A backblast tainted saidin even as the Companions drew upon it. Whether this was a deliberate action of the Dark One or a by-product of his attempts to stop the Bore from being sealed may never be known.

A by-product surely. If it was deliberate then you'd wonder why the DO didn't just do it earlier. Say take a year (to be generous) black-thread protecting his men, then drive the other side insane and march to victory!

Some say that LTT and his 68 remaining Companions began the Time of Madness.

Others date the Breaking as much as ten years later, when so many male Aes Sedai had succumbed to the taint, ..that there was no longer any hope of stopping it.

Latra Posae, Shadar Nor, Cutter of the Shadow, Slicer of the Shadow, died during the Breaking.

The Nations were scattered to the eight corners of the World.

'the eight corners of the world' - I hate this sort of drivel. If RJ doesn't want to use sayings from our world, then fair enough, but surely he could have come up with something a little more original.

Actual duration from 239 - 344 years.

Sometimes the erosion of mind and body were quite rapid, other times they were agonisingly slow.