Prehistory
Cairn of Barnenez: One of Europe's Oldest Megalithic Monuments
A massive Neolithic stone mound containing eleven passage graves, partly quarried away in the 1950s, then excavated, restored and protected as a historic monument.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Prehistory
Ubaid Period: Mesopotamia's First Farming Villages and Temples
The first farming society of the southern Mesopotamian plain, whose villages, irrigation and temples laid the foundations for the Uruk period and Sumerian civilisation.
Prehistory
Altamira Cave Paintings: The Bison Ceiling of Cantabria
Dismissed as a forgery after 1880, Altamira was accepted as genuine Palaeolithic art in 1902 and became the founding site for the study of Ice Age cave painting.
Prehistory
Java Man: Eugène Dubois and the Trinil Homo erectus Fossils
Dubois named Pithecanthropus erectus in 1894; after decades of controversy the fossils were recognised as the first known specimens of Homo erectus.
Prehistory
Mosasaurus of Maastricht: The Sea Lizard Seized by France
The skull taken to Paris in 1795 was recognised as an extinct giant marine lizard, later named Mosasaurus, and became key evidence that species can die out.
Prehistory
Huronian Glaciation: The Long Ice Age 2.4 Billion Years Ago
Repeated glaciations left tillites on several continents and coincided with the first lasting rise of atmospheric oxygen.
Modern Era
Johnstown Flood (1889): The South Fork Dam Disaster
The dam collapsed and a flood wave destroyed much of Johnstown, killing 2,209 people; the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was never held legally liable.
Modern Era
Battle of Taranto (1940): The Fleet Air Arm Strikes Italy's Navy
British victory; one Italian battleship was sunk for good and two others put out of action for months, for the loss of two aircraft.
Modern Era
Great Retreat of the Serbian Army (1915) Across Albania
Serbia was occupied, but the surviving army was evacuated to Corfu, rebuilt and returned to fight on the Salonika front.
Modern Era
Nian Rebellion (1851-1868): Cavalry Insurgency in Northern China
The Nian were defeated in 1868 after Qing commanders used blockade lines and regional armies to pin down their cavalry.
Modern Era
Battle of Pichincha (1822): Antonio José de Sucre Liberates Quito
Patriot victory; the royalist garrison of Quito capitulated and the region joined Gran Colombia.
Modern Era
Thames Tunnel (1843): The Brunels' Tunnel Under a Tidal River
London gained the first tunnel known to have been built successfully under a navigable river; it later became part of the city's railway network.