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Sicily

Sicily

Timeline

734   Naxus in Sicily founded as a colony of Chalcis in Euboea. (traditional date)

19   Tiberius expels the Egyptians from Rome, and deports 4,000 Jews from Sicily.

129   Hadrian continues his voyages, now inspecting Caria, Sicily, Cappadocia and Syria.

276   Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus slain by his own troops in Sicily.

440   Geiseric, king of the Vandals, captures Sicily.

535   Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.

733   Leo III the Isaurian withdraws the Balkans, Sicily and Calabria from the jurisdiction of the pope in response to Gregory III's support of a revolt in Italy against iconoclasm. The break between the papacy and the empire is almost complete.

747   Outbreak of Plague in Sicily, Calabria, and Momenvasia

827   Arabs invade Sicily.

870   Malta is conquered by Arabs from Sicily.

1016   Norman knights arrive in Sicily.

1037   George Maniaces begins campaign against the Arabs in Sicily.

1042   George Maniaces, Byzantine general in Sicily, revolts against Constantine IX.

1072   Normans conquer Palermo in Sicily.

1091   The Normans took Sicily from the Islamic rulers.

1194   Henry VI is crowned king of Sicily.

1220   The German Hohenstaufen dynasty which had ruled Sicily since 1194, adopts Palermo as its principal seat

1224   Last of Arabs expelled from Sicily

1231   Emperor Frederick II promulgates the Constitutions of Melfi (also known as ''Liber Augustalis''), a collection of laws for Sicily.

1253   Having rebuffed the armed forces of Conrad IV of Germany, Pope Innocent IV offers Sicily to Edmund, son of King Henry III of England.

1266   In the Battle of Benevento, an army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

1266   In the Battle of Benevento, an army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.

1282   The Sicilian rebellion known as the Sicilian Vespers begins against the rule of Angevin King Charles I of Sicily; over the next six weeks, thousands of French are killed. The rebellion forces Charles to abandon the Ninth Crusade while still en route to the target city of Constantinople, and allows King Peter III of Aragon to take over rule of the island from Charles (which in turn leads to Peter's excommunication by Pope Martin IV).

1335   The excommunication of Frederick III of Sicily and the interdict placed on Sicily end

1342   Louis becomes king of Sicily and duke of Athens

1848   The Palermo rising in Sicily, against the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

1849   Uprising against Austrian troops in Palermo, Sicily

1849   Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily

1908   A 7 Richter scale earthquake destroys Messina, Sicily and rocks Calabria killing over 75,000.

1943   World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails to Sicily.

1943   World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily marks the beginning allied invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy by the U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division.

1943   World War II: The US 7th Army under General George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Italy followed 1 hours later by the British 8th Army under Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, thus completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.

1947   Gang of Salvatore Giuliano opens fire on a labor parade near Portella Della Ginestra, Sicily; Eleven killed, thirty wounded

1949   Gang of Salvatore Giuliano explodes mines under police barracks outside Palermo, Sicily

1950   Etna volcano erupts in Sicily

1972   An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily

1980   The president of Sicily, Piersanti Mattarella, is assassinated by the Mafia.

1993   Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Palermo, Sicily after 23 years as a fugitive.