Early Modern
Battle of Flodden (1513): James IV of Scotland Killed in Battle
Decisive English victory; James IV and thousands of Scots, including many nobles, were killed.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Columbian Exchange: Crops, Animals and Diseases after 1492
Plants, animals, microbes and people were redistributed across the globe, transforming diets, economies and populations on every inhabited continent.
Contemporary
Great Smog of London (1952): The Deadly Fog and the Clean Air Act
An estimated 4,000 deaths in the immediate aftermath and perhaps 10,000-12,000 in total; the disaster led to the Clean Air Act 1956.
Contemporary
Marshall Plan (1948): American Aid That Rebuilt Western Europe
Around 13 billion US dollars in aid helped restore Western European production, trade and political stability, and deepened the Cold War division of Europe.
Contemporary
Jackie Robinson Breaks Baseball's Color Line (1947)
Robinson became the first Black player in modern Major League Baseball, opening the way for the integration of the sport.
Contemporary
ENIAC (1945): The First General-Purpose Electronic Computer
ENIAC proved that large-scale electronic computation was practical and launched the American computer industry.
Contemporary
Indonesian National Revolution 1945-1949: Freedom from the Dutch
The Netherlands transferred sovereignty over the former Netherlands East Indies, except Western New Guinea, to Indonesia on 27 December 1949.
Contemporary
Operation Paperclip: German Scientists Brought to the US
More than 1,600 German and Austrian specialists were brought to the United States, boosting its rocket and aerospace programmes but sheltering some with Nazi pasts.
Ancient World
Byblos: One of the Oldest Continuously Inhabited Cities
A leading Bronze and Iron Age port of the Levant whose name gave Greek its word for papyrus and, indirectly, the word Bible.
Ancient World
Kerma Kingdom: The First Great Nubian State on the Nile
Kerma grew into the most powerful state in Africa south of Egypt before Egyptian New Kingdom armies destroyed it around 1500 BC.
Ancient World
Erlitou Culture and the Xia Dynasty: China's First State?
Erlitou is recognised as the earliest large urban centre with palaces and bronze casting in the Central Plains of China, but whether it was the Xia capital remains unproven.
Ancient World
Indus Valley Civilisation: Bronze Age Cities of South Asia
The largest urban culture of the Bronze Age world flourished for some seven centuries, then gradually broke up into smaller regional village cultures after about 1900 BC.