By place Europe •
January 15 – Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by
Humfrid, defeat King
Louis the German at
Saint-Quentin (Northern
France). Humfrid is
enfeoffed with the
County of Autun, and appointed
Margrave of Burgundy, by King
Charles the Bald. • Summer – The
Viking chieftains
Hastein and
Björn Ironside (a son of
Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the
Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and
monasteries in the
Mediterranean Sea. • Viking raiders invade the
Kingdom of Pamplona (Western
Pyrenees), and capture King
García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the
Andalusian heartland. They extort a
ransom, rising to around 70,000
gold dinars. • The Russian city of
Novgorod is first mentioned in the
Sofia Chronicles. • Winter – The weather is so severe that the
Adriatic Sea freezes, and
Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.
Iberian Peninsula •
Battle of Albelda: King
Ordoño I of Asturias, and his ally García Íñiguez I, defeat the Muslims under
Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at
Albelda. • Viking raiders burn the mosques of
Seville and
Algeciras in
al-Andalus (modern
Spain).
Africa • The
University of Al Karaouine is founded in
Fes (modern
Morocco), by
Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the
Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest still-operating university in the world).
China •
September 7 – Emperor
Xuān Zong (
Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son
Yi Zong, as ruler of the
Tang dynasty.
Syria •
859 Syrian coast earthquake. It affected the Mediterranean coast of
Syria It caused almost the complete destruction of
Latakia and
Jableh, major damage at
Antioch and led to many deaths. == Births ==