text:
1856

January–March

 * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California.
 * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS Pacific leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyage on which she will be lost with all 186 on board.
 * January 24 – U.S. President Franklin Pierce declares the new Free-State Topeka government in "Bleeding Kansas" to be in rebellion.
 * January 26 – First Battle of Seattle: Marines from the USS Decatur (1839) suppress an indigenous uprising, in response to Governor Stevens' declaration of a "war of extermination" on Native communities.
 * January 29
 * The 223-mile North Carolina Railroad is completed from Goldsboro through Raleigh and Salisbury to Charlotte.
 * Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross as a British military decoration.
 * February
 * The Tintic War breaks out in Utah.
 * The National Dress Reform Association is founded in the United States to promote "rational" dress for women.
 * February 1 – Auburn University is first chartered, as the East Alabama Male College.
 * February 2 – Dallas, Texas, is incorporated as a city.
 * February 7 – The Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah, is exiled to Metiabruz and the state is annexed by the British East India Company.
 * February 12 – American clipper ships Driver and Ocean Queen leave Liverpool and London respectively; both will be lost without trace in the Atlantic, perhaps due to ice, killing 374 and 123 respectively.
 * February 18 – The American Know Nothing Party convenes in Philadelphia to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
 * March
 * The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India officially gives 'Peak XV' (later to be named Mount Everest) the height of 29002 ft. 'Peak IX' (Kangchenjunga), previously thought to be the world's highest, is confirmed as 28156 ft.
 * Mauveine, the first synthetic organic dye, is discovered by William Henry Perkin, while attempting to synthesize quinine. This eventually leads to the birth of the chemical industry.
 * March – Nepalese–Tibetan War: The signing of the Treaty of Thapathali concludes the war.
 * March 5 – Fire destroys the Covent Garden Theatre in London.
 * March 6 – Maryland Agricultural College (modern-day University of Maryland, College Park) is chartered.
 * March 20 – Filibuster War: Battle of Santa Rosa: – Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.
 * March 24 – Taiping Rebellion: Suspecting treachery on the part of East King Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai garrisons Anhui and begins his march back to the Heavenly Capital, having defeated a strong Xiang Army detachment.
 * March 31 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.

April–June

 * April – The Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine begins in Cape Colony.
 * April 7 – Nelson College is founded in Nelson, New Zealand.
 * April 10 – Theta Chi international college fraternity is founded at Norwich University in Vermont.
 * April 16 – The Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law abolishes privateering, and regulates the relationship between neutral and belligerent and shipping on the high seas.
 * April 17 – The Chicago Historical Society Museum is established at 1601 N. Clark Street, Chicago.
 * April 21 – Building workers agitate for the eight-hour day in Melbourne, Australia.
 * April 29 – The iron-hulled paddle steamer RMS Persia concludes a 9-day 16 hour westbound transatlantic crossing, at an average 13.11 knots (24.28 km/h), regaining the Blue Riband for the Cunard Line.
 * May 1 – The province of Isabela is created in the Philippines, in honor of Queen Isabella II of Spain.
 * May 3 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives Norfolk Island to the population of the colony at Pitcairn Island, most being descendants of the Mutiny on the Bounty. They first settle on Norfolk Island on June 8. Women's suffrage, as practiced on Pitcairn, is extended to Norfolk Island.
 * May 14 – The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance is founded in the United States. It lynches two gangsters, arrests most Democratic Party officials, and disbands itself on August 18.
 * May 20 – David Livingstone arrives at Quelimane on the Indian Ocean, having completed a 2-year transcontinental journey across Africa from Luanda.
 * May 21 – Sacking of Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
 * May 22 – Caning of Charles Sumner: United States Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking pro-slavery Southerners, especially elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, a relative of Brooks. Sumner is unable to return to duty for three years while he recovers; Brooks becomes a hero across the South.
 * May 24 – Pottawatomie massacre: A group of followers of radical abolitionist John Brown kill 5 homesteaders in Franklin County, Kansas.
 * June 2 – Battle of Black Jack: Antislavery forces, led by John Brown, defeat proslavery forces in Bleeding Kansas.
 * June 9 – 500 Mormon handcart pioneers leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
 * June 13 – Taiping Rebellion: Shi Dakai arrives at Nanjing.
 * June 20 – General Mills is founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, as the Minneapolis Milling Company.

July–September

 * July 9 – Natal becomes a British Crown colony.
 * July 14–15 – In Spain, General Leopoldo O'Donnell takes control of the government, bringing an end to the bienio progresista.
 * July 17 – The Great Train Wreck (the worst railroad calamity in the world to date) occurs near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
 * July 31 – Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city.
 * August – Pre-human remains are found in the Neanderthal Valley in Prussia.
 * August 10 – The Last Island hurricane destroys Last Island, Louisiana, leaving 400 dead. The whole island is broken up into several smaller islands by the storm.
 * August 30 – Battle of Osawatomie: Proslavery forces defeat antislavery forces in Bleeding Kansas.
 * September 1 – Seton Hall University is founded in South Orange, New Jersey, by Roman Catholic Bishop of Newark James Roosevelt Bayley, a cousin of future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and nephew of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.
 * September 2 – Taiping Rebellion: Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang assassinate Yang Xiuqing.
 * September 7 – The Saimaa Canal was inaugurated.

October–December

 * October 8 – The Second Opium War between several Western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.
 * October 12 – 1856 Heraklion earthquake: A powerful earthquake rocks the Mediterranean, killing hundreds on the island of Crete and many more in the Middle East.
 * October 13 – American mercenary William Walker effectively takes control of Nicaragua.
 * November 1 – Anglo-Persian War: War is declared between Great Britain and Persia.
 * November 4 – 1856 United States presidential election: Democrat James Buchanan defeats former President Millard Fillmore, representing a coalition of Know Nothings and Whigs, and John C. Frémont of the fledgling Republican Party, to become the 15th President of the United States.
 * November 11 – Taiping Rebellion: Shi Dakai arrives at the Heavenly Capital once more with 100,000 men, and demands that Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang be executed. Shi subsequently becomes head of the government.
 * November 17 – American Old West: On the Sonoita River in modern-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan, in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
 * November 21 – Niagara University is founded in Niagara Falls, New York.
 * November 27 – The Coup of 1856 leads to Luxembourg's unilateral adoption of a new, reactionary constitution, as King-Grand Duke William III signs the new constitution without the Chamber of Deputies' consent.
 * December 1 – Under the County and Borough Police Act, in any county or area of England and Wales where a police force has not already been established, the Justices of the Peace must from this date take steps to create one according to nationally defined standards.
 * December 2 – The National Portrait Gallery, London, is established.
 * December 9 – Bushehr surrenders to the British.

Date unknown

 * Gregor Mendel starts his research on genetics.
 * Kate Warne, the first female private detective, begins to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
 * Legal protection of widow remarriage is extended in India.
 * St. Paul's School, Belgaum, is founded by the Jesuits in Belgaum, India.
 * The British Guiana 1c magenta postage stamp is issued in British Guiana in limited numbers; the one surviving specimen will become regarded as the world's rarest stamp.
 * Global financial services business Credit Suisse is founded as La Schweizerische Kreditanstalt.
 * Charles III of Monaco grants a concession to Napoléon Langlois and Albert Aubert to establish a German-style casino at Monte Carlo.

January–March

 * January 6 – Martin von Feuerstein, German painter (d. 1931)
 * January 9 – Lizette Woodworth Reese, American poet and teacher (d. 1935)
 * January 11 – Christian Sinding, Norwegian composer (d. 1941)
 * January 12 – John Singer Sargent, American artist (d. 1925)
 * January 27 – Telémaco Susini, Argentinian physician (d. 1936)
 * January 31 – Hermann von François, German general (d. 1933)
 * February 2 – Frederick William Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1938)
 * February 4 – Otani Kikuzo, Japanese general (d. 1923)
 * February 5 – Frank Podmore, British psychical researcher (d. 1910)
 * February 9 – Hara Takashi, Japanese politician, 10th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1921)
 * February 12 – Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli, Austrian general, German field marshal (d. 1941)
 * February 14 – Frank Harris, Irish author, editor (d. 1931)
 * February 15 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist (d. 1926)
 * February 17 – Arnold von Winckler, German general (d. 1945)
 * February 21
 * Paul Puhallo von Brlog, Croatian Austro-Hungarian general (d. 1926)
 * Maurycy Gottlieb, Ukrainian painter (d. 1879)
 * February 26 – Elizabeth Marney Conner, American elocutionist (unknown year of death)
 * March 2 – Louis Dartige du Fournet, French admiral (d. 1940)
 * March 4
 * Julius Drewe, English businessman, retailer and entrepreneur (d. 1931)
 * Alfred William Rich, English watercolour painter, author (d. 1921)
 * March 8
 * Bramwell Booth, English Salvation Army general (d. 1929)
 * Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
 * March 9
 * Eddie Foy Sr., American vaudevillian (d. 1928)
 * Jules-Albert de Dion, French automobile pioneer (d. 1946)
 * March 16 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (k. 1879)
 * March 20
 * Sir John Lavery, Irish artist (d. 1941)
 * Frederick Winslow Taylor, American inventor and efficiency expert (d. 1915)
 * March 26 – William Massey, Irish-born 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1925)

April–June

 * April 4 – Washington Irving Chambers, American naval officer (d. 1934)
 * April 5 – Booker T. Washington, American educator (d. 1915)
 * April 6 – Maurice Sarrail, French general (d. 1929)
 * April 12 – Martin Conway, British art critic, mountaineer (d. 1937)
 * April 14 – Albert W. Grant, American admiral (d. 1930)
 * April 18 – Hammerton Killick, Haitian admiral (d. 1902)
 * April 23 – Granville Woods, African-American inventor (d. 1910)
 * April 24 – Philippe Pétain, French soldier, statesman (d. 1951)
 * April 26 – Sir Joseph Ward, 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
 * April 27 – Tongzhi Emperor of China (d. 1875)
 * May 6
 * Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist (d. 1939)
 * Robert Peary, American Arctic explorer (d. 1920)
 * May 8 – Pedro Lascuráin, 34th President of Mexico (d. 1952)
 * May 15 – L. Frank Baum, American author, poet, playwright, actor and independent filmmaker (The Wizard of Oz) (d. 1919)
 * May 18 – Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi, Italian nobleman, general and politician (d. 1941)
 * May 21 – José Batlle y Ordóñez, Twice President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
 * May 25
 * Ján Bahýľ, Slovak engineer, inventor (d. 1916)
 * Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (d. 1942)
 * June 14 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (d. 1922)
 * June 22 – H. Rider Haggard, English novelist (d. 1925)
 * June 29 – Maria Cederschiöld, Swedish journalist  (d. 1935)

July–September

 * July 7 – Georg von der Marwitz, German general (d. 1929)
 * July 10 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American inventor (d. 1943)
 * July 11 – Georgiana Drew, American stage actress, married Maurice Barrymore in 1876 (d. 1893)
 * July 23 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian political activist (d. 1920)
 * July 24 – Franklin Ware Mann, American inventor (d. 1916)
 * July 26 – George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
 * July 27 – Nathan Francis Mossell, physician, 1st African American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and founder of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School (d. 1946)
 * July 30 – Harriet Bates, American author (d. 1986)
 * August 3 – Alfred Deakin, 2nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1919)
 * August 10 – William Willett, British promoter of Daylight Saving Time (d. 1915)
 * August 12 – Diamond Jim Brady, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1917)
 * August 15
 * Ivan Franko, Ukrainian poet, critic, journalist and political activist (d. 1916)
 * Keir Hardie, British labour leader (d. 1915)
 * September 1 – Sergei Winogradsky, Russian scientist (d. 1953)
 * September 3 – Louis Sullivan, American architect (d. 1924)
 * September 18 – Wilhelm von Gloeden, German photographer (d. 1931)
 * September 19 – Miguel R. Dávila, Honduranian general, 21st President of Honduras (d. 1927)
 * September 28 – Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (d. 1923)

October–December

 * October 15 – Robert Nivelle, French general (d. 1924)
 * October 21 – Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete, Mexican archaeologist and Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monterrey (d. June 2, 1920)
 * October 23 – William Thomas Turner, British ship's captain with Cunard Steamship Company (d. 1933)
 * October 30 – Charles Leroux, American balloonist, parachutist (d. 1889)
 * November 9 – Andrei Eberhardt, Russian admiral (d. 1919)
 * November 13 – Louis Brandeis, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1941)
 * November 14 – J. M. Robertson, British Liberal Party politician, writer and journalist, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade (d. 1933)
 * November 17 – Demetrio Castillo Duany, Cuban revolutionary, soldier and politician (d. 1922)
 * November 21 – William Emerson Ritter, American biologist (d. 1944)
 * November 22
 * Heber J. Grant, 7th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1945)
 * Melbourne MacDowell, American stage and film actor (d. 1941)
 * November 24 – Bat Masterson, American lawman (d. 1921)
 * November 28 – Mary Catherine Crowley, American author (d. 1920)
 * November 29 – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1921)
 * December 2 – Robert Kajanus, Finnish conductor, composer (d. 1933)
 * December 6 – Hans Molisch, Czech-Austrian botanist (d. 1937)
 * December 10 – Dewa Shigetō, Japanese admiral (d. 1930)
 * December 11 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary, Marxist theoretician (d. 1918)
 * December 13 – Svetozar Boroević, Austrian field marshal (d. 1920)
 * December 18
 * Graciano López Jaena, Filipino journalist, writer and patriot (d. 1896)
 * J. J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
 * December 22 – Frank B. Kellogg, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1937)
 * December 23 – James Buchanan Duke, American tobacco and electric power industrialist (d. 1925)
 * December 25 – Hans von Bartels, German painter (d. 1913)
 * December 28 – Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1924)

Date unknown

 * Zübeyde Hanım, mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (d. 1923)
 * Juan Nepomuceno Rencoret, Chilean doctor (d. ?)

January–June

 * January 4 – Charles Brudenell-Bruce, 1st Marquess of Ailesbury, British politician (b. 1773)
 * January 14 – Janko Drašković, Croatian politician, reformer (b. 1770)
 * January 16 – Thaddeus William Harris, American naturalist (b. 1795)
 * January 31 – Khedrup Gyatso, 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838)
 * February 4 – Anna Gottlieb, Austrian operatic soprano (b. 1774)
 * February 17 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797)
 * May 3
 * Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (b. 1803)
 * Louis-Étienne Saint-Denis, Arab-French memoir writer and servant to Napoleon I (b. 1788)
 * June 23 – Ivan Kireyevsky, Russian literary critic, philosopher (b. 1806)
 * June 26 – Max Stirner, German philosopher (b. 1806)

July–December

 * July 9 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (b. 1776)
 * July 11 – Norberto Ramírez, Central American politician
 * July 14 – Edward Vernon Utterson, English lawyer, literary antiquary, collector and editor (b. 1775/1776)
 * July 20 – Anna Nielsen, Danish mezzo-soprano (b. 1803)
 * July 29
 * Karel Havlíček Borovský, Czech politician, writer (b. 1821)
 * Robert Schumann, German composer, pianist (b. 1810)
 * August 6 – Robert Lucas de Pearsall, English composer; setting of "In dulce jubilo" (b. 1795)
 * August 14 – William Buckland, English geologist, palaeontologist (b. 1784)
 * August 19 – Anna Maria Rüttimann-Meyer von Schauensee, politically active Swiss salonist (b. 1772)
 * August 29 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, British Christian writer (b. 1778)
 * August 30 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (b. 1811)
 * September 3 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, Brazilian politician (b. 1801)
 * October 19
 * Josceline Percy, British admiral (b. 1784)
 * William Sprague III, American politician from Rhode Island (b. 1799)
 * Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman (b. 1797)
 * October 21 – Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete, Mexican archaeologist and Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monterrey (d. June 2, 1920)
 * November 23 – Manuela Sáenz, Colombian national heroine (b. 1797)
 * December 20 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary (b. 1820)

Date unknown

 * Enriqueta Favez, Swiss physician, surgeon (b. 1791)
 * Juana Ramírez, "La Avanzadora", Venezuelan heroine (b. 1790)

title: 1856


text:
270s

The 270s decade ran from January 1, 270, to December 31, 279.

Significant people

 * Aurelian (Aurelianus)
 * Claudius II Gothicus
 * Quintillus
 * Tacitus
 * Florianus
 * Probus

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 270s


text:
271

Year 271 (CCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1024 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 271 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Empire

 * After an indecisive battle, Emperor Aurelian defeats the Vandals, and forces them from Pannonia, and across the Danube.
 * Battle of Placentia: The Iuthungi invade Italy and sack the city of Piacenza. A Roman army under Emperor Aurelian is ambushed and defeated.
 * Battle of Fano: The Iuthungi move towards a defenseless Rome. Aurelian rallies his men and defeats the Germanic tribes on the Metauro River, just inland of Fano.
 * Battle of Pavia: The Roman army pursues the Alamanni in Lombardy. Aurelian closes the passes in the Alps and encircles the invaders near Pavia. The Alamanni are destroyed and Aurelian receives the title Germanicus Maximus.
 * Following Aurelian's execution of Felicissimus, the financial minister of the state treasury, on the charge of corruption, the mint workers of the city of Rome, with senatorial support, lead an uprising against Aurelian. In bitter street-fighting on the Caelian Hill the rebels are defeated. The revolt is followed by a purge of Aurelian's senatorial opponents, including Urbanus.
 * Around this time, generals loyal to Aurelian defeat the usurpers Septimius in Dalmatia and Domitian II in southern Gaul. The Iuthungian invasion may have encouraged the spate of revolts.
 * Aurelian begins construction of a new defensive wall to protect Rome. The Aurelian Walls, 19 km, enclose the city with fortifications.
 * Perhaps around this time, Aurelian increases Rome's daily bread ration to nearly 1.5 pounds and adds pig fat to the list of foods distributed free to the populace.
 * Aurelian defeats a Gothic raid into the Balkans and then invades the Gothic homeland. Here he defeats the Goths again, killing one of their leaders, Cannabas, who may be Cniva, the Goth who had won the battle of Abritus, at which Emperor Decius was killed.
 * Aurelian withdraws Rome's administrative and military presence from Dacia (modern Romania), thereby rationalizing the Danube frontier and freeing resources for the forthcoming campaign against Zenobia.

Europe

 * Victorinus, Emperor of the Gallic Empire, is assassinated by one of his officers, Attitianus, reportedly for reasons of personal revenge. He is succeeded by Tetricus I, who is elevated with the help of Victorinus' mother Victoria.

Near East

 * Zenobia invades Asia Minor and seizes control of Cilicia and Galatia before being stalled in Bithynia.
 * Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire dies, and his successor, his son Hormizd I, leads an army against nomads in Sogdiana, perhaps taking command of a war that had begun under his father. (Note: Some scholars date Shapur's death to 270 or 272)

Art and Science

 * King Shapur I builds the Academy of Gundishapur (Iran), which becomes the intellectual center of the Sassanid Empire.
 * A magnetic compass is first used in China.

Births

 * Sima Wei, Chinese prince of the Jin Dynasty (d. 291)

Deaths

 * Ding Feng, Chinese general and politician
 * Domitian II, emperor of the Gallic Empire
 * Felicissimus, Roman financial minister (rationalis)
 * Hormizd I (or Ohrmazd), ruler of the Sassanid Empire
 * Liu Shan, Chinese emperor of the Shu Han state (b. 207)
 * Pei Xiu, Chinese official, writer, geographer and cartographer (b. 224)
 * Sima Wang, Chinese general and prince of the Jin dynasty (b. 205)
 * Victorinus, emperor of the Gallic Empire

title: 271


text:
312

Year 312 (CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 312 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Empire

 * Constantine I crosses the Cottian Alps with an army (40,000 men) and defeats Maxentius's generals in three battles at Turin, Brescia and Verona. Maxentius's Praetorian Prefect Ruricius Pompeianus is killed in the fighting outside Verona.
 * October 28 – Battle of the Milvian Bridge: Constantine defeats Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, becoming the only Roman emperor in the West. Prior to the battle, he reportedly has a vision of a cross (labarum) with the phrase "in hoc signo vinces" ("In this sign you shall conquer"). This encourages him to convert to Christianity.
 * October 29 – Constantine enters Rome; he stages a grand adventus in the city, and is met with popular jubilation. Maxentius' body is fished out of the Tiber and decapitated.
 * Constantine forges an alliance with co-emperor Licinius, and offers him his half-sister, Constantia, in marriage. The Praetorian Guard and Imperial Horse Guard (equites singulares Augusti) are disbanded.
 * Emperor Maximinus Daza campaigns unsuccessfully against the Armenians.

Religion

 * Constantine I adopts the words "in hoc signo vinces" as a motto, and has the letters X and P (the first letters of the Greek word Christ) emblazoned on the shields of his soldiers.
 * The Council of Carthage supports Donatism, which espouses a rigorous application and interpretation of the sacraments. These doctrines will be condemned by the Council of Arles (314).
 * Constantine I promotes a policy of state sponsorship of Christianity, perhaps even becoming a Christian himself (see Constantine the Great and Christianity).

Births

 * Dao'an, Chinese Buddhist monk and writer (d. 385)
 * Huan Wen (or Yuanzi), Chinese general (d. 373)

Deaths

 * October 28 – Maxentius, Roman emperor (b. 283)
 * Clement of Ancyra, Christian bishop and martyr
 * Guo Xiang, Chinese scholar and philosopher (b. 252)
 * Huyan, Chinese empress of the Xiongnu state
 * Ruricius Pompeianus, Roman praetorian prefect

title: 312


text:
324

Year 324 (CCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Constantinus (or, less frequently, year 1077 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 324 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Empire

 * July 3 – Battle of Adrianople: Emperor Constantine the Great defeats his rival Licinius near Adrianople, forcing him to retreat to Byzantium. He invades Thrace with a Visigothic force and raids the countryside.
 * The Civil wars of the Tetrarchy, which began in 306, end with Constantine ruling as sole Emperor.
 * July – Battle of the Hellespont: Crispus destroys Licinius' naval fleet in the Dardanelles, allowing his father Constantine the ability to cross over the Bosphorus into Asian provinces. Byzantium is besieged and Licinius assembles a second military force, under his newly elevated co-emperor Martinian at Lampsacus (modern-day Lapseki).
 * September 18 – Battle of Chrysopolis: Constantine I definitively defeats Licinius at Chrysopolis, and becomes sole Emperor, thus ending the period of the Tetrarchy. Licinius escapes and gathers around 30,000 of his surviving troops at Nicomedia.
 * December 19 – Licinius abdicates his position as Emperor. He is pardoned by Constantine I as a result of the supplication of his wife Constantia (who is Constantine's halfsister), and banished to Thessalonica as a private citizen.
 * Constantine I founds Constantinople and incorporates Byzantium into the new capital. He reorganises the Roman army in smaller units classified into three grades: palatini, (imperial escort armies); comitatenses, (forces based in frontier provinces) and limitanei (auxilia border troops).

Births

 * Chu Suanzi, Chinese empress of the Jin dynasty (d. 384)

Deaths

 * Guo Pu, Chinese historian, poet and writer (b. 276)
 * Wang Dun (or Chuzhong), Chinese warlord (b. 266)
 * Zhang Mao, Chinese ruler of Former Liang (b. 277)

title: 324


text:
1799

January–March

 * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars.
 * January 17 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed.
 * January 21 – The Parthenopean Republic is established in Naples by French General Jean Étienne Championnet; King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies flees.
 * January 27 – French Revolutionary Wars: Macau Incident – French and Spanish warships encounter a British Royal Navy escort squadron in the Wanshan Archipelago of China inconclusively.
 * February 9 – Quasi-War: In the single-ship action of USS Constellation vs L'Insurgente in the Caribbean, the American ship is the victor.
 * February 28 – French Revolutionary Wars: Action of 28 February 1799 – British Royal Navy frigate HMS Sybille defeats the French frigate Forte off the mouth of the Hooghly River in the Bay of Bengal, but both captains are killed.
 * March 1 – Federalist James Ross becomes President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
 * March 4 – The Russo-Ottoman Siege of Corfu (1798–1799) ends with the surrender of the French garrison, bringing an end to the first period of French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799).
 * March 7 – War of the Second Coalition: Siege of Jaffa – Napoleon captures Jaffa in Palestine from the Ottomans and his troops proceed to kill more than 2,000 Albanian captives.
 * March 14 – The public premiere of Haydn’s oratorio The Creation takes place at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
 * March 21 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the Battle of Ostrach.
 * March 23 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of Franjo Jelačić and the Austrian army over the French army of André Masséna at the Battle of Feldkirch.
 * March 25 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the Battle of Stockach (1799), a key crossroads at the western end of Lake Constance.
 * March 29 – New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing slavery in the state.

April–June

 * April 16 – French Revolutionary Wars: At the Battle of Mount Tabor severely outnumbered French forces repulse an Ottoman attack.
 * April 27 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Cassano takes place outside of Milan, as Russian and Austrian troops commanded by General Alexander Suvorov rout the French Army under the command of General Jean Moreau.
 * April 28 – Two French diplomats to the Second Congress of Rastatt are killed and another badly injured by Austrian cavalry, as they tried to leave the town. An inquiry was held, which blamed French emigres.
 * May 4 – Battle of Seringapatam: Tipu Sultan is defeated and killed by the British; the captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam ends.
 * May 21 – The Siege of Acre ends after two months; Napoleon's attempt to widen his Middle Eastern campaign into Syria is frustrated by Ottoman forces, and he withdraws to Egypt.
 * May 27 – Battle of Winterthur: Habsburg forces secure control of north-east Switzerland, from the French Army of the Danube.
 * June 7 – Four days of fighting ends in victory for Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army under André Masséna at the First Battle of Zurich
 * June 13 – Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies is restored to his kingdom following the collapse of the Parthenopean Republic.
 * June 17 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of the Trebbia – The beginning of the battle that marked the debacle of Étienne Macdonald's French army. Suvorov scores a comprehensive victory.
 * June 18 – French Revolutionary Wars: Action of 18 June 1799 – A French frigate squadron, under Rear-admiral Perrée, is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith, off Toulon.

July–September

 * July 7 – Ranjit Singh's men take their positions outside Lahore.
 * July 12 – Ranjit Singh captures Lahore from the Bhangi Misl, a key step in establishing the Sikh Empire, and becoming Maharaja of the Punjab.
 * July 15 – In the Egyptian port city of Rosetta, French Captain Pierre Bouchard finds the Rosetta Stone.
 * July 25 – At Aboukir, Egypt, Napoleon defeats 10,000 Ottoman Mamluk troops under Mustafa Pasha.
 * August 15 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Novi – the defeat of Barthélemy Joubert's army by Suvorov's Austrian–Russian troops.
 * August 27 – War of the Second Coalition – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: Britain and Russia send an expedition to the Batavian Republic.
 * August 29 – Pope Pius VI, at the time the longest reigning Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, dies as a prisoner of war in the citadel of the French city of Valence, after 24½ years of rule.
 * August 30 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland – Vlieter Incident: A squadron of the Batavian Republic's navy, commanded by Rear-Admiral Samuel Story, surrenders to the British Royal Navy, under Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, near Wieringen, without joining action.
 * September 10 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland - Battle of Krabbendam: the Russo-British expedition force defends its initial gains from attacks by Franco-Dutch forces.
 * September 18 – Victory of Archduke Charles and the Austrian army at the Battle of Mannheim (1799) over a French force under Jacques Léonard Muller
 * September 19 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland - Battle of Bergen: Franco-Dutch forces hold their ground against the Russo-British expedition force.
 * September 23 – Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, the Governor of British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka, issues a proclamation declaring that the laws of the Netherlands for the conquered Dutch Ceylon shall be enforced until superseded by new laws.
 * September 29 – the Second Roman Republic, a puppet state formed by the French Army after their dissolution of the Papal States and the occupation of Rome, is dissolved 19 months after its creation on February 15, 1798.
 * September 30 – Suvorov's Swiss campaign – Battle of the Muottental: the rout of Masséna's French troops by Suvorov's army.

October–December

 * October 2 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland – Battle of Alkmaar: the Russo-British expedition force wins a small tactical victory over the Franco-Dutch forces.
 * October 6 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland – Battle of Castricum: Franco-Dutch forces defeat the Russo-British expedition force.
 * October 9 – HMS Lutine (1779) (a famous treasure wreck) is sunk in the West Frisian Islands.
 * October 12 – Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse becomes the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute, from an altitude of 900 m.
 * October 16 – Action of 16 October 1799: A Spanish treasure convoy worth more than £54,000,000 is captured by the British Royal Navy off Vigo.
 * October 18 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: Anglo-Russian expedition forces surrender in North Holland.
 * November 5 – HMS Sceptre is driven ashore and wrecked in a storm in Table Bay, South Africa, with the loss of 349 and 41 survivors.
 * November 9 (Coup of 18 Brumaire) – Napoleon overthrows the French Directory in a coup d'état, which ends the French Revolution.
 * November 10 (19 Brumaire) – A remnant of the Council of Ancients in France abolishes the Constitution of the Year III, and ordains the French Consulate with Napoleon as First Consul, with the Constitution of the Year VIII.
 * November 30 – 1799–1800 Papal conclave opens in Venice at San Giorgio Monastery.
 * December 3 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Wiesloch: Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Anton Sztáray defeats the French at Wiesloch.
 * December 10 – France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.
 * December 14 – George Washington, first President of the United States, dies at Mount Vernon, Virginia, aged 67.
 * December 31 – The Dutch East India Company's charter is allowed to expire by the Batavian Republic.

Date unknown

 * The Place Royale in Paris is renamed Place des Vosges, when the Department of Vosges becomes the first to pay new Revolutionary taxes.
 * Eli Whitney, holding a 1798 United States government contract for the manufacture of muskets, is introduced by Oliver Wolcott Jr. to the concept of interchangeable parts, an origin of the American system of manufacturing.
 * Conrad John Reed, 12, finds what he describes as a "heavy yellow rock" along Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and makes it a doorstop in his home. Conrad's father John Reed learns that the rock is actually gold in 1802, initiating the first gold rush in the United States.
 * The assassination of the 14th Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tukuʻaho, Tonga begins half a century of civil war in Tonga.
 * The Nawab (provincial governor) of Oudh in northern India sends to George III of Great Britain the Padshah Nama, an official history of the reign of Shah Jahan.
 * William Cockerill begins building cotton-spinning equipment in Belgium.
 * The small town of Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada is founded.

January–June

 * January 6 – Jedediah Smith, American fur trapper, explorer (d. 1831)
 * January 12 – Priscilla Susan Bury, British botanist (d. 1872)
 * January 23 – Alois Negrelli, Tyrolean engineer, railroad pioneer active in the Austrian Empire (1858)
 * January 31 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, and artist (d. 1846)
 * February 4 – Almeida Garrett, Portuguese writer (d. 1854)
 * February 11 – Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross (d. 1873)
 * February 14 – Walenty Wańkowicz, Polish painter (d. 1842)
 * February 17 – Carl Julian (von) Graba, German lawyer and ornithologist who visited the Faroe Islands (d. 1874)
 * February 27 – Edward Belcher, British admiral (d. 1877)
 * March 8 – Simon Cameron, American politician (d. 1889)
 * March 16 – Anna Atkins, British botanist (d. 1871)
 * March 22 – Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander, German astronomer (d. 1875)
 * March 28 – Karl Adolph von Basedow, German physician, noted for reporting the symptoms of Graves–Basedow disease (d. 1854)
 * March 29 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
 * April 12 – Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1855)
 * April 17 – Eliza Acton, English poet and cookery writer (d. 1859)
 * May 9 – Philipp von Stadion und Thannhausen, Austrian field marshal (d. 1868)
 * May 20 – Honoré de Balzac, French author (d. 1850)
 * May 21 – Mary Anning, British paleontologist (d. 1847)
 * May 25 – Alexei Lvov, Russian composer (d. 1870)
 * June 3 – Elisabetta Fiorini Mazzanti, Italian botanist (d. 1879)
 * June 6 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author (d. 1837)
 * June 18 – Prosper Ménière, French physician (d. 1862)
 * June 25 – David Douglas, Scottish-born botanist (d. 1834)

July–December

 * July 4 – King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (d. 1859)
 * July 6 – Michael Thomas Bass, English brewer (d. 1884)
 * August 12
 * Francis Abbott, Australian astronomer (d. 1883)
 * Patrick MacDowell, Irish sculptor (d. 1870)
 * September 1 – Ferenc Gyulay, Hungarian nobleman, general, and governor (d. 1868)
 * September 8 – James Bowman Lindsay, Scottish inventor (d. 1862)
 * September 10 – George Willison Adams, American abolitionist (d. 1879)
 * October 1 – John Brown Russwurm, Americo-Liberian journalist and governor of the African Republic of Maryland (d. 1851)
 * October 18 – Christian Friedrich Schönbein, German chemist (d. 1868)
 * October 26 – Margaret Agnes Bunn, British actress (d. 1883)
 * November 1 – Thomas Baldwin Marsh, American religious leader (d. 1866)
 * November 7 – James Syme, Scottish medical reformer (d. 1870)
 * November 29 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher, educator and writer, father of novelist Louisa May Alcott (d. 1888)
 * December 3 – Peggy Eaton, born Margaret O'Neill, wife of United States Secretary of State John Eaton and central character in the Petticoat affair (d. 1879)
 * December 25 – Manuel Bulnes, Chilean general and politician, President of Chile (d. 1866)

Date unknown

 * James Townsend Saward, English barrister, forger
 * Domnița Rallou Caragea, Greek princess, independence activist (d. 1870)

January–June

 * January 9 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (b. 1718)
 * January 18 – Heinrich Johann Nepomuk von Crantz, Luxembourgian botanist (b. 1722)
 * January 22 – Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss aristocrat, alpinist (b. 1740)
 * January 26 – Gabriel Christie (British Army officer), British Army general (b. 1722)
 * February 6 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (b. 1728)
 * February 7 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
 * February 9 – Johann Baptist Babel, Swiss sculptor (b. 1716)
 * February 12
 * František Xaver Dušek, Czech composer (b. 1731)
 * Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist, physiologist (b. 1729)
 * February 16 – Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1724)
 * February 19 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (b. 1733)
 * February 22 – Heshen, Manchu official under Qianlong (b. 1750)
 * February 24 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German scientist, satirist, and Anglophile (b. 1742)
 * March 13 – Richard Hotham, English property developer and politician (b. 1722)
 * March 17 – Sir Charles Thompson, 1st Baronet, British admiral, politician (b. c. 1740)
 * March 18
 * Charles Guillaume Le Normant d'Étiolles, French official, husband of Madame de Pompadour (b. 1717)
 * Adam Friedrich Oeser, German etcher (b. 1717)
 * March 28 – Etta Palm d'Aelders, Dutch-French feminist (b. 1743)
 * March 29 – Helena Dorothea von Schönberg, German industrialist (b. 1729)
 * April 3 – Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
 * April 6 – Alexander Bezborodko, Grand Chancellor of Russia, architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy (b. 1747)
 * April 28 – Matthew Griswold (governor), 17th Governor of Connecticut (1784–1786) (b. 1714)
 * May 2 – Guemes Padilla Horcasitas, the Viceroy of New Spain (b. 1740)
 * May 4 – Tipu Sultan, 48, Indian warrior and ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in the late 18th century (b. 1750)
 * May 18 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French writer (b. 1732)
 * May 22 – Toypurina, Medicine woman of the Tongva nation and rebel leader (b. 1750)
 * May 26 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish jurist (b. 1714)
 * May 30 – Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield, Scottish advocate and judge (b. 1722)
 * June 6 – Patrick Henry, American revolutionary politician, Governor of Virginia (b. 1736)
 * June 7 – Victoire of France, French princess (b.1733)
 * June 10 – Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Guadeloupe-born French musician (b. 1745)
 * June 24 – Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish peer (b. 1722)
 * June 30 – Francesco Caracciolo, Neapolitan admiral, revolutionist (b. 1752)

July–December

 * July 7 – William Curtis, English botanist, entomologist (b. 1746)
 * August 2 – Jacques Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor of the hot-air balloon, balloonist (b. 1744)
 * August 4 – John Bacon, British sculptor (b. 1740)
 * August 5 – Richard Howe, British admiral (b. 1726)
 * August 15 – Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, French general (b. 1769)
 * August 29 – Pope Pius VI (b. 1717)
 * August 31 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect (b. 1720)
 * September 7
 * Jan Ingenhousz, Dutch physician, physiologist, biologist, and chemist (b. 1730)
 * Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, French botanist (b. 1717)
 * October 6 – William Withering, British physician (b. 1741)
 * October 9 – Pierre Pigneau de Behaine, French priest who helped to establish the Nguyễn dynasty (b. 1741)
 * October 20 – James Iredell, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1751)
 * October 24 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (b. 1739)
 * November 22 – Judith van Dorth, Dutch orangist (b. 1747)
 * November 23 – Mark Robinson (Royal Navy officer), Royal Navy admiral (b. 1722)
 * December 6 – Joseph Black, Scottish physician, physicist, and chemist (b. 1728)
 * December 14 – George Washington, military leader of the American Revolution, president of the Constitutional Convention (1787), and the 1st President of the United States (b. 1732)
 * December 18 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)
 * December 31 – Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer (b. 1723)

title: 1799


text:
1277

Year 1277 (MCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * March 19 – Byzantine–Venetian Treaty: Emperor Michael VIII (Palaiologos) concludes an agreement with the Republic of Venice. Stipulating a two-year truce, and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. Michael keeps the Venetians and their fleet from participating in the attempts of Charles I, king of Sicily, to organize an anti-Byzantine crusade, while the Venetians can retain their access to the Byzantine market.
 * Battle of Pharsalus: Michael VIII (Palaiologos) sends a Byzantine expeditionary army under John Synadenos to invade Thessaly. The Byzantines are ambushed and defeated by Greek forces under John I (Doukas), Latin ruler of Thessaly, near Pharsalus (or Old Pharsalus). During the battle, Synadenos is captured and Michael Kaballarios, commander of the Latin mercenaries, dies shortly afterward of his wounds.
 * Summer – Uprising of Ivaylo: An uprising under Ivaylo breaks out in northeastern Bulgaria against Emperor Constantine I Tikh to cope with the constant Mongol invasions which devastated the country for years. He confronts and defeats the plundering Mongols, and by autumn all Mongols are driven out of Bulgarian territory. In return, Constantine gathers a small army and tries unsuccessfully to suppress the revolt.

Europe

 * January 21 – Battle of Desio: Lombard forces under Archbishop Ottone Visconti defeat the Della Torre family troops for the rule of Milan. Later, Ottone enters the city in triumph, and imprisons Napoleone della Torre in the Castello Baradello at Como (Northern Italy).
 * March – Siger of Brabant, Dutch teacher and philosopher, is condemned by the French Inquisition for his advocacy of the Averroist doctrine that reason is separate from Christian faith.
 * March 18 – Charles I, king of Sicily, buys the title to the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Maria of Antioch, for 1,000 bezants and an annual payment of 4,000 livres tournois.
 * May 12 – Mehmet I of Karaman, Seljuk vizier, issues a firman (decree) ordering the Turkish language to be used, instead of Arabic or Persian in government offices.
 * August – Marinid forces led by Sultan Abu Yusuf cross the Strait of Gibraltar and marches north, ravaging the districts of Jerez de la Frontera, Seville and Córdoba.

England

 * November 10 – Treaty of Aberconwy: Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Edward I (Longshanks) sign a peace treaty which leaves Llywelyn only with the western part of Gwynedd.
 * Roger Bacon, Franciscan friar and University of Oxford lecturer, is arrested for spreading anti-Church views; specifically, the Church's stance on Greek philosopher Galen.

Levant

 * April 15 – Battle of Elbistan: A Mamluk army (some 14,000 men) under Sultan Baibars marches from Syria into the Mongol-dominated Sultanate of Rum and attacks the Mongol occupation force at Elbistan. Baibars, with at least 10,000 horsemen, defeats and overwhelms the Mongol forces. After the battle, he marches unopposed to Kayseri in the heart of Anatolia in triumph and enters the city on April 23.

Asia

 * Battle of Ngasaunggyan: A Burmese army (some 80,000 men) led by King Narathihapate (or Sithu IV) invades Mongol territory in Yunnan. The invasion is repelled by the Mongol forces, who counterattack, reaching as far south as the fortress city of Kaungsin ("Gold Teeth"), which guards the Bhamo Pass in northern Myanmar. Later, the Burmese Pagan Empire begins to disintegrate after several Mongol invasions under Kublai Khan.
 * Migration of the (Southern) Song Dynasty: Some 50,000 citizens of the Song Dynasty in China become the first recorded inhabitants of Macau, as they seek refuge from the invading armies of the Yuan Dynasty. They also stay for a short period in Kowloon (or New Kowloon).
 * In Japan, a 20 kilometer stone wall defending the coast of Hakata Bay at Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu is completed; it is built in response to the attempted invasion by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (see 1274).

Religion

 * March 7 – Condemnation of 1277: Pope John XXI instructs Étienne Tempier, bishop of Paris, to investigate the complaints of theologians in France. By order 219 propositions of philosophical and theological doctrines such as Averroism are prohibited from discussion in the University of Paris, under a decree promulgated by Tempier.
 * April – John XXI sends a papal embassy to Constantinople to force Michael VIII (Palaiologos), his 18-year-old son and heir Andronikos, and Patriarch John XI Bekkos, to reaffirm their allegiance to the Union of Lyon in the Palace of Blachernae. Michael refuses to accept a religious union of the Greek Orthodox Church with Rome.
 * May 20 – John XXI dies after an 8-month pontificate at Viterbo. He is succeeded by Nicholas III as the 188th pope of the Catholic Church (until 1280).

Births

 * January 7 – Kanzan Egen, Japanese monk (d. 1360)
 * January 21 – Galeazzo I, Italian nobleman (d. 1328)
 * March 26 – Christina Ebner, German mystic (d. 1356)
 * April 17 – Michael IX, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)
 * Akamatsu Enshin, Japanese governor (shugo) (d. 1350)
 * Bernard V, German bishop (House of Lippe) d. 1341)
 * George I Šubić of Bribir, Croatian nobleman (d. 1302)
 * Gerhard IV, German nobleman and knight (d. 1323)
 * Ingeborg Magnusdotter, queen of Denmark (d. 1319)
 * Isabella of Mar, wife of Robert I (the Bruce) (d. 1296)
 * Martha of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1341)
 * Meihō Sotetsu, Japanese Zen Buddhist monk (d. 1350)
 * Smbat I (or Sempad), king of Cilician Armenia (d. 1310)
 * Wei Yilin, Chinese physician and surgeon (d. 1347)

Deaths

 * January 12 – Philippe de Toucy, French nobleman
 * January 17 – Chen Wenlong, Chinese general (b. 1232)
 * February 14 – Ulrich von Güttingen, German abbot
 * May 1 – Stefan Uroš I (the Great), king of Serbia
 * May 14 – Nicholas I of Werle, German nobleman
 * May 20 – John XXI, pope of the Catholic Church
 * July 1 – Baibars (or Abu al-Futuh), Mamluk sultan
 * July 14 – Humbert of Romans, French friar and writer
 * August 2 – Mu'in al-Din Parwana, Seljuk statesman
 * September 29 – Balian of Arsuf, Cypriot nobleman
 * October 17 – Beatrice of Falkenburg, German queen
 * October 26 – Mastino I della Scala, Italian nobleman
 * October 27 – Walter de Merton, bishop of Rochester
 * December 21 – Al-Nawawi, Seljuk scholar (b. 1233)
 * December 13 – John I, German nobleman (b. 1242)
 * Constantine I Tikh, Bulgarian nobleman and ruler
 * Folke Johansson (Angelus), Swedish archbishop
 * Frederick II, German nobleman (House of Isenburg)
 * Frederick of Castile, Spanish prince (infante) (b. 1223)
 * Guo Kan, Chinese general and politician (b. 1217)
 * Jacopo da Leona, Italian secretary, jurist and poet
 * Joachim Gutkeled, Hungarian nobleman and knight
 * Licoricia of Winchester, English businesswoman
 * Madog II ap Gruffydd, Welsh prince and nobleman
 * Mehmet I of Karaman, Seljuk nobleman and vizier
 * Muhammad I al-Mustansir, Hafsid sultan and writer
 * Muhaqqiq al-Hilli, Persian scholar, poet and writer
 * Paolo Navigajoso, Venetian nobleman (megadux)
 * Philip of Sicily, king of Sardinia (House of Anjou)
 * Savakanmaindan, Malayan ruler of Tambralinga
 * Simone Paltanieri, Italian archpriest and cardinal
 * Squarcino Borri (or Scarsini), Italian condottiero
 * Ulrich of Strasburg, German monk and theologian
 * William of Saliceto, Italian scholar and physician

title: 1277


text:
1471

Year 1471 (MCDLXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * January – Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar reach the gold-trading centre of Elmina on the Gold Coast of west Africa. and explore Cape St. Catherine, two degrees south of the equator, so that they begin to be guided by the Southern Cross constellation. They also visit Sassandra on the Ivory Coast.
 * March 1 – Emperor Lê Thánh Tông captures the Champa capital, establishing new regions in middle Vietnam.
 * March – The Yorkist King Edward IV returns to England to reclaim his throne.
 * April 14 – Battle of Barnet: Edward defeats the Lancastrian army under Warwick, who is killed.
 * May 4 – Battle of Tewkesbury: King Edward defeats a Lancastrian army under Queen Margaret and her son, Edward of Westminster the Prince of Wales, who is killed.
 * May 21 – King Edward IV celebrates his victories with a triumphal parade on his return to London. The captured Queen Margaret is paraded through the streets. The same day Henry VI of England is murdered in the Tower of London, eliminating all Lancastrian opposition to the House of York.
 * July 14 – Battle of Shelon: The forces of Muscovy defeat the Republic of Novgorod.
 * August 9 – Pope Sixtus IV succeeds Pope Paul II, to become the 212th pope.
 * August 24 – King Afonso V of Portugal conquers the Moroccan town of Arzila.
 * August 29 – The Portuguese occupy Tangier, after its population flees the city.
 * October 10 – Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm, Sweden: The forces of Regent of Sweden Sten Sture the Elder, with the help of farmers and miners, repel an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
 * December 21 – The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe are discovered by Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar.

Date unknown

 * Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui of the Inca Empire dies, and is succeeded by his son Topa Inca Yupanqui.
 * Moorish exiles from Spain, led by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami, found the city of Chefchaouen in the north of Morocco.
 * Marsilio Ficino's translation of the Corpus Hermeticum into Latin, De potestate et sapientia Dei, is published.
 * World population reaches 500 million.

Births

 * April 6 – Margaret of Hanau-Münzenberg, German noblewoman (d. 1503)
 * May 21 – Albrecht Dürer, German artist, writer and mathematician (d. 1528)
 * July 15 – Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1494)
 * July 22 – Anthony Kitchin, British bishop (d. 1563)
 * July 31 – Jan Feliks "Szram" Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (d. 1507)
 * August 27 – George, Duke of Saxony (d. 1539)
 * September 8 – William III, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1500)
 * October 7 – King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
 * date unknown
 * John Forrest, English martyr and friar (d. 1538)
 * Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (d. 1513)

Deaths

 * January 18 – Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan (b. 1418)
 * February 10 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1413)
 * February 21 – John of Rokycan, Archbishop of Prague (b. c. 1396)
 * March 14 – Thomas Malory, English author (b. c. 1405)
 * March 22 – George of Poděbrady, first elected King of Bohemia (b. 1420)
 * April 14
 * John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (b. 1431)
 * Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, English nobleman, known as "the Kingmaker" (b. 1428)
 * May 4 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (in battle) (b. 1453)
 * May 6
 * Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (executed) (b. 1438)
 * Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
 * May 21 – King Henry VI of England (murdered in prison) (b. 1421)
 * July 25 – Thomas à Kempis, German monk and writer (b. 1380)
 * July 26 – Pope Paul II (b. 1417)
 * August 20 – Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (b. 1413)
 * November 8 – Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse (1458–1471) (b. 1438)
 * December 17 – Infanta Isabel, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1397)
 * date unknown
 * Pachacuti, Inca emperor (b. 1438)
 * P'an-Lo T'ou-Ts'iuan, last independent King of Champa
 * Shin Sawbu, queen regnant of Hanthawaddy in southern Burma (b. 1394)

title: 1471


text:
1506

Year 1506 (MDVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–March

 * January 14 – The classical statue of Laocoön and His Sons is unearthed in Rome. On the recommendation of Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo, Pope Julius II purchases it, and places it on public display in the Vatican a month later.
 * January 22 – The Swiss Guard arrives at the Vatican, to serve as permanent ceremonial and palace guards under Pope Julius II.
 * February 9 – Henry, Prince of Wales is made a Knight of the Golden Fleece by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
 * February 15 – Iye Roy Mackay, Chief of Scotland's Clan Mackay, records his 1504 grant of six lands in what is now the County Sutherland, and starts a feud with Euphemia II, Countess of Ross.
 * March 16 – Battle of Cannanore: Portugal's fleet (commanded by Lourenço de Almeida) defeats the fleet of the Zamorin of Calicut, with hundreds of vessels involved; 3,000 Muslim troops are killed.
 * March 30 – King Vladislaus II of Hungary and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor sign a treaty to arrange the marriage of Vladislaus's daughter and Maximilian's son.

April–June

 * April 18 – Pope Julius II lays the foundation stone of the new (current) St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, replacing the Old St. Peter's Basilica.
 * April 19 – The Lisbon Massacre begins in Portugal with three days of violence, in which thousands of Jews are tortured and killed by Catholics.
 * April 30 – Malus Intercursus, a treaty between King Henry VII of England and Duke Philip IV of Burgundy, is signed.
 * May 4 – Badi' al-Zaman Mirza becomes the new Emir of the Timurid Empire (now part of Afghanistan) after the death of his father, Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who died after a reign of 37 years.
 * May 28 – Emperor Moctezuma II of Mexico's Aztec Empire subdues a rebellion in Zozollan, east of Achiutia, then kills the prisoners of war as a sacrifice to the gods.
 * June 15 – Mahmud Shah II begins a 41-year reign as the Sultan of Kedah, a Muslim kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, on the death of his father, Adilin I.
 * June 27 – The Treaty of Villafáfila is signed between Austria and Spain.

July–September

 * July 12 – Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy, becomes the ruler of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile with his insane wife Joanna, but reigns for only two months before dying of typhoid.
 * August 6 – Battle of Kletsk: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate.
 * August 19 – Sigismund I the Old succeeds his brother as king of Poland.
 * September 2 – In Korea, Emperor Yonsangun, known for being a tyrant, is deposed in the Jungjong coup by his younger brother, who becomes King Jungjong.
 * September 25 – Philip I, the first Spanish Habsburg King of Castile, dies suddenly from typhoid.

October–December

 * October 6 – In Córdoba, in the Spanish kingdom of Andalusia, members of the nobility and the general public revolt against the Spanish inquisitor Diego Rodriguez de Lucero and General Inquisitor Diego de Deza. The mob liberates the people incarcerated at the Córdoba prison.
 * October 7 – Pope Julius II issues a bull excommunicating Giovanni II Bentivoglio from the Roman Catholic Church, who had dominated the Italian city state of Bologna.
 * October 15 – Charles II, the six-year-old son of King Philip of Castile, inherits his father's title of Duke of Burgundy and is proclaimed "Lord of the Netherlands".
 * November 6 – Pope Julius II personally leads his troops into Bologna, retaking the city from the excommunicated tyrant Giovanni II Bentivoglio.
 * December 8 – Sigismund I the Old (Zygmunt Jagiellon), younger brother of the late Alexander Jagiellon, becomes the King of Poland and (as Zygimantas II) the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He will reign for more than 40 years, dying in 1548 at the age of 81.

Date unknown

 * The Portuguese mariner Tristão da Cunha sights the islands of Tristan da Cunha, naming them after himself.
 * In Ming dynasty China, the costs of the courier system are met by a tax in silver on land, instead of corvée labor service.
 * Duarte Barbosa returns to Lisbon.
 * Johannes Trithemius becomes abbot of the monastery of St. Jacob, at Würzburg.
 * Leonardo da Vinci completes most of his work on the Mona Lisa.

Births

 * February – George Buchanan, Scottish humanist scholar (d. 1582)
 * February 2 – René de Birague, French cardinal and chancellor (d. 1583)
 * February 15 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (d. 1580)
 * March 3 – Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (d. 1555)
 * April 7 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit saint (d. 1552)
 * April 13 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1546)
 * July 1 – Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1526)
 * August 12 – Franciscus Sonnius, Dutch counter-Reformation theologian (d. 1576)
 * October – Louis de Blois, Flemish mystical writer (d. 1566)
 * December 4 – Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche, English courtier (d. 1558)
 * December 8 – Veit Dietrich, German theologian, writer and reformer (d. 1549)
 * date unknown
 * Vicente Masip, Spanish painter (d. 1579)
 * William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (d. 1563)
 * Ii Naomori, Japanese samurai (d. 1560)
 * probable
 * Elizabeth Barton, English nun (d. 1534)
 * Margaret Lee, confidante of Queen Anne Boleyn (d. 1543)

Deaths

 * January 21 – Johann IV Roth, German Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1426)
 * May 4 – Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
 * May 20 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. c.1451)
 * August 15 – Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (b. c. 1445)
 * August 19 – King Alexander Jagiellon of Poland (b. 1461)
 * September 13 – Andrea Mantegna, Italian painter and engraver (b. 1432)
 * September 25 – King Philip I of Castile (b. 1478)
 * September 30 – Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, Portuguese infante (b. 1430)
 * November 8 – Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, English noble (b. 1466)
 * November 20 – Yeonsangun of Joseon, king of Korean Joseon Dynasty (b. 1476)
 * November 21 – Engelbert, Count of Nevers, younger son of John I (b. 1462)
 * date unknown – Mihri Hatun, Ottoman poet

title: 1506


text:
1498

Year 1498 (MCDXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1498th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 498th year of the 2nd millennium, the 98th year of the 15th century, and the 9th and pre-final year of the 1490s decade.

January–December

 * March 2 – Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa.
 * April 14 – Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama reaches Malindi, in modern-day Kenya.
 * May
 * John Cabot leaves Bristol on an expedition, never to be seen again.
 * The English Merchant Adventurers are granted a trade monopoly with the Netherlands.
 * May 20 – Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (modern-day Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India. He finds a local Arab merchant who is able to interpret for him.
 * May 23 – Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope.
 * May 30 – Christopher Columbus sets out on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere from Sanlúcar, Spain.
 * June – Niccolò Machiavelli is elected by the Great Council as the second chancellor of the Republic of Florence.
 * Summer – The final Welsh revolt of the medieval era breaks out in Meirionnydd, North Wales; Harlech Castle is captured by the rebels before the revolt is suppressed.
 * July 31 – Columbus becomes the first European to visit the island of Trinidad.
 * August 1 – Columbus discovers the mouth of the Orinoco.
 * August 4–12 – Columbus explores the Gulf of Paria. On August 5 he lands on the Paria Peninsula, the first definitely recorded landing of Europeans on the mainland Americas.
 * September 20 – 1498 Nankai earthquake off the coast of Japan.

Date unknown

 * João Fernandes Lavrador and Pedro de Barcelos journey to Greenland; during their voyage, they discover the land which they name Labrador.
 * The Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, a forerunner of the Vienna Boys' Choir, is founded by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
 * Gun barrel rifling is invented in Augsburg, Bavaria.
 * Probable date at which Leonardo da Vinci completes the painting The Last Supper, on the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan).

Births

 * January 31 – Tiberio Crispo, Italian clergyman (d. 1566)
 * February 4 – George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard (d. 1558)
 * February 21 – Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English earl (d. 1549)
 * February 25 – Francesco of Saluzzo, Marquess of Saluzzo (d. 1537)
 * April 5 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian condottiero (d. 1526)
 * April 9 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (d. 1550)
 * June 1 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (d. 1574)
 * June 30 – Wilhelm von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Riga (d. 1563)
 * July 25 – Hernando de Aragón, Spanish Catholic archbishop (d. 1575)
 * August 23 – Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal (d. 1500)
 * August 24 – John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony, German prince (d. 1537)
 * November 1 – Giovanni Ricci, Italian cardinal (d. 1574)
 * November 15 – Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (d. 1558)
 * December 1 – Giovanni Michele Saraceni, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1568)
 * December 19 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (d. 1552)
 * date unknown
 * Giulio Clovio, (Juraj Julije Klovic) Dalmatian miniaturist and illustrator (d. 1578)
 * Anna of Masovia, Polish princess (d. 1557)
 * Meera, Rajput princess (d. 1547)
 * Sagara Taketō, Japanese retainer (d. 1551)
 * Pier Paolo Vergerio, Italian religious reformer (d. 1565)
 * Felix Manz, leader of the Swiss Anabaptists (d. 1527)

Deaths

 * February 4 – Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Italian painter (b. c. 1432)
 * April 7 – King Charles VIII of France (b. 1470)
 * May 23 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence (b. 1452; executed)
 * June 7 – Anđeo Zvizdović, Bosnian Franciscan friar and evangelist (b. c. 1420)
 * July 14 – Gentile Budrioli, Italian astrologer and herbalist
 * August 17 – John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, English baron (b. 1437)
 * August 23 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, eldest daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (b. 1470)
 * September 14 – Giovanni il Popolano, Italian diplomat (b. 1467)
 * September 16 – Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor (b. 1420)
 * December 7 – Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist (b. c. 1443)
 * December 19 – Jeanne de Laval, French noble (b. 1433)
 * date unknown
 * Tun Perak, Malay general and statesman
 * Domenico Rosselli, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1439)
 * probable – Johannes Martini, Flemish composer (b. c. 1440)

title: 1498