Middle Ages
Battle of Clontarf (1014): Brian Boru and the Vikings
Victory for Brian's army, but Brian, his son Murchad and his grandson Tairdelbach were killed; Norse Dublin survived under Sitric.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Man in the Iron Mask: Louis XIV's Mysterious Prisoner (1669)
The prisoner died in the Bastille in 1703 without his identity being officially revealed; most historians identify him with a man arrested in 1669 under the name Eustache Dauger.
Early Modern
Transit of Venus (1769): Cook's Observation in Tahiti
Observers at dozens of stations timed the transit; combined with 1761 results, it gave a Sun–Earth distance within a few per cent of the modern value.
Contemporary
Black Summer Bushfires (2019-2020): Australia's Fire Catastrophe
About 24 million hectares burned, 33 people died directly and more than 3,000 homes were destroyed; a royal commission made 80 recommendations on disaster arrangements.
Contemporary
Second Congo War 1998-2003: Africa's World War Explained
A series of peace agreements led to foreign troop withdrawals and a transitional government in 2003, but fighting continued in the east and the war's death toll ran into millions.
Contemporary
Tear Down This Wall (1987): Reagan's Speech at Brandenburg Gate
The speech drew limited attention at the time but became one of the best-known addresses of the Cold War after the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989.
Ancient World
Arch of Titus (c. AD 81): Triumphal Arch on Rome's Via Sacra
Rome gained a single-bay triumphal arch whose reliefs of the Jerusalem spoils became one of the most famous images of Roman art.
Ancient World
Death of Alexander the Great (323 BC): Babylon and the Succession
Alexander died without an adult heir; his generals divided the empire and soon went to war, leading to its break-up into rival kingdoms.
Modern Era
Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945): Hitler's Ardennes Offensive
Allied victory: the German offensive was halted short of the River Meuse and pushed back, costing Germany reserves it could not replace.
Modern Era
Holodomor (1932-1933): The Great Famine in Soviet Ukraine
An estimated 3.5 to 5 million people died in Ukraine; the famine was concealed by the Soviet state and is now recognised by Ukraine and many other countries as genocide.
Modern Era
Maji Maji Rebellion (1905-1907) in German East Africa
The rising was crushed by German forces using scorched-earth tactics; an estimated 75,000 to 300,000 Africans died, most from famine.
Modern Era
Goddard's Rocket (1926): The First Liquid-Fuelled Rocket Launch
The world's first liquid-fuelled rocket flew for about 2.5 seconds, proving a technology that later powered spaceflight.