Directory

189 CE

Pope Victor I succeeds Pope Eleuterus as the fourteenth pope, the first from Africa. Liu Bian succeeds Emperor Ling, as Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty. Plague (possibly smallpox) kills as many as 2,000 people per day in Rome. Farmers are unable to harvest their crops, and food shortages bring riots in the city.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Dong Zhuo has Liu Bian deposed, and installs Emperor Xian as emperor.source
  • Liu Bian succeeds Emperor Ling, as Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty.source

Conflict & Security

  • Two thousand eunuchs in the palace are slaughtered in a violent purge in Luoyang, the capital of Han.source

Religion & Belief

  • Pope Victor I succeeds Pope Eleuterus as the fourteenth pope, the first from Africa.source
  • Demetrius of Alexandria becomes Patriarch of Alexandria.source
  • Pantaenus, who was sent by the bishop of Alexandria to India to preach Christianity, meets with little success.source

Health & Medicine

  • Plague (possibly smallpox) kills as many as 2,000 people per day in Rome. Farmers are unable to harvest their crops, and food shortages bring riots in the city.source

Culture & Society

  • Galen publishes his "Treatise on the various temperaments" (a.k.a. On the Elements According to Hippocrates).source

Births

  • March 7 – Publius Septimius Geta, Roman emperor (d. 211)source
  • Zhang Chunhua, Chinese noblewoman and aristocrat (d. 247)source
  • Ling Tong, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state (d. 217)source

Deaths

  • May 13 – Ling of Han (or Liu Hong), Chinese emperor (b. 156)source
  • May 24 – Eleutherius, bishop of Rome (or Catholic Church)source
  • September 22 – He Jin, Chinese Grand Marshal and regentsource
  • Lingsi (or He), Chinese empress of the Han dynastysource
  • Xiaoren, Chinese empress dowager of the Han dynastysource
  • Jian Shuo, Chinese eunuch leader (Ten Attendants)source
  • Ding Yuan (or Jian Yang), Chinese official and warlordsource