1240
- Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kiev
- Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita defeats Sosso king Soumaoro Kanté at the Battle of Kirina, beginning the Mali Empire.
- July 15 - Russian prince Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva, saving Russia from a full-scale enemy invasion from the North.