Lučenec and its surroundings were inhabited in the
Stone Ages. Slavs moved to this area in the 6th and 7th century as the first permanent settlers and the
Hungarians joined them in the 10th century. The first indirect mention of Lučenec was in 1128, when Lambert built a chapel in honour of Virgin Mary. The first direct mention of the settlement was in 1247 under the name
Luchunch, but until the first half of the 15th century it was only a village, and was located off the main trade routes. In 1442, Lučenec was conquered by the
Hussites troops under command of
John Jiskra of Brandýs and in 1451 the Battle of Lučenec took place near the village between the troops of
John Hunyadi and those of Jiskra, where the latter emerged victorious. After the fall of the
Fiľakovo (, ) castle in 1554, Lučenec was under the control of the
Ottomans and their vassals as part of
Budin Eyalet until capturing by Austrians in 1593. It was regained by Ottomans in 1596 and was again part of
Filek (Ottoman name for Fiľakovo) sanjak (its centre was in modern-day
Rimavská Sobota) in
Eğri Eyalet till 1686. The town was burned down many times until the first half of the 19th century, when during the
Revolutions of 1848/1849 it was occupied by the Russian imperial troops. The town underwent modernization in the 19th and 20th centuries, for example, new industries like brickworks or tanneries were built, telegraph line in 1865, and in 1871 it was connected to the railway connecting
Budapest () and
Žilina. Before the establishment of independent
Czechoslovakia in 1918, Lučenec was part of
Nógrád County within the
Kingdom of Hungary. In 1919, it was briefly part of the
Slovak Soviet Republic. In 1938, Lučenec was annexed to Hungary as a result of the
First Vienna Award, and this lasted until 1945 when it was returned to Czechoslovakia. Approximately 8.3% of current residents are ethnic Hungarians. The
Novohrad Museum and Gallery with a collection of over 30,000 artefacts moved to a building in Kubínyiho Square in 1985. ==Climate==