › North Africa

text: Fatimid forces fail to seize the Maghreb al-Aqsa (modern Morocco) from the local Berber tribes allied to the Iberia-based Caliphate of Córdoba.

title: 933

text: The Ghana Empire takes the Berber town of Aoudaghost (modern Mauritania) as the West African nation makes further gains.

title: 990

date: November 1

text: November 1 – Berber forces led by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam defeat the Umayyad caliph Muhammad II in the battle of Alcolea. He enters the city of Córdoba, which is sacked by Berbers and Castillans. Sulayman is elected as caliph of the Caliphate of Córdoba.

title: 1009

text: Aoudaghost, an important Berber trading center and rival of Koumbi Saleh, is captured by the Ghana Empire.

title: 1050

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: The Almoravids conquer the Barghawata, a group of Berber tribes, who have established an independent state in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1058

text: Almoravid forces under Syr ibn Abi Bakr capture Santarém and Sintra in Portugal. The efforts of the Berbers to reconquer lost ground also lead to the sack of Coimbra. The same year the city revolts against their lord.

title: 1111

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Battle of Derne: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (the Shores of Tripoli).

title: 1805

section: Events › April–June

date: November 13

text: November 13 – Zaian War: Battle of El Herri – Zayanes (Berbers) in Morocco overpower French forces.

title: 1914

section: Events › November


slug: berengar-i-of-italy

label: Berengar I of Italy

description: Holy Roman Emperor from 915 to 924

text: Berengar I, king of Italy (approximate date)

title: 845

section: Health & Medicine

text: Guy II of Spoleto begins a revolt, and assembles an army supported with Arab auxiliaries. King Charles the Fat sends Berengar of Friuli with an expeditionary force to deprive him of Spoleto. An epidemic ravages Berengar's army, and forces them to retire.

title: 883

date: December 26

text: December 26 – In an assembly at Pavia (Northern Italy), the lords of Lombardia elect Berengar I, a grandson of former emperor Louis the Pious (through his daughter Gisela), as king of Italy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. After the deposition of Charles the Fat, the nobility chooses Ranulf II as duke (or 'king') of Aquitaine.

title: 887

section: Exploration & Expansion

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

text: Guy III, duke of Spoleto, defeats the Lombard king Berengar I at the Trebbia River, and is acclaimed as king of Italy at an assembly in Pavia. After confirming some privileges to the Catholic Church, he is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, by Pope Stephen V. Berengar is forced to retreat to Verona; Guy does not pursue him into Friuli, because of the (possible) wrath of King Arnulf of Carinthia.

title: 889

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: 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

date: March

text: March – King Lambert II proceeds to re-conquer Italy. Heading north, he captures western Lombardy, and decapitates count Maginulf of Milan. In the meantime, the deposed king Berengar I recovers Verona (March of Friuli) from Arnulf's candidate, count Walfred of Verona, who dies in office with "great fidelity to the emperor".

title: 896

section: Crime & Justice

text: Spring – King Lambert II travels to Rome with his mother, Queen Ageltrude and brother Guy IV, Lombard duke of Spoleto, to meet Pope Stephen VI to receive reconfirmation of his imperial title. Guy is murdered on the Tiber by agents of Alberic I, a Frankish nobleman with political interests. He seizes Spoleto (possibly at the instigation of King Berengar I) and sets himself up as duke.

title: 897

date: October 15

text: October 15 – Lambert II dies from falling off his horse while hunting — or is killed (possibly assassinated by supporters of Maginulf of Milan). After the death of Lambert, his rival Berengar I gains recognition as king of Italy. He releases Adalbert II and receives homage from the Italian nobles.

title: 898

date: October 12

text: October 12 – Following Magyars raids in Lombardy, king Louis III ("the Blind") is called to Italy by the grandees. He takes Pavia, forcing king Berengar I to flee, and replaces him as King of Italy.

title: 900

date: February

text: February – King Louis III (the Blind) is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict IV at Rome. His rival Berengar I seeks refuge in Bavaria at the court of King Louis IV (the Child).

title: 901

text: Spring – Adalbert II, margrave of Tuscany, revolts against Emperor Louis III ("the Blind"). He helps the deposed King Berengar I to recover the Kingdom of Italy. Louis III is forced to abdicate the Lombard throne and flees to Provence, compelled to promise never to return to Italy.

title: 902

text: King Berengar I of Italy proceeds to issue concessions and privileges to the Lombard nobility and monasteries. He grants concessions to Bobbio Abbey in Emilia-Romagna (Northeast Italy).

title: 903

text: Spring – King Berengar I of Italy arranges a truce with the Hungarians, on payment of a tribute. Grand Prince Árpád withdraws from Italy, and begins raiding in Bavaria.

title: 905

date: December 3

text: December 3 – John X crowns the Italian sovereign Berengar I as the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. Berengar returns to northern Italy, where Friuli is threatened by the Hungarians.

title: 915

text: Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, leads a rebellion with the support of the Italian nobles against King Berengar I. He crosses the Alps into Burgundy and invites Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy to invade Italy. Berengar flees again to Verona and Rudolph is crowned King of Italy at Pavia.

title: 922

date: July 29

text: July 29 – Battle of Fiorenzuola: Lombard forces led by King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the deposed Emperor Berengar I at Firenzuola (Tuscany). A pact is reached between Rudolph and Berengar, who abdicates the imperial throne and cedes sovereignty over the rest of Italy.

title: 923

date: April 7

text: April 7 – After having made a new alliance with the Hungarians, the Holy Roman Emperor Berengar I, King of Italy, is assassinated in Verona by one of his guards. Rudolph II, King of Burgundy and a claimant to the throne, takes full control of the Kingdom of Italy, while the office of the Holy Roman Emperor will not be re-created until 38 years later.

title: 924

section: Events › April—June

text: April 7 – Berengar I, king of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor

title: 924

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Hungarian Magyar forces led by General Szalárd, capture Pavia, capital of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire, at the request of the Holy Roman Emperor Berengar. Later, after crossing the Alps via the St. Bernard Pass, the Magyars pillage Provence, Septimania and Nismes in southern France).

title: 924

section: Events › January—March


slug: berengar-ii-of-italy

label: Berengar II of Italy

description: King of Italy from 950 to 961

text: Fall – Hugh of Provence makes a truce with the Moors of Fraxinet, after hearing the news that a Swabian army is about to descend on Italy. He allows the Moors to attack the Alpine passes for his own political ends in his struggle with Berengar of Ivrea. The Byzantines cry foul and end their alliance with Hugh.

title: 942

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: Spring – Berengar of Ivrea invades Italy with hired Lombard troops and takes up residence in Milan. Berengar proceeds to Verona, where he is joined by forces of Count Milo and other partisans.

title: 945

text: Summer – A Hungarian army led by Grand Prince Taksony campaigns in Italy, heading southwards on the eastern shore of the peninsula. It besieges Larino and reaches Otranto, plundering Apulia for three months. Berengar of Ivrea negotiates a truce and offers them a massive tribute (for which he imposes a special tax).

title: 947

date: November 22

text: November 22 – King Lothair II dies at Turin (possibly poisoned by Berengar of Ivrea). Berengar is crowned king of Italy and imprisons Lothair's now 19-year-old widow, Adelaide for four months at Como.

title: 950

section: Religion & Belief

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: Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I (the Great), reconciles with his father and asks again for installation as duke of Swabia. Otto refuses, but at the instigation of his uncle Bruno I (duke of Lotharingia) allows Liudolf to lead an expedition to Italy to bring the vassal Berengar of Ivrea to heel.

title: 956

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Liudolf, the eldest son of King Otto I, dies of a violent fever near Pombia (it is rumored from a latent poison administered somehow by Berengar II's agents). The German armies return home, leaving Berengar of Ivrea in control of Italy. Liudolf is succeeded by his 3-year-old son Otto, who will be adopted and raised by his grandfather Otto, as the later duke of Swabia and Bavaria.

title: 957

text: King Berengar II invades the March of Verona, which is under control of the dukes of Bavaria, and lay siege to Count Adalbert Atto at Canossa Castle (northern Italy). Berengar sends a Lombard expeditionary force under his son Guy of Ivrea against Theobald II, duke of Spoleto. He captures Spoleto and Camerino.

title: 958

text: Pietro III Candiano, doge of Venice, dies after a 17-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Pietro IV Candiano, who breaks off his campaign in Spoleto on behalf of King Berengar II of Italy and returns to Venice.

title: 959

date: June

text: June/July – Adalbert II, co-ruler and the son of King Berengar II, with the support of Duke Hugh of Tuscany, invades the Papal States under Pope John XII. With Lombard forces closing in on Rome, a papal delegation is sent to King Otto I (the Great) to appeal for assistance.

title: 960

text: Summer – Otto I leads an expeditionary force into northern Italy through the Brenner Pass at Trento, to assist the beleaguered young Pope John XII. He proceeds towards Pavia – King Berengar II sends his son and co-ruler Adalbert II from Rome at the head of a large army to seize control of the Upper Adige and contest Otto's entry.

title: 961

text: Otto I takes his army to lay siege at San Giulio, an island within Lake Orta (Piedmont), where Queen Willa (the wife of King Berengar II) has barricaded herself. She surrenders and is allowed to go free by Otto. Willa departs for Montefeltro to join her husband.

title: 962

date: December

text: December – King Berengar II (the father of Adalbert II) surrenders at the fortress of Montefeltro to German forces. He and his wife Willa are taken prisoner and dispatched to Bamberg.

title: 963

date: August 4

text: August 4 – Berengar II, margrave and king of Italy

title: 966

date: February 15

text: February 15 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles and secondi milites (the minor nobles), Arduin of Ivrea (grandson of former King Berengar II) is restored to his domains and crowned as King of Italy in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore. Arduin is supported by Arnulf II, archbishop of Milan.

title: 1002


slug: bergen

label: Bergen

description: Norwegian city in Vestland, Norway

section: Culture & Society

text: Trondheim is founded by King Olav Tryggvason. This will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until Bergen is founded in 1070.

title: 997

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Bergen is founded by King Olaf III of Norway; it will function as the main city and capital of Norway, until it is replaced by Oslo in 1314.

title: 1070

section: Events

text: The 15-year-old King Inge I ("the Hunchback") of Norway calls for a meeting at Bergen of all religious leaders in anticipation that the English cardinal Nicholas Breakspear will find an archbishopric at Trondheim.

title: 1150

date: May 25

text: May 25 – At his royal palace in Bergen, King Haakon IV of Norway marries Margaret Skulesdatter, daughter of Haakon's rival for the throne, Skule Bårdsson.

title: 1225

section: Events › April – June

date: August 31

text: August 31 – King Haakon V of Norway moves his capital from Bergen to Oslo – where he builds Akershus Fortress, from which Norway is ruled for the next 500 years.

title: 1314

section: Events › July – September

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: May 19

text: May 19 – Over 90% of the city of Bergen, Norway, is destroyed and reduced to ashes in a Great Fire.

title: 1702

date: April 10

text: April 10 – WWII: First naval Battle of Narvik – The British Royal Navy attacks the German fleet in the Ofotfjord. At Bergen, German cruiser Königsberg is sunk by British Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua dive bombers, flying from RNAS Hatston in Orkney.

title: 1940

section: Events › April

date: September

text: The Laksevåg floating dry dock at Bergen (Norway) is sunk by British X-class submarine X-24.

title: 1944

section: Events › September


slug: berlin

label: Berlin

description: federated state, capital and largest city of Germany

year_label: 175 BCE

text: The construction of the western front of the altar in Pergamum, Turkey, begins (approximate date) and is finished in 156 BC. A reconstruction of it is now kept at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

title: 175 BC

section: Events › By topic › Art

year_label: 164 BCE

text: Construction of the detail of the frieze from the east front of the altar in Pergamon, Athena Attacking the Giants, begins and is finished eight years later. It is now kept at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung, Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, Germany.

title: 164 BC

section: Conflict & Security

date: March 11

text: March 11 – The Raid on Brandenburg by King Władysław of Poland is completed with the looting and destruction by Lithuanian troops of the cities of Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder) and the area between them, and the capture of 6,000 German prisoners of war.

title: 1326

section: Events › January – March

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Berlin joins the Hanseatic League.

title: 1359

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Deaths

text: March 11 – In Berlin, Johann von Hohenzollern becomes the new Elector of Brandenburg, the independent Electorate within the Holy Roman Empire, upon the death of his father, the Elector Albrecht III Achilles.

title: 1486

section: Events › January–March

date: July 13

text: July 13 – In Berlin, John George, Elector of Brandenburg, orders the founding of the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, which remains 450 years later as one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in Germany.

title: 1574

section: Events › July–September

date: January 8

text: January 8 – In Berlin, Joachim Frederich of the House of Hohenzollern becomes the new Elector of Brandenburg upon the death of his father, Johann Georg von Brandenburg.

title: 1598

text: The first Jewish families settle in Berlin, moving from Vienna at the invitation of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.

title: 1671

section: Events › Undated

date: November 28

text: November 28 – The royal wedding of Prussia takes place in Berlin between the 18-year-old Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and his bride Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, the 19-year-old daughter of the future King George I of Great Britain.

title: 1706

section: Events › October–December

date: January 1

text: January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin by Frederick I to form Berlin.

title: 1710

date: January 9

text: January 9 – The world-famous Charité Hospital is established in Berlin, to be used for research and to help the poor. Prussia's King Frederick William I had ordered the conversion of a 16-year old institution, originally built in anticipation of an epidemic of the bubonic plague.

title: 1727

date: November 27

text: November 27 – The foundation stone of the Jerusalem's Church in Berlin is laid.

title: 1727

date: October 16

text: October 16 – Seven Years' War: Raid on Berlin – Hungarian raiders (3,400 horseman) under Count András Hadik plunder Berlin. He demands that the city council pay a ransom of 200,000 thalers and a dozen pairs of gloves for Empress Maria Theresa. The Hungarians leave the Prussian capital after they received messages about a Prussian relief force under Prince Dietrich von Anhalt-Dessau, marching towards Berlin.

title: 1757

date: October 9

text: October 9 – Seven Years' War: Russian troops enter Berlin.

title: 1760

date: March 18

text: March 18 – At a Berlin barricade, fighting between revolutionaries and royalist forces marks the culmination of the German revolutions of 1848–49. As a result, King Frederick William IV of Prussia is forced to appoint a liberal government.

title: 1848

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: May 16

text: May 16 – The world's first regular electric tram service is started near Berlin, by Siemens & Halske.

title: 1881

section: Events › May

date: April 29

text: April 29 – The Elektromote, the world's first trolleybus, begins operation in Berlin.

title: 1882

section: Economy & Finance

date: February 5

text: February 5 – The worldwide insurance and financial service brand Allianz is founded in Berlin, Germany.

title: 1890

section: Events › February

date: March 6

text: March 6 – In Berlin, Felix Hoffmann patents Aspirin and Bayer registers its name as a trademark.

title: 1899

section: Events › March

section: Science & Discovery

date: December 14

text: December 14 – History of quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents his groundbreaking paper on quantum theory to the German Physical Society in Berlin.

title: 1900

section: Events › December

date: October

text: The Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum opens in Berlin for the display of fine art.

title: 1904

section: Events › October

date: November 9

text: November 9 – Proclamation of the republic in Germany by Philipp Scheidemann in Berlin, on the Reichstag balcony. One of several significant events on 9 November in German history.

title: 1918

date: August 2

text: August 2 – Murder of Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck: Two Berlin police officers are killed by Communists.

title: 1931

section: Events › August

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

date: September 29

text: September 29 – In Berlin, Red Army Faction members rob three banks, with loot totaling over DM 200,000.

title: 1970

date: December 19

text: December 19 – Berlin truck attack: A truck is deliberately driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, leaving 12 people dead and 56 others injured.

title: 2016


slug: bermuda

label: Bermuda

description: British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez discovered the island Bermuda.

title: 1503

text: Bermuda is discovered by Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez.

title: 1505

date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Sea Venture, flagship of the nine-ship fleet of the London Company is deliberately wrecked at Bermuda during a storm, as Admiral George Somers drives the ship into the reefs of Discovery Bay in order to prevent the ship from sinking. A group of 153 survivors stay, making the first English settlement of the island.

title: 1609

section: Conflict & Security

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Jamestown, Virginia: Acting as temporary Governor, Thomas Gates, along with John Rolfe, Captain Ralph Hamor, Sir George Somers, and other survivors from the Sea Venture (wrecked at Bermuda) arrive at Jamestown; they find that 60 have survived the "starving time" (winter), the fort palisades and gates have been torn down, and empty houses have been used for firewood, in fear of attacks by natives outside the fort area.

title: 1610

section: Events › April–June

text: The Somers Isles Company is founded to administer Bermuda.

title: 1615

text: The first African slaves are brought to Bermuda, an English colony, by Captain George Bargrave to dive for pearls, because of their reputed skill in this activity. Harvesting pearls off the coast proves unsuccessful, and the slaves are put to work planting and harvesting the initial large crops of tobacco and sugarcane. Some English refuse to purchase Brazilian sugar because it is produced by slave labour.

title: 1616

date: July 5

text: July 5 – After news reaches the Western Hemisphere that King Charles I has been deposed and executed, the English colonial government of the Somers Isles, now called Bermuda, proclaims its recognition of Charles II as the rightful ruler of the islands.

title: 1649

date: October 30

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

title: 1650

section: Climate & Environment

date: September 8

text: September 8 – A severe hurricane buffets Bermuda for eight hours, destroying most of the churches.

title: 1712

section: Crime & Justice

date: June 1

text: June 1 – Enslaved woman Sally Basset is put on trial for murder in Bermuda; she will eventually be convicted and burned at the stake.

title: 1730

date: March 10

text: March 10 – Sir Richard Sharples, Governor of Bermuda, is assassinated outside Government House, along with his aide-de-camp.

title: 1973

date: September 14

text: September 14–September 25 – The Atlantic hurricane Fiona hits Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Lucayan Archipelago, Bermuda, and Eastern Canada.

title: 2022

section: Events › September


slug: bernard-of-clairvaux

label: Bernard of Clairvaux

description: Burgundian saint, abbot and theologian (1090–1153)

section: Births

text: Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot and theologian (d. 1153)

title: 1090

section: Religion & Belief

text: Clairvaux Abbey is founded by Bernard, French abbot and a major leader in the reform of Benedictine monasticism, in France.

title: 1115

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Honorius II recognizes and confirms the Order of the Knights Templar. The French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux codifies the rule of the Order. Hugues de Payens, French Grand Master of the Order, visits both England and Scotland, where he raises men and money for the Order.

title: 1128

text: Spring – A German expeditionary force, led by King Lothair III, marches into northern Italy, and arrives at Rome, after a 6-month journey across the Alps. Accompanied by Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot and Doctor of the Church, Lothair is crowned by Pope Innocent II as Holy Roman Emperor at the Church of the Lateran, on June 4. He receives as papal fiefs the vast estates of Matilda, former margravine of Tuscany, which he secures for his daughter Gertrude of Süpplingenburg and her husband, Duke Henry X (the Proud) of Bavaria.

title: 1133

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Bernard of Clairvaux, commissioned by Pope Eugene III, preaches the Second Crusade at Vézelay, in Burgundy. King Louis VII of France and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, take up the cross. In a repeat of the events of 1096, Crusaders attack and massacre Jewish communities along the Rhine. Encouraged by his success, Bernard undertakes a tour in Burgundy, Lorraine and Flanders – preaching the Crusade as he goes.

title: 1146

date: April 13

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

title: 1147

section: Deaths

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot (b. 1090)

title: 1153

text: August 20 – On the Saint Bernard's Day, the Spanish army of the Kingdom of Castile, led by Enrique Pérez de Guzmán y Fonseca, captures Gibraltar, which has been under the rule of the Sultanate of Morocco for almost 130 years since its capture in 1333 AD. King Enrique IV declares himself "King of Gibraltar" in addition to his other titles.

title: 1462

section: Events › July–September


slug: bernicia

label: Bernicia

description: Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northern Britain

text: Bernicia (North East England) is settled by the Angles (approximate date).

title: 525

section: Events › By place › Britannia

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: King Ida establishes the kingdom of Bernicia. He builds Bamburgh Castle (northeast England) as a fortress that will become the seat of Anglo-Saxon kings (according to the Historia Brittonum).

title: 547

section: Events › By place › Britain

text: Glappa succeeds his father Ida as king of Bernicia (North East England). During his rule, Anglian settlers expand their territory in what is now southeastern Scotland.

title: 559

text: Ida, king of Bernicia (approximate date)

title: 559

text: Adda succeeds his brother Glappa as king of Bernicia (approximate date).

title: 560

text: Glappa, king of Bernicia (approximate date)

title: 560

text: Æthelric succeeds his brother Adda as king of Bernicia (modern Scotland). He rules from 568–572 (approximate date).

title: 568

text: Adda, king of Bernicia (approximate date)

title: 568

text: Battle of Gwen Ystrad: A British alliance is forged between the kingdoms of Strathclyde, Bryneich and Elmet (approximate date).

title: 570

text: Theodric succeeds his brother Æthelric as king of Bernicia (southeastern Scotland). He rules until 579.

title: 572

text: Frithuwald succeeds his brother Theodoric as king of Bernicia (Scotland). He rules from 579–585 (approximate date).

title: 579

text: Theodric, king of Bernicia (Scotland)

title: 579

text: Hussa succeeds his brother Frithuwald as king of Bernicia (approximate date).

title: 585

text: Edwin of Northumbria, king of Deira and Bernicia (d. 633)

title: 585

text: Eanfrith, king of Bernicia (d. 634)

title: 590

text: Æthelfrith of Northumbria succeeds Hussa as king of Bernicia (Scotland). His accession possibly involves dynastic rivalry and the exile of Hussa's relatives.

title: 593

text: Hussa, king of Bernicia (approximate date)

title: 593

text: King Dynod Bwr of the Pennines (Northern England) dies fighting off a Bernician invasion. His kingdom Hen Ogledd ("The Old North") is overrun, and his family flees to Powys (approximate date).

title: 595

text: Battle of Catraeth: The Gododdin under Mynyddog Mwynfawr, Brythonic king of Hen Ogledd ("The Old North"), defeat the Angles of Bernicia and Deira, at the stronghold of Catraeth in Northern England (approximate date).

title: 598

text: Rædwald installs Edwin as king of Northumbria, effectively confirming him as bretwalda. He takes power in his native Deira and in Bernicia. His reign marks the domination of Northumbria as leading Anglo-Saxon state of the British Isles.

title: 616

date: October 12

text: October 12 or 633 – Edwin of Northumbria, king of Deira and Bernicia

title: 632

text: Osric succeeds his uncle Edwin as king of Deira. Prince Eanfrith returns from Pictland to claim his rightful crown of Bernicia (Northern England). Both revert to paganism.

title: 633

text: Battle of Heavenfield: Oswald, possibly accompanied by a force of Scots (or Picts), defeats and kills Cadwallon with a Welsh army near Hexham (northern England). He reunites Deira with Bernicia, and becomes king of Northumbria.

title: 634

text: Eanfrith, king of Bernicia (northern England)

title: 634

text: Prince Oswiu of Bernicia conquers Gododdin (or "The Old North") as far north as Manau (modern Scotland), on behalf of his half-brother, King Oswald (approximate date).

title: 641

section: Culture & Society

text: Oswiu succeeds his half-brother Oswald as king of Bernicia. He strengthens his position by marrying Eanflæd, daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria, then in exile in the Kingdom of Kent. This marriage takes place between 642 and 644.

title: 642

text: King Oswiu of Bernicia seeks Irish support against the forces of Penda. While in Ireland he has a liaison with Fín, the granddaughter of King Colmán Rímid Uí Néill (approximate date).

title: 650

text: Œthelwald succeeds his uncle Oswine as king of Deira, and allies himself with Oswiu's enemy, King Penda of Mercia. Queen Eanflæd of Bernicia donates the estate of Gilling for the foundation of a monastery.

title: 651

text: King Penda of Mercia invades Bernicia, and besieges King Oswiu at Bamburgh, in North East England.

title: 652

text: King Œthelwald of Deira rejects Oswiu's overlordship, and turns to Penda instead. Penda mounts another attack against Bernicia (approximate date).

title: 653

text: Surviving members of the Northumbrian royal court flee into the northernmost part of the kingdom, Bernicia.

title: 867

text: Battle of Corbridge: High-Reeve Ealdred I persuades King Constantine II of Scotland to help him reclaim his position in Bernicia. They mount an invasion of his now Norse controlled lands. The Vikings under Ragnall ua Ímair (or Rægnald) defeat the Scots and their allies at Corbridge (Northern Northumbria), but take heavy casualties themselves.

title: 918

text: High-Reeve Ealdred I, ruler of the former kingdom of Bernicia (Northumbria), and his brother Uhtred, submit to the overlordship of King Edward the Elder (approximate date).

title: 920


slug: berwick-upon-tweed

label: Berwick-upon-Tweed

description: town in the county of Northumberland, England

date: November 17

text: November 17 – John Balliol is selected by King Edward I of England as ruler of Scotland at Berwick from among 13 competitors for the Crown of Scotland. Edward then treats John as a puppet ruler and Scotland as a vassal state, provoking the Wars of Scottish Independence, commencing in 1296. John is crowned at Scone on November 30 (Saint Andrew's Day). Scotland's castles are returned to the powerful magnates.

title: 1292

date: March 30

text: March 30 – Capture of Berwick: King Edward I of England storms and captures Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking what is at this time a Scottish border town, with much bloodshed. He slaughters most of the residents, including those who flee to the churches.

title: 1296

section: Events › January–December

date: August 23

text: August 23 – After a three-week trial at Westminster, William Wallace is convicted of treason and of atrocities against civilians in war. After the trial, he is dragged through the streets of Smithfield in London and hanged, drawn and quartered – strangled by hanging – but cut down while still alive, emasculated, disemboweled (with his bowels burned before him), beheaded, and then cut into four parts. Wallace's head is placed on a spike above the London Bridge, and his limbs are displayed separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth.

title: 1305

section: Events › July – September

date: September 13

text: September 13 – In Scotland, English forces under Edward of Caernarfon capture and sack Kildrummy Castle in Aberdeenshire. Edward takes Elizabeth de Burgh, Christina Bruce and Mary Bruce (sisters of Robert the Bruce), and Princess Marjorie Bruce (daughter of Bruce) as prisoners. He executes Nigel de Brus (younger brother of Bruce) for high treason, who is later hanged, drawn and quartered at Berwick.

title: 1306

date: December 26

text: December 26 – Three days after receiving authorization from the English Parliament for a feudal levy, King Edward II issues a summons for eight earls and 87 barons to muster their troops at Berwick-upon-Tweed by June 10 for an invasion of Scotland.

title: 1313

section: Events › October – December

date: June 17

text: June 17 – First War of Scottish Independence: English forces led by King Edward II leave Berwick-upon-Tweed to march to break the Scottish siege of Stirling Castle. They cross the River Tweed at Wark and Coldstream and march west across the flat Merse of Berwickshire towards Lauderdale. In Earlston, Edward uses an old Roman road through the Lammermuir Hills, practical for the wheeled transport of a long supply train as well as the cavalry and infantry.

title: 1314

section: Events › April – June

date: April 2

text: April 2 – After a two-day battle, Scottish forces under James the Black retake Berwick-upon-Tweed. The fall of Berwick is a severe blow for King Edward II, and its loss is compounded by the fall of the Northumbrian castles of Wark-on-Tweed (Carham Castle), Harbottle and Mitford.

title: 1318

date: July 19

text: July 19 – Wars of Scottish Independence - Battle of Halidon Hill: Edward III of England decisively defeats Sir Archibald Douglas. Berwick-upon-Tweed returns to English control.

title: 1333

date: August 6

text: August 6 – English invasion of Scotland (1385): After setting off from Berwick-upon-Tweed, the English Army invades Scotland. The English soldiers quickly run out of food, since to supply lines have been created and the residents of the border towns in Scotland have fled, taking their food with them.

title: 1385

date: August 24

text: August 24 – The Scots surrender the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, ending his campaign against Scotland.

title: 1482

date: October 10

text: October 10 – the Earl of Angus, Scotland's Lord Warden of the Marches in charge of border security on the boundary with England, is able to work out a three-year peace treaty with the Kingdom of England and signs the initial agreement at the English border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

title: 1525

section: Events › October–December

date: May 28

text: May 28 – King Charles I of England arrives with his army at Berwick-upon-Tweed as the first of the Bishops' Wars breaks out between the English Army and the Scottish Covenanters.

title: 1639

date: July 22

text: July 22 – Having completed his invasion of Ireland, England's General Oliver Cromwell begins the war against the Kingdom of Scotland, crossing from Northumberland at Berwick-upon-Tweed into Berwickshire, and leads troops toward Edinburgh.

title: 1650


slug: bethlehem

label: Bethlehem

description: city in the West Bank, Palestine

text: Helena tells Constantine that he must atone for executing his son and wife by building churches, and at about this date construction begins on Old St. Peter's Basilica, the first church on the traditional site of Saint Peter's tomb in Rome, and on the basilica of Golgotha on Calvary outside Jerusalem. He also commissions construction of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (dedicated 339).

title: 326

text: The Roman synod exiles the prophet Jerome, who has incorporated ideas first propounded by the Roman statesman Cicero. He departs for Egypt, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, accompanied by the Christian ascetic Paula, who will edit Jerome's translation of the Bible, which becomes the Latin Vulgate.

title: 385

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Jerome moves to Palestine, where he spends the rest of his life as a hermit near Bethlehem.

title: 388

text: Peter the Iberian founds a Georgian monastery near Bethlehem.

title: 430

text: The monastery of Mar Saba is founded near Bethlehem (Palestine).

title: 439

text: The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is rebuilt until 565, restoring the architectural tone of the basilica.

title: 527

section: Conflict & Security

date: June 2

text: June 2–6 – The Crusaders occupy Arsuf and turn inland towards Ramlah, where they reorganise for the march against Jerusalem. A Crusader force under Tancred liberates Bethlehem.

title: 1099

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

date: December 25

text: December 25 – French Crusader Baldwin I is crowned first King of Jerusalem at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, by Daimbert, the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, following the death of the previous ruler, Baldwin's brother Godfrey of Bouillon, on July 18.

title: 1100

section: Events › By place › Levant

date: March 12

text: March 12 – Saint Bridget sets out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, staying in Cyprus until May 12. In August, she is in Bethlehem where she sees a vision of Jesus' birth. In September, she sets sail for Naples, where she arrives in December.

title: 1372

section: Events › January–March

text: A firman (decree) of Ottoman sultan Osman III (d. October 30) preserves the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem (e.g. the former's Church of the Holy Sepulchre); this becomes established as the Status Quo in international law.

title: 1757

section: Events › Date unknown

text: April 2 – Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem when militants take shelter there. The siege will last for 38 days.

title: 2002

section: Events › April


slug: bhikkhu

label: Bhikkhu

description: fully ordained male Buddhist monastic

section: Births

text: Lokaksema, Kushan Buddhist monk and traveler (d. 189)

title: AD 147

text: Dao'an, Chinese Buddhist monk and writer (d. 385)

title: 312

text: Zhi Dun, Chinese Buddhist monk and philosopher (d. 366)

title: 314

section: Deaths

text: Zhi Dun, Chinese Buddhist monk and philosopher (b. 314)

title: 366

section: Deaths › Date unknown

text: Dao An, Buddhist monk of the Jin Dynasty (b. 312)

title: 385

section: Religion & Belief

text: Kumarajiva, Kuchean Buddhist monk, arrives in Chang'an and begins translating Buddhist texts into Chinese.

title: 401

section: Events › By place › China

text: Bodhidharma, semi-legendary Buddhist monk (approximate date)

title: 440

section: Crime & Justice

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

title: 446

text: Bodhidharma, Buddhist monk, arrives in Luoyang. He spreads Buddhism and travels to the northern Chinese kingdom of Wei, to the Shaolin Monastery.

title: 520

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Zhiyi, Chinese monk, travels to Mount Tiantai for intensive study and practice. He works with a group of disciples on the Indian meditation of śamatha and vipaśyanā.

title: 575

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Zhiyi, Chinese monk, returns to the city of Jinling, where he completes his commentarial works on the Lotus Sutra.

title: 585

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

title: 622

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

title: 629

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

title: 631

text: Yijing, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler (d. 713)

title: 635

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

title: 645

text: The Temple of Sinheungsa in Gangwon Province (South Korea) is constructed by the Buddhist monk Jajang.

title: 653

text: Hyecho, Korean Buddhist monk (d. 787)

title: 704

text: Yijing, Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler (b. 635)

title: 713

section: Science & Discovery

text: Yi Xing, Chinese Buddhist monk and astronomer, applies a clockwork escapement mechanism, to provide rotating motion to his astronomical armillary sphere.

title: 725

text: Huaisu, Chinese Buddhist monk (d. 799)

title: AD 737

text: Hyecho, Korean Buddhist monk (b. 704)

title: AD 787

text: Huaisu, Chinese Buddhist monk (b. 737)

title: 799

text: Enchin, Japanese Buddhist monk (d. 891)

title: 814

text: Doseon, Korean Buddhist monk (d. 898)

title: 826

text: Enchin, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 814)

title: 891

text: Doseon, Korean Buddhist monk (b. 826)

title: 898

date: July 4

text: July 4 – Zhuo Yanming, Chinese Buddhist monk and emperor

title: 945

date: October 5

text: October 5 – Uicheon, Korean Buddhist monk (b. 1055)

title: 1101

text: Eison, Japanese Buddhist scholar-monk and disciple (d. 1290)

title: 1201


slug: bhutan

label: Bhutan

description: sovereign state in South Asia

text: Guru Rinpoche, Indian Buddhist, travels to Bhutan (eastern end of the Himalayas), to cure the king of Bumthang (approximate date).

title: 746

text: Ngawang Namgyal arrives in Bhutan, having escaped Tibet.

title: 1616

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 11

text: November 11 – Duar War between Britain and Bhutan ends with the Treaty of Sinchula, in which Bhutan cedes control of its southern passes to Britain in return for an annual subsidy.

title: 1865

section: Events › November

date: December 17

text: December 17 – Ugyen Wangchuck becomes the first Druk Gyalpo (king of Bhutan).

title: 1907

section: Events › December

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Treaty of Punakha: The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan becomes a protectorate of the British Empire.

title: 1910

section: Events › January

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Bhutan signs a Treaty of Friendship with newly independent India, agreeing non-interference in internal affairs, but allowing India to "guide" its foreign policy (similar to the previous arrangements with the British administration in India).

title: 1949

section: Events › August

section: Culture & Society

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck succeeds his father Jigme Dorji Wangchuck as King of Bhutan.

title: 1972

section: Events › July

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: June 2 – The King of Bhutan allows television transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time, coinciding with the King's Silver Jubilee.

title: 1999

section: Events › June

date: March 24

text: March 24 – Bhutan holds its first-ever general elections following the adoption of a new Constitution which changed the country from an absolute monarchy to a multiparty democracy.

title: 2008

section: Events › March


slug: bible

label: Bible

description: collection of sacred books in Judaism and Christianity

text: The Bible is translated into the Gothic language by Wulfila.

title: 330

section: Births

text: Jerome, priest and Bible translator (approximate date)

title: 340

date: March 27

text: March 27 – Saint Jerome, priest and translator of the Bible (approximate date)

title: 347

text: Ticonius writes a commentary on the Bible's Book of Revelation.

title: 380

text: The Roman synod exiles the prophet Jerome, who has incorporated ideas first propounded by the Roman statesman Cicero. He departs for Egypt, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, accompanied by the Christian ascetic Paula, who will edit Jerome's translation of the Bible, which becomes the Latin Vulgate.

title: 385

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Synod of Hippo: A council at Hippo Regius (Algeria) is hosted by the Church. The bishops approve a canon of Sacred Scripture that correspond to the Roman Catholic Church.

title: 393

text: Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin is completed by his translations of the Tanakh from the Hebrew language.

title: 405

section: Deaths

text: Isaac the Great, Armenian apostolic patriarch, dies at Ashtishat. He helped to develop a Greek-inspired alphabet, and translate the Bible, along with various Christian writings, into Armenian.

title: 439

text: The Codex Argenteus, Gothic manuscript of bishop Ulfilas's translation of the Bible, is written (approximate date).

title: AD 500

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Cosmas Indicopleustes, Alexandrian explorer-geographer, travels up the Nile. He will venture as far to the east as Ceylon, become a monk, and write "Topographia Christiana" to vindicate the biblical account of the world (see 550).

title: 525

section: Events › By topic › Exploration and colonization

text: Cædmon, Anglo-Saxon poet, writes a nine-line hymn on the Creation. A onetime illiterate herdsman, he becomes a monk under the rule of Hilda of Whitby, where he will turn various biblical themes into vernacular poetry (approximate date).

title: 672

section: Events › By topic › Literature

text: Alcuin, Anglo-Saxon missionary, returns (after an 8-year absence) to England. During his stay at the Carolingian court of King Charlemagne in Aachen, he has educated his sons Charles, Pepin and Louis. Alcuin revises the church liturgy and the Bible, and is responsible for an intellectual movement within the Frankish Kingdom.

title: 790

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: March 10

text: March 10 – As the English Parliament session closes, King Henry IV gives royal assent to the Suppression of Heresy Act, permitting secular authorities to carry out punishment for religious crimes. The assent comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury pressures King Henry to outlaw the Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe, and criminalizes possession of a copy of Wycliffe's translation of the Bible.

title: 1401

section: Events › January–March

section: Health & Medicine

date: March 9

text: March 9 – In Zurich in Switzerland, the Affair of the Sausages begins as Pastor Huldrych Zwingli of Grossmünster publicly speaks out against the food restrictions during the Roman Catholic period of fasting during Lent, and advocating that followers of Martin Luther eat sausage, one of the prohibited foods. Zwingli defends his action in the sermon Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen ("Regarding the freedom of Choice of Foods"), in that the Bible does not prohibit the eating of meat during Lent. The public declaration sparks the Reformation in Zürich.

title: 1522

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Luther Bible: Martin Luther's translation of the Bible's New Testament into Early New High German from Greek, Das newe Testament Deutzsch, is published in Germany, selling thousands in the first few weeks.

title: 1522

section: Events › July–September

date: March

text: March – The first complete printed translation of the New Testament of the Bible into the English language by William Tyndale arrives in England from Germany, where printing had been completed in Worms by Peter Schöffer the younger, towards the end of February.

title: 1526

text: The first official translation of the entire Bible into Swedish is made, and is called the Gustav Vasa Bible.

title: 1541

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 4

text: December 4 – The Council of Trent (which had opened on December 13, 1545) officially closes. It reaffirms all major Roman Catholic doctrines, and declares the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament to be canonical, along with the rest of the Bible. Chapter 1, Session 24, promulgates the decree Tametsi, stipulating that for a marriage to be valid, consent (the essence of marriage) as expressed in the vows has to be given publicly before witnesses, one of whom has to be the parish priest.

title: 1563

section: Events › October–December

text: May 28 – The first installment of the translation by Jurij Dalmatin of the Bible into the Slovene language, Bibilija, tu je vse svetu pismu stariga inu noviga testamenta (The Bible, featuring the complete Old and New Testaments), is published in Wittenberg.

title: 1583

section: Events › April–June

date: November 9

text: November 9 – The Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, an updated edition of the Latin language translation of the Bible, is promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church.

title: 1592

date: January 14

text: January 14 – The Hampton Court Conference is held between James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of the Puritans. Work begins on the Authorized King James Version of the Bible and revision of the Book of Common Prayer.

title: 1604

text: Publication is completed of the Douay–Rheims Bible (The Holie Bible Faithfully Translated into English), a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by members of the English College, Douai, in the service of the Catholic Church.

title: 1610

date: May 2

text: May 2 – The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time, printed by Robert Barker in London.

title: 1611

text: Publication at Cambridge in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the "Eliot Indian Bible" (Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God), which becomes the first complete Bible published in the Americas, a translation by English-born Puritan missionary John Eliot of the Geneva Bible, from English into the Massachusett language (Natic or Wômpanâak) variety of the Algonquian languages.

title: 1663

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, brings the Bangorian Controversy within the Church of England into the open by delivering a sermon to, and supposedly at the request of, King George I of Great Britain, on The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ with the text "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), concluding there is no Biblical justification for church government.

title: 1717

text: The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is published in England in the Oxford standard text, edited by Benjamin Blayney.

title: 1769

section: Climate & Environment

date: May 19

text: May 19 – New England's Dark Day: An unaccountable darkness spreads over New England, regarded by some observers as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

title: 1780

text: Justin Perkins, an American Presbyterian missionary, produces the first translation of the Bible in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, which is published with the parallel text of the Syriac Peshitta, by the American Bible Society.

title: 1852

date: February 4

text: February 4 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovers the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai, in the Khedivate of Egypt and arranges for its presentation to his patron, Tsar Alexander II of Russia at Saint Petersburg.

title: 1859

date: April 3

text: April 3 – In the U.S., the Pony Express begins its first run from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, with riders carrying a small Bible.

title: 1860

section: Events › April


slug: bihar

label: Bihar

description: state in eastern India

year_label: 250 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: The Mauryan sculpture Didarganj Yakshi holding a Fly Whisk, from Patna, Bihar in India, is made (approximate date). It is now kept at the Patna Museum in Patna.

title: 250 BC

section: Events › By place › India

text: A center of Buddhist studies is established at Nalanda in Bihar on the plains of the Ganges River (India).

title: 440

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty sends a Chinese mission to study Indian techniques of sugar manufacturing, at Bihar in the Ganges Valley.

title: 647

date: August 16

text: August 16 – The elaborate Tomb of Sher Shah Suri is completed in Sasaram, three months after Sher Shah's death, in what is now India's Bihar state.

title: 1545

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 25

text: July 25 – In India, Sikandar Shah Suri, Sultan of the Sur Empire in Punjab, surrenders the fortress at Mau in the Nurpur kingdom (now in Uttar Pradesh) after a six month siege by the Mughal Empire. Mughal General Bairam Khan allows Sikandar to live in exile in Bihar, while Bakht Mal, Raja of Nurpur is imprisoned at Lahore and later beheaded.

title: 1557

date: January 15

text: January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people.

title: 1934

section: Events › January–February

date: October 24

text: October 24–November 11 – 1946 Bihar riots: Hindu mobs target Muslim families in the Indian state of Bihar, resulting in anywhere between 2,000 and 30,000 deaths.

title: 1946

section: Events › October

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: June 6

text: June 6 – Bihar train disaster: Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the Bagmati River in Bihar, India, killing between 500 and 800.

title: 1981

section: Events › June

date: December 1

text: December 1 – In the Indian state of Bihar, Ranvir Sena attacks the CPI(ML) Party Unity stronghold Lakshmanpur-Bathe, killing 63 lower caste people

title: 1997

section: Events › December

section: Economy & Finance

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Bihar is divided into two parts (by the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000) and Jharkhand, the 28th state of India, is created. Hence, this day is celebrated as Jharkhand Foundation Day.

title: 2000

section: Events › November


slug: bilad-al-sham

label: Bilad al-Sham

description: provincial region of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid Islamic caliphates

date: November

text: November – Abdallah ibn Ali, governor of Syria and uncle of as-Saffah, launches a claim for the caliphate, but is defeated by forces loyal to al-Mansur, under Abu Muslim, at Nisibis (modern Turkey).

title: 754

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

text: Arab–Byzantine wars: Caliph Harun al-Rashid leads a huge military expedition, assembling men from Syria, Palestine, Persia, and Egypt. The invasion army (reportedly 135,000 men) departs from Raqqa, residence of Harun, and enters Cappadocia through the Cilician Gates, sacking several Byzantine fortresses and cities. Heraclea is captured after a month-long siege (August/September). The city is plundered and razed; its inhabitants are enslaved and deported to the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 806

text: Battle of Tawahin: Muslim forces (4,000 men) of the Abbasid Caliphate, under Al-Mu'tadid, are defeated near Ramlah (modern Israel) by Khumarawayh, ruler of the Tulunid dynasty. This ends the Abbasid attempt to recover Syria from the Tulunids. A large part of the Abbasid army is captured, and transported to Egypt. Khumarawayh aims for reconciliation with the caliphal government, and allows the soldiers who want to return to modern-day Iraq to depart without ransom, while offering the rest the opportunity to settle in Egypt.

title: 885

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

section: Religion & Belief

text: Caliph al-Mu'tadid recovers control of the Cilician Thughur (southeastern Anatolia) and of northern Syria, during the turmoil in the Tulunid government (approximate date).

title: 897

text: Summer – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid is appointed governor and becomes the ruler of Egypt and parts of Syria (or the Levant). He launches a campaign against his rival Ahmad ibn Kayghalagh by land and sea: the naval forces take Tinnis and ibn Kayghalagh is forced to retreat. Ibn Tughj enters Fustat, making it his capital, and founds the Ikhshidid dynasty, marking Egypt's independence as an autonomous state.

title: 935

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: Spring – Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, ruler of Egypt and Syria, defeats the Fatimid forces near Alexandria. He drives them out of the city, forcing the Fatimids to retreat from Egypt to their base at Cyrenaica.

title: 936

text: Summer – Sayf al-Dawla is defeated by Muslim forces under Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid near Qinnasrin. He is forced to abandon his Syrian domains and flees to Raqqa. In October the two men come to an agreement, which recognizes Hamdanid rule over northern Syria, founding the Emirate of Aleppo.

title: 945

date: December

text: December – Arab–Byzantine wars – Sack of Aleppo: A Byzantine expeditionary force under General Nikephoros Phokas invades northern Syria, and sacks Aleppo, capital of the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla. In late December Aleppo is taken by storm, with the population killed or enslaved; the city is razed. The Byzantine army takes possession of 390,000 silver dinars, 2,000 camels and 1,400 mules.

title: 962

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Al-Hasan ibn Ubayd Allah, Ikhshidid governor of Palestine, is defeated and taken prisoner by General Ja'far ibn Fallah in Syria. Ending the Ikhshidid Dynasty as a ruling power.

title: 970

section: Births

text: Saladin (the Lion), sultan of Egypt and Syria (d. 1193)

title: 1137

title: 1138

date: April 20

text: April 20 – Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos, having led an expeditionary force into Syria, arrives before the walls of Aleppo. The city proves too strong to attack, but the fortresses of Biza'a, Athareb, Ma'arrat Nu'man and Kafartab are taken by assault. While the Byzantines besiege the city of Shaizar, the Crusader allies Prince Raymond of Poitiers of Antioch and Count Joscelin II of Edessa remain in their camp playing dice.

title: 1138

section: Events › By place › Middle East

text: Spring – King Fulk of Jerusalem confronts Imad al-Din Zengi, Seljuk ruler (atabeg) of Mosul, near Dara'a in southern Syria. Turkish forces under Mu'in al-Din (supported by the Crusaders) besiege Banias.

title: 1140

section: Events › By place › Levant

section: Deaths

date: March 4

text: March 4 – Saladin (the Lion), sultan of Egypt and Syria (b. 1137)

title: 1193

date: April

text: April – An-Nasir Yusuf, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, cedes Palestine, together with Jerusalem, Nablus and the coastline of Al-Sham to Aybak, Mamluk sultan of Egypt.

title: 1253


slug: bill-clinton

label: Bill Clinton

description: 42nd President of the United States (1993–2001)

date: July 21

text: July 21 – Janet Reno, American lawyer, U.S. Attorney General under Bill Clinton (d. 2016)

title: 1938

section: Births › July–August

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: November 3

text: November 3 – In the 1992 United States presidential election, Democratic Arkansas governor Bill Clinton defeats Republican president George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot.

title: 1992

date: December 8

text: December 8 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.

title: 1993

date: January 20

text: January 20 – Bill Clinton and Al Gore are inaugurated as US President and Vice President.

title: 1993

section: Events › January

section: Conflict & Security

date: June 27

text: June 27 – U.S. President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District of Baghdad, in response to an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April.

title: 1993

section: Crime & Justice

date: November 30

text: November 30 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

title: 1993

date: January 14

text: January 14 – U.S. president Bill Clinton and Russian president Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin accords, which stop the preprogrammed aiming of nuclear missiles toward each country's targets, and also provide for the dismantling of the nuclear arsenal in Ukraine.

title: 1994

date: July 12

text: July 12 – The Allied occupation of Berlin officially ends with a casing of the colors ceremony attended by U.S. president Bill Clinton.

title: 1994

section: Events › July

date: September 13

text: September 13 – President Bill Clinton signs the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which bans the manufacture of new firearms with certain features for a period of 10 years.

title: 1994

section: Events › September

date: January 31

text: January 31 – Mexican peso crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton invokes emergency powers to extend a $20 billion loan to help Mexico avert financial collapse.

title: 1995

section: Culture & Society

date: August 29

text: August 29 – U.S. president Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are re-nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

title: 1996

section: Events › August

date: November 5

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: March 4 – U.S. President Bill Clinton bans federal funding for any research on human cloning.

title: 1997

section: Events › March

section: Health & Medicine

date: May 16

text: May 16 – U.S. President Bill Clinton issues a formal apology to the surviving victims of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male and their families.

title: 1997

section: Events › May

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders airstrikes on Iraq. UNSCOM withdraws all weapons inspectors from Iraq.

title: 1998

date: January 17

text: January 17 – The Drudge Report breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him.

title: 1998

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: March

text: Bill Clinton makes the first visit to South Africa by a U.S. president.

title: 1998

date: February 12

text: February 12 – U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate.

title: 1999

section: Events › February

date: July 11

text: July 11–25 – A summit meeting takes place at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat, ending without an agreement.

title: 2000


slug: birger-king-of-sweden

label: Birger, King of Sweden

description: King of Sweden

section: Births

text: Birger, King of Sweden, Swedish monarch (d. 1321)

title: 1280

date: December 18

text: December 18 – King Magnus Birgersson of Sweden dies after a 15-year reign. He is succeeded by his 10-year-old son Birger Magnusson.

title: 1290

section: Events › By place › Europe

date: December 2

text: December 2 – The coronation of Martha of Denmark, wife of Sweden's King Birger since 1298, as Queen consort of Sweden takes place in a ceremony at Söderköping.

title: 1302

section: Events › October–December

date: September 29

text: September 29 – The Hatuna Games are played in Sweden. Duke's Eric Magnusson and Valdemar Magnusson, arrive at the estate of their brother, King Birger Magnusson, by Lake Malar. They are invited as guests at a feast, but during the night Birger and his wife, Martha of Denmark, are captured by the two brothers and are imprisoned in the dungeon at Nyköping Castle – while Eric and Valdemar jointly take over the Swedish throne.

title: 1306

section: Events › July – September

date: October 1

text: October 1 – Birger, King of Sweden, issues a letter of protection to the women of the Karelian people in Finland, at the time a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The letter is the oldest document in the National Archives of Sweden.

title: 1316

section: Events › October – December

date: December 11

text: December 11 – King Birger Magnusson has his brothers, Dukes Eric Magnusson and Valdemar Magnusson, captured and thrown into a dungeon during the Nyköping Banquet – as a revenge for their imprisonment of him in the Håtuna games (see 1306). As the brothers soon starve to death in the dungeon, their followers rebel against Birger, throwing Sweden into civil war.

title: 1317

date: April 16

text: April 16 – An agreement with Birger, King of Sweden is made to release his two brothers Valdemar, Duke of Finland and Eric Magnusson, Duke of Södermanland, who had been imprisoned at Nyköping Castle since December 10. The treaty is brokered by Valdemar's wife Ingeborg Eriksdottir of Norway and Eric's wife, Princess Ingeborg of Norway, who pledge for Valdemar and Eric to renounce all claims to the Swedish throne. However, Valdemar and Eric have already died inside the prison, and the discovery leads to a rebellion against King Birger.

title: 1318

section: Events › April – June

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Magnus Birgersson, who had been the crown prince of Sweden until his father, King Birger was forced to flee, is beheaded by order of King Magnus Eriksson. Magnus had defended the Stegeborg Castle in 1318 to allow his father to flee to safety. When the castle surrendered, it was under the condition that Magnus would not be harmed.

title: 1320

date: May 31

text: May 31 – Birger Magnusson, king of Sweden (House of Bjälbo)

title: 1321


slug: birmingham

label: Birmingham

description: city in the West Midlands, England

text: Peter de Bermingham has a charter to hold a market in Birmingham, origin of the Bull Ring.

title: 1154

section: Events › By place › England

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Summer – Upper Priory Cotton Mill is opened in Birmingham, England, as the world's first mechanised cotton mill by Lewis Paul and John Wyatt; although this is not a commercial success, other Paul-Wyatt cotton mills follow.

title: 1741

section: Events › Date unknown

section: Conflict & Security

date: July 14

text: July 14–17 – Priestley Riots against Dissenters in Birmingham, England.

title: 1791

section: Events › July–September

text: Bingley Hall, the world's first purpose-built exhibition hall, opens in Birmingham, England.

title: 1850

date: September

text: September – English Association football team Birmingham City F.C. is founded as Small Heath Alliance in Birmingham by a group of cricketers from Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, playing its first match in November.

title: 1875

date: May 29

text: May 29 – Diane Leather becomes the first woman to run a sub-five minute mile, in Birmingham, England.

title: 1954

date: November 21

text: November 21 – Birmingham pub bombings: In Birmingham, England, two pubs are bombed, killing 21 people in an attack widely believed at the time to be linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The Birmingham Six are later sentenced to life in prison for this, but their convictions are quashed after a lengthy campaign.

title: 1974

section: Events › November–December

date: July 10

text: July 10 – 1981 Handsworth riots in Birmingham begin, followed by further 1981 England riots in several urban areas including Liverpool and Leeds.

title: 1981

date: July 28

text: July 28–August 8 – The 2022 Commonwealth Games is held in Birmingham, England.

title: 2022


slug: bishop

label: Bishop

description: ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy

section: Religion & Belief

text: Coptic Christianity is introduced into Ethiopia by the Syrian apostle Frumentius. He and his colleague Aedesius ware captured by Ethiopians a year or two ago, and have become civil servants at the Aksumite court of King Ezana. Ezana is impressed with Frumentius' teachings and converts to Christianity. Frumentius becomes the first Bishop of Axum and encourages the Christian merchants present in the country to practise their faith openly.

title: 341

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Bishops from Gaza (Palaestina Prima) arrive at Constantinople to ask Arcadius that he close the pagan temple of Marnas.

title: 400

text: Council of Epaone: Bishops of southern Gaul convene near Epao (present Anneyron) in Burgundy. The synod enacts the first legislation against wooden altars, forbidding the building of any but stone altars with chrism (a mixture of oil and spice).

title: 517

date: January 30

text: January 30 – The Orthodox Confession of Faith is drafted up in the Buckinghamshire Assembly and signed by 54 messengers and elders of all Baptist churches in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire, in England.

title: 1679

section: Events › January–March

date: December 15

text: December 15 – The Old Pummerin, a massive bell cast from 208 captured cannons, is consecrated by Bishop Franz Ferdinand Freiherr von Rummel in preparation for its installation in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna (the Stephansdom).

title: 1711

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Georgia in America.

title: 1734

section: Events › January– March

date: August 20

text: August 20 – Francis Asbury, American Methodist Bishop (d. 1816)

title: 1745

date: September 9

text: September 9 – Thomas Coke, first American Methodist Bishop (d. 1814)

title: 1747


slug: bithynia

label: Bithynia

description: ancient region of Asia Minor

year_label: 297 BCE

text: Zipoetes I assumes the title of basileus (king) in Bithynia.

title: 297 BC

section: Events › By place › Bithynia

year_label: 280 BCE

text: Nicomedes, King of Bithynia, is threatened with an invasion from Antiochus who has already made war upon his father, Zipoites. Antiochus actually invades Bithynia but withdraws again without risking a battle.

title: 280 BC

section: Events › By place › Seleucid Empire

year_label: 278 BCE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Nicomedes I becomes the first ruler of Bithynia to assume the title of king. He founds the city of Nicomedia, which soon rises to great prosperity.

title: 278 BC

year_label: 265 BCE

text: Ziaelas, king of Bithynia (approximate date)

title: 265 BC

year_label: 243 BCE

text: Prusias I Cholus (the Lame), king of Bithynia (approximate date)

title: 243 BC

year_label: 186 BCE

text: Eumenes II of Pergamum defeats Prusias I of Bithynia.

title: 186 BC

section: Events › By place › Asia Minor

year_label: 183 BCE

text: The Roman statesman Titus Quinctius Flamininus is sent to the court of Prusias I, king of Bithynia, to demand the surrender of the former Carthaginian statesman and general Hannibal. When Hannibal finds out that Prusias is about to agree to the Roman demands and thus betray him, he poisons himself in the village of Libyssa in Bithynia.

title: 183 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 182 BCE

section: Deaths

text: Prusias I Chlorus, king of Bithynia (b. c. 228 BC)

title: 182 BC

year_label: 154 BCE

text: After a two-year struggle, Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamum is finally able to defeat Prusias II, the aggressive king of Bithynia in northern Anatolia. He is assisted in his battle against Prusias II by Ariarathes V of Cappadocia (who has sent his son Demetrius to command his forces) and by the Romans.

title: 154 BC

year_label: 150 BCE

text: Nicomedes, the son of king Prusias II of Bithynia, who has been sent to Rome to argue for smaller reparations arising from his father's unsuccessful war against Pergamum, gains the support of the Roman Senate to the point where Prusias sends an emissary with secret orders to assassinate Nicomedes. However, the emissary reveals the plot to Nicomedes and persuades him to rebel against his father.

title: 150 BC

year_label: 149 BCE

text: With Roman help, Nicomedes II overthrows his father Prusias II as king of Bithynia.

title: 149 BC

text: Prusias II, Greek king of Bithynia (b. c. 220 BC)

title: 149 BC

year_label: 127 BCE

text: Nicomedes II (Epiphanes), king of Bithynia

title: 127 BC

year_label: 94 BCE

section: Culture & Society

text: Approximate date – Nicomedes IV succeeds his father Nicomedes III as king of Bithynia.

title: 94 BC

section: Events › By place › Anatolia

year_label: 89 BCE

text: Mithridates VI of Pontus invades Bithynia and Cappadocia, thus beginning the First Mithridatic War.

title: 89 BC

year_label: 88 BCE

date: May

text: May – King Mithridates VI of Pontus invades Greece. Defeating the Roman forces four times in succession, he conquers Bithynia, Phrygia, Mysia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Ionia and Cappadocia. The Roman province of Asia is dismantled. On the king's orders, the local authorities in every city of the province round up and put to death all resident Italians in a single day (App.Mith.§§85–91). Plutarch (Sulla 24.4) says that 150,000 are killed, other sources calculate a figure of 80,000 people.

title: 88 BC

section: Events › By place › Greece

year_label: 75 BCE

text: Nicomedes IV of Bithynia bequeaths his kingdom to Rome on his death (75/4 BC). Angered by the arrangement, Mithridates VI of Pontus declares war on Rome and invades Bithynia, Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, thus starting the Third Mithridatic War.

title: 75 BC

year_label: 74 BCE

text: Nicomedes IV, last king of Bithynia bequeaths his kingdom to the Roman Senate upon his death (75/4 BC)

title: 74 BC

text: Nicomedes IV (Philopator), king of Bithynia

title: 74 BC

year_label: 82 CE

text: Dio Chrysostom is banished from Rome, Italy, and Bithynia, after advising one of the Emperor's conspiring relatives.

title: AD 82

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Pliny the Younger is legate to Bithynia.

title: AD 109

text: Emperor Trajan sends Pliny the Younger to be governor (legatus Augusti) of Bithynia.

title: AD 111

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Emperor Numerian travels through Bithynia (Asia Minor) on his way home to Rome. Suffering from an inflammation of the eyes, he travels in a closed litter in which soldiers find his decaying corpse.

title: 284

date: February 26

text: February 26 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Emperor by officers of the Roman army at Nicaea in Bithynia. He addresses the soldiers (who threaten to riot) in a speech. He founds the Valentinianic dynasty and rules the Western portion of the Roman Empire, from Caledonia (Scotland) to the Rhine frontier, ensuring it a few years of relative security. He settles in Lutetia (Paris) and establishes a militia to defend the region.

title: 364

date: September 28

text: September 28 – Procopius revolts and bribes two legions passing by Constantinople. He proclaims himself Emperor, and takes control of Thrace and Bithynia.

title: AD 365

text: Anastasius I reduces taxes in the provinces of Bithynia and Asia, to prevent them from joining the rebellion. Vitalian marches to Constantinople and encamps at the suburb of Hebdomon (modern Turkey).

title: 513

section: Crime & Justice

text: Phocas has Constantina, empress consort of Maurice, and her three daughters arrested. He accuses her of conspiracy, and has them executed at Chalcedon (Bithynia).

title: 605

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine–Persian War: King Khosrau II invades Armenia, and raids deep into Anatolia through the Byzantine provinces of Cappadocia, Phrygia, Galatia, and Bithynia.

title: 608

text: Yazid reaches Chalcedon in Bithynia, and takes the important Byzantine center Amorium (modern Turkey).

title: 668

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Spring – An army of 15,000 Bulgar and Slav horsemen under Justinian II appear before the walls of Constantinople. After three days, his troops discover an unused water conduit under the walls of the city, and enter through the Valens Aqueduct. Hearing that Justinian has taken control of the Blachernae Palace, Emperor Tiberios III flees to Bithynia (modern Turkey), where he evades capture for several months.

title: 705

text: Summer – Emperor Alexios I Komnenos bribes one of Kilij Arslan's (sultan of the Sultanate of Rum) officials to recover Sinope (the capital of Paphlagonia), and neighbouring coastal regions. He uses the Byzantine fleet to defeat the Seljuk navy off the coast of Cius in Bithynia.

title: 1092

text: Spring – Siege of Nicaea: Malik Shah, Seljuk ruler of the Sultanate of Rum, sends an expedition through Bithynia to the very walls of Nicaea. Seljuk forces raid Abydos on the Hellespont, with its rich custom-houses. Malik Shah attacks and captures Pergamum. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos sets out to meet the Seljuk invaders. He lifts the siege at Nicaea and wins a complete victory near Cotyaeum (modern Turkey).

title: 1113

text: Spring – Sultan Osman I calls for a military campaign to strike deep into Byzantine Bithynia. During the campaign, Ottoman forces capture the towns of İnegöl and Yenişehir. The later town will be transformed into a capital city, as Osman moves his administration and personal household within its walls. By the end of the year, Ottoman forces begin blockading the major Byzantine city of Nicaea.

title: 1301

section: Events › By place › Middle East

date: July 27

text: July 27 – Battle of Bapheus: To counter the Turkish threat at Nicomedia, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos sends a Byzantine force (some 2,000 men) to cross over the Bosporus to relieve the city. On the plain, Turkish forces (some 5,000 light cavalry) led by Sultan Osman I defeat the Byzantines, who are forced to withdraw to Nicomedia. After the battle, Andronikos loses control of the countryside of Bithynia, withdrawing to the forts. Meanwhile, Turkish forces capture Byzantine settlements, such as the coastal city of Gemlik.

title: 1302

text: Siege of Nicomedia: After its foundation by Osman I in about 1299, the Ottoman Empire expanded across Bithynia in north-west Anatolia by capturing territory from the Byzantine Empire.

title: 1337


slug: black-death

label: Black Death

description: 1346–1353 pandemic in Eurasia and North Africa

section: Health & Medicine

text: The first recorded outbreak of the Black Death occurs, in the Chinese province of Hebei.

title: 1331

section: Events › Date unknown

date: December 1

text: December 1 – Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan dies, a victim of the plague that ravages the Ilkhanate. This is an early outbreak of the Black Death. His death without a clear heir causes the Ilkhanate to disintegrate.

title: 1335

section: Events › January–December

text: A Black Death plague strain originates near Lake Issyk-Kul in modern Kyrgyzstan, according to Syriac tombstone inscriptions and genetic material from exhumed bodies.

title: 1338

text: Spring – A severe Bubonic Plague epidemic begins in the Crimea, marking the first major epidemic of the Black Death.

title: 1346

section: Events

date: October

text: October–November – Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.

title: 1346

text: Genoese ships fleeing the 1331 Black Death plague in Theodosia stop in Constantinople, contaminating the city.

title: 1347

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: October – Ships arrive in the Sicilian city of Messina, carrying people afflicted by the Black Death onboard.

title: 1347

text: By June 24 – The Black Death pandemic reaches England, having probably been brought across the English Channel by fleas on rats aboard a ship from Gascony to the south coast port of Melcombe (modern-day Weymouth, Dorset); by November it will have reached London and by 1350 will have killed one third to a half of its population.

title: 1348

text: The Black Death pandemic spreads to central and western Europe and to Cairo.

title: 1348

section: Climate & Environment

date: January 25

text: January 25 – The 6.9-magnitude 1348 Friuli earthquake centered in Northern Italy is felt across Europe. Contemporary minds link the quake with the Black Death, fueling fears that the Biblical Apocalypse has arrived.

title: 1348

section: Conflict & Security

date: February 14

text: February 14 – Jewish persecutions during the Black Death: Strasbourg massacre – Because they are believed by the residents to be the cause of the Black Death, roughly 2,000 Jews are burned to death.

title: 1349

text: The Black Death first appears in Scotland and Sweden.

title: 1350

text: The Statute of Labourers deals with a labour shortage caused by the Black Death.

title: 1351

text: The Black Death (1331) subsides.

title: 1353

text: The world's first quarantine station, the Lazzaretto Vecchio, is built in Venice, to protect against the Black Death.

title: 1403

text: The Black Death sweeps England for a final time, in a 60-year period.

title: 1412

text: In Henan province, China, a severe drought with swarms of locusts is made worse, by a major epidemic outbreak of the plague.

title: 1539

section: Events › Undated

text: The Black Death hits parts of Europe.

title: 1596

date: December

text: December – Bubonic plague breaks out in Edinburgh (Scotland).

title: 1644

section: Events › October–December

date: April 10

text: April 10 – Because of the plague, the Edinburgh town council orders that the college graduation ceremony should be moved forward, so that students can leave the city (on November 19, teaching resumes in Linlithgow).

title: 1645

section: Events › April–June

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Fearing the spread of the Black Death (plague), Edinburgh Town Council prohibits all gatherings except weddings and funerals.

title: 1645

section: Events › January–March

date: August 8

text: August 8 – Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh completes Book VIII of Leabhar na nGenealach, in Galway, within days of an outbreak of the plague.

title: 1649

section: Events › July–September