661

This article is about the year 661. For the number (and other uses), see 661 (number).

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	6th century – 7th century – 8th century
Decades:	630s  640s  650s  – 660s –  670s  680s  690s
Years:	658 659 660 – 661 – 662 663 664

661 by topic

Politics

State leaders – Sovereign states

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishment and disestablishment categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

661 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	661 DCLXI
Ab urbe condita	1414
Armenian calendar	110 ԹՎ ՃԺ
Assyrian calendar	5411
Bahá'í calendar	-1183–-1182
Bengali calendar	68
Berber calendar	1611
English Regnal year	N/A
Buddhist calendar	1205
Burmese calendar	23
Byzantine calendar	6169–6170
Chinese calendar	庚申年十一月廿五日 (3297/3357-11-25) — to — 辛酉年十二月初五日 (3298/3358-12-5)
Coptic calendar	377–378
Ethiopian calendar	653–654
Hebrew calendar	4421–4422
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	717–718
- Shaka Samvat	583–584
- Kali Yuga	3762–3763
Holocene calendar	10661
Iranian calendar	39–40
Islamic calendar	40–41
Japanese calendar
Korean calendar	2994
Minguo calendar	1251 before ROC 民前1251年
Thai solar calendar	1204

Year 661 (DCLXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 661 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Europe

• Perctarit and Godepert become co-rulers of the Lombards, following the death of their father Aripert.

Asia

• The Imperial fleet of Japan invades Kyūshū by the order of Empress Saimei. On its way, Princess Nukata composes a famous poem at Nikitatsu in the province of Iyo.
• Empress Saimei builds the palace of Asakura in Kyūshū from trees cut down from the shrines. Two months later she died. People say it is because the gods are angry for destroying the shrines.
• Emperor Tenji ascends to the throne of Japan after Empress Saimei's death.
• King Munmu becomes the 30th ruler of the Silla dynasty.

By topic

Religion

• Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib is assassinated; with his assassination the Rashidun Caliphate ends and Muawiyah I founds the Umayyad caliphate.

Births

• February 15 – Princess Oku
• Empress Gemmei, empress of Japan
• Chen Zi'ang, Chinese poet and official (died 702)
• Liu Zhiji, Chinese historian (died 721)

Deaths

• January 3 – Benjamin, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria
• January 27 – Ali, the first Shia Imam and the forth Rashidun Caliph of Sunni Muslims
• Empress Kōgyoku (also Empress Saimei), empress of Japan
• Aripert, king of the Lombards
• Saint Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne