Transform your history classroom
ActiveHistory provides interactive simulations, self-marking quizzes, lesson plans, worksheets and multimedia activities designed by full-time history teacher Russel Tarr.
Build and deliver complete history courses with resources for classroom teaching, remote learning and independent study - from multimedia lectures to interactive games and historical simulations.
World History teaching resources for the high school classroom: lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes and simulation games for KS3, IGCSE, IB and A-Level teachers.
Overview
In this project, you will learn about some of the most important events in history that took place on YOUR birthday.
You will use the most interesting of these to produce your own display piece by completing this "Timeline of my Birthday" worksheet.
Instructions
Step 1 - Getting the information
Input your birthday here and click "search". It will provide a list of events, births and deaths that took place across a wide range of time on the day you were born. (TIP: a random batch of events are selected. You can click again to get a fresh batch of results!).
Step 2 - Selecting the information and completing the timeline
Select AT LEAST FIVE of these entries to put into your "Timeline of my Birthday" worksheet, following these rules:
- At least one ‘event’, one ‘birth’ and one ‘death’ must be included
- No more than one entry in each row (=century)
- Put a picture relating to this entry in a cell next to it, with a caption.
- Complete the final row with information about yourself..
Step 3 - Sharing your findings and creating a display
Print off your completed work and use it for a classroom discussion and display (who shares their birthday with that of the most important historical character? who shared their birthday with the most significant historical event?).
August 16
Events
0942 - Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdanids of Mosul and the Baridis of Basra over control of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad.0963 - Nikephoros II Phokas is crowned emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1 BC - Wang Mang consolidates his power and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who had died the previous day, had no heirs.
1328 - The House of Gonzaga seizes power in the Duchy of Mantua, and will rule until 1708.
1513 - Battle of the Spurs (Battle of Guinegate): King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeat French Forces who are then forced to retreat.
1652 - Battle of Plymouth: Inconclusive naval action between the fleets of Michiel de Ruyter and George Ayscue in the First Anglo-Dutch War.
1792 - Maximilien de Robespierre presents the petition of the Commune of Paris to the Legislative Assembly, which demanded the formation of a revolutionary tribunal.
1859 - The Grand Duchy of Tuscany formally deposes the exiled House of Lorraine.
1906 - The 8.2 Mw Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.
2015 - More than 96 people are killed and hundreds injured following a series of air-raids by the Syrian Arab Air Force on the rebel-held market town of Douma.
Births
1355 - Birth of Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster (d. 1382)1401 - Birth of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (d. 1436)
1573 - Birth of Anne of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1598)
1650 - Birth of Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk, cosmographer, and cartographer (d. 1718)
1744 - Birth of Pierre Méchain, French astronomer and surveyor (d. 1804)
1816 - Birth of Octavia Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor (d. 1820)
1934 - Birth of John Standing, English actor
Deaths
079 - Death of Empress Ma, Chinese Han dynasty consort (b. 40)0856 - Death of Theutbald I, bishop of Langres
0963 - Death of Marianos Argyros, Byzantine general (b. 944)
1027 - Death of George I of Georgia (b. 998)
1153 - Death of Bernard de Tremelay, fourth Grand Master of the Knights Templar
1258 - Death of Theodore II Laskaris, Byzantine-Greek emperor (b. 1222)
1358 - Death of Albert II, Duke of Austria (b. 1298)
1419 - Death of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (b. 1361)
1518 - Death of Loyset Compère, French composer (b. 1445)
1661 - Death of Thomas Fuller, English historian and author (b. 1608)
1705 - Death of Jacob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1654)
1893 - Death of Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist and academic (b. 1825)
1949 - Death of Margaret Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1900)
2010 - Death of Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (b. 1923)
© 1998-2026 Russel Tarr, ActiveHistory.co.uk Limited (Reg. 6111680)
1 Torrin Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 6AW, England
Privacy Policy | Contact
