January 23

in History

Honorius Named Co-Emperor — An eight-year-old inherits half the world

Rome, Roman EmpireClassical

393

Honorius Named Co-Emperor

An eight-year-old inherits half the world

Emperor Theodosius I, sensing that his grip on power might not last forever, proclaimed his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor of Rome. The boy who could barely understand the weight of a crown was being prepared to govern the Western Roman Empire. Honorius would grow into one of Rome's weakest rulers, presiding over the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410, a catastrophe that shook the foundations of Western civilization.

393 AD

1899 constitution of the First Philippine RepublicModern

1899

Malolos Constitution

The Malolos Constitution is inaugurated, establishing the First Philippine Republic.

The Political Constitution of 1899, informally known as the Malolos Constitution, was the constitution of the First Philippine Republic. It was written by Felipe Calderón y Roca and Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of proposals to the Malolos Congress by Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno. After a lengthy debate in the latter part of 1898, it was promulgated on January 21, 1899.

1899 AD

Spion Kop, South AfricaEarly 20th Century

1900

Battle of Spion Kop

Britain's bloodiest day on African soil

On a flat-topped hill in South Africa, British and Boer forces clashed in one of the most infamous battles of the Second Boer War. The Battle of Spion Kop ended in a devastating British defeat, with soldiers trapped on the exposed hilltop under withering fire. The carnage shocked the British public and launched the political careers of several figures present, including a young war correspondent named Winston Churchill.

1900 AD