|
Year
|
|
Answer
|
|
Region
|
|
Notes
|
|
1457 BC
|
|
Megiddo
|
|
Levant
|
|
Egypt crushes a coalition of Canaanite cities.
|
|
1274 BC
|
|
Kadesh
|
|
Levant
|
|
The first battle documented by both sides. The first peace treaty followed it.
|
|
c. 1175 BC
|
|
The Delta
|
|
Egypt
|
|
Sea Peoples attempt to invade Egypt.
|
|
c. 1046 BC
|
|
Muye
|
|
China
|
|
The Zhou Dynasty overthrows the Shang.
|
|
853 BC
|
|
Qarqar
|
|
Levant
|
|
Aššur crushes a coalition of Canaanite states, including Israel & Aram-Damascus.
|
|
701 BC
|
|
Lachish
|
|
Levant
|
|
Assyrian siege of an Israelite city.
|
|
605 BC
|
|
Carchemish
|
|
Levant
|
|
Battle between Egypt and Babylon over the remnants of the Assyrian Empire.
|
|
547 BC
|
|
Thymbra
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
A decisive battle that led to Persia's conquest of Lydia.
|
|
525 BC
|
|
Pelusium
|
|
Egypt
|
|
The first battle in an Achaemenid invasion of Egypt.
|
|
480 BC
|
|
Thermopylae
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Leonidas holds the Persians off, but doesn't survive.
|
|
338 BC
|
|
Chaeronea
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Philip II establishes hegemony over Greece.
|
|
331 BC
|
|
Gaugamela
|
|
Mesopotamia
|
|
The final nail in the coffin for the Achaemenid Empire; Alexander the Great's masterpiece.
|
|
301 BC
|
|
Ipsus
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
A coalition of Diadochi defeats Antigonus.
|
|
256 BC
|
|
Ecnomus
|
|
Italy (Sea)
|
|
Considered one of the largest naval battles in history.
|
|
203 BC
|
|
Gaixia
|
|
China
|
|
Decisive victory that unified China under the Han Dynasty.
|
|
202 BC
|
|
Zama
|
|
Maghreb
|
|
Scipio decisively defeats Hannibal, winning the 2nd Punic War for Rome.
|
|
190/189 BC
|
|
Magnesia
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
Decisive Roman victory over the Seleucids; Scipio also fought here.
|
|
86 BC
|
|
Orchomenus
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Pontic invasion of Roman Greece is defeated by Sulla.
|
|
48 BC
|
|
Pharsalus
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Caesar triumphs over Pompey, making him the most powerful man in Rome.
|
|
31 BC
|
|
Actium
|
|
Balkans (Sea)
|
|
Decisive battle between the fleets of Octavian and Mark Anthony; Mark Anthony and Cleopatra died soon after.
|
|
224 AD
|
|
Hormozdgan
|
|
Persia
|
|
Shapur I overthrows the Parthian Arsacid Dynasty of Persia, restoring native rule to the country.
|
|
312 AD
|
|
Milvian Bridge
|
|
Italy
|
|
A decisive victory that Constantine credited the Christian god for.
|
|
530 AD
|
|
Dara
|
|
Mesopotamia
|
|
Major battle as part of the Byzantine-Sasanian wars.
|
|
636 AD
|
|
Yarmuk
|
|
Levant
|
|
Rashidun forces decisively defeat a Byzantine host, solidifying control of the Levant.
|
|
701/702/703 AD
|
|
Tabarka
|
|
Maghreb
|
|
Saw the Muslim conquest of North Africa.
|
|
910 AD
|
|
Tettenhall
|
|
Britain
|
|
Anglo-Saxon victory over the Vikings that paved the way for the unification of England.
|
|
1071 AD
|
|
Manzikert
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
Seljuk victory leads to conquest of Anatolia; the First Crusade would be called to reverse this.
|
|
1389 AD
|
|
Kosovo
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Decisive Ottoman victory over a crusader host; won at the cost of Sultan Murad's life.
|
|
1402 AD
|
|
Ankara
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
Tamerlane crushes the Ottoman army and captures Sultan Bayezid.
|
|
1415 AD
|
|
Agincourt
|
|
France
|
|
English longbowmen win a decisive battle against the French.
|
|
1444 AD
|
|
Varna
|
|
Balkans
|
|
Murad II defeats another crusader army; slaying the king of Poland, Hungary & Lithuania.
|
|
1495 AD
|
|
Fornovo
|
|
Italy
|
|
First battle of the roughly half-century Italian Wars.
|
|
1556 AD
|
|
Panipat
|
|
India
|
|
Akbar reconquers northern India for the Mughals.
|
|
1571 AD
|
|
Leponto
|
|
Balkans (Sea)
|
|
Catholic coalition defeats an Ottoman fleet off the coast of Greece.
|
|
1632 AD
|
|
Lützen
|
|
Germany
|
|
Climax of the 30 Years' War; King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden loses his life in battle against the Catholics.
|
|
1709 AD
|
|
Poltava
|
|
Ukraine
|
|
Another Swedish king falls in a climactic battle, against Russia, going into exile in the Ottoman Empire.
|
|
1777 AD
|
|
Saratoga
|
|
North America
|
|
Considered the turning point in the American Revolutionary War.
|
|
1805 AD
|
|
Trafalgar
|
|
Iberia (Sea)
|
|
British admiral Nelson loses his life despite victory over the French.
|
|
1862 AD
|
|
Puebla
|
|
Mexico
|
|
Ended the 2nd French invasion of Mexico; celebrated annually to this day.
|
|
1863 AD
|
|
Gettysburg
|
|
North America
|
|
Deadliest battle in United States history; Lincoln gave an address after it.
|
|
1864 AD
|
|
Nanjing
|
|
China
|
|
This Southern Capital's fall sealed the fate of the Taiping Rebellion.
|
|
1870 AD
|
|
Gravelotte
|
|
France
|
|
Largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War; paved the way for German unification.
|
|
1922 AD
|
|
Dumlupinar
|
|
Anatolia
|
|
Turkish forces expell the Greeks from Anatolia; the largest battle in the Turkish War of Independence.
|
|
1942 AD
|
|
Midway
|
|
Pacific Ocean
|
|
Turning point in the Pacific War.
|
|
1942-1943 AD
|
|
Stalingrad
|
|
Russia
|
|
Soviets hold off the Nazis in a grueling 6-month battle in this city.
|
|
1944 AD
|
|
Normandy
|
|
France
|
|
The largest amphibious assault in history.
|
|
1950 AD
|
|
Pusan
|
|
Korea
|
|
UN forces repel North Korean forces, going on to reconquer much of South Korea.
|
|
2021 AD
|
|
Kabul
|
|
Central Asia
|
|
It's fall marked the end of US involvement in Afghanistan.
|
|
2022 AD
|
|
Kyiv
|
|
Ukraine
|
|
Three-month battle that denied Russia an immediate victory in Ukraine.
|
