Middle Ages
Balhae (698): Dae Jo-yeong's Kingdom in Manchuria and Korea
Dae Jo-yeong founded a kingdom, first called Jin and from 713 Balhae, that ruled Manchuria and northern Korea for over two centuries.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Middle Ages
Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258): The Golden Age of Baghdad
The Abbasids ruled the central Islamic world from Baghdad, presided over a flowering of science and culture, and lost real power long before the Mongols ended the caliphate in Baghdad in 1258.
Middle Ages
Lewis Chessmen: The Medieval Chess Pieces Found in Scotland
The 93 pieces, now divided between the British Museum and National Museums Scotland, are among the best-known objects to survive from medieval northern Europe.
Middle Ages
Synod of Whitby (664): Rome or Iona for Northumbria
Oswiu adopted the Roman method of dating Easter; Bishop Colmán and many Irish-trained monks left Northumbria.
Middle Ages
Cyril and Methodius (863): Apostles to the Slavs and Glagolitic
The brothers created the first Slavic alphabet and literary language; their disciples carried this legacy to Bulgaria, where the Cyrillic script emerged.
Early Modern
Battle of the Boyne (1690): William III Defeats James II
Williamite victory; James II fled to France, Dublin fell to William, though the war in Ireland continued until 1691.
Early Modern
Cape Coast Castle: Slave Fort on Ghana's Gold Coast
The castle became the British headquarters on the Gold Coast and one of the largest slave-holding forts in West Africa; it is now a museum and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Early Modern
Bacon's Rebellion (1676): Uprising Against Virginia's Governor
The rebellion collapsed after Bacon's death in October 1676; Berkeley was recalled to England and the Crown tightened its control over Virginia.
Early Modern
Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan (1597): The Nagasaki Crucifixions
Twenty-six Christians were crucified, marking the first large-scale execution of Christians in Japan; they were canonised as saints in 1862.
Early Modern
Akbar the Great: Expansion and Tolerance in Mughal India
Akbar turned a fragile foothold into a vast, centrally administered empire and set the pattern of Mughal government for the next century.
Early Modern
Magdeburg Hemispheres (1654): Otto von Guericke's Vacuum
Guericke's vacuum experiments showed the enormous force of air pressure and inspired the air-pump research of Robert Boyle and others.
Early Modern
Pilgrimage of Grace (1536): Northern Revolt Against Henry VIII
The rebels dispersed after a royal pardon and promises in December 1536, but after new risings in early 1537 Henry had the leaders and some 200 others executed.