Modern Era
Armenian Genocide (1915-1916): Deportations and Mass Killings
An estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians died, and the Armenian presence in most of Anatolia was destroyed.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Destruction of Opium at Humen (1839): Lin Zexu's Stand
More than 1,000 tonnes of opium were destroyed; the confrontation with Britain that followed led to the First Opium War.
Modern Era
Battle of Boyacá (1819): Bolívar's Victory for New Granada
Decisive patriot victory; the royalist army was captured, the viceroy fled Bogotá and New Granada was effectively freed from Spanish rule.
Modern Era
Cooke and Wheatstone Telegraph (1837): Britain's First Line
The needle telegraph became the first commercial electric telegraph, used first on railways and then for public messages across Britain.
Modern Era
Treaties of Tilsit (1807): Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I
France and Russia became allies, Prussia lost about half its territory, and Napoleon's power in Europe reached its height.
Middle Ages
Sican Culture: Gold Masks and Pyramids of Batan Grande
The Sican became one of the richest metal-working societies of the ancient Andes before being absorbed by the Chimú around 1375.
Middle Ages
Awdaghust and the Almoravid Sack of 1054: A Saharan Trade Town
Almoravid forces stormed and plundered Awdaghust, ending Ghana's control of a key Saharan trading town.
Middle Ages
Rajendra Chola I's Ganges Expedition and Gangaikonda Cholapuram
The Chola army reached the Ganges and returned with its water; Rajendra took the title Gangaikonda Chola and founded a new capital.
Middle Ages
Daming Palace: The Grand Tang Palace in Chang'an (634)
The palace served as the political heart of the Tang empire from 663 until its destruction in the dynasty's final wars; its site is now an archaeological park.
Middle Ages
Battle of the Masts (655): First Great Arab Naval Victory
Decisive Arab naval victory; Byzantine dominance of the eastern Mediterranean was broken, though the Arabs did not immediately exploit it.
Middle Ages
White Ship Disaster (1120): The Shipwreck That Doomed a Dynasty
About 300 people drowned, including Henry I's heir; the succession crisis that followed led to the civil war known as the Anarchy.
Middle Ages
Law Code of Æthelberht of Kent (c. 600): Oldest English Laws
Kent gained the first written law code in the English language, and the first of a long series of Anglo-Saxon royal law codes.