1210    Joan of England (born), Queen of Scotland (died 1238) 1298   Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Falkirk – King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeat William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk. 1456    Ottoman Wars in Europe: Siege of Belgrade – John Hunyadi, Regent of the Kingdom of… Continue reading →

356 BC  The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson. 365      A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter scale. 5,000 people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside… Continue reading →

356 BC  Alexander the Great (born), Macedonian king (died 323 BC) 682     Taichō (born), Japanese Buddhist monk (died 767) 1156    Emperor Toba of Japan (died) (born 1103) 1304   Petrarch (born), Italian poet and scholar (died 1374) 1304   Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using… Continue reading →

64        Great Fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control. According to a popular, but untrue legend, Nero fiddled as the city burned. 1374    Petrarch (died), Italian poet and scholar (born 1304) 1543    Mary Boleyn (died), English daughter of Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess… Continue reading →

1290   King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B’Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities. 1334    The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed… Continue reading →