* Abdallah ibn Yasin ( 1040 – 1059 )-founder & spiritual leader

His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040 – 970 BCE, his reign over Judah c. 1010 – 1002 BCE, and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1002 – 970 BCE.

* 1040 – Rashi, French rabbi ( d. 1105 )

The Chinese " Wu Ching Tsung Yao " ( Complete Essentials from the Military Classics ), written by Tseng Kung-Liang between 1040 – 1044, provides encyclopedia references to a variety of mixtures which included petrochemicals, as well as garlic and honey.

The Abbasid Caliphate at its height, in 830 ADImportant contributions were made by Ibn al-Haytham ( 965 – 1040 ), a mathematician from Basra, Iraq considered one of the founders of modern optics.

In the 6th century AD, Byzantine mathematician Anthemius of Tralles used a type of camera obscura in his experiments, Ibn al-Haytham ( Alhazen ) ( 965 – 1040 ) studied the camera obscura and pinhole camera, Albertus Magnus ( 1193 – 1280 ) discovered silver nitrate, and Georges Fabricius ( 1516 – 71 ) discovered silver chloride.

* Harold I Harefoot, king of the Anglo-Saxons ( 1035 – 1040 ), illegitimate son of Cnut, died in 1040 and his half-brother, Harthacanute, on succeeding him, had his body taken from its tomb and cast in a pen with animals.

Shlomo Yitzhaki (), or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi (, RAbbi SHlomo Itzhaki ; February 22, 1040 – July 13, 1105 ), was a medieval French rabbi and long highly esteemed as a major contribution Ashkenazi Jewry gave to Torah study.

By far the best known commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is that of Rashi ( Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, 1040 – 1105 ).

* March 15 – Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester ( b. c. 1040 )

* April 13 – Ida of Lorraine, saint and noblewoman ( b. c. 1040 )

* September 3 – Gerard Thom ( The Blessed Gerard ), founder of the Knights Hospitaller ( b. c. 1040 )

Remains of the fortress of Langeais, built by Fulk IIIHis son Fulk III Nerra ( 21 July 987 – 21 June 1040 ) found himself confronted on his accession with a coalition of Odo I, count of Blois, and Conan I of Rennes.

Finally, the victory gained by Geoffrey Martel ( 21 June 1040 – 14 November 1060 ), the son and successor of Fulk, over Theobald III, count of Blois, at Nouy ( 21 August 1044 ), assured to the Angevins the possession of the countship of Touraine.

* Oram, Richard ( with Michael Penman ), The Canmore Kings: Kings and Queens of the Scots, 1040 – 1290.

Harthacnut (" Tough-knot "; ; c. 1018 – 8 June 1042 ) was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042.

Harold Harefoot or Harold I ( c. 1015 – 17 March 1040 ) was King of England from 1035 to 1040.

Michael Evans points out that Harold was only one of several kings of pre-Conquest England to die following short reigns, and lives, including Edmund I ( reigned 939 – 946 ), Eadred ( reigned 946 – 955 ), Eadwig ( reigned 955 – 959 ), Edmund Ironside ( reigned 1016 ), and Harthacnut ( reigned 1040 – 1042 ).

The reign of King Donnchad I ( Duncan I ) from 1034 was marred by failed military adventures, and he was defeated and killed by MacBeth, the Mormaer of Moray, who became king in 1040.

Mac Bethad mac Findlaích ( Modern Gaelic: MacBheatha mac Fhionnlaigh, anglicised as Macbeth, and nicknamed Rí Deircc, " the Red King "; died 15 August 1057 ) was King of the Scots ( also known as the King of Alba, and earlier as King of Moray and King of Fortriu ) from 1040 until his death.

Far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeare's play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon.

King Harald Hardrada of Norway also had a claim to the throne as the uncle and heir of King Magnus I, who had made a pact with Harthacnut in about 1040 that if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs, the other would succeed.

* King Donald III of Scotland ( b. before 1040 )

Magnus I took of control of Norway, but Harthacnut succeeded as King of Denmark, and became King of England in 1040 after the death of his half-brother Harold Harefoot.

Langøysund was the site of the compromise between King Magnus I and the farmers along the coast in 1040.

* King Wladislaus I Herman of Poland ( b. 1040 )

* July 1 – King Alfonso VI of Castile ( b. 1040 )

Alfonso VI ( before June, 1040 – June 29 / July 1, 1109 ), nicknamed the Brave ( El Bravo ) or the Valiant, was King of León from 1065, King of Castile and de facto King of Galicia from 1072.

Canute IV of Denmark, the son of King Sven Estridsen, was born about 1040 and ruled Denmark from 1080-1086.

In 1039, Strathclyde was attacked by the Northumbrians, and a retaliatory raid led by Duncan against Durham in 1040 turned into a disaster.

Later that year Duncan led an army into Moray, where he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040 at Pitgaveny ( then called Bothnagowan ) near Elgin.

Although Shakespeare's Macbeth presents Malcolm as a grown man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040, and Malcolm and his brother Donalbane ( Domnall Bán ) were children.

* 1040: Duncan I of Scotland slain in battle.

* Broun, Dauvit, " Duncan I ( d. 1040 )", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 May 2007

Whose rival Duncan I ( reigned 1034 – 1040 ) was the grandson and heir of Malcolm II.

In August 1040, MacBeth's army defeated and killed Duncan I at Bothganowan ( Pitgaveny ), near Elgin.

* Duncan I of Scotland ( died 1040 ), king of Alba, represented in Shakespeare's play Macbeth

* 1040 Death of Duncan I, Macbeth accedes to the Scottish throne

During the reign of Casimir I the Restorer, Kraków for the first time became the capital of Poland ( around 1040 ), since Greater Poland and Silesia, with main Polish urban centers, such as Gniezno and Poznań were ravaged by Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia.

* Adelheid I, Abbess of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim, born November or December 977, died 1040.

The death of Harold I in 1040 made his accession easier.

** Maria Dobroniega of Kiev (~ 1012 ), the Duchess of Poland ( 1040 – 1087 ), married around 1040 to Casimir I the Restorer, Duke of Poland

* Adelheid I, Abbess of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim, born November or December 977, died 1040.

The middle 50 % range of SAT I scores ( for 2005 ) was 1040 – 1310 out of 1600 possible points.