540s BC

Events and trends 
 546 BC—Croesus, Lydian king, is defeated by Cyrus of Persia near the River Halys.
 546 BC—Cyrus of Persia completes his conquest of Lydia, and makes Pasargadae his capital.
 546 BC—Cyrus makes a garrison in Sardis.  He adds the Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor into Persian Empire. He gains the important ports that look out to the Mediterranean world.
 546 BC—Pisistratus takes power in Athens from the aristocratic party.
 546 BC—The architect Eupalinos of Megara built aqueducts that supply water to Athens.
 546 BC—The peace conference between the kingdoms in China. A treaty between Jin, Chu and some other kingdoms was signed.
 546 BC—A coup d'état in Qi kingdom.
 544 BC—People of Teos move to Abdera, Thrace to escape Persia.
 544 BC—King Jing becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China.
 543 BC—North Indian Prince Vijaya invades Ceylon.  He makes a Sri Lankan dynasty.
 543 BC—Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, purifies the island of Delos (approximate date).
 543 BC—Guided by the Chinese statesman Zi Chan, the State of Zheng starts a formal code of law.
 540 BC—Cyrus attacks Babylonia.
 540 BC—Greek city of Elea of southern Italy founded (approximate date).
 540 BC—Persians conquer Lycian city of Xanthos now in southern Turkey (approximate date).
 c. 540 BC—Amasis Painter makes Dionysos with maenads, black-figure decoration on an amphora. It is now at Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.
 c. 540 BC—Exekias makes The Suicide of Ajax, black-figure decoration on a amphora. It is now at Chateau-Musee, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

Significant people
 549 BC—Birth of Darius I
 547 BC—Death of Croesus
 546 BC—Death of Anaximander, Greek philosopher (approximate date)
 545 BC—Death of Zhou ling wang, King of the Zhou Dynasty of China
 544 BC—Birth of Sun Tzu
 543 BC—Death of Gautama Buddha (traditional in Thailand and elsewhere—basis of the Thai solar calendar)
 543 BC—Death of Thales, Greek philosopher
 540 BC—Amyntas I becomes king of Macedonia (approximate date)
 Amasis Painter, Greek painter
 Exekias, Greek painter