May
11

330:
Roman Emperor Constantine I changed the name of the ancient city of Byzantium
to Nova Roma (New Rome) as it became
the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. 
The city will be known as Constantinople (the city of Constantine). The
move …

 May 4

1008:
Birthdate of King Henry I of France who reigned from 1031 until his death in
1060 which means that he was on the throne when a future wine maker, Shlomo
Yitzhaki, was born at Troyes in 1040. 
[But today, who remembers the French…

May 1

305:  Due to age and ill health and a desire to
provide stability for the Roman Empire Diocletian resigned as Emperor of
Rome.  Relatively speaking, Diocletian’s
reign was a positive period for the Jews. 
Diocletian was not overly…

April 29 

711: According to some sources the date on which an
army led by Tariq ibn Ziyad landed at Gibraltar marking the start of the Moslem
conquest of the Iberian Peninsula with all that would come to mean for the
Jewish population during the …

April 19

According to one web-site, April 19th is one of
the blackest days on the Jewish calendar. From the 11th century (1014) through
the 20th century (1943) this
date is remembered for the atrocities which took place. Below are a few: )

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