B.C.

c. 3100 BC ...................................... Sumerian Civilization begins; first cities in Mesopotamia develop; Narmer (a.k.a. Menes) unites Upper and Lower Egypt and becomes the first pharaoh.

c. 3000–1500 ................................... Indus Valley civilization; Austronesians spread from Asia into Oceania.

2686–2181....................................... Egypt’s Old Kingdom.

c. 2630–2611 ................................... Imhotep designs the Step Pyramid of Zoser.

c. 2560 ............................................. Great Pyramid of Khufu completed.

c. 2400 ............................................. Sargon establishes the Akkadian Empire and the concept of the Near Eastern god-king.

2181–2041....................................... Egypt’s First Intermediate period.

2040–1782....................................... Egypt’s Middle Kingdom.

c. 2000 ............................................. Aryan migrations out of south-central Asia

c. 2000–1600 ................................... Babylonian Empire; Code of Hammurabi; Epic of Gilgamesh written.

c. 2000–1200 ................................... Minoan civilization in Crete.

c. 2000–1000 ................................... Construction of Cerro Sechín in Peru.

c. 2000 B.C.–250 A.D. .................... Pre-classical period of Mayan civilization in Mexico and Central America.

c. 1800 ............................................. Aryans reach India.

2nd millennium ................................. Hebrews establish the states of Israel and Judah; Old Testament formulated.

1782–1570....................................... Egypt’s Second Intermediate period; Hyksos tribe gains control in Egypt and Egyptians copy their war chariots.

c. 1700–1500 ................................... Cities of the Indus Valley civilization are abandoned.

c. 1600–1100 ................................... Mycenaean civilization in mainland Greece.

c. 1600–1150 ................................... Shang dynasty in China.

1570–1075....................................... Egypt’s New Kingdom.

c. 1500 ............................................. Volcanic eruption of the Aegean island of Thera.

c. 1500 ............................................. Lapita culture settles in Melanesia.

c. 1500–1200 ................................... High point of the Hittite Empire.

c. 1500–600 ..................................... Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Upanishads are composed in India.

c. 1500–500 ..................................... Aryan and Vedic eras in India.

c. 1279–1212 ................................... Reign of Pharaoh Rameses II.

1274................................................. Battle of Kadesh—Pharaoh Rameses II versus the Hittites.

c. 1200 ............................................. Phoenicians create a coastal empire on the western Mediterranean; Shang civilization has domesticated horses and light, spoke-wheeled chariots.

c. 1200–1100 ................................... Major Mycenaean sites are destroyed.

1200–800......................................... Dark Ages in Greece.

c. 1200–400 ..................................... Olmec civilization in Mexico.

c. 1200–300 ..................................... Chavín culture in Peru.

c. 1150–221 ..................................... Zhou dynasty in China.

1075–332......................................... Egypt’s Third Intermediate period.

c. 1000 and 600 ............................... Life of Zoroaster (Zarathustra), Persian religious leader.

c. 900 ............................................... Lapita culture reaches western Polynesia.

c. 900–600 ....................................... Assyrian Empire.

8th century ........................................ Greeks rediscover writing; cities and trade revive; population increases rapidly.

c. 800–400 ....................................... Upanishads collected.

c. 800 B.C.–391 A.D. ...................... Delphic Oracle is in continuous operation in Greece.

776................................................... First Olympic Games held.

753................................................... Traditional date for the founding of the city of Rome; starting point for the Roman calendar.

753–509........................................... Era of the Roman monarchy.

c. 750 ............................................... Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey written down; Carthage founded.

750–650........................................... 25th Dynasty—the Kushite pharaohs rule Egypt.

c. 750–550 ....................................... Era of colonization in Greece.

c. 700–509 ....................................... Etruscan civilization dominates Italy.

c. 700–500 ....................................... Era of questioning and challenging tradition in India, China, Persia, and Greece.

c. 650–500 ....................................... Archaic style of Greek sculpture.

c. 626–539 ....................................... Babylonian Renaissance; the New Babylonian Empire; the Chaldean Empire; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Tower of Babel; the Ishtar Gate; astrology.

c. 600 ............................................... Emergence of Ionian rationalists and pre-Socratic philosophers; earliest coins minted in Lydia.

6th century ........................................ Life of Lao Tzu, to whom the origins of Daoism are traditionally traced.

594................................................... Athens chooses Solon to make reforms.

c. 563–480 ....................................... Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

551–479........................................... Life of Confucius.

c. 550 ............................................... Mahavira founds Jainism in India.

c. 550–330 ....................................... Persian (Achaemenid) Empire.

c. 525–456 ....................................... Life of Aeschylus, fi rst great Greek tragedian.

c. 522–486 ....................................... Reign of Darius I; construction of the tribute procession relief at Persepolis, Persia.

509–31............................................. Roman Republic.

508................................................... Cleisthenes sets up the fi rst real democracy at Athens.

5th century ........................................ High point of ancient Greek civilization; classical style of Greek sculpture.

c. 500 ............................................... Bantu migrations begin in Africa.

c. 500–221 ....................................... Warring States period in China; era of the Hundred Schools of Chinese philosophy.

c. 496–406 ....................................... Life of Sophocles, the second great Greek tragedian.

490................................................... Battle of Marathon.

c. 490–430 ....................................... Life of Zeno of Elea, founder of Stoicism.

c. 484–425 ....................................... Life of Herodotus.

c. 485–406 ....................................... Life of Euripides, third great Greek tragedian.

480................................................... Persia invades Greece; Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis.

c. 469–399 ....................................... Life of Socrates.

c. 460–395 ....................................... Life of Thucydides.

mid-5th century ................................ Golden age of classical Athens; the Athenian Empire at the height of its power.

431–404........................................... Peloponnesian War.

c. 427–347 ....................................... Life of Plato.

c. 412–323 ....................................... Life of Diogenes, the most famous Cynic.

4th century ........................................ Life of Daoist philosphper Chuang Tzu.

4th century–3rd century ..................... Emergence of Legalism in China.

399................................................... Trial and death of Socrates.

384–322........................................... Life of Aristotle.

358–336........................................... Reign of Philip II, king of Macedon.

327356–323........................................... Life of Alexander the Great.

c. 341–270 ....................................... Life of Epicurus, founder of Epicureanism.

334................................................... Alexander invades Persia; Battle of Granicus.

c. 325–265 ....................................... Life of Euclid.

323–31............................................. Hellenistic era.

c. 322–300 ....................................... Reign of Chandragupta Maurya in India.

c. 322–184 ....................................... India’s Mauryan Empire.

305................................................... Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus, Alexander’s one-time general, sign a peace treaty.

c. 3rd century .................................... Rise of the sub-Saharan African kingdom of Axum.

c. 300 ............................................... Polynesians reach the Cook Islands and Tahiti.

c. 300 B.C.–300 A.D. ...................... Mexico’s Colima culture.

c. 287–212 ....................................... Life of Archimedes.

269–232........................................... Reign of Asoka in India.

264................................................... Rome captures the last remaining independent Italian city.

264–241........................................... First Punic War.

328259–210........................................... Life of China’s first Qin emperor, Shi Huangdi.

219–201........................................... Second Punic War. 

216................................................... Battle of Cannae. 

206 B.C.–220 A.D. .......................... China’s Han dynasty. 

206 B.C.–9 A.D. .............................. Early (or Western) Han dynasty. 

c. 200 B.C.–800 A.D. ...................... Mexico’s Teotihuacán civilization.

184................................................... Last Mauryan king is murdered and the Mauryan Empire falls apart.

c. 145–86 ......................................... Life of historian Sima Qian.

141–87............................................. Reign of Wudi, China’s “Martial Emperor.”

133–31............................................. Late Roman Republic.

133................................................... Tiberius Gracchus elected Roman tribune.

123................................................... Gaius Gracchus elected Roman tribune.

106–48............................................. Life of Roman statesman Pompey the Great.

100–44............................................. Life of Julius Caesar.

91–88............................................... Social War between Rome and its Italian allies.

31..................................................... Battle of Actium.

31 B.C.–14 A.D ............................... Reign of Augustus as the first Roman emperor.

A.D. 

31 B.C.–476 A.D. ............................ Roman Empire. 

14–37............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Tiberius. 

25–220............................................. Later (or Eastern) Han dynasty.

c. 33 ................................................. Crucifi xion of Jesus.

c. 33–57 ........................................... Ministry of Saint Paul. 

37–41............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Caligula. 

41–54............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Claudius. 

54–68............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Nero. 

64..................................................... Great Fire of Rome. 

c. 64 ................................................. Buddhism reaches China. 

69–79............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Vespasian. 

81–96............................................... Reign of Roman emperor Domitian.

2nd century ....................................... Reigns of the Five Good Emperors (the Antonines); high point of the Roman Empire.

98–117 ............................................. Reign of Roman emperor Trajan. 

c. 100–800 ....................................... Peru’s Moche culture. 

113 ................................................... Dedication of the Column of Trajan.

117–138 ........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Hadrian.

122................................................... Construction of Hadrian’s Wall begins Britain.

161–180........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius

180–192........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Commodus.

193–211 ........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus.

200–600........................................... The period of late antiquity in Europe.

3rd century ........................................ Period of China’s Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

221–589........................................... Era of the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties of China.

224–651........................................... Sassanian empire

c. 250–900 ....................................... Classic period of Mayan civilization.

c. 251–356 ....................................... Life of Saint Anthony Abbot

284–305........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Diocletian.

c. 285 ............................................... Saint Anthony begins the monastic movement.

306–337........................................... Reign of Roman emperor Constantine.

331312................................................... Conversion of Constantine to Christianity.

324–1453......................................... Byzantine Empire.

c. 325 ............................................... King of Axum (northern Ethiopia) converts to Christianity.

c. 347–420 ....................................... Life of Saint Jerome.

c. 5th century .................................... The Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism, is written down.

410................................................... Visigoths capture and sack Rome.

434–453........................................... Attila rules over the Huns.

455................................................... Vandals capture and sack Rome.

476................................................... Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor in the West, is deposed.

480–547........................................... Life of Saint Benedict

c. 6th century .................................... Block printing developed in China.

c. 500 ............................................... Polynesians reach Easter Island and Hawaii.

527–565........................................... Reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian; code of Roman law is compiled.

c. 529 ............................................... Saint Benedict establishes the fi Christian monastery at Monte Cassino.

c. 570–632 ....................................... Life of Mohammed.

589–618........................................... China’s Sui dynasty.

609................................................... First version of China’s Grand Canal is completed.

618–907........................................... China’s Tang dynasty.

622................................................... The Hejira—Mohammed flees from Mecca to Medina; year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

626–649........................................... Reign of Chinese emperor Taizong.

632–738........................................... Arabic (or Islamic) conquests.

661–750........................................... Umayyad caliphate.

690................................................... Empress Wu usurps China’s imperial throne.

712–756........................................... Reign of Chinese emperor Xuanzong; the golden age of the Tang era.

717................................................... Defeat of the Muslim naval expedition at the walls of Constantinople.

732................................................... Battle of Tours stops the Muslim expansion towards the West.

738................................................... Rajahs of northern India stop Muslim expansion to the East.

750–1517......................................... Abbasid caliphate.

751................................................... Arabs defeat the Tang at the Battle of Talas.

762................................................... Baghdad is founded as the capital of the Abbasid caliphate.

768–814........................................... Reign of Charlemagne.

786–809........................................... Reign of Harun al-Rashid.

800................................................... Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman emperor by the pope.

c. 865–925 ....................................... Life of al-Rāzī (a.k.a. Rhazes).

c. 980–1037 ..................................... Life of Ibn Sīnā (a.k.a. Avicenna)

8th and 9th centuries .......................... Decline of classical Mayan civilization.

1453................................................. Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II captures Constantinople.

1492................................................. The Reconquista: Spain expels the Moors; Columbus reaches the Americas.

1687................................................. Parthenon, being used for gunpowder storage by Ottoman Turks, blows up.

1806................................................. Lord Elgin takes the Parthenon sculptures to Britain.

1806................................................. Last Holy Roman Emperor is deposed by Napoleon.

1827................................................. Charles Masson discovers the ruins of the Indus Valley civilization.

1899................................................. Sir Arthur Evans discovers the Palace of Knossos on Crete.

1917................................................. Last tsar is deposed by the Russian Revolution.

1924................................................. Howard Carter discovers Tutankhamen’s tomb

1952................................................. Michael Ventris deciphers Linear B

1974................................................. The six Yang brothers discover Qin Shi Huangdi’s terra-cotta warriors.