940s

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	9th century – 10th century – 11th century
Decades:	910s 920s 930s – 940s – 950s 960s 970s
Years:	940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

940s: events by year

Contents: 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949

940 By place

Asia

Saadia Gaon compiles his siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Iraq.
Narita-san Temple is founded in Chiba, Japan.
The Liao Dynasty abolishes the requirement that a younger sister replace an older sister who died in marriage.

Europe

Oldest known Danish King, Gorm the Old
Beginning of construction of the main forts in Greater Poland: Giecz, Bnin, Lad, Gniezno, Poznan, Grzybowo. All the forts were constructed rapidly between 939 and 942.

941 By place

Asia

The Rus'-Byzantine War is fought.

By topic

Religion

Oda the Severe becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

942 By place

Asia

Kaminarimon, the eight-pillared gate to Japan's Kinryuzan Sensouji Temple, is erected.
The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.

Europe

Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, annexes Gwynedd and Powys to become ruler of most of Wales.

By topic

Religion

October 30 – Pope Marinus II succeeds Pope Stephen VIII as the 128th pope.

943 By place

Africa

Rebellion of the Zenete Berber tribe of the Banû Ifrân under Abu Yazid against the Fatimid dynasty (lasts until 747).^[1]

Europe

King Constantin II of Scotland retires and becomes a monk, succeeded by his cousin Malcolm I of Scotland.
Caspian expeditions of the Rus: The city of Barda, Azerbaijan is captured.
Description of the triangular bridge at Croyland, in the Charter of Eadred.^[2]

944 By place

Africa

The city of Algiers is (re)founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri.
Abu Yazid launches a rebellion against the Fatimids in the Aures Mountains.

Asia

The Al-Askari Mosque is built in Samarra (present-day Iraq).
The Later Jìn Dynasty in China Sovereign Kaiyun ascends to power
The Byzantines under Pantherios are defeated by Sayf al-Daula in northern Syria.^[3]

Europe

Great storm sweeps England. Many houses destroyed, 1500 in London alone (a significant proportion of the town).^[4]
King Edmund I of England takes Northumbria from the Vikings.
Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is deposed as Byzantine emperor by his own sons, Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos.^[3]

945 By Place

Asia

The Buwayhid Dynasty takes control of Baghdad (it does not supplant the local caliphate).
The Min Kingdom is taken over by the Southern Tang Kingdom.

Europe

Edmund I of England conquers Strathclyde.
Howell the Good convenes a conference at Whitland, which reforms the laws of Wales.
Lothair II of Italy takes control of Italy (until 950).
Romanos I is overthrown, and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII reigns alone.
Cumberland and Westmorland are annexed by the Scots.

By topic

Religion

Saint Dunstan becomes the abbot at Glastonbury.

946 By place

Europe

Eadred I succeeds his brother as king of England.

Asia

Emperor Murakami succeeds Emperor Suzaku as Emperor of Japan.

By topic

Religion

May 10 – Pope Agapitus II succeeds Pope Marinus II as the 129th pope.

947 By place

Asia

The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty (founded by Gaozu of Later Han) in China.
The Khitan Empire adopts the dynastic name "Great Liao".
Masudi completes first version of The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, an important history book.

Europe

Horsham in West Sussex gets its first mention in King Eadred's Charter.

948 By place

Africa

The Nri Kingdom in what is now Southeastern Nigeria is started by Eri.

Asia

The Nallur Kandaswamy temple, one of the most significant Hindu temples in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka, is built.
The Byzantines raid into Syria, but are defeated by Sayf al-Daula. Leo Phokas however sacks and razes Adata.^[5]

Europe

Otto I the Great founds the missionary dioceses of Brandenburg, Havelberg, Ribe, Aarhus, and Schleswig.
St Albans School in St Albans, England is founded.

949 By place

Asia

Sayf al-Daula raids into the Byzantine theme of Lykandos but is defeated. The Byzantines counter-attack and seize Germanikeia, defeating an army from Tarsus, and the raiding as far south as Antioch. Theophilos Kourkouas captures Theodosiopolis for Byzantium.^[3]

Europe

The Byzantine Empire launches another expedition against the Emirate of Crete. The overconfident Byzantine troops, under Constantine Gongyles, are defeated in a surprise attack by the Arabs and flee.^[3]

By topic

Science

February 1 – Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus (b. 1928) asserts that the orbits of all the planets of the Solar system were within the same 90° arc of the solar system on this date. The next time it is thought this will occur is on May 6, 2492.

Significant people

Births

Deaths

References

^ Gilbert Meynier (2010) L'Algérie cœur du Maghreb classique. De l'ouverture islamo-arabe au repli (658-1518). Paris: La Découverte; pp.28.
^ Quoted in Wheeler, W.H. (1896). A history of the fens of South Lincolnshire (2 ed.). Boston: J.M.Newcomb. p. 313.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Treadgold, Warren T. (1997), A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, p. 486, ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-2, http://books.google.com/?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC
^ Stratton, J.M. (1969). Agricultural Records. John Baker. ISBN 0-212-97022-4.
^ Treadgold, Warren T. (1997), A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 487–489, ISBN 978-0-8047-2630-2, http://books.google.com/?id=nYbnr5XVbzUC