Category: Today In History

1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch. 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan. 1600 – Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks...

1720 – Caribbean pirate ‘Calico Jack’ is captured by the Royal Navy. John “Jack” Rackham was born the day after Christmas in 1682 and was known as ‘Calico Jack’ after the clothing he often wore. He was active during the “Golden Age of Piracy” which lasted from 1650 to 1730 ( And of course, is...

202 BC – Second Punic War: At the Battle of Zama, Roman legions under Scipio Africanus defeat Hannibal Barca, leader of the army defending Carthage. 439 – The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa. 1216 – King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry....

320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer. 1009 – The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock. 1081 – The...

1091 – London tornado of 1091: A tornado thought to be of strength T8/F4 strikes the heart of London. 1558 – Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, is founded. 1604 – Kepler’s Supernova: German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus. 1610 – French king Louis XIII is crowned in Reims Cathedral....

1066 – Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings: In England on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, the Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeat the English army and kill King Harold II of England. 1322 – Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland’s independence....