text:
859

Year 859 (DCCCLIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * January 15 – Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by Humfrid, defeat King Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun, and appointed Margrave of Burgundy, by King Charles the Bald.
 * Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.
 * Viking raiders invade the Kingdom of Pamplona (Western Pyrenees), and capture King García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the Andalusian heartland. They extort a ransom, rising to around 70,000 gold dinars.
 * The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the Sofia Chronicles.
 * Winter – The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.

Iberian Peninsula

 * Battle of Albelda: King Ordoño I of Asturias, and his ally García Íñiguez I, defeat the Muslims under Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at Albelda.
 * Viking raiders burn the mosques of Seville and Algeciras in al-Andalus (modern Spain).

Africa

 * The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco), by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest university in the world).

China

 * September 7 – Emperor Xuān Zong (Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son Yi Zong, as ruler of the Tang dynasty.

Syria

 * 859 Syrian coast earthquake. It affected the Mediterranean coast of Syria It caused almost the complete destruction of Latakia and Jableh, major damage at Antioch and led to many deaths.

Births

 * Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, first Zaydi Imam of Yemen (d. 911)
 * Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate (d. 946)
 * Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)
 * Rudolph I, king of Burgundy (d. 912)
 * Tannet of Pagan, king of Burma (d. 904)

Deaths

 * September 7 – Xuān Zong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (b. 810)
 * December 13 – Angilbert II, archbishop of Milan
 * Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (b. 796)
 * Immo, bishop of Noyon (approximate date)
 * Lu Shang, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 789)
 * Máel Gualae, king of Munster (Ireland)

title: 859


text:
American Airlines Flight 587

American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City to Las Américas International Airport, Santo Domingo. On November 12, 2001, the Airbus A300B4-605R flying the route crashed into the neighborhood of Belle Harbor on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens, New York City, shortly after takeoff. All 260 people aboard the plane (251 passengers and 9 crew members) were killed, as well as five people on the ground. It is the second-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history, behind the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979, and the second-deadliest aviation incident involving an Airbus A300, after Iran Air Flight 655.

The location of the accident, and the fact that it took place two months and one day after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in nearby Manhattan, initially spawned fears of another terrorist attack, but the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) attributed the disaster to the first officer's overuse of rudder controls in response to wake turbulence from a preceding Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400 that took off minutes before it. According to the NTSB, the aggressive use of the rudder controls by the first officer stressed the vertical stabilizer until it separated from the aircraft. The airliner's two engines also separated from the aircraft before impact due to the intense forces.

Aircraft and crew
The accident aircraft, registration was an Airbus A300 B4-605R delivered new to American Airlines on 12 July 1988. The aircraft's first flight was on 9 December 1987 and it was the first "R" model A300-600 built. On the day of the accident, it was in a two-class seating configuration with space for 251 passengers, and all seats were filled: 16 business-class seats and 235 economy-class seats. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric CF6-80C2A5 engines. On board were nine flight crew members, including 42-year-old Captain Edward States, who was the pilot monitoring and undertaking radio communications, and 34-year-old First officer Sten Molin, who was the pilot flying.

Accident

The aircraft taxied to Runway 31L behind a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 747-400 (JAL Flight 47) preparing for takeoff. The JAL flight was cleared for takeoff at 9:11:08 a.m. EST. At 9:11:36, the tower controller cautioned Flight 587 about potential wake turbulence from a preceding B747. At 9:13:28, the A300 was cleared for takeoff and left the runway at 9:14:29, about one minute and 40 seconds after the JAL flight had departed. The aircraft climbed to an altitude of 500 feet and then entered a climbing left turn to a heading of 220°. At 9:15:00, the captain made initial contact with the departure controller, informing him that the airplane was at 1300 feet and climbing to 5000 feet. The controller instructed the aircraft to climb to and maintain 13000 feet. The flight data recorder (FDR) showed that the events leading to the crash began when the aircraft hit wake turbulence from the JAL flight in front of it at 9:15:36. In response to the turbulence, Molin moved the rudder from the right to the left and back again in quick succession from 9:15:52, causing sideslip until the lateral force caused composite lugs that attached the vertical stabilizer to fail at 9:15:58. The stabilizer separated from the aircraft and fell into Jamaica Bay, about 1 mi north of the main wreckage site.

The aircraft pitched downward after the stabilizer loss. As the pilots struggled to control the aircraft, it entered a flat spin. The resulting aerodynamic loads sheared both engines from the aircraft, and they fell several blocks north and east of the main wreckage site, causing minor damage to a gas station and major damage to a home and a boat. The loss of engines cut power to the FDR at 9:16:01, while the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), using an emergency bus, stopped at 9:16:14.8 upon impact with the ground. At 9:16:04, the stall warning sounded on the CVR. The last recorded words were those of Molin saying "What the hell are we into, we're stuck in it" (9:16:07) and States replying "Get out of it, get out of it." The aircraft slammed into the ground at Newport Avenue and Beach 131st Street.

Initial reactions and investigation
Because the crash occurred just two months and one day after the September 11 attacks, which also took place in New York City, several major buildings, including the Empire State Building and the headquarters of the United Nations, were evacuated. Rumors circulated that the plane had been destroyed in a terrorist plot.

In May 2002, a Kuwaiti national named Mohammed Jabarah agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a plea bargain. Among the details that Jabarah offered to authorities was a claim that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's lieutenant had told him that Richard Reid and Abderraouf Jdey had been enlisted by al-Qaeda to execute identical shoe-bombing plots as part of a second wave of attacks against the United States. According to the lieutenant, Jdey's bomb had successfully destroyed Flight 587, while Reid's attempt had been foiled. According to a Canadian government memorandum, Jdey, a naturalized Canadian citizen, was to use his Canadian passport to board the flight. However, American Airlines' passenger manifest for Flight 587 did not list any passengers using Canadian passports. According to NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz, the weight of the memo's veracity was questioned, as no evidence of a terrorist traveling on board was found. The evidence suggested that the aircraft was destroyed after a piece of the tail assembly, "the vertical fin, came off," while it did not indicate "any kind of event in the cabin."

NTSB investigation
On the afternoon of the crash, the NTSB launched an investigation in search for a probable cause. Over the next three months, they conducted 349 interviews, and collected and reconstructed pieces of the aircraft. The Airbus A300 took off shortly after a JAL Boeing 747-400 using the same runway. It flew into the larger jet's wake, an area of turbulent air. The first officer attempted to stabilize the aircraft with alternating aggressive rudder inputs. The force of the air flowing against the moving rudder stressed the aircraft's vertical stabilizer, and eventually snapped it off entirely, causing the aircraft to lose control and crash. The NTSB concluded that the enormous stress on the vertical stabilizer was due to the first officer's "unnecessary and excessive" rudder inputs, and not the wake turbulence caused by the 747. The NTSB further stated, "if the first officer had stopped making additional inputs, the aircraft would have stabilized". Contributing factors were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600's sensitive rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Training Program.

The manner in which the vertical stabilizer separated concerned investigators. The vertical stabilizer is connected to the fuselage with six attaching points. Each point has two sets of attachment lugs, one made of composite material, another of aluminum, all connected by a titanium bolt; damage analysis showed that the bolts and aluminum lugs were intact, but not the composite lugs. This, coupled with two events earlier in the life of the aircraft, namely delamination in part of the vertical stabilizer prior to its delivery from Airbus's Toulouse factory, and an encounter with heavy turbulence in 1994, caused investigators to examine the use of composites. The possibility that the composite materials might not be as strong as previously supposed was a cause of concern, as they are used in other areas of the plane, including the engine mounting and the wings. Tests carried out on the vertical stabilizers from the accident aircraft, and from another similar aircraft, found that the strength of the composite material had not been compromised, and the NTSB concluded that the material had failed because it had been stressed beyond its design limit.

The crash was witnessed by hundreds of people, 349 of whom gave accounts of what they saw to the NTSB. About half (52%) reported a fire or explosion before the plane hit the ground. Others stated that they saw a wing detach from the aircraft, when in fact it was the vertical stabilizer.

After the crash, Floyd Bennett Field's empty hangars were used as a makeshift morgue for the identification of crash victims.

Findings
According to the official accident report, the first officer repeatedly moved the rudder from fully left to fully right. This caused increasing sideslip angles. The resulting hazardous sideslip angle led to extremely high aerodynamic loads that separated the vertical stabilizer. If the first officer had stopped moving the rudder at any time before the vertical stabilizer failed, the aircraft would have leveled out on its own, and the accident would have been avoided. The aircraft performance study indicated that when the vertical stabilizer finally detached, the aerodynamic loads caused by the first officer's actions produced 203000 lbf of force on the rudder, meaning that the vertical stabilizer did not fail until far in excess of the 100000 lbf of force defined by the design envelope. The vertical stabilizer's structural performance was determined to be consistent with design specifications and exceeded certification requirements.

Contributing factors to the crash existed, as well. The first officer's predisposition to overreact to wake turbulence caused panic. American Airlines incorrectly taught pilots to use the rudder for wake turbulence recovery, resulting in the first officer's possible misunderstanding of the aircraft's response to full rudder at high airspeeds. Light rudder pedal forces and small pedal displacement of the A300-600 rudder pedal system increased the airplane's susceptibility to rudder misuse.

Most aircraft require increased pressure on the rudder pedals to achieve the same amount of rudder control at a higher speed. The Airbus A300 and later Airbus A310 models do not operate on a fly-by-wire flight control system, but instead use conventional mechanical flight controls. The NTSB asserted that the A300-600 rudder control system was vulnerable to unnecessarily excessive rudder inputs. The Allied Pilots Association, in its submission to the NTSB, argued that the unusual sensitivity of the rudder mechanism amounted to a design flaw that Airbus should have communicated to the airline. The main rationale for their position came from a 1997 report that referenced ten incidents in which A300 tail fins had been stressed beyond their design limitation.

Airbus charged that the crash was mostly American Airlines' fault, arguing that the airline did not train its pilots properly about the characteristics of the rudder. Aircraft tail fins are designed to withstand full rudder deflection in one direction when below maneuvering speed, but this does not guarantee that they can withstand an abrupt shift in rudder from one direction to the other, let alone multiple abrupt shifts, like those generated by the first officer on this flight. The NTSB indicated that American Airlines' Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program (AAMP) tended to exaggerate the effects of wake turbulence on large aircraft, creating a simulation scenario whereby turbulence from a 747 creates a 90° roll (rather than the likely 5 to 10° roll, though not explaining this to the pilots) to maximize the training challenge. Therefore, pilots were being inadvertently trained to react more aggressively than was necessary. According to author Amy Fraher, this led to concerns of whether it was appropriate for the AAMP to be placing such importance on "the role of flight simulators in teaching airplane upset recovery at all." Fraher states that the key to understanding the crash of Flight 587 ultimately lay in "how the accident pilots' expectations about aircraft performance were erroneously established through 'clumsy' flight simulator training in American's AAMP."

Statement of probable cause
From the NTSB report of the accident:

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of the loads beyond ultimate design that were created by the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs. Contributing to these rudder pedal inputs were characteristics of the Airbus A300-600 rudder system design and elements of the American Airlines Advanced Aircraft Maneuvering Program (AAMP)."

Since the NTSB's report, American Airlines has modified its pilot training program.

Victims
All 260 people aboard the plane died in the crash. Five bystanders on the ground were also killed. One of the victims, Hilda Yolanda Mayol, had previously survived the September 11 attacks, having escaped from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Another victim of the crash was Ashot Melikjanyan who was a Soviet Armenian former actor who later became a naturalized American citizen.

Las Américas International Airport officials created a private area for those who had come to the airport to meet passengers, some of whom were unaware that the airliner had crashed. The authorities at John F. Kennedy International Airport used the JFK Ramada Plaza to house relatives and friends of the victims of the crash. The family crisis center later moved to the Javits Center in Manhattan.

Cultural background
In 2001, 51 weekly direct flights were made between JFK and the Dominican Republic, with additional flights in December. Most of the flights were offered by American Airlines, and the airline was described as having a virtual monopoly on the route. Around 90% of the passengers on the accident flight were of Dominican descent.

The Guardian described the flight as having "cult status" in Washington Heights, a Dominican area of Manhattan. Belkis Lora, a relative of a passenger on Flight 587, said, "Every Dominican in New York has either taken that flight or knows someone who has. It gets you there early. At home, there are songs about it." Seth Kugel, writing for The New York Times, said, "For many Dominicans in New York, these journeys home are the defining metaphor of their complex push-pull relationship with their homeland; they embody, vividly and poignantly, the tug between their current lives and their former selves. That fact gave Monday's tragedy a particularly horrible resonance for New York's Dominicans." He added, "Even before Monday's crash, Dominicans had developed a complex love-hate relationship with American Airlines, complaining about high prices and baggage restrictions even while favoring the carrier over other airlines that used to travel the same route." David Rivas, a New York City travel agency owner, said, "For the Dominican to go to Santo Domingo during Christmas and summer is like the Muslims going to Mecca."

The crash did not affect bookings for the JFK–Santo Domingo route. Dominicans continued to book travel on the flights until American Airlines ended services between JFK and Santo Domingo on April 1, 2013.

Memorial

A memorial was constructed in Rockaway Park, the community adjoining Belle Harbor to the east, in memory of the 265 victims of the crash. It is situated beside the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk at the south end of Beach 116th Street, a major commercial street in the area. It was dedicated on November 12, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the accident, in a ceremony attended by then-Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg. A ceremony commemorating the disaster is held annually at the memorial every November 12, featuring a reading of the names of those killed aboard the aircraft and on the ground, with a formal moment of silence observed at 9:16 am, the estimated time of the crash. The memorial wall, designed by Dominican artist Freddy Rodríguez and Situ Studio, has windows and a doorway looking toward the nearby Atlantic Ocean and angled toward the Dominican Republic. It is inscribed with the names of the victims. Atop the memorial is a quotation, in both Spanish and English, from Dominican poet Pedro Mir: "Después no quiero más que paz" (which translates to "Afterwards I want nothing more than peace").

In a ceremony held on May 6, 2007, at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, 889 unidentified fragments of human remains of the victims of the crash were entombed in a group of four mausoleum crypts.

Documentaries
Several documentaries have been made concerning the accident.

A 2006 episode of the National Geographic Channel program Seconds From Disaster examined the Flight 587 accident in detail. The episode was titled "Plane Crash in Queens" (also known as "New York Air Crash").

A 2006 episode of Modern Marvels on The History Channel aired an episode titled "Engineering Disasters 20", which featured detailed information on Flight 587. The Discovery Channel Canada / National Geographic series Mayday (also called Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) dramatized the accident in a 2014 episode titled "Queens Catastrophe". The BBC program Horizon also created an episode about the crash.

An episode of Aircrash Confidential on Discovery Channel also featured Flight 587. The episode was titled "Pilot Error".

A 2011 episode of Why Planes Crash featured Flight 587. The episode was titled "Human Error" and was aired on MSNBC.

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

title: American Airlines Flight 587


text:
1014

Year in topic Year 1014 (MXIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1014th in topic the 1014th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 14th year of the 2nd millennium, the 14th year of the 11th century, and the 5th year of the 1010s decade.

Byzantine Empire

 * Summer – Battle of Thessalonica: Emperor Basil II launches a raiding expedition against Bulgaria. From Western Thrace via Serres he reaches the valley of the Strymon River, near Thessaloniki (modern Greece); the local Byzantine governor Theophylact Botaneiates defeats the Bulgarians.
 * July 29 – Battle of Kleidion: Basil II defeats the Bulgarian forces, between the mountains of Belasitsa and Ograzhden, near the town of Kleidon. By order of Basil, almost 15,000 prisoners are blinded; Tsar Samuel survives the battle, but dies of shock. Basil earns the nickname "Bulgar-Slayer".

Europe

 * February 14 – King Henry II arrives at Rome and is crowned Holy Roman Emperor together with his wife Cunigunde by Pope Benedict VIII in St. Peter's Basilica. Henry establishes the Diocese of Bobbio (Northern Italy) and returns to Germany.

England

 * February 3 – King Sweyn Forkbeard dies at Gainsborough after a reign of five weeks. He is succeeded by Harald II who becomes king of Denmark, while Cnut is elected by the Vikings of the Danelaw as king of England.
 * March – King Æthelred the Unready sends ambassadors to England, including his own son Edward to negotiate to reclaim of the throne at the invitation of the English nobles.

Africa

 * Hammad ibn Buluggin adopts Sunni Islam and declares his independence from the Zirid dynasty (modern Algeria). He recognizes the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad as being the rightful caliphs and becomes the first ruler of the Hammadid dynasty (until 1028).

Asia

 * Emperor Sanjō of Japan has an eye illness. Influential statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga schemes to place his 6-year-old grandson Prince Atsuhira on the throne rather than the Emperor's son.

Religion

 * The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol of the Faith is used for the first time during the Roman Mass, after Henry II, the newly crowned Holy Roman Emperor, asks the Pope to add it – together with the filioque clause. Prior to this date, the Creed has not been used at all during the liturgy.
 * Wulfstan, archbishop of York in England, preaches his Latin homily Sermo Lupi ad Anglos ("Wulf's Address to the English"), describing the Danes as "God's judgement on England".

Births

 * May 11 – Anawrahta, founder of the Pagan Empire (Burma) (d. 1077)
 * Al-Bakri, Andalusian historian and geographer (d. 1094)
 * Cynan ab Iago, king of Gwynedd (approximate date)
 * Iestyn ap Gwrgant, king of Morgannwg (d. 1093)

Deaths

 * February 3 – Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and England (b. 960)
 * February 9 – Yang Yanzhao, general of the Song dynasty
 * April 23 – Battle of Clontarf:
 * Brian Boru, High King of Ireland
 * Carnen Ua Cadhla, Irish nobleman
 * Mathghamhain, Irish nobleman
 * Murchad mac Briain, Irish nobleman
 * Sigurd the Stout, Viking nobleman (earl)
 * Tadhg Mór Ua Cellaigh, king of Uí Maine
 * May 7 – Bagrat III, king of Abkhazia (Georgia)
 * June 25 – Æthelstan Ætheling, son of Æthelred the Unready
 * August – Pandulf II ("the Old"), prince of Benevento and Capua
 * October 6 – Samuel, emperor (tsar) of the Bulgarian Empire
 * November 11 – Werner, margrave of the North March
 * November 26 – Swanehilde, German noblewoman
 * Abu'l-Abbas ibn al-Furat, Fatimid vizier (or 1015)
 * Al-Hakim Nishapuri, Persian Sunni scholar (b. 933)
 * Brithwine I, bishop of Sherborne (approximate date)
 * Giselbert I, count of Roussillon (Spain) (or 1013)
 * Lu Zhen, Chinese scholar-official and diplomat
 * Raja Raja Chola I, king of the Chola dynasty (India)
 * Rotbold II, margrave of Provence (approximate date)
 * Theophylact Botaneiates, Byzantine general and governor
 * Wulfnoth Cild, English nobleman (approximate date)

title: 1014


text:
861

Year 861 (DCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * March – Robert the Strong is appointed margrave of Neustria by King Charles the Bald. He re-establishes the Breton March, and extends his remit by campaigning against Salomon, duke 'king' of Brittany. Robert hires a combined Seine-Loire fleet for 6,000 pounds of silver, 'before Salomon can ally with them against him'. In return, Salomon enlists 12 Viking ships under the command of Hastein, to raid the county of Maine, which, with Anjou, becomes squeezed between Brittany and Neustria.
 * Spring – The Council of Constantinople, attended by 318 fathers and presided over by papal legates, confirms Photius the Great as patriarch, and passes 17 canons.
 * Carloman, eldest son of King Louis the German, revolts against his father. He is captured, but manages to escape to the Ostmark (or 862).
 * Summer – Viking raiders sack the cities of Paris, Cologne, Aachen, Worms and Toulouse.

Abbasid Caliphate

 * December 11 – Caliph al-Mutawakkil is assassinated by his Turkish guard, starting the period of troubles known as the "Anarchy at Samarra" (861–870). He is succeeded by his son Al-Muntasir, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.
 * Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, a Muslim military leader, starts rebelling against the Abbasids and founds the Saffarid Dynasty in the 870s. He rules over parts of Khurasan and eastern Iran, and establishes his capital at Zaranj (modern Afghanistan).

Hydrology

 * Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) orders the construction of a Nilometer on Rhoda Island in central Cairo, supervised by the Persian astronomer Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani.

Births

 * Abdullah ibn al-Mu'tazz, Muslim poet (d. 908)
 * Abu Bakr Shibli, Muslim Sufi (d. 946)
 * Al-Mu'tadid, Muslim caliph (or 854)
 * Heongang, king of Silla (approximate date)

Deaths

 * Shuja also known as Umm Jaʽfar was the mother of Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
 * April 6 – Prudentius, bishop of Troyes
 * December 11
 * Al-Mutawakkil, Abbasid caliph (b. 822), On the night of 11 December, about one hour after midnight, the Turk guards burst in the chamber where the Caliph and al-Fath were having supper. Al-Fath was killed trying to protect the Caliph, who was killed next. His son, Al-Muntasir, who now assumed the caliphate, initially claimed that al-Fath had murdered his father, and that he had been killed after; within a short time, however, the official story changed to al-Mutawakkil choking on his drink.
 * al-Fath ibn Khaqan, chief confidante and councillor of al-Mutawakkil
 * Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani, Persian astronomer
 * Álvaro of Córdoba, Mozarab scholar and theologian
 * Ansovinus, bishop of Camerino (approximate date)
 * Bai Minzhong, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 792)
 * Gladilanus, Galician clergyman (approximate date)
 * Gregory of Khandzta, Georgian archimandrite (b. 759)
 * Heonan, king of Silla (Korea)
 * Princess Ito of Japan
 * Lando I, count of Capua
 * Meinrad of Einsiedeln, German hermit and martyr
 * Pribina, Slavic prince (approximate date)
 * Samuel of Kakheti, Georgian prince

title: 861


text:
860

Year 860 (DCCCLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * June 18 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sails into the Bosphorus, and starts pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople. The raiders set homes on fire, and drown and kill the citizens. Unable to do anything to repel the invaders, Patriarch Photios I urges his flock to implore the Theotokos to save the Byzantine capital. Having devastated the suburbs, the Rus' Vikings pass into the Sea of Marmara and attack the Isles of the Princes, plundering the local monasteries.

Europe

 * King Charles the Bald gives the order to build fortified bridges across the Seine and Loire Rivers, to protect Paris and the Frankish heartland against Viking raids. He hires the services of Weland, a Viking chieftain based on the Somme, to attack the Seine Vikings at their base on the Isle of Oissel. Weland besieges the Vikings—they offer him a huge bribe (6,000 pounds of silver) to let them escape.
 * Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside ravage upstream and move to Italy, sacking Luna (believing it to be Rome). They sail up the River Arno to sack the cities of Pisa and Fiesole (Tuscany).
 * Summer – Viking raiders led by Weland sail to England and attack Winchester (the capital of Wessex), which is set ablaze. He spreads inland, but is defeated by West Saxon forces, who deprive him of all he has gained.
 * December 20 – King Æthelbald of Wessex dies after a 2½-year reign. He is succeeded by his brother, sub-king Æthelberht of Kent, who becomes sole ruler of Wessex.

Iberian Peninsula

 * Muhammad I, Umayyad emir of Córdoba, invades Pamplona (Pyrenees), and captures Crown Prince Fortún Garcés in Milagro, along with his daughter Onneca Fortúnez, and takes them as hostages to Córdoba.

Art

 * Lusterware tiles, that decorated the mihrab of the Mosque of Uqba at Kairouan (modern Tunisia), are made (approximate date).

Communication

 * The Japanese alphabet Hiragana becomes more popular in Japan. The phonetic alphabet will be further simplified, and reduced to 51 basic characters (approximate date).

Religion

 * Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius arrive in Khazaria.
 * Michael I succeeds Sophronius I, as patriarch of Alexandria.

Births

 * Bertila of Spoleto, queen of Italy (approximate date)
 * Donald II, king of Scotland (approximate date)
 * Georgios I, king of Makuria (approximate date)
 * Ibn Abd Rabbih, Moorish writer and poet (d. 940)
 * John X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 928)
 * Ludmila, Bohemian duchess regent and saint (approximate date)
 * Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 859)
 * Robert I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 866)
 * Sancho Garcés I, king of Pamplona (approximate date)
 * Sergius III, pope of the Catholic Church (approximate date)
 * Tudwal Gloff, Welsh prince (approximate date)
 * Vasugupta, Indian writer and philosopher (d. 925)

Deaths

 * December 3 – Abbo, bishop of Auxerre
 * December 20 – Æthelbald, king of Wessex
 * Al-Abbās ibn Said al-Jawharī, Muslim mathematician
 * 'Anbasah ibn Ishaq al-Dabbi, Muslim governor
 * Athanasia of Aegina, Byzantine noblewoman
 * Constantine Kontomytes, Byzantine general
 * Govindasvāmi, Indian astronomer (approximate date)
 * Guy I, duke of Spoleto (approximate date)
 * Halfdan the Black, Norwegian nobleman
 * Sedulius Scottus, Irish grammarian
 * Tunberht, bishop of Lichfield (approximate date)

title: 860


text:
863

Year 863 (DCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * September 3 – Battle of Lalakaon: A Byzantine army confronts an invasion by Muslim forces, led by Umar al-Aqta, Emir of Malatya. The Muslims raid deep into Byzantine territory, reaching the Black Sea coast at the port city of Amisos. Petronas annihilates the Arabs near the River Lalakaon, in Paphlagonia (modern Turkey).

Europe

 * January 25 – Emperor Louis II claims Provence, after the death of his brother Charles. King Lothair II receives Lower Burgundy and a part of the Jura Mountains.
 * King Louis the German suppresses the revolt of his son Carloman (for the second time), who wants a partition (mainly of Bavaria) of the East Frankish Kingdom.
 * Viking raiders again plunder Dorestad (modern Netherlands), a Frankish port on the mouth of the river Rhine. It thereafter disappears from the chronicles.
 * Danish Vikings loot along the Rhine. They settle on an island near Cologne, but are driven off by the combined forces of Lothair II and the Saxons.
 * The Christianization of Kievan Rus begins, ceasing the 63-year-long dominance of the Rus' Khaganate (approximate date).
 * The first written record is made of Smolensk (according to the Primary Chronicle).
 * The Byzantine empire invades Bulgaria in order to impose Orthodox Christianity on Boris I.

Britain

 * King Osberht of Northumbria engages in a dispute for royal power, with a rival claimant named Ælla. After Osberht is replaced, Ælla wields power in Northumbria, but the civil war continues.

Asia

 * Duan Chengshi, Chinese author and scholar, writes about the Chinese maritime trade and the Arab-run slave trade in East Africa.

Armenia

 * 13 February – Dvin earthquake. It took place in the city of Dvin on 13 February, 863. During the 9th century, Dvin was the only "heavily populated" city in Muslim-dominated Armenia. The city was part of the wider Abbasid Caliphate, and had a multiethnic population.

Religion

 * Pope Nicholas I sends archbishops Gunther and Theotgaud to a synod of Metz, which confirms the permission given to King Lothair II of Lotharingia to remarry.
 * The Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius arrive with a few disciples in Moravia, by request of Prince Rastislav.
 * Nicholas I excommunicates Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople.

Births

 * Bertha, duchess regent of Lucca and Tuscany (d. 925)
 * Li Decheng, general of Wu (Five Dynasties) (d. 940)
 * Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 865)
 * Shen Song, chancellor of Wuyue (d. 938)
 * Wang Yanzhang, general of Later Liang (d. 923)

Deaths

 * January 25 – Charles of Provence, Frankish king (b. 845)
 * June 4 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
 * June 6 – Abu Musa Utamish, Muslim vizier
 * October 4 – Turpio, Frankish nobleman
 * Ali ibn Yahya al-Armani, Muslim governor
 * Bivin of Gorze, Frankish nobleman
 * Daniél ua Líahaiti, Irish abbot and poet
 * Duan Chengshi, Chinese official and scholar
 * Karbeas, leader of the Paulicians
 * Mucel, bishop of Hereford (approximate date)
 * Muirecán mac Diarmata, king of Leinster
 * Umar al-Aqta, emir of Melitene
 * Yahya ibn Muhammad, Idrisid emir of Morocco

title: 863


text:
865

Year 865 (DCCCLXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. Carloman receives Bavaria (with more lands along the Inn River). He gives Saxony to Louis the Younger (with Franconia, and Thuringia) and Swabia (with Raetia) to Charles the Fat. Louis arranges marriages into the local aristocracy, for his sons to hold important territories along the frontiers.
 * King Lothair II, threatened with excommunication, takes back his first wife, Teutberga. She expresses her desire for an annulment, but this is refused by Pope Nicholas I.
 * Boris I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, suppresses a revolt, and orders the execution of 52 leading boyars, along with their whole families.

Britain

 * The Great Heathen Army (probably no more than 1,000 men) of Vikings, led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson, invades East Anglia. King Edmund of East Anglia buys peace with a supply of horses.
 * Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok is captured by the Northumbrians in battle, and killed by being thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes, on the orders of King Ælla of Northumbria.
 * Autumn – King Æthelberht of Wessex dies after a 5-year reign, and is buried at Sherborne Abbey (Dorset). He is succeeded by his brother Æthelred I, as ruler of Wessex.

Abbasid Caliphate

 * Caliphal Civil War: An armed conflict starts between the rival Muslim caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz. They fight to determine who takes control over the Abbasid Caliphate (until 866).

Religion

 * Kassia, a Byzantine abbess and hymnographer, dies. She is one of the first Early Medieval composers of many hymns.

Births

 * Al-Nayrizi, Persian mathematician (d. 922)
 * Baldwin II, Frankish margrave (approximate date)
 * Jinseong, queen of Silla (approximate date)
 * Lady Ren Neiming, Chinese noblewoman (d. 918)
 * Louis III, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 863)
 * Simeon I, ruler (khan) of the Bulgarian Empire (or 864)

Deaths

 * February 3 – Ansgar, Frankish monk and archbishop (b. 801)
 * March 8 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologian
 * November 11 – Petronas, Byzantine general
 * December 26 – Zheng, empress of the Tang dynasty
 * Æthelberht, king of Wessex
 * Antony the Younger, Byzantine governor and saint (b. 785)
 * Deshan Xuanjian, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk
 * Gao Qu, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
 * Kassia, Byzantine abbess and hymnographer
 * Khurshid, ruler (shah) of Daylam
 * Liu Gongquan, Chinese calligrapher (b. 778)
 * Lothair the Lame, Frankish abbot
 * Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Jarjara'i, Muslim vizier (or 864)
 * Pepin II, king of Aquitaine (approximate date)
 * Ragnar Lodbrok, king of Denmark and Sweden
 * Raymond I, count of Toulouse
 * Rorgon II, count of Maine (approximate date)
 * Tigernach mac Fócartai, king of Lagore (Ireland)
 * Wenilo, Frankish archbishop
 * Xiao Zhi, chancellor of the Tang dynasty
 * Yahya ibn Umar, Muslim imam (or 864)

title: 865


text:
866

Year 866 (DCCCLXVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * April 21 – Bardas, the regent of the Byzantine Empire, is murdered by Basil the Macedonian at Miletus, while conducting a large-scale expedition against the Saracen stronghold of Crete.

 * May 26 – Basil the Macedonian is crowned co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and is adopted by the much younger Michael III.

Europe

 * May 27 – King Ordoño I, ruler of the Kingdom of Asturias, dies after a 16-year reign. He is succeeded by his son, Alfonso III, who later is referred to as "Alfonso the Great".
 * July 2 – Battle of Brissarthe: Frankish forces, led by Robert the Strong, are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.
 * Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, defeats the Saracen invaders who are ravaging southern Italy.

Britain

 * The Great Heathen Army of the Vikings rides north to Northumbria. The Northumbrians are preoccupied with a civil war, and the Danes enter York unopposed.

Abbasid Caliphate

 * October 17 – Caliph al-Musta'in is put to death, after a 4-year reign. He is succeeded by al-Mu'tazz, who becomes the youngest Abbasid caliph to assume power.
 * The Kharijite revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate begins in Al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), which will last for 30 years.

Japan

 * Fujiwara no Yoshifusa becomes regent (sesshō) to assist the child emperor Seiwa, starting the Fujiwara regency.

Religion

 * Boris I, ruler (knyaz) of the Bulgarian Empire, sends a diplomatic mission, led by the Bulgarian nobleman Peter, to Rome, in an effort to renew ties with the West.
 * Pope Nicholas I orders that all Catholics should abstain from eating the "flesh, blood, or marrow" of warm-blooded animals on Wednesdays and Fridays.
 * Pope Nicholas I forbids the use of torture in prosecutions for witchcraft (approximate date).

Births

 * June 10 – Uda, emperor of Japan (d. 931)
 * September 19 – Leo VI, Byzantine emperor (d. 912)
 * Carloman II, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (approximate date)
 * Robert I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (d. 923)
 * Yao Yi, chancellor of Later Tang (d. 940)

Deaths

 * April 21 – Bardas, Byzantine chief minister and regent
 * May 27 – Ordoño I, king of Asturias
 * June 21 – Rodulf, Frankish archbishop
 * July 2 – Robert the Strong, Frankish nobleman
 * July 16 – Irmgard, Frankish abbess
 * October 17 – Al-Musta'in, Abbasid caliph
 * Adelaide of Tours, Frankish noblewoman
 * Al-Mu'ayyad, Abbasid prince
 * Charles the Child, king of Aquitaine
 * Eberhard, duke of Friuli
 * Emenon, Frankish nobleman
 * Hungerus Frisus, bishop of Utrecht
 * Linji Yixuan, Chinese monk and founder of the Linji school
 * Liudolf, duke of Saxony
 * Ranulf I, Frankish nobleman (b. 820)
 * Robert, Frankish nobleman (b. 834)
 * Rudolph, Frankish nobleman
 * Wang Shaoyi, general of the Tang Dynasty
 * Yahya ibn Yahya, Idrisid emir of Morocco

title: 866


text:
868

Year 868 (DCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Europe

 * King Charles the Bald meets his brother Louis the German at Metz. They agree to a partition of Lotharingia, which belonged to former emperor Lothair I (now in possession of his sons Lothair II and Louis II).
 * Salomon, duke ('king') of Brittany, leads a joint campaign against the Loire Vikings. He is forced to defend southeastern Brittany unaided, and mobilizes levies raised at Poitiers to defeat the Vikings.
 * Al-Andalus: The city of Mérida rises against the Umayyad rule. Emir Muhammad I regains control, and has the walls of the city destroyed. He supports the rival creation of Badajoz in retaliation.
 * The County of Portugal is established around the town of Portus Cale (present-day Porto) by Vímara Peres, an Asturian nobleman, after the reconquest from the Moors of the region north of the Douro River.
 * Ratramnus, a Frankish monk and abbot of Corbie Abbey, writes Contra Graecorum Opposita.

Britain

 * Alfred the Great marries Ealhswith (a daughter of Æthelred, known as Mucel, an ealdorman of the Gaini). He supports his brother Æthelred I, in his choice to form an alliance with Mercia.
 * King Burgred of Mercia appeals to Æthelred I for help in resisting the Great Heathen Army. The Danes occupy Nottingham, and stay through the winter without any serious opposition.
 * King Áed Findliath drives the invading Danes and Norwegians out of Ireland, after defeating them at the Battle of Killineery.

Africa

 * September 15 – Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Turkish general, is sent to Egypt as governor, by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tazz. He becomes the founder of the Tulunid Dynasty (until 905).
 * Muslim Arab forces under Muhammad II, emir of the Aghlabid Dynasty (modern Tunisia), conquer the island of Malta and raid into the mainland of Italy.

Asia

 * May 11 – The earliest extant printed book, an illustrated scroll of the Diamond Sutra ("Perfection of Wisdom"), unearthed at Dunhuang (Western China), is produced.

Births

 * Choe Eon-wui, Korean minister and calligrapher (d. 944)
 * Muhammad ibn Dawud al-Zahiri, Muslim theologian (d. 909)
 * Théodrate of Troyes, Frankish queen (d. 903)
 * Xu Jie, Chinese officer and chancellor (d. 943)

Deaths

 * Ali al-Hadi, tenth Shia Imam
 * Al-Jahiz, Afro-Muslim scholar and writer (b. 776)
 * Bugha al-Sharabi, Turkish military leader
 * Conwoïon, Breton abbot (approximate date)
 * Minamoto no Makoto, Japanese prince (b. 810)
 * Muzahim ibn Khaqan, Muslim governor
 * Stephania, wife of Adrian II
 * Theotgaud, archbishop of Trier
 * Yang Shou, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
 * Yu Xuanji, Chinese poet (or 869)

title: 868


text:
869

Year 869 (DCCCLXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * Summer – Emperor Basil I allies with the Frankish emperor Louis II against the Saracens. He sends a Byzantine fleet of 400 ships (according to the Annales Bertiniani), under the command of Admiral Niketas Ooryphas, to support Louis (who is besieging the city port of Bari) and to clear the Adriatic Sea of Muslim raiders.
 * The Hagia Sophia Basilica (church) in Constantinople suffers great damage during an earthquake, which makes the eastern half-dome collapse. Basil I orders it to be repaired.

Europe

 * August 8 – Lothair II, King of Middle Francia (Lotharingia), dies at Piacenza, on his way home from meeting Pope Adrian II at Rome, to get assent for a divorce. Lotharingia is subsequently divided between Lothair's uncles, Charles the Bald of France and Louis the German.

Britain

 * The Danes, led by Viking chieftain Ivar the Boneless, 'make peace' with the Mercians (by accepting Danegeld). Ivar leaves Nottingham on horseback, and returns to York.
 * Autumn –The Great Heathen Army, led by Ivar the Boneless and Ubba, invades the Kingdom of East Anglia and plunders Peterborough. The Vikings take up winter quarters at Thetford.
 * November 20 – Vikings conquer East Anglia, killing King Edmund the Martyr.

Arabian Empire

 * The Zanj Rebellion: The Zanj (black slaves from East Africa), provoked by mercilessly harsh labor conditions in salt flats, and on the sugar and cotton plantations of southwestern Persia, revolt.
 * Summer – Caliph Al-Mu'tazz is murdered by mutinous Muslim troops, after a 3-year reign. He is succeeded by Al-Muhtadi (a grandson of the late Al-Mu'tasim), as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Japan

 * July 9 – The 869 Sanriku earthquake and associated tsunami devastate a large part of the Sanriku coast on the northeastern side of the island of Honshu.
 * The first Gion Festival is held in order to combat an epidemic thought to be caused by an angry deity.

Mesoamerica

 * The last monument ever erected at Tikal, Stela 11, is dedicated by ruler (ajaw) Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil II.

Religion

 * October 5 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople, called by Basil I and Pope Adrian II, opens. The council will condemn Photius I and depose him as patriarch, reinstating his predecessor Ignatios.

Births

 * January 2 – Yōzei, emperor of Japan (d. 949)
 * Gung Ye, king of Hu Goguryeo (approximate date)
 * Muhammad al-Mahdi, Muslim Twelver Shī‘ah Imām

Deaths

 * February 14 – Cyril, Byzantine missionary and bishop
 * August 8 – Lothair II, king of Lotharingia (b. 835)
 * September 8 – Ahmad ibn Isra'il al-Anbari, Muslim vizier
 * September 18 – Wenilo, Frankish archbishop
 * October 14 – Pang Xun, Chinese rebel leader
 * November 20 (or 870) – Edmund the Martyr, king of East Anglia
 * Al-Darimi, Muslim scholar and imam
 * Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Muslim jurist (approximate date)
 * Al-Jahiz, Afro-Muslim scholar and writer (or 868)
 * Al-Mu'tazz, Muslim caliph (b. 847)
 * Dongshan Liangjie, Chinese Buddhist teacher (b. 807)
 * Dúnlaing mac Muiredaig, king of Leinster (Ireland)
 * Ermentrude of Orléans, queen of the Franks (b. 823)
 * Gundachar, count (or margrave) of Carinthia
 * Leuthard II, Frankish count (or 858)
 * Rothad of Soissons, Frankish bishop
 * Shapur ibn Sahl, Persian physician
 * Solomon, Frankish count (approximate date)
 * Yu Xuanji, Chinese poet (or 868)

title: 869


text:
979

Year 979 (CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was the last year of the 970s decade.

Byzantine Empire

 * March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary force, under General Bardas Phokas (the Younger), inflicts a crushing defeat on the rebels of General Bardas Skleros, at Sarvenis (modern Turkey). Skleros manages to escape, and finds shelter with his Muslim allies. The rebellion is subdued without difficulty.

Europe

 * Vitale Candiano, doge of Venice, abdicates for health reasons after a 14-month reign, and retires to a monastery. He is succeeded by Tribuno Memmo, a son-in-law of the murdered Pietro IV Candiano. Tribuno declares a general amnesty for everyone complicit in the plot against Pietro.
 * June 8 – Louis V, nicknamed le Fainéant (the Do-Nothing), is crowned as the co-emperor of West Francia at Paris by his father, King Lothair. Upon Lothair's death on March 2, 986, Louis becomes the sole ruler.
 * The city of Brussels is founded by Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine. He constructs fortifications (a castrum on an island) on the Senne River (modern Belgium).

Britain

 * Tynwald (or Tynwald Court), the parliament of the Isle of Man, is founded. It remains active as the longest continuous parliament in the world.

Africa

 * Jawhar as-Siqilli is dismissed as vizier of Egypt after an unsuccessful campaign in Syria (near Damascus). He is replaced by Ya'qub ibn Killis.

China

 * Battle of Gaoliang River: Emperor Tai Zong leads an expedition into You Prefecture (or Youzhou). The Liao Dynasty counter-attacks and defeats the Song forces near modern-day Beijing.
 * Summer – Tai Zong invades the Northern Han and besieges the capital of Taiyuan. A relief force sent by the Liao Dynasty is defeated. The Kingdom is absorbed into the Song Dynasty.

Births

 * August 29 – Otto (or Eudes), French nobleman (d. 1045)
 * Al-Muqtana Baha'uddin, Druze religious leader (d. 1043)
 * Estrid (or Astrid), queen consort of Sweden (d. 1035)
 * Fujiwara no Takaie, Japanese nobleman (d. 1044)
 * Ibn al-Samh, Andalusian astronomer (d. 1035)
 * Matilda, countess palatine of Lotharingia (d. 1025)

Deaths

 * June 29 – Fujiwara no Koshi, Japanese empress (b. 947)
 * August 3 – Thietmar, German nobleman
 * August 11 – Gero, German nobleman
 * August 26 – Zhao Dezhao, prince of the Song Dynasty (b. 951)
 * August 29 – Abu Taghlib, Hamdanid emir
 * September 19 – Gotofredo I, archbishop of Milan
 * unknown dates
 * 'Imran ibn Shahin, Muslim ruler
 * Vitale Candiano, doge of Venice
 * Hasanwayh, Hasanwayhid ruler
 * probable – Iago ab Idwal, king of Gwynedd

title: 979


text:
1072

Year 1072 (MLXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Byzantine Empire

 * June 29 – Romanos IV (Diogenes), deposed emperor of the Byzantine Empire, is blinded and sent into exile to the island of Proti (in the Sea of Marmara) at the Monastery of Transfiguration. A few days before his death, he receives a letter from Michael Psellos (his political advisor), congratulating him on the loss of his eyes.

Europe

 * January 10 – The Normans under Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I (Boso) conquer Palermo (after a one year siege). Roger receives the keys of the city, and Robert invests him with the title of Count of Sicily. The Emirate of Sicily rules only the southern part of the island, with Syracuse as the capital (until 1091).
 * January – Battle of Golpejera: King Sancho II (the Strong) defeats the Castilian forces of his brother Alfonso VI (the Brave) near Carrión de los Condes. Alfonso is captured, but released into exile, where he seeks refuge in the Taifa of Toledo (under the protection of his vassal, Emir Al-Mamun).
 * October 7 – Alfonso VI becomes king of León and Castile, following the assassination of Sancho II. He is bestowed with the title of "Emperor of Spain", and is forced by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (El Cid), the standard-bearer of Sancho, to take an oath denying any involvement in his brother's death.

Britain

 * May 27 – The Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York, in the Church of England.
 * King William I (the Conqueror) invades Scotland and receives the submission of King Malcolm III. He agrees to sign the Treaty of Abernethy.

Seljuk Empire

 * December 15 – Sultan Alp Arslan (Heroic Lion) dies after a 9-year reign (during his campaign in Transoxiana). He is succeeded by his 17-year-old son Malik-Shah I, who is declared new ruler of the Seljuk Empire. Qavurt, a brother of Alp Arslan, claims the Seljuk throne for himself and occupies the capital of Isfahan.

China

 * Shen Kuo, Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman, is appointed as the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy – where he begins his work with the colleague Wei Pu on accurately plotting the orbital paths of the stars, planets, and moon three times a night, for a continuum of five years.
 * Fall – Shen Kuo is sent to supervise Wang Anshi's program of surveying the building of silt deposits in the Bian Canal, outside the capital city of Kaifeng. Using an original technique, Shen successfully dredges the canal and demonstrates the formidable value of the silt gathered as a fertilizer.

Literature

 * Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, an informative book written by Mahmud al-Kashgari about the Turks, is presented to the ruler of the Kara-Khanid Khanate.

Births

 * Agnes of Aquitaine, queen of Aragon and Navarre (d. 1097)
 * Agnes of Waiblingen, daughter of Henry IV (or 1073)
 * Welf II (or Welfhard), duke of Bavaria (d. 1120)
 * Wulfhilde of Saxony, German noblewoman (d. 1126)

Deaths

 * February 1 – Lý Thánh Tông, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1023)
 * February 7 – Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, king of Leinster
 * February 22
 * Peter Damian, cardinal-bishop of Ostia (or 1073)
 * Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury
 * March 16 – Adalbert, archbishop of Hamburg
 * March 28 – Ordulf (or Otto), duke of Saxony
 * August 19 – Hawise, duchess of Brittany
 * September 22 – Ouyang Xiu, Chinese historian and poet (b. 1007)
 * October 7 – Sancho II, king of Castile and León
 * October 15 – Æthelric, bishop of Durham
 * November 13 – Adalbero III, German nobleman
 * November 24 – Bagrat IV, king of Georgia (b. 1018)
 * December 15 – Alp Arslan, sultan of the Seljuk Empire (b. 1029)
 * Al-Qushayri, Persian Sufi scholar and theologian (or 1073)
 * Honorius II, antipope of the Catholic Church
 * Maredudd ab Owain ab Edwin, Welsh prince
 * Otloh of Sankt Emmeram, German monk (approximate date)
 * Qatran Tabrizi, Persian poet and writer (b. 1009)
 * Romanos IV, emperor of the Byzantine Empire
 * Serlo II of Hauteville (or Sarlo), Norman nobleman

title: 1072


text:
1050s

The 1050s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1050, and ended on December 31, 1059.

Significant people

 * Godwin, Earl of Wessex
 * Al-Qa'im
 * Tughril

title: 1050s


text:
1st millennium

The first millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era was a millennium spanning the years 1 to 1000 (1st to 10th centuries; in astronomy: JD $1,721,425.5$ – $2,086,667.5$ ). The world population rose more slowly than during the preceding millennium, from about 200 million in the year 1 to about 300 million in the year 1000.

In Western Eurasia (Europe and Near East), the first millennium was a time of great transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The 1st century saw the peak of the Roman Empire, followed by its gradual decline during the period of Late Antiquity, the rise of Christianity and the Great Migrations. The second half of the millennium is characterized as the Early Middle Ages in Europe, and marked by the Viking expansion in the west, and the continuation of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) in the east.

In East Asia, the first millennium was also a time of great cultural advances, notably the spread of Buddhism to East Asia. In China, the Han dynasty is replaced by the Jin dynasty and later the Tang dynasty until the 10th century sees renewed fragmentation in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In Japan, a sharp increase in population followed when farmers' use of iron tools increased their productivity and crop yields. The Yamato court was established. The North Indian subcontinent was divided among numerous kingdoms throughout the first millennium, until the formation of the Gupta Empire. Islam expanded rapidly from Arabia to western Asia, India, North Africa and the Iberian peninsula, culminating in the Islamic Golden Age (700–1200).

In Mesoamerica, the first millennium was a period of enormous growth known as the Classic Era (200–900). Teotihuacan grew into a metropolis and its empire dominated Mesoamerica. In South America, pre-Incan, coastal cultures flourished, producing impressive metalwork and some of the finest pottery seen in the ancient world. In North America, the Mississippian culture rose at the end of the millennium in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. Numerous cities were built; Cahokia, the largest, was based in present-day Illinois. The construction of Monks Mound at Cahokia was begun in 900–950.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bantu expansion reaches Southern Africa by about the 5th century. The trans Saharan slave trade spans the Sahara and the Swahili coast by the 9th century.

Events
The events in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme

title: 1st millennium


text:
2nd millennium

The second millennium of the Anno Domini or Common Era was a millennium spanning the years 1001 to 2000. It began on January 1, 1001 (MI) and ended on December 31, 2000 (MM), (11th to 20th centuries; in astronomy: JD $2,086,667.5$ – $2,451,909.5$ ).

It encompassed the High and Late Middle Ages of the Old World, the Islamic Golden Age and the period of Renaissance, followed by the early modern period, characterized by the European wars of religion, the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Discovery and the colonial period. Its final two centuries coincide with modern history, characterized by industrialization, the rise of nation states, the rapid development of science, widespread education, and universal health care and vaccinations in the developed world. The 20th century saw increasing globalization, most notably the two World Wars and the subsequent formation of the United Nations. 20th-century technology includes powered flight, television and semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits. The term "Great Divergence" was coined to refer the unprecedented cultural and political ascent of the Western world in the second half of the millennium, emerging by the 18th century as the most powerful and wealthy world civilization, having eclipsed Qing China, the Islamic world and India. This allowed the colonization by European countries of much of the world during this millennium, including the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and South and Southeast Asia.

World population grew without precedent over the millennium, from about 310 million in 1000 to about 6 billion in 2000. The population growth rate increased dramatically during this time; world population approximately doubled to 600 million by 1700, and doubled more than three more times by 2000, ultimately reaching about 1.8% per year in the second half of the 20th century.

Europe

 * Western/Central Europe
 * Kingdom of Scotland (843–1707): see Medieval Scotland
 * Kingdom of England (927–1707): see Medieval England
 * Holy Roman Empire (962–1806): see Medieval Germany
 * Kingdom of France (987–1789): see Medieval France
 * Kingdom of Hungary (1000–1526)
 * Kingdom of Portugal (1139–1910)
 * Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385): see Medieval Poland
 * Old Swiss Confederacy (from c. 1300): see Medieval Switzerland
 * Medieval Italy
 * Kingdom of Italy
 * Papal States
 * Maritime republics
 * Kingdom of Sicily
 * Medieval Spain: see also Reconquista
 * Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031)
 * Crown of Aragon (1035–1479)
 * Crown of Castile (1030–1479)
 * Emirate of Granada (1230–1492)
 * Medieval Scandinavia: see also Viking Age
 * Kingdom of Denmark (c. 936–1397)
 * Kingdom of Sweden (c. 970–1397)
 * Kingdom of Norway (c. 1015–1397)
 * Kalmar Union (1397–1523)
 * Eastern/Southeastern Europe
 * Byzantine Empire (330–1453)
 * Kievan Rus (880–1150)
 * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), Croatia in union with Hungary (1102–1526)
 * Kingdom of Bosnia (1154–1463)
 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
 * Kingdom of Serbia (1217–1346)
 * Serbian Empire (1346–1371)
 * Grand Duchy of Lithuania (c. 1236–1795)
 * Golden Horde (1240s–1502), see also: Tatar yoke
 * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1283–1547)

Near East

 * see also Crusades, Mongol invasions

 * Byzantine Empire (330–1453)
 * Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517)
 * Bagratid Armenia (880s–1045)
 * Fatimid Caliphate (910–1171)
 * Kingdom of Georgia (1008–1493)
 * Seljuk Empire (1037–1194)
 * Khwarazmian dynasty (1077–1231)
 * Crusader states
 * County of Edessa (1098–1144)
 * Principality of Antioch (1098–1268)
 * Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291)
 * County of Tripoli (1102–1289)
 * Latin Empire (1204–1261)
 * Ayyubids (1171–1260)
 * Sultanate of Rum (1194–1308)
 * Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517)
 * Ilkhanate (1256–1353)
 * Ottoman Empire (1299–1924)
 * Timurid Empire (1370–1507)

North Africa

 * Almoravid dynasty (1040–1147)
 * Almohad dynasty (1121–1269)
 * Marinid dynasty (1244–1465)
 * Hafsid dynasty (1229–1574)
 * Kingdom of Tlemcen (1235–1554)

East Asia

 * Goryeo (918–1392)
 * Hoysala Empire (1026–1343)
 * Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
 * Joseon dynasty
 * Khmer Empire (802–1431)
 * Liao dynasty (907–1125)
 * Mongol Empire (1206–1368)
 * Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
 * Pagan Kingdom (849–1287)
 * Song dynasty (960–1279)
 * Western Xia (1038–1227)
 * Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1271–1368)

India

 * Eastern Chalukyas (7th to 12th centuries)
 * Pala Empire (8th to 12th centuries)
 * Chola Empire (9th century to 13th centuries)
 * Western Chalukya Empire (10th to 12th centuries)
 * Kalachuri dynasty (10th to 12th centuries)
 * Eastern Ganga dynasty (11th to 15th centuries)
 * Hoysala Empire (10th to 14th centuries)
 * Kakatiya Kingdom (1083–1323)
 * Sena dynasty (11th to 12th centuries)
 * Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
 * Bengal Sultanate (1352–1576)
 * Ahom Kingdom (from 1228)
 * Reddy Kingdom (1325–1448)
 * Seuna (Yadava) dynasty (1190–1315)
 * Vijayanagara Empire (1375–1591)

Sahel / Sudan and Sub-Saharan Africa

 * Gao Empire, Sahel (c. 9th to 15th centuries)
 * Benin Empire, West Africa (from c. 1180)
 * Sultanate of Ifat, Horn of Africa (1285–1415)

 * Mali Empire, Sahel (c. 1230–1600)
 * Songhai Empire, Sahel (c. 1464–1591)
 * Ife Empire, West Africa (c. 1200–1420)
 * Oyo Empire, West Africa (from c. 1300)
 * Kongo Empire, West Africa (from c. 1390)
 * Kingdom of Nri, West Africa (from c. 1200?)

Pre-Columbian Americas

 * Maya civilisation
 * Toltec
 * Mississippian culture
 * Vinland
 * Chimú
 * Kingdom of Cuzco
 * Aztec Empire
 * Inca Empire

Europe

 * Kingdom of Poland
 * Holy Roman Empire (see German Renaissance, early modern Germany )
 * Kingdom of France, (see early modern France )
 * Kingdom of England (before 1707)
 * Kingdom of Scotland (before 1707)
 * Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801)
 * Habsburg Empire (1526–1867)

Colonial empires

 * Spanish Empire (1402–1975)
 * Portuguese Empire (1415–2002)
 * Dutch Empire (1543–1975)
 * British Empire (1583–1997)
 * French colonial empire (1605–1960)

Asia

 * Ottoman Empire (1299–1922)
 * Safavid Persia
 * Zand dynasty (1750–1794)
 * Qing Dynasty (1644–1912)
 * Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796)
 * Mughal Empire (1526–1858)
 * Mysore empire (1399–1950)

Sub-Saharan Africa

 * Mutapa Empire
 * Maravi Empire
 * Luba Empire
 * Lunda Empire

Europe

 * French First Empire
 * British Empire (1583–1997)
 * Russian Empire (1721–1917)
 * United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922)
 * Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918)
 * Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
 * French Second Empire (1852–1870)
 * German Empire (1871–1918)
 * French Third Republic (1870–1940)
 * Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
 * United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (since 1922)
 * Soviet Union (1922–1991)

Asia

 * Qing dynasty (1644–1912)
 * Qajar dynasty (1794–1925)
 * British Raj (1858–1947)
 * Empire of Japan (1868–1947)
 * Republic of China (1912–1949)
 * People's Republic of China (from 1949)
 * Partition of India (1947)
 * Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire
 * Russian conquest of Central Asia
 * First Philippine Republic (1898–1901)

Americas

 * United States of America (from 1776)
 * Mexican Empire (1821–1823)
 * Empire of Brazil (1822–1889)
 * Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841)
 * Gran Colombia (1819–1831)
 * Canadian Confederation (1867)

Africa

 * European exploration of Africa
 * Scramble for Africa
 * French West Africa
 * French Equatorial Africa
 * French Algeria
 * German East Africa
 * Italian Libya
 * Portuguese Angola
 * Portuguese Mozambique
 * Spanish Sahara
 * Spanish protectorate in Morocco
 * Belgian Congo
 * Decolonisation
 * List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa

Calendar
The Julian calendar was used in Europe at the beginning of the millennium, and all countries that once used the Julian calendar had adopted the Gregorian calendar by the end of it. For this reason, the end date of the 2nd millennium is usually calculated based on the Gregorian calendar, while the beginning date is based on the Julian calendar (or occasionally the proleptic Gregorian calendar).

In the late 1990s, there was a dispute as to whether the millennium should be taken to end on December 31, 1999, or December 31, 2000. Stephen Jay Gould at the time argued there is no objective way of deciding this question. Associated Press reported that the third millennium began on 1 January 2001, but also reported that celebrations in the US were generally more subdued at the beginning of 2001, compared to the beginning of 2000. Many public celebrations for the end of the second millennium were held on December 31, 1999 – January 1, 2000 —with a few people marking the end of the millennium a year later.

title: 2nd millennium


text:
1st millennium BC

The 1st millennium BC, also known as the last millennium BC, was the period of time lasting from the years 1000 BC to 1 BC (10th to 1st centuries BC; in astronomy: JD $1,356,182.5$ – $1,721,425.5$ ). It encompasses the Iron Age in the Old World and sees the transition from the Ancient Near East to classical antiquity.

World population roughly doubled over the course of the millennium, from about 100 million to about 200–250 million.

Overview
The Neo-Assyrian Empire dominates the Near East in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century. Ancient Egypt is in decline, and falls to the Achaemenids in 525 BC.

In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the conquest of the Achaemenids and the subsequent flourishing of Hellenistic civilization (4th to 2nd centuries).

The Roman Republic supplants the Etruscans and then the Carthaginians (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the Roman Empire. The early Celtic culture dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. In East Africa, the Nubian Empire and Aksum arise.

In South Asia, the Vedic civilization gives rise to the Maurya Empire. The Scythians dominate Central Asia. In China, the Zhou dynasty rules the Chinese heartland at the beginning of the millennium. The decline of the Zhou dynasty during Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period sees the rise of such philosophical and spiritual traditions as Confucianism and Taoism. Towards the close of the millennium, the Han dynasty extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on Indo-Greek and Iranian states. Japan is in the Yayoi period.

The Olmec civilization declines, and the Maya and Zapotec civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The Chavín culture flourishes in Peru.

The first millennium BC is the formative period of the classical world religions, with the development of early Judaism and Zoroastrianism in the Near East, and Vedic religion and Vedanta, Jainism and Buddhism in India. Early literature develops in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Tamil and Chinese. The term Axial Age, coined by Karl Jaspers, is intended to express the crucial importance of the period of c. the 8th to 2nd centuries BC in world history.

World population more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million. Close to 90% of world population at the end of the first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Graeco-Indo-Scythian and Hindu kingdoms, Han China). The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in Mesoamerica (Epi-Olmec culture); that of Sub-Saharan Africa was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.

Timeline

 * 10th century BC
 * Near East: Neo-Assyrian Empire
 * Near East: Shoshenq I invades Canaan
 * Aegean: Helladic period ends
 * Sub-Saharan Africa West: Nok Culture slowly diffuse discernible ceramic sculpting, iron metallurgy and cereal farming cultures through the Niger Delta region, though debatable possible settling period and or foundation of proto Ile-Ife
 * 9th century BC
 * Chavín culture in Peru
 * Egypt: 872 BC: Nile floods the Temple of Luxor
 * Egypt: 836 BC: Civil war in Egypt
 * South Asia: 872 BC: Jainism re-organized by Parshvanatha
 * North Africa: 814 BC: Carthage founded
 * China: 841 BC–828 BC Gonghe Regency
 * 8th century BC
 * 727 BC: Egypt: Kushite invasion (25th dynasty)
 * 771 BC: China: Spring and Autumn period
 * Near East: 727 BC: Death of Tiglath-Pileser III, Babylonia secedes from Assyria
 * Near East: 722 BC: Sargon II takes Samaria; Assyrian captivity of the Israelites.
 * Greece: Archaic Greece, Greek alphabet
 * Greece: Homer
 * 776 BC: Greece: First Olympiad
 * 753 BC: Europe: foundation of Rome
 * 7th century BCLion Hunt of Ashurbanipal - king riding killing lion.jpg of Assyria hunting a Mesopotamian lion, from the Northern Palace in Nineveh, c. 645-635 BC]]
 * 671 BC: Assyrian conquest of Egypt
 * Near East: 631 BC: Death of Ashurbanipal, decline of the Assyrian Empire
 * 6th century BC
 * Egypt: 592 BC: Psamtik II sacks Napata
 * Sudan: Aspelta moves the Kushite capital to Meroe
 * Near East: 539 BC: Achaemenid conquest of Babylon under Cyrus the Great
 * South Asia: Śramaṇa movement and "second urbanisation"
 * South Asia: Early Buddhism
 * Europe: 509 BC: Roman Republic
 * 5th century BC
 * China: 479 BC: death of Confucius
 * China: 476 BC: Warring States period
 * China: 486 BC: Grand Canal construction begins
 * Near East: Second Temple Judaism, redaction of the Hebrew Bible
 * Greece: beginning of the classical period (Greece in the 5th century BC).
 * Greece: Greco-Persian Wars (Battle of Marathon, Battle of Thermopylae)
 * Greece: 440 BC: Herodotus' Histories
 * Greece: 431 BC: Peloponnesian War
 * Oceania: Austronesian expansion reaches Western Polynesia
 * 4th century BC
 * Greece: 395 BC: Corinthian War
 * Egypt: 343 BC: Achaemenid conquestWorld in 323 BCE.png
 * Greece/Asia/Egypt: 330s BC: conquests of Alexander the Great, end of the Achaemenid Empire, Macedonian Empire, beginning of the Hellenistic period
 * South Asia: Mauryan Empire
 * 3rd century BC
 * China: Qin Unified China
 * China: 206 BC: Han Dynasty
 * South Asia: 261 BC: Kalinga war
 * Rome: Roman expansion in Italy
 * Rome/Carthage: Punic Wars
 * 264 BC: First Punic War
 * 218 BC Second Punic War
 * 2nd century BC
 * Rome/Carthage: 149 BC Third Punic War, Roman province of AfricaStatue-Augustus (cropped).jpg, the first emperor of the Roman Empire]]
 * Rome/Greece: 146 BC Battle of Corinth, beginning of the Roman era
 * South Asia: 185 BC: Fall of the Maurya Empire
 * China: Confucianism became the state ideology of China
 * 1st century BC
 * China: 91 BC: Records of the Grand Historian finished
 * Rome/Europe: 58–50 BC Gallic Wars
 * Rome: 32/30 BC: Final War of the Roman Republic (Battle of Actium)
 * Rome/Egypt: 31 BC: Roman conquest of Egypt
 * Rome/Europe/West Asia/Africa: 27 BC: Roman Empire

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

 * 8th century BC
 * Greek alphabet, the first alphabet with vowels.
 * 7th century BC
 * Trireme
 * 6th century BC
 * paved trackway
 * Pythagorean theorem
 * Monotheism
 * 5th century BC
 * Blast furnace China
 * Atomism
 * crossbow
 * siege engine
 * 4th century BC
 * formal grammar
 * Kyrenia ship
 * 3rd century BC
 * Lighthouse of Alexandria
 * Malleable Cast iron China
 * buoyancy (Archimedes)
 * Spherical Earth
 * water clock
 * Qin built and unified various sections of the Great Wall of China.
 * Qin built Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army.
 * 2nd century BC
 * Antikythera mechanism

Literature

 * Greco-Roman literature

Archaic period Classical period Hellenistic to Roman period
 * Homer (late 8th or early 7th c.), Iliad, Odyssey
 * Hesiod (8th to 7th c.), Theogony and Works and Days
 * Archilochus (7th century), Greek poet
 * Sappho, (late 7th to early 6th c.), Greek poet
 * Ibycus
 * Alcaeus of Mytilene
 * Aesop's Fables
 * Aeschylus (c. 525–455 BC), Greek playwright
 * Herodotus (484–425 BC), Histories
 * Euripides (c. 480–406 BC), Greek playwright
 * Xenophon: Anabasis, Cyropaedia
 * Aristotle (384–322 BC), corpus Aristotelicum
 * Septuagint
 * Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica
 * Callimachus (310/305-240 B.C.), lyric poet
 * Manetho: Aegyptiaca
 * Theocritus, lyric poet
 * Euclid: Elements
 * Menander: Dyskolos
 * Theophrastus: Enquiry into Plants
 * Old Latin Livius Andronicus, Gnaeus Naevius, Plautus, Quintus Fabius Pictor, Lucius Cincius Alimentus
 * Classical Latin: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Virgil, Lucretius, Livy, Catullus

 * Chinese literature

 * I Ching (date unknown, between the 10th and 4th centuries BC)
 * Classic of Poetry (Shījīng), Classic of Documents (Shūjīng) (authentic portions), Classic of Changes (I Ching)
 * Spring and Autumn Annals (Chūnqiū) (722–481 BC, chronicles of the state of Lu)
 * Confucius: Analects (Lúnyǔ)
 * Classic of Rites (Lǐjì)
 * Commentaries of Zuo (Zuǒzhuàn)
 * Laozi (or Lao Tzu): Tao Te Ching
 * Zhuangzi: Zhuangzi (book)
 * Mencius: Mencius

 * Sanskrit literature

 * Vedic Sanskrit: Vedas, Brahmanas
 * Vedanga
 * Mukhya Upanishads
 * early layers of the Sanskrit epics (c. 3rd century BC to 4th century AD)

 * Hebrew

 * c. 8th to 7th c.: the Book of Nahum, Book of Hosea, Book of Amos, Book of Isaiah
 * c. 6th c.: Psalms
 * c. 5th century: redaction of the Torah
 * 3rd century: Ecclesiastes
 * 2nd century: Book of Wisdom

 * Avestan
 * Yasht, Avesta, Vendidad

 * Other (2nd to 1st century BC)
 * Pali literature: Tipitaka
 * Tamil :Sangam literature
 * Aramaic: Book of Daniel
 * Aramaic: Book of Daniel

Astronomy

 * Historical solar eclipses

title: 1st millennium BC


text:
2nd millennium BC

The 2nd millennium BC spanned the years 2000 BC to 1001 BC. In the Ancient Near East, it marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. The Ancient Near Eastern cultures are well within the historical era: The first half of the millennium is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. At the center of the millennium, a new order emerges with Mycenaean Greek dominance of the Aegean and the rise of the Hittite Empire. The end of the millennium sees the Bronze Age collapse and the transition to the Iron Age.

Other regions of the world are still in the prehistoric period. In Europe, the Beaker culture introduces the Bronze Age, presumably associated with Indo-European expansion. The Indo-Iranian expansion reaches the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent (Vedic India), propagating the use of the chariot. Mesoamerica enters the Pre-Classic (Olmec) period. North America is in the late Archaic stage. In Maritime Southeast Asia, the Austronesian expansion reaches Micronesia. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bantu expansion begins.

World population rose steadily, possibly surpassing the 100 million mark for the first time.

The world in the 2nd millennium BC

History
See the article on chronology of the ancient Near East for a discussion regarding the accuracy and resolution of dates for events of the 2nd millennium BC in the Near East.

Middle Bronze Age
Spending much of their energies in trying to recuperate from the chaotic situation that existed at the turn of the millennium, the most powerful civilizations of the time, Egypt and Mesopotamia, turned their attention to more modest goals. The Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and their contemporary Kings of Babylon, of Amorite origin, brought governance that was largely popular and approved of among their subjects, and favoured elegant art and architecture. Farther east, the Indus Valley civilization was in a period of decline, possibly as a result of intense, ruinous flooding.

Egypt and Babylonia's military tactics were still based on foot soldiers transporting their equipment on donkeys. Combined with a weak economy and difficulty in maintaining order, this was a fragile situation that crumbled under the pressure of external forces they could not oppose.

Unrest of the 16th century
About a century before the middle of the millennium, bands of Indo-European invaders came from the Central Asian plains and swept through Western Asia and Northeast Africa. They were riding fast two-wheeled chariots powered by horses, a system of weaponry developed earlier in the context of plains warfare. This tool of war was unknown among the classical civilizations. Egypt and Babylonia's foot soldiers were unable to defend against the invaders: in 1630 BC, the Hyksos swept into the Nile Delta, and in 1595 BC, the Hittites swept into Mesopotamia.

Late Bronze Age
The people in place were quick to adapt to the new tactics, and a new international situation resulted from the change. Though during most of the second half of the 2nd millennium BC several regional powers competed relentlessly for hegemony, many developments occurred: there was new emphasis on grandiose architecture, new clothing fashions, vivid diplomatic correspondence on clay tablets, renewed economic exchanges, and the New Kingdom of Egypt played the role of the main superpower. Among the great states of the time, only Babylon refrained from taking part in battles, mainly due to its new position as the world's religious and intellectual capital.

The Bronze Age civilization at its final period of time, displayed all its characteristic social traits: low level of urbanization, small cities centered on temples or royal palaces, strict separation of classes between an illiterate mass of peasants and craftsmen, and a powerful military elite, knowledge of writing and education reserved to a tiny minority of scribes, and pronounced aristocratic life.

Near the end of the 2nd millennium BC, new waves of barbarians, this time riding on horseback, wholly destroyed the Bronze Age world, and were to be followed by waves of social changes that marked the beginning of different times. Also contributing to the changes were the Sea Peoples, ship-faring raiders of the Mediterranean.

Empires and dynasties

 * Ancient Near East
 * Middle Kingdom of Egypt
 * New Kingdom of Egypt
 * Old Assyrian Empire
 * Middle Assyrian Empire
 * Elam
 * Hittites Old Kingdom in Anatolia
 * Vedic India
 * Kuru Kingdom
 * Bronze Age China
 * Shang dynasty
 * Zhou dynasty
 * Africa
 * Land of Punt

Prehistoric cultures
Europe is still entirely within the prehistoric era; much of Europe enters the Bronze Age early in the 2nd millennium.
 * Europe
 * Aegean civilization
 * Cycladic culture
 * Helladic period
 * Minoan civilization
 * Mycenaean Greece
 * Castel statue menhir.jpg, typically dating to the Bronze Age]]Beaker culture
 * Terramare culture
 * Tumulus culture
 * Unetice culture
 * Urnfield culture

 * Central Asia
 * Andronovo culture
 * Oxus civilization

 * East Asia
 * Erlitou culture
 * Wucheng culture

 * South Asia
 * Ahar–Banas culture
 * Cemetery H culture
 * Indus valley civilization
 * Jorwe culture
 * Malwa culture
 * Ochre Coloured Pottery culture

 * Americas
 * Olmec

The desiccation of the Sahara is complete. Neolithisation of Sub-Saharan Africa is initiated via expansion from the dried Sahara, reaching West and East Africa. Later in the 2nd millennium, pastoralism and iron metallurgy spread to Central Africa via the Bantu migration.
 * Sub-Saharan Africa
 * Kerma culture
 * Savanna Pastoral Neolithic
 * Nok culture

Events

 * c. 2000 BC – Seima-Turbino Phenomenon.
 * c. 1700–1300 BC – Palace complex in Knossos, Crete, was built.
 * c. 1700 BC earthquake damages palaces at Knossos and Phaistos.
 * 1627 BC – Minoan eruption.
 * c. 1600 BC–1360 BC – Egyptian domination over Canaan and Syria.
 * c. 1575 BC – Nubian Kerma sacks Egypt.
 * c. 1500 BC – Volcanic eruption at Thera.
 * c. 1500 BC – Meteorite impact that formed the Kaali crater in Estonia.
 * c. 1500 BC – Bantu expansion across central, eastern and southern Africa.
 * 1520 BC – Egypt conquers Nubia.
 * 1478 BC – Battle of Megiddo between Ancient Egyptians and the Canaanites.
 * 1269 BC – Ramses II and Hattusilis III sign peace treaty.
 * 1274 BC – Battle of Kadesh between Ancient Egyptians and Hittites.
 * c. 1250 BC – destruction of Troy VII.
 * 1045 BC – Zhou dynasty founded in China.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

 * Chinese Oracle bone script.
 * Tumble polishing: Indians invented polishing method in the 10th century BC.
 * Diamond drills: in the 12th century BC or 7th century BC, Indians not only innovated use of diamond tipped drills but also invented double diamond tipped drills for bead manufacturing.
 * Phoenician alphabet.
 * Nebra sky disk, oldest known visual representation of the cosmos.
 * Discovery of new iron smelting and smithing techniques.
 * Spoke-wheeled chariots.

Languages
In the history of the Egyptian language, the early 2nd millennium saw a transition from Old Egyptian to Middle Egyptian. As the most used written form of the Ancient Egyptian language, it is frequently (incorrectly) referred to simply as "Hieroglyphics".

The earliest attested Indo-European language, the Hittite language, first appears in cuneiform in the 16th century BC (Anitta text), before disappearing from records in the 13th century BC. Hittite is the best known and the most studied language of the extinct Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages.

The first Northwest Semitic language, Ugaritic, is attested in the 14th century BC. The first fully phonemic script Proto-Canaanite developed from Egyptian hieroglyphs, becoming the Phoenician alphabet by 1200 BC. The Phoenician alphabet was spread throughout the Mediterranean by Phoenician maritime traders and became one of the most widely used writing systems in the world, and the parent of virtually all alphabetic writing systems. The Phoenician language is also the first Canaanite language, the Northwest Semitic languages spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region: the Israelites, Phoenicians, Amorites, Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites.

Mycenaean Greek, the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, was used on the Greek mainland, Crete and Cyprus in the Mycenaean period.

title: 2nd millennium BC


text:
3rd millennium BC

The 3rd millennium BC spanned the years 3000 to 2001 BC. This period of time corresponds to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, characterized by the early empires in the Ancient Near East. In Ancient Egypt, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Old Kingdom. In Mesopotamia, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Akkadian Empire. In what is now Northwest India and Pakistan, the Indus Valley civilization developed a state society.

World population growth relaxed after the burst due to the Neolithic Revolution. World population was largely stable, at roughly 60 million, with a slow overall growth rate at roughly 0.03% p.a.

Overview
The Bronze Age began in the Ancient Near East roughly between 3000 BC and 2500 BC. The previous millennium had seen the emergence of advanced, urbanized civilizations, new bronze metallurgy extending the productivity of agricultural work, and highly developed ways of communication in the form of writing. In the 3rd millennium BC, the growth of these riches, both intellectually and physically, became a source of contention on a political stage, and rulers sought the accumulation of more wealth and more power. Along with this came the first appearances of monumental architecture, imperialism, organized absolutism and internal revolution.

The civilizations of Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia became a collection of volatile city-states in which warfare was common. Uninterrupted conflicts drained all available resources, energies and populations. In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, and conquerors grew in stature until the great Sargon of Akkad pushed his empire to the whole of Mesopotamia and beyond. It would not be surpassed in size until Assyrian times 1,500 years later.

In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Egyptian pyramids were constructed and would remain the tallest and largest human constructions for thousands of years. Also in Egypt, pharaohs began to posture themselves as living gods made of an essence different from that of other human beings. In Europe, which was still largely neolithic during the same period, the builders of megaliths were constructing giant monuments of their own. In the Near East and the Occident during the 3rd millennium BC, limits were being pushed by architects and rulers.

Towards the close of the millennium, Egypt became the stage of the first popular revolution recorded in history. After lengthy wars, the Sumerians recognized the benefits of unification into a stable form of national government and became a relatively peaceful, well-organized, complex technocratic state called the 3rd Dynasty of Ur. This dynasty was later to become involved with a wave of nomadic invaders known as the Amorites, who were to play a major role in the region during the following centuries.

Cultures

 * Near East

 * c. 4th millennium BC–5th century BC: Old Dilmun period.
 * c. 2900–2350 BC: Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
 * c. 2334–2154 BC: Akkadian Empire
 * 3100–2686 BC: Early Dynastic Period (Egypt)
 * c. 2700 BC–1600 BC: Old Elamite period.
 * 2686–2181 BC Old Kingdom of Egypt
 * 2181–2055 BC First Intermediate Period of Egypt
 * c. 3000 BC: Nubian A-Group Culture comes to an end.
 * c. 2300 BC: Nubian C-Group culture.
 * Europe

 * c. 3200 BC: Cycladic culture in Aegean islands of Greece.
 * c. 3200 BC–3100 BC: Helladic culture in mainland Greece.
 * c. 3200 BC–2800 BC: Ozieri culture.
 * Founding of Europe's oldest civilization, the Minoan Civilization in 3000 BC.
 * Corded Ware culture (also Battle-axe culture, or Single Grave culture).
 * Late Maikop culture.
 * Late Vinca culture.
 * Globular Amphora culture.
 * Early Beaker culture.
 * Yamnaya culture, Catacomb culture, likely loci of Indo-European Satemization.
 * The Sintashta-Petrovka-Arkaim culture emerges from the Catacomb culture from about 2200 BC, likely locus of Proto-Indo-Iranian.
 * Butmir culture.
 * Late Funnelbeaker culture.
 * Baden culture.
 * Gaudo culture.

 * South Asia
 * 2800 BC–2600 BC: Harappan 2.
 * 2600 BC–1900 BC: Harappan 3 (Mature Harappan).

 * East and Southeast Asia
 * Longshan culture
 * Baodun culture
 * Shijiahe culture
 * Liangzhu culture
 * Majiayao culture
 * Lower Xiajiadian culture
 * c. 2500 BC: Austronesian peoples from Formosa colonize Luzon in northern Philippines.

 * Americas
 * Mesoamerican Archaic period
 * Old Copper Complex
 * Caral/Norte Chico civilization.

 * Sub-Saharan Africa
 * Savanna Pastoral Neolithic

Events
Certain 4th millennium BC events were precursors to the 3rd millennium BC:

The 3rd millennium BC included the following key events:
 * c. 3700-1800 BC: Caral-Supe flourished between the fourth and second millennia BC, with the formation of the first city generally dated to around 3500 BC, at Huaricanga, in the Fortaleza area. It is from 3100 BC onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction become clearly apparent, which lasted until a period of decline around 1800 BC.
 * c. 3500 BC-3000 BC Huaricanga is the earliest city of the Norte Chico civilization, called Caral or Caral-Supe in Peru and Spanish language sources. "It existed around 3500 BC and was the oldest city in the Americas and one of the earliest cities in the world." It is located in the arid Fortaleza Valley on Peru's north central coast and is 14 mi (23 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean. The site covers a total area of 100 hectares, and is the largest Late Archaic construction in the Norte Chico region. The three earthwork mounds on the large site are believed to be remains of pyramidal-shaped structures. Two standing stones, known as huancas, also survive. Excavation in 2007 revealed a structure believed to be a temple, of a design similar to, but predating, the Mito architectural tradition seen in the Peruvian highlands. In addition, later research in the Fortaleza and Pativilca valleys has found evidence of maize cultivation, as well as fourteen other domesticated species of fruits and vegetables. This suggests that agriculture may have been more important to the development of Caral-Supe civilization than previously thought, as it was for other independent civilizations of the world, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and India.
 * c. 3700 BC: Lothal: Indus Valley trade-port city in India.
 * c. 3650 BC–3000 BC: Minoan culture appeared on Crete.
 * c. 3200 BC/3100 BC: Helladic culture and Cycladic culture both emerge in Greece.

 * c. 3000 BC: Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
 * c. 3000 BC: First evidence of gold being used in the Middle East.
 * c. 3000 BC: Nubian A-Group, Ta-Seeti "kingdom" came to an end, possibly due to raids by Egypt.
 * c. 3000 BC–2000 BC: Vessels from Denmark are made; they are now at National Museum, Copenhagen.
 * c. 2890 BC: Second Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Hotepsekhemwy.
 * Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari (29th century BC).
 * Semitic tribes occupy Assyria in northern part of the plain of Shinar and Akkad.
 * Phoenicians settle on Syrian coast, with centers at Tyre and Sidon.
 * Beginning of the period of the mythical Sage Kings in China, also known as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
 * c. 2879 BC: Rise of the Xích Quỷ Kingdom and the Hồng Bàng dynasty in northern Viet Nam and southern China.

 * c. 2800 BC–2700 BC: Harp Player, from Keros, Cyclades, was made. It is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
 * Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam.
 * Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree "Methuselah" about 2700 BC, one of the oldest known trees still living now.
 * c. 2686 BC: Third Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Sanakhte.
 * c. 2613 BC: Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Sneferu.
 * c. 2600 BC: Founding of the Chalcolithic Iberian civilizations of Los Millares and Zambujal.
 * 2600 BC: Unified Indus Valley civilisation.
 * c. 2500 BC: The state of Assyria is established.
 * c. 2500 BC: Excavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis.
 * c. 2500 BC–2200 BC: Incised panel "Frying pan", from Syros, Cyclades is made; it is now at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
 * c. 2500 BC–2200 BC: Two figures of women, from the Cyclades, are made; they are now at Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens.
 * Dynasty of Lagash in Sumer.
 * 2474 BC–2398 BC: Golden age of Ur in Mesopotamia.

 * c. 2498 BC: Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Userkaf.
 * c. 2492 BC: The Armenian patriarch Hayk defeats the Babylonian king Bel (legendary account).
 * c. 2345 BC: Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Teti.
 * 2334 BC: Sargon of Akkad conquers Mesopotamia, establishing the Akkadian Empire.
 * c. 2300 BC: C-Group pastoralists arrive in Nubia.
 * c. 2181 BC: Seventh and Eighth Dynasty of Egypt (2181–2160).
 * c. 2160 BC: Ninth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Akhtoy Meryibtowe.
 * c. 2130 BC: Tenth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Meryhathor.
 * c. 2134 BC: Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Mentuhotep I.Indo-European migrations.jpg from the Pontic steppes and across Central Asia]]
 * Megalithic, Corded Ware culture and the Beaker flourish in Europe.
 * Sumerian poetry, lamenting the death of Tammuz, the shepherd god.
 * Sumerian cuneiform writing (reduces pictographs still in use to about 550 BC).
 * Major religious festival in Sumeria celebrates victory of god of spring over goddess of chaos.
 * Earliest Trojan culture.
 * Glass beads in Egypt.
 * The world's last surviving mammoth population, on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, goes extinct, sometime between 2500 and 2000 BC.
 * c. 2070 BC–1600 BC: The first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography--Xia dynasty begins in China.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

 * The oldest documented evidence of the practice of meditation are wall arts in the Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
 * Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley civilisation's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.
 * Toilet platforms above drains, in the proximity of wells, are found in several houses of the cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
 * Pottery develops in Americas (30th century BC).
 * c. 3000 BC: Potter's wheel appears in Mesopotamia.
 * 2900 BC–2400 BC: Sumerians invent phonogram (linguistics).
 * 2650 BC: Reservoirs, script, metals and pottery used in the city of Dholavira in Indus Valley civilization.
 * c. 2300 BC: Metals are used in Northern Europe.
 * Chinese record a comet.
 * Building of the Great Pyramid of Giza (26th century BC).
 * Sails used on ships (20th century BC).
 * First ziggurats built in Sumer.
 * Near East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC.
 * Oldest known medicine wheel constructed in the Americas.
 * First Copper (~2500 BC) and then Bronze (~2000 BC) and other types of metallurgy are introduced to Ireland.
 * The kunga was first bred in Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia by hybridizing captured now-extinct Syrian wild ass males with domestic donkey females between 2600 and 2000 BCE. It later fell out of favor when both domestic horses and their donkey hybrids, mules, arrived in the ancient Near East at the end of the millennium.
 * Domestication of the horse with the coming of Indo-Europeans in central Eurasia.
 * The chariot emerges in Eurasian Steppe just before 2000 BC.
 * The camel (dromedary) domesticated (though widespread use took until mid-to-late 2nd millennium BC).
 * Indoor plumbing and sewage in the Indus Valley civilization. Ur chariot.jpg, from the Sumerian city-state of Ur, c. 2600 BC]]
 * Sumerian medicine discovers the healing qualities of mineral springs.
 * Weaving loom known in Europe.
 * Ornamental buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley civilisation for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.
 * Sumerian numerical system based on multiples of 6 and 12.
 * Egyptians begin use of papyrus.
 * Austronesian peoples have developed lateen sail, and the out-rigger as well as extensive development of celestial navigation systems.
 * Oldest known evidence of the inhalation of cannabis smoke, as indicated by charred cannabis seeds found in a ritual brazier at a burial site in present-day Romania.

Cultural landmarks

 * c. 3000 BC–2500 BC: Tomb, Newgrange, Ireland, was built.
 * c. 2750 BC–1500 BC: Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, is built.
 * Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
 * Completion of first phase of Stonehenge monument in England.
 * Era of Buena Vista pyramid/observatory in Peru.
 * The Sydney rock engravings in Sydney, Australia, which are examples of Aboriginal rock art, date from around 3000 BC.

Centuries and Decades

 * 30th century BC
 * 29th century BC
 * 28th century BC
 * 27th century BC
 * 26th century BC
 * 25th century BC
 * 24th century BC
 * 23rd century BC
 * 22nd century BC
 * 21st century BC

title: 3rd millennium BC