History Timeline

501 - 1000 AD

506 Alaric II issues the code of laws known as the "Breviary of Alaric"
510 Northern India crushed by the Huns
527 Justinian becomes emperor of Rome
532 Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) built in Istanbul
539 Milan destroyed by Goths
568 Alboin, King of the Lombards invades Italy
570 Birth of Mohammed, prophet of Islam
581 Birth of Sui Dynasty in China
600 Introduction of Buddhism from Korea to Japan
   Birth of Ali (the first descendant and successor of Mohammed - according to Shi'ites)
602 Slavic tribes begin settlement of the Balkans
613 Birth of Ayeshah - third wife of Mohammed - she is known as "the mother of believers"
618 - 907 Tang Dynasty in China
632 - 651 Persia is invaded by the Arabs who gradually replace Zoroastrianism with Islam
651 End of the Sassanid dynasty in Persia
652 Birth of Abbas - the maternal uncle of the prophet Mohammed
655 The Koran, the text of Islam is written around this time
685 Birth of Xuanzong
699 Birth of Wang Wei
700 Beowulf is written
   Windmills invented
   Invention of porcelain
701 Birth of Li Bo
703 Birth of An Lushan
712 Birth of Du Fu
714 Birth of Pepin the Short, later king of the Franks
716 Arab empire extends to Spain and to China
731 Birth of Abd-ar-Rahman I - Umayyad emir who conquered most of Muslim Spain
750 Around this time there are several female rulers in Japan
   Birth of Yamabe no Akahito - Japanese poet, known as one of the 'twin stars' of the great anthology of classical Japanese poetry called the 'Manyoshu'
770 Iron horseshoes come into common use
771 Charlemagne rules in France
772 Birth of Bo Juyi
774 Charlemagne overthrows the German Lombards
788 Indian philosopher Shankara develops a system of philosophical thought that has the soul fundamentally identical to God
790 Vikings begin assault on Britain
800 Bushii, or samurai begin to gain land in Japan and become a powerful, local elite
   First castles built in western Europe
841 Vikings founded the city of Dublin
850 Birth of Habib Ibn Aus Abu Tamman - compiles 'the Hamasu' - celebrated anthology of Arab poetry
855 Russian nation founded by Vikings
868 Diamond Sutra is the first book ever published
871 Alfred the Great comes to power in Britain
891 Birth of Abd-ar-Rahman III - Umayyad emir - under him the Umayyad emirate reached its peak of power
897 Birth of Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani - wrote the 'Al-Aghani' - treasury of Arabic song and poetry
900 Turks begin invasions of India, bringing Islam
960 - 1279 Song Dynasty in China
962 Otto I founds the second Holy Roman Empire in Germany
970 Chinese government introduces paper money
983 Massive encyclopedia (the first) called the Taiping Yulan is produced in China
990 Greenland first explored by Erik the Red, a Norwegian settler - these    settlements later die out
1000 Seljuk Turks (Sunni Islamists) rule most of Iran until the Mongol invasions
   Romanesque style is in vogue
   Leif Ericson reaches North America