14 of 14 events · 870 – 2020
Country in Southern Europe situated on an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea
870
The siege of Melite was the capture of the Byzantine city of Melite (modern Mdina, Malta) by an invading Aghlabid army in 870 AD. The siege was initially led by Halaf al-Hādim, a renowned engineer, but he was killed and replaced by Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad. The city withstood the siege for some weeks or months, but it ultimately fell to the invaders, and its inhabitants were massacred and the city was sacked.
1053
The siege of Medina was an unsuccessful Byzantine attack on the Muslim city of Medina (modern Mdina), Malta in 1053 or 1054. The Muslim inhabitants of the city and their slaves managed to repel a superior Byzantine force, which retreated with heavy losses.
July 1091
The Norman invasion of Malta was an attack on the island of Malta, then inhabited predominantly by Muslims, by forces of the Norman County of Sicily led by Roger I in 1091. The invaders besieged Medina (modern Mdina), the main settlement on the island, but the inhabitants managed to negotiate peace terms.
September 1429
The siege of Malta, also known as the siege of Mdina, was a Hafsid invasion of the island of Malta, then part of the Kingdom of Sicily (itself part of the Crown of Aragon), in September and October 1429. After capturing Mazara on nearby Sicily, a Hafsid force landed on Malta, besieged the island's main city of Mdina and skirmished with the defenders.
18 May 1565 – 8 September 1565
The Great Siege of Malta (Maltese: L-Assedju l-Kbir) occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 8 September 1565.
8 September 1775
The Rising of the Priests (Maltese: Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin), also known as the September 1775 Rebellion, was an uprising against the Knights Hospitaller which broke out in Valletta, Hospitaller Malta in September 1775. It came about after an extended period of political and economic tension following the death of Grand Master Manuel Pinto da Fonseca in 1773.
20 April 1792 – 25 March 1802
The French Revolutionary Wars (French: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries.
2 September 1798 – 4 September 1800
The siege of Malta, also known as the siege of Valletta or the French blockade (Maltese: L-Imblokk tal-Franċiżi), was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities, the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. Malta had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 soldiers under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois.
11 June 1940 – 20 November 1942
The Siege of Malta (or Battle of Malta) in World War II was a military campaign in the Mediterranean theatre. From June 1940 to November 1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of the British Crown Colony of Malta pitted the air and naval forces of the Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy.
28 May 2011
A referendum on divorce was held in Malta on 28 May 2011. Voters were asked whether they approved of a new law to introduce allowing divorces, as at that time, Malta was one of only three countries in the world (along with the Philippines and the Vatican City) in which divorce was not permitted.
2 February 2012
The Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism was signed by the member states of the eurozone to found the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), an international organisation located in Luxembourg, to act as a permanent source of financial assistance for member states in financial difficulty, with a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion. It replaced two earlier temporary EU funding programmes: the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM).
11 April 2015
A referendum on spring hunting was held in Malta on 11 April 2015. Voters voted narrowly in favour of retaining the spring hunt, with 50.4% voting for the existing law to remain in place.
1 December 2019
The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It spread to other parts of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020.
24 January 2020
The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all have reported at least one death, with the exception of Vatican City.