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'etat 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 Bibliotheque 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