Modern Era
Siege of Ladysmith (1899-1900): The 118-Day Siege in Natal
The garrison held out until Buller's army broke through the Tugela Heights and relieved the town on 28 February 1900.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Modern Era
Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899): The Stampede to the Yukon
An estimated 100,000 people set out for the Klondike, around 30,000-40,000 reached Dawson City, and Canada created the Yukon Territory in 1898 before the rush faded in 1899.
Modern Era
Panama Canal (1904-1914): Building the Path Between the Seas
The United States completed a lock canal across Panama, linking the Atlantic and Pacific; it opened on 15 August 1914 and remained under US control until 1999.
Modern Era
Founding of the Red Cross (1863) and First Geneva Convention
A Geneva committee founded in 1863 became the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the 1864 Geneva Convention made care for wounded soldiers a legal duty.
Middle Ages
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine's Mission to the Mongols (1245)
Carpine returned with Güyük's letter demanding the pope's submission and wrote the first detailed European account of the Mongols.
Middle Ages
Saladin: Sultan of Egypt and Syria and Foe of the Crusaders
Saladin united Egypt and Syria under the Ayyubid dynasty, destroyed the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 and retook Jerusalem, which he held against the Third Crusade.
Middle Ages
Battle of Sluys (1340): Edward III's Naval Victory Over France
Decisive English victory; most of the French fleet was captured or destroyed and the threat of a French invasion of England was ended for years.
Middle Ages
Founding of Cluny Abbey (910): Medieval Monastic Reform
A Benedictine abbey placed under papal protection and free of lay control, which became the head of the largest monastic network of the medieval West.
Middle Ages
Jan Hus (1415): The Bohemian Reformer Burned at Constance
Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake; his death provoked a revolt in Bohemia that grew into the Hussite movement and wars.
Early Modern
Storming of the Tuileries (1792): Fall of the French Monarchy
The palace was captured, the King was suspended and imprisoned, and the monarchy was abolished six weeks later.
Early Modern
Treaty of Paris (1783): Britain Recognises American Independence
Great Britain recognised the independence of the United States and agreed generous boundaries reaching to the Mississippi River.
Early Modern
Siege of Breda (1624–1625): Spínola and Velázquez's Painting
The Dutch garrison surrendered on honourable terms after about nine months; Spain held Breda until the Dutch retook it in 1637.