History Trivia

August 24, 49 BC Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio was defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio committed suicide to avoid capture. 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash Pliny the Elder died of asphyxiation at age 56 while witnessing the scene from the coast. 410 Alaric, leader of the Visigoths, sacked Rome, but spared its churches. This was first hostile occupation of the city since the fourth century BC. 1113 Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and ancestor of the Plantagenet kings of England was born. 1200 King John of England, signee of the first Magna Carta, married Isabella of Angouleme in Bordeaux Cathedral.