Modern Era
French Conquest of Algeria (1830-1847): Invasion and Resistance
France captured Algiers in 1830 and, after a long and destructive war, forced the surrender of Abd al-Qadir in 1847, making Algeria a French colony.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Burning of Washington (1814): When British Troops Torched DC
British forces burned the Capitol, the President's House and other public buildings, then withdrew after about 26 hours in the city.
Modern Era
Rainhill Trials (1829): Stephenson's Rocket Wins the Race
Rocket was the only locomotive to complete the trials, won the £500 prize and persuaded the directors to run the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with steam locomotives.
Modern Era
First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813): Karadjordje's Revolt
The rebels ran a self-governing Serbian state for several years, but an Ottoman offensive crushed the uprising in 1813.
Middle Ages
Lady Six Sky: The Warrior Queen of Naranjo (682)
A foreign-born princess re-established Naranjo's royal line, and under her and her son the city fought its way back to regional power.
Middle Ages
Swahili Coast City-States: Medieval Indian Ocean Trade Hubs
A chain of independent Muslim trading towns linked inland Africa to Arabia, India and China until Portuguese attacks after 1500 weakened them.
Middle Ages
Battle of Bach Dang (938): Ngo Quyen Ends Chinese Rule
Decisive Vietnamese victory; the Southern Han invasion failed and Ngo Quyen founded an independent Vietnamese kingdom in 939.
Middle Ages
Tang Dynasty (618–907): China's Golden Age of Empire and Culture
The Tang built one of the largest and most cosmopolitan empires of the medieval world, then declined after the An Lushan Rebellion and fell in 907.
Middle Ages
Battle of Yarmouk (636): Arab Victory over Byzantine Syria
Decisive Arab Muslim victory; the Byzantine Empire lost Syria and Palestine to the Rashidun caliphate.
Middle Ages
El Cid and the Capture of Valencia (1094): Spain's Hero
El Cid took Valencia after a siege of nearly a year and ruled it as an independent lord until his death in 1099; the city fell to the Almoravids in 1102.
Middle Ages
Tomb of Queen Arnegonde (c. 580): A Merovingian Royal Burial
The discovery gave historians a rare, closely identified royal grave and the most complete picture of Merovingian queenly dress.
Middle Ages
Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna: Justinian and Theodora Mosaics
An outstanding monument of early Byzantine architecture and mosaic art, listed by UNESCO in 1996 as part of the Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna.