This Day in History

1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon elected first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1210 - Joan of England, Queen consort of Scotland, wife of Alexander II of Scotland, was born (d. 1238) 1298 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Falkirk - King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeats William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town.1362 - Louis of Durazzo dies (b. 1324). Italian soldier.1387 - Franz Ackerman dies (b. 1330). Flemish... Read Full Story

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ---George Santayana This is the first in a three part series about three tragic members of the imperial family of Austria-Hungary, or the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The Hapsburgs ruled over portions of Europe from Spain to the Balkans for centuries. The assassination of one of their family members, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, led to World War I. Here I will present Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph or Maximilian for short. He was the... Read Full Story

"A woman often thinks she regrets the lover, when she only regrets the love” - François La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680: "François VI, also called le Prince de Marcillac, Duc de la Rochefoucauld. French classical author best known for his maximes, epigrams expressing a harsh or paradoxical truth in the briefest manner possible. La Rochefoucauld was a cynical observer of Louis XIV's court, who mostly saw selfishness, hypocrisy, and weakness in general in human behavior. In his pessimism La... Read Full Story

1184 BC - According to the calculations of Eratosthenes, the date that Troy was sacked and burned. 0631 - Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Emperor of China, sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China. 0758 - Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive... Read Full Story

48 BC - Roman Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.0117 - Trajan dies (b. 53). Roman emperor 0378 - Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople - A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths in present-day Turkey. Valens is killed along with ⅔ of his army. 0378 - Valens dies killed in battle (b. 328). Roman emperor. 0681 - Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating... Read Full Story