Modern Era
Soviet Invasion of Poland (1939): The Nazi-Soviet Partition
The Soviet Union occupied and annexed about half of Poland's territory, sealing the country's partition with Nazi Germany.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
First Battle of Ypres (1914): The End of the Race to the Sea
Allied defensive victory; Ypres was held, the Race to the Sea ended and the Western Front settled into trench warfare.
Modern Era
Java War (1825-1830): Prince Diponegoro Against the Dutch
Dutch victory after Diponegoro was arrested during negotiations; Dutch control of Java was consolidated and the Cultivation System introduced.
Modern Era
Battle of Queenston Heights (1812): The Death of Isaac Brock
British, Canadian militia and Haudenosaunee forces defeated the American invasion and captured over 900 prisoners, but Major General Isaac Brock was killed.
Modern Era
Stockton and Darlington Railway (1825): Steam Goes Public
The line proved that a public railway using steam locomotives could carry goods profitably and became the model for the railway age.
Modern Era
Napoleonic Code (1804): The Civil Law That Reshaped Europe
France gained a single civil code of 2,281 articles, which became a model for civil law across Europe, Latin America and beyond.
Middle Ages
Xochicalco: The Hilltop City After Teotihuacan's Fall
Xochicalco became one of the leading Epiclassic cities of central Mexico before it was burned and abandoned around 900.
Middle Ages
Sijilmasa: Northern Gateway of the Trans-Saharan Gold Trade
Sijilmasa became the leading northern terminus of the western caravan routes and a major mint for West African gold before declining in the late 14th century.
Middle Ages
Founding of the Khmer Empire: Jayavarman II in 802
Jayavarman II proclaimed himself universal monarch independent of Java, founding the Angkorian Khmer state that lasted until the fifteenth century.
Middle Ages
Horyu-ji: The World's Oldest Wooden Buildings in Nara (607)
A Buddhist temple whose Golden Hall and five-storey pagoda are the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world, listed by UNESCO in 1993.
Middle Ages
Conquest of Mecca (630): Muhammad Returns to His Home City
Mecca surrendered almost without resistance, the idols of the Kaaba were destroyed and the Quraysh accepted Islam and Muhammad's authority.
Middle Ages
University of Bologna (1088): The Oldest University in Europe
Bologna became the leading centre of legal studies in medieval Europe and a model for later universities, especially in southern Europe.