Middle Ages
Samanid Empire (819–999): Persian Revival in Bukhara
The Samanids made Bukhara a centre of Persian culture and Sunni learning before their state fell to the Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids around 999.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Chartres Cathedral: Stained Glass and High Gothic Design
The rebuilt cathedral, largely complete by about 1220–1230, set the pattern for High Gothic architecture and preserved one of the largest collections of medieval stained glass.
Middle Ages
Boniface Fells Donar's Oak (723): Converting the Germans
The felling of the oak became a symbol of Boniface's mission, which built a church organisation across central Germany.
Middle Ages
Battle of Lechfeld (955): Otto I Ends the Magyar Raids
Decisive East Frankish victory; the Magyar raids on western Europe ended and the Hungarians turned to settled statehood.
Early Modern
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714): The Fight for Spain
Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Austria took Spain's European lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca.
Early Modern
Huguenot Settlers at the Cape (1688): French Refugees in Africa
About 200 French Protestant refugees settled at the Cape, quickly merged into the Dutch-speaking settler population and left a lasting mark on family names and farms.
Early Modern
Founding of New Orleans (1718): Bienville's French Colonial City
La Nouvelle-Orléans was established on a bend of the Mississippi and became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722–1723.
Early Modern
Hasekura Tsunenaga (1613): A Samurai Embassy to Mexico and Rome
The embassy was received with honour in Madrid and Rome, but it failed to win a trade agreement, and Hasekura returned to a Japan that had banned Christianity.
Early Modern
Selimiye Mosque in Edirne: Sinan's Architectural Masterpiece
Sinan created his most unified domed space, and the mosque and its complex became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.
Early Modern
French Academy of Sciences (1666): Colbert's Royal Academy
France gained a state-funded body of salaried scientists that became one of Europe's leading scientific institutions.
Early Modern
Battle of Pinkie (1547): The Rough Wooing of Scotland
Heavy Scottish defeat; England occupied parts of southern Scotland, but the Scots sent Mary to France to marry the French dauphin instead of Edward VI.
Early Modern
Tlaxcala's Alliance with Cortés (1519): The Decisive Allies
Tlaxcala allied with the Spaniards and supplied tens of thousands of warriors and porters for the war against Tenochtitlan.