Ancient World
Battle of Lake Trasimene (217 BC): The Great Roman Ambush
Decisive Carthaginian victory; Flaminius and about 15,000 Romans were killed and a similar number captured, and Rome appointed Fabius Maximus dictator.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Ancient World
Reforms of Solon (594 BC): Laying the Foundations of Athens
Debt slavery was abolished, debts secured on land were cancelled and citizens were ranked by wealth instead of birth, though civil strife continued and Athens fell to tyranny in 561 BC.
Ancient World
Sobekneferu: First Confirmed Female Pharaoh of Egypt
She ruled as a fully titled female king for nearly four years; her death ended the Twelfth Dynasty.
Ancient World
Hittite Sack of Babylon (1595 BC): End of Hammurabi's Dynasty
Babylon was plundered and the First Dynasty of Babylon ended; the Hittites withdrew and a Kassite dynasty later took control of the city.
Prehistory
Dawenkou Culture: Neolithic Shandong and Its Rich Grave Goods
Dawenkou communities grew increasingly unequal and developed into the Longshan culture of Shandong, an important step towards early Chinese states.
Prehistory
Faiyum Neolithic: The First Farmers of Ancient Egypt
Faiyum A communities combined imported Near Eastern crops and livestock with fishing and hunting, giving Egypt its earliest well-documented farming.
Prehistory
Pech Merle: The Spotted Horses and Hand Stencils of Quercy
Rediscovered in 1922, Pech Merle became one of the few decorated Ice Age caves in France whose original paintings can still be visited.
Prehistory
Omo Kibish Fossils: Among the Oldest Homo sapiens in Ethiopia
The Omo I and Omo II fossils are now dated to at least about 230,000 years ago, making them among the oldest widely accepted Homo sapiens remains.
Prehistory
Bone Wars: The Cope and Marsh Fossil Rivalry of the American West
The two men named well over a hundred new species of dinosaurs between them, including Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Diplodocus, but the feud damaged both their reputations and finances.
Prehistory
Rodinia: The Supercontinent Before Snowball Earth
Most of Earth's continental crust was joined in one landmass, whose breakup opened new oceans and may have helped trigger the Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations.
Modern Era
Messina Earthquake and Tsunami (1908): Europe's Deadliest Quake
Messina and Reggio Calabria were largely destroyed; tens of thousands died, and Italy adopted its first national earthquake building rules in 1909.
Modern Era
Operation Barbarossa (1941): Germany Invades the Soviet Union
Huge German advances and Soviet losses, but the Red Army survived and the offensive was halted before Moscow in December 1941.