Belisarius: Rome's Savior & Gothic War Turning Point (+ 10 more historical events on this day!)

A Daily Dose of History (12 Mar 2026) Today's historical events: Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is best known for initiating the Crusades. German city Munich (München) is first mentioned as forum apud Munichen in the Augsburg arbitration by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I. Start of the Siege of Maastricht, part of the Eighty Years' War. Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. James II of England landed at Kinsale, starting the Williamite War in Ireland. Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delays the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha. The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States. The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra. Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713. The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin. 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