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King Cnut of Denmark and Norway becomes of King of all England upon the death (or murder) of Edmund Ironside, king of Wessex. A few months earlier Cnut beat Edmund at the battle of Ashingdon, but signed a treaty saying that Ednmund could rule Wessex until his death and Cnut could rule the rest. Cnut's Danish dynasty ends in 1042 upon the death of his son Harthacnut.
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The Vikings were defeated by the English at Stamford Bridge, signalling the end of the Viking civilisation. This was the last viking invasion of England and the first for 20 years because the Vikings had been bribed to stay away.
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The death of King Suryavaman II and the end of the construction of Angkor Wat, leaving a small bit unfinished. Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world.
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The first Shogunate, the Kamakura Shoguate, begins when Minamoto no Yoritomo is officially appointed Shogun, after taking over Japan seven years earlier. The Shogunate he established was a form of military government.
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Death of Genghis Khan, Supreme Khan of the Mongols. He was born with the name Temujin and came to power by unting the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. He was proclaimed "Genghis Khan" upon founding the Mongol Empire and then began the Mongol Invasions to conquer the rest of Eurasia.
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The Song Imperial Family surrender to the Mongols, making the latter the first non-Chinese people to conquer all China. They were led by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, and many things were created during his reign.
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The Empire is founded and and the reign of the first Emperor Osman I begins. At the time it only had parts of Istanbul but later included Turkey, Northern Africa, parts of the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Iraq and the Caucasus region. It was lost in 1913.
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Beginning of the Black Death, a disease caused by fleas that devastated Europe and Asia and killed 30-60% of the Earth's population, 75 to 100 million people. It ended two years later and was one of the most devastating pandemics ever.
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End of the Black Death and beginning of the 150 year recovery. The plague had affected Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Russia. It was also a time of religious, social and economic upheavals.
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Start of the first major changes in Italy during this period, focussed around the Arts. The time signalled the end of the Dark Ages and in Italian the word means "rebirth". The renaissance period ended in the 1500s.
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Christopher Columbus, a Portuguese explorer working for Spain, is among the first Europeans to arrive in the Bahamas (which he mistakes for India) where he meets some natives, beginning the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
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The Polynesians locate the Chatham Islands, which are some of the last Pacific Islands they haven't already found. The Chatham Islands are 680km east of New Zealand, which they had found in 1250.
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Leonardo da Vinci finishes the Mona Lisa, which has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world" (according to John Litchfield in "The Moving of the Mona Lisa"). It was painted during the height of the Renaissance Period.
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Death of Amerigo Vespucci, whose first name is thought to be the origin of the name of the continent of America. He went on at least two voyages to the continent, from 1499-1500 and from 1501-1502 respectively. On his second voyage he mapped the Southern Cross.
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Ferdinand Magellan is killled in the Philippines. He was on his voyage to circumnavigate the world. He located the Marianas and Guam and sailed across the Pacific Ocean. He then landed in the Philippines and is killed battling with Datu Lapu-Lapu.
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Death of Sulieman the Magnificent, Ottoman Emperor since 1520. He had conquered a lot of the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe. He also was a great reformer, especially in the legal system, which gave him his other nickname "the Lawgiver". He was succeeded by his son Selim II.
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The Shogun rulers impose new laws meaning that their territory of Japan is secluded from the rest of the world. This happened after the Shimabara Rebellion and did not end until 1854.
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The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain and the previous period ends. At the time, Britain produced about 2% of the world's output of industrial goods. The 1st Revolution turned into the 2nd 100 years later, having affected almost everything in everyday life.
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King Charlemagne of the Franks is crowned by Pope Leo III as "Emperor of the Romans", a title which later evolved into "Holy Roman Emperor". Charlemagne conquered France, Italy, parts of Germany and parts of Spain. Charlemagne died in 814.
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Jayavarman II declares himself "Universal Monarch" or "God King" and begins the Khmer Empire. He does this in a ritual on top of Mt Mahendraparvata. Jayavarman then ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia.
