1st millennium AD - Definition and Overview

(1st millennium BC – 1st millennium – 2nd millennium – other millennia)

Events

• Beginning of Christianity and Islam
• London founded by Romans as Londinium
• Diaspora of the Jews
• The Olympic Games observed until 393
• The Library of Alexandria, largest library in the world, burned
• Rise and fall of the Roman Empire
• Germanic kingdoms established in Northern and Western Europe
• Maya civilization at its height
• Three kingdoms in China
• The height of Hindu culture in India under the Gupta Dynasty
• Islamic conquest of the Middle East and North Africa
• Viking raids common in northern Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries.
• Beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe

Significant persons

• Caesar Augustus, Roman emperor
• Jesus, central figure in Christianity
• Plutarch, Greek historian
• Paul of Tarsus, Israelite Apostle to the gentiles, created Christianity
• Cai Lun, Chinese inventor of paper
• Zhang Heng, Chinese astronomer and mathematician
• Ptolemy, Greek astronomer and mathematician
• Constantine I, Roman emperor
• Attila, Hunnic king and warlord
• Muhammad, prophet and founder of Islam
• Charlemagne, Frankish conqeurer and founder of the Holy Roman Empire
• al-Khwarizmi, Persian mathematician

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Paper invented in China
• Algebra developed in the Middle East
• Various horse-riding improvements including the horseshoe and the stirrup
• Hop (plant) added to beer for the first time
• Ptolemaic system used to describe the motion of the planets
• Chess developed, gaining widespread use
• Magnetic compass invented
• Steel first used in India

Cultural landmarks

Centuries and decades