Early Modern
Capture of Gibraltar (1704): How Britain Gained the Rock
The Spanish garrison surrendered on 4 August 1704; Gibraltar was held against a Franco-Spanish siege and ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Osei Tutu and the Golden Stool: Founding of the Asante Empire
The Asante states united under Osei Tutu, defeated Denkyira and became the dominant power of the Gold Coast interior.
Early Modern
Stono Rebellion (1739): Largest Slave Revolt in British America
The revolt was crushed within a day; about 21-25 colonists and at least 35-50 rebels died, and South Carolina passed the restrictive Negro Act of 1740.
Early Modern
Dutch Conquest of the Banda Islands (1621): The Nutmeg Massacre
The VOC seized the Banda Islands, destroyed most of the Bandanese population and created a slave-worked nutmeg monopoly.
Early Modern
Battle of Haldighati (1576): Maharana Pratap Against Akbar
Mughal tactical victory; Maharana Pratap escaped and continued resisting Mughal rule for the rest of his life.
Early Modern
Newton's Principia (1687): Gravity and the Laws of Motion
Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation became the foundation of physics and astronomy for more than two centuries.
Early Modern
Marian Persecutions (1555–1558): Mary I Burns Protestants
Around 280 Protestants were burned, but the campaign failed to crush English Protestantism and gave Mary the lasting name Bloody Mary.
Early Modern
Battle of Otumba (1520): Cortés Survives the Retreat to Tlaxcala
Spanish and Tlaxcalan victory; Cortés's survivors escaped to Tlaxcala, where they rebuilt their forces for the siege of Tenochtitlan.
Contemporary
Earth Summit in Rio (1992): The UN Conference on Environment
Governments adopted the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles, and opened the UN climate change and biological diversity conventions for signature.
Contemporary
Polish Round Table Talks (1989): Negotiating the End of Communism
Solidarity was legalised again and semi-free elections were agreed, leading in August 1989 to the first non-communist-led government in the Soviet bloc.
Contemporary
Wave Hill Walk-off (1966): The Gurindji Strike for Land Rights
The strike became a campaign for land; in 1975 the Gurindji received a lease over part of their country, a milestone towards Aboriginal land rights law.
Contemporary
Venera 7 (1970): The First Landing on Another Planet
The first spacecraft to land intact on another planet and transmit data from its surface, recording about 475 °C and roughly 90 times Earth's air pressure.