640

640 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	640 DCXL
Ab urbe condita	1393
Armenian calendar	89 ԹՎ ՁԹ
Assyrian calendar	5390
Balinese saka calendar	561–562
Bengali calendar	46–47
Berber calendar	1590
Buddhist calendar	1184
Burmese calendar	2
Byzantine calendar	6148–6149
Chinese calendar	己亥年 (Earth Pig) 3337 or 3130 — to — 庚子年 (Metal Rat) 3338 or 3131
Coptic calendar	356–357
Discordian calendar	1806
Ethiopian calendar	632–633
Hebrew calendar	4400–4401
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	696–697
- Shaka Samvat	561–562
- Kali Yuga	3740–3741
Holocene calendar	10640
Iranian calendar	18–19
Islamic calendar	19–20
Japanese calendar	N/A
Javanese calendar	530–531
Julian calendar	640 DCXL
Korean calendar	2973
Minguo calendar	1272 before ROC 民前1272年
Nanakshahi calendar	−828
Seleucid era	951/952 AG
Thai solar calendar	1182–1183
Tibetan calendar	ས་མོ་ཕག་ལོ་ (female Earth-Boar) 766 or 385 or −387 — to — ལྕགས་ཕོ་བྱི་བ་ལོ་ (male Iron-Rat) 767 or 386 or −386

Events

February 27 – Pepin the Elder, Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, dies and is succeeded by his son Grimoald. He becomes the head of the Frankish household, and the most powerful man in the Frankish Kingdom (approximate date).
King Chintila dies of natural causes after a 3-year reign, in which he permitted the bishops wide authority in Hispania, Septimania and Galicia. He is succeeded by his son Tulga, who becomes ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom (approximate date).
At the request of Porga of Croatia, one of the first dukes or princes (Croatian: knez) of Dalmatian Croatia, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius sends Christian missionaries to the Croatian Provinces (approximate date).
The French city of Lille (according to the legend) is founded by Lydéric. He kills Phinaert in a duel to avenge his parents' deaths (approximate date).

King Eadbald of Kent dies after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his sons, Eorcenberht and Eormenred, who jointly rule the Kingdom of Kent (now south east England).
Hartlepool Abbey in Northumbria (northern England) is founded. Wooden huts surrounding a church are built in Saxon style.

May – Siege of Babylon Fortress: The Rashidun army lays siege to Babylon Fortress in the Nile Delta (near Cairo). The next two months' fighting remain inconclusive, the Byzantines having the upper hand by repulsing every Muslim assault.^[1]
July 6 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army (15,000 men) under Amr ibn al-As defeats the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt). Amr divides his troops into three parts, surrounding the Byzantines.
December 21 – Muslim Arabs capture Babylon after a seven-month siege; during a night assault Arab warriors open the city gates.^[2] The Thebaid region (Upper Egypt) is annexed by the Rashidun Caliphate.
December 22 – On orders of the Saracen leader, Amar, the Serapeum of Alexandria, containing works that had survived the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, is burned down, along with its collection of 500,000 manuscripts.^[3] This story may be apocryphal.^[4]

Disibod, Irish monk and hermit, arrives as a missionary in Francia. He begins his religious work in the Vosges and Ardennes.
May 28 – Pope Severinus succeeds Honorius I as the 71st pope. He dies in Rome only two months after being consecrated.
December 24 – Pope John IV succeeds Severinus as the 72nd pope. His election is accepted by the Exarchate of Ravenna.

A surge in atmospheric lead in ice core drilled in the Colle Gnifetti Glacier in the Swiss Alps signals an increase in silver mining because of economic recovery, after natural disasters in 530s and 540s.^[6]

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Births

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Events