10 BC  Claudius (born), Roman emperor (died 54) 1137    Louis VI of France (died) (born 1081) 1192    Richard the Lionheart landed on Jaffa and defeated the army of Saladin 1464    Cosimo de’ Medici (died), Italian ruler (born 1386) 1498   Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela. 1545    Andrew Melville (born),… Continue reading →

54 BC  Aurelia Cotta (born), Roman wife of Gaius Julius Caesar (born 120 BC) 781      The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji 904     Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city. 1009   Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201    Attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat. 1358    Étienne Marcel… Continue reading →

579      Pope Benedict I (died) 762      Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur. 1502    Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage. 1511     Giorgio Vasari (born), Italian painter, historian, and architect (died 1574) 1540    Robert Barnes (died), English martyr and reformer (born 1495) 1540    Thomas Abel… Continue reading →

238     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. 869     Muhammad al-Mahdi (born), Iraqi 12th Imam (died 941) 904     Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the… Continue reading →

1057    Pope Victor II (died) (born 1018) 1128    William Clito (died), English son of Sybilla of Conversano (born 1102) 1540    Thomas Cromwell (born 1495) 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. 1635    Robert Hooke (born), English physicist… Continue reading →