c. January - One of the largest volcanic eruptions of the Holocene epoch occurs, possibly from a tropical location such as El Chichón, Mexico or Quilotoa, Ecuador. [1] Observed effects of the eruption include the following anecdotal accounts: dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a "harsh" spring in Northern Iceland; famine in England, Western Germany, France, and Northern Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and South-East Turkey. [2]
February 10 - Battle of Baghdad (1258) - Hulagu Khan's Mongol forces overrun Baghdad, then the leading center of Islamic culture and learning and capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. They burn the imperial city to the ground, killing as many as 1,000,000 citizens.
Llywelyn the Last declares himself Prince of Wales. He is the final ruler of an independent Wales, before its conquest by the English.
↑ Emile-Geay, J., Seager, R., Cane, M., Cook, E., Haug, G.H., [The volcanic eruption of 1258 A.D. and the subsequent ENSO event, Geophysical Research Letters, 321, XXXX, doi:10.1029/2006JAXYZW, Mar 2006. (available online, pdf file)
↑ Stothers, R.B. (2000) Climatic and Demographic consequences of the Massive Volcanic Eruption of 1258. Climatic Change, 45, 361-374.