Avar Siege of Tomis: Plague's Impact (+ 14 more historical events on this day!)

A Daily Dose of History (30 Mar 2026) Today's historical events: Balkan Campaign: The Avars lift the siege at the Byzantine stronghold of Tomis. Their leader Bayan I retreats north of the Danube River after the Avaro-Slavic hordes are decimated by the plague. The people of Sicily rebel against the Angevin king Charles I, in what becomes known as the Sicilian Vespers. Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England. Guru Gobind Singh establishes the Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Proclamation which would later inspire Italian unification. Physicist Augustin Fresnel reads a memoir on optical rotation to the French Academy of Sciences, reporting that when polarized light is "depolarized" by a Fresnel rhomb, its properties are preserved in any subsequent passage through an optically-rotating crystal or liquid. The Florida Territory is created in the United States. The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens. Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long. One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Origins of the American Civil War: "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature. The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War. Discovery of the chemical elements: Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium. Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece. Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about two cents/acre ($4.19/km2), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. Information from this episode are sourced from API Ninjas Explanations from OpenAI ChatGPT API with proprietary prompts. This podcast is produced by Klassic Studios Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices