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.

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## 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 &ndash; Ibn Muqla, Abbasid vizier and calligrapher
* December 25 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Bajkam, commander of commanders of the Abbasid Caliphate

## 942
* The Chavda Kingdom is overthrown in Gujarat, India.
* October 30 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Pope Agapitus II succeeds Pope Marinus II as the 129th pope.

### Deaths 
* May 17 &ndash; Al Qa'im, second Fatimid caliph.
* May 26 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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