text:
1346

Year 1346 (MCCCXLVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. It was a year in the 14th century, in the midst of a period known in European history as the Late Middle Ages. In Asia that year, the Black Death came to the troops of the Golden Horde Khanate; the disease also affected the Genoese Europeans they were attacking, before spreading to the rest of Europe. In Central and East Asia, there was a series of revolts after Kazan Khan was killed in an uprising, and the Chagatai Khanate began to splinter and fall; several revolts in China began what would eventually lead to the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty. The Indian kingdom of Vijayanagara won several victories over Muslim conquerors in the north in this year as well.

In Eastern Europe, Stefan Dušan was proclaimed Tsar of Serbia on April 16 (Easter Sunday) at Skopje. In the nearby Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman emir Orhan married Byzantine princess Theodora as part of an alliance between her father John VI Kantakouzenos and the Ottomans. Ongoing civil wars in both Bulgaria and Byzantium continued. Denmark sold its portion of Northern Estonia to the Livonian Order of the Teutonic Knights after finally quelling the St. George's Night Uprising. In Central Europe, Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected Roman King on July 11. A number of banking families in Italy, including the Bardi family, faced bankruptcy in this year, and much of Italy suffered a famine. The Hundred Years' War between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England continued in Western Europe, as Edward III of England led an invasion onto the continent and won a number of victories.

Events

 * Spring – A severe Bubonic Plague epidemic begins in the Crimea, marking the first major epidemic of the Black Death.
 * March 18 – The French prepare to defend the channel coasts.
 * April 1–August 20 – Siege of Aiguillon: The French fail to take Aiguillon from its English defenders.
 * April 16 – The Serbian Empire is proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of Southeast Europe.
 * May–June – An English invasion fleet assembles at Portsmouth.
 * June 9 – Battle of St Pol de Léon: The English army defeats Charles of Blois in Brittany.
 * June 15 – Genoese forces led by Simone Vignoso land on the Mediterranean island of Chios and capture it from local Greek control within a week, apart from the Castle of Chios, which resists until 12 September.
 * June 20 – The English win a small victory at La Roche-Derrien in Brittany.
 * June 24 – The leaders of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres agree to support Edward III.
 * July – Edward III orders the closing of English ports to stop information from reaching France.
 * July 3 – The English fleet attempts to sail from Portsmouth to Normandy, but is forced back by contrary winds.
 * July 11 – Charles IV, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia, is elected King of the Romans.
 * July 11–12 – Edward III and the English army cross the English Channel and begin an invasion of France.
 * July 12–18 – The English raid and burn neighbouring towns and villages in the Cotentin Peninsula.
 * July 26 – Battle of Caen (1346): an English army captures and sacks the French city of Caen.
 * August 10 – Jaume Ferrer sets out from Majorca for the "River of Gold", the Senegal River.
 * August 24 – Battle of Blanchetaque: The English defeat the French.
 * August 26 – Battle of Crécy: The English defeat the French, in the first European battle where gunpowder is used.
 * September 4 – The English begin the siege of Calais.
 * September–October – Anglo-Gascon offensives overrun large parts of southwest France.
 * October 4 – The English capture and sack the French city of Poitiers.
 * October 17 – Battle of Neville's Cross: The English army defeats the Scots.
 * October–November – Several Mongol towns in the Crimea are cleared of inhabitants by the Black Death.
 * Repairs are made in the Hagia Sophia.

Western Asia
The Golden Horde's siege of Kaffa continued through 1346, despite a number of obstacles. They were struck with the Black Plague and forced to retreat, although not until the following year. As one Russian historian records:

"In the same year [1346], God's punishment struck the people in the eastern lands, in the town Ornach, and in Khastorokan, and in Sarai, and in Bezdezh, and in other towns in those lands; the mortality was great among the Bessermens, and among the Tartars, and among the Armenians and the Abkhazians, and among the Jews, and among the European foreigners, and among the Circassians, and among all who lived there, so that they could not bury them."

The many areas and peoples listed here represent much of Western Asia and the Caucasus. The "European foreigners" are those fighting with the Tartars in the Mongol-led siege of Kaffa. These Europeans would return to Europe the following year, carrying the plague with them. Travellers returning from the Crimea also carried the plague to Byzantium and Arabia, according to Greek and Arab scholars of the time.

Another account of the events in the Crimea reads: "It seemed to the besieged Christians as if arrows were shot out of the sky to strike and humble the pride of the infidels who rapidly died with marks on their bodies and lumps in their joints and several part, followed by putrid fever; all advice and help of the doctors being of no avail. Whereupon the Tartars, worn out by this pestilential disease, and falling on all sides as if thunderstruck, and seeing that they were perishing hopelessly, ordered the corpses to be placed upon their engines and thrown into the city of Kaffa. Accordingly were the bodies of the dead hurled over the walls, so that the Christians were not able to hide or protect themselves from this danger, although they carried away as many dead as possible and threw them into the sea. But soon the whole air became infected, and the water poisoned, and such a pestilence grew up that scarcely one out of a thousand was able to escape."

Modern scholars consider this one of the earliest, and most deadly, biological attacks in world history, though in the end the Mongols were forced to retreat. Early sources state that the plague began its spread in the spring of 1346 at the River Don near the Black Sea, then spread throughout Russia, the Caucasus, and the Genovese provinces within the year.

Further south in Georgia, King George the Brilliant died and was succeeded by King David IX. King George V had managed to increase the Georgian realm to all of Transcaucasia. However, after 1346 the Kingdom began to decline, caused by George's death and the devastating spread of the plague throughout the area soon afterwards.

Central and East Asia
Central Asia was marked in 1346 by the continued disintegration of the Mongol's domains, as well as by Muslim expansion. Kazan Khan, emperor of the Chagatai Khanate, was killed by the forces of Qazaghan in this year, putting an end to the Chagtai Khanate's status as a unified empire. Qazghan was the leader of the group of Turkish nobles opposed to Mongol rule. Qazghan had been wounded by Kazan's forces earlier in the year, but rather than taking advantage of his opponent's weakness, Kazan retreated and many of his troops abandoned him.

To the east, Kashmir was conquered by Shah Mir, the first Muslim to rule the area. Kathmandu was also conquered in this year. However, Muslim expansion did suffer some defeats in southern India. The Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagara in India conquered the Hoysalas and celebrated its "festival of victory", strengthening their status as a legitimate Hindu empire in opposition to Muslim rule in the north. The Delhi Sultanate in Northern India, Muhammad bin Tughluq, had a particular disdain for Hinduism, and the Deccan culture of the south. Telugu chieftains gathered in opposition to the Sultan in this year and celebrated victory.

Further east, Ibn Battuta traveled from Southeast Asia to Khanbaliq (Beijing) in China. Although the Muslim leaders there extended him a warm welcome, they advised him to leave the city soon. A civil war had caused the Khan to flee the city, and riots were becoming more and more widespread. Meanwhile, T'aigo Wangsa, a Korean Buddhist monk, traveled to China to receive training under the guidance of Buddhist leader Shih-wu. T'aigo later founded the T'aigo sect of Korean Buddhism.

Scandinavia
In 1346 Denmark sold Northern Estonia (Danish Estonia) to the Teutonic Knights following the end of an uprising and conflict between the pro-Danish party (bishop Olaf of Lindanise) and the pro-German party (captain Marquard Breide), called the St. George's Night Uprising. The Danish dominions in were sold for 10,000 marks to the Livonian Order, ignoring the promise by Christopher II in 1329 never to abandon or sell its Estonian territories. The King of Denmark even made a public statement "repenting" for that broken promise, and asked forgiveness from the pope.

Balkans and Asia Minor
In the Balkans, on April 16 (Easter Sunday), Stefan Dušan was crowned in Skopje as Tsar of the new Serbian Empire, which now occupied much of southeastern Europe. Also in 1346, both Bulgaria and Byzantium (which at this time covered most of Greece) were in the middle of a series of civil wars. At the same time, the Christian-held islands and possessions around the Aegean Sea were subject to Turkish raids.

Orhan, the Ottoman Turkish prince of Bithynia was married to Theodora, daughter of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. The Greek clergy believed that the marriage of a Christian princess and a prominent Muslim would increase the region's power. Orhan already had several other wives, and although Theodora was permitted to keep her religion, she was required to spend the rest of her life in an Islamic harem. Kantakouzenos hoped that Orhan would become his ally in any future wars, but Orhan, like his fellow Turks, became his enemy in the Genoese war. As part of the alliance, the Ottoman prince was permitted to sell the Christians he had captured at Constantinople as slaves in the public market.

Central
On July 11, Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In consequence of an alliance between his father and Pope Clement VI, the relentless enemy of the emperor Louis IV, Charles was chosen Roman king in opposition to Louis by some of the princes at Rhens. He had previously promised to be subservient to Clement, he confirmed the papacy in the possession of wide territories, promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to take no part in Italian affairs, and to defend and protect the church.

Charles IV was at this time in a very weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was derisively referred to by some as a "priest's king" (Pfaffenkönig). Many bishops and nearly all of the Imperial cities remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian. Charles further endangered his high position when he backed the losing side in the Hundred Years' War. He lost his father and many of his best knights at the Battle of Crécy in August 1346. He himself was wounded on the same field.

Meanwhile, in Italy a number of banks in Florence collapsed due to internal problems in Florence, contributed by King Edward III of England defaulting on some of his loans. Most notably, the Bardi family went bankrupt in this year. Italy also suffered a famine, making it difficult for the Papacy to recruit troops for the attack on Smyrna. The Venetians, however, organized an alliance uniting several European parties (Sancta Unio), composed notably of the Knights Hospitaller, which carried out five consecutive attacks on İzmir and the Western Anatolian coastline controlled by Turkish states. In the realm of technology, papermaking reached Holland, and firearms made their way to Northern Germany in this year. The earliest records in the area place them in the city of Aachen.

Western Europe
On July 11, King Edward III crossed the English Channel and arrived in Normandy the following day with 1,600 ships. He took the ports of La Hogue and Barfleur with overwhelming force and continued inland towards Caen, taking towns along the way. The French mounted a defence at Caen, but were ultimately defeated. The French had been planning to cross the channel and invade England with a force of about 14,000 led by Jean le Franc, but Edward's attack forced them onto the defensive.

The French king, Philippe VI, destroyed several bridges to prevent Edward's advance, but the English took the town of Poissy in August and repaired its bridge in order to advance. The French king mounted a defence near the forest at Crécy, which ended in another English victory. Edward then proceeded to Calais, laying siege to the city from September 4. Meanwhile, Jean de France, King Philippe's son, besieged the city of Aigullon, but with no success. Philippe also urged the Scots to continue the fight against England to the north. The Scots, believing that the English were preoccupied with Calais, marched into England toward Durham in October, but were met and defeated by an English force of knights and clergymen at the Battle of Neville's Cross, and King David of Scotland was captured. The Irish also mounted a brief resistance, but were similarly defeated. Before the end of the year, Edward also captured Poitiers and the towns surrounding Tonnay-Charente.

For his role in the Battle of Crécy, Edward, the Black Prince, Philippe VI honoured the bravery of John I, Count of Luxemburg and King of Bohemia (also known as John the Blind) by adopting his arms and motto: "Ich Dien" or "I Serve". John's decades of fighting had already made his name widely known throughout Europe, and his heroic death at Crécy became the subject of legend, recorded by writers such as Froissart.

Births

 * July 20 – Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, English princess, daughter of King Edward III of England (d. 1361)
 * date unknown – Eustache Deschamps, French poet (d. 1406)

Deaths

 * February 10 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (b. 1282)
 * March 28 – Venturino of Bergamo, Dominican preacher (b. 1304)
 * August – Muhammad Aytimur, leader of the Sarbadars of Sabzewar (alternative date is September)
 * August 26 (killed in the Battle of Crécy):
 * Charles II, Count of Alençon (b. 1297)
 * Louis I, Count of Flanders (b. 1304)
 * Louis II, Count of Blois
 * John of Bohemia (b. 1296)
 * Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1320)
 * October – Raghnall Mac Ruaidhrí, Scottish magnate
 * October 17 (killed in the Battle of Neville's Cross):
 * John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray
 * Maurice de Moravia, Earl of Strathearn
 * November 14 – Ostasio I da Polenta, Lord of Ravenna (assassinated)
 * November 27 – Saint Gregory of Sinai (b. c. 1260)
 * date unknown
 * Eustace Folville, English outlaw
 * Hélion de Villeneuve, Grand Master of the Knights of St John

title: 1346


text:
1348

Year 1348 (MCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1348th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 348th year of the 2nd millennium, the 48th year of the 14th century, and the 9th and pre-final year of the 1340s decade.

January–December

 * January – Gonville Hall, the forerunner of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England, is founded.
 * January 25 – The 6.9-magnitude 1348 Friuli earthquake centered in Northern Italy is felt across Europe. Contemporary minds link the quake with the Black Death, fueling fears that the Biblical Apocalypse has arrived.
 * February 2 – Battle of Strėva: the Teutonic Order secure a victory over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Sources tell of a blow to Lithuanian leadership, one that the Teutonic Order could not fully make use of due to the Black Death.
 * April 7 – Charles University in Prague, founded the previous year by papal bull, is granted privileges by Charles I, King of Bohemia, in a golden bull.
 * April 23 – Edward III of England creates the first English order of chivalry, the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
 * By June 24 – The Black Death pandemic reaches England, having probably been brought across the English Channel by fleas on rats aboard a ship from Gascony to the south coast port of Melcombe (modern-day Weymouth, Dorset); by November it will have reached London and by 1350 will have killed one third to a half of its population.
 * July 6 – A papal bull is issued by Pope Clement VI, protecting Jews against popular aggression during the Black Death pandemic.
 * November 1 – The anti-royalist Union of Valencia attacks the Jews of Murviedro because they are serfs of the King of Valencia and thus "royalists".
 * November 18 – Emperor Kōmyō of Japan abdicates the throne in favour of his son Emperor Sukō, making them the second and third of the Northern Court (Ashikaga Pretenders).

Date unknown

 * The Black Death pandemic spreads to central and western Europe and to Cairo.
 * Stefan the Mighty, Emperor of Serbia, conquers Thessaly and Epirus.
 * The Pskov Republic gains independence from the Novgorod Republic with the treaty of Bolotovo.
 * Hundred Years' War (1337–1360): The effects of the Black Death cause a de facto truce to be observed between England and France until 1355.
 * Estimation: Hangzhou in Mongolian China becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Cairo, capital of Mamluk Egypt.

Births

 * April 11 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1385)
 * date unknown
 * John Fitzalan, 1st Lord Arundel (d. 1379)
 * Alice Perrers, politically active English royal mistress and courtier (d. 1400)

Deaths

 * February 2 – Narimantas, Christian Lithuanian prince of Pinsk (Battle of Strėva)
 * June 9 – Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (Black Death) (b. 1290)
 * June 13 – Don Juan Manuel, prince of Villena, Spanish writer (b. 1282)
 * July 1 – Joan of England, princess (Black Death) (b. 1333/34)
 * August 20 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke, English noble (b. 1319)
 * August 23 – John de Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. c.1275)
 * October 2 – Alice de Lacy, 4th Countess of Lincoln, English noblewoman (b. 1281)
 * date unknown
 * Laura de Noves, French countess, presumed beloved of Petrarch (b. 1310)
 * Pietro Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (Black Death) (b. 1280)
 * Umur of Aydın, Emir (killed in action) (b. c.1309)
 * Giovanni Villani, chronicler of Florence (Black Death) (b. c. 1276)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 1348


text:
1360s

The 1360s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1360, and ended on December 31, 1369.

Significant people

 * The Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang), founder of the Ming dynasty

title: 1360s


text:
1364

Year 1364 (MCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * February 15 – Joint kings Magnus Eriksson and Haakon Magnusson of Sweden are both deposed by noblemen, who instead elect Magnus's nephew Albrekt of Mecklenburg the new king of Sweden.
 * February 20 – David II of Scotland marries Margaret Drummond.
 * April 8 – Charles V becomes King of France.
 * May 12 – The Jagiellonian University is founded in Kraków.
 * July 28 – Battle of Cascina: Forces of the Republic of Florence, led by Galeotto Malatesta, defeat those of Pisa.
 * August 6 – Ignatius Saba I becomes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Tur Abdin.
 * September 10 – Philip of Anjou becomes Titular Emperor of Constantinople and Prince of Taranto.
 * September 29 – Battle of Auray: The Breton War of Succession ends, with the victory of the House of Montfort over Charles of Blois.

Date unknown

 * Vladislav I (also known as Vlaicu-Vodă) becomes voivode of Wallachia.
 * Bogdana Monastery is built in Moldavia.
 * Rana Kshetra Singh succeeds Rana Hamir Singh, as ruler of Mewar (part of modern-day western India).
 * Anavema Reddy succeeds Anavota Reddy, as ruler of the Reddy Dynasty in Andhra Pradesh (part of modern-day southern India).
 * The Kingdom of Ava is established by Thado Minbya in modern-day northern Burma. Some chronicles and sources however date the event in 1365.

Births

 * November 30 – John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel, English soldier (d. 1390)
 * December 16 – Emperor Manuel III of Trebizond (d. 1417)
 * date unknown
 * Christine de Pizan, French writer (d. 1430)
 * Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1431)
 * Gyaltsab Je, first throne holder of the Gelug tradition of Buddhism (d. 1432)
 * Qāḍī Zāda al-Rūmī, Persian mathematician (d. 1436)

Deaths

 * April 8 – King John II of France (b. 1319)
 * June 19 – Elisenda of Montcada, queen consort and regent of Aragon (b. 1292)
 * June 30 – Arnošt of Pardubice, Archbishop of Prague (b. 1297)
 * August 5 – Emperor Kōgon of Japan (b. 1313)
 * September 10 – Robert of Taranto
 * September 29 – Charles I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1319)
 * date unknown
 * Nicholas Alexander, voivode of Wallachia
 * Gajah Mada, prime minister of the Majapahit empire
 * King Valdemar III of Denmark (b. 1314)

title: 1364


text:
1365

Year 1365 (MCCCLXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * March 3 – Battle of Gataskogen: Albert of Mecklenburg defeats and captures Magnus Eriksson, obtaining the throne of Sweden.
 * March 12 – The University of Vienna is founded.
 * June 2 – The Hungarian occupation of Vidin begins, with the capture of the city by Louis I of Hungary's forces, and the imprisonment of Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria.
 * October – Alexandrian Crusade: The city of Alexandria in Egypt is sacked by an allied force of Peter I of Cyprus and the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.
 * November 30 – The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy chronicling the journey of the Majapahit king, Hayam Wuruk, through his kingdom, is completed by Mpu Prapanca.

Date unknown

 * Adrianopole (modern-day Edirne) becomes the capital city of the Ottoman Sultanate.
 * In modern-day southern India, Bahmani Sultan Mohammed Shah I invades the Vijayanagara Empire.
 * The Sukhothai Kingdom in northern Thailand becomes a tributary state of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
 * Muhammed V begins building the Maristan of Granada (a hospital) in Granada (in modern-day Spain).
 * The Chagatai Khanate defeats Timur in the Battle of Tashkent.

Births

 * January 27 – Edward of Angoulême, French-born royal prince of England (d. 1370)
 * July 25 – U of Goryeo, Korean king (d. 1389)
 * date unknown – Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī, Baghdadi Sufi author (d. 1424)
 * approximate date – Violant of Bar, queen regent of Aragon (d. 1431)

Deaths

 * March 8 – Princess Noguk of the Yuan dynasty and queen consort of Goryeo
 * May 17 – Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
 * July 27 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (b. 1339)
 * December 8 – Nicholas II, Duke of Opava (b. 1288)
 * date unknown – Zhu Derun, Chinese painter and poet (b. 1294)

title: 1365


text:
1388

Year 1388 (MCCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * February – The entire court of Richard II of England are convicted of treason by the Merciless Parliament, under the influence of the Lords Appellant, and are all either executed or exiled. Richard II effectively becomes a puppet of the Lords Appellant.
 * April 9 – Battle of Näfels: Glarus, in alliance with the Old Swiss Confederacy, decisively defeat the Habsburgs, despite being outnumbered sixteen to one.
 * May 18 – Battle of Buyur Lake: A Chinese Ming invasion force under General Lan Yu defeats a large Mongolian army under Uskhal Khan Tögüs Temür, and captures 100 members of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Uskhal Khan is killed whilst trying to escape, and is succeeded as Khan of Mongolia by his rival, Jorightu. The invading Chinese army destroys Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire.
 * August 5 – Battle of Otterburn: A Scottish army, led by James Douglas, defeats an English army, capturing their leader, Harry Hotspur. Douglas is killed during the battle.
 * August 27 – Battle of Bileća: The Bosnians check the Ottoman advance.
 * December 12 – Maria of Enghien sells the Lordship of Argos and Nauplia to the Republic of Venice.

Date unknown

 * Mircea I of Wallachia takes control of the region of Dobruja, thus preventing its occupation by the Ottomans.
 * Petru of Moldavia receives Pokuttya, as a pawn for a loan to the Polish king.
 * The revision of Wycliffe's Bible is completed by John Purvey, and Wyclif's followers, known as the Lollards, begin to be persecuted in England.
 * John of Gaunt, the uncle of Richard II of England, makes peace with Castile and gives up his claim to the Castilian throne, by allowing his daughter Catherine of Lancaster to marry Prince Henry, the eldest son of John I of Castile.
 * The title of Prince of Asturias is created.
 * Ramesuan is reinstated as King of Ayutthaya (modern-day southern Thailand), after dethroning and executing 17-year-old King Thong Lan.
 * Goryeo Revolution: General Yi Seong-gye begins a four year revolution in Goryeo (modern-day Korea), after being ordered by King U of Goryeo to attack the superior Chinese army. King U is forced from power, and replaced by his son Chang.
 * Tran Ngung overthrows Tran Hien as King of Vietnam.
 * Omar I is succeeded by Sa'id, as King of the Kanem-Bornu Empire (modern-day east Chad and Nigeria). Sa'id is succeeded in the same year by Kade Alunu. Omar and Sa'id are both killed by Bilala invaders from the west.
 * Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II succeeds Firuz Shah Tughlaq as Sultan of Delhi.
 * Charles VI of France takes complete control of the government, ending the regency of his uncle, Philip the Bold.
 * The University of Cologne is established; by the 21st century it will be the largest university in Germany.
 * Cozia Monastery is built in Wallachia.
 * Ljubostinja Monastery is built in Serbia.

Births

 * September 14 – Claudius Clavus, Danish geographer
 * date unknown
 * Juliana Berners, English writer
 * Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, second son of Henry IV of England (d. 1421)
 * Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury (d. 1428)
 * Dai Jin, Chinese painter (d. 1462)
 * Yiğit Şahiner, Turkish musician, historian

Deaths

 * March 4 – Thomas Usk, English author
 * August 14 – James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas (killed in battle)
 * July 15 – Agnes of Durazzo, titular Latin empress consort of Constantinople (d. 1313)
 * August 15 – Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio, Bohemian theologian
 * date unknown
 * Simon de Burley, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
 * Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq of Delhi
 * Uskhal Khan, Emperor Tianyuan of Northern Yuan

title: 1388


text:
1394

Year 1394 (MCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * February 28 – Richard II of England grants Geoffrey Chaucer 20 pounds a year for life, for his services as a diplomat and Clerk of The King's Works.
 * June 11 – The Venetians take over possession of Argos, from Despot Theodore I Palaiologos.
 * September 17 – King Charles VI of France orders the expulsion of all Jews from France.
 * September 28 – Antipope Benedict XIII is elected to succeed Antipope Clement VII.
 * October 10 – Battle of Karanovasa: Wallachia (now southern Romania) resists an invasion by the Ottomans, and their Serb and Bulgarian vassals.
 * November 29 – The capital city of the Joseon dynasty (in present-day Korea) is moved from Gaegyeong (now Gaeseong) to Hanseong (now Seoul).
 * December 6 – The astronomical clock of St. Nicholas Church in Stralsund is finished and signed by Nikolaus Lilienfeld.

Date unknown

 * The Ottomans conquer Thessaly (now eastern Greece) and begin an eight-year siege of Constantinople, in the Byzantine Empire. In the same year, they begin building the Anadoluhisarı fortress to defend themselves during the siege.
 * Ashikaga Yoshimitsu retires as shōgun of Japan, and is succeeded by his son, Ashikaga Yoshimochi.
 * Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine are built in Hanseong (now Seoul).
 * After the death of Sultan Mahmud II, civil war breaks out in the Delhi Sultanate, splitting the state between east and west.
 * Battle of Ros-Mhic-Thriúin: The Kingdom of Leinster, led by King Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh, defeats an invading army from England, led by King Richard II of England and Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March.
 * Ştefan I succeeds Roman I, as Prince of Moldavia (now Moldova and eastern Romania).
 * Abu Zayyan II succeeds his brother, Abul Hadjdjadj I, as ruler of the Abdalwadid dynasty in present-day eastern Algeria.
 * Abd al-Aziz II succeeds Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II, as ruler of the Hafsid dynasty in present-day Tunisia.
 * The Allgäuer Brauhaus brewery is founded in present-day Germany.
 * The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China orders the Ministry of Public Works to issue a public notice, that every 100 households in the lijia system are to set aside 2 mu (1,390 m2) of land, for planting mulberry and jujube trees.

Births

 * March 4 – Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration (d. 1460)
 * June 4 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
 * July 12 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, Japanese shōgun (d. 1441)
 * July 25 – James I of Scotland (d. 1437)
 * November 24 – Charles, Duke of Orléans, French poet (d. 1465)
 * date unknown
 * Ulugh Beg, Timurid ruler and astronomer (d. 1449)
 * Ikkyū, Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet (d. 1481)
 * Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk (d. 1415)
 * probable – Cymburgis of Masovia, Duchess of Austria

Deaths

 * June 25 – Dorothea of Montau, German hermitess (b. 1347)
 * March 17 – Louis, Count of Enghien, Count of Conversano and Brienne
 * March 24 – Constance of Castile, claimant to the throne of Castile
 * June 4 – Mary de Bohun, English countess, married to Henry IV of England
 * June 7 – Anne of Bohemia, queen of Richard II of England (plague) (b. 1366)
 * August 27 – Emperor Chōkei of Japan (b. 1343)
 * September 16 – Antipope Clement VII (b. 1342)
 * December 28 – Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, basilissa of Epirus (b. 1350)
 * date unknown
 * John Hawkwood, English mercenary (b. 1320)
 * Fazlallah Astarabadi, Persian founder of the mystical Hurufism sect (executed)
 * Sultan Mahmud II of the Delhi Sultanate
 * Former King Gongyang of Goryeo (b. 1345)

title: 1394


text:
1415

Year 1415 (MCDXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * April 30 – Frederick I becomes Elector of Brandenburg.
 * June 5 – The Council of Constance condemns the writings of John Wycliffe and asks Jan Hus to recant in public his heresy; after his denial, he is tried for heresy, excommunicated, then sentenced to be burned at the stake.
 * July 4 – Pope Gregory XII officially opens the Council of Constance, and then abdicates. He is the last pope to resign, until Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
 * July 6 – Jan Hus is burned at the stake in Konstanz.
 * July 31 – Henry V of England is informed of the Southampton Plot against him; he has the leaders arrested and executed, before invading France.
 * August 21 – Conquest of Ceuta: Portugal conquers the city of Ceuta from the Moors, initiating the Portuguese Empire, and European expansion and colonialism.
 * October 25 – Battle of Agincourt: Archers of Henry V of England are instrumental in defeating a massed army of French knights.

Date unknown

 * Avignon Pope Benedict XIII orders all Talmuds to be delivered to the diocese, and held until further notice.
 * The Swiss Confederation takes the territory of Aargau from the house of Habsburg.
 * The Grand Canal of China is reinstated by this year after it had fallen out of use; restoration began in 1411, and was a response by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to improve the grain shipment system of tribute traveling from south to north, towards his new capital at Beijing. With this action, the food supply crisis is solved by the end of the year.

Births

 * March 10 – Vasily II of Moscow, Grand Prince (d. 1462)
 * March 14 – Wilhelm II, Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen (d. 1444)
 * May 3 – Cecily Neville, English duchess, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1495)
 * September 12 – John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, English magnate (d. 1461)
 * September 16 – Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Baroness Bergavenny, English baroness (d. 1448)
 * September 21 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1493)
 * October 18 – Heinrich von Dissen, German theologian (d. 1484)
 * November 26 – Han Myung-hoi, Korean politician (d. 1487)
 * December 1 – Jan Długosz, Polish historian (d. 1480)
 * date unknown
 * Benedetto Accolti, Italian jurist and historian (d. 1464)
 * Rennyo, Japanese Buddhist leader (d. 1499)
 * Chakkaphat Phaen Phaeo, Lan Xang king (d. 1481)

Deaths

 * April 15 – Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek humanist
 * July 6 – Jan Hus, Bohemian reformer (burned at the stake) (b. 1369)
 * July 19 – Philippa of Lancaster, queen of John I of Portugal (plague) (b. 1359)
 * August 2 – Thomas Grey, conspirator against King Henry V (executed) (b. 1384)
 * August 5
 * Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (executed) (b. 1375)
 * Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (executed) (b. 1370)
 * September 17 – Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (killed in battle) (b. 1367)
 * October 13 – Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel, English military leader (b. 1381)
 * October 25 (killed in Battle of Agincourt)
 * John I of Alençon (b. 1385)
 * Charles d'Albret, Count of Dreux and Constable of France
 * Antoine, Duke of Brabant (b. 1384)
 * Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk (b. 1394)
 * Frederick of Lorraine, Count of Vaudémont (b. 1371)
 * Philip II, Count of Nevers (b. 1389)
 * Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York (b. 1373)
 * Dafydd Gam, Welsh nobleman (b. c. 1380)

title: 1415


text:
1431

Year 1431 (MCDXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * January 9 – Pretrial investigations for Joan of Arc begin at Rouen in France, which is under English occupation.
 * February 21 – The trial of Joan of Arc for heresy begins.
 * March – Alexander I Aldea takes the throne of Wallachia with support from Alexander I of Moldavia.
 * March 3 – Pope Eugene IV succeeds Pope Martin V, to become the 207th pope.
 * May 30 – 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen.
 * June 16 – The Teutonic Knights and Švitrigaila sign the Treaty of Christmemel, creating an anti-Polish alliance.
 * September – Battle of Inverlochy: Donald Balloch defeats the Royalists.
 * October 30 – The Treaty of Medina del Campo is signed, consolidating peace between Portugal and Castille.
 * November 9 – The Battle of Ilava: The Hungarians defeat the Hussite army.
 * November 18 – A treaty in Suceava concludes an attack on Poland, launched this year by Alexander I of Moldavia during the Lithuanian Civil War.
 * December 13 – Vlad, future Prince of Wallachia as Vlad II Dracul, is made a member of the Order of the Dragon. Because of this, his son Vlad III the Impaler will inspire the literary figure named Dracula.
 * December 16 – Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre-Dame de Paris.

Date unknown

 * The University of Poitiers is founded.
 * The Ayutthaya Kingdom besieges Angkor and sacks the Khmer capital, ending the Khmer Empire.
 * Nezahualcoyotl is crowned Tlatoani of the Kingdom of Texcoco.
 * Byzantine–Ottoman Wars: The Ottoman governor of Thessaly Turahan Bey breaks through the Hexamilion wall for the second time, and ravages the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Births

 * January 1 – Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503)
 * October 26 – Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Italian politician (d. 1505)
 * November or December – Vlad III the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (d. 1476)
 * date unknown
 * William Elphinstone, Scottish statesman (d. 1514)
 * Helena Palaiologina, Despotess of Serbia (d. 1473)
 * Ladislaus Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (d. 1457)
 * probable
 * William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (d. 1483)
 * John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu, English politician (d. 1471)
 * François Villon, French poet
 * Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, A member of the House of Drăculești, as well as the Voivode of Wallachia 1456-1462

Deaths

 * January 25 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
 * February 20 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
 * April 1 – Nuno Álvares Pereira, Portuguese general and religious figure
 * April 5 – Bernard I, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1364)
 * April 19 – Adolph III, Count of Waldeck (b. 1362)
 * May 30 – Joan of Arc, French soldier and saint (b. c. 1412)
 * September 6 – Demetrios Laskaris Leontares, Byzantine soldier and statesman
 * December 8 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Polish and Lithuanian princess (b. 1408)
 * date unknown
 * Makhdoom Ali Mahimi, Indian Sufi mystic
 * Stanisław of Skarbimierz, Polish theologian (b. 1360)
 * Violant of Bar, queen regent of Aragon (b. 1365)

title: 1431


text:
1437

Year 1437 (MCDXXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * February 20–21 – James I of Scotland is fatally stabbed at Perth in a failed coup by his uncle and former ally, Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.
 * March 11–25 – Nova Scorpii AD 1437 is observed from Seoul, Korea.
 * March 25 – In a ceremony in Holyrood Abbey, James II of Scotland is crowned at the age of six by Pope Eugene IV. For security of the crown, the capital of Scotland is moved to Edinburgh, from Dunfermline.
 * April 23 – Malmö in Denmark (now Sweden) receives its current coat of arms.
 * June – A peasant army gathers at Bobâlna during the Transylvanian peasant revolt. The revolt will be crushed by January of next year.
 * September 20–October 19 – A Portuguese attempt to conquer Tangier fails, and Prince Ferdinand is taken hostage.
 * December 9 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, dies, and is succeeded by Frederick III.

Date unknown

 * Sandside Chase in the north of Scotland: Clan Mackay defeat the Clan Gunn of Caithness.
 * The Kazan Khanate is established.
 * Ulugh Beg's Zij-i Sultani star catalogue is published.

Births

 * March 7 – Anna of Saxony, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1512)
 * April 30 – János Thurzó, Hungarian businessman (d. 1508)
 * July 22 – John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, English Baron (d. 1498)
 * October 4 – John IV, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1463)
 * date unknown – Isaac Abravanel, Jewish statesman (d. 1508)
 * probable – Elizabeth Woodville, Queen consort of King Edward IV of England (d. 1492)

Deaths

 * January 3 – Catherine of Valois, queen of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
 * January 22 – Niccolò de' Niccoli, Italian Renaissance humanist (b. 1364)
 * February 21 – King James I of Scotland (b. 1394) (murdered)
 * March 26 – Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, Scottish nobleman and regicide (executed)
 * June 10 – Joan of Navarre, Queen of England (b. 1370)
 * November 20 – Thomas Langley, cardinal bishop of Durham and lord chancellor of England (b. 1363)
 * December 9 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368)
 * date unknown – John II Stanley of the Isle of Man

title: 1437


text:
1457

Year 1457 (MCDLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * February 11 – After years of captivity and absence from the Ming throne, the Zhengtong Emperor of China is reinstated, as the Tianshun Emperor.
 * February 24 – Charles VIII of Sweden is declared deposed. The Archbishop of Sweden, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna, and statesman Erik Axelsson Tott become co-regents of Sweden. The throne is then offered to Christian I of Denmark and Norway.
 * March 6 – King James II of Scotland decrees that ". . . ye futebawe and ye golf be uterly cryt done and not usyt . . ", the first historical mention of the game of golf.
 * April 12 – Ştefan cel Mare secures the throne of Moldavia, which he retains for the next 47 years.
 * June 23 – Christian I is elected king of Sweden, ending the war between Sweden and Denmark and restoring the Kalmar Union.
 * June 29 – The Dutch city of Dordrecht is devastated by fire.
 * August 14 – The Mainz Psalter, the second major book printed with movable type in the West, the first to be wholly finished mechanically (including colour), and the first to carry a printed date, is printed for the Elector of Mainz.
 * September 2 – Battle of Ujëbardha: One of Skanderbeg's most important victories is won against the Ottoman army, in the open field.

Date unknown

 * Albrechts University is founded at Freiburg im Breisgau.
 * Edo Castle is built by Ōta Dōkan in modern-day Tokyo.

Births

 * January 18 – Antonio Trivulzio, seniore, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1508)
 * January 28 – King Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
 * February 2 – Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Italo-Spanish historian and diplomat (d. 1526)
 * February 13 – Mary of Burgundy, sovereign duchess regnant of Burgundy, married to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1482)
 * August 20 – Seongjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (d. 1494)
 * September 21 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Duchess of Bavaria, Polish princess (d. 1502)
 * November 16 – Beatrice of Naples, Hungarian queen (d. 1508)
 * date unknown
 * Jacob Obrecht, Dutch composer (d. 1505)
 * George Nevill, Duke of Bedford (d. 1483)
 * probable
 * Sebastian Brant, German humanist and satirist (d. 1521)
 * Filippino Lippi, Florentine painter (d. 1504)
 * Thomas West, 8th Baron De La Warr (d. 1525)

Deaths

 * March 14 – Jingtai Emperor of China (b. 1428)
 * March 16 – László Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (b. 1433)
 * May 22 – Saint Rita of Cascia, Italian saint (b. 1381)
 * August 1 – Lorenzo Valla, Italian humanist
 * August 19 – Andrea del Castagno, Italian painter (b. 1421)
 * September 12 – Gabriele Sforza, Archbishop of Milan (b. 1423)
 * September 14 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (b. 1432)
 * September 22 – Peter II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1418)
 * November 3 – Ludwig II, Count of Württemberg-Urach, German noble (b. 1439)
 * November 23 – King Ladislaus Posthumus of Bohemia and Hungary (b. 1440)
 * December 24 – Danjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (b. 1441)
 * date unknown
 * Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza, ruler of Khurasan (b. 1422)
 * Bartolomeu Perestrello, Portuguese navigator and explorer (b. 1395)

title: 1457


text:
1458

Year 1458 (MCDLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1458th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 458th year of the 2nd millennium, the 58th year of the 15th century, and the 9th year of the 1450s decade.

January–December

 * January 24 – Matthias Corvinus becomes king of Hungary, at age 14.
 * March 25 – The Loveday is staged in London, by which Henry VI of England attempts to unite the warring factions who have triggered the War of the Roses.
 * August 19 – Pope Pius II succeeds Pope Callixtus III, as the 210th pope.
 * October 24 – King Afonso V of Portugal conquers Ksar es-Seghir, in North Africa.

Date unknown

 * Magdalen College, Oxford, is founded.
 * George of Poděbrady becomes king of Bohemia.
 * The Ottoman authorities issue a decree to protect the Acropolis, after they conquer Athens.
 * The Jewish community is expelled from Erfurt (Germany); their houses are sold, and the synagogue turned into an arsenal.
 * Moctezuma I, Tlatoani of Tenochtitlán, leads an expedition to the city-state Coixtlahuaca in Mixtec territory, but is defeated.
 * A major volcano erupts.

Births

 * February 15 – Ivan the Young, Ruler of Tver (d. 1490)
 * April 9 – Camilla Battista da Varano, Italian saint (d. 1524)
 * April 13 – John II, Duke of Cleves (d. 1521)
 * May 2 – Eleanor of Viseu, Portuguese princess and later Queen of Portugal (d. 1525)
 * August 18 – Lorenzo Pucci, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1531)
 * October 3 – Saint Casimir, Prince of Poland and Duke of Lithuania (d. 1484)
 * October 16 – Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, German prince (d. 1526)
 * December 25 – Amago Tsunehisa, Japanese warlord (d. 1541)
 * date unknown
 * Jacob Obrecht, Dutch composer (d. 1505)
 * Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (d. 1530)
 * probable
 * Thomas Docwra, Grand Prior of the English Knights Hospitaller (d. 1527)
 * Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (d. 1483)

Deaths

 * January 17 – Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse (1413-1458) (b. 1402)
 * February 20 – Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia
 * March 25 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana, Spanish poet (b. 1398)
 * April 11 – Helena Palaiologina, Queen of Cyprus (b. 1428)
 * June 27 – King Alfonso V of Aragon (b. 1396)
 * July 28 – John II of Cyprus
 * August 6 – Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378)
 * September 7 – Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Queen consort of Aragon and Naples (b. 1401)
 * December 26 – Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
 * date unknown – Isabelle Romée, mother of Joan of Arc

title: 1458


text:
1196

Year 1196 (MCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * December – Emperor Alexios III (Angelos) is threatened by Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who demands 5,000 pounds of gold or the Byzantines will face an invasion, this due to a convoluted system of dynastic claims of Henry gaining control of Alexios' daughter Irene Doukaina. The amount is negotiated down to 1,600 pounds of gold – with Alexios plundering the imperial tombs within the Church of the Holy Apostles – as well as levying a heavy and unpopular tax, known as the Alamanikon (or German Tax).

Europe

 * Spring – Henry VI persuades a diet at Würzburg. He manages to convince the majority of the German nobles and clergy to recognize his 2-year-old son, Frederick II, as king of the Romans and heir to the imperial throne. However, Archbishop Adolf of Cologne thwarts the will of the diet and arouses the resistance of several Saxon and Thuringian nobles against Henry, who realizes that he is unable to establish a hereditary monarchy (see Erbreichsplan) in the Holy Roman Empire without resistance.
 * April 23 – Béla III dies after a 23-year reign in which he has supported the former Byzantine emperor Isaac II (Angelos) against the invading Bulgarians. Having made the Hungarian court one of the most brilliant in Europe and made his hereditary monarchy. Béla is succeeded by his 22-year-old son Emeric as ruler of Hungary, Croatia and Dalmatia (until 1204).
 * April 25 – King Alfonso II (the Chaste) dies after a 32-year reign at Perpignan. He leaves a will that divides his realm (Aragon loses Provence) and is succeeded by his 21-year-old son Peter II (the Catholic).
 * Battle of Serres: Bulgarian forces under Tsar Ivan Asen I defeat the Byzantine army near Serres. During the winter Ivan continues his campaign in Central Macedonia and captures many Byzantine fortresses.
 * Ivan Asen I is stabbed to death by Ivanko, a Bulgarian boyar (aristocrat), who is accused of having an affair with Ivan's wife's sister. He is succeeded by his brother Kaloyan as co-ruler of the Bulgarian Empire.

England

 * Spring – William FitzOsbert, a rebel leader, leads an uprising of the poor against the rich in London. He gathers over 52,000 supporters, stocks of weapons are cached throughout the city by breaking into the houses of the rich. Finally, the riots are suppressed and William is hanged, drawn and quartered by orders of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury.
 * England is struck by pestilence and a resulting famine.

Asia

 * Ch'oe Ch'ung-hŏn, a Korean general, massacres his rivals and restores unity. After a coup d'état, he takes full power and becomes prime-minister of the Korean state Goryeo (until 1219).

Births

 * January 3 – Tsuchimikado, emperor of Japan (d. 1231)

 * February 21 – Emre, Gizilgen of Konuşmalı Pubcast (d. —)

 * March 27 – Sviatoslav III, Kievan Grand Prince (d. 1252)
 * Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili, Almohad scholar (d. 1258)
 * Alberico II, Italian troubadour and statesman (d. 1260)
 * Aurembiaix, Spanish countess (House of Urgell) (d. 1231)
 * Dōjonyūdō, Japanese nobleman and waka poet (d. 1249)
 * Henry II (the Pious), High Duke of Poland (d. 1241)
 * Henry VI (the Younger), German nobleman (d. 1214)
 * Pedro Alfonso de León, Spanish nobleman (d. 1226)
 * William II of Dampierre, French nobleman (d. 1231)

Deaths

 * January 6 – Burchard du Puiset, Norman archdeacon
 * April 23 – Béla III, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1148)
 * April 25 – Alfonso II (the Chaste), king of Aragon (b. 1157)
 * April 30 – Baldwin II van Holland, bishop of Utrecht
 * July 12 – Maurice II de Craon, Norman nobleman
 * August 14 – Henry IV (the Blind), count of Luxembourg
 * August 15 – Conrad II, German nobleman (b. 1172)
 * September 11 – Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris
 * November 30 – Richard of Acerra, Norman nobleman
 * Agnetha Ní Máelshechlainn, abbess of Clonard
 * Canute I (Eriksson), king of Sweden (approximate date)
 * Dulcea of Worms, German Jewish businesswoman
 * Ephraim of Bonn, German rabbi and writer (b. 1132)
 * Eschiva of Ibelin, queen consort of Cyprus (b. 1160)
 * Godfrey of Viterbo, Italian chronicler (approximate date)
 * Hugh III of Rodez, French nobleman (House of Millau)
 * Ibn Mada', Andalusian scholar and polymath (b. 1116)
 * Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes, Byzantine aristocrat
 * Ivan Asen I, ruler (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire
 * Jamal al-Din al-Ghaznawi, Arab jurist and theologian
 * Roger fitzReinfrid, English sheriff and royal justice
 * Taira no Kagekiyo, Japanese nobleman and samurai
 * Vira Bahu I, ruler of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa
 * Vsevolod I Svyatoslavich (the Fierce), Kievan prince
 * Wartislaw Swantibor (the Younger), Polish nobleman
 * William FitzOsbert, English politician and rebel leader
 * William of Salisbury, English nobleman and high sheriff
 * Yaish ibn Yahya, Portuguese politician and advisor

title: 1196


text:
1487

Year 1487 (MCDLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * January 29 – Richard Foxe becomes Bishop of Exeter.
 * March – Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, largely on the poor advice of his counselors, declares war on Venice, and seizes silver mines in and around the Sugana Valley.
 * May 24 – Lambert Simnel is crowned King "Edward VI of England" in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. He claims to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, and challenges Henry VII for the throne of England, where he lands on June 5.
 * June 16 – Battle of Stoke Field: The rebellion of pretender Lambert Simnel, led by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell, is crushed by troops loyal to Henry VII.
 * August – Bartolomeu Dias leaves Lisbon, on his voyage to the Cape of Good Hope.
 * August 13 – The Siege of Málaga (1487) ends, when the Spanish take the city.
 * September 9 – Hongzhi becomes Emperor of China (Ming Dynasty).
 * November 30 – Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria promulgates the Reinheitsgebot, specifying three ingredients – water, malt and hops – for the brewing of beer.

Date unknown

 * Afonso de Paiva and Pêro da Covilhã travel overland from Lisbon, in search of the Kingdom of Prester John (Ethiopia).
 * The witch-hunters' manual Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer with Jacob Sprenger, is published at Speyer in the Holy Roman Empire.
 * Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl dedicates the Great Temple Pyramid of Tenochtitlán, with thousands of human sacrifices.
 * Italian architects work on the Moscow Kremlin.
 * Leonardo da Vinci creates his Vitruvian Man drawing (approximate date).
 * Stockport Grammar School is founded, in the north of England.

Births

 * February 7 – Queen Dangyeong, Korean royal consort (d. 1557)
 * February 8 – Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
 * February 15 – Henry of the Palatinate, bishop of Utrecht (d. 1552)
 * April 10 – William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1559)
 * July 5 – Johann Gramann, German theologian (d. 1541)
 * July 17 – Ismail I, Shah of Persia (d. 1524)
 * August 27 – Anna of Brandenburg, Duchess of Schleswig and Holstein (d. 1514)
 * September 10 – Pope Julius III (d. 1555)
 * October 5 – Ludwig of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German nobleman (d. 1553)
 * November 14 – John III of Pernstein, Bohemian land-owner, Governor of Moravia and Count of Kladsko (d. 1548)
 * date unknown
 * Amda Seyon II, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1494)
 * Magdalena de la Cruz, Franciscan nun of Cordova (d. 1560)
 * Fray Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama (d. 1551)
 * Piotr Gamrat, Polish Catholic archbishop (d. 1545)
 * Stanisław Kostka, Polish noble (d. 1555)
 * Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish conquistador (d. 1537)
 * Michael Stifel, German mathematician (d. 1567)
 * Giovanni da Udine, Italian painter (d. 1564)
 * Peter Vischer the Younger, German sculptor (d. 1528)

Deaths

 * March 21 – Nicholas of Flüe, Swiss hermit and saint (b. 1417)
 * May 27 – Tilokaraj, king of Lan Na (b. 1409)
 * June 16 – John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b. c. 1463)
 * June 26 – John Argyropoulos, Greek philosopher
 * July 16 – Charlotte, Queen of Cyprus (b. 1436)
 * August 23 – Maria of Cleves, French noble (b. 1426)
 * September 9 – Chenghua Emperor of China (b. 1447)
 * September 14 – Mara Branković, Serbian princess (b. 1416)
 * September 30 – John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1400)
 * October 22 – Antonio Bettini, Italian religious writer (b. 1396)
 * date unknown
 * William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel (b. 1417)
 * Tlacaelel, high priest of Tenochtitlán (b. 1398)

title: 1487


text:
Millisecond

A millisecond (from milli- and second; symbol: ms) is a unit of time in the International System of Units equal to one thousandth (0.001 or 10−3 or 1/1000) of a second or 1000 microseconds.

A unit of 10 milliseconds may be called a centisecond, and one of 100 milliseconds a decisecond, but these names are rarely used. To help compare orders of magnitude of different times, this page lists times between 10−3 seconds and 100 seconds (1 milli second and one second). See also times of other orders of magnitude.

Examples
The Apollo Guidance Computer used metric units internally, with centiseconds used for time calculation and measurement.

 * 1 millisecond (1 ms) – cycle time for frequency 1 kHz; duration of light for typical photo flash strobe; time taken for sound wave to travel about 34 cm; repetition interval of GPS C/A PN code
 * 1 millisecond - time taken for light to travel 204.19 km in a single mode fiber optic cable for a wavelength of 1550nm (frequency: 193 THz).
 * 1.000692286 milliseconds – time taken for light to travel 300 km in a vacuum
 * 1 to 5 milliseconds – typical response time in LCD computer monitors, especially high-end displays
 * 2 milliseconds – Shift time for a modern Formula One car using a seamless-shift semi-automatic sequential transmission
 * 2.27 milliseconds – cycle time for pitch A440, the most commonly used pitch for tuning musical instruments
 * 3 milliseconds – a housefly's wing flap. Also the normative speed of sound (an issue in track and field)
 * 3.3 milliseconds – normal delay time between initiation and detonation of a C4 explosive charge
 * 4 milliseconds – typical average seek time for a 10,000 rpm hard disk
 * 5 milliseconds – a honey bee's wing flap
 * 5 milliseconds to 80 milliseconds – a hummingbird's wing flap
 * 8 milliseconds – 1/125 of a second, a standard camera shutter speed (125); fastest shifting time of a car's mechanical transmission
 * 10 milliseconds (10 ms) – a jiffy, cycle time for frequency 100 Hz
 * 10.378 milliseconds – rotation period of pulsar B1639+36A
 * 15.625 milliseconds – a two hundred fifty-sixth note at 60 BPM
 * 16.67 milliseconds (1/60 second) – a third, cycle time for American 60 Hz AC electricity (mains grid)
 * 16.68 milliseconds (1/59.94 second) – the amount of time one field lasts in 29.97 fps interlaced video (commonly erroneously referred to as 30 fps)
 * 20 milliseconds – cycle time for European 50 Hz AC electricity
 * 31.25 milliseconds – a hundred twenty-eighth note at 60 BPM
 * 33.367 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 29.97 fps video (most common for NTSC-legacy formats)
 * 41.667 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 24 fps video (most common cinematic frame rate)
 * 41.708 milliseconds – the amount of time one frame lasts in 23.976 fps video (cinematic frame rate for NTSC-legacy formats)
 * 50 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Lamborghini Aventador; with a 7-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission
 * 50 milliseconds – cycle time for the lowest audible tone, 20 Hz
 * 60 milliseconds – cycle time for European 16.7 Hz AC electrified railroad power grid
 * 60 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Ferrari 458 Spider; with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission
 * 62.5 milliseconds – a sixty-fourth note at 60 BPM
 * 5 to 80 milliseconds – typical latency for a broadband internet connection (important for playing online games)
 * 100 milliseconds – the time interval between gear changes on a Ferrari FXX; with a 6-speed single-clutch automated manual transmission
 * 125 milliseconds – a thirty-second note at 60 BPM
 * 134 milliseconds – time taken by light to travel around the Earth's equator
 * 150 milliseconds – recommended maximum time delay for telephone service
 * 100–400 milliseconds – the time for the human eye to blink
 * 185 milliseconds – the duration of a full rotation of the main rotor on Bell 205, 212, and 412 helicopters (normal rotor speed is 324 RPM)
 * 200 milliseconds – the time it takes the human brain to recognize emotion in facial expressions
 * 250 milliseconds – a sixteenth note at 60 BPM
 * 400 milliseconds – time in which the fastest baseball pitches reach the strike zone
 * 430 to 500 milliseconds – common modern dance music tempos (120–140 BPM)
 * 495 milliseconds – an approximate average of the round trip time for communications via geosynchronous satellites
 * 500 milliseconds – an eighth note at 60 BPM
 * 770 milliseconds – revolution period of a 78 rpm record
 * 860 milliseconds – average human resting heart cycle time
 * 1000 milliseconds – one second; the period of a 1 Hz oscillator
 * 86,400,000 (24 × 60 × 60 × 1000) milliseconds – one day
 * 604,800,000 (24 × 60 × 60 × 1000 × 7) milliseconds – one week
 * 31,556,925,974.7 (86,400,000 × approximately 365.242) milliseconds – one year

title: Millisecond


text:
Microsecond

A microsecond is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one millionth (0.000001 or 10−6 or $1/1,000,000$) of a second. Its symbol is μs, sometimes simplified to us when Unicode is not available.

A microsecond is equal to 1000 nanoseconds or $1/1,000$ of a millisecond. Because the next SI prefix is 1000 times larger, measurements of 10−5 and 10−4 seconds are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of microseconds.

Examples

 * 1 microsecond (1 μs) – cycle time for frequency $1 hertz$ (1 MHz), the inverse unit. This corresponds to radio wavelength 300 m (AM medium wave band), as can be calculated by multiplying 1 μs by the speed of light (approximately $3 m/s$).
 * 1 microsecond – the length of time of a high-speed, commercial strobe light flash (see air-gap flash).
 * 1 microsecond – protein folding takes place on the order of microseconds (thus this is the speed of carbon-based life).
 * 1.8 microseconds – the amount of time subtracted from the Earth's day as a result of the 2011 Japanese earthquake.
 * 2 microseconds – the lifetime of a muonium particle.
 * 2.68 microseconds – the amount of time subtracted from the Earth's day as a result of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
 * 3.33564095 microseconds – the time taken by light to travel one kilometre in a vacuum.
 * 5.4 microseconds – the time taken by light to travel one mile in a vacuum (or radio waves point-to-point in a near vacuum).
 * 8 microseconds – the time taken by light to travel one mile in typical single-mode fiber optic cable.
 * 10 microseconds (μs) – cycle time for frequency 100 kHz, radio wavelength 3 km.
 * 18 microseconds – net amount per year that the length of the day lengthens, largely due to tidal acceleration.
 * 20.8 microseconds – sampling interval for digital audio with 48,000 samples/s.
 * 22.7 microseconds – sampling interval for CD audio (44,100 samples/s).
 * 38 microseconds – discrepancy in GPS satellite time per day (compensated by clock speed) due to relativity.
 * 50 microseconds – cycle time for highest human-audible tone (20 kHz).
 * 50 microseconds – to read the access latency for a modern solid state drive which holds non-volatile computer data.
 * 100 microseconds (0.1 ms) – cycle time for frequency 10 kHz.
 * 125 microseconds – common sampling interval for telephone audio (8000 samples/s).
 * 164 microseconds – half-life of polonium-214.
 * 240 microseconds – half-life of copernicium-277.
 * 260 to 480 microseconds - return trip ICMP ping time, including operating system kernel TCP/IP processing and answer time, between two Gigabit Ethernet devices connected to the same local area network switch fabric.
 * 277.8 microseconds – a fourth (a 60th of a 60th of a second), used in astronomical calculations by al-Biruni and Roger Bacon in 1000 and 1267 AD, respectively.
 * 490 microseconds – time for light at a 1550 nm frequency to travel 100 km in a singlemode fiber optic cable (where speed of light is approximately 200 million metres per second due to its index of refraction).
 * The average human eye blink takes 350,000 microseconds (just over $1/3$ second).
 * The average human finger snap takes 150,000 microseconds (just over $1/7$ second).
 * A camera flash illuminates for 1,000 microseconds.
 * Standard camera shutter speed opens the shutter for 4,000 microseconds or 4 milliseconds.
 * 584542 years of microseconds fit in 64 bits: (2**64)/(1e6*60*60*24*365.25).

title: Microsecond


text:
597

Year 597 (DXCVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 597 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Byzantine Empire

 * Emperor Maurice writes his last will, in which he describes his ideas for governing the Byzantine Empire (his eldest son, Theodosius, will rule the East from Constantinople, and his second son, Tiberius, the West from Rome).
 * Autumn – Balkan Campaign: The Avars, strengthened by the tribute of the Franks, resume their campaign along the Danube River, and besiege the Byzantine fortress city of Tomis (modern Romania) on the Black Sea coast.

Europe

 * Queen Fredegund defeats her old rival Brunhilda of Austrasia, who supports the claims of her grandsons Theudebert II and Theuderic II to the Frankish throne, against those of Fredegund's son Chlothar II. She dies a few months later at Paris and is buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis.
 * Chlothar II, age 13, becomes sole ruler of Neustria, and continues his mother's feud with Brunhilda. He is advised to prepare for war against Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish Kingdom.

Britain

 * Ceolwulf succeeds his brother Ceol as king of Wessex. He becomes regent of Ceol's son Cynegils who is too young to inherit the throne.

Asia

 * Mangalesha becomes king of the Chalukya dynasty, after his brother Kirtivarman I dies. He rules as regent of Kirtivarman's son Pulakeshin II, and invades the territory of Khandesh and Gujarat (northwestern India).

Religion

 * Gregorian Mission: Augustine of Canterbury lands with a group of missionaries on the Isle of Thanet (South East England). He is welcomed by King Æthelberht of Kent, who accepts baptism (along with the rest of his court) at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, Bertha. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 monks a residence at Canterbury, where they found a Benedictine monastery that will make the town a centre of Christianity (or 596).
 * June 9 – Columba, Irish missionary, dies in Iona (Inner Hebrides) and is buried by his monks in the abbey he has created. He works successfully towards the conversion of northern Britain.
 * December 25 – At Christmas, Christianity spreads rapidly in Kent; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 Anglo-Saxons.

Law

 * England gets her first written code of laws from Æthelbert. The code is concerned with preserving social order, through compensation and punishment for personal injury (approximate date).

Education

 * The King's School is founded by Augustine in Canterbury. He builds an abbey where the Benedictine teaching takes place.

Births

 * Chu Suiliang, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 658)
 * Fursey, Irish missionary saint (approximate date)

Deaths

 * June 9 – Columba, Gaelic Irish missionary (b. 521)
 * Brenainn mac Cairbre, king of Uí Maine (or 601)
 * Ceol, king of Wessex (England)
 * Fredegund, queen and regent of Neustria
 * Kirtivarman I, king of the Chalukya dynasty (India)
 * Zhiyi, de facto founder of Tiantai Buddhism (b. 538)

title: 597


text:
1080s

The 1080s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1080, and ended on December 31, 1089.

Significant people

 * Al-Muqtadi caliph of Baghdad
 * Pope Gregory VII
 * Malik-Shah I Seljuk sultan
 * Nizam al-Mulk
 * Pope Victor III
 * Pope Urban II

title: 1080s


text:
1483

Year 1483 (MCDLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

January–December

 * January 1 – The Jews are expelled from Andalusia.
 * February 11 – The General Council of the Inquisition is created in Spain.
 * April 9 – Edward V becomes King of England.
 * April 29 – Gran Canaria, the main island of the Canary Islands, is conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, a very important step in the expansion of Spain.
 * April 30 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503, according to modern orbital calculations.
 * April – King Edward V of England and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York reside in the Tower of London. Later this year, rumors of their murders start circulating. By December the rumors have reached France. This is the beginning of the mystery concerning the fates of the two Princes in the Tower.
 * June 13 – William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, is executed, in the first recorded execution at the Tower of London.
 * June 20 – The powerful Fernando II, Duke of Braganza is executed in Portugal, followed by more than 80 other noblemen, for his plot against the royal crown.
 * June 25 – Before his coronation, King Edward V of England is deposed by his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who becomes King as Richard III of England.
 * July 6 – Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned king and Queen of England, at Westminster Abbey.
 * July 20 – John of Denmark is crowned King of Norway.
 * August 15 – The Sistine Chapel opens in the Apostolic Palace in Rome.
 * September 3 – The Princes in the Tower, uncrowned 12-year-old Edward V of England and his 10-year-old brother, Richard, Duke of York, are perhaps murdered this night in the Tower of London.
 * October – A rebellion by the Duke of Buckingham is crushed by Richard III of England.
 * October 29 – Battle of Una: Forces of the Kingdom of Croatia defeat the army of the Ottoman Empire.

Date unknown

 * Isaac Abravanel flees Portugal, after being implicated in a plot against the king.
 * The Prince of Moscow builds the fortress of Ivangorod, facing Narva.
 * Giovanni Bellini is named official painter of the Republic of Venice.
 * Flavio Biondo publishes his Historiarum ab inclinatione romanorum imperii.

Births

 * January 12 – Henry III of Nassau-Breda, Baron of Breda (d. 1538)
 * February 14 – Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah, founder of the Moghul Dynasty (d. 1530)
 * March 6 – Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and statesman (d. 1540)
 * April 6 – Raphael, Italian painter and architect (d. 1520)
 * April 19 – Paolo Giovio, Italian bishop (d. 1552)
 * July 20 – Wang Gen, Chinese philosopher (d. 1541)
 * September 3 – Eric II, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1508)
 * October 16 – Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal (d. 1542)
 * October 26 – Hans Buchner, German Renaissance composer (d. 1538)
 * November 10 – Martin Luther, German monk and Protestant reformer (d. 1546)
 * November 16 – Elisabeth of the Palatinate, Landgravine of Hesse, German noble (d. 1522)
 * December 3 – Nicolaus von Amsdorf, German theologian and Protestant reformer (d. 1565)
 * date unknown
 * Thomas Parr, Englishman, alleged oldest living man (d. 1635)
 * Cacamatzin, Aztec ruler (d. 1520)
 * Jacquet of Mantua, French composer (d. 1559)
 * Chen Chun, Chinese painter (d. 1544)
 * Felice della Rovere, also known as Madonna Felice, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II (d. 1536)

Deaths

 * January 19 – William IV, Lord of Egmont, IJsselstein, Schoonderwoerd and Haastrecht and Stadtholder of Guelders (b. 1412)
 * February 27 – William VIII, Marquess of Montferrat (b. 1420)
 * March 23 – Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1428)
 * April 4 – Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (b. c. 1405)
 * April 9 – King Edward IV of England (b. 1442)
 * April 24 – Margaret of Bourbon, French noble (b. 1438)
 * May 4 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
 * May 6 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
 * June 13 – William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (executed; b. 1431)
 * June 25
 * Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers (executed; b. 1442)
 * Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (executed; b. 1458)
 * July 4 – Costanzo I Sforza, Italian condottiero (b. 1447)
 * August 30 – King Louis XI of France (b. 1423)
 * November 2 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1454)
 * December 1 – Charlotte of Savoy, French queen (b. 1441)
 * date unknown
 * Edmund Sutton, English nobleman (b. 1425)
 * Elise Eskilsdotter, Norwegian noblewoman and pirate

title: 1483


text:
2003

2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Freshwater

In 2003, a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.

Demographics
The world population on January 1, 2003, was estimated to be 6.272 billion people and increased to 6.353 billion people by January 1, 2004. An estimated 134.0 million births and 52.5 million deaths took place in 2003. The average global life expectancy was 67.1 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2002. The rate of child mortality was 6.85%, a decrease of 0.27pp from 2002. 25.54% of people were living in extreme poverty, a decrease of 1.31pp from 2002

There were approximately 10.6 million global refugees at the beginning of 2003, and the number was reduced to 9.7 million refugees by the end of the year. Afghanistan was the largest source of refugees, with a total of 2.1 million at the end of the year.

Conflicts
There were 29 armed conflicts affecting 22 countries in 2003. This was a net decrease from 31 conflicts in 2002. The deadliest conflicts were in Iraq, Kashmir, Liberia, Nepal, and Sudan.

Internal conflicts
The Colombian conflict against two Marxist militant groups—the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army—escalated in 2003. The government negotiated an agreement for the right-wing militant group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia to disband as a means to deescalate the conflict.

The First Ivorian Civil War was halted in 2003 amid a ceasefire while France and the states of ECOWAS intervened. Peace talks fell apart on March 7 until the ceasefire was restored on May 3, only to be broken again on September 23. The war was left in a frozen state at the end of 2003 with rebels controlling parts of the country. The Second Liberian Civil War against Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy escalated when the Movement for Democracy in Liberia split off as its own faction. President Charles Taylor resigned on August 2, allowing a peace agreement to take place on August 18.

The Indonesian insurgency in Aceh escalated when a demilitarization agreement failed and the government renewed its offensive in May. The Moro conflict in the Philippines deescalated when the Philippine government agreed to peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in July, though conflicts with other groups continued.

The Sri Lankan Civil War continued in 2003 as peace talks failed, and long-running civil wars in Burundi and in Uganda both escalated. The Second Sudanese Civil War escalated as new militant groups joined the conflict, though a security agreement was reached between the National Islamic Front and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement on September 25. The Second Chechen War continued in Russia: the Russian government held a referendum for a new Chechen constitution and offered amnesty for Chechen rebels, but terror attacks continued.

International conflicts
Only two inter-state conflicts took place in 2003: the Iraq War and the Kashmir conflict. The Kashmir conflict saw progress toward resolution in 2003 as negotiations began and a ceasefire took effect on November 23. A coalition of countries led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia led an invasion of Iraq beginning on March 20, warning that Iraq had been operating a program to develop weapons of mass destruction. The subsequent Iraq War became the most publicized conflict in 2003.

The Second Intifada continued into 2003 as conflict between Israel and Palestine killed 400 people in suicide bombings by Palestinians and military strikes by the Israel Defense Forces.

Media
The highest-grossing films globally in 2003 were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, and The Matrix Reloaded. The highest-grossing non-English film was Bayside Shakedown 2 (Japanese), the 39th highest-grossing film of the year. Critically acclaimed films from 2003 include Finding Nemo,  Lost in Translation,  and Master and Commander.

Music sales in 2003 amounted to about 2.7 billion units, a decline of 6.5% from 2002. DVD music video thrived in 2003 at the expense of singles and cassettes. Globally, the best-selling albums of the year were Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent, and Meteora by Linkin Park. No non-English albums were among the global top fifty albums sold in 2003.

Sports
Golf saw an upset when Ben Curtis defeated some of the sport's top players in his first major competition at the 2003 Open Championship. Tennis players Roger Federer and Andy Roddick won their first Grand Slams in 2003.

Economy
The global economy improved in the second half of 2003 as it recovered from the early 2000s recession, brought about by low interest rates and expansionary fiscal policy. The United States led the recovery, while China and Japan also made significant contributions. The economic situation improved in Latin America and Africa, while Western Europe saw slower recovery. The gross world product increased by 2.5% in 2003, and international trade increased by 4.75%. The prices of non-fuel commodities, such as metal, minerals, and agricultural materials, increased during the year.

Environment and weather
2003 tied with 2002 as the second hottest year on record, behind only 1998. The year began during an El Niño period that continued until April. A major heatwave occurred in Europe during the summer, causing approximately 70,000 deaths, 14,000 in France alone.

Severe cold weather affected Asia, North America, and Peru. 2003 saw low precipitation, causing droughts in Australia, the United States, and Zimbabwe. The previous year's droughts in Asia were alleviated by heavy precipitation in the region.

Major earthquakes in 2003 included a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Algeria on May 21 that killed over 2,200 people and a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Iran on December 26 that killed about 50,000 people.

The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season was above average in activity, including sixteen named storms of which seven were hurricanes. The most severe hurricanes were Hurricane Fabian, Hurricane Isabel, and Hurricane Kate. Tropical Storm Ana was the first recorded North Atlantic tropical storm to occur in April, and 2003 was the first year since 1887 to have two tropical storms occur in December. The 2003 Pacific typhoon season was slightly more intense than average, though the overall number of tropical storms was below average with 23 total storms. The most destructive typhoons were Typhoon Dujuan, which made landfall in Guangdong, China, on September 2, and Typhoon Maemi, which made landfall in South Korea on September 12.

Health
The World Health Organization set "shaping the future" as its health focus for 2003, seeking to improve health systems and primary health care for the poor.

January

 * January 5 – Tel Aviv central bus station: Two Palestinian suicide bombers attack a neighborhood in Tel Aviv, killing at least 23 people and injuring 103.
 * January 8 – Air Midwest Flight 5481 crashed into a hangar upon takeoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 passengers and crew.
 * January 10 – North Korea announces its withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
 * January 22
 * The last signal from NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft is received, some 12.2 billion kilometers (7.6 billion mi) from Earth.
 * January 29 – Riots break out in Phnom Penh, Cambodia targeting Thai nationals after false reports that a Thai actress made comments about a temple. Thailand severs diplomatic relations with Cambodia in response.

February

 * February 1 – At the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board.
 * February 4 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is renamed to "Serbia and Montenegro" (after its two constituent states) after its leaders reconstitute the country into a loose state-union between Montenegro and Serbia, marking an end to the 73-year-long use of the name "Yugoslavia" by a sovereign state.
 * February 5 – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks to the United Nations presenting the case for a military invasion of Iraq. It will later be discovered that the Bush administration misled him when preparing his testimony.
 * February 7 – 2003 El Nogal Club bombing: A car bomb goes off in the garage of the El Nogal club in Bogotá, Colombia, killing 36 people and injuring hundreds.
 * February 9–March 23 – The 2003 Cricket World Cup is held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya with Australia defeating India in the final.
 * February 15–16 – Antwerp diamond heist: An Italian gang steals loose diamonds, gold and jewellery valued at more than $100 million from a Belgian vault, one of the largest robberies in history.
 * February 15 – Millions of people worldwide take part in massive anti-war protests in anticipation of the United States and its allies invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime.
 * February 18 – An arsonist sets fire to a subway train in Daegu, South Korea, killing 192 people.
 * February 19 – An Ilyushin Il-76 plane crashes near Kerman Airport in Iran, killing 270 military personnel.
 * February 20 – A pyrotechnics accident during a Great White concert causes a fire at a nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killing 100 people.
 * February 24 – 2003 Bachu earthquake: A 6.8 earthquake strikes in Xinjiang, killing 257 people.
 * February 26 – The War in Darfur begins after rebel groups rise up against the Sudanese government.
 * February 27 – Former Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavšić is sentenced by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to 11 years in prison for war crimes committed during the Bosnian War.

March

 * March 8 – Malta approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * March 12
 * Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić is assassinated in Belgrade by a sniper.
 * The World Health Organization issues a global alert on severe acute respiratory syndrome when it spreads to Hong Kong and Vietnam after originating in Mainland China.
 * March 15 – Former General François Bozizé seizes power through a military coup in the Central African Republic.
 * March 17 – U.S. President George W. Bush presents a 48-hour ultimatum for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to resign.
 * March 20 – The Iraq War begins with the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and allied forces.
 * March 23
 * 2003 Nadimarg massacre: Islamist militants gather and execute citizens of a Hindu village in Kashmir, killing 24 of the 54 residents.
 * Slovenia approves joining the European Union and NATO in a referendum.

April

 * April 9 – U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the rule of Saddam Hussein.
 * April 12 – Hungary approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * April 14 – The Human Genome Project is completed, with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.
 * April 16 – The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens between the European Union and ten countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia), concerning these countries' accession into the EU, leading to the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.
 * April 17 – Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland.
 * April 18 – Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visits Kashmir and expresses support for peace negotiations with Pakistan.
 * April 20 – Tropical Storm Ana becomes the first recorded North Atlantic tropical storm to occur in April.
 * April 21 – The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam end peace talks in the Sri Lankan Civil War.
 * April 27 – Nicanor Duarte Frutos is elected president over Julio César Franco in the 2003 Paraguayan general election.
 * April 29 – The United States announces the withdrawal of its troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, and the redeployment of some at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

May

 * May 1
 * 2003 Bingöl earthquake: A 6.4 earthquake strikes in Bingöl, Turkey, killing 177 people.
 * U.S. President George W. Bush declares an end to the invasion of Iraq in the Mission Accomplished speech. Hostilities would continue for several years during a period of Iraqi insurgency.
 * May 11
 * Benvenuto Cellini's Cellini Salt Cellar table sculpture is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
 * Lithuania approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * 2003 Sri Lanka cyclone: A cyclone makes landfall in Sri Lanka, killing 260 people and causing the country's worst natural disaster in 50 years.
 * May 12
 * In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over 30 people are killed in multiple bombings at a housing compound, mostly foreign expatriates.
 * 2003 Znamenskoye suicide bombing: Chechen suicide bombers attack a government office in Znamenskoye, Russia, killing at least 59 people.
 * May 15 – 2003 Argentine general election: Néstor Kirchner becomes president-elect of Argentina after Carlos Menem withdraws from the runoff election.
 * May 16 – 2003 Casablanca bombings: Islamist militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb carry out a series of suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco, killing at least 41 people.
 * May 17 – Slovakia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * May 21 – The 6.8 Boumerdès earthquake strikes in Algeria, killing over 2,200 people.
 * May 23 – Dewey, the world's first cloned deer is born, at Texas A&M University.
 * May 24 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 takes place in Riga, Latvia, and is won by Turkish entrant Sertab Erener with the song "Everyway That I Can".
 * May 26 – A constitutional referendum is held in Rwanda.
 * May 28 – Prometea, the world's first cloned horse, is born.

June

 * June 2 – Mars Express launches, containing the Beagle 2 lander.
 * June 8
 * Poland approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * Major Saleh Ould Hanenna leads a failed coup in Mauritania, leading to violence.
 * June 14 – The Czech Republic approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * June 15 – Operation Desert Scorpion: U.S. forces in Iraq facilitate searches for Ba'athist forces, distribution of humanitarian aid, and engineering programs to repair damaged infrastructure.
 * June 21 – Declaration of Thessaloniki: The European Union encourages accession of states of the western Balkans.
 * June 30 – Warring parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sign a peace accord, bringing an end to the Second Congo War, which left millions dead.

July

 * July–August – 2003 European heat wave: Europe experiences its hottest summer in over five centuries.
 * July 1 – Tesla Inc., the American electric car company, is founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California.
 * July 2 – The International Olympic Committee awards Vancouver the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics.
 * July 4 – 2003 Quetta mosque bombing: Islamist militants attack a Shia mosque in Quetta, Pakistan, killing at least 44 people.
 * July 5 – Severe acute respiratory syndrome is declared to be contained by the World Health Organization.
 * July 6
 * The 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message Cosmic Call 2 to five stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri, HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris, that will arrive at these stars in 2036, 2040, May 2044, September 2044 and 2049 respectively.
 * Dennis Schmitt discovers the island of 83-42, a candidate for being the northernmost point of land.
 * July 10 – The existence of PSR B1620−26 b, the oldest known exoplanet in the galaxy, is confirmed using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope.
 * July 13 – The Iraqi Governing Council is created by the United States as an ethnically diverse provisional government of Iraq.
 * July 14 – Robert Novak identifies Valerie Plame as a covert CIA agent, initiating a scandal known as the Plame affair.
 * July 15 – The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia agrees to disband.
 * July 16 – Major Fernando Pereira leads a failed coup in São Tomé and Príncipe.
 * July 18 – The Convention on the Future of Europe finishes its work and proposes the first European Constitution.
 * July 24 – The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, led by Australia, begins after ethnic violence engulfs the island country.
 * July 27 – Oakwood mutiny: Philippine military officers lead approximately 300 soldiers a failed coup.

August

 * August 1 – Social networking service Myspace is launched.
 * August 2 – President Charles Taylor of Liberia resigns, effectively ending the Second Liberian Civil War.
 * August 11
 * The Second Liberian Civil War comes to an end after President Charles Taylor resigns and flees the country.
 * NATO takes over command of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, marking its first major operation outside Europe in its 54-year-history.
 * August 14 – The Northeast blackout of 2003 cuts electricity to the northeastern United States and parts of Canada.
 * August 19
 * In the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad 22 people are killed, among them United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello.
 * Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills at least 18 people in a bus bombing in Jerusalem.
 * August 25
 * The Spitzer Space Telescope is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
 * Car bombs explode at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai, claiming 54 lives and injuring 244 others. Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed for the attack.
 * August 27
 * Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years.
 * The first six-party talks, involving South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, convene to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
 * August 29 – Imam Ali mosque bombing: A bomb kills at least 125 people, including Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, at a Shia mosque in Najaf, Iraq.

September

 * September 2 – Typhoon Dujuan makes landfall in Guangdong as a category 1 typhoon with sustained winds of 90 mph.
 * September 5 – Hurricane Fabian strikes Bermuda.
 * September 12 – Typhoon Maemi, makes landfall in South Korea as a category 3 typhoon with sustained winds of 125 mph.
 * September 14
 * General Veríssimo Correia Seabra leads a bloodless coup in Guinea-Bissau. He steps down to create a new civilian government days later.
 * Estonia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * September 15 – ELN rebels kidnap eight foreign tourists at Ciudad Perdida, Colombia, being freed 100 days later following negotiations with the Colombian government.
 * September 18 – Hurricane Isabel makes landfall in North Carolina.
 * September 20 – Latvia approves joining the European Union in a referendum.
 * September 24 – The Hubble Space Telescope starts the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, making 800 exposures, until January 16, 2004.
 * September 27 – SMART-1, an ESA spaceprobe and ESA's first mission to the moon, is launched from Kourou, French Guiana.
 * September 28 – 2003 Italy blackout: Power goes out across the Italian Peninsula for approximately 12 hours, affecting nearly all of the country's 57 million people.

October

 * October 1 – The popular and controversial English-language imageboard 4chan is launched.
 * October 4 – Maxim restaurant suicide bombing: A Palestinian suicide bomber attacks a restaurant in Haifa, Israel, killing at least 19 people.
 * October 5 – Israeli warplanes strike alleged Islamic jihad bases inside Syrian territory, the first Israeli attack on the country since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
 * October 15 – China launches Shenzhou 5, their first human spaceflight.
 * October 24 – Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to an end.
 * October 27 – 27 October 2003 Baghdad bombings: A series of car bombings occur in Baghdad, Iraq, targeting multiple police stations and a Red Cross headquarters. Approximately 40 people are killed.
 * October 31 – Mahathir Mohamad steps down as Prime Minister of Malaysia after 22 years in power. He is succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

November

 * November 12 – A suicide bombing at an Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq, kills 17 Italian military police officers and nine Iraqi civilians.
 * November 14 – The dwarf planet Sedna is discovered by a team of astronomers led by Michael E. Brown from the Palomar Observatory.
 * November 23
 * Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after widespread protests engulf the country following a disputed parliamentary election.
 * A ceasefire takes place at the Line of Control in Kashmir.
 * November 26 – The supersonic passenger jet, Concorde, makes its last ever flight from Heathrow Airport in London to Bristol Filton Airport.

December

 * December 5 – 2003 Stavropol train bombing: A suicide bomber attacks a train in Stavropol Krai, killing 46 people.
 * December 12 – Paul Martin becomes the 21st Prime Minister of Canada.
 * December 13 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, is captured in the small town of Ad-Dawr by the U.S. Army.
 * December 19
 * Libya agrees to eliminate all of its materials, equipment, and programs aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction.
 * The Beagle 2 Mars lander deploys, but contact is lost.
 * December 23
 * The World Tourism Organization becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.
 * PetroChina Chuandongbei natural gas field explosion, Guoqiao, Kai County, Chongqing, China, killing at least 234.
 * December 26 – The 6.6 Bam earthquake shakes Iran, killing approximately 50,000 people.
 * December 29 – The last known speaker of the Akkala Sámi language dies, rendering it extinct.

Nobel Prizes

 * Chemistry – Peter Agre, Roderick MacKinnon
 * Literature – J. M. Coetzee
 * Peace – Shirin Ebadi
 * Physics – Alexei Abrikosov, Vitaly Ginzburg, Sir Anthony James Leggett
 * Physiology or Medicine – Paul Lauterbur, Sir Peter Mansfield

New English words and terms

 * anti-cultural
 * baby bump
 * Big Rip
 * binge-watch
 * botnet
 * darmstadtium
 * electronic cigarette
 * flash mob
 * iraimbilanja
 * manscaping
 * MERS
 * muffin top
 * netroots
 * SARS
 * unfriend

title: 2003