Modern Era
Sino-French War (1884-1885): The Struggle for Tonkin
France won control of Tonkin and Annam under the Treaty of Tianjin (1885), but the Lang Son retreat brought down Jules Ferry's government.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Battle of Chancellorsville (1863): Lee's Greatest Gamble
Confederate victory; Hooker's Army of the Potomac withdrew across the Rappahannock, but Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded.
Modern Era
Canadian Pacific Railway Last Spike (1885): Uniting Canada
The Canadian Pacific Railway main line was completed, linking eastern Canada with British Columbia and fulfilling the promise that had brought the province into Confederation.
Modern Era
Chartist Movement (1838): Britain's Mass Fight for the Vote
All three national petitions were rejected by Parliament, but five of the Charter's six points later became law between 1858 and 1918.
Middle Ages
Moctezuma I (1440–1469): The Aztec Ruler Who Built an Empire
Moctezuma I turned the Triple Alliance into a far-reaching tributary empire and left Tenochtitlan with new waterworks, laws and temples.
Middle Ages
Askia Muhammad (1493-1528): The Songhai Empire at Its Height
Askia Muhammad founded the Askia dynasty, reorganised Songhai's government on Islamic lines and expanded it into the largest empire in West African history.
Middle Ages
Fall of Angkor (1431): Ayutthaya and the Khmer Decline
Ayutthaya captured and plundered Angkor; the Khmer court soon moved south to the Phnom Penh area and Angkor ceased to be the royal capital.
Middle Ages
Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays (1088) and the Magnetic Compass
A wide-ranging notebook of observations that contains the earliest known clear description of the magnetic needle compass and of magnetic declination.
Middle Ages
Almoravids: The Berber Empire of North Africa and Spain
The Almoravids united Morocco and al-Andalus under one Berber dynasty for about sixty years before the Almohads overthrew them in 1147.
Middle Ages
Thomas Aquinas and the Summa Theologica: Faith Meets Reason
An unfinished but enormously influential synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian doctrine that became the foundation of Thomism.
Middle Ages
Tomb of St James Found (c. 820–830): The Origins of Santiago
A tomb was identified as that of the apostle James; a church was built over it, and the site grew into the city and pilgrimage centre of Santiago de Compostela.
Middle Ages
Uprising of Asen and Peter (1185): The Second Bulgarian Empire
The revolt ended Byzantine rule over northern Bulgaria and founded the Second Bulgarian Empire, which lasted until the Ottoman conquest of 1393-1396.