Early Modern
Pueblo Revolt (1680): Popé Drives the Spanish from New Mexico
The Pueblo peoples expelled Spanish colonists and missionaries from New Mexico until Diego de Vargas began the reconquest in 1692.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Battle of Noryang (1598): The Last Battle of Admiral Yi Sun-sin
Korean and Ming victory; the Japanese relief fleet suffered heavy losses, but Konishi Yukinaga escaped and Yi Sun-sin was killed.
Early Modern
Second Battle of Panipat (1556): Akbar's Army Defeats Hemu
Decisive Mughal victory; Hemu was captured and killed, Delhi and Agra returned to Mughal control, and the Sur dynasty's last chance of restoration ended.
Early Modern
Huygens' Pendulum Clock (1656): The Revolution in Timekeeping
The pendulum clock cut timekeeping errors from roughly a quarter of an hour a day to seconds, and became the standard precision clock for almost three centuries.
Early Modern
Founding of the Jesuits (1540): Ignatius of Loyola's Society
The bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae created the Society of Jesus, which grew into the largest teaching and missionary order of the Catholic Reformation.
Early Modern
Piri Reis Map (1513): The Ottoman Map of the Atlantic World
A surviving fragment of an Ottoman world map that preserves early European knowledge of the Americas, possibly including a lost map by Columbus.
Contemporary
1985 Mexico City Earthquake: Collapse, Rescue and Reform
Hundreds of buildings collapsed in Mexico City; estimates of deaths range from about 5,000 to more than 10,000, and the disaster led to new building codes, a civil protection system and a seismic alert network.
Contemporary
Spanish Coup Attempt of 1981 (23-F): Tejero Storms Parliament
The coup collapsed within about 18 hours; its leaders were tried and imprisoned, and Spain's young democracy was strengthened.
Contemporary
Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964): Beatlemania in America
An estimated 73 million viewers watched, a record for American television at the time, and the broadcast launched Beatlemania and the British Invasion in the United States.
Contemporary
Mariner 4 (1965): The First Close-Up Photographs of Mars
Mariner 4 returned the first close-up images of another planet, revealing a cratered Mars with a very thin atmosphere and ending hopes of canals or abundant life.
Contemporary
Battle of Dien Bien Phu 1954: France's Defeat in Indochina
Decisive Viet Minh victory; the French garrison surrendered and the Geneva Accords ended French rule in Indochina.
Contemporary
Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (1951): Korea's Battle for the Hills
The US 2nd Infantry Division and attached French and Dutch battalions captured the ridge after a month of fighting, at heavy cost on both sides.