Modern Era
Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906): The Scandal That Divided France
Dreyfus was convicted twice but finally cleared by France's highest court in July 1906 and reinstated in the army; the affair reshaped French politics.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Heilongjiang Hand Cannon (1288): One of the Oldest Firearms
A small bronze hand gun of the Yuan period that shows true metal-barrelled firearms were in use in China by the late 13th century.
Middle Ages
Alhambra: The Nasrid Palace-Fortress of Granada
The Nasrid emirs built a walled palace-city that survived the fall of Granada in 1492 and is today the best-preserved palace of medieval Islamic Spain.
Middle Ages
Ciompi Revolt (1378): Florence's Wool Workers Rise Up
The workers briefly won guild rights and places in government, but their guild was crushed within weeks and the remaining reforms were reversed in 1382 as an oligarchy took control.
Middle Ages
Battle of Stiklestad (1030): Death of St Olaf of Norway
Olaf was killed and his army defeated; within a year he was declared a saint, and his son Magnus regained Norway in 1035.
Early Modern
Rampjaar (1672): The Dutch Republic's Disaster Year
The Republic survived invasion behind the flooded Water Line, but the De Witt regime collapsed, the brothers were murdered, and William III became stadtholder and leader of the state.
Early Modern
James Cook's Third Voyage (1776-1780): Hawaii and the Arctic
The expedition charted the North Pacific coast and reached Hawaii but found no Northwest Passage; Cook was killed in Hawaii and Clerke died before the ships returned.
Contemporary
Hunga Tonga Eruption (2022): The Biggest Blast in a Century
The largest volcanic explosion recorded with modern instruments; tsunamis killed at least four people in Tonga and two in Peru, and Tonga was cut off from the internet for weeks.
Contemporary
East Timor Independence Referendum 1999: Vote and Violence
78.5 per cent of voters rejected autonomy within Indonesia; after militia violence and an international intervention, East Timor became independent in 2002.
Contemporary
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale (1987-1988): Cold War in Angola
Militarily inconclusive: the Angolan offensive was defeated, but South African attacks on Cuito Cuanavale failed, and the stalemate led to the 1988 New York Accords.
Ancient World
Vindolanda: Roman Fort and Its Famous Writing Tablets
The fort's waterlogged deposits preserved hundreds of letters and documents, the oldest surviving handwritten documents from Britain.
Ancient World
Seleucid Empire (312-63 BC): Greek Kingdom From Syria to Bactria
After losing its eastern provinces to Parthia and its western lands to Rome, the Seleucid kingdom was reduced to Syria and annexed by Pompey as a Roman province.