1290
Maid of Norway dies in Orkney
The seven-year-old Margaret, heiress to the Scottish throne, fell ill and died at Orkney en route from Norway to her coronation and engagement to Edward of England. Her death left thirteen claimants contending for the Scottish crown and created the opening for Edward I's interference. Had she survived, the planned marriage would have peacefully united the crowns of Scotland and England three centuries ahead of schedule.
Jalaluddin Khilji founds Khilji dynasty in Delhi
A seventy-year-old Afghan general overthrew the last Mamluk sultan of Delhi and installed his own line. The Khaljis would push the Sultanate deeper into the Deccan than any previous Turkish dynasty, incorporating Hindu kingdoms and deserts alike into their tribute network. The dynasty's brief but explosive reign brought nearly all of the Indian subcontinent under nominal Delhi rule for the first time in history.
North China earthquake kills hundreds of thousands
A massive earthquake struck Chihli province in the Yuan empire, destroying cities across a wide area and killing an estimated hundred thousand people. Yuan court records describe collapsing buildings, ground fissures swallowing livestock, and relief convoys sent by Kublai Khan's administrators to the devastated region. The earthquake was among the deadliest in recorded history and tested the Yuan government's capacity for disaster response.
Edward I expels the Jews from England
By royal edict, every Jew in England was ordered to leave by the first of November. Some four thousand people boarded ships for the continent; a few drowned when sailors abandoned them on a sandbar. Jewish communities would not be readmitted to England for nearly four centuries. The expulsion was accompanied by cancellation of debts owed to Jewish moneylenders, a windfall for the crown and its indebted barons.
Windmills proliferate across northern Europe
Post mills and tower mills spread rapidly across the flat, windy landscapes of the Low Countries, East Anglia, and the Baltic coast. They ground grain, drained marshes, and powered fulling mills for the wool trade. Wind, unlike water, was free and everywhere, and medieval engineers exploited it with growing ingenuity.