Omar Khayyam

18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131

Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a Persian polymath from Nishapur renowned as a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. He wrote a landmark treatise classifying and solving cubic equations, led the reform that produced the highly accurate Jalali calendar, and is popularly remembered for the quatrains (rubaiyat) attributed to him and famously translated by Edward FitzGerald.

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Life events

Birth of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur
18 May 1048

Khayyam was born on 18 May 1048 in Nishapur, a leading city of Khorasan in the Seljuk Empire.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Education in the sciences and philosophy in Khorasan
c. 1060

Khayyam studied mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy in Nishapur and the surrounding region, within the intellectual tradition of Avicenna.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Move to Samarkand under the patronage of the chief judge
c. 1068

Around 1068 Khayyam traveled to Samarkand, where the jurist Abu Tahir supported his mathematical work.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Completion of the Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra
c. 1070

Around 1070 Khayyam wrote his major algebraic work, giving a systematic classification of cubic equations and geometric solutions using conic sections.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Invited to Isfahan by Sultan Malik-Shah to lead an observatory
1074

In 1074 Khayyam was summoned to the Seljuk court at Isfahan to direct astronomical observations for a reform of the calendar.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Introduction of the Jalali calendar reform
15 March 1079

The solar calendar computed under Khayyam's direction took effect on 15 March 1079 and is more accurate than the Gregorian calendar introduced five centuries later.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Return to Nishapur after the decline of court patronage
c. 1092

Following the deaths of Malik-Shah and the vizier Nizam al-Mulk in 1092, court support waned and Khayyam eventually returned to his native Nishapur, where he taught and served as an astrologer.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Composition of the quatrains later known as the Rubaiyat
c. 1100

Numerous Persian quatrains are attributed to Khayyam, though how many he actually wrote is disputed by scholars; their fame rests largely on Edward FitzGerald's 1859 English rendering.

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Death of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur
4 December 1131

Khayyam died on 4 December 1131 in Nishapur, where his mausoleum stands today.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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