Prehistory
Megalosaurus (1824): William Buckland Names the First Dinosaur
Megalosaurus became the first dinosaur genus to be scientifically named and one of the three founding members of Richard Owen's Dinosauria in 1842.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Prehistory
Origin of Eukaryotes: The Rise of Complex Cells on Earth
A partnership between an archaeal host and a bacterium produced the complex cell, ancestor of all animals, plants, fungi and protists.
Modern Era
Mount Pelee Eruption (1902): The Destruction of Saint-Pierre
A pyroclastic flow destroyed Saint-Pierre in minutes, killing about 28,000 people, the deadliest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century.
Modern Era
Operation Sea Lion (1940): Hitler's Planned Invasion of Britain
The invasion was never launched; Hitler postponed it indefinitely in September 1940 after the Luftwaffe failed to win control of the air.
Modern Era
Battle of Verdun (1916): France's Longest Battle of World War I
French defensive victory; Germany failed to take Verdun, and both armies suffered around 700,000 casualties combined.
Modern Era
Indian Rebellion of 1857: The Great Uprising Against Company Rule
The uprising was suppressed, and in 1858 the British Crown took over the government of India from the East India Company.
Modern Era
Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831): The Southampton Slave Revolt
The revolt was crushed within two days; around 55-60 white people and many more Black people were killed, and Southern states passed harsher slave codes.
Modern Era
Ether Day (1846): The First Public Surgery Under Anaesthesia
A public demonstration proved that inhaled ether could prevent pain during surgery, and surgical anaesthesia spread around the world within months.
Modern Era
Lines of Torres Vedras (1810): Wellington's Secret Defences
Massena's army could not break through and withdrew from Portugal in 1811 after losing about 25,000 men, mostly to hunger and disease.
Middle Ages
Tula: Capital of the Toltecs and Its Atlantean Warriors
Tula was the leading city of central Mexico in the Early Postclassic; it fell around 1150 and became the legendary 'Tollan' of Aztec tradition.
Middle Ages
Gao-Saney Royal Stelae: Early Muslim Kings of Gao (c. 1100)
The stelae proved that Gao had Muslim kings by about 1100 and preserved names of a royal dynasty otherwise missing from later chronicles.
Middle Ages
Cham Sack of Angkor (1177): Champa's Raid on the Khmer Capital
Cham forces plundered the Khmer capital and killed its king, but Jayavarman VII drove them out, took the throne in 1181 and later conquered Champa.