Crimea

Eastern European peninsula, in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, disputed between Ukraine (de jure) and Russia (de facto)

33 dated entries naming Crimea, drawn from 30 separate years between 64 BCE and 2022 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Crimean Peninsula in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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1st century BC

64 BCEPompey destroys the kingdom of Pontus; king Mithridates VI commits suicide after escaping to the Crimea.source

3rd century

242Gordian III evacuates the Cimmerian cities in the Bosphorus (Crimea), as the territory is now controlled by the Goths.source

6th century

581The Göktürks under Taspar Qaghan besiege the city of Chersonesos Taurica (modern Ukraine), located at the Black Sea; their cavalry keep plundering the steppes of the Crimean Peninsula until 590.source

7th century

655May 15 – Pope Martin I is banished to Chersonesos Taurica (Ukraine). He dies later in the Crimean Peninsula after a 6-year reign, leaving Eugene I as the uncontested pope (see 654).source
695The population of Byzantium revolts under Leontios, the strategos (military governor) of the Anatolic Theme, and proclaims him emperor. Justinian II is deposed and his nose is cut off (leading to his subsequent nickname of "the Slit-nosed"). He is exiled to Cherson (Crimea), and begins to plot an attempt to retake the throne.source

8th century

704After spending nearly a decade with the Khazars (a Turkic tribe which controls a Steppe empire), the deposed emperor Justinian II flees from his exile at Cherson (Crimea). He escapes with help from Busir, ruler (khagan) of the Khazars, who marries him to his sister Theodora.source
710The Byzantine outpost of Cherson (Crimea) rebels (with Khazar assistance) against Emperor Justinian II. He sends a fleet under the patrikios Stephen, which retakes the city and restores Byzantine control. The fleet, however, is struck by a storm on its way back and loses many ships, while the Chersonites, again with the aid of the Khazars, rebel anew.source
711Philippicus incites the inhabitants of Cherson to revolt, with the help of the Khazars. Emperor Justinian II sallies forth from Constantinople to oppose the rebels in the Crimea. Philippicus defeats the Byzantine forces in northern Anatolia, and seizes the capital. He is proclaimed emperor and Justinian is executed, ending the house of Heraclius, that has ruled since 610.source
776April 24 – Emperor Leo IV ("the Khazar") appoints his 5-year-old son Constantine VI co-ruler of the Byzantine Empire. This leads to an uprising, led by one of Leo's half-brothers, Caesar Nikephoros, the second son of former emperor Constantine V. The revolt is quickly suppressed. Fortunately for Nikephoros, his only punishment is to be stripped of his titles, while the rest of the conspirators are blinded, tonsured, and exiled to Cherson (southern Crimea) under guard.source

10th century

971Battle of Dorostolon: A Byzantine expeditionary army (possibly 30–40,000 men) attacks the Bulgarian frontier, personally led by Emperor John I. He lays siege to the fortress city of Dorostolon (located on the Lower Danube), and is reinforced by a fleet of 300 ships equipped with Greek fire. The Kievan Rus' and their Bulgarian allies are reduced to extremities by famine. After a 3-month siege, Grand Prince Sviatoslav I agrees to sign a peace treaty with the Byzantines, whereby he renounces his interests towards Bulgarian lands and the city of Chersonesos in Crimea. Sviatoslav is allowed to evacuate his army to Berezan Island, while the Byzantines enter Dorostolon. John renames the city Theodoropolis (named after the reigning Empress Theodora).source
988Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, ruler of Kievan Rus', marries Anna Porphyrogenita (sister of Basil II) and converts to Christianity. He is baptized at Cherson in the Crimea, taking the Christian name of Basil (in honor of his brother-in-law). Vladimir returns in triumph to Kiev, and begins the Christianization of Kievan Rus' to the Eastern Orthodox Church.source

13th century

1223The Mongol army invades Polovtsian territory and defeats the Polovtsians in a great battle near the Don River. Several Polovtsian leaders are killed – while the remainder flees westwards, across the Dnieper River, to seek support by various Russian princes. Steppe lands east of the Dnieper fall under Mongol control, Subutai and Jebe raise the wealthy city of Astrakhan on the Volga River. Subutai now parts his forces, he moves south to the Crimea (or Tauric Peninsula), while Jebe travels towards the Dnieper.source
1239The Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': The Mongols under Batu Khan continue their campaign across the Pontic Steppe. After devastating the Crimea and campaigning against the Circassians in the Caucasus, they turn towards the Kievan Rus'. In March, Pereyaslavl, capital of the Principality of Pereyaslavl, is sacked by the Mongols.source

14th century

1314The Ozbek Han Mosque is built in the realm of Özbeg Khan in the Crimea.source
1341January 1 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) affects Crimea (disputed event).source
1346Spring – A severe Bubonic Plague epidemic begins in the Crimea, marking the first major epidemic of the Black Death.source
1346October–November – Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.source

18th century

1735Russo-Turkish War, 1735-1739: Russian forces fail to occupy the Crimea, due to rasputitsa.source
1771July 13 – Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russian forces occupy the Crimea, under Prince Vasily Dolgorukov.source
1783The city of Sevastopol is founded on the Crimean Peninsula of the Russian Empire, by Rear Admiral Thomas MacKenzie.source
1784January 6 – Treaty of Constantinople: The Ottoman Empire agrees to Russia's annexation of the Crimea.source
1792January 9 – The Treaty of Jassy ends the Russian Empire's war with the Ottoman Empire over Crimea.source

20th century

1920November 13 – The White Army's last units and civilian refugees are evacuated from the Crimea onboard 126 ships, "Wrangel's fleet" (the remnants of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet), to Turkey, Tunisia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, accompanied by wide-scale civilian massacres. The total number of evacuees amounts to approximately 150,000 people, of which 20% are civilians.source
1941November 7 – WWII: The Soviet hospital ship Armenia is sunk by German aircraft while evacuating refugees, wounded military and the staff of several Crimean hospitals. It is estimated that more than 5,000 die in the sinking.source
1944December 14 – The Soviet government changes Turkish place names to Russian in Crimea.source
19638 June – Haim Boger (born 1876), Russian (Crimea)-born Zionist activist and Israeli politician.source
1986March 13 – In a Black Sea incident, American cruiser USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Caron, claiming the right of innocent passage, enter the Soviet territorial waters near the southern Crimean Peninsula.source
198613 March – 1986 Black Sea incident: American cruiser USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Caron, claiming the right of innocent passage, enter the Soviet territorial waters near the southern Crimean Peninsula.source
1991August 19 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is put under house arrest while vacationing in Crimea during an attempted coup. Led by Vice President Gennady Yanayev and seven others, the coup collapses in less than 72 hours and is protested by over 100,000 people outside the parliament building. Gorbachev returns to Moscow three days later and arrests the coup leaders.source

21st century

2014March 16 – 2014 Crimean status referendum: A disputed referendum on the status of the Crimean Peninsula is held.source
2014March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine's international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.source
2018October 17 – A school shooting and bomb attack in Kerch, Crimea, kills 20 people and injures 70 others.source
2022October 8 – 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: An explosion occurs on the Crimean Bridge connecting Crimea and Russia, killing three and causing a partial collapse of the only road bridge between the Crimean Peninsula and the Russian mainland. Two days later, retaliatory missile strikes are conducted by Russia across Ukraine, the most widespread since the start of the invasion, notably including attacks on Kyiv.source