August 14 in History

Huo Guang and fellow officials thrust articles of impeachment against Emperor Liu He before Empress Dowager Shangguan, compelling her to depose the ruler just twenty-seven days after his accession. This swift removal ended a chaotic reign that threatened Han stability and secured Huo Guang's absolute control over imperial succession for another decade.

Octavian held the second of his three consecutive Roman triumphs celebrating the Dalmatian campaigns in 29 BC. The three-day spectacle — Dalmatia, Actium, Egypt — systematically demonstrated to Rome that Octavian alone had conquered the known world, paving his path to becoming Augustus.

Macbeth killed King Duncan I of Scotland in battle near Elgin in 1040 — not in his bed, as Shakespeare later imagined. Macbeth ruled Scotland competently for 17 years, long enough to make a pilgrimage to Rome, before Duncan's son Malcolm III eventually overthrew him.

The Taira clan carried a child emperor and the imperial regalia out of Kyoto and ran. It was 1183. The Minamoto were coming. Taira no Munemori made the decision — take the young Emperor Antoku, take the three sacred treasures, and retreat to western Japan. The treasures included the sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. The flight lasted two years and ended at Dan-no-ura in 1185, where the Taira were destroyed in a naval battle and the child emperor was drowned. One of the sacred treasures was lost with him.

Genoese forces lure the Venetian galley fleet east toward the Levant, then ambush and seize their entire trade convoy at the Battle of Saseno. This crushing blow cripples Venice's eastern commerce for years, shifting Mediterranean naval dominance decisively toward Genoa.

Count Adolf VIII of Berg granted town privileges to Dusseldorf in 1288, transforming a small fishing village on the Dussel River into a chartered town. The decision followed his victory at the Battle of Worringen — one of medieval Europe's largest battles — which shifted power in the lower Rhineland.

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, granted Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) its city charter in 1370, naming it after himself. Legend holds that Charles discovered the hot springs while hunting deer — the city became one of Europe's most fashionable spa destinations, attracting everyone from Beethoven to Karl Marx.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin shattered the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Hansan Island in 1592, using his signature crane-wing formation to encircle and destroy 59 enemy ships. The victory cut Japan's sea supply lines during the Imjin War and is considered one of the most decisive naval battles in Asian history.

The Villasur expedition of 1720 ended in disaster when Pawnee and Otoe warriors destroyed a Spanish military force near present-day Columbus, Nebraska. The defeat effectively ended Spain's attempts to expand into the northern Great Plains and confirmed French influence over the region.