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Oct 14, 1066
Battle of Hastings
England is defeated by William the Conqueror and his forces. The battle of Hastings was fought on Senlac Hill which is seven miles from Hastings, England. When the all-day battle has ended, King Harold ll was killed with an arrow. -
Jan 13, 1096
The First Crusade
(No exact date) The First Crusade was an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. Those who volunteered to participate in the crusade against Muslims wore cut out red crossed sown onto their tunics. The First Crusade was a very difficult journey over land to the Middle East. The Crusaders succeeded in helping Jersualem but it did not end because they wanted all the Muslims out of the region. -
Oct 18, 1216
The Death of King John
The death of his grandmother, the empress of Germany, died, King John became depressed at the loss. His condition worsened rapidly and died in Newark. Rumors spread that he had been poisioned. He was buried at Worcester Cathedral by the shrine of his favorite saint, becoming the first of the Angevin kings to be buried in England. -
Jan 13, 1271
Marco Polo travels in Asia
(The specific date is unknown) Marco Polo traveled to Asia when he was 17 with his uncle and father. The road they travled on is known as the Silk Road.It took the three years to reach their destination of the summer palace of the emperor, Khubilai. -
Jan 13, 1343
Geoffrey Chaucer's Birth Date
(Exact date is unknown) Born in London, England. His family is an affluent family who made their money from wine trade. -
Jan 13, 1412
Birth of Joan of Arc
(No exact date) Joan of Arc was the daughter of a tenant farmer from a village in northeastern France. She was not taught to read or write, but her mother passed on in her a deep love for the Catholic Church and its teachings. -
Jan 13, 1480
Birth of Ferdinand Megellan
(No exact birthdate) He was born in Portugal. Megellan's parents were members of the Portuguese nobility, so at the age of 10, when his parents died, he became a page for the queen. A page is a position of employment for youths in royal courts. As a young member of Queen Leonora's School of Pages, Magellan was told to learn subjects that would help him greatly in the future, such as cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation. -
Jun 28, 1491
Birth of King Henry Vlll
Henry Tudor was born in Greenwich, London, England to Henry Vll and Elizabeth York. He had six siblings but only three of them survived; Arthur, Margaret, and Mary. Arthur was excepted to take the throne but at the age of 15 he died. Henry was left to assume the throne at the age of 10. -
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus first sailed the Atlantic
Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. On October 12, the ships hit land but not in Asia, as Columbus thought, but on one of the Bahamia islands. For months, Columbus sailed from island to island in what we now know as the Caribbean He was looking for pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, and spices that he had promised to Spain but he did not find any of those items. On March 1493, Columbus and his crew left. -
Sep 7, 1533
Birth of Queen Elizabeth l
She was born in Greenwich, England. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry Vlll, was beheaded when Elizabeth was only two years old. Elizabeth and her older half-sister Mary were considered illegitimate because her father wanted to pave the way for a male heir. -
May 19, 1536
Death of Anne Boleyn
Anne had given birth to a still-born child. King Henry Vlll wanted to have a boy, so he made accusations and accused Anne of adultery. The charges against Anne led her to imprisinment in the Royal Lodgings at the Tower of London. Since Anne was still the queen, she had maids to attend her every need. She was found guilty of treason and immediate death. Before she was beheaded, she murmured to herself, "To Jesus Christ I commend my soul,". Anne was buried 20 yards from the Chapel of St. Peter. -
Feb 15, 1564
Birth of Galileo Galilei
He was born in Pisa, Italy. Galilei was the first born of six children to Vincenzo Galilei, a wellknown musician. His family moved to Florence, Italy in 1574 where Galileo started his education at Camaldolese monastery. -
Birth of Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He was an only son to a local farmer whose name is also Isaac Newton. His father died three months before Newton was born. Isaac Newton was a premature baby and was not expected to survive. When he was three years old, his mother, Hannah, remarried to a man named Barnabas Smith. Hannah went to live with him, leaving Isaac behind with his maternal grandma. That expierence left Newton with a sense of insecurity.
