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Oct 14, 1066
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred during the Norman conquest of England, and it was fought between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II. The battle took place at Senlac Hill, which is about 10 km northwest of Hastings, and the battle was a Norman victory. Harold II was killed in the battle, and it is believed that he was shot in the eye with an arrow. -
Jan 1, 1271
Marco Polo travels in Asia
He was one of the first Europeans to travel into Mongolia and China. When he was 17 years old, he traveled to Asia with his father and uncle. On this journey, he became a favorite of Kublai Khan, the Mongol Emperor. He roamed through Mongolia and China for 17 years. He traveled farther into China than any European had gone before. Finally, he took a ride to Persia and then back home. In all, he was gone for 24 years! (Oracle Education Foundation, N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1340
Birth of English poet Geoffrey Chaucer
In 1357, he was a page to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, wife of Edward III's third son. Chaucer was captured by the French during the Brittany expedition of 1359, but was ransomed by the king. Edward III later sent him on diplomatic missions to France, Genoa and Florence. Later in life, he got married to Phillipa Roet, and they had three or four kids. 'The Canterbury Tales' is Chaucer's most famous work. (BBC, N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1348
The Bubonic Plague begins
The Bubonic Plague, also know as the Black Death, killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. No medical knowledge existed in Medieval England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it was to strike England another six times by the end of the century.The Black Death was caused by fleas carried by rats that were very common in towns and cities. The fleas bit into their victims literally injecting them with the disease. (Chris Trueman, N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1412
Birth of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc led the French army to victory over the British at Orléans at age 18. She was captured a year later, and she was burned by the English and their French collaborators as a heretic. She was believed to be a Roman Catholic saint 500 years later on May 16, 1920. (The Biography Channel website, 1) -
Jan 1, 1451
Christopher Columbus first sails the Atlantic
He found the best route across the ocean to the Americas, and he also found the best eastern route back to Europe. Columbus never found the gold and jewels he had expected. He had a mission to convert the natives to Christianity. The idea that the Indians might have a right to determine their own way of life and to govern themselves never occurred to him. In 1500, he was sent back to Spain and was removed as governor of the Indies. (Milton Meltzer, N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1452
Leonardo Da Vinci is born
Leonardo was appointed military engineer for Cesare Borgia and placed in charge of inspecting Borgia's fortresses in Romagna. He worked on the Mona Lisa for four years, and he did not show it off for a long time after he finished it. When he finally shared his piece of work with the world, it instantly became famous. The Mona Lisa was automatically put in multiple museums. (Barry Stoner, N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1480
Birth of Ferdinand Magellan
As a boy, he studied mapmaking and navigation. By his mid-20s, he was sailing in large fleets and was committed in combat. In 1519, with the support of King Charles V of Spain, Magellan set out to sail all the way around the globe. He assembled a fleet of ships, and he discovered that the world is round. (BIO., N.P.) -
Jan 1, 1562
Start of the European wars of religion
The religious wars began with overt hostilities in 1562 and lasted until the Edict of Nantes in 1598. It was warfare that devastated a generation. Although religion was certainly the basis for the conflict, it was much more than a confessional dispute. These wars were mainly between the Catholics and Protestants. (lepg, 1) -
Feb 15, 1564
Birth of Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei invented many things during his lifetime. He invented his own telescope with a magnification of 30X. He also invented a geometric compass, which is a scientific instrument with two arms that can be used for making calculations and geometric measurements. Galileo also is credited with inventing an early thermometer in the 1590s, which used the expansion and compression of air to lift and lower water in a tube. (Mary Bellis, 1) -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare is born
He attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin and read classical literature. He did not go to university, but at age 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time of the marriage. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born six months later, and in 1585 William and Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later. He's famous for his plays and pieces of work. (History, N.P.) -
Aug 24, 1572
Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre
King Charles IX of France, under the order of his mother, Catherine de Medici, orders the assassination of Huguenot Protestant leaders in Paris, setting off a large amount of killing that results in the massacre of tens of thousands of Huguenots all across France. (History, N.P.) -
Birth of Sir Isaac Newton
Newton was the greatest scientist that Britain, or even the world, had produced. He is famous for the binomial theorem and the differential calculus. He is also famous for the Laws of Motion, the diffusion of light and for the discovering of the principal of gravity. (J J O'Connor and E F Robertson, N.P.)
