King Sejong promulgates Hangul
A simple alphabet takes literacy beyond the elite
King Sejong the Great of Korea promulgated the Hunminjeongeum, a phonetic alphabet created under his direction in 1443. The simple Hangul script let literacy spread beyond the elite schooled in Chinese characters.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 15th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 1429 Joan of Arc relieves Orléans — 17 years earlier
- c. 1450 Gutenberg's printing press — 4 years later
Middle East
- 1453 Fall of Constantinople — 7 years later
Americas
- c. 1438 Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire — 8 years earlier
- c. 1450 Building of Machu Picchu — 4 years later
- c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy — 4 years later
Oceania
- c. 1445 Extinction of the moa — 1 year earlier
Alive at the time
- Johannes Gutenberg (aged 46)
- Mehmed II (aged 14)
- Sejong the Great (aged 49)
- Charles VII (aged 43)
- Murad II (aged 42)
- Pachacuti (aged 28)
- Louis XI (aged 23)
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa (aged 10)
- Ivan III (aged 6)
- Ulugh Beg (aged 52)