656

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	6th century 7th century 8th century
Decades:	630s 640s 650s 660s 670s
Years:	653 654 655 656 657 658 659

656 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	656 DCLVI
Ab urbe condita	1409
Armenian calendar	105 ԹՎ ՃԵ
Assyrian calendar	5406
Balinese saka calendar	577–578
Bengali calendar	63
Berber calendar	1606
Buddhist calendar	1200
Burmese calendar	18
Byzantine calendar	6164–6165
Chinese calendar	乙卯年 (Wood Rabbit) 3353 or 3146     — to — 丙辰年 (Fire Dragon) 3354 or 3147
Coptic calendar	372–373
Discordian calendar	1822
Ethiopian calendar	648–649
Hebrew calendar	4416–4417
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	712–713
- Shaka Samvat	577–578
- Kali Yuga	3756–3757
Holocene calendar	10656
Iranian calendar	34–35
Islamic calendar	35–36
Japanese calendar	Hakuchi 7 (白雉７年)
Javanese calendar	547–548
Julian calendar	656 DCLVI
Korean calendar	2989
Minguo calendar	1256 before ROC 民前1256年
Nanakshahi calendar	−812
Seleucid era	967/968 AG
Thai solar calendar	1198–1199
Tibetan calendar	阴木兔年 (female Wood-Rabbit) 782 or 401 or −371     — to — 阳火龙年 (male Fire-Dragon) 783 or 402 or −370

King Sigebert III of Austrasia (c. 630–656)

Year 656 (DCLVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 656 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

• February 1 – King Sigebert III of Austrasia, age 25, dies after a 22-year reign. His 5-year-old son Dagobert II is kidnapped by the court chancellor, Grimoald the Elder, who makes his own son king, and exiles him to an Irish monastery. Dagobert is placed with Bishop Dido of Poitiers, while Grimoald's son Childebert the Adopted assumes the Austrasian throne.

Britain

• King Oswiu of Northumbria invades Pengwern (modern Wales) and kills King Cynddylan in battle, near the River Trent. Cynddylan's brother Morfael and the rest of the royal family flee to Glastening (Wessex).
• King Œthelwald of Deira is removed from office by his uncle Oswiu, because of his desertion at the Battle of the Winwaed, and replaced by the latter's son Alhfrith, as subject king in a united Northumbria.

Arabian Empire

• First Islamic Civil War: An armed revolt erupts in Egypt; several Muslim sympathisers travel to Medina to rally support, beginning the fitna (literally meaning the 'trail of faith'). The Muslim expansion comes to a halt as the martial energies of the Islamic forces are directed inwards.
• June 20 – Uthman ibn Affan is murdered at Medina after an 11-year reign. He is succeeded by Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi-Talib, who becomes the fourth caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He makes Kufah (Iraq) his capital, but the succession is disputed.
• November 7 – Battle of the Camel: Rebel Arabs under Aisha (widow of Muhammad) begin a revolt against Ali. They are defeated at Basra, and Aisha is exiled to Medina. During the battle 10,000 people lose their lives, with each party bearing equal loss.
• Abdullah ibn Sa'ad, governor of Upper Egypt, dies after a 12-year regime in which he has defeated neighboring Nubia.

Asia

• Empress Saimei of Japan builds a new palace at Asuka (Nara Prefecture), because her former residence took fire. This construction is called the "Mad Canal" by the people of that day, wasting the labor of tens of thousand workers and a large amount of money.

Polynesia

• September 24 – A total solar eclipse is observable from Easter Island. The next at this location will not occur until July 11, 2010.

By topic

Religion

• Li Xiăn, seventh son of the Chinese emperor Gao Zong, is made crown prince. His lavish palatial mansion in Chang'an is converted into a Daoist abbey during the Tang Dynasty (approximate date).
• The Yasaka Shrine is constructed in the Gion district of Kyoto (Japan).

Births

• Hubertus, bishop of Liège (approximate date)
• Zhong Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 710)

Deaths

• June 20 – Uthman ibn Affan, Muslim Caliph (b. 577) (martyred)
• Abdullah ibn Sa'ad, Arab governor
• Crundmáel Erbuilc, king of the Uí Ceinnselaig (Ireland)
• Cui Dunli, general of the Tang Dynasty (b. 596)
• Cynddylan, king of Pengwern (Wales)
• Li Daozong, prince of the Tang Dynasty
• Peada, king of Mercia (Midlands)
• Sigebert III, king of Austrasia (or 660)
• Zubayr ibn Al-Awam, Arab general (b. 594) (martyred)