The Last Emirate of Spain
The emirate of Granada – Islam’s last polity in Spain – was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs on 2 January 1492.
Mathew Lyons
The Death of Charles the Bad
On 1 January 1387 Charles II, the medieval king of Navarre, died as he had lived – with great violence.
The First Christmas Celebration
On 25 December 336 Rome’s believers celebrated Christmas Day – the earliest recorded use of that date as it spread across Christendom.
Jacquard Patents His First Loom
On 23 December 1800 Joseph Marie Jacquard set out to revolutionise weaving – and took his first step towards greatness.
The Longest-Running Newspaper
The ancestor of the London Gazette was launched on 16 November 1665, surviving its bitter rival to become the oldest newspaper in the English-speaking world still in print.
The Birth of Spiritualism
On 14 November 1848 the Fox sisters conjured up a movement when they made contact with the dead – or so they claimed.
The Publication of ‘1066 and All That’
On 16 October 1930 Britain’s sense of its historical greatness was skewered with the release of 1066 and All That.
The Invention of Microbiology
On 9 October 1676 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – the ‘Father of Microbiology’ – presented his findings to the Royal Society.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
On 25 September 1066 the ‘Viking Age’ came to a close when Harold Hardrada was slain at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
The Lin Biao Incident
On 13 September 1971 a plane carrying Mao’s anointed heir crashed in Eastern Mongolia. What really happened to Lin Biao?