Modern Era
Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806): Crossing a Continent
The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific and returned, mapping the Missouri and Columbia routes and recording hundreds of plants, animals and Native communities.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Penydarren Locomotive (1804): Trevithick's First Railway Run
The first recorded journey by a steam locomotive on rails proved that steam traction could work, though the brittle tramplates could not bear the engine's weight.
Modern Era
Battle of Marengo (1800): Napoleon's Narrow Victory in Italy
French victory; the Austrians signed the Convention of Alessandria and withdrew from most of northern Italy.
Middle Ages
Kuelap: The Cloud-Forest Citadel of the Chachapoyas
Kuelap became the largest walled settlement of the Chachapoya culture and was later absorbed into the Inca Empire.
Middle Ages
Debre Damo: Ethiopia's Clifftop Monastery Reached by Rope
A monastery reached only by rope that preserves one of the oldest standing churches in Ethiopia and a long monastic tradition.
Middle Ages
Rise of Srivijaya (682): Sumatra's Maritime Buddhist Empire
Srivijaya became the leading trading power and Buddhist centre of maritime Southeast Asia for more than three centuries.
Middle Ages
Sui Dynasty Reunification of China (589): End of Division
The Sui captured the Chen capital Jiankang and its last ruler, reuniting northern and southern China under one dynasty for the first time since the early 4th century.
Middle Ages
Hijra (622): Muhammad's Migration from Mecca to Medina
Muhammad settled in Medina as leader of a new community; the year of the Hijra later became year one of the Islamic calendar.
Middle Ages
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral and the Medieval Camino
A great Romanesque pilgrimage church was built over the shrine of St James, making Santiago one of the three chief pilgrimage goals of medieval Christendom.
Middle Ages
Salic Law (c. 507-511): The Frankish Law Code of Clovis
The code set out Frankish customary law as a list of fines; centuries later one clause on land inheritance was used to justify excluding women from the French throne.
Middle Ages
Empress Theodora: From Actress to Ruler of the Byzantine Empire
A former actress became Justinian's crowned empress and political partner, shaping court politics, laws on women and church policy until her death in 548.
Early Modern
English Civil War (1642-1651): King Charles I versus Parliament
Parliament won; Charles I was executed in 1649, the monarchy was abolished and England became a republic until 1660.