From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- Alternate uses, see Number 600
Decades: 550s 560s 570s 580s 590s - 600s - 610s 620s 630s 640s 650s
Years: 595 596 597 598 599 - 600 - 601 602 603 604 605
Events
- The moldboard plow is invented in eastern Europe
- Possibly the first reference to chess, in the Persian work Karnamak-i-Artakhshatr-i-Papakan.
- The Persians begin to use windmills for irrigation.
- Pope Gregory I codifies what comes to be known as Gregorian chant.
- Construction on the monastery of St. Catherine is begun on Mount Sinai.
- The population of the Earth rises to about 208 million people.
- Smallpox arrives in Europe for the first time.
- Irish missionaries preach in Scotland and Germany.
- Chinese-influenced sculptures of Buddha begin to be created in Japan.
- Sumatra, Java, and the surrounding islands are converted to Buddhism.
- Augustine of Canterbury converts Ethelbert of Kent to Christianity (approximate date).
- The Hopewell culture of North America ceases to be the dominant culture.
Births
- Ali Ben Abu Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam
Deaths
- Venance Fortunat, bishop of Poitiers, one of the last representatives of Classical Latin poetry.
