Messina

Italian comune in Sicily

20 dated entries naming Messina, drawn from 20 separate years between 649 BCE and 1943 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 Messana, Messina, Italy, Messina, Sicily, Zancle in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

JSON Wikipedia article Wikidata Q13666

7th century BC

649 BCETraditional date of the foundation of Himera by Zancle.source

5th century BC

498 BCEAfter the assassination of Cleander, tyrant of Gela, power is transferred to his brother, Hippocrates, who subdues the Sicels and conquers the Chalcidian cities of Callipoli, Leontini, Naxos and Zancle (now known as Messina). He also captures the Syracusan city of Camarina, but is prevented from capturing Syracuse itself when Corinth and Corcyra interferes in the war.source

4th century BC

396 BCEThe Carthaginians are forced to abandon their siege of Syracuse (begun in 398 BC) due to a plague, but destroy Messina. Dionysius' first war with Carthage ends with a notable victory for Dionysius, who confines his enemy's power to an area of northwest Sicily. On his return home, the Carthaginian general, Himilco, commits suicide.source
315 BCEAgathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, seizes the city of Messina.source

3rd century BC

288 BCEFollowing the death of Agathocles, some of his disbanded mercenaries seize Messana in northeast Sicily and set up a society, calling themselves Mamertines (Sons of Mars). The city becomes a base from which they will ravage the Sicilian countryside.source
269 BCEThe Mamertines, a body of Campanian mercenaries who have been employed by Agathocles, the former tyrant of Syracuse, capture the stronghold of Messana (Messina in north-eastern Sicily), from which they harass the Syracusans. The Syracusan military leader, Hieron, defeats them in a pitched battle at the Longanus River near Mylae, but Carthaginian forces intervene to prevent him from capturing Messana. His grateful countrymen then choose Hieron as their king and tyrant, to be known as Hieron II.source
264 BCEAppius Claudius Caudex leads his forces to Messina, and as the Mamertines have convinced the Carthaginians to withdraw, he meets with only minimal resistance. The Mamertines hand the city over to Appius Claudius, but the Carthaginians return to set up a blockade. The Syracusans, meanwhile, are also stationed outside the city.source

1st century BC

36 BCESeptember 3 – Battle of Naulochus: Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius, a son of Pompeius, in a naval engagement off Naulochus. Sextus escapes with 17 ships to Messana and then to Asia Minor.source

10th century

901March – Abu Abbas Abdallah resumes his Aghlabid campaign against the Byzantine enclaves of Sicily. He dispatches his fleet towards Messina, while bombarding the town walls of Damona.source

11th century

1061Summer – Norman forces led by Duke Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. They land unseen during the night and surprise the Saracen army. Guiscard conquers Messina and marches into central Sicily.source

12th century

1135Summer – King Roger II lands with a Sicilian expeditionary force in Salerno. He splits his army, and conquers the cities of Aversa and Alife. Roger besieges Naples – but despite poor health conditions within the city, he is not able to take it, and returns again to Messina.source
1190October 4 – Richard I captures Messina, after looting and burning the city he establishes his base there. Richard insists that his own banner be erected over the city, but this creates tension between Richard and Philip II, who has joined him with his forces. Tancred accepts a peace agreement, and pays Richard 20,000 ounces of gold. Friendly relations are restored, Richard agrees to split the gold with Philip.source
1191April 10 – King Richard I (the Lionheart) leaves Messina for Palestina, but a storm drives his fleet apart. Richard is forced to seek shelter at a Cretan port – from which he has a tempestuous passage to Rhodes, where he stays for ten days (from April 22 to May 1), recovering from his sea-sickness. After some searching, he discovers that the ship carrying his sister Joan of England and his new fiancée, Berengaria of Navarre, is anchored on the south coast of Cyprus, along with the wrecks of several other vessels, including Richard's treasure ship. The survivors of the wrecks have been taken prisoner by Isaac Komnenos, the self-styled emperor of Cyprus.source
1197September 28 – Henry VI dies of malaria at Messina (also possibly poisoned), while preparing an expedition against the Byzantine usurper Alexios III Angelos.source

14th century

1303September – Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, facing a possible siege of Constantinople by Ottoman-Turkish forces, seeks support from the European kingdoms. He makes Roger de Flor, Italian military adventurer and nobleman, an offer of service. Roger with his fleet and army (some 7,000 men), now known as the Catalan Company, departs from Messina with 36 ships (including 18 galleys), and arrives in Constantinople. He is adopted into the imperial family, Andronikos appoints him as grand duke (megas doux) and commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army and fleet.source
1347October – Ships arrive in the Sicilian city of Messina, carrying people afflicted by the Black Death onboard.source
1377July 27 – Frederick the Simple, who has reigned as King Federico III of Sicily since 1355, dies in Messina at the age of 35 and is succeeded by his 14-year-old daughter, Maria of Aragon, who becomes the Queen of Sicily. The kingdom is administered by a regency of four "vicars", led by Artale I d'Alagona.source

19th century

1894November 16 – An earthquake hits Calabria and the towns Reggio Calabria and Messina in Sicily.source

20th century

1908December 28 – A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hits in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy. The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria were almost completely destroyed and between 75,000 and 200,000 people died. Moments after the earthquake, a 12-meter (39-foot) tsunami struck nearby coasts, causing even more devastation.source
1943August 17 – The Seventh U.S. Army, under General George S. Patton, meets the Eighth British Army under Field Marshal B. L. Montgomery in Messina, Sicily, completing the Allied invasion of Sicily.source