*W: Hagia Sophia Construction (jan 1, 532 – jan 1, 537)

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World: Empress Theodora, considered the most powerful woman in Byzantine history, rules with her husband Justinian. Theodora and Justinian attend festivities at the Hippodrome, a stadium for athletic competition. Team support escalates into mob riots. Fires and riots leave some 30-40,000 people dead and Constantinople in ruins. Justinian proceeds to rebuild the city with extensive commissions for religious art and architecture, including the new Hagia Sophia.
537: The Hagia Sophia Byzantine cathedral in Constantinople is consecrated. Architects, engineers, and mathematicians use complex mathematical formulas to construct the great church, a technological breakthrough for its time and for centuries afterwards due to its striking geometry, bold design and height.

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