240
Encyclopedia
Leap year starting on Wednesday
This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Wednesday, January 1 , such as 1936, 1964, 1992, 2020 or 2048.This kind of year has 53 weeks in the ISO 8601 week - day format.Previous year | Next yearMillenniumCenturyYear...
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Venustus (or, less frequently, year 993 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 240 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Empire
- The Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
is threatned on several fronts at the same time. Africa revolts and tribes in northwest GermaniaGermaniaGermania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
, under the name of the FranksFranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
, are raiding the Rhine frontier.
Asia
- Maharaja Sri-GuptaMaharaja Sri-GuptaSri Gupta was a pre-imperial Gupta king in northern India and start of the Gupta dynasty. A portion of northern or central Bengal might have been the home of Guptas at that time, but however not much evidence is available....
becomes Emperor of GuptaGupta EmpireThe Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
. - Ardashir IArdashir IArdashir I was the founder of the Sassanid Empire, was ruler of Istakhr , subsequently Fars Province , and finally "King of Kings of Sassanid Empire " with the overthrow of the Parthian Empire...
, Sassanid king of Persia, destroys HatraHatraHatra is an ancient city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. It is currently known as al-Hadr, a name which appears once in ancient inscriptions, and it was in the ancient Iranian province of Khvarvaran. The city lies northwest of Baghdad and southwest of Mosul.-History:Hatra...
. - Shapur IShapur IShapur I or also known as Shapur I the Great was the second Sassanid King of the Second Persian Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 240/42 - 270/72, but it is likely that he also reigned as co-regent prior to his father's death in 242 .-Early years:Shapur was the son of Ardashir I...
becomes co-emperor with his father Ardashir IArdashir IArdashir I was the founder of the Sassanid Empire, was ruler of Istakhr , subsequently Fars Province , and finally "King of Kings of Sassanid Empire " with the overthrow of the Parthian Empire... - The Kushan EmpireKushan EmpireThe Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...
falls.
Religion
- At the court of Ardashir I, ManiMani (prophet)Mani , of Iranian origin was the prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a gnostic religion of Late Antiquity which was once widespread but is now extinct...
, a young mystic of CtesiphonCtesiphonCtesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...
, proclaims himself a prophetProphetIn religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
and preaches his doctrine, ManichaeismManichaeismManichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
, throughout the Persian EmpireSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
.
Births
- LactantiusLactantiusLucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his religious policy as it developed, and tutor to his son.-Biography:...
, Christian writer (d. 320320Year 320 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus...
) (approximate date) - Sporus of NicaeaSporus of NicaeaSporus of Nicaea was a Greek mathematician and astronomer, , probably Nicaea , ancient district Bithynia, in province Bursa, in modern day Turkey....
, Greek mathematician and astronomer (approximate date) - ZenobiaZenobiaZenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
, queen of the Palmyrene EmpirePalmyrene EmpireThe Palmyrene Empire was a splinter empire, that broke off of the Roman Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. It encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Egypt and large parts of Asia Minor....
(d. 274274Year 274 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Capitolinus...
)
Deaths
- Ammonius SaccasAmmonius SaccasAmmonius Saccas was a Greek philosopher from Alexandria who was often referred to as one of the founders of Neoplatonism. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus, whom he taught for eleven years from 232 to 243. He was undoubtably the biggest influence on Plotinus in his development of...
, NeoplatonicNeoplatonismNeoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
philosopher (approximate date) - Huang QuanHuang QuanHuang Quan , style name Gongheng , was a military general of the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He first served the warlord Liu Zhang in Yi Province. In 211, Huang Quan warned Liu Zhang that Liu Bei was planning to seize control of Yi Province from him...
, general of the Kingdom of ShuShu HanShu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu... - King MidangKing MidangKing Midang was a king of the Qiang tribe during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Midang allied with Shu Han and ordered his subordinate Ehe Shaoge to attack the city of Nan'an. However, Ehe Shaoge was captured by the Cao Wei general Guo Huai and surrendered. He was killed after...
, king of the Qiang tribe - Zhou FangZhou Fang (Three Kingdoms)Zhou Fang, style name Ziyu , was a military general of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In 228, he was a main figure in a confrontation between Eastern Wu and Cao Wei, when he pretended to surrender to Cao Wei to induce the enemy general Cao Xiu into a trap, and...
, general of the Kingdom of WuEastern WuEastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan region of China...