Early Modern
Treaty of Passarowitz (1718): Austria Takes Belgrade
Austria gained Belgrade, the Banat of Temesvár and Lesser Wallachia, Venice lost the Morea, and a period of peace began in the Ottoman capital.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Cromford Mill (1771): Richard Arkwright and the Factory System
Arkwright's Cromford Mill became the first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill and a model for factories in Britain, Europe and America.
Early Modern
Union of the Crowns (1603): James VI Becomes King of England
James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Ireland; the two kingdoms shared a monarch but kept separate parliaments, laws and churches until 1707.
Early Modern
Cocoliztli Epidemic (1545–1548): Catastrophe in New Spain
A large share of the Indigenous population of central Mexico died, deepening the demographic collapse that followed the Spanish conquest.
Contemporary
Arab Spring (2010-2012): Uprisings Across the Middle East
Four long-ruling leaders fell, but only Tunisia made a lasting, if fragile, transition to democracy; Libya, Yemen and Syria descended into civil war.
Contemporary
European Migrant Crisis (2015): Refugees and Europe's Response
Over a million people reached the EU in 2015; border fences, the closure of the Balkan route and the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016 sharply reduced arrivals.
Contemporary
Icelandic Women's Day Off (1975): The Strike That Stopped a Land
About 90 per cent of Icelandic women took part, much of the country came to a standstill, and the protest helped bring a gender equality law in 1976.
Contemporary
Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster (2003): Loss on Re-entry
All seven astronauts died; the shuttle fleet was grounded for two and a half years and its retirement was decided.
Contemporary
Reform and Opening Up 1978: Deng Xiaoping Transforms China
China moved from a Maoist planned economy towards a market-oriented 'socialist market economy' open to foreign trade and investment, with decades of rapid growth.
Contemporary
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968): Curbing the Bomb
The treaty entered into force in 1970, was extended indefinitely in 1995 and became the most widely joined arms control agreement in the world.
Ancient World
Siege of Masada (AD 73-74): Last Stand of the Jewish Revolt
Roman victory; the fortress fell and, according to Josephus, most of its 960 defenders and their families died by their own hands.
Ancient World
Founding of Copán's Dynasty: K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' in AD 426
K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' became the first king of a dynasty of sixteen rulers that governed Copán for nearly four centuries.