105 CE

Papermaking is refined and officially created by the Chinese eunuch Cai Lun, who receives official praise from the emperor for his methods of making paper from tree bark, hemp, remnant rags, and fish nets. Occasionally, skin from cadavers was also spread as a final layer. Paper had been made in China from the 2nd century BC, but Cai Lun's paper provides a writing surface far superior to pure silk and is much less costly to produce. Bamboo and wooden slips will remain the usual materials for books and scrolls in most of the world for another 200 years, and paper will remain a Chinese secret for 500 years. Emperor He Di dies after a 17-year reign in which court eunuchs and the emperor's in-laws have regained influence. Empress Deng Sui places her son Shang Di (barely 3 months old) on the throne, as the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han dynasty. Emperor Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia; he leaves with the Imperial Roman fleet from Brundusium.

In the 100s, the 2nd century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • A peace treaty is signed between Baekje and Silla in the Korean peninsula (the war started in AD 85).source

Conflict & Security

  • The Romans conquer Kerak from the Nabateans.source
  • Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix and II Traiana Fortis are created by Trajan.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • Emperor Trajan starts the second expedition against Dacia; he leaves with the Imperial Roman fleet from Brundusium.source
  • Permanent castrum of Legio II Adiutrix at Aquincum (modern Budapest) in Pannonia.source

Religion & Belief

  • Pope Alexander I succeeds Pope Evaristus as the sixth pope according to Roman Catholic tradition (approximate date).source
  • Change of Patriarch of Constantinople from Patriarch Plutarch to Patriarch Sedecion.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Trajan Bridge is finished. For more than a thousand years, it is the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built, in terms of both total and span length.source

Science & Discovery

  • Papermaking is refined and officially created by the Chinese eunuch Cai Lun, who receives official praise from the emperor for his methods of making paper from tree bark, hemp, remnant rags, and fish nets. Occasionally, skin from cadavers was also spread as a final layer. Paper had been made in China from the 2nd century BC, but Cai Lun's paper provides a writing surface far superior to pure silk and is much less costly to produce. Bamboo and wooden slips will remain the usual materials for books and scrolls in most of the world for another 200 years, and paper will remain a Chinese secret for 500 years.source

Births

  • Han Shangdi, Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty (died 106)source
  • Alexander of Abonoteichus, Greek mystic and oracle (died 170)source
  • Marcus Sedatius Severianus, Roman politician (died 161)source

Deaths

  • June 24 – Gnaeus Afranius Dexter, Roman politiciansource
  • Gnaeus Pompeius Longinus, Roman politiciansource
  • Pacorus II of Parthia dies after a 27-year reign, in which he has reclaimed all of his empire. His successor Vologases III reigns until 147 AD, suppressing brief rebellions, as he battles against the Kushan and Alani.source
  • Marcus Valerius Probus, Roman grammariansource
  • Emperor He Di dies after a 17-year reign in which court eunuchs and the emperor's in-laws have regained influence. Empress Deng Sui places her son Shang Di (barely 3 months old) on the throne, as the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han dynasty.source
  • Pacorus II, king of the Parthian Empiresource