A Daily Dose of History: Events on this Day in History

A Daily Dose of History (04 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrelling sons, Caracalla and Geta, whom he had instructed to make peace. The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries. A strong earthquake strikes the Ionian coast of Sicily, causing tens of thousands of injuries and deaths, especially...

A Daily Dose of History (03 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south. The Portuguese navy defeats a joint fleet of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Republic of Ragusa at the Battle of Diu in Diu, India. Battle of São Vicente takes place off Portuguese Br...

A Daily Dose of History (02 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King Louis III of France is defeated by the Norse Great Heathen Army at Lüneburg Heath in Saxony. Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor in nearly 40 years. Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes king of Burgundy. Terra Mariana, eventually comprising present-day Latvia and Estonia, is established. Nine leaders of the Transylvanian peasant revolt are executed at Torda. Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Mortimer's Cross results in the death of Ow...

A Daily Dose of History (01 Feb 2026) Today's historical events: The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights (Prussia). The Chinese general Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. The Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized. French Revolutionary Wars: France declares war on the United Kingdom a...

A Daily Dose of History (31 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the throne as King Eric X of Sweden. The Treaty of Lyon ends the Italian War, confirming French domination of northern Italy, while Spain receives the Kingdom of Naples. Eighty Years' War and Anglo-Spanish War: The Battle of Gembloux is a victory for Spanish forces led by Don John of Austria over a...

A Daily Dose of History (30 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. An estimated 200 square miles (51,800 ha) along the coasts of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary in England are destroyed by massive flooding, resulting in an estimated 2,000 deaths. Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück is signed, ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain. Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after hi...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. First Mongol invasion of Đại Việt: Đại Việt defeats the Mongols at the battle of Đông Bộ Đầu, forcing the Mongols to withdraw from the country. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirro...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Muti as caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate. War of the Sixth Coalition: France defeats Russia and Prussia in the Battle of Brienne. Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore. "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of...

A Daily Dose of History (25 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate. In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty. Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne. Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn. São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by J...

A Daily Dose of History (24 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV. Matthias Corvinus is elected King of Hungary. King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence. Arauco War: Spanish and Mapuche authorities meet in the Parliament of Boroa renewing the fragile peace established at the parliaments of Quillín in 1641 and 1647. King C...

A Daily Dose of History (23 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. In the conflict between King Henry III of England and his rebellious barons led by Simon de Montfort, King Louis IX of France issues the Mise of Amiens, a one-sided decision in favour of Henry that later leads to the Second Barons' War. In a coronation ceremony, Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming...

A Daily Dose of History (22 Jan 2026) Today's historical events: Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (Caesar) by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vikings at Basing. The first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrives at the Vatican. The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Egypt at the Battle of Ridaniya. The Ava Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in what is now Myanmar. The Convention Parliament convenes to determine whether James II and VII, the last R...

A Daily Dose of History (29 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor, the sixth emperor of the year. Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12. Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week. Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of...

A Daily Dose of History (28 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day. La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines, is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country. In the Eighty Years' War, the Spanish capture the strategic Dutch fortress of Schenkenschans. Second Northern War: Battle of Warsaw begins. on 28 July, the composer, organist and harpsichordist Johann Sebastian Bach dies. Constitution...

A Daily Dose of History (27 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Siward, Earl of Northumbria, invades Scotland and defeats Macbeth, King of Scotland somewhere north of the Firth of Forth. Friedrich Barbarossa arrives at Niš, the capital of Serbian King Stefan Nemanja, during the Third Crusade. Georgian-Seljuk wars: At the Battle of Basian the Kingdom of Georgia defeats the Sultanate of Rum. Battle of Bouvines: Philip II of France decisively defeats Imperial, English and Flemish armies, effectively ending John of England's Angevin Empire. According to Edward Gibbon, Osman I invades the territory of Nicomedia for the first time, u...

A Daily Dose of History (26 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: First Fitna: In the Battle of Siffin, troops led by Ali ibn Abu Talib clash with those led by Muawiyah I. Battle of Pliska: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I is killed and his heir Staurakios is seriously wounded. Rout of an alliance of Christian troops from Navarre and Léon against the Muslims at the Battle of Valdejunquera. Henry VII is recognized King of the Romans by Pope Clement V. The Emperor Krishnadevaraya ascends to the throne, marking the beginning of the regeneration of the Vijayanagara Empire. Francisco P...

A Daily Dose of History (25 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. Climax of the Siege of Thessalonica by the Slavs in a three-day assault on the city walls. The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings. Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux. Battle of Ourique: The Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques who is proclaimed King of Portugal. The city of Constantinople is recaptured b...

A Daily Dose of History (24 Jul 2025) Today's historical events: Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle: King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf. Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland, takes place. Behnam Hadloyo becomes Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Mardin. Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer. French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula a...