The Vietnamese, or Annamese, to the north…

The strengthened Chinese invasion force, after regrouping under a new commander, reaches Ava in 1446 and orders Narapati to surrender and deliver over the Shan chief Thonganbwa, who has taken refuge here.

Narapati negotiates a deal to hand over Thonganbwa if the Chinese help him subdue Yamethin first.

The Chinese agree, and together with a contingent of troops from Ava, conquer Yamethin.

Thonganbwa, recognizing eventual Shan defeat, complies, but soon commits suicide; is dead body is handed over to the Chinese in early 1446.

Narapati maintains that he has not accepted Chinese suzerainty, but the Chinese consider the handover of the body as Ava's recognition of Chinese rule.

The first construction of the Precious Belt Bridge, a Chinese stone arch bridge located at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Dantai Lake, about 2.5 kilometer southeast of Suzhou in present Jiangsu Province, China, dates back to the CE 816, during the middle Tang Dynasty.

According to written accounts, the bridge derives its name from the local prefect Wang Zhongshu, who in a selfless act had sold his precious belt in order to help finance its construction.

Since then, it has been reconstructed several times.

The current structure of the Precious Belt Bridge is a Ming Dynasty era reconstruction of 1446, during the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor.

King Sejong the Great of Joseon creates the hangul alphabet in Korea.

The Hunmin Jeongeum published during the year 1446 is considered the start of this brand new scientific writing system.

Shemyaka's lack of support among the Muscovite boyars forces him, however, to leave the city for Lake Chukhloma, but he continues to press his claim to the grand princely throne.

Hunyadi, the real power in Hungary, opposes Frederick’s illegal regency of Ladislas, wishing to control the child-king himself and thus preserve his own authority.

To that end, Hunyadi leads Hungarian troops into Styria in 1446.

Frederick responds to Hunyadi’s demand of Ladislas by turning the six-year-old monarch over to his arbitrator, a cardinal.

Mehmed II, sent once more to Manisa in 1446 with Zaganos and Sihâbeddin, newly appointed as his tutors, continues to consider himself the legal sultan.

Mehmed was born on March 30, 1432, in Edirne, at that time the capital city of the Ottoman state.

His father is Sultan Murad II and his mother Valide Sultan Hüma Hatun, born in Devrekani county of Kastamonu province.

When Mehmed II was eleven years old he had been sent with his two tutors to Amasya to govern and thus gain experience, as per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time.

Murad II had abdicated the throne to his twelve-year-old son after making  peace with the Karaman Emirate in Anatolia in August 1444.

Sultan Murad II had sent him a number of teachers under whom he is to study.

This Islamic education had had  a great impact in molding the mindset of Mehmed and reinforcing his Muslim beliefs.

He had begun to praise and promote the application of Sharia law.

Influenced in his practice of Islamic epistemology by contemporaneous practitioners of science—particularly by his mentor, Molla Gürani—he had followed their approach.

The influence of Ak Şemseddin in Mehmed's life had become predominant from a young age, especially in the imperative of fulfilling his Islamic duty to overthrow the Roman empire by conquering Constantinople.

In his first reign, he had defeated the crusade led by János Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country had broken the conditions of the truce Peace of Szeged.

Cardinal Julian Cesarini, the representative of the pope, had persuaded the king of Hungary that breaking the truce with Muslims was not a betrayal.

Mehmed II had asked Murad II to reclaim the throne at this time, but his father had refused.

Angry at his father, who had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed II wrote, "If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan, I hereby order you to come and lead my armies."

It was only after receiving this letter that Murad II had led the Ottoman army and won the Battle of Varna in 1444.

It is said Murad II's return to the throne had been forced by Çandarli Halil Paşa, the grand vizier, who was not fond of Mehmed II's rule because Mehmed II's influential teacher has a rivalry with Çandarli.

Lançarote's squadron soon arrives at Barbary Point, the mouth of the Senegal River, which is as yet unexplored.

He dispatches Estêvão Afonso on a launch to search upriver for settlements.

The exploration doesn't get very far.

Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso abducts two Wolof children from a local woodsman's hut, only to be chased down and furiously beaten by their father.

Having barely escaped with their lives, the launch immediately returns to the waiting caravels.

After sending back yet another caravel to Lagos, Lançarote proceeds with his five remaining ships around Cape Vert into Dakar Bay.

The squadron lands in the island of Bezeguiche (Gorée island), where they find a marker left behind by Álvaro Fernandes, a Portuguese explorer from Madeira who had preceded them there only a few weeks earlier.

Fernandes had attempted to take a few Wolof canoes captive, with the result that the Wolof tribesmen of the mainland are already alert and in arms against the arriving ships.

Not quite realizing this, Lançarote sends out Gomes Pires on a launch to the mainland to open contact with the local Wolof chieftains, but Pires's approach is prevented by a hail of arrows.

His first strategy foiled, Lançarote orders the Portuguese to prepare a raid on the mainland Wolof villages 'in the style of Arguin', but this comes to nothing.

Before being able to organize the attack, a sudden storm envelops the area, and forced the Portuguese caravels out of Bezeguiche bay, scattering them in various directions.

Lançarote manages to hold two other caravels (Álvaro de Freitas and Vicente Dias) together with him, but loses sight of the other two.

Realizing they are now too few to launch an attack on the Wolof mainland, Lançarote's trio sets sail back to the Arguin banks, where …

As many as forty vessels have sailed from Lagos on Henry's behalf from 1444 to 1446, and the first private mercantile expeditions have begun.

Slaves and gold begin arriving in Portugal.

Nuno Tristão, Henry's favorite captain, set out on his fourth trip down the West African coast in 1446 (or perhaps 1445 or 1447, date uncertain), searching for the source of gold and other valuable commodities that have slowly been trickling up into Europe via land routes for the preceding half century.

Somewhere south of Cap Vert, Tristão comes across the mouth of a large river.

Tristão takes twenty-two sailors with him on a launch upriver, to search for a settlement to raid, but the launch is ambushed by thirteen native canoes with some eighty armed men.

Quickly surrounded, Nuno Tristão, along with most of his crew, is killed on the spot by poisoned arrows (two might have escaped).

The death of Nuno Tristão is the beginning of the end of this wave of Henry's expeditions.

Another set of ships will still go out the next year, but will also take significant casualties, and as a result, Portuguese expeditions will be temporarily suspended.

Henry will not dispatch another expedition to the West African coast again for several years.

Álvaro Fernandes had set out again on a caravel in 1446, this time on direct mission for Prince Henry.

Fernandes had headed straight to his last point (Cabo dos Mastos), and landed a little exploring party, but finding nobody, re-embarked and continued sailing on.

At an indeterminate point south of there, they had spotted a local coastal village and disembarked a party, only to be met by an armed native force (probably Serer), intent on defending their village.

Álvaro Fernandes had killed what he believed was the native chieftain at the beginning of the encounter, prompting the rest of the local warriors to briefly halt the fight.

The Portuguese landing party availed themselves of the pause to hurry back to their ship.

Having sailed a little on, the next day, the Portuguese had captured two young local women collecting shellfish by the shore.

The caravel had resumed sail, and continued "for a certain distance", until they reached a large river, which is recorded in the chronicles as "Rio Tabite".

Although perhaps aware of the fate of Nuno Tristão on a similar river venture, Alvaro Fernandes nonetheless decides to set a launch to explore upriver.

The first exploratory boat had made a landing on the bank near some local huts, where they quickly captured a local woman and brought her back to the caravel.

Then, refitting the boat, they set out again, this time intending to sail further upriver.

But they did not get far before they came upon four or five native canoes with armed men heading towards them.

Fernandes immediately turned the boat around and began racing back to the caravel, with the canoes hot on his tail.

One of the canoes had gone fast enough to nearly catch up with Fernandes's boat, prompting Fernandes to turn and prepare for a fight.

But the lead native canoe, realizing it was alone, slowed down to wait for the others, thus giving the Portuguese boat the opportunity to resume their flight back to the caravel.

The Portuguese had escaped, but Álvaro Fernandes himself had been gravely wounded in the leg by a poisoned arrow shot from one of the canoes.

Once aboard ship, he had disinfected the wound with urine and olive oil.

He lay in fever for a few days, on the edge of death, but recovered.

Despite the near-fatal experience, the caravel proceeds straight south for a little longer, until they reached a sandy cape and large sandy bay.

They put a small boat to explore near the beach, but find a force of some 120 natives, armed with shields, assegais and bows marching towards them.

The explorers immediately returned to the caravel.

Nonetheless, the armed native party holds what seems like a peaceful festive demonstration from the beach - waving and inviting the Portuguese to land.

But given Fernandes's ill condition and still shaken by their earlier near-escape, the decision is made to quit the area and set sail back to Portugal.

On the way home, Fernandes will stop by Arguin island and a nearby cape in the bay, where they will negotiate the purchase of a black slave-woman from some Berber traders.

Upon arrival in Portugal, Álvaro Fernandes will be amply rewarded by Prince Henry the Navigator with one hundred doubloons, and regent Peter of Coimbra will gave him another one hundred, for having sailed further than any other Portuguese captain thus far.