—500 A.D.: Scriptures translated into more than
500 languages
—521 A.D.: Boëthius introduces
Greek musical letter notation to
the West
—525 A.D.: Dionysius Exiguus creates the
“Anno Domini” system, inspired by the birth
of Jesus
—552 A.D.: Emperor Justinian begins
Europe’s silk industry; sends missionaries
to smuggle silkworms out of China and
Ceylon
—556 A.D.: First written record of the Loch Ness
monster
—577 A.D.: China, under the Chen Dynasty,
invents matches
—587 A.D.: First Japanese Buddhist
monastery established
—589 A.D.: Yan Zhitui, Chinese scholar-official, mentions
first use of toilet paper (in China)
—6th century (unknown year): Borzuya Persian physician
known for his translation of the Indian “Panchatantra”
from Sanskrit into Pahlavi (Middle Persian), dies
7th
—601 A.D.: The earliest dated English words are “town,” and “priest,” in the
Laws of Ethelbert.
—630 A.D.: Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas brings first Qu’ran to China;
establishes first Islamic mosque in Guangzhou
—636 A.D.: Xumi Pagoda, in Zhengding, China, built
—644 A.D.: New religion, “Tokoyonomushi,” introduced to Japan; promotes
worshipping a worm, drinking sake, dancing in the streets and giving away
money
—650 A.D.: Khazars, mid-eastern people of mixed race, expand
westward and capture and sell people, mainly Slavs (origin of the word
‘slave’)
—650 A.D.: First Chinese paper money issued
—660 A.D.: Qu’ran published for first time as completed book
—660 A.D.: Wu Zetian becomes the only Chinese woman emperor in
history
—672 A.D.: “Greek fire” invented in Constantinople
—699 A.D.: Anglo-Saxon epic poem “Beowulf,” (oldest English epic)
completed
—700 A.D.: Fingerprinting used in China to identify people
—725 A.D.: Yi Xing, Chinese Buddhist monk, mathematician, astronomer, mechanical
engineer, creates an astronomical celestial globe using a clockwork escapement
mechanism
—732 A.D.: The word “Europe” is first mentioned
—735 A.D.: Smallpox epidemic in Japan (over two years), wipes out one third
of population
—748 A.D.: First printed newspaper appears in Peking, China
—750 A.D.: Teotihuacán is destroyed in Mexico
—770 A.D.: Iron horseshoes came into general common use
—780 A.D.: Musa al-Kwarizmi born in Baghdad; his contributions to mathematics, geography,
astronomy and cartography are the basis for algebra and trigonometry; his book Kitab al-jabr
wa al-mugabalah (Calculation with Hindu Numerals [825 A.D.]), is responsible for introducing
the Hindu-Arabic numerals system throughout the Middle East and Europe
—787 A.D.: Charlemagne learns to read and reprimands ecclesiastics for their uncultured
language and “unlettered tongues”; orders monasteries to establish reading schools for clergy
and laity
—788 A.D.: Shankara, Indian philosopher, theorizes a system that equates human soul with God
—795 A.D.: Vikings invade Ireland
—797 A.D.: Irene becomes first Byzantine empress; it appears that she was involved in the plot
to have her son, Emperor Constantine VI, blinded in order to gain power