Chinese history has exact years earlier than Greek history.
The first securely dated year in Sima Qian's records is 841 BC — 65 years before the first Olympiad, which the Greeks later used to count time.
The events
- The Gonghe Regency841 BC · Haojing, the Zhou capital. The people of the Zhou capital rose against the harsh King Li, who fled. Until 828 BC regents governed — a period called Gonghe, 'joint harmony'. Sima Qian's chronological tables count years continuously from 841 BC, making it the first precisely dated year in Chinese history.
- First Olympic Games776 BC · Olympia. The first recorded Olympic Games were held at the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia; Coroebus of Elis won the stadion footrace. Held every four years, the Games gave the Greeks a common system for counting years.
9th century BC · 8th century BC
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- 776 BC The first Olympic champion on record was a cook.