Early Modern
Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741): Blas de Lezo Holds Firm
Spanish victory; the British expedition withdrew after failing to take the city and losing thousands of men, mostly to disease.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Sankin-kotai (1635): Japan's System of Alternate Attendance
Daimyo had to alternate residence between Edo and their domains, which drained their wealth and bound them to the shogunate until 1862.
Early Modern
Long Turkish War (1593-1606): Habsburgs Versus Ottomans
A costly stalemate ended by the Peace of Zsitvatorok (1606), which kept the frontier largely unchanged but ended Habsburg tribute to the sultan.
Early Modern
Halley's Comet Prediction (1705): The Return of 1758
The comet returned as predicted, reaching perihelion on 13 March 1759 and providing powerful confirmation of Newtonian gravitation.
Early Modern
Abdication of Charles V (1555): The Emperor Divides His Empire
The Habsburg inheritance was split into a Spanish branch under Philip II and an Austrian branch under Ferdinand I, and Charles retired to the monastery of Yuste.
Early Modern
Battle of Mactan (1521): Lapulapu and the Death of Magellan
Victory for Lapulapu's forces; Magellan and several of his men were killed and the Spanish expedition left Cebu soon afterwards.
Contemporary
Great Flood of 1993: The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Overflow
About 50 people died and damage reached roughly 15-20 billion US dollars; the disaster led to large-scale buyouts of flood-prone property and a rethinking of levee-based flood control.
Contemporary
Reburial of Imre Nagy (1989): Hungary's Turning Point
Nagy and his fellow victims were honoured in a mass public ceremony; Hungary moved within months to multiparty democracy.
Contemporary
Summer of Love (1967): Haight-Ashbury and the Counterculture
An estimated 75,000 to 100,000 young people gathered in San Francisco, spreading hippie culture worldwide but leaving the Haight with crowding, drug and crime problems.
Contemporary
Intel 4004 (1971): The First Commercial Microprocessor
Intel began selling the first single-chip microprocessor on the open market, launching the industry that would lead to personal computers and smartphones.
Contemporary
Sharpeville Massacre 1960: Police Fire on Pass Law Protesters
Police killed 69 protesters and wounded around 180; the government declared a state of emergency and banned the ANC and PAC.
Contemporary
Khrushchev's Secret Speech (1956): Stalin Denounced in Moscow
Stalin's crimes were officially acknowledged for the first time, opening the Khrushchev Thaw and triggering unrest in Poland and Hungary.