1072

Events

Europe

* William I of England invades Scotland, and also receives the submission of Hereward the Wake.
* Osbern FitzOsbern becomes Bishop of Exeter.
* January 10 — The Normans conquer Palermo in Sicily.
* May 27 — The Accord of Winchester establishes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York in the Church of England.
* Dunfermline Abbey is founded - later to become the burial place of several Kings of Scots, including Robert the Bruce. The associated royal palace will be the birth place of King Charles I.
* Alfonso VI becomes king of Leon and Castile following the assassination of his brother Sancho.

Asia

* The Song Dynasty Chinese polymath scientist and statesman Shen Kuo is appointed as the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy, where he begins his groundbreaking work with the colleague Wei Pu on accurately plotting the orbital paths of the stars, planets, and moon three times a night for a continuum of five years.
* Shen Kuo is sent to supervise Chancellor Wang Anshi's program of surveying the building of silt deposits in the Bian Canal outside the capital city of Kaifeng. Using an original technique, Shen successfully dredges the canal and demonstrates the formidable value of the silt gathered as a fertilizer.

Births

*Agnes of Germany, daughter of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Bertha of Savoy (d. 1143)
*Tancred, Prince of Galilee, Norman leader of the First Crusade (d. 1112)

Deaths

* February 22 — Peter Damian, Italian saint (born c. 1007)
* March 16 — Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop
* September 22 — Ouyang Xiu, Chinese statesman, historian, essayist and poet (b. 1007)
* November 24 - King Bagrat IV of Georgia (b. 1018)
* December 15 — Alp Arslan, Turkish sultan in Persia (b. 1029)
* Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury