Events in Armenian History
- 2492-08-11 BC Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
- 0068-10-06 BC Battle of Artaxata: Lucullus averts the bad omen of this day by defeating Tigranes the Great of Armenia.
- 0451-05-26 The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place. The Armenians are defeated militarily but are guaranteed freedom to openly practice Christianity.
- 0552-07-10 Origin of Armenian calendar
- 1827-10-01 The Russian army under Ivan Paskevich storms Yerevan, ending a millennium of Muslim domination in Armenia
- 1854-02-02 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On persecution of Armenians"
- 1873-01-06 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On the Church in Armenia"
- 1877-11-17 Russia launches a surprise night attack that overruns Turkish forces at Kars, Armenia
- 1894-11-16 6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan
- 1896-08-26 Armenian Revolutionary Federation assaults the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople to draw attention to the mass-pogroms and massacres of Armenians instigated by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
- 1906-04-15 The Armenian organization AGBU is established.
- 1914-12-28 Turks are repulsed by the Russians after fighting in Armenia for weeks
- 1915-04-14 Turkey invades Armenia
- 1915-04-20 The Armenians rise and seize the Turkish town of Van, which they hold until Russians relieve them on 19 May; thousands of Armenians are killed
- 1915-04-24 Leaders of the Armenian community in Constantinople (now Istanbul) are arrested by Ottoman authorities, and many later killed, marking the start of the Armenian Genocide
- 1915-05-12 Croatians plunder Armenia, killing 250
- 1916-07-02 Russian offensive in Armenia
- 1918-05-26 Armenia defeats the Ottoman Army in the Battle of Sardarapat
- 1918-05-28 The Armenian National Council declares Armenia independent from the Russian Empire
- 1920-12-03 Turkey & Armenia agree to peace treaty
- 1921-01-03 Turkey makes peace with Armenia
- 1922-09-11 The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia
- 1936-12-05 Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakh SSR & Kirghiz SSR becomes constituent republics of Soviet Union
- 1958-09-02 U.S. Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan, Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew lost.
- 1983-07-15 8 killed, 54 wounded, by Armenian extremists bomb at Orly, France
- 1988-02-28 Anti-Armenian pogrom in Azerbaijan, 30 killed
- 1988-07-14 200,000 demonstrate in Soviet Armenia for incorporation of Nagorno-Karabak
- 1988-12-07 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia kills 25,000-50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless
- 1989-01-12 6 claim to survive in rubble, 35 days after Armenian quake (hoax)
- 1990-08-23 Armenia declares independence
- 1991-09-21 Armenia votes on whether to remain in Soviet Union
- 1992-02-25 Khojaly massacre: about 613 civilians killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan
- 1992-05-09 Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Karabakh War
- 1993-12-26 Antonov-26 crashes at Gyumri, Armenia, 36 killed
- 1999-10-27 Gunmen open fire in the Armenian Parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Chairman Karen Demirchyan, and 6 other members.
- 2003-07-07 The United Communist Party of Armenia is formed
- 2007-01-19 Armenian journalist Hrant Dink assassinated in front of his "Agos" newspaper's office by 17-year-old Turkish ultranationalist Ogün Samast
- 2008-02-19 Serzh Sargsyan wins the Armenian Presidential Election
- 2008-03-02 Riots in Yerevan, Armenia concerning the Armenian presidential election, 2008 come to a fatal end, with police forces clashing with civilians in their peaceful protest, resulting in 8 deaths.
- 2009-10-10 After closed borders for nearly two hundred years, Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich to open their borders
- 2012-09-09 Armenia wins the 40th FIDE Chess Olympiad
- 2015-01-01 Eurasian Economic Union comes into effect, creating a political and economic union between Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
- 2015-04-24 Armenia commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire
- 2018-04-23 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan resigns after 10 years in office after mass protests against him beginning an unconstitutional third term
- 2018-05-02 Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan asks widespread protests to halt after ruling Republican party said it would support his bid to be Prime Minister
- 2018-12-09 Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wins a snap election with 70.4% of the vote
- 2019-01-30 Continuous 24 hr church mass lasting 97 days to prevent deportation of Armenian asylum seekers ends after Dutch authorities reconsider at Protestant Bethel Church in The Hague
Famous People from Armenia
- 1856-08-31 Nikoghayos Fadeyi Tigranyan, Armenian composer, born in Gyumri, Armenia (d. 1951)
- 1859-11-19 Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and musician (Armenian Rhapsody), born in Gatchina, Russia (d. 1935)
- 1869-10-08 Komitas [Soghomon Soghomonian], Armenian priest, composer (Patarag), and musicologist, born in Kütahya, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) (d. 1935) [O.S. birth 09-26]
- 1879-12-26 Armen Tigran Tigranyan, Armenian music composer and conductor, born in Alexandropol, Armenia (d. 1950)
- 1883-02-01 Yevgeny Vakhtangov, Armenian-Russian theatrical director of the Moscow Art Theatre (Vakhtangov Theatre), born in Vladikavkaz, Russia (d. 1922)
- 1887-01-13 George Gurdjieff, Armenian-Greek mystic (d. 1949)
- 1894-08-22 Ivan Isakov [Hovhannes Ter-Isahakyan], Russian-Armenian military commander (Commander in Chief of the Soviet Navy during WW II), born in Hadjikend, Russian Empire (now Armenia) (d. 1967)
- 1895-11-25 Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian revolutionary and member of Supreme Soviet, born in Sanahin, Yelizavetpol Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1978)
- 1897-04-25 Haro Levoni Step'anian, Armenian composer, born in Ganja, Azerbaijan (d. 1966)
- 1899-10-29 Akim Tamiroff, Armenian-Russian actor (Touch of Evil, For Whom the Bell Tolls), born in Tiflis, Russian Empire (d. 1972)
- 1904-04-15 Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American abstract painter, born in Khorgom, Vilayet of Van, Ottoman Empire (d. 1948)
- 1911-03-08 Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American composer (Lousadzak, Ukiyo), born in Somerville, Massachusetts (d. 2000)
- 1920-10-15 Henri Verneuil, French-Armenian playwright and film director (Mélodie en sous-sol), born in Rodosto, Ottoman Turkey (d. 2002)
- 1924-01-09 Sergei Parajanov, Armenian film director, born in Tbilisi, Georgia (d. 1990)
- 1924-05-22 Charles Aznavour [Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian], French-Armenian singer (Monsieur Carnavel; She; Tin Drum), born in Paris, France (d. 2018)
- 1929-06-17 Tigran Petrosian, Soviet Armenian World Chess Champion (1963-69), born in Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (d. 1984)
- 1930-01-14 Edgar Hovhannisyan, Armenian composer, born in Yerevan, Armenia (d. 1998)
- 1930-07-04 Frunzik [Mher Mkrtchyan], Armenian actor (Mimino, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style), born in Leninakan, Soviet Armenia (d. 1993)
- 1932-04-24 Vladimir Yengibaryan, Armenian boxer (Olympic gold light welterweight 1956), born in Yerevan, Armenia (d. 2013)
- 1936-11-19 Emin Aristakesian, Armenian composer, born in Yerevan, Armenia, USSR (d. 1996)
- 1941-04-15 Roman Balayan, Ukrainian-Armenian director (Filer, Biryuk), born in Nerkin Horatagh, Nagorno-Karabakh AO, Azerbaijan
- 1941-10-02 Zareh Baronian, Armenian theologian, born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 2017)
- 1948-07-26 Norair Nurikian, Bulgarian weightlifter (Olympic gold men's 60kg 1972, 56kg 1976), born in Sliven, Bulgaria
- 1951-06-12 Andranik Margaryan, 14th Prime Minister of Armenia (2000-07), born in Yerevan, Armenia (d. 2007)
- 1953-05-19 Shavarsh Karapetyan, Soviet Armenian finswimmer, born in Kirovakan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
- 1954-06-30 Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian politician, President of Armenia (2008-18), born in Stepanakert, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
- 1954-09-15 Hrant Dink, Turkish-Armenian journalist and newspaper editor (Agos), born in Malatya, Turkey (d. 2007)
- 1959-03-05 Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian politician (d. 1999)
- 1967-08-21 Serj Tankian, Armenian-born singer (System of a Down), born in Beirut, Lebanon
- 1971-12-07 Vladimir Akopian, Armenian chess Grandmaster, born in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union
- 1973-06-03 Sargis Sargsian, Armenian tennis player (1995 NCAA), born in Yerevan, Armenia
- 1974-04-22 Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American heavy metal bassist (System of a Down), born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union
- 1975-06-01 Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian politician, Prime Minister of Armenia (2018-), born in Ijevan, Soviet Union
- 1982-07-09 Alecko Eskandarian, Armenian-American football player, born in Montvale, New Jersey
- 1987-01-19 Edgar Manucharyan, Armenian footballer, born in Yerevan, Armenia