650 CE
According to legend, the Polynesian traveller Ui-te-Rangiora sailed south into the Southern Ocean where they sighted ice floes and icebergs, eventually naming the area Te tai-uka-a-pia. The Mercians under King Penda move on East Anglia, destroy the monastery at Burgh Castle and expel King Anna who probably flees to Magonsæte (approximate date). The first Chinese paper money is issued, yet these banknotes will not become government-issued until the Song dynasty era Sichuan province issues them in the year 1024, with the central government of China following suit in the 12th century.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- Emperor Kōtoku is presented a white pheasant; he is pleased and begins a new Japanese era name (nengō) to be called Hakuchi, meaning 'The White Pheasant'.source
Conflict & Security
- King Oswiu of Bernicia seeks Irish support against the forces of Penda. While in Ireland he has a liaison with Fín, the granddaughter of King Colmán Rímid Uí Néill (approximate date).source
- A Rashidun army under Abd al-Rahman ibn Rabi'a is annihilated by the Khazars, near the city of Balanjar (Northern Caucasus). During the battle, both sides use catapults against the other (approximate date).source
- Yuknoom Chʼeen II, ruler of Calakmul, attacks Dos Pilas and forces its leader, Bʼalaj Chan Kʼawiil, and a likely heir to the throne of Tikal, to take refuge at Aguateca, beginning the Second Tikal–Calakmul War.source
Exploration & Expansion
- The Khazar Khaganate extends from the Dnieper to the Caspian Sea, and establishes the city, Itil, as its capital on the shore of the Caspian. Northward it extends to the headwaters of the Volga. Their rulers accept the Jewish religion, apparently to assert their independence from both Muslims and Christians (approximate date).source
- According to legend, the Polynesian traveller Ui-te-Rangiora sailed south into the Southern Ocean where they sighted ice floes and icebergs, eventually naming the area Te tai-uka-a-pia.source
- Jamaica is settled by the Ostinoid people, ancestors of the Taíno. They were farmers, potters, and villagers with socially complex societies. These people lived near the coast and extensively hunted turtles and fish.source
Religion & Belief
Economy & Finance
- The first Chinese paper money is issued, yet these banknotes will not become government-issued until the Song dynasty era Sichuan province issues them in the year 1024, with the central government of China following suit in the 12th century.source
Technology & Infrastructure
- Earliest confirmed date of habitation in the area around what is now Bluff, Utah by humans.source
Crime & Justice
- The panel of the Tamamushi Shrine, the so called "Hungry Tigress Jataka", is made during the Asuka period (Japan). It is now kept at Horyu-ji Treasure House (approximate date).source
Culture & Society
- King Cloten of Dyfed (Southern Wales) marries Princess Ceindrech of Brycheiniog, and unites the two kingdoms (approximate date).source
Births
- Anastasia, Byzantine empress (approximate date)source
- Sergius I, pope of Rome (approximate date)source
- Yao Chong, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (d. 721)source
- Werburgh, Anglo-Saxon princess (approximate date)source
- Dagobert II, king of Austrasia (approximate date)source
- Jarir ibn Atiyah, Arab poet and satirist (approximate date)source
- Frithuswith, Anglo-Saxon abbess (approximate date)source
- Shen Quanqi, Chinese poet and official (approximate date)source
- Giles, Frankish abbot (approximate date)source