Battle of Thermopylae
Leonidas and his 300 Spartans hold the pass to the last man
The Spartan king Leonidas and an allied Greek force held a narrow pass for three days against the vast army of Xerxes. When the Persians outflanked them by a mountain path, Leonidas and his 300 Spartans died, becoming a byword for self-sacrifice.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 5th century BC
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Asia
- c. 483 BC Death of the Buddha — 3 years earlier
- 479 BC Death of Confucius — 1 year later
Alive at the time
- Confucius (aged 71)
- Leonidas I (aged 60)
- Xerxes I (aged 38)
- Sophocles (aged 17)
- Pericles (aged 15)
- Herodotus (aged 4)
- Phidias (aged 0)
- Heraclitus (aged 55)
- Themistocles (aged 44)