Middle Ages
Qutub Minar: Delhi's Medieval Victory Tower and Its History
The tower became the tallest minaret of medieval India and the symbol of the Delhi Sultanate; it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Jianzhen's Voyage to Japan (753): The Blind Monk's Mission
Jianzhen reached Japan on his sixth attempt, established the first regular ordination platform at Todai-ji and founded Toshodai-ji in Nara.
Middle Ages
Harun al-Rashid (786–809): Caliph of Baghdad's Golden Age
Harun's reign marked the high point of Abbasid wealth and prestige, but his division of the succession led to civil war soon after his death.
Middle Ages
Battle of Legnano (1176): Lombard League Defeats Barbarossa
Decisive victory for the Lombard League; Frederick made peace with the pope in 1177 and recognised the cities' self-government at Constance in 1183.
Middle Ages
Lindisfarne Gospels (c. 715): Masterpiece of Insular Art
The manuscript survived Viking raids and the Reformation and is now one of the British Library's greatest treasures.
Middle Ages
Saint Wenceslaus: The Real Good King Wenceslas of Bohemia
Wenceslaus was killed by his brother's followers and soon venerated as a martyr, becoming the patron saint of the Czech state.
Early Modern
Great Northern War (1700-1721): Russia Against Sweden's Empire
Sweden lost its Baltic empire; by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721 Russia gained Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and part of Karelia and became a great power.
Early Modern
Bunce Island: The British Slave Castle in Sierra Leone
Tens of thousands of Africans were shipped from the island into Atlantic slavery, many of them to the rice plantations of South Carolina and Georgia.
Early Modern
Brazilian Gold Rush (1690s): The Discovery of Minas Gerais Gold
Brazil became the world's leading gold producer for much of the 18th century, transforming its population, economy and capital and pouring wealth into Portugal and, through trade, Britain.
Early Modern
Tokugawa Shogunate (1603): Ieyasu Founds the Edo Period
Ieyasu's appointment as shogun in 1603 began a military government that ruled Japan for about 265 years, until the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
Early Modern
Sokollu Mehmed Pasha: Grand Vizier of Three Ottoman Sultans
He guided Ottoman policy for 14 years, keeping the empire stable through two successions, until his assassination in 1579.
Early Modern
Robert Hooke's Micrographia (1665): Life Under the Microscope
Micrographia became a bestseller that popularised microscopy, introduced the biological term cell and promoted the Royal Society's experimental method.