1397 Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) the start of the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury.
2001 In Mecca, 35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
2004 251 people are trampled to death and 244 injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.