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
940s-related categories:	Births – Deaths – By country Establishments – Disestablishments

This is a list of events occurring in the 940s, ordered by year.

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, Ląd, Gniezno, Poznań, Grzybowo. All the forts were constructed rapidly between 939 and 942.

By place

Asia

• c. May–September – The Rus'–Byzantine War is fought.

By topic

Religion

• Oda is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
• Approximate date – Kaminarimon, the eight-pillared gate to the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, is erected.

By place

Asia

• The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.

Europe

• December 17 – William I, Duke of Normandy, is ambushed by supporters of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders while the two are at a peace conference to settle their differences.
• Hywel Dda, king of Deheubarth, annexes Gwynedd and Powys to become ruler of most of Wales.
• A Hungarian army attacks the Arabic Spain. They besiege the cities of Lerida, Cerdagna, Huesca, than they capture Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn al Tawil, the ruler of the town Barbastro.

By topic

Religion

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

Europe

• King Constantine 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.
• April – Hungarians force Bizantine emperor Romanos I, to pay them tribute for 5 years.
• August 12 – Bavarians defeat Hungarians at Wels.
• Description of the triangular bridge at Croyland, in the Charter of Eadred.

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.
• Snow falls in the city of Baghdad.
• Sayf al-Dawla captures Aleppo (29 October) and extends his control over northern Syria.

Europe

• Great storm sweeps England. Many houses destroyed, 1500 in London alone (a significant proportion of the town).
• 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.

By Place

Asia

• The Buyid dynasty takes control of Baghdad (but does not supplant the local caliphate).
• The Min Kingdom is taken over by the Southern Tang Kingdom in China.
• The Hamdanid Sayf al-Dawla is defeated by Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid near Qinnasrin (May) and forced to abandon his Syrian domains and flee to Al-Raqqah. Nevertheless, in October the two men come to an agreement, which recognizes Hamdanid rule over northern Syria, founding the Emirate of Aleppo.

Europe

• Edmund I of England conquers Strathclyde, forms an alliance with Malcolm I of Scotland and cedes Cumberland and Westmorland to him.
• Hywel Dda convenes a conference at Whitland, which reforms the laws of Wales.
• Lothair II of Italy takes control of Italy (until 950).
• The sons of Romanos I Lekapenos are overthrown barely a month after deposing their father, and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII reigns alone.
• Abd-ar-Rahman III first occupies the palace of Medina Azahara as the new capital of the Emirate of Córdoba.

By topic

Religion

• Dunstan becomes Abbot of Glastonbury in England.

By place

Europe

• Eadred I succeeds his brother as king of England.

Asia

• Emperor Murakami succeeds Emperor Suzaku as Emperor of Japan.
• Battle of Baghdad (946).

By topic

Religion

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

By place

Asia

• The Later Jin falls to the Later Han (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.

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.

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.
• Tormás and Bulcsu, leaders of the Hungarians are baptised in Constantinople by the emperor Constantine VII.

By place

Asia

• Sayf al-Dawla 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.

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.
• Hungarians defeat a Bavarian army at Laa.

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.