What happened today in military history? The panel below shows what was fought on today's date, and the next panel the week ahead. Beneath them is the full calendar: every one of the 366 days of the year has at least one battle or military event, 718 in all, from the battles of Alexander the Great and Hannibal to the Vietnam War. Our own stories come first, and every card links to our article about its day. The count of years since each event updates itself every day.
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Choose any day of the year to see the battles fought on it, then open the full story.
Today's anniversaries
Battle of Zornoza
At Zornoza, Marshal Lefebvre's French corps attacked the Spanish army of General Joaquín Blake in one of the first actions of Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The Spaniards were driven back but escaped encirclement, to the emperor's displeasure.
- Conflict Peninsular War
- Place Amorebieta-Etxano (today Spain)
Battle of Hanau
Near Hanau in Hesse, Napoleon's army retreating after Leipzig found its road blocked by Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps in the Sixth Coalition war. Napoleon defeated Wrede and reopened the route back to France.
- Conflict German campaign of 1813
- Place Hanau (today Germany)
Coming up this week
The Defense of Lwów
Lwów was the capital of Austrian Galicia. Most of its inhabitants were Polish or Jewish, while the countryside around it was largely Ukrainian. As Austria-Hungary collapsed in the autumn of 1918, both the reborn Polish state and the Ukrainian national movement regarded the city as their own.
1 to 22 November 1918 · 107 years ago
Siege of Ladysmith
Boer forces besieged the British garrison of Ladysmith in Natal during the Second Boer War, shelling the town while trying to hold back relief columns on the Tugela River. After 118 days the British relief force broke through and the siege came to an end.
- Conflict Second Boer War
- Place Ladysmith (today South Africa)
Battle of Torgau
Frederick the Great's Prussians attacked an Austrian army under Field Marshal Daun near Torgau in Saxony in the Seven Years' War. Repeated assaults failed before a late push took the heights and forced the Austrians back, a victory bought with heavy losses on both sides.
- Conflict Third Silesian War
- Place Süptitz (today Germany)
St. Clair's defeat
A Native American confederacy whose warriors followed Little Turtle and Blue Jacket surprised a US Army force under Arthur St Clair in the Northwest Indian War. The dawn attack crushed the Americans in one of the worst US military defeats, and St Clair had to resign.
- Conflict Northwest Indian War
- Place Fort Recovery (today United States of America)
Battle of Issus
In 334 BC Alexander the Great of Macedon crossed into Asia to bring down the Persian Empire, the superpower of the age. After his first victory at the Granicus he swept through Anatolia, and in late 333 the Persian king Darius III came in person at the head of a huge royal army to crush the invader.
5 November 333 BC · 2357 years ago
Battle of Jemappes
The French revolutionary army of General Dumouriez attacked Austrian forces under Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen near Mons in the War of the First Coalition. After costly assaults the French took the ridge and won, and within a month they held the whole Austrian Netherlands.
- Conflict War of the First Coalition
- Place Mons (today Belgium)
The Battle of Tippecanoe
As American settlers pressed west, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh worked to unite the Native nations of the frontier into a confederacy that would resist further land cessions. Its spiritual center was Prophetstown, led by his brother Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet.
7 November 1811 · 214 years ago
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The full anniversary calendar
January53 events
- 1 January Battle of Santo Domingo1586 Operation Bodenplatte1945
- 2 January Battle of Ap Bac1963
- 3 January The Battle of Princeton1777 Siege of Sidney Street1911
- 4 January Operation Tempest1944
- 5 January Battle of Turckheim1675
- 6 January Battle of Ławica1919 Invasion of Lingayen Gulf1945
- 7 January Battle of Kunfuda Bay1912 Battle of Lyuban1942
- 8 January Battle of New Orleans1815 Battle of Stromboli1676
- 9 January Battle of Villersexel1871
- 10 January Battle of Německý Brod1422 Battle of Vaslui1475
- 11 January Capture of Trincomalee1782
- 12 January Battle of Casma1839 Sicilian revolution of 1848
- 13 January Battle of Coatit1895 Battle of Vĩnh Yên1951 Battle of Chillianwala1849
- 14 January Third Battle of Panipat1761 Leningrad-Novgorod offensive1944
- 15 January Battle of Senafe1895 Battle of Arafura Sea1962
- 16 January Battle of Corunna1809
- 17 January Battle of Cowpens1781 Battle of Monte Cassino1944 Battle of Iłża1864
- 18 January Battle of Lemnos1913 Operation Konrad III1945
- 19 January Battle of St. Quentin1871
- 20 January Battle of Yungay1839 Battle of Imbros1918
- 21 January The Battle of Khe Sanh1968
- 22 January Battle of Isandlwana1879 Battle of Anzio1944
- 23 January Battle of Spion Kop1900 Battle of Talikota1565
- 24 January Battle of Byczyna1588 Jan Zamoyski Stanisław Żółkiewski Battle of Dogger Bank1915
- 25 January Battle of Mohrungen1807
- 26 January The fall of Khartoum1885
- 27 January Battle of Olshanitsa1527
- 28 January Battle of Aliwal1846 Battle of Awa1868
- 29 January Battle of the Scheldt1574 Battle of Brienne1814
- 30 January The Tet Offensive1968 Battle of Okhmativ1644 Stefan Czarniecki
- 31 January Battle of Paju1919 Barvenkovo-Lozovaya offensive1942
February49 events
- 1 February Battle of Cremona1702 Skirmish at Bender1713
- 2 February Battle of Lincoln1141 Battle of Mortimer's Cross1461
- 3 February Battle of Diu1509 Battle of Manila1945
- 4 February Battle of Rawa1863 Battle of Makassar Strait1942 Battle of Sinhagad1670
- 5 February Battle of Hatcher's Run1865
- 6 February Battle of Fort Henry1862
- 7 February Battle of Debre Tabor1842
- 8 February Battle of Bulair1913 Operation Lam Son 7191971
- 9 February The Guadalcanal Campaign1943 Battle of Chemulpo Bay1904
- 10 February Battle of Champaubert1814 Battle of Sobraon1846
- 11 February The Battle of Fort Donelson1862 Battle of Montmirail1814
- 12 February Battle of Château-Thierry1814 Battle of Chacabuco1817
- 13 February Battle of Fraustadt1706 Channel Dash1942
- 14 February The Battle of Stoczek1831 Battle of Cape St. Vincent1797 Horatio Nelson
- 15 February Operation Solstice1945
- 16 February Battle of Corregidor1945
- 17 February Battle of Miani1843 Battle of Eupatoria1855
- 18 February Battle of Montereau1814
- 19 February Battle of Iwo Jima1945 Battle of Mukden1905
- 20 February Battle of Salta1813
- 21 February The Battle of Verdun1916 Battle of Gujrat1849
- 22 February Operation Junction City1967
- 23 February Battle of the Alamo1836
- 24 February Battle of Karnal1739 Battle of Beirut1912
- 25 February The Battle of Olszynka Grochowska1831 Battle of Los Angeles1942
- 26 February Battle of Gdów1846 Operation Ochsenkopf1943
- 27 February Battle of Majuba Hill1881 Battle of the Java Sea1942
- 28 February Battle of Rheinfelden1638 Battle of Sunda Strait1942
- 29 February Admiralty Islands campaign1944
March53 events
- 1 March Battle of Adwa1896 Second Battle of the Java Sea1942
- 2 March Battle of Grandson1476 Battle of Napue1714
- 3 March Battle on the Nemiga River1067
- 4 March Battle of Pieskowa Skała1863 Operation K1942
- 5 March Battle of Rakvere1603 Battle of Barrosa1811
- 6 March Battle of Jankau1645 Battle of Blackett Strait1943
- 7 March Aragon Offensive1938 Battle of Remagen1945
- 8 March Battle of Abukir1801 Battle of Imphal1944
- 9 March Battle of Tacuarí1811
- 10 March Battle of Helsingborg1710
- 11 March Operation Tan No. 21945
- 12 March Battle of Intombe1879
- 13 March Battle of Jarnac1569 Battle of Dien Bien Phu1954
- 14 March Battle of Montiel1369 Battle of Ivry1590
- 15 March The Battle of Guilford Courthouse1781 Battle of Jarosław1656
- 16 March Siege of Badajoz1812
- 17 March Battle of Chroberz1863 Battle of Jasmund1864
- 18 March Battle of Neerwinden1793 Operation Menu1969
- 19 March Battle of Hopton Heath1643 Battle of Bentonville1865
- 20 March Siege of Fort William1746 Battle of Santa Rosa1856
- 21 March German spring offensive1918 John J. Pershing Battle of Karameh1968
- 22 March Second Battle of Sirte1942
- 23 March Battle of Novara1849 First Battle of Kernstown1862 Stonewall Jackson
- 24 March Battle of Los Yébenes1809 Battle of Krasnobród1863
- 25 March Battle of Stockach1799 Battle of Fère-Champenoise1814
- 26 March Battle of Glorieta Pass1862 Battle of the Komandorski Islands1943
- 27 March Battle of Horseshoe Bend1814
- 28 March Battle of Hlobane1879 St Nazaire Raid1942
- 29 March Battle of Towton1461
- 30 March Battle of Santiago1844 Battle of Lijevče Field1945
- 31 March Action of 31 March 1800 Battle of Christmas Island1942
April63 events
- 1 April The Battle of Okinawa1945
- 2 April Battle of Copenhagen1801 Horatio Nelson
- 3 April Operation Tungsten1944 Jeju uprising1948
- 4 April The Battle of Racławice1794 The Battle of Kohima1944 Action of 4 April 1941
- 5 April The Battle of the Ice1242 Battle of Maipú1818
- 6 April The Battle of Shiloh1862 German bombing of Belgrade1941
- 7 April Battle of Warka1656
- 8 April Battle of Appomattox Station1865 Crimean offensive1944
- 9 April Battle of Legnica1241 The Battle of Appomattox Court House1865 Battle of Arras1917 Battle of Bataan1942
- 10 April The Siege of Tobruk1941 Battle of Mollwitz1741
- 11 April Battle of Cassel1677 Battle of Suffolk (Hill's Point)1863
- 12 April Battle of Fort Sumter1861 Battle of Montenotte1796
- 13 April Battle of Bergen1759 Battle of Bound Brook1777
- 14 April Battle of Chemnitz1639 Battle of Buda Zaborowska1863
- 15 April Battle of Formigny1450 Third siege of Missolonghi1825
- 16 April Battle of Culloden1746 The Battle of Berlin1945 Battle of the Seelow Heights1945
- 17 April Warsaw Uprising1794 Fall of Phnom Penh1975
- 18 April The Doolittle Raid1942 Ruhr pocket1945
- 19 April Lexington and Concord1775 The Battle of Raszyn1809
- 20 April Battle of Frastanz1499 Battle of Abensberg1809
- 21 April The First Battle of Panipat1526 The Battle of San Jacinto1836 Battle of Reichenberg1757
- 22 April Battle of Augusta1676 Battle of Eckmühl1809
- 23 April Battle of Clontarf1014 Zeebrugge Raid1918
- 24 April Easter Rising1916 Battle of Halbe1945
- 25 April The Gallipoli Campaign1915 Battle of Almansa1707
- 26 April Battle of Las Salinas1538 Second Battle of Nowa Wieś1863
- 27 April Battle of Bicocca1522 Battle of Cassano1799 Battle of Mactan1521
- 28 April Battle of Sainte-Foy1760 Operation Cowboy1945
- 29 April Battle of Zhovti Vody1648 Stefan Czarniecki Siege of Corinth1862
- 30 April The Battle of Chancellorsville1863 Fall of Saigon1975
May60 events
- 1 May Battle of Manila Bay1898 Battle of Tarakan1945
- 2 May Battle of Lützen1813 Battle of Callao1866
- 3 May Battle of Tolentino1815 Second Battle of Fredericksburg1863
- 4 May The Battle of the Coral Sea1942 Battle of Tewkesbury1471
- 5 May The Battle of the Wilderness1864 Battle of Castle Itter1945
- 6 May Battle of Wimpfen1622 Battle of Štěrboholy1757 Battle of Corregidor1942
- 7 May Battle of Harran1104 Battle of La Gudiña1709
- 8 May The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House1864 Battle of St Fagans1648
- 9 May Battle of Heligoland1864 Battle of Arras1915
- 10 May Battle of France1940 Erwin Rommel German invasion of Belgium1940
- 11 May Battle of Bantry Bay1689 Battle of Fontenoy1745
- 12 May Second Battle of Porto1809 Second Battle of Kharkov1942
- 13 May Battle of Resaca1864
- 14 May Battle of Lewes1264 First Battle of Cape Finisterre1747
- 15 May Battle of Asiago1916 Operation Schwarz1943
- 16 May Battle of the Dardanelles1654 Battle of Albuera1811
- 17 May Battle of Rovine1395 Battle of Chotusitz1742
- 18 May The Siege of Vicksburg1863 Battle of Tourcoing1794
- 19 May Battle of Rocroi1643 Battle of Mas Deu1793
- 20 May Battle of Minorca1756 Battle of Crete1941
- 21 May Battle of Abaran1918 Battle of Arras1940
- 22 May Siege of Calais1940
- 23 May Battle of Heiligerlee1568 Battle of Ramillies1706
- 24 May Battle of Pichincha1822
- 25 May Battle of Bornholm1676 First Battle of Winchester1862 Stonewall Jackson
- 26 May The Battle of Ostrołęka1831 Battle of Dunkirk1940
- 27 May Battle of Tsushima1905 Battle of San Fermo1859
- 28 May The Battle of Narvik1940 Battle of Jumonville Glen1754 George Washington
- 29 May The Fall of Constantinople1453 Battle of Rajgród1831
- 30 May Battle of Goito1848 First Battle of Chruślina1863
- 31 May The Battle of Cold Harbor1864 Battle of Jutland1916
June61 events
- 1 June Battle of Belleau Wood1918 Glorious First of June1794
- 2 June Battle of Palermo1676 Battle of Boryspil1920
- 3 June Battle of Philippi1861
- 4 June The Battle of Midway1942 Brusilov offensive1916
- 5 June Siege of Dunboy1602 Operation Tonga1944
- 6 June D-Day1944
- 7 June Battle of Arica1880 Battle of Messines1917
- 8 June Battle of Antioch218 Battle of Chełm1794
- 9 June Battle of Langensalza1075 Battle of Ushant1944
- 10 June Battle of Sablat1619 Battle of Glen Shiel1719
- 11 June The Battle of Hodów1694 Battle of Riachuelo1865
- 12 June Battle of Cabezón1808
- 13 June Battle of Lowestoft1665 Battle of Villers-Bocage1944
- 14 June Battle of Marengo1800 Battle of Friedland1807 Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
- 15 June The Siege of Petersburg1864 Battle of Rozgony1312
- 16 June Battle of Ligny1815 Battle of Quatre Bras1815
- 17 June Battle of Bunker Hill1775 Battle of Trebbia1799 Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
- 18 June Battle of Haldighati1576 The Battle of Zieleńce1792 The Battle of Waterloo1815 De Gaulle's appeal of 18 June1940 Battle of Kolín1757
- 19 June Battle of Paneriai1831 Battle of Cherbourg1864
- 20 June Battle of Höchst1622 Battle of Cuddalore1783
- 21 June Battle of Vitoria1813 Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow1919
- 22 June Battle of Morat1476
- 23 June Battle of Bannockburn1314 The Battle of Plassey1757 Battle of Landeshut1760
- 24 June Battle of Solferino1859 Battle of Custoza1866
- 25 June Battle of the Little Bighorn1876 Seven Days Battles1862 Stonewall Jackson
- 26 June Battle of Fleurus1794
- 27 June The Battle of Trzciana1629 Battle of Dettingen1743
- 28 June Battle of Nagashino1575 The Battle of Berestechko1651 The Battle of Monmouth1778 Battle of Dublin1922
- 29 June Battle of Gitschin1866 Battle of Mersa Matruh1942
- 30 June Battle of Adwalton Moor1643 Battle of Domstadtl1758
July60 events
- 1 July The Battle of Gettysburg1863 The Battle of San Juan Hill1898 The Somme1916
- 2 July Battle of Marston Moor1644 Battle of Schellenberg1704
- 3 July Battle of Wyoming1778 Battle of Königgrätz1866
- 4 July The Battle of Hattin1187 Battle of Klushino1610 Battle of Ueno1868
- 5 July The Battle of Kursk1943 Battle of Chippawa1814
- 6 July Battle of Fornovo1495 Battle of Kula Gulf1943
- 7 July Battle of Peritheorion1345 Marco Polo Bridge incident1937
- 8 July Battle of Poltava1709 Battle of Carillon1758
- 9 July Battle of Carpi1701 Battle of Calabria1940
- 10 July The Battle of Britain1940 Battle of Beachy Head1690
- 11 July Battle of Oudenarde1708 Battle of Rich Mountain1861
- 12 July Operation Kutuzov1943 Battles of Negba1948
- 13 July Battle of Durbe1260 Battle of Shubra Khit1798
- 14 July Battle of Vedrosha1500 Battle of Medina de Rioseco1808
- 15 July The Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg)1410 Battle of Be'erot Yitzhak1948
- 16 July Battle of Montlhéry1465 Battle of Peta1822
- 17 July Battle of Hogland1788 Donbas strategic offensive1943
- 18 July The Second Battle of Fort Wagner1863 Battle of Vučji Do1876
- 19 July Battle of Kliszów1702 Battle of Cape Spada1940
- 20 July Battle of Czarny Ostrów1657 Battle of Lissa1866
- 21 July The First Battle of Bull Run1861 Battle of the Pyramids1798
- 22 July Battle of Salamanca1812 Battle of Annual1921
- 23 July Battle of Kay1759
- 24 July Battle of Denain1712 Battle of Maysalun1920
- 25 July Battle of Ourique1139 Battle of Abukir1799
- 26 July Battle of Valea Albă1476 Battle of Hastenbeck1757
- 27 July Battle of Almenar1710 Battle of Maiwand1880
- 28 July Battle of Killdeer Mountain1864
- 29 July The Battle of Kleidion1014
- 30 July Battle of the Crater1864
- 31 July The Battle of Passchendaele1917 Battle of Warburg1760
August67 events
- 1 August The Warsaw Uprising1944 Battle of Saint Gotthard1664
- 2 August The Battle of Cannae216 BC Battle on Pyana River1377
- 3 August Battle of Freiburg1644 Battle of Romani1916
- 4 August Battle of Evesham1265 Battle of Wissembourg1870
- 5 August The Battle of Mobile Bay1864 Battle of Petrovaradin1716
- 6 August Battle of Spicheren1870 Attack of the Dead Men1915
- 7 August Battle of Guinegate1479 Smolensk operation1943
- 8 August The Hundred Days Offensive1918 Siege of Odessa1941 Battle of Amiens1918
- 9 August Battle of Temesvár1849 Józef Bem
- 10 August Battle of Wilson's Creek1861 Battle of the Yellow Sea1904
- 11 August Battle of Seneffe1674 Battle of Almonacid1809
- 12 August The Battle of Falaise1944 Battle of Mohács1687
- 13 August Siege of Tenochtitlan (1521) Battle of Warsaw1920 Battle of Blenheim1704
- 14 August Battle of Aljubarrota1385 Battle of Lorraine1914 Battle of Hansan Island1592
- 15 August Battle of Luzzara1702
- 16 August Battle of Camden1780 Battle of Copenhagen1807
- 17 August The Battle of Zadwórze1920 Battle of Verneuil1424
- 18 August Battle of Staffarda1690 Battle of Gravelotte1870
- 19 August Battle of Slankamen1691 Dieppe Raid1942
- 20 August The Battle of Anchialus917 Battle of Saragossa1710
- 21 August Battle of Vimeiro1808 Battle of the Tenaru1942 The Guadalcanal Campaign, 1942 to 1943
- 22 August Battle of Bosworth Field1485 The Battle of Obertyn1531 Battle of Baesweiler1371
- 23 August Battle of Chaldiran1514 The Battle of Stalingrad1942 Battle of Kraśnik1914
- 24 August Battle of Marj Dabiq1516 Battle of Málaga1704
- 25 August Battle of Liaoyang1904 Battle of Milne Bay1942
- 26 August Battle of Manzikert1071 The Battle of Crécy1346 Battle of Tannenberg1914 Battle on the Marchfeld1278
- 27 August The Battle of Long Island1776 Battle of Lutter1626
- 28 August Battle of Lubrze1656 Battle of Heligoland Bight1914
- 29 August Battle of Mohács1526 Battle of Fleurus1622
- 30 August Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf1757 Battle of Alam el Halfa1942
- 31 August The Battle of Komarów1920 Gleiwitz incident1939
September72 events
- 1 September The Defense of Hel1939 The Battle of Mława1939 The Battle of Mokra1939 The Battle of Westerplatte1939 Invasion of Poland1939
- 2 September Battle of Khotyn1621 Battle of Omdurman1898
- 3 September Battle of Ain Jalut1260 Battle of Worcester1651
- 4 September Battle of Rovereto1796
- 5 September The First Marne1914 Battle of the Chesapeake1781
- 6 September Battle of Dennewitz1813 Battle of Changsha1941
- 7 September Battle of Arsuf1191 The Battle of Borodino1812 Battle of Wizna1939 Battle of Moys1757
- 8 September The Battle of Orsha1514 Siege of Leningrad1941
- 9 September The Battle of the Bzura1939 Battle of Krbava Field1493
- 10 September The Battle of Lake Erie1813 Battle of Pondicherry1759
- 11 September Battle of Stirling Bridge1297 The Battle of Brandywine1777 Battle of Kałuszyn1939 Battle of Zenta1697
- 12 September The Siege of Vienna1683 The Battle of Baltimore and Fort McHenry1814 The Battle of Chapultepec1847 Battle of Saragarhi1897
- 13 September Battle of Tell El Kebir1882
- 14 September Battle of South Mountain1862
- 15 September The Battle of Peleliu1944 The Battle of Inchon1950
- 16 September Battle of Harlem Heights1776 Siege of Savannah1779
- 17 September The Battle of Antietam1862 Operation Market Garden1944 Battle of Breitenfeld1631
- 18 September Battle of Chrysopolis324 Battle of Castelfidardo1860
- 19 September Battle of Poitiers1356 The Battle of Saratoga1777 The Battle of Chickamauga1863 Siege of Paris1870
- 20 September Battle of the Alma1854 The Battle of the Niemen1920 Battle of Valmy1792
- 21 September Battle of Prestonpans1745 Battle of Porkuni1944
- 22 September Battle of Saule1236 Battle of Rymnik1789
- 23 September The Battle of Assaye1803 Battle of Othée1408
- 24 September Battle of Shiroyama1877 Battle of Husynne1939
- 25 September Battle of Stamford Bridge1066 The Battle of Nicopolis1396 Battle of Hoyerswerda1759
- 26 September The Meuse-Argonne Offensive1918 Battle of Maritsa1371
- 27 September The Battle of Płowce1331 Battle of Kircholm1605 Battle of Bussaco1810
- 28 September Siege of Yorktown1781 Siege of Antwerp1914
- 29 September Battle of Horodok1655 Battle of St Quentin Canal1918
- 30 September Battle of Soor1745 Battle of Mełchów1863
October67 events
- 1 October The Battle of Gaugamela331 BC Battle of Lobositz1756
- 2 October The Battle of Kock1939 The Battle of Moscow1941 Battle of the Scheldt1944
- 3 October Battle of Moncontour1569 Battle of Greenbrier River1861
- 4 October Battle of Germantown1777 Battle of Wittstock1636
- 5 October Battle of Krasnobród1672
- 6 October Battle of Castricum1799
- 7 October The Battle of Lepanto1571 The Battle of Kings Mountain1780 Battle of Latakia1973
- 8 October Battle of Perryville1862 Battle of Angamos1879
- 9 October Battle of Lesnaya1708 Battle of Schleiz1806
- 10 October Battle of Karbala680 Battle of Brunkeberg1471
- 11 October Battle of Rocoux1746 Battle of Valcour Island1776
- 12 October Battle of Hatfield Chase633 Rout of Ludford Bridge1459
- 13 October Battle of Queenston Heights1812
- 14 October Battle of Hastings1066 Jena-Auerstedt1806 Battle of Hochkirch1758
- 15 October Battle of La Tremblaye1793 Battle of Fuengirola1810
- 16 October The Battle of Leipzig1813 Battle of Wattignies1793
- 17 October Siege of Sevastopol1854 Battle of Kinburn1855
- 18 October Battle of Pell's Point1776 Battle of Tarutino1812
- 19 October The Battle of Zama202 BC First Ypres1914 Battle of Cecora1595 Stanisław Żółkiewski
- 20 October Battle of Navarino1827
- 21 October The Battle of Sekigahara1600 The Battle of Trafalgar1805 Battle of Civetot1096
- 22 October The Battle of Buxar1764 Battle of Filipów1656
- 23 October Battle of Edgehill1642 El Alamein1942 Battle of Leyte Gulf1944 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- 24 October Battle of Maloyaroslavets1812 Battle of Caporetto1917
- 25 October The Battle of Agincourt1415 The Battle of Balaclava1854 Second Battle of Cape Finisterre1747
- 26 October Battle of Myeongnyang1597 Battle of Kobyłka1794
- 27 October Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré1622 Second Battle of Newbury1644
- 28 October Battle of the Milvian Bridge, AD 312 The Battle of White Plains1776 Battle of Penang1914
- 29 October Battle of Freiberg1762 Suez Crisis1956
- 30 October Battle of Caldiero1805 Battle of Kars1920
- 31 October Battle of Zornoza1808 Battle of Hanau1813
November58 events
- 1 November The Defense of Lwów1918 Battle of Coronel1914
- 2 November Siege of Ladysmith1899
- 3 November Battle of Torgau1760 Battle of Mentana1867
- 4 November St. Clair's defeat1791 Battle of Oltenița1853
- 5 November Battle of Issus333 BC Battle of Rossbach1757 Second Battle of Panipat1556
- 6 November Battle of Jemappes1792 Battle of Droop Mountain1863
- 7 November The Battle of Tippecanoe1811 Battle of Belmont1861
- 8 November Operation Torch1942 Battle of White Mountain1620
- 9 November Battle of Coulmiers1870 Battle of Cocos1914
- 10 November Battle of Varna1444
- 11 November The Battle of Khotyn1673 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 Battle of Łódź1914
- 12 November Battle of the Treasury Islands1943
- 13 November Battle of Héricourt1474 Battle of Turnham Green1642
- 14 November The Battle of Ia Drang1965 Battle of Nyborg1659
- 15 November Sherman's March to the Sea1864
- 16 November Battle of Cajamarca1532 The Fall of Fort Washington1776 Battle of Lützen1632
- 17 November Second Battle of Heligoland Bight1917 Battle of Rostov1941
- 18 November The Siege of Jasna Góra1655 Battle of Vertières1803
- 19 November Battle of Ocaña1809 Sinking of HMAS Sydney1941
- 20 November The Battle of Tarawa1943 Battle of Vuelta de Obligado1845 Battle of Maxen1759
- 21 November Operation Ivory Coast1970
- 22 November Battle of Breslau1757 Battle of Hiep Hoa1963
- 23 November Battle of Humenné1619 Battle of Tudela1808
- 24 November Battle of Tuttlingen1643 Battle of Castelfranco Veneto1805
- 25 November Battle of Montgisard1177 Saladin Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River1950
- 26 November Battle of Berezina1812 Jan Henryk Dąbrowski
- 27 November The Battle of Chosin Reservoir1950 Battle of Cape Spartivento1940
- 28 November The Battle of Oliwa1627 Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande1870
- 29 November Battle of Spring Hill1864
- 30 November Battle of Narva1700 Battle of Somosierra1808 Battle of Sinop1853
December55 events
- 1 December Battle of the Argeș1916
- 2 December The Battle of Austerlitz1805 Battle of Tirad Pass1899
- 3 December Battle of Wenden1626 Battle of Hohenlinden1800
- 4 December Carlson's patrol1942 The Guadalcanal Campaign, 1942 to 1943 Battle of Longewala1971
- 5 December Battle of Leuthen1757 Battle of Khyriv1918
- 6 December Battle of Kosturino1915
- 7 December The Attack on Pearl Harbor1941
- 8 December The Battle of Hong Kong1941 The Battle of Wake Island1941 Battle of the Falkland Islands1914 Khopyor-Don Operation1919
- 9 December Battle of Reading1688 Battle of Ayacucho1824
- 10 December Battle of Dungeness1652 Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse1941
- 11 December The Battle of Fredericksburg1862
- 12 December The Battle of Nineveh627 Battle of Tolvajärvi1939
- 13 December Battle of the River Plate1939 Battle of Cape Bon1941
- 14 December Battle of Saint-Eustache1837
- 15 December Battle of Kesselsdorf1745 Second Battle of Colenso1899
- 16 December The Battle of the Bulge1944 Battle of Blood River1838 Battle of Noryang1598
- 17 December First Battle of Sirte1941
- 18 December Battle of Mudki1845
- 19 December Battle of Dreux1562 Battle of Brailov1666
- 20 December Battle of Bronkhorstspruit1880 First Battle of Champagne1914
- 21 December Battle of Konya1832 Fetterman Fight1866
- 22 December Battle of Tobruk1911 Operation Horev1948
- 23 December Battle of Savenay1793 Catalonia Offensive1938
- 24 December Battle of Czarnowo1806
- 25 December Washington crosses the Delaware1776 Siege of Kolding1658
- 26 December Battle of Trenton1776 Battle of Pułtusk1806
- 27 December Greater Poland uprising1918 Władysław Anders
- 28 December Battle of Giornico1478 Battles of the Sinai1948
- 29 December Battle of Mulhouse1674 Battle of Benavente1808
- 30 December Siege of Toruń1658
- 31 December Battle of Quebec1775 Battle of the Barents Sea1942
What battle happened on this day in history?
Almost every date has more than one answer. Our calendar holds 718 battles and military events spread over all 366 days of the year, close to two a day on average, and the panel at the top of this page shows the ones that fall on today's date. On 5 November, for example, it lists Issus (333 BC) and Rossbach (1757).
The entries run from Issus to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Most are modern: 4 date from before Christ, 89 from the centuries before 1582, 195 from 1582 to 1799, 205 from the 19th century and 209 from the 20th. The further back a battle lies, the more often only its year is known, so many ancient battles cannot be placed on a calendar at all. For a shorter list of the most famous, see the greatest battles of all time.
How is the On This Day calendar built, and where do the dates come from?
The calendar combines two kinds of entries. 193 battles have a full story on this site, where the date is checked against the sources listed at the foot of that story. The other 525 events come from Wikidata, and every date is checked against the sources cited on the day page for that date; those cards link to our article about that day.
Within each day our own stories come first. The panels for today and the coming week follow the date on your device, and the "years ago" figure on each card is worked out in your browser from the date shown. Battles known only to the year are left out rather than given an approximate day.
Which months have the most battles in our calendar?
In our calendar September is the busiest month, with 72 entries, followed by August with 67 and October with 67. February is the quietest, with 49, after January and March with 53 each. September also has the most battles with a full story on this site, 37 of the 193.
These counts describe our selection of firmly dated events, not every battle ever fought. The full order is September 72, August 67, October 67, April 63, June 61, May 60, July 60, November 58, December 55, January 53, March 53 and February 49. Even the quietest month averages more than one and a half entries a day.
Julian or Gregorian: which calendar do the dates use?
The dates are shown as the source articles give them, not converted. Events before 1582, and battles fought in Britain and Ireland before 1752, normally appear in the Julian calendar: Hastings is listed on 14 October 1066. For later battles in countries that still kept the Julian calendar, such as Russia, the cards give the Gregorian date, in one case with the Old Style date beside it.
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. According to Britannica, the Catholic countries that adopted it at once dropped ten days, so that 4 October was followed by 15 October. Britain and its colonies waited until 1752, when 2 September was followed by 14 September and 11 days were left out. Russia kept the Julian calendar until 1918, when 31 January was followed by 14 February, a jump of 13 days.1
That is why Russian battles often carry two dates in the literature. Britannica dates Poltava to 27 June 1709 in the Old Style and 8 July in the New Style, and Borodino to 7 September 1812, or 26 August in the Old Style. Our calendar lists Poltava on 8 July, with the Julian date beside it, and Borodino on 7 September. The other Russian battles we checked, from Lesnaya (1708) to Tsushima (1905), also appear under their Gregorian dates.2
Sources
Battles with our own story link to it, and the date and its sources are given there. For the rest of the year the events come from Wikidata, and every date is checked against the sources cited on each day page. Dates before 1582, and British dates before 1752, are usually given in the Julian calendar. Images of the other events come from Wikimedia Commons: public domain, or CC BY with the author credited on the card. See our editorial policy.