Jurchen Jin forces sack Kaifeng and capture two Song emperors, ending the Northern Song; the court re-forms in the south.
In his Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo describes the magnetic needle compass and magnetic declination.
Lý Thường Kiệt halts the Song invasion at the Như Nguyệt (Cầu) River; tradition links the poem "Nam quốc sơn hà" to the battle.
To disrupt Song preparations for invasion, Lý Thường Kiệt attacks Qin, Lian and Yong prefectures in southern China (1075–1076).
The decisive naval battle of the Genpei War, in which the Minamoto clan destroys the Taira.
Minamoto no Yoritomo is appointed shōgun, consolidating the Kamakura shogunate, Japan's first warrior government.
A kurultai proclaims Temüjin as Genghis Khan, founding the Mongol Empire.