slug: agriculture

label: Agriculture

description: practice of cultivating plants and raising animals to produce food, fiber, fuel, and other products; one of humanity's oldest and most widespread activities, forming the foundation of most human civilizations

section: Climate & Environment

text: Cultivation of rye, oats, hops, and spelt (a wheat used for livestock feed) is introduced in Europe by the native Vandals, Alans, and Sciri, who also introduce a heavy wheeled plow to be used for farming.

title: 406

section: Events › By topic › Agriculture

text: Emperor Anastasius I concludes treaties with a number of nomad tribes in northern Arabia. In return for tribute to the Byzantine Empire and military defense of these eastern territories, such tribes are permitted to settle and farm agricultural lands in Arabia (approximate date).

title: AD 500

text: Summer – Emperor Wéndi reduces taxes, due to an overflowing abundance of food and silk in the governmental stores. He sends messengers around central China, redistributing land to give the poor farming land.

title: 592

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Food production increases in northern and Western Europe as a result of agricultural technology introduced by the Slavs, who employ a lightweight plow with a knife blade (coulter), that cuts deep into the soil at grassroots level, together with a shaped board, or "moldboard", that moves the cut soil to one side.

title: 601

text: Emperor Wéndi stabilises the Chinese Empire; the agricultural acreage increases greatly, and shipbuilding technology reaches a new high level.

title: 603

section: Deaths

text: Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, governor of Mesopotamia, dies at Wasit (Iraq) after a 20-year administration. He is credited for improving agricultural production and introducing the diacritic points to the Arabic script. Al-Hajjaj convinces Al-Walid I to adopt an Arab currency.

title: 714

text: October – The Frankish army crosses the Vienne River and establishes a camp at or around the partially abandoned Roman mansion or agricultural settlement, now known as 'Vieux-Poitiers' (near Châtellerault), perhaps using the Roman theatre with its substantial towers as a fortification. Charles Martel forms a defensive position across the Roman road, and fends off Muslim skirmishes during the 'seven days' stand-off, probably involving scouts, and perhaps raiders from both armies.

title: 732

date: May

text: May – The Crusaders march past Tripoli, accompanied by guides provided by the emir who lead them safely through the towns of Batroun and Byblos. On May 19 they cross the Dog River north of Beirut into Fatimid territory. There local governors supply the Crusaders with tribute and food in return for no damage to the agricultural area. The Fatimids keep no large troops in the north, except for small garrisons.

title: 1099

section: Events › By place › First Crusade

text: Approximate date – King Béla III of Hungary invites Cistercian and Premonstratensian monks to Hungary. They introduce advanced agricultural methods in the realm.

title: 1173


slug: agrippina-the-elder

label: Agrippina the Elder

description: Member of Julio-Claudian dynasty (c. 14 BC–AD 33)

year_label: 14 BCE

section: Births

text: Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder (d. AD 33)

title: 14 BC

year_label: 5 CE

section: Culture & Society

text: AD 5 – Agrippina the Elder marries Germanicus, her second cousin.

title: 0s

section: Events › Roman Empire

year_label: 6 CE

text: AD 6 – Nero Julius Caesar, son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (d. AD 30)

title: 0s

year_label: 16 CE

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Julia Drusilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (d. AD 38)

title: 10s

section: Births › 16 AD

year_label: 18 CE

text: Julia Livilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (approximate date) (d. AD 41)

title: 10s

section: Births › 18 AD

year_label: 19 CE

text: Agrippina the Elder accuses Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso of having assassinated her husband Germanicus Julius Caesar in Antioch. However, there is no credible evidence and the charge is never proven. (In ancient times, when medical science was not advanced, poison was usually suspected whenever a young, healthy person died suddenly. There was no way to pinpoint and trace the substance after death; therefore, it was considered a quick, easy and non-traceable form of homicide.)

title: 10s

section: Events › 19 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 26 CE

text: Claudia Pulchra, cousin and close friend to Agrippina the Elder (b. 14 BC)

title: 20s

section: Deaths › 26 AD

year_label: 29 CE

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Agrippina the Elder is exiled to the island of Pandataria, and her sons (except Caligula) are imprisoned by Lucius Aelius Sejanus.

title: 20s

section: Events › 29 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 30 CE

section: Crime & Justice

text: Agrippina the Elder (the wife of Germanicus) and two of her sons, Nero Julius Caesar and Drusus Caesar, are arrested and exiled on orders of Lucius Aelius Sejanus (the prefect of the Praetorian Guard), and later starved to death in suspicious circumstances. In Sejanus's purge of Agrippina the Elder and her family, her son Caligula, and her three daughters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla are the only survivors.

title: 30s

section: Events › 30 AD › Roman Empire

year_label: 33 CE

text: Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, wife of Germanicus (suicide by starvation; b. 14 BC)

title: 30s

section: Deaths › 33 AD


slug: agrippina-the-younger

label: Agrippina the Younger

description: Roman empress and member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (AD 15–59)

year_label: 15 CE

date: November 6

text: November 6 – Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress (d. AD 59)

title: 10s

section: Births › 15 AD

title: 30s

year_label: 40 CE

text: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, husband of Agrippina the Younger (b. 17 BC)

title: 40s

section: Deaths › AD 40

year_label: 48 CE

text: After the execution of his wife Messalina, Claudius gets senatorial approval to marry his niece, Agrippina the Younger.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 48

year_label: 49 CE

text: Agrippina the Younger charges Octavia's first fiancé, Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus, with incest. He is brought before the Senate, and sentenced to death.

title: 40s

section: Timeline › AD 49

text: Emperor Claudius marries his niece Agrippina the Younger (approximate date), and most of the real power falls to Agrippina.

title: 40s

year_label: 54 CE

date: October 13

text: October 13 – Emperor Claudius dies (possibly after being poisoned by Agrippina, his wife and niece), and is succeeded by Nero.

title: 50s

section: Events › 54 AD › Roman Empire

text: October 13 – Claudius, Roman emperor, possibly poisoned by his wife Agrippina (b. 10 BC)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 54 AD

year_label: 58 CE

text: Agrippina the Younger, conspired with the senators in late 58 to overthrow Nero.

title: 50s

section: Events › 58 AD › Roman Empire

section: Conflict & Security

text: Agrippina the Younger is expelled from the imperial palace by her son Nero, who installs her in Villa Antonia in Misenum, and leaving more of the effective and real power of Empire in the hands of Nero.

title: 50s

year_label: 59 CE

date: March 23

text: March 23 – Emperor Nero orders the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger. He tries to kill her through a planned shipwreck, but when she survives, he has her executed and frames it as a suicide.

title: 50s

section: Events › 59 AD › Roman Empire

text: March 23 – Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero (b. AD 15)

title: 50s

section: Deaths › 59 AD


slug: ai-viet

label: Đại Việt

description: Vietnamese monarchy (10th–19th century)

text: Song–Đại Cồ Việt war: Đại Cồ Việt under King Lê Đại Hành defeated the invasion of the Song.

title: 981

section: Events › By place › Asia

text: Lý Nhật Tôn, third king of the Lý Dynasty, begins to rule in Vietnam, and changes the country's official name to Đại Việt.

title: 1054

text: Nam tiến, the southward expansion of the territory of Đại Việt (modern Vietnam), begins when a Lý dynasty army attacks Champa, capturing King Rudravarman III.

title: 1069

text: The Champa army, under king Jaya Indravarman II, raided Đại Việt's border and launched battles to retake three provinces in the Địa Lý regions.

title: 1103

section: Events › By place › Vietnam

text: After the raid on Đại Việt in 1103, the Champa army under king Jaya Indravarman II successfully retakes three provinces in the Địa Lý regions but is quickly defeated by the national forces led by Lý Thường Kiệt, and is forced to withdraw from the country. Đại Việt under the Lý dynasty then takes control of the three Địa Lý provinces.

title: 1104

text: Forces of the kingdom of Champa invade Đại Việt.

title: 1128

date: January 15

text: January 15: Lý Dương Hoán became the king of Đại Việt, ascending to the throne as Emperor Lý Thần Tông.

title: 1128

section: Culture & Society

date: November 5

text: November 5 – Lý Anh Tông is enthroned as emperor of Đại Việt at the age of two, starting a 37-year reign.

title: 1138

date: June 24

text: June 24 – Battle of Chương Dương: Joint forces of Champa and Đại Việt defeat the Mongol-led Yuan fleet on the Red River. Most of the Yuan warships are burned during the battle, and the Mongol army retreats to China in late June. The Vietnamese royal court returns to the capital in Thang Long following a six-month conflict.

title: 1285

date: April 9

text: April 9 – Battle of Bạch Đằng: Đại Việt (Vietnamese) general Trần Hưng Đạo sinks the fleet of an invading Mongol-led Yuan expeditionary army (some 94,000 men). He orders the placing of steel-tipped bamboo stakes (to create an ambush) in the Bach Dang River near Ha Long Bay. This ends the intentions of Kublai Khan to conquer Vietnam and Champa.

title: 1288

section: Deaths

date: December 16

text: December 16 – Tran Anh Tong becomes the new Emperor of Dai Viet (corresponding to northern Vietnam) upon the death of his father, Tran Nhan Tong.

title: 1308

section: Events › October – December

date: March

text: March – Champa, during the reign of King Po Binasuor, raids Hóa Châu of Đại Việt, then withdraws.

title: 1362

section: Events › January–December

date: November 15

text: November 15 – Trần Nghệ Tông deposes Dương Nhật Lễ as emperor of Đại Việt, modern-day Vietnam.

title: 1370

section: Events › October–December

section: Health & Medicine

date: February

text: February – In what is now Hanoi in Vietnam, the Emperor Trần Duệ Tông of Đại Việt issues decrees establishing an imperial examination for civil servants.

title: 1374

section: Events › January–March

date: December 27

text: December 27 – At Thăng Long, Tran Ngung overthrows and kills Tran Hien as Emperor of Dai Viet (now Vietnam).

title: 1388

text: March 23 – Five-year-old Trần Thiếu Đế is forced to abdicate as ruler of Đại Việt (modern-day Vietnam), in favour of his maternal grandfather and court official Hồ Quý Ly, ending the Trần dynasty after 175 years and starting the Hồ dynasty. Hồ Quý Ly subsequently changes the country's name to Đại Ngu.

title: 1400

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Trùng Quang Đế, Emperor of Vietnam (at the time Đại Việt), surrenders the Kingdom to the control of China. The Chinese occupying force installs Trần Cảo as the figurehead king.

title: 1413

date: December 29

text: December 29 – Victorious in the Lam Sơn uprising, Đại Việt (Vietnam) succeeds in forcing the withdrawal of Chinese troops from its territory as China's General Wang Tong and Vietnam's General Nguyễn Trãi agree to terms of disarmament and repatriation of 86,640 Ming Chinese prisoners in return for Chinese withdrawal.

title: 1427

date: September 29

text: September 29 – Lam Sơn uprising: China's General Liu Sheng arrives at China's border with Vietnam where a meeting is held with rebel leader Lê Lợi, who proposes settling the war by recognizing Tran Cao's rule as King of Đại Việt. The proposal is a pretext for Liu Sheng's army being lured into an ambush that soon follows, with 70,000 Chinese troops killed.

title: 1427

text: Lam Sơn uprising: Lê Lợi, founder of the Lê dynasty in Vietnam, liberates Annam (the territory occupied by Ming dynasty China in 1407) and restores the kingdom as Đại Việt.

title: 1428

section: Events › Date unknown

date: April 29

text: April 29 – The coronation of the Vietnamese rebel leader Le Loi as the King of Dai Viet takes place in Hanoi (at the time referred to as Thang Long). King Le Loi renames the Viet capital as "Dong Kinh".

title: 1428

section: Events › April–June

date: December 18

text: December 18 – Lê Thánh Tông leads the Đại Việt army into Champa, conquering the country in less than three months.

title: 1470

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: November 28

text: November 28 – Emperor Lê Thánh Tông of Đại Việt launches a naval expedition against Champa, beginning the Cham–Annamese War.

title: 1470

date: February 24

text: February 24 – In what is now south Vietnam, the Champa–Dai Viet War begins when the Dai Viet Emperor Lê Thánh Tông sends 500 warships to block the Champa Kingdom's Bay of Sa Ky, while another 30,000 troops block all entrances to the capital city of Vijaya at what is now the Quảng Ngãi Province. The Me Can citadel in Quang Na falls two days later and the Vietnamese advance.

title: 1471

date: December 7

text: December 7 – During the war between Dai Viet and Lan Xang (now the northern part of Vietnam and the entire nation of Laos), Emperor Xianxong of Ming dynasty China is informed by his envoys that Dai Viet had subdued Lan Xang and was preparing to invade Lan Na

title: 1480

date: October 31

text: October 31 – The "White Elephant War", which had started in 1479 with the invasion of the Kingdom of Lan Xang (now Laos) by the Dai Viet Empire (now northern Vietnam) with the Vietnamese withdrawing their troops and failing to conquer the Laotians.

title: 1484

date: July 15

text: July 15 – Trịnh Tùng is deposed as ruler of the kingdom of Đại Việt in northern Vietnam after more than 50 years. His son, Trịnh Xuan, burns the palace. Trinh Tung is carried away by his servants in a sedan chair and abandoned in the road to die. Another son, Trịnh Tráng, succeeds to the throne of Đại Việt.

title: 1623

section: Events › July–September

date: November 19

text: November 19 – Lê Gia Tông, age 10, is installed as the figurehead Emperor of Vietnam (a kingdom known as Đại Việt or Annam) by the warlord Trịnh Tạc, after the death, three days earlier, of Lê Huyền Tông. He reigns until his death on April 3, 1675.

title: 1671

date: April 27

text: April 27 – Lê Hy Tông becomes the new Emperor of Vietnam at the age of 12, after being appointed as a figurehead by the warlord Trịnh Tạc upon the death of Lê Gia Tông.

title: 1675

text: The Nguyễn dynasty emperor Gia Long changes his country's official name from Đại Việt to Việt Nam.

title: 1804


slug: akbar

label: Akbar

description: the third and greatest Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1605

section: Births

date: January 14

text: January 14 – Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier of the Mughal emperor Akbar (d. 1602)

title: 1551

date: November 5

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

title: 1556

text: Mughal Emperor Akbar conquers Malwa, and its last Sultan, Baz Bahadur, flees.

title: 1562

date: February 6

text: February 6 – In the Mughal Empire in India, the Emperor Akbar marries Mariam-uz-Zamani, daughter of Raja Bharmal, the ruler of the Kingdom of Amber. The marriage takes place in Sambhar in what is now the state of Rajasthan, where Akbar has stopped on his way back to the Mughal capital of Agra.

title: 1562

date: August 6

text: August 6 – In India Akbar, ruler of the Mughal Empire, defeats the rebellious governor of Malwa, Abdullah Khan Uzbeg. The defeat comes the day after the Imperial Army's arrival at Indore, now in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

title: 1564

section: Religion & Belief

text: Mughal Emperor Akbar founds Fatehpur Sikri, to honor the Muslim holy man Shaikh Salim Chisti, who has foretold the birth of Akbar's son and heir, Jahangir.

title: 1569

section: Events › Dates unknown

text: Akbar issues a mazhar signed by the leading ulamas, putting himself as the highest religious authority, allowing him to interpret the Quran.

title: 1579

text: In the Mughal Empire in India, Akbar abolishes the jizya, the tax placed upon non-Muslim residents.

title: 1579

date: November 13

text: November 13 – In India, the city of Allahabad (modern-day Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh) is founded as a strategic fortress by Akbar, Emperor of the Mughal Empire.Surendra Nath Sinha (1974).

title: 1583

date: December 20

text: December 20 – Enraged by the disrespect shown to him by Yousuf Shah Chak, the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, orders the invasion of Kashmir with 5,000 men.

title: 1585

date: December 14

text: December 14 – Sultan Murad, 4th son of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire invades Ahmednagar Sultanate which is defended by Chand Bibi.

title: 1595

date: March 7

text: March 7 – In India, Mughal Empire Prince Daniyal Mirza, son of the Emperor Akbar, is named the ruler of Khandesh, after having completed the conquest of the sultanate of Ahmednagar.

title: 1601

date: August 22

text: August 22 – Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, the prime minister for India's Mughal Emperor Akbar, is assassinated at Narwar as part of a plot by Emperor Akbar's son, Prince Salim, who will later succeed Akbar as Emperor Jahangir. Abu'l-Fazl's killer, Vir Singh Bundela, sends the victim's severed head to Prince Salim as proof of the plot's success.

title: 1602

date: October 27

text: October 27 – The 3rd Mughal Emperor, Akbar "the Great", dies of dysentery at Fatehpur Sikri in India.

title: 1605


slug: al-andalus

label: Al-Andalus

description: Muslim-ruled territories of the Iberian Peninsula (711–1492), encompassing various Islamic states; at its greatest extent occupied most of the peninsula before shrinking through the Reconquista to the Emirate of Granada

section: Conflict & Security

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: Events › By place › Arabian Empire

text: Umayyad conquest of Hispania: The Visigothic Kingdom is finally defeated at the Battle of Segoyuela (Castile and León). Prince Theudimer signs the Treaty of Orihuela with Abd al-Aziz, governor of Al-Andalus, and is permitted to retain his authority in the area subsequently known as Tudmir. He keeps the citadel of Orihuela and several other settlements, including Alicante and Lorca on the Mediterranean Sea.

title: 713

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

title: 714

text: Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, governor of Al-Andalus (modern Spain), is assassinated on order of Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. He is succeeded by his cousin Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi, who becomes interim "protector" (wali) for 6 months, and moves the capital to Córdoba, until replaced by Al-Hurr ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Thaqafi.

title: 716

section: Events › Byzantine Empire › Arabian Empire

text: Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi is appointed governor of Al-Andalus, after the death of Al-Samh. The Muslims under Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiqi withdraw to Narbonne. The Visigothic duke Amrus of the Lerida area recognises Umayyad rule.

title: 721

section: Events › By place › Europe

text: Umayyad conquest of Gaul: Muslim forces under Anbasa ibn Suhaym al-Kalbi (governor of Al-Andalus) capture the fortified town of Carcassonne, which has been under siege (see 720), as well as Nîmes in Septimania (the latter without resistance).

title: 725

text: Battle of the River Garonne: A Umayyad Muslim army (40,000 men) under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, governor of Al-Andalus, crosses the Pyrenees through the Roncesvalles Pass and raids widely, ravaging the cities of Oloron, Lescar and Bayonne, and burning the abbey of Saint-Sever. Umayyad forces destroy the monastery of Saint-Émilion, and defeat the 'Count of Libourne'. Abdul Rahman sacks and captures Bordeaux, and nearly wipes out the army of Duke Eudes of Aquitaine, at the Garonne River.

title: 732

text: Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, governor of Al-Andalus

title: 732

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

title: 733

text: Umayyad conquest of Gaul: Muslim forces under Abd al-Malik ibn Qatn al-Fihri, governor (wali) of Al-Andalus (modern Spain), enter Provence and raid the Rhône Valley. The cities of Avignon, Arles, and probably Marseille are handed over by Count Maurontus, who is in rebellion against Charles Martel.

title: 734

text: Siege of al-Sakhra: Moors under Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj (governor of Al-Andalus) besiege Pelagius, king of Asturias, in the uppermost Northern mountain ranges in Iberia. The battle ends inconclusively, with Pelagius surviving, but 270 out of his 300 followers are killed (at least according to a Muslim chronicle from the 11th century).

title: 735

text: Battle of the River Berre: Frankish forces sent by Charles Martel intercept a large Muslim army sent from Al-Andalus, (modern Spain) sent by Uqba ibn al-Hajjaj to relieve the siege of Narbonne. Both sides suffer heavy losses at the battlefield near the mouth of the River Berre (a short distance south of Narbonne). Some of the Muslims rush back to their ships, and some penetrate through the Frankish forces and make it to the city, effectively saving it from the Franks.

title: AD 737

text: Battle of the Nobles: The Berber rebels under chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati defeat and overwhelm the Umayyad forces of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri, near Tangier (Northern Morocco), undermining Arab domination in Islamic North Africa. The rebellion spreads in Al-Andalus (Spain), causing governor Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab to withdraw Moorish troops from many garrisons north of the Pyrenees.

title: 740

section: Events › By place › Africa

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

date: January 25

text: January 25 – Battle of the Zab: Abbasid forces under Abdallah ibn Ali defeat the Umayyads near the Great Zab River. Members of the Umayyad house are hunted down and killed. Defeated by his rivals, Caliph Marwan II flees westward to Egypt, perhaps attempting to reach Al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula), where there are still significant Umayyad armies.

title: 750

section: Events › Arab Caliphate

text: Siege of Narbonne: The Franks under King Pepin III ("the Short") retake Narbonne from the Muslims, after a 7-year siege. He pushes them back across the Pyrenees, and the Muslims retreat to the Andalusian heartland after 40 years of occupation. The government of the city is assigned to the Visigothic count Miló.

title: 759

text: In 763 Al-Mansur sent his troops to conquer Al-Andalus for the Abbasid empire. But the ruler Abd al-Rahman I successfully defended his territory. Al-Mansur withdrew and thereafter focused his troops on holding the eastern part of his empire on lands that were once part of Persia.

title: 763

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Caliphate

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

title: 778

text: Abd al-Rahman I, Muslim emir of Córdoba (Al-Andalus), begins the construction of the Prayer Hall of the Great Mosque of Córdoba. He uses the mosque (originally called Aljama Mosque) as an adjunct to his palace, and names it in honour of his wife.

title: 784

text: Charlemagne creates the Hispanic Marches, a buffer zone beyond the former province of Septimania. A group of Iberian lordships form a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and the Frankish Kingdom.

title: 795

text: King Alfonso II of Asturias campaigns against the Arab Muslims in Al-Andalus. With Frankish military support, he raids into Andalusia and sacks Lisbon (modern Portugal).

title: 798

section: Events › By place › Iberia

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

title: 802

text: Al-Andalus (modern Spain): An uprising occurs in the city of Mérida against the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 807

text: Al-Andalus (modern Spain): The city of Mérida rises up against the Emirate of Córdoba.

title: 810

text: Al-Andalus: A grave rebellion breaks out in the suburbs of Cordoba, against the Emirate of Córdoba. Andalucian Arab refugees arrive in Fez (modern Morocco).

title: 818

text: Al-Hakam I, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, dies after a 26-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Abd al-Rahman II, who begins a military campaign against King Alfonso II of Asturias in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 822

section: Events › By place › Al-Andalus

text: Al-Andalus: The city of Merida (modern Spain) rises twice in one year against the Umayyad Emirate.

title: 828

text: Byzantine–Arab War: Muslim reinforcements from Ifriqiya and Al-Andalus (modern Spain) defeat Byzantine forces under Theodotus in Sicily, but a plague once again compels them to retreat to Mazara del Vallo, and evacuate to North Africa.

title: 830

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Al-Andalus: The city of Zaragossa rises against the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba in modern-day Spain.

title: 843

text: The Mozarabs, Iberian Christians who live under Moorish rule, try to repopulate León in Al-Andalus (modern Spain). The city is recaptured by the Muslim Arabs.

title: 846

text: Al-Andalus: The city of Mérida rises against the Umayyad rule. Emir Muhammad I regains control, and has the walls of the city destroyed. He supports the rival creation of Badajoz in retaliation.

title: 868

text: Al-Andalus: The city of Toledo (modern Spain) rises up for a second time against Umayyad rule, due to ethnic tensions over two years.

title: 873

text: The city of Toledo rises against the Umayyad Dynasty, in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 887

text: A ship carrying about twenty Arab freebooters, from Pechina in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), sets anchor in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez in Provence. They establish a fortified base at Fraxinet (modern-day La Garde-Freinet). After raiding the surrounding area, the Muslim colony is bolstered by contingents of Saracen adventurers.

title: 889

text: Muslim forces led by Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, defeat the rebel leader Umar ibn Hafsun at Poley, in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 891

section: Events › By place › Emirate of Córdoba

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

title: 893

date: July 10

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

title: 901

date: October 16

text: October 16 – Abd al-Rahman III succeeds his grandfather Abdullah ibn Muhammad (after his execution) and becomes emir of Córdoba (Al-Andalus).

title: 912

section: Climate & Environment

text: In Al-Andalus a drought leads to a terrible famine in the Iberian Peninsula, which continues in 915. In his centralization effort, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Rahman III, reconquers Seville from the Banu Hajjaj clan.

title: 914

text: Córdoba, capital of Al-Andalus, becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 935

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: October 15

text: October 15 – Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III dies after a 32-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Hakam II as ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 961

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

title: 981

date: July 6

text: July 6 – The city of Barcelona is sacked by Moorish troops under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain).

title: 985

text: Summer: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, continues his effort in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and plunders the city of Coimbra (modern Portugal).

title: 986

text: Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, occupies the city of Coimbra (modern Portugal).

title: 987

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

title: 988

text: Al-Mansur, Chancellor and effective ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (modern Portugal), expanding the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba.

title: 990

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

title: 997

text: July – Battle of Calatañazor: Christian armies led by Alfonso V of León, Sancho III of Pamplona and Sancho García of Castile, defeat the invading Saracens under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus.

title: 1002

text: Sulayman ibn al-Hakam reconquers the Caliphate of Córdoba in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and deposes Hisham II. Sulayman becomes the fifth Umayyad caliph of Córdoba (until 1016).

title: 1013

text: Abd al-Aziz al-Mansur, a grandson of the prominent Andalusian figure Almanzor begins his rule in Taifa of Valencia, a Moorish kingdom in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), ushering in a period of relative stability and prosperity that will last until 1061. Taifa of Valencia gained its independence from the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1010.

title: 1021

text: The Judge-Governor of Seville in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) takes advantage of the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba and seizes power as Abbad I, founding the Abbadid dynasty.

title: 1023

text: In Al-Andalus, benefiting from the weakening of the Muslim central authority, the count of Portugal, Gonçalo Maia, conquers Montemor-o-Velho (approximate date).

title: 1034

text: January 25 – Abbad I dies after a 19-year reign as independent ruler of the Taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus (modern Spain). He is succeeded by his son Abbad II (until 1069).

title: 1042

text: The Republic of Pisa successfully completes the conquest of Sardinia, from the Andalusian occupiers. [Dubious claim; since Sardinia was already governed by the Giudici by this time]

title: 1049

text: February 28 – King Abbad II al-Mu'tadid dies after a 27-year reign. He is succeeded by his son Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, who becomes the ruler of the Taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus (until 1091).

title: 1069

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

title: 1088

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

title: 1090

text: July – The Abbadid dynasty ruling in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) falls when Almoravid forces storm Seville. Confronted with this threat, Emir Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Aftas of Badajoz obtains the support of King Alfonso VI ("the Brave") of Castile, in exchange for the Moorish positions on the river Tagus (Sintra, Santarém and Lisbon).

title: 1091

text: May – El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) completes his conquest of Valencia in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) and begins his rule (in the name of King Alfonso VI) there. The Almoravid campaign to regain the city fails.

title: 1094

text: Reconquista: King Peter I of Aragon conquers Huesca from the Moors of the Taifa of Zaragoza. He expands his domains to the south, conquering land from Al Andalus (modern Spain). The capital is moved from Jaca to Huesca.

title: 1096

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

title: 1097

text: Diego Gelmírez, archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, declares a Crusade in Al-Andalus (modern Spain) against the Almoravids.

title: 1123

text: Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona, launches a raid against Almoravid-held territories in Al-Andalus (modern Spain), and pillages the country all the way to Cádiz.

title: 1133

text: July 17 – King Alfonso VII of León and Castile, leads a campaign at the head of mixed armies of Catalonia, Genoa, Pisa and France. He besieges Almería in southern Al-Andalus (modern Spain); a Genoese fleet of 63 galleys and 163 other vessels, blockade the Almoravid-held port, which is captured after a 2-month siege on October 17.

title: 1147

text: The Almohad emir, Abd al-Mu'min, prepares a gigantic fleet of some four hundred ships to invade Al-Andalus (modern Spain). He dies the following year, before the fleet is completed.

title: 1162

text: January 23 – Caliph Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur dies at Marrakesh after a 15-year reign in which he has defeated the Castilian forces of King Alfonso VIII (the noble) (see 1195) and other Christian enemies in Al-Andalus. He is succeeded by his son Muhammad al-Nasir as ruler of the Almohad Caliphate (until 1213).

title: 1199

text: February – King Ferdinand III (the Saint) announces his intention to resume the Reconquista against the realm of the Almohad Caliphate. Caliph Yusuf II al-Mustansir dies and is succeeded by Abu Muhammad al-Wahid, but in Al-Andalus, two competing pretenders also claim their rights to the throne: Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Mansur al-Adil in Seville and Abu Muhammad abu Abdallah al-Bayyasi in Córdoba. The chronic political instability on the Almohad site allows Ferdinand to begin his campaign victoriously in October, with the capture of Quesada in Spain.

title: 1224

text: July 16 – Muhammad I is elected as ruler of the Taifa of Arjona. He revolts against Ibn Hud, the independent ruler of Al-Andalus, and takes control of the city, beginning the foundation of the Nasrid dynasty.

title: 1232

text: Reconquista – King Sancho II of Portugal ("the Pious") conquers the city of Ayamonte from the Almoravids, securing the Portuguese position in Al-Andalus.

title: 1240

text: February 28 – Siege of Jaén: Castilian forces, led by King Ferdinand III (the Saint), manage to take the city of Jaén from the Andalucians. In a combined assault with the knights of the Order of Santiago, the city is handed over by Sultan Muhammad I, who accepts Ferdinand's overlordship in exchange for a 20-year truce. The Emirate of Granada becomes a vassal state of the Kingdom of Castile.

title: 1246

text: December – Reconquista: Ferdinand III issues an edict to expel the Almohads out of Seville. Many Muslims sail to North Africa and others travel to Granada in Al-Andalus.

title: 1248

text: Reconquista: King Afonso III of Portugal ("the Boulonnais") recaptures Faro and Silves in the Algarve from the Almohads, thus completing the expulsion of the Moors from Portugal. The Almohads also lose possession of Alicante in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 1249

text: Sultan Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq and Muhammad II, ruler of Granada, agree to a truce with King Alfonso X of Castile ("the Wise") for two years. Before Abu Yusuf leaves, Muhammad's secretary addresses a poem to Abu Yusuf, expressing fear of Castile's power and appealing for Marinid's continued support. Later, Abu Yusuf lands at Alcázar Seguir on January 19. This ending the first Marinid invasion in Al-Andalus (modern Spain).

title: 1276

text: Summer – Sultan Muhammad II drives the rebellious Banu Ashqilula from one stronghold to the next, where they are finally expelled from Granadan territory in Al-Andalus (modern Spain). Meanwhile, Muhammad manages through diplomatic intrigue, to turn the Castilian aristocracy against King Sancho IV. In response, King Alfonso III proclaims the 18-year-old Alfonso de la Cerda as ruler of Castile and León.

title: 1288

text: The Nasrid princes of Al-Andalus replace Abu al-Abbas with Abu Faris Musa ibn Faris, as ruler of the Marinid dynasty in modern-day Morocco.

title: 1384

text: January 2 – Fall of Granada: Muhammad XI, the last Emir of Granada, surrenders his city to the army of the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile) after a lengthy siege, ending the ten-year Granada War and the centuries-long Reconquista, and bringing an end to 780 years of Muslim control in Al-Andalus.

title: 1492


slug: al-ma-mun

label: Al-Ma'mun

description: Abbasid caliph (786–833, r. 813–833)

text: Al-Ma'mun, Muslim caliph (d. 833)

title: 786

text: Caliph al Ma’mun founds a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.

title: 813

date: August 11

text: August 11 – Caliph Al-Ma'mun returns to Baghdad, securing the city's place as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 819

text: Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun appoints Isa ibn Yazid al-Juludi as Abbasid governor of Yemen, for a few months.

title: 820

text: By the time Al-Ma'mun becomes caliph, the Arabs and the Byzantines have settled down into border skirmishing, with Arab raids deep into Anatolia to capture booty.

title: 821

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

title: 827

section: Events › By topic › Science

text: Summer – Muslim Arabs under Caliph Al-Ma'mun launch an invasion into Anatolia (modern Turkey), and capture a number of Byzantine forts. Heraclea Cybistra and Tyana fall to the Arabs.

title: 831

section: Events › By place › Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire

text: Byzantine–Arab War: The Byzantine fortress of Loulon (modern Turkey) is captured by the Abbasids. Its garrison surrenders to Caliph Al-Ma'mun, after a lengthy siege.

title: 832

text: Byzantine-Arab War: Emperor Theophilos signs an armistice for peace with the Abbasid Caliphate. He offers Caliph Al-Ma'mun 100,000 gold dinars, in return for 7,000 Byzantine prisoners.

title: 833

section: Deaths

date: August 7

text: August 7 – Caliph Al-Ma'mun dies after a 20-year reign. He is succeeded two days later by his half-brother al-Mu'tasim, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 833

date: August 9

text: August 9 – Al-Ma'mun, Muslim caliph (b. 786)

title: 833


slug: al-mu-tadid

label: Al-Mu'tadid

description: 16th Abbasid Caliph from 892 to 902

section: Births

text: Al-Mu'tadid, Muslim caliph (or 861)

title: 854

text: Al-Mu'tadid, Muslim caliph (or 854)

title: 861

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

title: 879

text: 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

date: June 2

text: June 2 – Al-Muwaffaq, an Abbasid prince and Commander-in-chief, dies at the capital of Baghdad. His son Al-Mu'tadid is recognized as regent, and second heir of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 891

section: Events › By place › Arabian Empire (Caliphate)

date: April

text: April – Al-Mu'tadid, the de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate, removes his cousin Al-Mufawwad from succession. He becomes caliph himself, after the death of Al-Mu'tamid, returning the capital from Samarra to Baghdad.

title: 892

section: Religion & Belief

text: Spring – Caliph Al-Mu'tadid recognizes Khumarawayh as autonomous emir over Egypt and Syria, in exchange for an annual tribute of 300,000 dinars. The Jazira provinces of Diyar Rabi'a and Diyar Mudar are returned to the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim forces recover direct control of Mosul (modern Iraq) from the Shayban.

title: 893

text: Hamdan ibn Hamdun, a Taghlibi Arab chieftain, is defeated and captured by Caliph Al-Mu'tadid at the fortress of Mardin (near modern Cizre). Hamdan's son Husayn enters Abbasid service, beginning the rise of the Hamdanid Dynasty.

title: 895

text: Kharijite Rebellion: The Kharijite uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate in Jazira is ended. Caliph Al-Mu'tadid reunifies the entire province under central government, and installs his son and heir, Al-Muktafi, as governor.

title: 896

text: Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shaybani, Muslim ruler of Diyar Bakr, surrenders at the besieged capital of Amid (modern Turkey) to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in exchange for clemency. Al-Muktafi, the son of Al-Mu'tadid, is installed as governor of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), ending the semi-independent Shaybanid Dynasty, which has ruled in Diyar Bakr since the 870s.

title: 899

text: Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghanistan) over Amr ibn al-Layth; the latter is captured and sent to Caliph Al-Mu'tadid in Baghdad. The Samanid Dynasty rules over Khorasan, as well as Transoxiana. A few months later, the Samanids conquer the Zaydid emirate of Tabaristan. This victory marks the beginning of the dispersion of the local Shi'ites by the new Sunni power.

title: 900

date: April 5

text: April 5 – Al-Mu'tadid, Abbasid caliph

title: 902

text: April 5 – Caliph Al-Mu'tadid dies in Baghdad after a 10-year reign. Possibly poisoned in a palace intrigue, he is succeeded by his eldest son Al-Muktafi as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

title: 902


slug: alabama

label: Alabama

description: state of the United States of America

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: October 18

text: October 18 – An expedition led by Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto destroys the fortified village of Mabila in modern-day Alabama, killing paramount chief Tuskaloosa.

title: 1540

section: Events › October–December

section: Culture & Society

date: February

text: February – French settlers at Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile (Alabama), by parading a large papier-mache ox head on a cart (the first Mardi Gras parade in America).

title: 1711

section: Events › January–March

section: Crime & Justice

date: February 19

text: February 19 – Burr conspiracy: In Alabama, former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr is tried for conspiracy, but acquitted.

title: 1807

section: Conflict & Security

date: August 30

text: August 30 – Creek War – Fort Mims massacre: A force of Creeks, belonging to the Red Sticks faction, kills hundreds of settlers in Fort Mims, Alabama.

title: 1813

section: Events › July–September

date: March 27

text: March 27 – War of 1812 – Battle of Horseshoe Bend: In northern Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek Indians.

title: 1814

section: Events › March

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: December 14 – Alabama is admitted as the 22nd U.S. state.

title: 1819

date: January 11

text: January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) begins operation, becoming the first publicly chartered college in Alabama.

title: 1830

date: May 4

text: May 4 – American Civil War: Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, commanding all Confederate forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana, surrenders his forces to Union General Edward Canby at Citronelle, Alabama, effectively ending all Confederate resistance east of the Mississippi River.

title: 1865

section: Events › May

date: July 4

text: July 4 – Tuskegee Institute opens in Alabama.

title: 1881

section: Events › July

section: Technology & Infrastructure

date: February 23

text: February 23 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.

title: 1883

section: Events › February

section: Health & Medicine

date: March 21

text: March 21–22 – 1932 Deep South tornado outbreak: A series of deadly tornadoes in the United States kills more than 220 people in Alabama, 34 in Georgia and 17 in Tennessee.

title: 1932

date: February 12

text: February 12 – A devastating tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama kills 45 people and injures 427 others.

title: 1945

date: September 17

text: September 17–21 – The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane in southeastern Florida, and also in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana causes widespread damage, and kills 50 people.

title: 1947

section: Events › September

date: May 21

text: May 21 – Civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order, after race riots break out.

title: 1961

date: February 25

text: February 25 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in United States v. Paradise that affirmative action is lawful if the organization in question has a history of pervasive racial discrimination in hiring practices; in this case, police departments in the state of Alabama. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. rules that the government is "justified by a compelling governmental interest in eradicating the Department's pervasive, systematic, and obstinate discriminatory exclusion of blacks."

title: 1987

date: February 10

text: February 10 – Severe weather spawns eight tornadoes across southern Mississippi and southwest Alabama, including an EF4 tornado which struck the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

title: 2013

date: September 16

text: September 16 – Hurricane Sally makes landfall on the Alabama coast as a high-end Category 2 hurricane, causing over $8 billion in damages and killing 8 people.

title: 2020

date: July 7

text: July 7 – July 17 – The 2022 World Games is held in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

title: 2022


slug: alamanni

label: Alamanni

text: Emperor Caracalla leaves Rome and expels some Germanic marauders from Gaul, while his mother, Julia Domna, rules the Empire. He defends the northern Rhine frontier against the Alamanni and the Chatti. Caracalla wins over the Germanic tribes on the banks of the River Main, and gives himself the title "Germanicus". It is probably while campaigning in Germania that he takes a liking to the caracalla, a Celtic or Germanic tunic from which he acquires the name by which he is known.

title: 213

section: Events › By place › Roman Empire

text: Emperor Alexander Severus celebrates a triumph in Rome to observe his "victory" the previous year over the Persians (in reality, Severus Alexander advanced towards Ctesiphon in 233, but as corroborated by Herodian, his armies suffered a humiliating defeat against Ardashir I). He is soon summoned to the Rhine frontier, where the Alamanni invade what is now modern-day Swabia. German tribes destroy Roman forts, and plunder the countryside at the Limes Germanicus.

title: 233

text: The Alamanni drive the Romans from the modern area of Donau-Ries.

title: 250

text: Battle of Mediolanum: A Germanic confederation, the Alamanni (300,000 warriors), who crossed the Alps, are defeated by Roman legions under Gallienus, near Mediolanum (modern Milan).

title: 259

text: The Roman fort of Wiesbaden (Germany) is captured by the Alamanni (possibly 260).

title: 259

text: Gallienus evacuates the fortifications (limes) in the Agri Decumates (Germania Superior), covering the Black Forest area in the face of invading Alamanni.

title: 260

text: The Alamanni invade Italy north of the Po River.

title: 268

text: Emperor Probus defeats the Alamanni, advancing through the Neckar Valley. He expels the Franks from Gaul, and reorganizes the Roman defenses on the Rhine.

title: 278

text: The Alamanni and the Franks cross the Rhine and defeat the depleted Roman units left at the frontier. The Germans take control of around 40 towns and cities between the Moselle and the Rhine.

title: 352

text: The Alamanni raid Raetia (Switzerland), but are pushed back behind the Rhine by Julian, into the Black Forest.

title: AD 360

date: November 1

text: November 1 – The Alamanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities.

title: AD 365

date: January 2

text: January 2 – The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, and invade the Gallic provinces. They capture Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau.

title: 366

text: Battle of Solicinium: Emperor Valentinian I launches a punitive expedition against the Alamanni, due to the crises in Britannia and Gaul. The Alamanni re-cross the Rhine and plunder Moguntiacum (modern Mainz).

title: 367

text: Emperor Valentinian I is engaged in operations against the Alamanni, Quadi and Sarmatians, while his subordinates are dealing with the Roman usurper Firmus in Africa and the Picts in Britain.

title: 372

section: Deaths

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Emperor Valentinian I concludes an enduring peace with the Alamanni in Germany, then marches into Illyricum to repel an invasion of the Quadi and the Sarmatians on the Danube frontier. While negotiating with the Quadi, Valentinian, age 54, becomes so enraged that he dies in a fit of apoplexy at Brigetio (Hungary). Extreme cruelty has marked his 11-year reign, but he has also founded schools and provided physicians to serve the poor of Constantinople.

title: 375

text: Late Roman army: The Notitia Dignitatum shows the development of forces in the Roman Empire. By now 200,000 soldiers guard the borders, and a reserve force of 50,000 is available for deployment. Many non-Roman soldiers are from Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Goths, Saxons and Vandals.

title: 394

text: Battle of Tolbiac: King Clovis I defeats the Alamanni at Zülpich (Germany). Gibuld, last king of the Alamanni, is killed in battle and the territory is incorporated into the Frankish Kingdom.

title: 496

section: Events › By place › Europe


slug: alans

label: Alans

description: an ancient Iranian people

year_label: 75 CE

text: Vespasian fortifies Armazi (Georgia) for the Iberian king Mithridates I. The Alans raid the Roman frontier in Armenia.

title: AD 75

text: Pacorus II of Parthia dies after a 27-year reign, in which he has reclaimed all of his empire. His successor Vologases III reigns until 147 AD, suppressing brief rebellions, as he battles against the Kushan and Alani.

title: AD 105

text: Arrianus, Roman governor of Cappadocia, repulses an attack of the Alani, a nomadic tribe from southeastern Russia.

title: AD 134

text: Alans threaten Cappadocia; they are repulsed by Arrian.

title: AD 135

text: King Eupator of Bosphorus pays tribute to Rome, due to the threat posed by the Alani.

title: AD 154

text: Emperor Probus drives the Alans off to Asia Minor and suppresses the revolt in Gaul; Proculus is executed.

title: 280

text: War begins between the Huns and the Alans.

title: 352

section: Events › By place › Asia

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: The Huns of Central Asia begin their great drive westwards with an advance into Scythia (modern Ukraine). They overcome and absorb the Alans, a nomadic and warlike horse breeding people from the steppes northeast of the Black Sea.

title: 355

text: The Alans rout the Hun army in Western Asia.

title: 357

text: The Huns invade the Pontic steppes by the thousands, spreading terror as they take over territories held for generations by Alans, Heruls, Ostrogoths and Visigoths.

title: AD 360

text: The Huns migrate westward from the Volga into Europe and subjugate the Alans and the Ostrogoths. With their arrival, a tradition of composite bows is introduced.

title: 370

text: Athanaric starts building new defensive works to protect his people against the Alans and the Huns.

title: 372

text: Battle of the Tanais River: The Huns defeat the Alans near the Don, sending the remnants fleeing westward.

title: 373

text: The Greuthungi, led by Alatheus and Saphrax, displaced by the predations of the Huns and Alans, request asylum within the Roman Empire. They are refused. The Roman frontier forces stretched to the breaking point, they slip across the Danube and unite with Fritigern. With their situation critical and desperately short of food, discontent is rising amongst the Goths.

title: 376

section: Climate & Environment

text: Gothic War: Famine in Lower Moesia (occupied by the Goths) takes a fearsome toll. Fritigern and his followers appeal for help, but the governors Lupicinus and Maximus regard them as second-class citizens. Little help is forthcoming, and thousands starve to death. The pressure on the Roman frontier is still severe, with the Taifali and other hostile bands of Goths on the Danube. In addition, groups of Huns and Alans have also moved up to the river.

title: 377

date: August

text: August – Gratian continues down the Danube to the "Camp of Mars" (frontier fortress near modern Niš), where he loses several men in an ambush by a band of Alans.

title: 378

section: Births

text: Gunderic, king of the Vandals and Alans (d. 428)

title: 379

text: Battle of the Save: Emperor Theodosius I defeats Magnus Maximus near Emona (modern Slovenia). Theodosius is in command of an army including Goths, Huns and Alans. Valentinian II, now 17, is restored as Roman Emperor.

title: 388

text: Geiseric, king of the Vandals and Alans (approximate date)

title: 389

text: Aspar, Alan patrician and general (magister militum) (approximate date)

title: 400

text: War of Radagaisus: King Radagaisus leads an invasion with a force of 20,000 men and crosses the Alps. He spends the winter in the Po Valley and is observed by Stilicho, who lacks sufficient strength to prepare an offensive against the invading German tribes. The exact numbers of the migration are unknown, probably nearly 100,000, including Alans, Burgundians, Goths, Vandals, and other smaller tribes.

title: 405

date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Vandals, led by King Gunderic, cross the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula. They receive land from the Romans, as foederati, in Baetica (Southern Spain). The Alans occupy lands in Lusitania and the Suebi control parts of Gallaecia.

title: 409

text: The Alans establish their rule in the Roman province of Lusitania (Portugal south of the Duero River and Spain).

title: AD 411

text: Rex Flavius Gundericus of the Vandals accepts the request of the Alans in Hispania to become their ruler (approximate date).

title: 426

text: King Gunderic, age 49, dies after a reign of 21 years, and is succeeded by his half-brother Genseric. He is styled with the title Rex Wandalorum et Alanorum ("King of the Vandals and Alans"). Genseric increases his power and wealth in the residence of the province of Hispania Baetica (Southern Spain).

title: 428

text: Gunderic, king of the Vandals and Alans (b. 379)

title: 428

text: Spring – The Vandals, led by Genseric ("Caesar King"), invade North Africa. They land with a force of 80,000 men including Alans, and Germanic tribesmen with their families from the Iberian Peninsula, across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The Vandal fleet raids the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and blockades the grain and oil supply to Italy.

title: 429

text: A Vandal fleet and their allies (Alans, Goths and Moors) set out from Carthage for Sicily, the principal supplier of oil and grain to Italy after the loss of North Africa. They loot all the coastal towns and besiege Palermo. Heavily laden ships return to the court of King Genseric.

title: 440

section: Events › By place › Africa

text: The second Revolt of Bagaudae in Armorica under leading of Eudoxius is knocked down by the Alans. Eudoxius fled to the Huns.

title: 441

text: Flavius Aetius, Roman general (magister militum), settles the Alans around Valence and Orléans, to contain unrest in Brittany.

title: 444

date: September 21

text: September 21 – Emperor Valentinian III stabs his commander-in-chief Flavius Aetius to death, during a meeting of the imperial council at Ravenna. He has accused Aetius of plotting against him to seize power. After his assassination, the Western Roman Empire has no effective defender against its hostile barbarian neighbors (Alans, Franks, Ostrogoths, Vandals and Visigoths).

title: 454

text: Emperor Majorian gathers an expeditionary force (Alans and other barbarians) in Liguria, and enters Aquitaine after a long march, where he visits King Theodoric II at Toulouse.

title: 460

text: Hilderic, king of the Vandals and Alans (approximate date)

title: 460

title: 471

date: January 25

text: January 25 – Genseric, king of the Vandals and Alans

title: 477

text: Gelimer, king of the Vandals and Alans (d. 553)

title: 480

text: Gunthamund, king of the Vandals and Alans

title: 496

text: Hilderic succeeds his uncle Thrasamund after a 27-year reign, and becomes king of the Vandals and Alans. He favours Catholicism and grants the inhabitants religious freedom.

title: 523

text: Hilderic, king of the Vandals and Alans

title: 533

text: Gelimer, king of the Vandals and Alans (b. 480)

title: 553

text: Spring – The Polovtsian army assembles on the Terek River lowlands and are joined by Alan, Circassian, and Don Kipchak/Cuman forces. The Mongol army crosses the Caucasus Mountains, but is trapped in the narrow mountain passes. The Mongol generals Subutai and Jebe (the Arrow) send an embassy to the Polovtsians and convince them to break their alliance with the Caucasian peoples. The Mongol cavalry invades the Caucasus region and devastates the local villages, seizing slaves, cattle and horses.

title: 1223

section: Events › Other events, by place › Mongol Empire

text: Battle of Bolnisi: Khwarazmian forces led by Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni defeat a coalition of Georgians, Kipchaks, Alans, Vainakhs and Laks (some 40,000 men) at Bolnisi (modern Georgia).

title: 1228

text: Autumn – Siege of Bilär: The Mongols under Batu Khan capture the capital city of Bilär after a siege that lasts for 45 days. The Volga Bulgars are defeated within the year, as are the Kipchaks and Alans.

title: 1236

section: Events › By place › Mongol Empire

text: Autumn – The Mongols under Batu Khan retire, leaving behind the ruined northern Rus' territories. He spends the rest of the year suppressing the last resistance of the Kipchaks, while his cousin Möngke (son of Tolui Khan) conquer the Alans and the northern Caucasian tribes. Later, Möngke makes a raid of reconnaissance as far as Kiev.

title: 1238


slug: alaric-i

label: Alaric I

description: King of the Visigoths

text: Alaric I (or Alaricus), king of the Visigoths (d. 410)

title: 370

section: Conflict & Security

text: The Visigoths and Huns, led by Alaric, invade Thrace. Stilicho, high-ranking general (magister militum) of Vandal origin, raises an army and begins a campaign against the Goths.

title: 390

text: Stilicho, Roman general (magister militum), defeats the Visigoths and Huns in Thrace. Emperor Theodosius I permits Alaric to go free on condition he provides, as foederati, military services to the Roman Empire.

title: 392

date: September 6

text: September 6 – Battle of the Frigidus: Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the usurper Eugenius. The forces of Theodosius are bolstered by numerous auxiliaries, including 20,000 Visigoth federates under Alaric. The Frankish general Arbogast (magister militum) escapes into the Alps and commits suicide.

title: 394

text: Alaric, Visigothic leader of the foederati, renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.

title: 395

text: Revolt of Alaric I: The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, rampage through Greece and plunder Corinth, Argos and Sparta. They destroy the Temple of Eleusis, and harry the Peloponnese. Stilicho makes peace with the Goths, and allows them to settle in Epirus (Balkans).

title: 396

text: Revolt of Alaric I: Stilicho traps the Visigoths under King Alaric in the Peloponnese, but decides to abandon the campaign against the Visigoths in Greece, thus allowing King Alaric to escape north to Epirus with his loot. Presumably, Stilicho has left Greece in order to prepare for military action in northern Africa, where a rebellion (see Gildonic Revolt in 398) seems imminent.

title: 397

date: November 18

text: November 18 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.

title: 401

text: The Visigoths advance on Mediolanum (modern Milan) and besiege Asti in Liguria. King Alaric I sends envoys to negotiate a peace, but the Roman government refuses to make deals with "barbarians."

title: 402

date: June

text: June – Battle of Verona: The Visigoths, under command of King Alaric I, invade Italy again, and advance through the Brenner Pass. Stilicho, with an army of 30,000 men, defeats the Goths north of Verona. Alaric makes a truce, and withdraws eastward to Illyricum.

title: 403

section: Crime & Justice

text: Flavius Aetius is sent as a child hostage at the court of Alaric I, king of the Visigoths.

title: 405

text: Alaric I exacts a tribute from Rome that includes 3,000 pounds of pepper. The spice is valued for alleged medicinal virtues and for disguising spoilage in meat that is past its prime.

title: 408

section: Events › By topic › Medicine

date: September

text: September – Rex Alaric I of the Visigoths crosses the Julian Alps with an army of 30,000 men, and marches into the Roman heartland. He lays siege to Rome, and Gothic auxiliaries desert to join Alaric's forces. After much bargaining, the Senate agrees to pay him a ransom of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4,000 silken tunics, and 3,000 hides dyed scarlet.

title: 408

text: The Visigothic king Alaric I lays siege to Rome a second time, bringing the inhabitants close to starvation. Emperor Honorius, safe in inaccessible Ravenna, refuses to negotiate for peace, despite repeated offers from Alaric, who then comes to terms with the Senate and sets up a rival emperor, Priscus Attalus, prefect (praefectus urbi) of the city.

title: 409

text: The Eastern Roman Empire sends six legions (6,000 men) to aid Honorius at Ravenna. He negotiates with King Alaric I, who ceremonially deposes Priscus Attalus as co-emperor.

title: 410

text: Alaric I, king of the Visigoths

title: 410


slug: alauddin-khalji

label: Alauddin Khalji

description: 13th Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate and 2nd from the Khalji dynasty (1266-1316)

text: Alauddin Khalji, Sultan of Delhi (d. 1316)

title: 1266

date: July 20

text: July 20 – Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji dies, and his nephew and son-in-law Ala-Ud-Din-Khalji comes to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in Hindustan, becoming the most powerful ruler of his dynasty.

title: 1296

section: Events › January–December

section: Culture & Society

date: October 21

text: October 21 – The formal coronation of Alauddin Khalji as Sultan of Delhi takes place, and he takes the regnal name Muhammad Shah I.

title: 1296

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

title: 1298

text: February 25 – Sultan Alauddin Khalji orders the army (some 35,000 men) to prepare for the march to Gujarat. One part of the army under Nusrat Khan starts its march from Delhi. Another part, led by Ulugh Khan, marches from Sindh and attacks Jaisalmer along the way. When the army returns from raiding Gujarat, Mongol soldiers stage a mutiny over payment of khums (one-fifth of the share of loot). The mutiny is crushed, the mutineer families in Delhi are punished and executed.

title: 1299

date: July 10

text: July 10 – Indian forces under Sultan Alauddin Khalji capture Ranthambore Fortress. During the siege, General Nusrat Khan Jalesari is hit and killed by a manjaniq stone.

title: 1301

section: Events › July– September

date: August 26

text: August 26 – Siege of Chittorgarh: Delhi forces led by Sultan Alauddin Khalji capture the massive Chittor Fort in northern India, after an 8-month-long siege. Alauddin orders a general massacre of Chittor's population.

title: 1303

section: Events › July–September

date: January 28

text: January 28 – In India, the siege of Chittorgarh, capital of the Medapata Kingdom (now in the state of Rajasthan), begins as the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khalji, seeks to acquire the territory of the Medapata Emperor, Ratnasimha.

title: 1303

section: Events › January–March

text: Sultan Alauddin Khalji orders a second invasion of Gujarat, which results in the annexation of the Kingdom of Vaghela into the Delhi Sultanate.

title: 1304

section: Events › July – September

date: December 20

text: December 20 – Battle of Amroha: Mongol forces (some 30,000 men) invade the Delhi Sultanate again in northern India. Sultan Alauddin Khalji dispatches a cavalry force led by Vizier Ghazi Malik, to repulse the Mongols. During the battle (somewhere in the Amroha district), the Delhi forces inflict a crushing defeat upon the invaders. Many Mongols are taken prisoner and incorporated into the Delhi army.

title: 1305

section: Events › October – December

text: Mongol invasion of India: Mongol forces invade the Delhi Sultanate, Sultan Alauddin Khalji sends an army under Malik Kafur to deal with the invaders and defeats them at the banks of the Ravi River. The Delhi army kills and captures many Mongols in their pursuit. Alauddin orders the survivors to be trampled under the feet of elephants.

title: 1306

section: Events › By location › Asia

date: July 2

text: July 2 – Alauddin Khalji, Sultan of Delhi sets off from the Indian city of Delhi toward the Fort of Siwana (now in the Rajasthan state) to begin the siege of Siwana, which is completed in September.

title: 1308

text: September – Siege of Siwana: Delhi forces under Alauddin Khalji capture the Siwana fortress after a two-month siege. During the siege, Alauddin defiles the main water tank of Siwana (by a traitor) with cows' blood.

title: 1308

date: October 31

text: October 31 – In India, Alauddin Khalji, Sultan of Delhi, orders General Malik Kafur to invade the Kakatiya kingdom, ruled by Prataparudra, and to besiege its capital, Warangal (now in India's Telangana state).

title: 1309

date: May 6

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

title: 1313

section: Events › April – June

date: January 4

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

title: 1316

section: Events › January – March


slug: alba

label: Alba

description: Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland

text: King Kenneth I (also called Kenneth MacAlpin) of Alba (modern Scotland) invades Northern Northumbria during the period of 850–858, burning Dunbar and Melrose.

title: 850

section: Events › By place › Britain

section: Deaths

date: February 13

text: February 13 – King Kenneth I (Cináed mac Ailpín), king of the Scots, dies after a 15-year reign in which he has been crowned at Scone, and united the various parts of Scotland with his native Dál Riata. His 46-year-old brother succeeds as Donald I, king of Alba.

title: 858

text: King Artgal of Strathclyde is slain, through the connivance of King Constantine I of Alba (modern Scotland) and his Viking allies. Artgal's son, Run, succeeds to the Strathclyde throne.

title: 872

text: King Constantin I is killed fighting Viking raiders, at the "Black Cave" in Fife. He is succeeded by his brother Áed mac Cináeda as ruler of Alba (Scotland).

title: 877

text: Constantine I, king of Alba (Scotland)

title: 877

text: King Áed mac Cináeda of Scotland is killed in battle, by his rival Giric mac Dúngal. Giric becomes king of the Picts, and allies himself with Eochaid (grandson of Kenneth I). The two rule all of Alba (Scotland) together as joint-kings.

title: 878

text: Áed mac Cináeda, king of Alba (Scotland)

title: 878

text: Dub mac Maíl Coluīm, king of Alba (Scotland)

title: 967

text: King Cuilén (or Cuilean) is killed by Britons after a 6-year reign. He is succeeded by his nephew Kenneth II, as ruler of Alba (Scotland). He will not be sole king until 977.

title: 971

text: Cuilén (or Cuilean), king of Alba (Scotland)

title: 971

text: King Kenneth II is murdered at a banquet by Lady Finella in Fettercairn. He is succeeded by his nephew Constantine III (a son of the late King Cuilén) as ruler of Alba (Scotland).

title: 995

section: Events › Europe › Scotland

text: Constantine III, king of Alba (Scotland)

title: 997

text: King Constantine III dies after a 2-year reign, possibly murdered by a dynastic conflict between two rival lines of royalty. He is succeeded by Kenneth III as sole ruler of Alba (Scotland).

title: 997

section: Events › By place › Scotland

section: Births

text: Duncan I, king of Alba (Scotland) (d. 1040)

title: 1001


slug: albania

label: Albania

description: country in southeastern Europe

year_label: 627 BCE

section: Religion & Belief

text: Traditional date for the foundation of Epidamnus by Corinth, today Durrës in Albania.

title: 627 BC

section: Events

year_label: 198 BCE

section: Conflict & Security

text: Titus Quinctius Flamininus' forces manage to push Philip V out of most of Greece, except for a few fortresses. He then defeats Philip V in the Battle of the Aous, near modern Tepelenë in Albania.

title: 198 BC

section: Events › By place › Roman Republic

year_label: 48 BCE

text: Winter – Siege of Oricum: Julius Caesar captures the strategic city port of Oricum in Epirus (modern Albania). The garrison opens the town's gate and Lucius Manlius Torquatus surrenders to Caesar.

title: 48 BC

text: Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) is forced to sign a peace treaty with Simeon I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire. All Slavic-inhabited lands of Macedonia and southern Albania are ceded to the Bulgarians.

title: 904

section: Events › By place › Byzantine Empire

text: Croatian–Bulgarian War: Emperor Samuel launches a military campaign against the Kingdom of Croatia to prevent an alliance between the Serbian principality and the Byzantines. He seizes Dyrrachium (modern-day Durrës in Albania) and advances along the Dalmatian coast. The Bulgarian army is forced to withdraw into Croatian hinterlands (now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina), after the Siege of Zadar.

title: 998

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: May

text: May – A Norman fleet of 150 ships (including 60 horse transports), led by Duke Robert Guiscard, sets off towards the Dalmatian coast. An army of 15,000 men (including about 1,300 Norman knights) sails to the city of Avalona (modern Albania); they are joined by several ships from Ragusa, a republic in the Balkans who are enemies of the Byzantines.

title: 1081

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: Robert Guiscard returns with 150 warships in Illyria (modern Albania), and occupies Corfu and Kefalonia with the support of Ragusa and the Dalmatian city-states.

title: 1084

date: October 9

text: October 9 – Bohemond I, prince of Antioch, lands with his army (some 34,000 men) in Epirus near Avlona. He plunders the countryside and marches to Dyrrhachium (modern Albania).

title: 1107

date: April 20

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

title: 1203

section: Events › By place › Fourth Crusade

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

title: 1218

date: March 25

text: March 25 – At Dagnum (a former city in modern-day Albania), a peace treaty is signed between Venetian merchants of Ragusa and King Stefan Dečanski of Serbia.

title: 1326

text: Balša II of Zeta conquers Albania.

title: 1382

section: Events › Date unknown

date: January 30

text: January 30 – The First Scutari War between the Kingdom of Zeta (part of modern-day Albania and Montenegro) and the Venetian Republic comes to an end.

title: 1413

date: April 22

text: April 22 – The Second Scutari War between the Republic of Venice and the Serbian Despotate is formally ended by the signing of a treaty at the then Serbian city of Vushtrri in what is now Albania.

title: 1426

section: Events › April–June

date: November 28

text: November 28 – Skanderbeg and his forces, rebelling against the Ottoman Empire, liberate Krujë, in Middle Albania, and raise the Albanian flag.

title: 1443

section: Events › October–December

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Battle of Niš: John Hunyadi and the army of the Crusade of Varna defeat three armies of the Ottoman Empire, and capture the city of Niš in modern-day Serbia; Skanderbeg deserts the Ottoman camp and goes to Albania.

title: 1443

date: April 17

text: April 17 – Skanderbeg, ruler of Albania, reaches a three-year peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire.

title: 1461

date: August 20

text: August 20 – The Republic of Venice renews its 1448 peace treaty with Albania, pledging that any treaty between Venice and the Ottoman Empire will include a guarantee of Albanian independence. The amended treaty also guarantees the presence of Venetian Navy ships in the Adriatic Sea to protect Albania, as well as the right to asylum in Venice for Albanians.

title: 1463

text: Third Siege of Krujë: A few months after the failure of the second siege, Mehmed II leads another unsuccessful Ottoman invasion of Albania.

title: 1467

date: August 8

text: August 8 – The siege of Shkodra by the Ottoman Empire ends when the city is freed by a combined army of 25,000 troops from the Republic of Venice commanded by Antonio Loredan, supplemented by the Principality of Zeta and Albanian resistance forces. Nearly all of the 8,000 Ottoman troops commanded by Hadım Suleiman Pasha are killed.

title: 1474

date: June 15

text: June 15 – The Fourth Siege of Krujë comes to an end as the Albanian city surrenders to the Ottoman Empire, which had prevented food and supplies from reaching the town for a year. After the surrender, made on a promise that the occupants would be allowed to leave, most of the men in Krujë are killed and the women and children taken away to be sold as slaves.

title: 1478

date: June 10

text: June 10 – The League of Prizren is officially founded "to struggle in arms to defend the wholeness of the territories of Albania".

title: 1878

section: Events › June

date: May 30

text: May 30 – First Balkan War: The Treaty of London is signed, ending the war. Greece is granted those parts of southern Epirus which it does not already control, and the independence of Albania is recognised.

title: 1913

section: Events › May

date: July 17

text: July 17 – The Republic of Mirdita is proclaimed near the Albanian-Serbian border, with Yugoslav support.

title: 1921

section: Events › July

text: Islamic Bektashi Order lodges in Turkey are closed down by order of the country's President, Atatürk, and the leadership moves to Albania.

title: 1925

date: January 6

text: January 6 – Albanian missionary sister Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, later known as Mother Teresa, arrives in Calcutta from Ireland to begin her work in India.

title: 1929

section: Events › January

date: May 24

text: May 24 – The first issue of Fashizmi is published in Tirana, Albania.

title: 1939

section: Crime & Justice

date: May 29

text: May 29 – Albanian fascist leader Tefik Mborja is appointed as member of the Italian Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.

title: 1939

date: October 3

text: October 3 – Albanian Subversion: First Anglo-American attempt to infiltrate guerillas into Albania; the operation is fatally flawed, by being under the control of double agent Kim Philby.

title: 1949

section: Events › October

date: December 10

text: December 10 – Albania–Soviet relations: The Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Albania.

title: 1961

section: Events › December

text: Albania is officially declared an atheist state by its leader, Enver Hoxha.

title: 1967

date: September 13

text: September 13 – Albania officially withdraws from the Warsaw Pact upon the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, having already ceased to participate actively in Pact activity since 1962.

title: 1968

section: Events › September–October

section: Climate & Environment

date: April 15

text: April 15 – 1979 Montenegro earthquake: A 6.9 shock affects Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia) and parts of Albania, causing extensive damage to coastal areas and taking 136 lives; the old town of Budva is devastated.

title: 1979

section: Events › April

date: March 31

text: March 31 – Albania holds its first multi-party elections since 1923. The socialist ruling Party of Labour of Albania won a landslide victory with 169 of the 250 seats in the parliament.

title: 1991

section: Events › March

date: April

text: Pope John Paul II makes an official visit to Albania, accompanied by Mother Teresa. He counsels Albanian Catholics against supporting nationalist violence in Kosovo.

title: 1993

text: May 26 – Albanian President Sali Berisha urges the United States and NATO to take action to prevent Serbian ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians.

title: 1993

text: May 28 – Albania's general election of May 26 is declared unfair by international monitors, and the ruling Democratic Party under President Muhannad Ibrahim is charged by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe with rigging the elections. Several hundred protestors gather in Tirana to demonstrate against the election result.

title: 1996

text: April 1 – Albania and Croatia join NATO.

title: 2009

text: April 25 – Albania holds parliamentary elections.

title: 2021


slug: alberic-ii-of-spoleto

label: Alberic II of Spoleto

description: ruler of Rome from 932 to 954 (911-954)

section: Births

text: Alberic II, princeps and duke of Spoleto (d. 954)

title: 912

section: Conflict & Security

text: Summer – Alberic II leads an uprising at Rome against his stepfather Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, after he is insulted at the wedding of his mother, Marozia. Alberic seizes the Lateran Palace, and Hugh escapes with an escort out of the city. Marozia is captured and put in prison. Alberic takes control of the city and appoints himself as the ruler (princeps) of Rome.

title: 932

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: Spring – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, launches an expedition to Rome to remove the Roman ruler (princeps) Alberic II and avenge his humiliation (see 932). It fails, however, as Roman civic militias repel the Lombard army. Hugh ravages the Italian countryside, before he withdraws to Pavia.

title: 933

section: Health & Medicine

text: Summer – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, dispatches his son and co-ruler Lothair II with a third expedition to Rome to dislodge Alberic II. Assault after assault is repulsed by the Roman civic militia. At length, weakened by an epidemic, the Lombard nobles press on Hugh to accept a peace treaty mediated by Odo of Cluny.

title: 936

text: Fall – Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, leads a fourth expedition to Rome to dislodge Alberic II. He proceeds to Lazio, preparing a campaign to capture the papal capital. Again the attacks fail and Hugh retreats to Milan.

title: 941

section: Deaths

text: Fall – Pope Stephen VIII tries to negotiate a peace that will end the feud between Alberic II, de facto ruler of Rome, and Hugh of Provence (his stepfather) but he dies after a 3-year reign. Stephen is succeeded by Marinus II as the 128th pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 942

section: Events › By topic › Religion

text: Summer – Pope Marinus II dies at Rome after a four-year reign. He is succeeded by Agapetus II and elected with the support of the Roman despot Alberic II. Agapetus is installed as the 129th pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 946

section: Religion & Belief

text: Otto I dispatches an embassy to Rome to apply for an imperial coronation with Pope Agapetus II – but Prince Alberic II makes it clear that this is not possible (afraid of Otto's growing power), and opposes the request.

title: 951

text: Duke Alberic II, princeps and ruler of Rome, dies after a 22-year reign. On his deathbed he nominates his son Octavianus as his successor.

title: 954

text: Alberic II, princeps and duke of Spoleto (b. 912)

title: 954

date: November 8

text: November 8 – Pope Agapetus II dies after a 9-year reign. He is succeeded by John XII, aged around 19 and the son of Alberic II (the late ruler of Rome), as the 130th pope of the Catholic Church.

title: 955


slug: albert-einstein

label: Albert Einstein

description: German-born theoretical physicist (1879–1955)

section: Science & Discovery

date: April 30

text: April 30 – Albert Einstein completes his doctoral dissertation, A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions (submitted July 30 to the University of Zurich).

title: 1905

date: June 30

text: June 30 – Albert Einstein submits for publication his paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", establishing his theory of special relativity.

title: 1905

section: Events › June

date: March 18

text: March 18 – Albert Einstein submits his paper "On a heuristic viewpoint concerning the production and transformation of light", in which he explains the photoelectric effect using the notion of light quanta, for publication.

title: 1905

date: May 11

text: May 11 – Albert Einstein submits for publication his paper "Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen" ("On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid, as Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat"), based on his doctoral research, delineating a stochastic model of Brownian motion.

title: 1905

section: Events › May

date: September 27

text: September 27 – Albert Einstein submits for publication his paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", in which he puts forward the idea of mass–energy equivalence by publishing the equation E = mc 2 (published November 21).

title: 1905

section: Events › September

date: November 25

text: November 25 – Albert Einstein presents part of his theory of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

title: 1915

section: Events › November

text: May 29 – Eddington experiment: Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested by Arthur Eddington's observation of the "bending of light" during a total solar eclipse in Príncipe, and by Andrew Crommelin in Sobral, Ceará, Brazil (confirmed November 19).

title: 1919

section: Culture & Society

date: January 30

text: January 30 – Charlie Chaplin comedy drama film City Lights receives its public premiere at the Los Angeles Theater with Albert Einstein as guest of honor. Contrary to the current trend in cinema, it is a silent film, but with a score by Chaplin. Critically and commercially successful from the start, it will place consistently in lists of films considered the best of all time.

title: 1931

date: October 17

text: October 17 – Scientist Albert Einstein arrives from Europe in the United States, where he settles permanently as a refugee from Nazi Germany and takes up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey.

title: 1933

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

date: August 2

text: August 2 – The Einstein–Szilard letter is signed by Albert Einstein, advising President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt of the potential use of uranium to construct an atomic bomb. It is delivered on October 11 and leads to the first meeting on October 21 of the Advisory Committee on Uranium.

title: 1939

section: Events › August

date: February 12

text: February 12 – Albert Einstein warns that nuclear war could lead to mutual destruction.

title: 1950

section: Events › February

text: David H. Frisch and J.H. Smith prove that the radioactive decay of mesons is slowed by their motion (see Einstein's special relativity and general relativity).

title: 1963

section: Events › Date unknown


slug: albert-ii-of-germany

label: Albert II of Germany

description: King of Germany, Hungary and Bohemia

section: Births

date: August 10

text: August 10 – Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1439)

title: 1397

date: September 14

text: September 14 – Albert IV, Duke of Austria, dies at the age of 26 from an illness contracted while he was fighting against Bohemia and Moravia for control of the city of Znaim (modern Znojmo in the Czech Republic). He is succeeded as Duke by his 6-year old son, Albert.

title: 1404

section: Events › July–September

section: Disasters & Accidents

date: May 23

text: May 23 – Albert V, Duke of Austria, issues the Vienna Gesera, a campaign of expulsion or extermination of the 1,500 Jewish residents of Vienna. Those who are not imprisoned are executed 10 months later, and similar persecutions are carried out in other cities in Austria.

title: 1420

section: Events › April–June

section: Crime & Justice

date: March 12

text: March 12 – In his campaign to rid Germany of Jewish people, Albert V, Duke of Austria issues a death sentence against wealthy Jews who had been imprisoned as part of his order of May 23, 1420. On March 12, the burning at the stake of 120 women and 92 men is carried out south of the city walls of Vienna.

title: 1421

section: Events › January–March

date: September 28

text: September 28– A treaty is signed at Vienna between Sigismund, King of Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia and Germany and Albert V, Duke of Austria for Sigismund's daughter Elizabeth of Luxembourg, to marry Albert (on April 19, 1422) and confirming Elizabeth's rights as heiress presumptive to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia.

title: 1421

date: June 29

text: June 29 – The coronation of Albert II of Habsburg as King of Bohemia takes place in Prague.

title: 1438

date: March 17

text: March 17 – Albert II of Germany is approved by the electors in the Holy Roman Empire as the King of the Romans, the ruler of Germany.

title: 1438

date: May 6

text: May 6 – Albert becomes King of Bohemia.

title: 1438

date: January 4

text: January 4 – A truce is signed at Breslau between King Albert of Hungary and King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland to end the 8-month war between the two kingdoms.

title: 1439

date: October 27

text: October 27 – Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1397)

title: 1439

date: February 22

text: February 22 – Four months after the death of King Albert of Hungary, his son, Ladislaus the Posthumous, is born at Komárom (modern-day Komárno in Slovakia) to Albert's widow, Elisabeth, regent for the vacant throne. Elizabeth argues to the Hungarian nobles that Ladislaus should be elected as the rightful successor to King Albert, and that she should serve as the boy's regent.

title: 1440

date: February 25

text: February 25 – Elizabeth of Luxembourg, widow of the late King Albert of Hungary presents the Crown of St. Stephen to Frederick, King of Germany and invites him to take the throne, although Hungary's nobles had elected King Władysław III of Poland as King Laszlo of Hungary.

title: 1441


slug: alberta

label: Alberta

description: province of Canada

section: Exploration & Expansion

date: May 2

text: May 2 – The Hudson's Bay Company is granted a royal charter in England with the jurisdiction to control administration and commerce in "Rupert's Land", governed for the crown by Rupert, Duke of Cumberland, the cousin of King Charles II. The land is a 1.5 million square mile area of what is now Canada around Hudson Bay. The area controlled covers all of the modern province of Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan, and significant portions of Alberta and Nunavut, as well as parts of what are now Ontario and Quebec, and parts of the U.S. states of Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana.

title: 1670

date: September 22

text: September 22 – Treaty 7 is concluded between several mainly Blackfoot First Nations tribes and the Canadian Confederation, at the Blackfoot Crossing of the Bow River, settling the Blackfoot on Indian reserves in what will become southern Alberta.

title: 1877

date: June 21

text: June 21 – "Treaty 8", the most comprehensive of the eleven Numbered Treaties, is signed between the British Crown on behalf of Canada, with various Cree groups of the First Nations, ceding 320000 sqmi of land in the northern parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, as well as a portion of the Northwest Territories, to the Canadian government.

title: 1899

date: February 21

text: February 21 – Sir Wilfrid Laurier introduces a resolution in the Canadian parliament proposing that two new provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, be created out of the Northwest Territories.

title: 1905

date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are established from the southwestern part of the Northwest Territories.

title: 1905

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: Rodeo's first side-delivery bucking chute is designed and made by the Bascom brothers (Raymond, Mel, and Earl) and their father, John W. Bascom, at Welling, Alberta, Canada.

title: 1916

date: June

text: June – Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, along with his father John W. Bascom at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, designs and makes rodeo's first reverse-opening side-delivery bucking chute, which becomes the world standard.

title: 1919

text: Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, designs and makes rodeo's first hornless bronc saddle at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

title: 1922

date: August 30

text: August 30 – The Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.

title: 1971

section: Climate & Environment

date: July 31

text: July 31 – An F4-rated tornado devastates eastern Edmonton, Alberta; hardest hit are an industrial park and a trailer park. 27 people are killed and hundreds injured, with hundreds more left homeless and jobless.

title: 1987

section: Events › July

date: February 13

text: February 13–28 – The 1988 Winter Olympics are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

title: 1988


slug: albigensian-crusade

label: Albigensian Crusade

description: 1209 military campaigns against Catharism in southern France

section: Religion & Belief

date: January 15

text: January 15 – Pierre de Castelnau is murdered by heretics supported by Raymond VI, count of Toulouse. He is held responsible and excommunicated by Pope Innocent III, leading to the Albigensian Crusade.

title: 1208

section: Events › By place › Europe

section: Conflict & Security

date: November 17

text: November 17 – Innocent III asks the nobles in Northern France to take military action (the so-called Albigensian Crusade) against the Cathars in Languedoc.

title: 1208

section: Events › By topic › Religion

date: November 22

text: November 22 – Siege of Termes: The Castle of Termes falls to Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade.

title: 1210

text: Spring – Albigensian Crusade: Crusader forces led by Simon de Montfort conquer Toulouse and besiege Lavaur in southern France. On May 3, the city is retaken; on orders of Montfort the senior knights are hanged and some 400 Cathars are burned alive.

title: 1211

date: September 12

text: September 12 – Battle of Muret: The Toulousain and Aragonese forces of Raymond VI of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon are defeated by the Albigensian Crusade, under Simon de Montfort.

title: 1213

section: Events

date: January 8

text: January 8 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, is elected lord of Languedoc in a council at Montpellier (Southern France), after his campaign against the Cathar heretics during the Albigensian Crusade. The Crusaders capture Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle and enter Toulouse; the town pays an indemnity of 30,000 marks and is gifted to Montfort.

title: 1215

section: Events › By continent › Europe

date: July 24

text: July 24 – Albigensian Crusade: French forces under Raymond VII, count of Toulouse, besiege Castle Beaucaire in May. After three months, the occupants are running low on supplies and surrender to Raymond.

title: 1216

date: June 25

text: June 25 – Siege of Toulouse: During a counter-assault, Simon de Montfort is killed by a stone from one of the defender's siege engines. The leadership of the Albigensian Crusade falls to Simon's son Amaury de Montfort, who lifts the siege a month later. Raymond VI is restored as count of Toulouse after a popular rebellion.

title: 1218

date: January 30

text: January 30 – King Louis VIII of France takes the cross to resume the Albigensian Crusade against the Catharism movement in Languedoc in southern France.

title: 1226

section: Events › January – March

section: Deaths

date: November 8

text: November 8 – At the age of 12, Louis IX becomes the new King of France when his father, King Louis VIII, dies of dysentery at the Château de Montpensier while on his way back home after victory in the Albigensian Crusade. The boy's mother, Queen Blanche of Castile, rules the kingdom as regent during his minority.

title: 1226

section: Events › October – December

date: April 12

text: April 12 – Treaty of Paris: Count Raymond VII is forced to sign a peace treaty (also known as the "Treaty of Meaux"). This brings the Albigensian Crusade to an end. Raymond regains his feudal rights but has to swear his allegiance to King Louis IX (the Saint). The fortifications, such as these of Avignon and Toulouse, are dismantled.

title: 1229