Global History:
Timelines, Periods, People & Events.
A brief Overview.
Prehistory
230-65 Million BC Dinosaurs.
c. 2−2.5 million More human-like species with larger brain size appears in eastern Africa.
Neanderthals: 500.000Bc to 30.000BC.
First use of fire, approx 400,000 years ago.
120,000 years ago Arrival of Homo sapiens sapiens; later displacement of Neanderthals and other species across Asia and Europe from initial center in Africa.
135,000 BC Domestication of dogs.
25,000 BCE Passage of people to the Americas via land link from Asia.
10,000 BC-5000 BC
10,000 BC Holocene Epoch, end of Ice Age, dead were buried.
Around 9500 BC: Stone Age, Neolithic or first agriculture revolution.
8300 BC End of sub-arctic period in Europe.
8000−5000 BC Improvements in tool making; first development of agriculture; great expansion in human population.
7,500 BC Human settlements in Yosemite
5000 BCs: Earliest Neolithic settlement in Crete
5000BC-3000 BC
3500 BC Horse Domestication.
Before 3300 BC still stone age in South East Asia.
3500−2600 BCE Sumerian kingdom, development of cuneiform writing; river valley civilizations also in Egypt and India.
3400 BC: Hieroglyphics used in Egypt
3100 BC Minoan civilization in Crete
3000BC-1000BC
3300 BC to 1200 BC Bronze Age: Early use of bronze and copper tools.
2772 BCE Egypt started the 365 day calendar
2700BCE Sumerian King Gilgamesh rules the city of Ur (Uruk), approx. population of 50,000.
2560 BCE Pyramid of Gizeh.
Writing systems emerge. The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries.
Hammurabi 1850 BCE
1500 BCE Early use of iron tools and weapons. River Valley Civilizations
Indus Valley civilization destroyed (1550BCE)
Iron Age 1200–100 BC
1391–1271 BCE Moses
1150−130 BCE Books of the Jewish Old Testament written.
Trojan War 1100 BC
Classical Civilizations
(roughly 800 BC to 600 CE)
China
1029−258 BCE China’s Zhou dynasty.
604 BC Lao-tse, Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism, is born
551−478 BCE Confucius.
202 BCE–220 CE Han dynasty.
China: Warring States 475-221BCE
and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE.
300BC-200BC Unification of China.
259 - 210 BC Qin Shi Huang Di
Qin Dynasty 221 - 206BC.
China: Han Dynasty 206BCE - 220CE.
India
c. 563−483 BCE Gautama Buddha.
322−184 BCE Mauryan dynasty.
304 - 232 BCE: Ashoka the Great in India. Ashoka Buddhist Reforms.
Gupta Empire 320-550CE Golden Age of India.
500s - Zen was founded by an Indian monk, Bodhidharma.
Muslim Period in India, 1100–1800 CE
1162 - 1227 Genghis Khan
Middle East and Europe
800 BCE Rise of Greek city-states and economy; Homeric epics, Iliad and Odyssey; beginnings of Rome.
600's BC Persian prophet Zarathustra founds Zoroastrianism.
550 BC Persia: Cyrus starts the Persian Empire
606–539 BC Babylonian rule in the Mediterranean.
586 BC King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon rules.
510 BC Roman Republic is created.
Plato 427BC - 347BC
Alexander 356Bc-323BC .
330 BCE ff Macedonian Empire
329 BC Alexander takes Persia.
Aristotle 384BC - 322BC
100BC - 44BC Julius Cesar.
55/54BC Julius Caesar invades Britain
27 BCE Roman Emperor Augustus; rise of Roman Empire;
7BC-26AD Jesus
34-60 CE Missionary journeys of Paul
313 CE Edict of Milan: Roman Emperor Constantine (306–337 CE) stops the persecution of Christians, and Christianity transitions to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Middle East & Africa
570−632 Muhammad and the foundation of Islam.
750−1258 Abbasid caliphate.
711 Muslims conquer Spain.
1236–1258 Mongol conquests in Middle East, Russia.
Sub-Saharan Africa
1210−1400 Empire of Mali.
Byzantium and Europe
476 CE, Fall of Rome: the Germanic king Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire
313 CE Constantine adopts Christianity.
360 Huns (which are also Mongols) invade Europe.
452 - Atilla the Hun died.
768-814 Charlemagne. Crowned emperor in 800. Creates a large European Empire.
Asia
618−907 Tang dynasty.
1279 Toppling of Sung dynasty by Kublai Khan and Mongols.
Americas
The Classic Mayan period was from 200 to 900 AD, while the Post-Classic period lasted from 900 AD until the Spanish Conquest.
1350 ff Formation of Aztec Empire; height of Inca Empire.
The Medieval Period
(roughly 5th to the 15th Century)
Philosophy and Religion
1054 Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity.
c.1100-1300 Origins of universities in the West
c.1150-1500 Gothic style in architecture and art
1215 Magna Carta
1225-1274 Thomas Aquinas, who systematizes Catholic Theology.
1200-1253 Dogen in Japan
Politics and Culture
1066 Norman conquest of England
1095-1099 First Crusade
1204 Crusaders sack Constantinople.
1291 Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land
1347-1350 Black Death Plague in Europe
c.1300-1450 European economic depression
1453 Turkish capture of Constantinople; end of Byzantine Empire.
1462-1505 Ivan III lays foundation for Russian Empire
The Early Modern World
(17th and 18th Century)
China & Japan
1405−1433 Great Chinese fleets.
1644−1912 Qing dynasty in China.
1600−1868 Tokugawa shogunate in Japan.
India and Southeast Asia
1498 Vasco da Gama (Portugal) to India.
1526−1761 Mughal Empire. (officially 1857)
18th century Mughal decline; rise of Sikh state (1708 ff.) and states of southern India.
1744, 1756−1763 French-British wars in India.
Western Civilization
15th Century Renaissance Period
The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg, around 1440.
1543 Copernican Revolution
1517 Luther’s 95 theses; beginning of Protestant Reformation.
1519−1521 Magellan’s expedition around the world.
17th century Scientific Revolution; Galileo (1564−1642), Newton (1642−1727).
1687 Newton: Laws of motion, gravitation
1688−1690 Glorious Revolution in Britain, parliamentary regime; some religious toleration; political writing of John Locke.
Russia and Eastern Europe
1552−1556 Russian expansion in Central Asia, western Siberia.
1689−1725 Peter the Great and partial Westernization.
Middle East (Ottoman Empire)
1683 Failure of Ottoman assault on Vienna.
Latin America
1794 Haitian uprising against France led by Toussaint L’Ouverture; independence and end of slavery there.
The Period of Industrialization and Transformation
Western Civilization
c. 1770 Invention of the steam engine by Watt; Industrial Revolution begins.
1781: James Watt patented a 10-horsepower steam engine.
18th Century Enlightenment; Voltaire (1694–1778). Kant (1724 - 1804)
1757–1858 CE British East India Company rule in India
1858–1947 CE Britain rules India, British Raj,
1775−1783 American Revolution. Jul 4 1776 Independence of the US.
1789−1799 French Revolution.
1848 ff Writings of Karl Marx.
1864−1871 German unification.
Middle East
1798 Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition.
1830 First Ottoman reform efforts
Russia and Eastern Europe
1854−1856 Crimean War.
1861 Russian emancipation of serfs.
1884 ff Beginnings of Russian industrialization; Sergei Witte leading minister; completion of the trans-Siberian railway.
1917 Russian Revolution; abolition of the tsarist regime; Bolshevik victory.
China & Japan
1839−1842 Opium Wars in China.
1853 Perry expedition.
1868−1912 Meiji period in Japan.
1894−1895 Sino-Japanese War.
1904−1905 Russo-Japanese War.
1911 Chinese Revolution.
Latin America
1808 ff Formation of governing junta in Venezuela; independence wars in Latin America.
1880 ff Growing commercialization of Latin American economy.
1910 Beginning of Mexican Revolution.
Sub-Saharan Africa
1807−1834 Abolition of Atlantic slave trade.
1814 Acquisition by British of Dutch South Africa.
1870 ff Rapid European Imperialist Gains
India and Southeast Asia
1885 Formation of Indian National Congress.
20th-Century History
Asia
1920 Beginning of Gandhi’s nonviolent movement and widened efforts toward decolonization.
1947 Partition of India and Pakistan independence from England.
1949 Communist victory in China.
1978 More market economy in China.
Middle East
1923 ff Independent Turkey created by Atatürk; modernization drive; rise of independent Persia under Shah Riza Khan.
1948 State of Israel declared.
1980−1988 Iran-Iraq War.
Africa
1919 First meeting of the Pan-African Congress; rise of African nationalism.
1990 ff Dismantling of apartheid in South Africa; several democratic elections in Kenya, other nations.
Scientific Breakthroughs
1821: Michael Faraday invented the electric motor.
1859 book On the Origin of Species, Darwin.
Einstein 1879 - 1955
1905 Special Relativity
1969 Moon Landing
1970s Invention of personal computers,
1980s: Internet structure is developed; takes off in early 1990s.
2003: Decoding of Human Genome complete.
World Events, up to WWII
1871−1914 Highpoint of Western imperialism.
1914−1918 World War I.
1919 Paris Peace Conference (Versailles); founding of the League of Nations.
1929−1939 Worldwide economic depression.
933−1945 Nazi regime in Germany.
1940−1944 Holocaust, slaughter of six million Jews.
1939−1945 World War II; atomic bomb dropped on Japan.
World Events, since WWII
1947 Partition Divides India and Pakistan Along Religious Lines.
1949 Chinese Civil War Brings Communist Party to Power in Beijing
1947−1989 Cold War.
1955-1975 Vietnam War
1958 Founding of European Economic Community (Common Market).
1992 Maastricht Treaty Lays Foundation for European Union