When the Center of the World Went Dark - February 10, 1258

On February 10, 1258, Baghdad, the greatest city in the medieval world, surrendered to the Mongols. The caliph had years of warning and resources to prepare. He did almost nothing. What followed was one of history's most devastating massacres, the destruction of the House of Wisdom, and the end of five centuries of the Abbasid Caliphate. Both the caliph's arrogance and the Mongol response exceeded all reason, and the people of Baghdad paid the price.