World History Events

1700BC Hammurabi Establishes Dynasty in Babylon
Hammurabi was a First Dynasty king of the city-state of Babylon, and inherited the power from his father, Sin-muballit, in ca. 1728 B.C.. Babylon was one of the many ancient city-states t...
776BC First Olympic Games Held in Olympia, Greece
The most widely accepted date for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, of the winners of a footrace held every four years star...
551BC Confucius is Born
Kong Qiu, as Confucius is commonly known, is a combination of his surname and his given name, and he was also known as Zhong Ni, which is his courtesy name. He was born in 551 BC in the L...
479BC Confucius Dies
Confucius was warmly received in Lu, but there is no indication that he was given a responsible position. Little is known about his last years, although this would have been a logical tim...
732 Oct 10 The Battle of Tours (Poitiers)
The Battle of Tours (October 10, 732), also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Arabic: معركة بلاط الشهداء‎ (ma‘arakat Balâṭ ash-Shuhadâ’) Battle of Court of The Martyrs, was fought in a...
1066 Oct 14 The Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066) was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of William the Conqueror, and the English...
1803 Oct 20 The United States Senate Ratifies The Louisiana Purchase Treaty
On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by a vote of twenty-four to seven. The agreement, which provided for the purchase of the western half of the Mississ...
1821 Aug 24 Treaty of Córdoba is Signed, Establishing Mexico's Independence from Spain
In early 1821, Agustín de Iturbide, the leader of the Royalist forces, negotiated the Plan of Iguala with Vicente Guerrero. Under the plan, Mexico would be established as an independent c...
1830 Aug 25
to 1831 Aug 12
 Belgian Revolution
The authorities permitted, on the evening of the 25th, the first performance of an opera by Scribe and Auber, entitled La Muette de Portici, which had been previously proscribed. The hero...
1896 Apr 6
to 1896 Apr 15
 First Modern Summer Olympics, Games of the I Olympiad, Held in Athens, Greece
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. ...
1942 Dec 2 First Self-Sustained Nuclear Chain Reaction Achieved
At 3:25 P.M. on December 2, 1942, the Atomic Age began inside an enormous tent on a squash court under the stands of the University of Chicago's Stagg Field. There, scientists headed by ...
1957 Oct 4 Soviet Union Launches Sputnik 1 Satellite
Sputnik 1 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, and was the first in a ser...
2009 Jun 25 Mir Hossein Mousavi Reasserts That The 2009 Iranian Presidential Election was "Rigged"
Iran protest leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he holds those behind alleged "rigged" elections responsible for bloodshed during recent protests. In a defiant statement on his website, h...