Middle Ages
Founding of Ayutthaya (1351): U Thong's Siamese Kingdom
Ayutthaya became the capital of a Siamese kingdom that dominated mainland Southeast Asia for four centuries.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Jiaozi (1024): China Issues the World's First Paper Money
The Song state created an official Jiaozi Bureau and began issuing printed paper notes, the first government paper currency in history.
Middle Ages
Al-Azhar Mosque (970): Cairo's Mosque and University
Founded as the Fatimid congregational mosque of Cairo, al-Azhar became the most influential Sunni centre of religious learning and, in 1961, a modern state university.
Middle Ages
Medieval Inquisition (1231): The Papal Hunt for Heresy Begins
Heresy trials passed from local bishops to papally appointed inquisitors, chiefly Dominican and Franciscan friars, a system used for the rest of the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages
Palatine Chapel of Aachen (c. 796-805): Charlemagne's Church
Charlemagne's palace church became his burial place, the coronation church of German kings for six centuries and Germany's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Middle Ages
Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081): Normans Against Byzantium
Norman victory; Alexios fled wounded, Dyrrhachium fell in February 1082 and the Normans advanced into Macedonia and Thessaly.
Early Modern
War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748): Maria Theresa's Fight
Maria Theresa kept most of her inheritance and her husband became emperor, but Prussia retained Silesia under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748.
Early Modern
First Cape Frontier War (1779–1781): Xhosa and Colonists Clash
A colonial commando drove Xhosa groups east of the Great Fish River in 1781, but the frontier remained unsettled and war resumed in 1789.
Early Modern
Pontiac's War (1763–1766): Native Uprising in the Great Lakes
Military stalemate; Native nations accepted British sovereignty but forced Britain to soften its policies, and peace was concluded with Pontiac in 1766.
Early Modern
Queue Order (1645): The Qing Head-Shaving Edict Explained
The Manchu queue became compulsory for Han Chinese men; resistance was crushed, and the hairstyle lasted until the fall of the Qing in 1912.
Early Modern
Taj Mahal: How Shah Jahan Built a Tomb for Mumtaz Mahal
A white marble mausoleum and garden complex was completed, becoming the most celebrated monument of Mughal architecture.
Early Modern
Vaucanson's Digesting Duck (1739): The Famous Automaton
The duck made Vaucanson famous across Europe, although its apparent digestion was later shown to be a trick.