On this day: 27/01/98
Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
On this day: 27/01/945
The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
On this day: 27/01/1186
Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
On this day: 27/01/1302
Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence.
On this day: 27/01/1343
Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
On this day: 27/01/1606
Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
On this day: 27/01/1695
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.
On this day: 27/01/1759
Spanish forces clash with indigenous Huilliches of southern Chile in the battle of Río Bueno.
On this day: 27/01/1776
American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On this day: 27/01/1785
The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
Fact: The deepest mine in the world is the East Rand mine, which goes to a depth of about 3,585 metres
Fact: A meteor has only destroyed one satellite, which was the European Space Agency's Olympus in 1993.
Fact: Native Indians have been known to paint their doors blue, which they believe keeps the bad spirits out
Fact: In 1865, the U.S. Secret Service was first established for the specific purpose to combat the counterfeiting of money
Fact: Herbert Hoover, who was the 31st president of the United Stated, turned over all the Federal salary checks he received to charity during the 47 years he was in government
On this day: 26/01/661
The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
On this day: 26/01/1531
The 6.4-7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
On this day: 26/01/1564
The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
On this day: 26/01/1564
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War.
On this day: 26/01/1699
For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
On this day: 26/01/1700
The 8.7-9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
On this day: 26/01/1788
The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Celebrated as Australia Day.
On this day: 26/01/1808
The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales.
On this day: 26/01/1837
Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.
On this day: 26/01/1841
James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
Fact: The two factories of the Jelly Belly Candy Company produces approximately 100,000 pounds of jelly beans a day. this amounts to about 1,250,000 jelly beans an hour
Fact: A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana
Fact: The Tonle Sap River in Cambodia flows north for almost half the year and then south for the rest of the year
Fact: Before air conditioning was invented, white cotton slipcovers were put on furniture to keep the air cool.
On this day: 25/01/41
After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman emperor by the Senate.
On this day: 25/01/750
In the Battle of the Zab, the Abbasid rebels defeat the Umayyad Caliphate, leading to the overthrow of the dynasty.
On this day: 25/01/1348
A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
On this day: 25/01/1494
Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
On this day: 25/01/1515
Coronation of Francis I of France takes place at Reims Cathedral, where the new monarch is anointed with the oil of Clovis and girt with the sword of Charlemagne.
On this day: 25/01/1533
Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
On this day: 25/01/1554
São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests.
On this day: 25/01/1573
Battle of Mikatagahara: In Japan, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
On this day: 25/01/1575
Luanda, the capital of Angola, is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
On this day: 25/01/1585
Walter Raleigh is knighted, shortly after renaming North America region "Virginia", in honor of Elizabeth I, Queen of England, sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Fact: Native Indians have been known to paint their doors blue, which they believe keeps the bad spirits out
Fact: A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana