Annus mirabilis (pl. anni mirabiles) is a Latin phrase that means "year of miracles", "marvelous year", "wonderful year", or "miraculous year". This term has been used to refer to several years during which events of major importance are remembered, notably Isaac Newton's discoveries in 1665–1666 at the age of 23, and Albert Einstein's papers published in 1905 at the age of 26.
1345–1346 – Edward III
Eight years after the start of the Hundred Years' War, large-scale fighting had died down. Edward III of England decided to renew the war more vigorously in 1345. He despatched a small force to
Gascony in southwest France under Henry, Earl of Derby and personally led the main English army to northern France. Edward delayed disembarkation of his army and his fleet was scattered by a storm, rendering this offensive ineffective. Derby was spectacularly successful, winning victories at Bergerac and Auberoche. The following spring, a large French army, led by the heir to the French throne, John, Duke of Normandy, counter-attacked Derby's forces.
Edward responded by landing an army of 10,000 men in northern Normandy. The English devastated much of Normandy and stormed and sacked Caen, slaughtering the population. They cut a swath along the left bank of the Seine to within of Paris. The English army then turned north and inflicted a heavy defeat on a French army led by their king, Philip VI, at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. They promptly exploited this by laying besiege to Calais. The period from Derby's victory outside Bergerac in late August 1345 to the start of the siege of Calais on 4 September 1346 became known as Edward III's annus mirabilis.
1492 – Catholic Monarchs
In January 1492, Isabella I and Ferdinand II, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, completed the
Granada War, concluding the centuries-long
Reconquista and ending
Al-Andalus of the Iberian Peninsula. Later that year, they would sponsor Christopher Columbus's first voyage across the
Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the discovery of the Americas on October 12.
That same year, Antonio de Nebrija published his monumental grammar of Spanish, Gramática de la lengua castellana. It is notable as the first work to focus on the grammar of a modern Western European language other than Latin.
1543 – The year of science
In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, outlining his
Heliocentrism of the universe. This event is traditionally held to be the beginning of the wider Scientific Revolution, which saw the emergence of modern science in Europe.
[ Western New England College] Andreas Vesalius also published his
De humani corporis fabrica in 1543, revolutionizing the science of
anatomy and the practice of medicine.
1625 – Spanish monarchy
A series of Spanish military victories on a global strategic scale obtained in 1625 during the Thirty Years' War, in important military theaters in Europe and America. These military victories were as follows: Siege of Breda, Relief of Genoa, Recapture of Bahia, Battle of San Juan and Defense of Cádiz.
Those military actions were immortalized in a series of paintings in the Hall of Realms of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid. Thus, the “reputational” policy promoted by Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares,
favourite of Philip IV of Spain, was apparently confirmed by the initial success,
and it was in reference to this
annus mirabilis for Spanish arms that Olivares delivered probably his most famous pronouncement: "God is Spanish and fights for Spain."
1644–1645 – Montrose
The military successes of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in
Scotland in the War of the Three Kingdoms during 1644–1645 are sometimes called
annus mirabilis.
1665–1666 – The year of wonders
In 1665 to 1666,
Isaac Newton, aged 23, made revolutionary inventions and discoveries in
calculus, motion,
optics and
gravitation. It was in this year that Newton was alleged to have observed an apple falling from a tree (Newton's apple), and in which he, in any case, hit upon the
gravitation. He was afforded the time to work on his theories due to the closure of Cambridge University by an outbreak of the
Bubonic plague.
He stated and proved the
binomial theorem, invented calculus, formulated the universal law of gravitation, and developed a
Color theory.
1706 – Grand Alliance
In 1706, the Grand Alliance arrayed against
Louis XIV of France won resounding victories (the Battle of Ramillies and Siege of Turin) which, after the previous year's failures, has been termed by James Falkner as a "Year of Miracles."
[Falkner, J., 2006. Ramillies 1706. Havertown: Pen and Sword.]
1759 – William Pitt
A series of victories by the British armed forces in 1759 in North America, Europe, India, and in various naval engagements caused that year to be referred to, on occasion, as William Pitt's
annus mirabilis. It was the turning point of the Seven Years' War.
[Blanning p.299][Monod p.167]
1871 – W. G. Grace
According to
Harry Altham, 1871 was W. G. Grace's
annus mirabilis.
[Altham, p.126.] In all first-class matches in 1871, a total of 17 centuries were scored and Grace accounted for 10 of them, including the first century in a first-class match at
Trent Bridge.
[Rae, p.99.] He averaged 78.25 and the next-best average by a batsman playing more than a single innings was 39.57, barely more than half his figure. His aggregate for the season was 2,739 runs and this was the first time that anyone had scored 2,000 first-class runs in a season;
Harry Jupp was next best with 1,068.
Grace produced his season's highlight in the South v North match at
The Oval when he made his highest career score to date of 268.
1905 – Albert Einstein
It was in this year that
Albert Einstein, aged 26, published important discoveries concerning the photoelectric effect,
Brownian motion, the special theory of relativity, and the famous
E =
mc2 equation. His four articles, collectively known as his
Annus Mirabilis papers, were published in
Annalen der Physik in 1905.
[ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore ]
1939 – Hollywood's Golden Year
1939 is considered the
annus mirabilis of Hollywood due to the surprising number of movies released that year that are considered "classics" or foundational of their genre.
Some of the films released in 1939 include:
The Wizard of Oz,
Gone with the Wind,
Gunga Din,
Beau Geste,
Union Pacific,
The Roaring Twenties,
Only Angels Have Wings,
At the Circus,
Stagecoach,
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
Ninotchka,
Destry Rides Again,
Midnight,
Wuthering Heights,
Young Mr. Lincoln, among many others.
2016–17 – Comebacks in sports
Between June 2016 and March 2017, the world of sports witnessed the largest comebacks in the history of
NBA Finals,
Super Bowl, and UEFA Champions League. In June 2016,
LeBron James's Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to overcome a 3–1 deficit, thus beating a Golden State Warriors side that was coming off a record-breaking league-best record of .
Eight months later, in February 2017,
Tom Brady's New England Patriots became the first team in Super Bowl history to overcome a 25 point deficit, doing so in the third quarter to beat the
Atlanta Falcons 34–28.
In the following month, on 8 March 2017,
Luis Suarez,
Lionel Messi, and
Neymar led
FC Barcelona to become the first team in Champions League history to overcome a first leg four-goal deficit to beat PSG 6–5 on aggregate.
The latter two became known as
28–3 and
la Remontada.
2016–17 – Portugal
Portugal is known for being "the country of the 3 Fs" because of Football,
Fado, and Fátima, three of the most distinct parts of Portuguese culture.
Portugal managed to clinch a series of historic and unprecedented victories in all of these three aspects in 2016–17. First in football, when the Portugal national team won their first-ever major trophy at the UEFA Euro 2016 on 10 July. Ten months later, on 13 May 2017,
Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for Portugal with the song
Amar pelos dois and in doing so, gave Portugal its first-ever win in the contest.
On that same day,
Pope Francis visited Fátima for the centenary of the Marian Apparitions of 1917.
The period from Portugal's victory at the Euros in July 2016 to the end of Pope Francis's visit to Portugal in May 2017 became known as Portugal's annus mirabilis.
Annus mirabilis of births
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1946 saw the birth of three Presidents of the United States: Donald Trump (14 June), George W. Bush (6 July), and Bill Clinton (19 August), the most of any year. All three were born within 10 weeks of each other during the summer, and a little over nine months since the end of World War II.
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1963 saw the birth of four future NBA MVPs: Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Karl Malone, the most out of any year.
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1972 saw the birth of four future Ballon d'Or winners: Zinedine Zidane, Rivaldo, Luís Figo, and Pavel Nedvěd. This is the most number of winners of the prestigious world football prize born in a year, whereas the average maximum is two.
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See also
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Annus mirabilis (Norway)
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Annus Mirabilis (poem)
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Annus horribilis
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List of Latin phrases
Notes
Bibliography
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Blanning, T.C.W. The Culture of Power the Power of Culture: Old Regime Europe 1660–1789. Oxford University Press, 2002.
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Paul Monod. Imperial Island: A History of Britain and Its Empire, 1660–1837. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
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