The author Martin Smith, is the Principal Academic in Forensic & Biological Anthropology in the Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science at Bournemouth University. Prior to becoming an academic he spent 10 years working as a registered nurse in surgery and accident and emergency departments. He is the author of a number of books and book chapters as well as numerous journal articles focusing primarily on the archaeology of human remains.
On This Day – 7th/8th May 1942
The Battle of the Coral Sea is fought to stop the Japanese-planned capture of Port Moresby. It is a confused engagement and is the first major naval battle fought without visual contact being made between the surface forces of the opposing fleets. Continue reading “WWII – Battle of the Coral Sea”
On This Day – 8 December 1941
One day after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese military the American President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the US to declare war on Japan.
19 September
After a siege lasting almost a month the Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid capture Damascus from the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). Continue reading “AD 634 – Siege of Damascus”
1 September 1941
Army Group North closes in on the city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Continue reading “WWII – The 75th Anniversary – Eastern Front”
26-30 August
The Battle of Tannenberg saw the German forces under the command of Paul von Hindenburg inflict one of the most complete defeats in military history on the Russian second army.
A recent excavation at what is believed to be the site of the first battle of the Roman invasion of Scotland around 140 AD, has uncovered a number of lead slingshot that contained drilled holes. Continue reading “Lead Sling bullets that whistle”
15 August
The Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 saw a large force of Basques ambush a part of Charlemagne’s army in Roncevaux Pass, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees on the border between France and Spain, after his invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. Continue reading “778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass”
15 August
The Second Arab siege of Constantinople (717–718) was finally raised after a year of conflict. Continue reading “718 – Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople”
15 August
The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), Constantinople. Continue reading “717 – Second Arab Siege of Constantinople begins”
15 August
The Battle of Yarmouk was a major battle between the army of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and the Muslim Arab forces of the Rashidun Caliphate.
13 August
Octavian celebrates the first of three consecutive triumphs at Rome, this one celebrated his victory over Illyricum. The war against Illyricum actually took place several years earlier.
Continue reading “29 BC – Octavian celebrates a triumph over Illyricum”
On This Day – 1 August
The Warsaw Uprising, a major operation to liberate Warsaw from the Nazi’s during WWII, began. Continue reading “1944 – The Warsaw Uprising”
22 July
The Old Swiss Confederacy decisively defeat the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor on this day in 1499 and establish a de facto independence of Switzerland from the Holy Roman Empire. Continue reading “1499 – Battle of Dornach”
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