On This Day
1028 – Constantine VIII dies, ending his uninterrupted reign as emperor or co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire of 66 years.
Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Πορφυρογέννητος, Kōnstantinos Porphyrogénnetos; 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was de jure Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Emperor Romanos II and Empress Theophano. He was nominal co-emperor since 962, successively with his father; stepfather, Nikephoros II Phokas; uncle, John I Tzimiskes; and brother, Basil II. Basil’s death in 1025 left Constantine as the sole emperor. He occupied the throne for 66 years in total, making him de jure the longest-reigning amongst all Roman emperors since Augustus.
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1028 – Future Byzantine empress Zoe takes the throne as empress consort to Romanos III Argyros.[2]
Zoë Porphyrogenita (Medieval Greek: Ζωή Πορφυρογέννητη Medieval Greek: [zoˈi] “life”; c. 978 – 1050) was a member of the Macedonian dynasty who briefly reigned as Byzantine empress in 1042, alongside her sister Theodora. Before that she was enthroned as empress consort or empress mother to a series of co-rulers, two of whom were married to her.
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1093 – Battle of Alnwick: in an English victory over the Scots, Malcolm III of Scotland, and his son Edward, are killed.[2]
The Battle of Alnwick is one of two battles fought near the town of Alnwick in Northumberland, England. In the battle, which occurred on 13 November 1093, Malcolm III of Scotland, later known as Malcolm Canmore, was killed together with his son Edward by an army of English knights led by Robert de Mowbray.[1]
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332 BC – Alexander the Great is crowned pharaoh of Egypt.[1]
Alexander III of Macedon (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος, romanized: Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great,[a] was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.[a] He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20, and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia and Egypt. By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India.[2] He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history’s greatest and most successful military commanders.[3][4]
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1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle of Morgarten.[2]
The Old Swiss Confederacy began as a late medieval alliance between the communities of the valleys in the Central Alps, at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire, to facilitate the management of common interests such as free trade and to ensure the peace along the important trade routes through the mountains. The Hohenstaufen emperors had granted these valleys reichsfrei status in the early 13th century. As reichsfrei regions, the cantons (or regions) of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were under the direct authority of the emperor without any intermediate liege lords and thus were largely autonomous.
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1272 – While travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward becomes King of England upon Henry III of England’s death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.
Lord Edward’s Crusade,[1] sometimes called the Ninth Crusade,[2] was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of Edward, Duke of Gascony (future King Edward I of England) in 1271–1272. It was an extension of the Eighth Crusade and was the last of the Crusades to reach the Holy Land before the fall of Acre in 1291 brought an end to the permanent crusader presence there.
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Born On This Day
1050 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1106)[16]
Henry IV (German: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the Salian dynasty—and Agnes of Poitou. After his father’s death on 5 October 1056, Henry was placed under his mother’s guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the popes, thus the idea of the “liberty of the Church” strengthened during her rule. Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry in April 1062. He administered Germany until Henry came of age in 1065.
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1492 – Johan Rantzau, German general (d. 1565)
Johan (also Johann) Rantzau (12 November 1492 – 12 December 1565) was a German-Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count’s Feud.[1] His military leadership ensured the succession of Christian III to the throne, which brought about the Reformation in Denmark.
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1453 – Christoph I, Margrave of Baden-Baden (1475–1515) (d. 1527)
Christopher I of Baden (13 November 1453 – 19 April 1527) was the Margrave of Baden from 1475 to 1515.
1487 – John III of Pernstein, Bohemian land-owner, Governor of Moravia and Count of Kladsko (d. 1548)
Jan IV of Pernštejn (also known as Jan of Pernstein, John of Pernstein, Jan the Rich or John the Rich in English, Jan z Pernštejna a na Helfštejně or Jan Bohatý in Czech, and Johann von Pernstein or Hans von Pernstein auf Helfenstein in German; 14 November 1487 in Moravský Krumlov – 8 September 1548 in Hrušovany u Brna) was a Moravian-Bohemian nobleman. He was high treasurer of Moravia in 1506–1516 and Landeshauptmann of Moravia in 1515–1519 and in 1526–1528 and governor of Moravia in 1530–1532. In 1537–1548, he was Count of Kladsko and pledge lord of the County of Kladsko.
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1316 – John I, king of France and Navarre (d. 1316)
John I (15 – 20 November 1316), called the Posthumous (French: Jean I le Posthume, Occitan: Joan I lo Postume), was King of France and Navarre, as the posthumous son and successor of Louis X, for the five days he lived in 1316. He is the youngest person to be king of France, the only one to have borne that title from birth, and the only one to hold the title for his entire life. His reign is the shortest of any undisputed French king.[note 1] Although considered a king today, his status was not recognized until chroniclers and historians in later centuries began numbering John II, thereby acknowledging John I’s brief reign.[1]
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1457 – Beatrice of Naples, Hungarian queen (d. 1508)[15]
Beatrice of Naples (16 November 1457 – 23 September 1508), also known as Beatrice of Aragon (Hungarian: Aragóniai Beatrix; Italian: Beatrice d’Aragona), was twice Queen of Hungary and of Bohemia by marriage to Matthias Corvinus and Vladislaus II.[1] She was the daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.
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FYI
NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day
EarthSky News
This Day in Tech History
This Day In History
Interesting Facts
Word Genius: Word of the Day
Sen. Sullivan’s Remarks at Veterans Day Ceremony – MatSu College
James Clear: 3-2-1: The power of imperfection, the secret to a good morning, and more
By Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics: How To Combine Pesky PDF Files
By Andrea Hsu, NPR: A manufacturer tried the 4-day workweek for 5 days’ pay and won’t go back
Evan Hafer Andy Stumpf and Mike Glover are Back! | BRCC #292
Navy SEAL Immigrant Drago Dzieran Part Two | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 162
Ideas
By BrainTwitch: An Easy Costume Cloak
Recipes
Homemade on a Weeknight: Soup Season – a few of my favorite Soup Recipes
Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.
DamnDelicious
RecipeTinEats
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
- Introducing Jaffle! June 10, 2026Meet Jaffle! Future Chief Taste Tester. Son of a Dozer friend. A little bundle of golden, fluffy joy! 48 hours of instant happiness I didn’t expect to get a new puppy so soon after saying goodbye to Dozer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready. And I had it in my head... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 13 June 13, 2026Picture of the day An image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on a stained-glass window located in a church in St. Peters, Missouri. Today is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart in the Roman Catholic Church.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 12 June 12, 2026Picture of the day A memorial to victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in front the Stonewall Inn in New York City. On June 12, 2016, a terrorist shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA.
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