Early Modern
Siege of Osaka (1614-1615): The Fall of the Toyotomi Clan
Decisive Tokugawa victory; Osaka Castle fell, Hideyori and his mother died, and the Toyotomi line was ended.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Siege of Famagusta (1570–71): Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus
Famagusta surrendered on 1 August 1571, completing the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus; Venice formally ceded the island in 1573.
Early Modern
Royal Observatory, Greenwich (1675): Charles II's Observatory
England gained a national observatory whose star catalogues, almanacs and time signals made Greenwich the reference point for world longitude and time.
Early Modern
Kett's Rebellion (1549): Norfolk Rises Against Enclosure
The rebels were defeated at Dussindale on 27 August 1549 with heavy loss of life; Robert Kett was hanged at Norwich Castle in December.
Early Modern
Death of Moctezuma II (1520): The Last Days of the Aztec Ruler
Moctezuma died in Spanish custody during the Mexica uprising; Cuitláhuac succeeded him and the Spaniards fled the city days later.
Contemporary
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989): Disaster in Prince William Sound
About 11 million US gallons of crude oil polluted some 1,300 miles of coastline; the disaster led to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and decades of litigation.
Contemporary
Romanian Revolution (1989): The Violent Fall of Ceaușescu
Ceaușescu's regime collapsed; he and his wife were executed on 25 December, and the National Salvation Front led by Ion Iliescu took power.
Contemporary
Delano Grape Strike (1965-1970): Cesar Chavez and Farm Workers
After five years of strikes and a national consumer boycott, California table grape growers signed the first major union contracts with farm workers in July 1970.
Contemporary
ARPANET (1969): The First Message and Birth of the Internet
The first host-to-host message crossed the ARPANET, the packet-switched network that later developed into the internet.
Contemporary
Great Leap Forward 1958-1962: Mao's Campaign and the Great Famine
The campaign failed and led to the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961, with most estimates of excess deaths between 15 and 55 million.
Contemporary
Castle Bravo (1954): The Worst US Nuclear Test Accident
The test produced 15 megatons instead of the expected 6, contaminating inhabited atolls and a Japanese fishing boat and fuelling worldwide concern over fallout.
Ancient World
Cimmerian Invasions of Anatolia and the Fall of Phrygia
Cimmerian raids ended Phrygian power, killed King Gyges of Lydia and devastated Ionian cities, until Lydia expelled the nomads around 600 BC and became the leading power of western Anatolia.