History Trivia

July 29 238 The Praetorian Guard stormed the palace and captured Pupienus and Balbinus. They were dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day Gordian III, age 13, was proclaimed emperor. 904 Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sacked Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plundered it for a week. 1030 Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad – King Olaf II , the patron saint of Norway, fought and died trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes. 1565 The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1567 James VI was crowned King of Scotland at Stirling. 1588 Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines – English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.