Boadicea leads an uprising against the Roman Empire

Marcus Aurelius writes his Meditations

First Council of Nicaea convened

Muhammad, founder of Islam, is born in Mecca

The Franks under Charles Martel win decisively at the Battle of Tours

The Carolingian Empire is divided by the Treaty of Verdun

Lady Murasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji

King Harold II killed in the Battle of Hastings

The Concrodat of Worms is signed by Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V

Pope Gregory VIII calls for the Third Crusade

Fibonacci publishes the mathematical text Liber Abaci

Kublai Khan establishes the Yuan Dynasty

Giotto paints the Scrovegni Chapel

Giovanni Boccaccio writes The Decameron

Construction of the Forbidden City finishes in Beijing

Joan of Arc burned at the stake

Bartolomeu Diaz reaches the Cape of Good Hope

Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper

Martin Luther writes his 95 Theses

Suleiman the Magnificent lays siege to Vienna

Akbar becomes the third emperor of the Mughal Empire

William Shakespeare writes Richard III, one of his earliest plays

Claudio Monteverdi composes L'Orfeo, one of the first operas

Peace of Westphalia ends the 30 Years' War

Isaac Newton builds the first reflecting telescope

King James II is overthrown in the Glorious Revolution

Reign of Louis XIV comes to an end in France

George Frideric Handel composes the Messiah oratorio

The Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War

The Committee of Public Safety is created by the National Convention in France

John Marshall becomes Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

Charles Darwin sets out on the HMS Beagle

The Meiji Restoration returns Japan to imperial rule

Vincent van Gogh paints The Starry Night

The first Nobel Prizes are awarded

Haile Selassie crowned Emperor of Ethiopia

Communist China begins it Great Leap Forward

Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines

Kyrgyzstan declares independence from the Soviet Union

Grigori Perelman proves the Poincaré Conjecture