History

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Universe began - 13.8 bya
Earth formed - 4.5 bya
Life began - 3.8 bya
Dinosaurs emerge - 230 mya
Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (Chicxulub Crater) - 66 mya
Rise of Mammals begins - 66 mya
First tool use (Australopithecus) - 3.3 mya
Homo sapiens emerge - ca 300,000 ya
Humans lived outside of Africa, 210,000 - 100,000 ya
Large human migration out of Africa, 60,000 - 50,000 ya
Early (European) Modern Humans and Behavioral Modernity, c. 50,000 – 40,000 ya
Apollo 11 Cave Stones - ca 25,000 ya
Pleistocene (Ice Age), c. 2.58 million - 11,700 ya
Neolithic (Agricultural) Revolution - ca 10,000 BC
Indo-European langauge family emerges - ca 6100 BC
Indo-Europeans migrate east and west - ca 3000 BC
Sumer, earliest known civilization in southern Mesopotamia, many independent city-states
Uruk, emergence of urban life, Uruk is the type site, ca 4000 - 3200 BC
Cuneiform (kyo͞o′nē-ə-fôrm′) emerges and evolves in Mesopotamia, ca 3500 - 3000 BC
Hieroglyphs appear in Egypt, ca 3400 - 3200 BC
Bronze Age, 3300 - 1200 BC
Narmer (See also Menes and Scorpion II) unifies Upper and Lower Egypt, ca 3150 - 3100 BC
Old Kingdom in Egypt, 2649 - 2134 BC
Great Pyramid at Giza (Khufu, or Cheops) ca 2560 BC
Akkadian Empire, first empire of Mesopotamia after the civilization of Sumer, uniting Akkadian and Sumerian speakers, ca 2334 – 2154 BC
Sargon, first ruler of the Akkadian Empire - ca 2300 BC
Enheduanna (en' heh dwanna), daughter of Sargon, high priestess and first known author, 2285 - 2250 BC
The Akkadian Empire was replaced by Assyria in the north and eventually Babylonia (Amorite) in the south
Assyria existed as a city-state from the 21st - 14th century BC and then as an empire from the 14th to the 7th century BC
The Third Dynasty of Ur would be the last Sumerian dynasty, ca 2112 - 2004 BC
The Old Babylonian Empire (Amorite), ca 1894 - 1595 BC
Code of Hammurabi (sixth king of the Old Babylonian Empire), one of the earliest legal codes, ca 1754 BC
Oldest sentence in an early alphabetic script, ca 1700 BC
Minoan civilization flourished, ca 2000 - 1450 BC
Mycenaeans, 1600 - 1070 BC
The New Kingdom in Egypt, ca 1570 - 1069 BC
Akhenaten's reign (and his wife Nefertiti), 1353 – 1336 BC
Hittite Empire (New Kingdom), ca 1400 - 1200 BC
King Suppiluliuma I rules (and corresponds with Akhenaten, Amarna Letters), ca. 1344 - 1322 BC
Bronze Age Collapse - Mycenaean kingdoms, Hittite Empire, New Kingdom of Egypt, ca 1200 - 1150 BC
Iron Age, ca 1200 – 500 BC
Bible composed - 1st millennium BC
Ashurbanipal, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, first systematically organized library, 668 - 631 BC
Some of the best tablets recording The Epic of Gilgamesh were discovered in the ruins of Ashurbanipal library.
Carthage settled by Phoenician colonists from Tyre - ca 814 BC
Legendary founding of Rome - 753 BC
Seven Kings of Rome (mostly legendary), 753 - 509 BC
Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire, 626 – 539 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem by Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, 586 BC
Babylonian Captivity, ca 586 - 539 BC
Cyrus the Great founds Persian (Achaemenid) Empire - 550 BC
Cyrus captures Babylon and liberates the Jews - 539 BC
Roman Republic (established after Tarquinius Superbus deposed), 509 - 27 BC
Conflict of the Orders (patricians vs plebeians) 494 - 287 BCE
Persian Wars, 499 - 479 BC
Darius I orders invasion of Greece, 492 BC
Battle of Marathon, Greek army inflicts crushing defeat on the more numerous Persians - 490 BC
Battle of Thermopylae, Spartans under King Leonidas hold off Persians for 3 days but are ultimately defeated - 480 BC
The armada of Xerxis I is defeated at Salamis - 480 BC
Final defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Plataea - 479 BC
Classical Period of ancient Greece (from the Battle of Salamis to death of Alexander), 480 - 323 BC
Pericles leads Athens, 461 - 429 BC
Peloponnesian Wars, 431 - 404 BC
Archidamian War (first phase of the Peloponnesian Wars), 431 – 421 BC
Plague of Athens, 430 - 427 BC
Death of Pericles from plague - 429 BC
Peace of Nicias, 421 - 414/413 BC
The Sicilian Expedition, major defeat for Athens, 415 - 413 BC
Final phase of the Peloponnesian Wars, 413 - 404 BC
Darius II, ruler of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire allies with Sparta - ca 414 BC
Spartan General Lysander destroys Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami - 405 BC
Athens surrenders - 404 BC
Death of Socrates - 399 BC
Plato founds Academy - 387 BC
Aristotle founds Lyceum - 334 BC
Reign of Alexander the Great, 336 - 323 BC
Alexander conquers the Persian Empire - 330 BC
Death of Alexander in Babylon - 323 BC
Hellenistic period from the death of Alexander in 323 BC to the emergence of the Roman Empire following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC
The Seleucid Empire was founded by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator in 321 BC
Ptolemaic Kingdom, Greek state in Egypt, founded by Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian general and bodyguard of Alexander - 305 BC
Celts (Called Gauls by the Romans) control much of Europe - 275 BC
First Punic War (Punic refers to the people and their language, a Phoenician dialect), Rome vs Carthage, 264 - 241 BC
Second Punic War, 218 - 201 BC
Hannibal crosses Alps - 218 BC
Third Punic War, 149 - 146 BC
Destruction of Carthage, 146 BC
Battle of Corinth, end of the Achaean War and the beginning of Rome's domination of Greece, 146 BC
Period of significant literary activity in Rome, ca 100 BC - 100 AD
Golden Age of Roman poetry (Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Ovid) 70 BC – 14 AD
Sulla seizes Rome – 88 BC
Cinna and Marius gain control of Rome, massacre Sulla’s supporters - 87 BC
Pompey subdues pirates in the eastern Mediterranean and then defeats King Mithridates of Pontus, ca 67 – 62 BC
Catilinarian conspiracy, attempted coup d'état by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) - 63 BC
Catilinarian Orations (or Catilinarians), speeches by Cicero accusing Catiline of attempting to overthrow the Senate - 63 BC
First Triumvirate, an informal alliance between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, 60 - 53 BC
Gallic Wars, Caesar vs the peoples of Gaul (France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland), 58 - 50 BC
Mark Antony joins Caesar's military staff - 54 BC
Cleopatra VII Philopator, last ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, 51 - 30 BC
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, Mark Antony is second in command - 49 BC
Civil war - Caesar vs Pompey, 49 - 45 BC
Pompey assassinated - 48 BC
Julius Caesar named Dictator for Life - 44 BC
Julius Caesar assassinated by senators led by Brutus and Cassius - 44 BC
Cicero's Philippics against Mark Antony, 44 - 43 BC
Second Triumvirate, Octavian (Julius Caesar's great-nephew and heir), Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus - 43 BC
Cicero proscribed as enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and executed, 43 BC
The Triumvirs defeat Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi, Octavian and Antony divide the Republic - 42 BC
Antony marries Octavian's sister, Octavia - 40 BC
Antony divorces Octavia - 33 BC
Octavian convinces the Senate to declare war on Cleopatra - 32 BC
Battle of Actium, Agrippa leads Octavian fleet against Mark Antony and Cleopatra - 31 BC
Battle of Alexandria, deaths of Antony and Cleopatra - 30 BC
Roman Empire, 27 BC - 395 (unified)
Octavian granted title Augustus (majestic), crowned emperor - 27 BC
Death of Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule over unified Roman Empire - 395
Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum - 79
Mayan civilization (map), 250 - 900
Constantine converts to Christianity - 312
Edict of Milan, which makes Christianity legal in the Roman Empire - 313
Constantinople founded - 330
Edict of Thessalonica makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire - 380
Romulus Augustus defeated by Odoacer, traditional date (Gibbon) for the end of the Western Roman Empire - 476
Western Roman Empire, 395 – 476
Eastern Roman Empire, 395 – 1453
Muhammad, 570 - 630
Umayyad Caliphate, 2nd of four major Islamic caliphates, 661 - 750
Battle of Tours, The Franks, Led by Charles Martel, Defeat Umayyad Caliphate Army - 732
Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne - 800
Rollo, a Viking and the first ruler of Normandy, 911 – 928
Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror (descendant of Rollo) defeats Anglo-Saxon King Harold II - 1066
King John signs Magna Carta - 1215
Osman I founds the Ottoman Empire, ca 1299
Petrarch ("father of Humanism") discovers Cicero's letters - 1345
Black Death (25 million deaths in Europe), 1346-1351
Aztec civilization (Mexico), 1325 - 1521
Incan Empire (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia), 1438 - 1533
Ottoman Turks led by Mehmed II conquer Constantinople - 1453
Renaissance, 1400 - 1600
Humanism - a revival of classical letters, individualistic and critical spirit, and emphasis on secular concerns (vs Scholasticism).
Gutenberg Bible, an edition of the Vulgate printed with moveable type, ca 1454 - 1455
Columbus lands in the Americas, 1492
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Cortés) 1519 – 1521
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, conquest of Peru (Pizarro), 1532 – 1572
Reign of Henry VIII, 1509 – 1547
First Act of Supremacy declares Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England - 1534
Sir Thomas More executed - 1535
Thomas Cromwell executed - 1540
Reformation, 1517 - 1555
Martin Luther posts his 95 theses - 1517
The Council of Trent, 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, embodiment of the Counter-Reformation, 1545 - 1563
Peace of Augsburg (traditional end of the Reformation) - 1555
Reign of Mary I, known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, 1553 - 1558
England under Queen Elizabeth I defeats the Spanish Armada - 1588
Scientific Revolution, 1543 - 1687
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, Copernicus - 1543
Novum Organum, Francis Bacon - 1620
Principia, Isaac Newton - 1687
Thirty Years’ War, religious/political conflict in central Europe that killed 8 million, 1618 - 1648
Ferdinand forces citizens to adhere to Catholicism, despite religious freedoms granted by Peace of Augsburg
Bohemian Revolt - 1618
Defenestration of Prague - 1618
Peace of Westphalia - 1648
A Dutch ship brings 20 African slaves to the British colony in Jamestown, Virginia - 1619
English Civil War, 1642 - 1660
Charles I is convicted of treason and beheaded - 1649
Oliver Cromwell declares himself Lord Protector of England - 1653
Charles II, son of Charles I, restored to monarchy - 1660
Battle of Vienna - 1683
Holy Roman Empire, Hapsburg Monarchy, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeat Ottoman Empire, ending its expansion into Europe
Enlightenment (empiricism, individual liberty, religious tolerance) 1715 - 1789
Death of Louis XIV (Sun King) - 1715
Encyclopédie founded, Diderot - 1751
Rousseau, The Social Contract - 1762
Declaration of Independence - 1776
Industrial Revolution, 1760 - 1840
Spinning Jenny (1764), Water frame (1767), Spinning mule (1775 - 1779)
Improvements to (Newcomen's) steam engine, James Watt - ca 1765
Cotton gin, Eli Whitney - 1793
Steam railway locomotive, Richard Trevithick - 1803
French Revolution, 1789 – 1799
Execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette - 1793
Reign of Terror, 1793 - 1794
Napoleon becomes Emperor - 1804
Napoleon is defeated and banished to Elba - 1814
Napoleon escapes Elba and reclaims the throne (the "Hundred Days") but is defeated at Waterloo - 1815
First photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, using a camera obscura - 1826
Electric generator, the Faraday Disk, Michael Faraday - 1831
Telegraph, Sir William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone - 1837
On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin - 1859
Marconi (Italy) builds a series of radio devices, 1895
First flight, Orville and Wilbur Wright - 1903
The Russian Revolution, 1917 - 1922