Omar Khayyám died on 4 December 1131 in Nishapur, aged 83. A Persian polymath born in Nishapur, Khayyám was a respected mathematician and astronomer in his own lifetime. He wrote an important treatise on algebra, showing how to solve cubic equations by geometric means, and he took part in the reform of the Persian calendar under the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah, producing an accurate solar calendar. He is best known in the West for the Rubáiyát, a collection of quatrains, popularized in the English translation of Edward FitzGerald in 1859. Scholars disagree about how many of the verses attributed to him he actually wrote, since many later poets added their own.
Before and after
- from 1126 to 1485House of Plantagenet
- 14 April 1126Birth of Averroes
- from 1130 to 1816Kingdom of Sicily
- 18 October 1130Birth of Zhu Xi
- 4 December 1131Death of Omar Khayyám
- from 1132 to 1539Origins of Fountains Abbey
- from 1136 to 1478Novgorod Republic
- 1137Construction of St. Stephen's Cathedral
- c. 1138Birth of Moshe ben Maimon
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This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 12th century.