The Soninke Ghana Empire (Wagadu) flourished in what is now Mauritania and Mali, growing rich from control of the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade.
Many Maya cities of the southern lowlands are gradually abandoned, possibly due to drought, warfare and political crisis.
The Persian Samanid dynasty rules Central Asia and Khorasan, making Bukhara and Samarkand cultural and trade centres on the Silk Road.
Taking advantage of Tang decline, Khúc Thừa Dụ seizes Tống Bình and takes the title of military governor, beginning Vietnamese self-rule.
The Tang falls in 907 and China fragments into short-lived northern dynasties and numerous southern kingdoms.
Cluny Abbey is founded in Burgundy and becomes the centre of a monastic reform movement influential across Europe.
Wang Geon (King Taejo) founds the Goryeo dynasty, from which the name 'Korea' derives.
Ngô Quyền defeats the Southern Han fleet on the Bạch Đằng River using hidden stakes, ending a millennium of Chinese rule.
After his victory at Bạch Đằng, Ngô Quyền proclaims himself king with his capital at Cổ Loa, inaugurating lasting independence.
After the decline of the Ngô dynasty, the country fragments among rival warlords until Đinh Bộ Lĩnh reunifies it in 968.
Ngô Quyền dies; the Ngô dynasty weakens amid succession disputes.
King Otto I of Germany defeats the Magyars near Augsburg, ending Hungarian raids into Western Europe.
After the Chenqiao mutiny, Zhao Kuangyin becomes Emperor Taizu; the Song era sees remarkable economic and technological growth.
Pope John XII crowns Otto I emperor in Rome, commonly regarded as the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.
Đinh Bộ Lĩnh ends the Anarchy of the 12 Warlords, takes the throne and names the state Đại Cồ Việt, with its capital at Hoa Lư.
The Shia Fatimid Caliphate takes Egypt and builds Cairo as its new capital, along with the al-Azhar mosque.
Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng and his eldest son Đinh Liễn are assassinated at the capital Hoa Lư.
Facing a Song invasion, the commander Lê Hoàn is placed on the throne, founding the Early Lê dynasty.
Forces of Đại Cồ Việt under Lê Hoàn defeat a Song dynasty invasion, including an engagement on the Bạch Đằng River.
Hugh Capet is elected King of the Franks, founding the Capetian dynasty whose branches ruled France for centuries.
Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev is baptized and makes Byzantine Orthodox Christianity the religion of the Rus'.
The Althing decides that Iceland will officially adopt Christianity while tolerating some private pagan practice.
Norse explorer Leif Erikson reaches Vinland, likely in present-day Newfoundland, nearly 500 years before Columbus.
Stephen I becomes the first Christian king of Hungary, marking the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary.