Lebanon

country in West Asia

54 dated entries naming Lebanon, drawn from 42 separate years between 269 CE and 2024 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.

JSON Wikipedia article Wikidata Q822

3rd century

269Queen Zenobia conquers Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, parts of Mesopotamia and Anatolia and Egypt, giving her control of Rome's grain supply. The library at Alexandria is partly burned during a raid by Zabdas, general of Zenobia.source

4th century

375The Maronite Church is founded by Saint Maron in Lebanon.source

7th century

687Emperor Justinian II negotiates a peace treaty with the Umayyad Caliphate (resulting in caliph Abd al-Malik paying tribute). He removes 12,000 Christian Maronites, who continually resist the Arabs, from Lebanon. Justinian reinforces the Byzantine navy on Cyprus, and transfers cavalry troops from the Thracesian Theme in Anatolia to the Theme of Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula.source

8th century

748The city of Baalbek (modern Lebanon) is sacked with great slaughter.source

10th century

996Revolt of Tyre: The citizens of Tyre (modern Lebanon) revolt against the Fatimid Caliphate. Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sends an expeditionary army and navy to blockade the city by land and sea.source
998Summer – Revolt of Tyre: The city of Tyre (modern Lebanon) is stormed by forces of the Fatimid Caliphate. A Byzantine squadron attempts to reinforce but is repulsed by the Fatimid navy. The defenders are massacred or taken captive to Egypt. The Byzantine captives are executed.source

11th century

1099February 14 – The Crusaders under Raymond IV besiege the fortified town of Akkar – whose garrison is loyal to Jalal al-Mulk Abu'l-Hasan, emir of Tripoli (modern Lebanon). On May 13 after a 3-month siege the investment of Akkar is raised and Raymond orders the camp to be struck. The Crusader host, finally joined by the forces of Godfrey of Bouillon and Robert II, resumes his march southwards to Tripoli.source

12th century

1102Siege of Tripoli: The Crusaders under Raymond IV begin the siege of Tripoli (modern Lebanon). The garrison calls for assistance, but a Seljuk relief army from Damascus and Homs is defeated by Raymond.source
1116Autumn – Baldwin I hastens to Tyre (modern Lebanon) and begins the construction of a new fortress, known as Scandelion Castle, at the Ladder of Tyre, which completes the blockade of the town from the mainland.source
1179June 10 – Battle of Marj Ayyun: A Crusader army (some 10,000 men) led by Baldwin IV is defeated by Muslim forces under Saladin near the Litani River (modern Lebanon). The Knights Templar join the battle, but they are driven back in confusion. Baldwin narrowly escapes being captured in the route. Amongst Saladin's prisoners are Odo de St. Amand, Grand Master of the Templars, and Lord Baldwin of Ibelin.source

13th century

1202May 20 – An earthquake shakes the Levant from Egypt to northern Iraq, causing severe damage in Palestine, Lebanon and western Syria, including the fortifications of the Crusader cities of Acre, Jaffa and Tyre.source
1210September 14 – The 18-year-old Maria of Montferrat marries the French nobleman John of Brienne, who brings a dowry of 40,000 silver pounds (from King Philip II and Pope Innocent III). On October 3, the couple is crowned as King and Queen of Jerusalem in the Crusader Cathedral of Tyre (modern Lebanon).source
1217December – King John I of Jerusalem leads an expedition into Lebanon. On December 3, he undertakes fruitless assaults on Muslim fortresses and on Mount Tabor. Meanwhile, the Crusader army under Andrew II wanders across the Jordan Valley and up the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. During the occupation, Andrew spends his time collecting alleged relics. By the end of December, supplies run out, and the crusaders retreat to Acre.source
1266August 24 – Battle of Mari: Mamluk forces (some 30,000 men) led by Baibars defeat the Armenian army in Cilicia, in retaliation for the support of the Mongol invasion in Syria. He expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (modern Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from the Crusader States.source
1289March – The 19-year-old King Henry II sends his younger brother Almalric, with a company of knights and 4 galleys to Tripoli (modern Lebanon). Meanwhile, many non-combatant citizens flee to Cyprus. The Mamluk army arrives before Tripoli and begins the attack with siege engines, while building buches (wooden defensive structures) outside the city on March 25.source

14th century

1369June 5 – Jean de Lusignan, regent for the King of Cyprus, uses his navy to attack Sidon in what is now Lebanon, but is then forced to retreat because of a storm.source

17th century

1623November 1 – The Battle of Anjar is fought in modern-day Lebanon as the Druze emir Fakhr al-Din II defeats an invasion by Mustafa Pasha al-Hannaq, the Ottoman Governor of Damascus, and takes him prisoner.source

19th century

1860October 5 – Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and the Ottoman Empire form a commission to investigate the causes of the massacres of Maronite Christians, committed by Druzes in Lebanon earlier in the year.source
1866January 6 – Ottoman troops clash with supporters of Maronite leader Youssef Bey Karam, at St. Doumit in Lebanon; the Ottomans are defeated.source
1867January 31 – Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Bey Karam leaves Lebanon aboard a French ship for Algeria.source

20th century

1926September 1 – Lebanon under the French Mandate gets its first constitution, thereby becoming a republic, with Charles Debbas as its president.source
1943November 22 – Lebanon gains independence, upon the ending of the French Mandate.source
1951December 3 – Lebanese University is founded in Lebanon.source
1970October 13 – Saeb Salam forms a government in Lebanon.source
1970October 3 – In Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigns.source
1970September 3–6 – Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.source
1971July 24 – Georgina Rizk of Lebanon is crowned Miss Universe 1971.source
1975April 13 – Bus massacre: The Kataeb militia kills 27 Palestinians during an attack on their bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon, triggering the Lebanese Civil War which lasts until 1990.source
1978March 14 – Operation Litani: Israeli forces invade Lebanon.source
1981December 15 – 1981 Iraqi embassy bombing in Beirut: An Islamic Dawa Party car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Lebanon, killing 61 people in one of the earliest significant post-World War II suicide attacks.source
1982August 20 – Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon.source
1982June 6 – The 1982 Lebanon War begins: Israeli forces under Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut. The United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon.source
1982November 11 – In Lebanon, the first Tyre headquarters bombing kills between 89 and 102 people.source
1982September 14 – Lebanese President-elect Bachir Gemayel is assassinated in Beirut.source
1982September 23 – Amine Gemayel, brother of Bachir, is elected president of Lebanon.source
1983May 17 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.source
1985February 14 – Lebanon hostage crisis: CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.source
1985February 16 – Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.source
1985June 14 – TWA Flight 847, carrying 153 passengers from Athens to Rome, is hijacked by a Hezbollah fringe group. One passenger, U.S. Navy Petty Officer Robert Stethem, is killed. Greek police arrest a 65-year-old Lebanese suspect on September 21, 2019.source
1986November 3 – Iran–Contra affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret, in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.source
1987January 20 – Terry Waite, the special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Lebanon, is kidnapped in Beirut (released November 1991).source
1988February 17 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, serving with a United Nations group monitoring a truce in southern Lebanon, is kidnapped (and later killed by his captors).source
1989July 31 – In Lebanon, Hezbollah announces that it has hanged U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins in retaliation for Israel's July 28 kidnapping of Hezbollah leader Abdel Karim Obeid. The same day, the United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 638, condemning the taking of hostages by both sides in the conflict.source
1989March 14 – General Michel Aoun declares a "War of Liberation" to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.source
1991August 29 – Lebanon hostage crisis: Maronite general Michel Aoun leaves Lebanon on a French warship into exile.source
1991November 18 – Lebanon hostage crisis: Kidnappers in Lebanon set Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and academic Thomas Sutherland free.source
1996April 11 – The Israeli government launches Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for "terrorist attacks", and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.source
1996April 18 – Qana massacre: Over 100 Lebanese civilians are killed after Israel shells the United Nations compound in Qana.source
1997February 4 – On their way to Lebanon, two Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing all 73 on board.source

21st century

2005April 26 – Cedar Revolution: Syria withdraws the last of its military garrison from Lebanon, ending its 29-year military occupation of the country.source
2020August 4 – An explosion caused by unsafely stored ammonium nitrate kills at least 218 people, injures thousands, and severely damages the port in Beirut, Lebanon. Damage is estimated at $10–15 billion, and an estimated 300,000 people are left homeless. The following day, the Lebanese government declares a two-week state of emergency.source
2023February 1 – Lebanese liquidity crisis: The central bank of Lebanon devalues the Lebanese pound by 90% amid an ongoing financial crisis.source
2024August 25 – The Israel Defense Forces begin a series of preemptive strikes against targets in the south of Lebanon.source
2024October 1 – The Israel Defense Forces invade southern Lebanon, escalating its conflict against Hezbollah.source