858: King AEthelwulf of Wessex dies after an 18-year reign, and is succeeded by his eldest son
AEthelbald. He marries his father's young widow Judith (daughter of Charles the Bald), and becomes
sole ruler of Wessex. His brother, AEthelberht, is left to rule Kent and the south-east of England.

310: In China, the first fishing reels are employed.

877: King Alfred the Great raises a large force, and marches on the Viking camp at the city of
Exeter. His army besieges the Great Summer Army, led by Guthrum, and forces the Vikings to surrender.
They flee north to Gloucester, and settle in the Five Boroughs (modern East Midlands).

915: Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League personally led by Pope John X lay siege to Garigliano
(a fortified Arab camp in the area of Minturno), which is blockaded from the sea by the Byzantine
navy. After three months of siege, plagued by hunger, the Saracens decide to break out of Garigliano
and find their way back to Sicily by any means possible. Christian hunting parties fall on the fleeing
Arabs, and all are captured and executed.

937: King Hugh of Arles travels to Colombier (Switzerland) and marries Rudolph's widow Bertha. He
takes Conrad I under his tutelage and betroths Rudolph's 6-year-old daughter Adelaide with his own
son and co-ruler Lothair-Ii.

963: Nikephoros-Ii makes a triumphal entry in Constantinople and is hailed as 'the conqueror'. He
is crowned emperor in Hagia Sophia. In September, he marries Theophano, bolstering his legitimacy

1000: Sep 9 Battle of Svolder, Baltic Sea. King Olaf on board the Long Serpent defeated in one of
the greatest naval battles of the Viking Age.

1119: In the Song Dynasty, the mariner's compass (the wet compass) is invented.