SortStack #352 — 2027-05-27
By year · Order from earliest to most recent.
- Athenian soldiers defeat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon 490 BCE
The legend of a messenger running about 40 km to Athens with news of victory — then dropping dead — inspired the modern marathon race.
- Vikings raid the island monastery of Lindisfarne, shocking Europe 793
The raid is the conventional start of the Viking Age. The scholar Alcuin wrote that 'never before has such terror appeared in Britain.'
- King John seals the Magna Carta at Runnymede 1215
John never intended to honor it — the Pope annulled the charter within ten weeks — yet it became a foundation stone of constitutional law anyway.
- Star Wars premieres in cinemas 1977
It opened in just a few dozen theaters because studios doubted it. George Lucas skipped the premiere and was vacationing in Hawaii with Steven Spielberg as it exploded.
- The Burj Khalifa opens in Dubai as the world's tallest building 2010
At 828 meters, its tip can be seen from about 95 km away — and people on the top floors can watch the sunset minutes after it sets at ground level.
- The World Health Organization declares COVID a global pandemic 2020
Within weeks, roughly half of humanity was living under some form of lockdown — the largest coordinated shutdown of public life in history.