Year 121 ( CXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematics, Greek mathematicians and Ancient Greek astronomy, as ...

. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Augur (or, less frequently, year 874 ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an ex ...

''). The denomination 121 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the

Anno Domini The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

calendar era A calendar era is the period of time elapsed since one '' epoch'' of a calendar and, if it exists, before the next one. For example, it is the year as per the Gregorian calendar, which numbers its years in the Western Christian era (the Copt ...

became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Roman Empire

* Roman settlement in present-day

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

is first mentioned. * Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman '' municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispan ...

fixes the border between

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

and

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

, on a line running from the River Tyne to the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...

. * Construction of the Temple of Venus and Roma begins in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Asia

* Era name changes from ''Yongning'' (2nd year) to ''Jianguang'' in the Chinese Eastern

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

Births

* April 26 –

Marcus Annius Verus Marcus Annius Verus may refer to: * Marcus Annius Verus (grandfather of Marcus Aurelius) * Marcus Annius Verus (father of Marcus Aurelius) * Marcus Annius Verus, emperor as Marcus Aurelius * Marcus Annius Verus Caesar Marcus Annius Verus Caesar ...

, later Emperor

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

(d. 180)

Deaths

* Cai Lun, Chinese inventor of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre e ...

and the

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

process (b. AD 50) *

Deng Sui Deng Sui ( zh, t=鄧綏; AD 81–121), formally Empress Hexi ( zh, t=和熹皇后, links=no, l=moderate and pacifying empress), was regent and ''de facto'' ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty from 106 to 121, serving as empress dowager during the re ...

, Chinese empress of the

(b.

AD 81 A.D. 81 ( LXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silva and Pollio (or, less frequently, year 834 ''Ab urbe condita''). ...

) *

Eleutherius and Antia Eleutherius (or Eleut(h)erus or Eleftherios; sometimes called Liberalis or Liberator, the former transliterations and the latter translations of his (Albanian: ''Shën Lefter,'' grc-gre, Ἐλευθέριος) and his mother Antia (or Anthia) (Al ...

, Roman Christian martyrs and saints

References

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