Zheng He

1371 – He was born this year in Kunyang, Yunnan province, China. He grew up speaking Arabic and Chinese, learning much about the world to the west and its geography and customs.

1381 – After the Ming army conquered Yunnan, he was taken captive as a young boy in this year. He was castrated, thus becoming a eunuch, to become a servant at the Imperial court.

1403 – He served as a close confidant of the Yongle Emperor of China, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

1405 – He made the voyages collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" from this year until 1433.

1431 – He set up a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Taoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fuji an province, to whom he and his sailors prayed for safety at sea.

1433 – He died this year in Calicut, India.