istoryworld
All Events
Yaroslav builds up his Russian kingdom and turns his capital, Kiev, into a spectacular Christian city
Yaroslav commissions Russkaya Pravda ('Russian truth'), a code of Russia's laws
A Chinese manual on warfare includes the earliest known description of gunpowder
In a battle near Elgin Macbeth kills his cousin Duncan, a rival claimant to the Scottish throne
The Seljuk Turks win a victory at Dandanqan, which gives them a base in the north of Iran and Afghanistan
Edward the Confessor, the rightful heir in the Anglo-Saxon royal line, becomes king of England
Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad
The heavier and more dense style of calligraphy, known as 'black letter', becomes the fashion in manuscripts written in northern Europe
A Muslim dynasty is established at Kilwa, on the east African coast
The concept of movable type for printing is pioneered in China, using fired clay, but it proves impractical
The rulers of Baghdad harness homing pigeons as postmen.
Polyphony brings new complexity of interweaving vocal lines, in the choral singing of abbey or cathedral
The earliest surviving reference to the principle of the compass occurs in a Chinese manuscript
Ife emerges as a powerful kingdom in the equatorial forest of the lower Niger
A Russian chronicle makes the first mention of the marauding Polovtsy, who persistently raid Russian cities from the steppes
Astronomers in China and Japan observe the explosion of the supernova which is still visible as the Crab Nebula
A papal delegate (from Leo IX) excommunicates Cerularius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the delegate is excommunicated in retaliation, launching a lasting East-West Schism
Togrul Beg enters Baghdad and is granted by the caliph the title of sultan, which becomes hereditary in his Seljuk dynasty
Duncan's son, Malcolm, kills Macbeth in battle at Lumphanan - and in the following year is himself crowned at Scone
Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain
Su Sung, a Buddhist monk, develops in China the principle of the escapement in his tower clock worked by a water wheel
On his death bed in Westminster, Edward the Confessor designates Harold - foremost among England's barons - as his successor
Edward the Confessor is buried in his new abbey church at Westminster, consecrated only the previous week
On the day of Edward's burial, Harold is crowned king - almost certainly in the same abbey church at Westminster
Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry
