Random Events in History #7 - The Return (sort of...)

380 BC - Cleombrotus I succeeds his brother Agesipolis I as king of Sparta.

279 BC - The cities of Singidunum and Taurunum (Belgrade and Zemun respectively) in the Roman province of Pannonia are founded by Scordisci Celts

27/11/43 BC: Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus form the Second Triumvirate and take control of Rome.

26 AD: Romans crush an uprising of Thracian tribesmen.

148 AD: Euzois succeeds Athenodorus as Patriarch of Constantinople.

4/1/275 AD: Eutychian succeeds Felix I as the 27th pope of Rome.

27/2/425 AD: Roman emperor Theodosius II founds the University of Constantinople after being urged by his wife Aelia Eudocia.

592 - Gregory, bishop of Tours, completes his "History of the Franks" (Latin: Historia Francorum).

740 - The Khazars, a nation of the Black Sea Steppe, ditch paganism (Tengrism) and voluntarily convert to Judaism, in spite of not being ethnic Jews.

866 - The Great Heathen Army of the Vikings rides north to Northumbria, where a civil war follows, as the Danes casually enter York.

909 - The end of the Classic Maya Period ends in Mesoamerica as the last Long Count date is inscribed on a monument at the Toniná site.

988 - A key event in the Christianisation of the Kievan Rus' by the Byzantines occurs with Grand Prince Vladimir the Great marrying the sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II Anna Porphyrogenita and converting to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He is baptised on the shores of the Black Sea in Cherson.

1103 - The city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania becomes a see of the Catholic Church.

1181 - Jayavarman VII defeats the Austronesian Chams and assumes control over the Khmer Empire (today Cambodia).

11/12/1241 - Ögedei Khan dies after a long drinking binge. Following his death, Mongolian advance into Western Europe is halted at last.

30/4/1318 - The coronation of Go-Daigo as Emperor of Japan is held.

21/12/1362 - Constantine IV succeeds his cousin, Constantine III, as King of Armenia.

16/1/1412 - The Florentine Medici family are made the official bankers of the Papacy.

14/3/1440 - The Prussian Confederation is formed by 53 nobles and clergy. Representing 19 Prussian cities, it was formed as an opposition to the Teutonic Knights.

21/10/1512 - German priest Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.

31/12/1565 - The Burmese Army conquers Vientiane, the main city of the Lan Xang kingdom (today Laos).

24/1/1600 - The Falkland Islands are sighted for the first time by Flemish captain Sebald de Weert.

3/6/1644 - Li Zicheng proclaims himself emperor of China.

15/3/1671 - A tornado hits the Spanish city of Cádiz killing more than 600 people.

24/12/1726 - In the Viceroyalty of Peru, the settlement of Montevideo is founded by the Spaniards.

1/6/1748 - A massive fire breaks out in Moscow. 482 people are killed and 5,000 buildings are destroyed.

16/1/1762 - British forces under Robert Monckton land on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean.

24/7/1783 - The Treaty of Georgievsk is signed: Imperial Russia takes Georgia as a protectorate.

10/5/1801 - The pascha of Tripoli declares war on the United States through an unusual way: he has the flagpole on the consulate chopped down. Essentially the First Barbary War starts.

1/3/1819 - In Washington D.C. the U.S. naval vessel USS Columbus is launched on the Potomac River.

1/1/1837 - A destructive earthquake hits the Galilee region in Ottoman-controlled Syria killing about 6,000 to 7,000 people.

22/4/1862 - Swiss global financial group UBS is founded as the Bank in Winterthur.

28/6/1883 - The city of Milan in Italy becomes the first in Europe to have the first electricity power station inaugurated.

7/8/1895 - The Aljaž Tower, an important symbol for the Slovenes, is erected on Mount Triglav.

24/5/1902 - Belgian streamer Stanleyville wrecks off the British colony of Gold Coast (today Ghana).

23/2/1913 - Georgian Joseph Stalin is arrested in Petrograd by the Okhrana, the Tsar's secret police. He is then exiled in Siberia.

5/5/1925 - The General Election Law is passed in Japan, extending suffrage to all males aged 25 and over.

2/11/1936 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) begins radio in Canada.

9/1/1950 - Israel recognises the People's Republic of China.

31/8/1962 - The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago achieves independence from the United Kingdom.

26/6/1968 - The Bonin Islands are returned to Japan after 23 years of occupation by the US Navy.

17/8/1982 - The first compact discs (CDs) are produced in Germany.

20/11/1989 - Mega Channel, the first private television station in Greece, starts its broadcasts.

5/3/1994 - The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is temporarily halted as Armenia and Azerbaijan sign the Bishkek Protocol.

10/7/2000 - A leaking petroleum pipeline explodes in southern Nigeria killing 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline.

20/12/2004 - Hungary withdraws its last 300 coalition troops from Iraq.