940s

The 940s was a decade that started on 1 January 940 and ended on 31 December 949. It is distinct from the decade known as the 95th decade which began on January 1, 941 and ended on December 31, 950.

940
 Saadia Gaon makes his siddur (Jewish prayer book) in Iraq.
 Narita-san Temple is founded in Chiba, Japan.
 The Liao Dynasty stops the rule that a younger sister replace an older sister who died in marriage.

 Births 
 Abu'l-Wafa, Iranian mathematician
 Brian Boru, high king of Ireland

 Deaths 
 July 20 – Ibn Muqla, Abbasid vizier and calligrapher
 December 25 – Makan ibn Kaki, Dailamite warlord
 Taira no Masakado, leader of the Taira Clan

941
 The Rus'-Byzantine War is fought.
 Oda the Severe becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.

 Births 
 Charles d'Outremer, son of Louis IV of France
 Brian Bórumha mac Cennétig, High-King of Ireland

 Deaths 
 April 21 – Bajkam, commander of commanders of the Abbasid Caliphate

942
 The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.
 October 30 – Pope Marinus II succeeds Pope Stephen VIII as the 128th pope.

 Births 
 Pampa, Kannada poet in India
 Genshin, Tendai scholar

 Deaths 
 King Idwal Foel of Gwynedd
 December 17 – William I of Normandy
 Gaozu of Later Jin, founder of the Later Jin Dynasty in China 
 Liu Yan of the Southern Han Kingdom

943
 King Constantin II of Scotland retires and becomes a monk.  His cousin Malcolm I of Scotland becomes king.

 Births 
Dayang Jingxuan, a Zen Buddhist monk

 Deaths 
 Wang Kon, founder of the Koryo dynasty
 Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang

944
 The city of Algiers is (re)founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri.
 Abu Yazid starts a rebellion against the Fatimids in the Aures Mountains.
 The Al-Askari Mosque is built in Samarra.
 King Edmund I of England takes Northumbria from the Vikings.
 Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is deposed as Byzantine emperor.  It was by his own sons, Stephen Lekapenos and Constantine Lekapenos.

 Births 
 Otto, Duke of Burgundy
 Minamoto no Yorimitsu
 Fujiwara no Sukemasa
 Fujiwara no Akimitsu

 Deaths 
 Flaithbertach mac Inmainén, abbot of Inis Cathaig, Ireland
 Wilgred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
 Abu Mansur Al Maturidi, Muslim theologian
 Ngo Quyen, Vietnamese prefect and general
 Wichmann the Elder, Saxon nobleman
 Donnchad Donn, King of Ireland

945
 The Buyid dynasty takes control of Baghdad.
 The Min Kingdom is taken over by the Southern Tang Kingdom.
 Edmund I of England conquers Strathclyde.  He makes an alliance with Malcolm I of Scotland and gives Cumberland and Westmorland to him.
 Lothair II of Italy takes control of Italy.
 Romanos I Lekapenos is overthrown. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII rules alone.

 Births 
 Abbo of Fleury, French monk

 Deaths 
 Igor of Kiev
 King Krešimir I of Croatia

946
 Eadred I becomes king of England.
 Emperor Murakami becomes Emperor of Japan.
 May 10 – Pope Agapitus II succeeds Pope Marinus II as the 129th pope.

 Deaths 
 May 17 – Al Qa'im, second Fatimid caliph.
 May 26 – King Edmund I of England

947
 The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty in China.

 Births 
 Adelaide of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou and Gerberg

 Deaths 
 May 18 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
 Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, Toltec ruler
 Wulfgar of Lichfield, Bishop of Lichfield
 Sexhelm of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
 Shi Chonggui, last Emperor of China from the Later Jin Dynasty
 Uchtred of Lindisfarne, Bishop of Lindisfarne
 Zoltán of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Magyars

948
 The Nri Kingdom is started by Eri.  The kingdom was in what is now Nigeria.
 The Nallur Kandaswamy temple is built.

 Births 
 Gang Gam-chan, Korean government official and military commander 
 Emperor Jingzong of Liao

 Deaths 
 December 16 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor 
 Gao Conghui
 Gaozu of Later Han

949
 The Byzantine Empire starts another expedition against the Emirate of Crete.

 Deaths 
 Emperor Yōzei, Emperor of Japan
 Yunmen Wenyan, Chinese Zen Buddhist monk