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• January 15 – Battle of St. Quentin: Frankish forces, led by Humfrid, defeat King Louis the German at Saint-Quentin (Northern France). Humfrid is enfeoffed with the County of Autun, and appointed Margrave of Burgundy, by King Charles the Bald.
• Summer – The Viking chieftains Hastein and Björn Ironside (a son of Ragnar Lodbrok) begin an expedition, and sail from the Loire River with a fleet of 62 ships, to raid cities and monasteries in the Mediterranean Sea.Haywood, John (1995). The Historical Atlas of the Vikings, pp. 58–59. Penguin Books: {{ISBN|0-14-051328-0}}
• Viking raiders invade the Kingdom of Pamplona (Western Pyrenees), and capture King García Íñiguez I, somewhere in the Andalusian heartland. They extort a ransom, rising to around 70,000 gold dinars.{{sfn|Martínez Díez|2007|p=25}}
• The Russian city of Novgorod is first mentioned in the Sofia Chronicles.
• Winter – The weather is so severe that the Adriatic Sea freezes, and Italy is covered in snow for 100 days.{{Cite book|title=The Black Sea Flood Question|last=Yanko-Hombach|first=Valentina|publisher=Springer|year=2006|isbn=1402047746|pages=638}}

• Battle of Albelda: King Ordoño I of Asturias, and his ally García Íñiguez I, defeat the Muslims under Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi at Albelda.
• Viking raiders burn the mosques of Seville and Algeciras in al-Andalus (modern Spain).{{cite book|last=Rucquoi|first=Adeline|title=Histoire médiévale de la Péninsule ibérique|year=1993|publisher=Seuil|location=Paris|isbn=2-02-012935-3|page=85}}

• The University of Al Karaouine is founded in Fes (modern Morocco), by Fatima al-Fihri (recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest still-operating university in the world).

• September 7 – Emperor Xuān Zong (Li Yi) dies after a 13-year reign. He is succeeded by his eldest son Yi Zong, as ruler of the Tang dynasty.

• 859 Syrian coast earthquake. It affected the Mediterranean coast of Syria{{cite journal | last1=Antonopoulos | first1= J. | title=Data from investigation of seismic Sea waves events in the Eastern Mediterranean from 500 to 1000 A.D. | volume= 33 | issue= 1 | year=1980 | journal=Annals of Geophysics | url =https://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/viewFile/4702/4786|doi=10.4401/ag-4701| doi-access=free }} It caused almost the complete destruction of Latakia and Jableh, major damage at Antioch and led to many deaths.{{cite book |last=Ambraseys|first=N.|author-link=Nicholas Ambraseys|date=2009|title=Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzXSBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT955|edition=First|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=243–244|isbn=978-1-316-34785-0}}

• Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, first Zaydi Imam of Yemen (d. 911){{EI2|volume=12|last=Madelung|first=W.|authorlink=Wilferd Madelung|title=al-Ḥādī Ila 'l-Ḥaḳḳ|pages=334–335|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8582}}
• Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate (d. 946)
• Odo I, king of the West Frankish Kingdom (or 860)
• Rudolph I, king of Burgundy (d. 912)
• Tannet of Pagan, king of Burma (d. 904)

• September 7 – Xuān Zong, emperor of the Tang dynasty (b. 810)
• December 13 – Angilbert II, archbishop of Milan
• Dhul-Nun al-Misri, Egyptian scholar and Sufi (b. 796)
• Immo, bishop of Noyon (approximate date)
• Lu Shang, chancellor of the Tang dynasty (b. 789)
• Máel Gualae, king of Munster (Ireland)

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book| last = Martínez Díez | first = Gonzalo|title = Sancho III el Mayor Rey de Pamplona, Rex Ibericus| year = 2007| publisher = Marcial Pons Historia| location = Madrid|language=ES| isbn = 978-84-96467-47-7}}

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