Middle Ages
Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517): Slave Soldiers Who Ruled Egypt
A military state that defended the Middle East against Mongols and crusaders, until the Ottoman conquest of 1516-1517.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Medici Bank (1397): How a Florentine Family Built a Fortune
The Medici Bank became one of the largest businesses in 15th-century Europe and funded the Medici family's rise to power in Florence.
Middle Ages
Battle of Fulford (1066): Harald Hardrada Wins Outside York
Norwegian victory; the northern English army was broken and York submitted to Harald Hardrada.
Early Modern
Nine Years' War (1688–1697): The Grand Alliance vs Louis XIV
A costly stalemate: by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) France kept Strasbourg but returned most other gains and recognised William III as king of England.
Early Modern
George Vancouver's Expedition (1791-1795): The Northwest Coast
The coast from California to Alaska was accurately charted, ending hopes of a Northwest Passage in temperate latitudes.
Contemporary
South Sudan Independence (2011): Birth of the Newest Nation
South Sudan seceded peacefully from Sudan and was admitted to the United Nations as its 193rd member state.
Contemporary
START I Treaty (1991): Cutting Strategic Nuclear Arsenals
The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce their strategic nuclear forces to 1,600 delivery vehicles and 6,000 accountable warheads each.
Ancient World
Pliny's Letter to Trajan on Christians (c. AD 112) Explained
Trajan ruled that Christians should not be hunted out or accused anonymously, but those charged and refusing to recant were to be punished.
Ancient World
Euclid's Elements (c. 300 BC): The Most Influential Maths Book
The Elements became the standard textbook of geometry and the model of mathematical proof for over two millennia.
Modern Era
Liberation of Paris (1944): The End of the German Occupation
The German garrison surrendered on 25 August 1944 and Paris was restored to French control under de Gaulle's provisional government.
Modern Era
Nuremberg Laws (1935): Nazi Germany's Racial Laws Against Jews
German Jews lost their citizenship rights and were banned from marrying or having relationships with non-Jewish Germans, giving racial persecution a legal basis.
Modern Era
Delhi Durbar (1911): George V's Imperial Assembly in India
George V received homage as Emperor of India, the capital was moved from Calcutta to Delhi and the partition of Bengal was reversed.