The destruction of Kuwae
Legend says an eruption split an island in two
Oral traditions of Vanuatu tell of an island, Kuwae, destroyed by a volcanic eruption in the 15th century, leaving Epi and Tongoa behind. A submarine caldera does lie between them. Scientists long tied Kuwae to a huge sulphur spike around 1452 seen in ice cores, but that link is now disputed.
Wikipedia (English) · 15th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 1429 Joan of Arc relieves Orléans — 21 years earlier
- c. 1450 Gutenberg's printing press — same year
Eastern Europe & Russia
- c. 1469 Afanasy Nikitin's journey to India — 19 years later
Middle East
- 1453 Fall of Constantinople — 3 years later
Asia
- 1446 King Sejong promulgates Hangul — 4 years earlier
Americas
- c. 1438 Pachacuti founds the Inca Empire — 12 years earlier
- c. 1450 Building of Machu Picchu — same year
- c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy — same year
Alive at the time
- Johannes Gutenberg (aged 50)
- Mehmed II (aged 18)
- Sejong the Great (aged 53)
- Charles VII (aged 47)
- Murad II (aged 46)
- Pachacuti (aged 32)
- Louis XI (aged 27)
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa (aged 14)
- Ivan III (aged 10)
- Nezahualcoyotl (aged 48)