Ancient History ________ Medieval History ________Modern History

InfoPlease World History Timeline

Important Events in World History

Major historical events in World History

This is a work in progress and is by no means complete.

Ancient History c.4000 BC - AD 476

3200 BC - Civilization begins in Sumer – development of cuneiform writing

3000 BC - Menes unifies Upper and Lower Egypt, capital is Memphis.

3000 BC – Sumerians build first ziggurat.

2750 BC – Gilgamesh reigns as king of Erech.

2700 BC - Egyptians invent 365 -day calendar

2700 BC - Building of Stonehenge, England 2900 BC - Egyptian hieroglyphics developed

2690 BC - Indus Valley Civilization

2686-2613 BC - Zoser builds the Step Pyramid at Sakkara.

2600 BC - Kufu (Cheops) builds the Great Pyramid at Giza.

2500 BC - Minoan civilization develops on Crete.

2250 BC - The Mycenae Greeks are in contact with sea-going tradesmen, the Minoans of Crete - a commercial society ruled by the wealthy.

2200 BC - Akkadian king Sargon the Great takes power in the Sumerian city of Kish. He builds the first empire across Mesopotamia and Syria.

2150 BC - Aryans begin invasion of Indus Valley.

2100 BC - Mentuhotep II reunites Egypt and established the capital at Thebes.

1950 BC - The Sumerians are overrun by the Amorites and disappear as a recognizable people. Their writings, stories and gods endure.

1950 BC – Abraham leaves Ur for Canaan.

1795-1750 BC - Babylon king Hammurabi, conquers Mesopotamia and writes the first legal code.

1750 BC - Shang dynasty begins in China until 1045 BC

1674 BC - Memphis falls to the Hyksos.

1593 BC - Hittites from Asia Minor, with horses and lightweight chariots, sack Babylon, ending the dynasty that had been created by Hammurabi. Then they withdraw.

1550-1085 BC - NEW KINGDOM of EGYPT-Ahmose completes defeat of Hyksos and unites Egypt under new dynasty.

1512-1448 BC - During Tuthmosis III, extends Egyptian rule as far as the Euphrates River to the east and south to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile.

c. 1400 BC - Volcanic eruption on Thera - decline of Minoan Civilization

1391-1358 BC - Amenhotep IV changes his name to Akhenaton - introduces monotheism worshipping only the sun-disk god Aton.

1368-1349 BC - Tutankhamen "King Tut" restores the old cults at Thebes but shortly after he dies.

1299 BC - Rameses II fights Hittites and signs the world’s first peace treaty. He is considered the most prolific pharaoh to construct temples.

1200 BC - Trojan War

1200 BC - Aryans in India.

1050-750 BC - Dark Ages of Greece.

1045 BC - Zhou dynasty - longest lasting Chinese dynasty until 256 BC - claims the Mandate of Heaven

1000 BC - Hittites first to use iron – Iron Age begins, Aryans develop Sankrit writing

995 BC - King David captures Jerusalem.

970 BC - King Solomon builds a temple for Yahweh in Jerusalem.

815 BC - Carthage is founded by Phoenicians.

800 BC - Caste system in India develops.

800-700 BC - Italy is inhabited by Hellenic and Etruscan people.

776 BC - First Greek Olympic Games

753 BC - Legendary founding of Rome - Romulus and Remus

750-700 BC - Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey

750-500 BC - ARCHAIC PERIOD of GREECE- Greek city-states are formed throughout the Mediterranean each ruled by a king and a council

730-710 BC - Spartans conquer southwest Peloponnese in the First Messenian War.

671-667 BC - Assyrians invade Egypt, "sacking" Thebes and Memphis.

612 BC Nineveh (the capital of Babylonia) is captured, marking the end of the Assyrian Empire.

600 BC – Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar builds the “Tower of Babel.”

c. 600 BC - Zoroaster founds new religion in Persia.

588-586 BC - Nebuchadnezzar captures Jerusalem. Jews of Judea exiled in Babylon.

563 BC - 483 BC - Birth of Siddhartha Gautama "Buddha"

551 BC - 479 BC - Birth of Confucius -

Laozi, "Old Master", founder of Daoism, said to be a contemporary of Confucius - dates unknown

550 BC - The Greek Pythagoras studies the movements of celestial bodies and mathematics.

550 BC - King Cyrus the Great founds the Persian empire.

546 BC - King Cyrus of Persia and the Medes defeats Croesus and captures Lydia.

525 BC – Persians conquer Egypt.

509 BC - Romans overthrow Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus and establish a republic.

508 BC - Cleisthenes establishes the first democracy in Athens.

500 BC – Persian king Cyrus the Great captures Babylon.

490 BC First Persian War- Athenians defeat Persians at Marathon.

480 Battle of Thermopylae – Spartan forces battle to the last man.

479 BC - Persian forces led by Xerxes destroy Athens. Greek forces won a major sea battle at Salamis.

461 - 429 BC Age of Pericles (Golden Age of Athens)

450 BC - Romes Laws of the Twelve Tables are published.

431 – 404 BC - Peloponnesian War – Athens vs. Sparta

399 BC - Socrates is tried and sentenced to death.

386 BC - Plato establishes the Academy of Athens

384 BC - Aristotle is born.

359 BC - Philip II becomes the king of Macedonia.

356 BC - Alexander the Great, son of Philip II, is born.

336 BC - King Philip II is assassinated. Alexander the Great takes the throne.

332 BC - Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeats Persians.

324 BC Chandragupta establishes Mauryan Empire in India. Capital is Pataliputra (Patna)

323 BC - Alexander the Great dies at Babylon. Empire divided among his generals.

323-31 BC - HELLENISTIC PERIOD.

301 BC - Chandragupta dies

264 BC - First Punic War - Rome vs.Carthage for dominance of Mediterranean.

256 BC - Chinese Zhou dynasty ends

232 BC - Asoka dies

224 BC - Earthquake destroys the Colossus of Rhodes

221 BC - Qin Shihuangdi unites China - dies in 210 BC

220 BC - Travel on the Silk Road begins

218-204 BC - The Great Wall of China built.

218-201 BC - Second Punic War brings the defeat of General Hannibal of Carthage.

210 BC - Chinese emperor Qin Shihuangdi dies.

202 BC - Han dynasty in China until AD 210

183 BC - Mauryan dynasty ends - India falls into disunity.

149-146 BC - Third Punic War ends with the Roman capture of Carthage.

133 BC - Tiberius Gracchus is killed attempting land reforms for the poor.

123 BC - Gaius Gracchus and followers are attacked – commits suicide.

88 BC - Marius vs. Sulla – Roman Civil War

86 BC - Roman General Sulla seizes Athens. “Rome conquers Greece but Greek culture conquers Rome."

73-71 BC - Spartacus the gladiator leads a massive slave rebellion – 6000 crucified along Appian Way

58-51 BC - Julius Caesar is victorious in Gaul – WritesCommentaries of the Gallic Wars

49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon River – "No turning back" - Battles Pompey – Roman Civil War

44 BC - Julius Caesar is assassinated - March 15, "The Ides of March"

31 BC – Roman Civil War - Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium - Roman Republic ends - The Roman Empire begins - Hellenistic Age ends

27 BC – AD 14 Reign of Augustus, First Roman Emperor

c. 4 BC - Jesus is born

c. 30 Crucifixion of Jesus.

37-41 - Caligula "Little Boots"

54-68 - Nero

69-79 - Vespasian - Colosseum built

69 Destruction of Jerusalem - Diaspora

79 - Eruption of Mt Vesuvisus - Pompeii buried

98-117 - Trajan extends the empire to its greatest size

105 - Chinese invent paper.

117-138 - Hadrian - builds defense wall in Britain

161-180 - Marcus Aurelius "Philosopher emperor" - battles Germanic tribes along the frontier - Pax Romana ends

284-305 - Diocletian - divides empire into two provinces

311-337 - Constantine - first Christian emperor - moves the capital to Byzantium; renames it Constantinople

313 - Constantine's Edict of Milan legalizes Christianity

320 - Golden Age of Gupta empire begins in India.

325 - Council of Nicaea affirms that Jesus is God - Nicene Creed

360s First invasions of Europe by Huns from central Asia

378 - Visigoths defeat the Romans at Adrianople - Emperor Valens is killed in battle

379-395 - Theodosius declares Christianity to be the official Roman religion; last to rule a united empire

c. 400 - Ideas of zero and a decimal system develops in India.

410 Aaric the Goth, king of the Germanic people, the Visigoths, sacks Rome

432 St. Patrick introduces Christianity to Ireland

450 Saxons from Germany begin to invade Britain

451 Attila defeated at Chalons

453 - Attila the Hun suffers a severe nosebleed and chokes to death

476 - Odacer overthrows Romulus Augustulus - Marks the fall of the Roman Empire

Middle Ages 476 - 1453

527 - 65 Reign of Justinian, Byzantine emperor; he tries to reunite the eastern and western branches of the Christian church which are bitterly divided

529 St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome

529 - 34 Justinian introduces codes of law

570 - Muhammed the Prophet is born in Mecca, Arabia

590 - 604 Reign of Pope Saint Gregory I "The Great"

597 - St. Augustine of Canterbury converts the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity

622 - Muhammed and his followers enter Medina (Hijia)- Marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar

632 - Muhammed dies

715 - Muslim forces conquer most of Spain

732 - Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Tours (Poitiers) in France, stopping Muslim advance

756 - Pepin the Short defeats the Lombards - donates land to the Church - creates the Papal States

768 - Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks

787 - Vikings make their first raids on the coasts of Britain

800 - Pope crowns Charlemagne emperor of Rome on Christmas Day

c. 800 First castles built in western Europe

814 - Death of Charlemagne

843 - Charlemagne 's grandsons divide the Carolingian Empire - Treaty of Verdun

885 - 86 Vikings raid Paris in France

c. 891 - Monks write the history of England in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

c. 900 - Magyars, nomadic people from central Asia, invade Europe

936 - 73 Reign of Otto The Great, king of Germany; he is crowned Holy Roman emperor in 962

c. 1000 - Viking raider Leif Eriksson discovers North America, calls it Vinland.

1009 - Muslims destroy Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

1066 - William "the Conqueror" of Normandy invades England, defeats last Saxon king, Harold II, at Battle of Hastings

1077 - Pope Gregory VII vs. Henry IV - Investiture Struggle

1088 - University of Bologna, Italy

1095 - Pope Urban II calls for a holy war to wrest control of Jerusalem from Muslims at Council of Clermont.

1096 - First Crusade

1144- Second Crusade

1170 - Thomas á Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered by Henry II's men.

1170- Troubadours (wandering minstrels) glorify romantic concepts of feudalism.

1189 - Richard I (“the Lionhearted”) succeeds Henry II in England. Third Crusade begins.

1199 - King John succeeds Richard I.

1200–1204 - Fourth Crusade

1206 - Pope Innocent III vs. John I - Investiture Struggle

1212 - Children's Crusade

1215 - King John forced by barons to sign Magna Carta at Runneymede.

1217 - Fifth Crusade

1228 - Sixth Crusade

1231 - The Inquisition begins as Pope Gregory IX assigns Dominicans responsibility for combating heresy.

1241 - Mongols defeat Germans in Silesia, invade Poland and Hungary, withdraw from Europe after Ughetai, Mongol leader, dies.

1248 - Seventh Crusade

1257 - University of Paris, France

1260 - Chartres cathedral consecrated.

1263 - University of Oxford, England

1270 - Eighth Crusade

1271 - Marco Polo of Venice travels to China, in court of Kublai Khan (1275–1292), returns to Genoa. (1295)

1273 - Thomas Aquinas writes Summa Theologica, the basis of all Catholic theological teaching

1291 - The Crusades come to an end.

1295 - English King Edward I summons the Model Parliament.

1306 - Dante begins the Divine Comedy. (Completed in 1321)

1309-1377- The Catholic Church's "Babylonian Captivity" - Popes reside in Avignon, France

1337–1453 - Hundred Years' War—English and French kings fight for control of France.

1341 – Petrarch crowned poet laureate at Rome

1347–1351 - Europe's “Black Death” (bubonic plague)- at least 25 million people die

1348-1351 – Boccaccio writes the Decameron

1378 - The Great Schism (to 1417)—rival popes in Rome and Avignon, France, fight for control of Roman Catholic Church.

1385-1440 – Jan van Eyck

1386-1400 – Chaucer writes Canterbury Tales

1415 - Battle of Agincourt

1429 - Joan of Arc leads French forces against occupying English army at Siege of Orleans

1431 - Joan of Arc is burnt at the stake

1452-1519 – Leonardo da Vinci

1453- Hundred Years War Ends. Fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Turks.

MODERN HISTORY - 1453-Present

1455 – Gutenberg Bible printed

1455-1487 - "War of the Roses" - English Civil War - Henry VII - Tudor Dynasty

1475-1564 – Michelangelo Buonarroti

1478-1492 – Lorenzo de Medici “the Magnificent"

1478 – Spanish Inquisition begins – until 1834

1483-1520 – Raphael Santi

1492 - Ferdinand and Isabella unite Spain - Reconquista; Columbus "discovers" America

1498 – Vasco da Gama reaches India

1500 - Pedro Cabral discovers Brazil

1501-1504 – Michelangelo - David

1503 – Leonardo da Vinci – Mona Lisa

1508-1512 – Michelangelo paints Sistine Chapel ceiling

1509 -Erasmus - In Praise of Folly

1513- Machiavelli - The Prince

1513 - Vasco de Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean

1516 Baldassare Castiglione – Book of the Courtier

1516 Thomas More – Utopia

1517 – Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses

1519 – Charles V becomes Holy Roman Emperor

1519-1521 - Hernando Cortez conquers the Aztec Indians in Mexico

1519-1522 - Ferdinand Magellan's expedition - first to circumnavigate the world

1527 – Imperial troops sack Rome

1534 – Henry VIII of England breaks with Roman Catholic Church

1535 - Jacques Cartier discovers the St. Lawrence River

1543 – Nicholas Copernicus – De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium

1543 - Andres Vesalius – On the Fabric of the Human Body

1545 – Council of Trent begins Catholic Counter Reformation

1558-1603 – Reign of Elizabeth I

1564-1616 - William Shakespeare

1576 –Brahe’s observatory

1582 – Gregorian calendar introduced

1588 – England (Elizabeth I) defeats the Spanish Armada (Philip II)

1607 – Founding of Jamestown, Virginia

1609 – Johann Kepler’s third law of motion

1609 - Henry Hudson enters New York Harbor and Hudson River

1610 – Galileo Galilei publishes The Starry Messenger

1618-1648 – Thirty Years War

1620 – Plymouth, Massachusetts settled

1627 – Johann Kepler – Rudolfine Tables

1628 – William Harvey – On the Motion of the Heart

1627 – Francis Bacon – New Atlantis

1637 - Rene Descartes – Discourse on Methods

1643 – 1715 – Reign of Louis XIV of France

1651- Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan

1660 – Robert Boyle – New Experiments Physico-Mechanical

1664 - England seizes Dutch New World colonies - New Amsterdam becomes New York

1682 – 1725 – Reign of Peter the Great of Russia

1687 – Issac Newton – Principia Mathematica

1690 – John Locke – Two Treatises on Government

1740-1780 – Reign of Maria Theresa of Austria

1740-1786 – Reign of Frederick the Great of Prussia

1748 – Baron de Montesquieu – The Spirit of the Laws

1751 – 1765 – Denis Diderot – The Encyclopedia

1754-1763 - French and Indian War

1758 – Voltaire - Candide

1762 – Jean Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract

1762-1796 – Reign of Catherine the Great of Russia

1776 – Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations

1776 – United States of America - Declaration of Independence

1789 – Storming of the Bastille

1789-1797 - George Washington, the first President of the United States

1792 – Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

1793 – Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette guillotined

1793-1794 Reign of Terror in France

1799 - Napoleon seizes power in France

1804 - Napoleon crowned emperor

1814-1815 - Congress of Vienna

1815 – Battle of Waterloo, Holy Roman Empire dissolved

1825 - First public railroad - Stockton and Darlington, England

1834 - Charles Babbage invents “analytical engine,” precursor of computer.

1837 -Victoria becomes queen of Great Britain.

1839 - First Opium War (to 1842) between Britain and China, over importation of drug into China.

1844 - Samuel F. B. Morse patents telegraph.

1848 - Revolt in Paris: Louis Philippe abdicates; Louis Napoleon elected president of French Republic - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel - Communist Manifesto

1853 - Crimean War begins as Turkey declares war on Russia P> 1856 - Invention of the Bessemer process - mass production of steel

1859 - Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - The first oil well is struck in Pennsylvania

1862 - Otto von Bismarck appointed minister of Prussia

1866 - Alfred Nobel invents dynamite (patented in Britain, 1867)

1870 - Unification of Italy under Victor Emmanuel - Papal States dissolved - Franco-Prussian War (to 1871): Napoleon III flees and Third Republic proclaimed.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

1871 - Unification of Germany under Prussian King Wilhelm I

1879 - Thomas A. Edison invents electric light.

1888 - George Eastman's box camera (the Kodak)

1889 - Eiffel Tower built for the Paris exposition.

1895 - X-rays discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen - Auguste and Louis Lumière premiere motion pictures at a café in Paris

1896 - First modern Olympic games held in Athens, Greece. 1903 - First Flight at Kitty Hawk - First Message to Travel Around the World - First Silent Movie, The Great Train Robbery - First World Series (Boston AL beats Pittsburg NL)

1905 - Albert Einstein Proposes His Theory of Relativity - Sigmund Freud Publishes His Theory of Sexuality

1907 - Pablo Picasso Introduces Cubism

1911 - Mona Lisa Stolen (Recovered two years later.)

1912 - The Titanic Sinks

1913 - Henry Ford Creates Assembly Line

1914 - Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated and World War I Begins - Charlie Chaplin First Appeared as the Little Tramp - First Traffic Light - Panama Canal Officially Opened

1915 - Armenian Genocide - D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation Released - Germans Use Poison Gas as a Weapon - Lusitania Sunk by German U-Boat

1917 - Russian Revolution - U.S. Enters World War I

1918 - Russian Czar Nicholas II and His Family are Killed - Daylight Saving Time Introduced - Influenza Epidemic

1919 - Prohibition Begins in the U.S. - Treaty of Versailles Ends World War I

1920 - Women Granted the Right to Vote in U.S.

1922 - Mussolini Marches on Rome

1923 - Hitler Jailed After Failed Coup - Talking Movies Invented - Charleston Dance Becomes Popular

1924 - Vladimir Lenin dies - Joseph Stalin takes control

1925 - Hitler Publishes Mein Kampf - The Scopes (Monkey) Trial

1927 - The First Talking Movie, The Jazz Singer - Lindbergh Flies Solo Across the Atlantic

1928 - Penicillin Discovered

1929 - New York Stock Market Crashes

1930 - Gandhi's Salt March - Pluto Discovered

1932 - Amelia Earhardt First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic

1933 - Adolf Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany, FDR Launches New Deal, First Nazi Concentration Camp Established, Prohibition Ends in the U.S.

1934 - Mao Zedong Begins the Long March

1935 - Germany Issues the Anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws

1936 - Nazi Olympics in Berlin; Spanish Civil War Begins

1937 - Japan Invades China - Amelia Earhart Vanishes - The Hindenberg Disaster

1938 - Hitler Annexes Austria

1939 - German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact Signed - Germany invades Poland and World War II begins - First Commercial Flight Over the Atlantic - Helicopter Invented

1940 - Battle of Britain - Leon Trotsky Assassinated

1941 - Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor - US enters World War I - Jeep Invented - Manhattan Project Begins - Mount Rushmore Completed - Siege of Leningrad

1942 Battle of Midway - Battle of Stalingrad - Japanese-Americans Held in Camps - T-shirt Introduced

1944 - D-Day

1945 FDR Dies - First Computer Built - Germans Surrender - Hitler Commits Suicide - United Nations Founded - U.S. Drops Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

1946 Nuremberg Trials - Marshall Plan

1948 Berlin Airlift - Gandhi Assassinated - State of Israel Founded

1949 China Becomes Communist - NATO Established - Soviet Union Has Atomic Bomb

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