1008
Year 1008 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
- Olaf Haraldsson, future king of Norway, makes raids in the Baltic Sea. He lands on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, wins a battle there, and forces the inhabitants to pay tribute.
- Battle at Herdaler: Olaf Haraldsson sails to the southern coast of Finland to plunder, where he and his men are ambushed and defeated in the woods.
- The oldest known mention is made of the city of Gundelfingen.
- Unification of the Georgian realm.
- In England, King Æthelred the Unready orders a new fleet of warships built, organised on a national scale. It is a huge undertaking, but is completed the following year.
Arabian Empire
- Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah sends a tributary mission to Emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty in order to reestablish trade relations between the Fatimid Caliphate and China.
Japan
- November 13 - Kamo Special Festival: The poet Murasaki Shikibu is given her name from a famous court poet, Fujiwara no Kinto; this year she probably starts to write The Diary of Lady Murasaki.
- 42nd Birthday of Fujiwara no Michinaga, father-in-law of the emperor, is celebrated.
- Under the Early Lê dynasty, King Lê Long Đĩnh personally marched into battle to defeat the barbarians in Đô Lương and Vị Long provinces.
By topic
Religion
- Autumn - Bruno of Querfurt, a missionary bishop, and 18 companions sets out on a mission to spread Christianity among the Prussians.
- Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden, is baptized in Husaby by missionary Sigfrid, and makes generous donations on the spot.