history

On 2 February 1626, Charles I was crowned at Westminster Abbey. His reign ended on a scaffold — and began the slow, violent invention of parliamentary democracy.

On 1 February 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini flew home from Paris and Iran changed for ever. Forty-seven years later, the regime he built is under more pressure than at any point since. It may not matter.

On 31 January 1606, four men - including Guy Fawkes - were dragged on hurdles from the Tower of London to Old Palace Yard, opposite the building they had tried to blow up, and hanged, drawn, and quartered. The famous date is 5 November. The decisive one is this one.

On 30 January 1648, in a German town that would give its name to a more famous treaty nine months later, Spain signed a separate peace with the Dutch Republic. The Eighty Years' War ended. Madrid finally admitted, in writing, that it had lost.

On 29 January 1886, Karl Benz filed a patent for a three-wheeled vehicle powered by a gas engine. The machine had no reverse gear, ran on pharmacy solvent, and almost nobody wanted one.

On 28 January 1069, Robert de Comines rode into Durham with a small army despite being told a rebel force was waiting for him. He and most of his men were killed. William the Conqueror's response laid waste to half of England's north and left marks on the land that are still visible today.

On 27 January 98 AD, Nerva died and Trajan became Roman emperor. For centuries after, the Senate greeted every new emperor with the same ritual wish: may you be better than Trajan. He was not without flaws, but the bar he set outlasted the empire itself.

On 26 January 661, Ali ibn Abi Talib was struck down during morning prayer by a former follower who couldn't forgive him for agreeing to negotiate. He was the last Rashidun caliph and the first Shia imam. His death split Islam in two.

On 25 January 750, the Abbasid rebels crushed the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of the Zab and then killed almost every member of the ruling dynasty. Almost. One prince swam a river and didn't look back — and built medieval Spain.

On 24 January AD 41, the Praetorian Guard assassinated Caligula and proclaimed Claudius emperor. Rome expected a joke. It got thirteen years of competent government instead.