Middle Ages
Aztec Triple Alliance (1428): How the Aztec Empire Was Born
The defeat of the Tepanec state of Azcapotzalco created an alliance of three city-states that expanded into the tribute empire known as the Aztec Empire.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Ngazargamu (c. 1460): Walled Capital of the Bornu Kingdom
Ngazargamu gave the Sayfawa dynasty a fixed, fortified capital in Bornu and became the centre of a powerful Sahelian state until Fulani forces sacked it in 1808.
Middle Ages
Nagarakretagama (1365): Majapahit's Royal Chronicle Poem
The poem became the most important single written source for the Majapahit kingdom and 14th-century Java.
Middle Ages
Bi Sheng and the Invention of Movable Type Printing (c. 1040)
Bi Sheng created the first known system of movable type, using baked clay characters; the technique was later developed in wood and metal across East Asia.
Middle Ages
Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics (1011-1021) and Vision
The Book of Optics established the theory that vision is caused by light entering the eye and set a new standard for experimental, mathematical optics in both Islamic and European science.
Middle Ages
Westminster Abbey: Henry III's Gothic Rebuilding of 1245
The east end, transepts and part of the nave were rebuilt in Gothic style, and the Confessor's relics were moved to a new shrine in 1269.
Middle Ages
Book of Kells (c. 800): Ireland's Illuminated Gospel Book
The finest surviving Insular manuscript, it has been kept at Trinity College Dublin since the 1660s and is a symbol of Irish heritage.
Middle Ages
Founding of Moscow (1147): From Wooden Fort to Grand Principality
A minor frontier settlement in 1147, Moscow became the seat of a principality in the late 13th century and of the grand princes of Vladimir from 1328.
Early Modern
Jacobite Rising of 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie's Campaign
The rising failed: after reaching Derby the Jacobite army retreated to Scotland and was destroyed at Culloden in April 1746, ending the Stuart cause as a military threat.
Early Modern
First Fleet (1787–1788): Convict Ships Sail to Botany Bay
The fleet founded the penal colony of New South Wales at Sydney Cove, beginning British settlement of Australia and the dispossession of its Aboriginal peoples.
Early Modern
Stamp Act (1765): The Taxation Without Representation Crisis
Colonial resistance made the act unenforceable; Parliament repealed it in March 1766 but passed the Declaratory Act asserting its full authority over the colonies.
Early Modern
Kangxi Emperor (1661-1722): China's Longest-Reigning Ruler
Kangxi consolidated Qing rule over China, added Taiwan and Outer Mongolia to the empire and left a stable, prosperous state to his successors.