Middle Ages
Reims Cathedral: Gothic Coronation Church of French Kings
A new High Gothic cathedral rose on the site of the burned church and served as the coronation church of most French kings until 1825.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Donation of Pepin (756): The Origin of the Papal States
Pepin forced the Lombards to give up the former Byzantine lands around Ravenna and granted them to the pope, creating the core of the Papal States.
Middle Ages
Yaroslav the Wise: Kievan Rus at Its Height and Russkaya Pravda
Yaroslav united Kievan Rus, gave it its first written law code and great churches, and linked his dynasty by marriage to much of Europe.
Early Modern
Great Frost of 1709: Europe's Coldest Winter in 500 Years
Crops and livestock were destroyed across much of Europe, and the famine that followed in France caused an estimated 600,000 excess deaths in 1709-1710.
Early Modern
Futa Jallon Jihad (c. 1725): Founding of a Fulani Islamic State
A Fulani-led Islamic state, the imamate of Futa Jallon, was founded with its capital at Timbo and lasted until French conquest in the 1890s.
Early Modern
French and Indian War (1754–1763): Struggle for North America
British victory; by the Treaty of Paris of 1763 France gave up Canada and its lands east of the Mississippi, and Spain ceded Florida to Britain.
Early Modern
Qing Invasion of Joseon (1636): Siege of Namhansanseong
King Injo surrendered at Samjeondo; Joseon broke with the Ming and became a tributary of the Qing, sending royal hostages to Shenyang.
Early Modern
Naqsh-e Jahan Square: Shah Abbas's Royal Square in Isfahan
Isfahan gained one of the largest and most celebrated urban squares in the world, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Early Modern
Abraham Darby and Coke Smelting (1709): Iron at Coalbrookdale
Darby proved that iron could be smelted commercially with coke, freeing ironmaking from dependence on charcoal and preparing the way for large-scale iron production.
Early Modern
Loss of Calais (1558): England's Last French Possession Falls
France captured Calais and the surrounding Pale, ending England's last foothold on the French mainland.
Early Modern
Giovanni da Verrazzano's Voyage (1524): New York Harbor
Verrazzano mapped much of the Atlantic coast of North America for France and showed it was a continuous landmass, though he found no passage to Asia.
Contemporary
1994 Northridge Earthquake: The Quake That Shook Los Angeles
The earthquake killed 57 people, injured more than 8,700 and caused about 20 billion US dollars or more in damage, prompting major changes to steel-frame design, hospital safety and earthquake insurance.