Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac. Virgo is the second-largest constellation. It spans the 150-180th degree of the zodiac. Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area on average between August 22 and September 22,...

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, more commonly known by his nickname Caligula, was the 3rd Roman Emperor who reigned from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41. Caligula was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty whic...

Trajan was Roman emperor (A.D. 98-A.D. 117). Born in Spain, he was the first non-Italian to become head of the empire. Trajan served in the East, in Germany, and in Spain. He was adopted in A.D. 97 by Emperor Nerva, who died shortly afterwa...

Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reig...

Commodus was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His ac...

Aurelian was the 44th Emperor of the Roman Empire from 270 to 275. Born in humble circumstances, he rose through the military ranks to become emperor. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the...

Charles Martel also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum (737–43) at the end of his life, using the...

Abu Rayhan Biruni was a Persian mathematician, physicist, scholar, encyclopedist, philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, traveller, historian, pharmacist, and teacher, who contributed greatly to the fields of mathematics, philosophy, medicine...

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the...

Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the...

Frederick III of Habsburg was elected as German King as the successor of Albert II in 1440. Born in Innsbruck, he was the son of Duke Ernest the Iron from the Leopoldinian line of the Habsburg family ruling Inner Austria, i.e. Styria, Carin...

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba was a Spanish general in the service of the reign, when it was rising to military pre-eminence. He was called El Gran Capitán ("The Great Captain") by contemporaries and "the Father of Trench Warfare" by some. G...

Francis I of France, called the Father and Restorer of Letters, was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make...

Mary of Austria, also known as Mary of Hungary, was queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia as the wife of King Louis II, and she was later Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. The daughter of Queen Joanna of Castile and King Philip I of C...

Anne of Cleves was Henry VIII’s fourth wife. Anne was from the small north German state of Cleves. Her brother, William, ruled Cleves but realised that his sister's marriage to the king of England would greatly enhance his status. After...