Modern Era
Kronstadt Rebellion (1921): Sailors Rise Against the Bolsheviks
The Red Army stormed the fortress across the ice and crushed the revolt; the Bolsheviks introduced the New Economic Policy and banned party factions the same month.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Boer War Concentration Camps (1900-1902): Civilians in the War
About 26,000-28,000 Boer civilians, mostly children, and at least 14,000 Black Africans died in the camps, leaving a lasting legacy of bitterness.
Modern Era
Spanish-American War (1898): The US Becomes an Overseas Power
The United States defeated Spain in under four months; Cuba was freed from Spanish rule and the US acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
Modern Era
Einstein's Miracle Year (1905): Special Relativity and E=mc2
Einstein's four papers of 1905 introduced light quanta, proved the reality of atoms, founded special relativity and showed that mass and energy are equivalent.
Modern Era
January Uprising (1863-1864): Poland's Last Great Revolt
The insurrection was defeated; its leaders were executed or exiled, and Russia abolished most remaining Polish autonomy.
Middle Ages
Great Buddha of Kamakura: The Bronze Amida Buddha (1252)
The bronze statue was completed in the 13th century and has stood in the open air since its hall was lost in the 14th and 15th centuries; it is a National Treasure of Japan.
Middle Ages
Averroes (Ibn Rushd): Philosopher of Cordoba and Aristotle
Ibn Rushd's commentaries made him the leading interpreter of Aristotle for medieval Jewish and Latin Christian scholars, who called him simply 'the Commentator'.
Middle Ages
Battle of Crécy (1346): English Longbows Defeat French Knights
Decisive English victory; much of the French nobility was killed and Edward III went on to besiege and capture Calais.
Middle Ages
Rollo and the Founding of Normandy (911): Saint-Clair-sur-Epte
Charles the Simple granted Rollo and his Vikings the lands of the lower Seine around Rouen in return for defending the kingdom and accepting baptism, creating the territory that grew into the duchy of Normandy.
Middle Ages
Hussite Wars (1419-1434): Jan Zizka and the War Wagons
The crusades against Bohemia failed; after moderate Hussites defeated the radicals at Lipany in 1434, the Compacts of Basel allowed Bohemian Utraquism within the Catholic Church.
Early Modern
Battle of Valmy (1792): The Cannonade That Saved the Revolution
French victory; the Prussian advance on Paris was halted and the invading army soon withdrew from France.
Early Modern
Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787): Farmers' Uprising in Massachusetts
The uprising was put down by state militia, but it led to tax relief in Massachusetts and strengthened calls for a stronger federal constitution.