Ancient World
Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BC): Expansion of the Han Empire
Han China doubled in extent, defeated the Xiongnu, opened contacts with Central Asia and adopted Confucian learning as state orthodoxy, at heavy financial and human cost.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Ancient World
Bhagavad Gita: The Ancient Hindu Scripture and Its Origins
The Gita became one of the most widely read and commented Hindu scriptures and an influential text of world philosophy.
Ancient World
Battle of Vercellae (101 BC): Marius Destroys the Cimbri
Decisive Roman victory; the Cimbri were destroyed as a people on the move and the Cimbrian threat to Italy ended.
Ancient World
Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460 BC): The Father of Western Medicine
Hippocrates and the physicians linked to his name developed a medicine based on observation and natural causes, recorded in the Hippocratic Corpus.
Ancient World
Luxor Temple: The Great Temple of Thebes on the Nile
A temple to Amun of Luxor and the king's divine kingship, in continuous religious use in some form for over 3,000 years.
Ancient World
Nabopolassar and the Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
Babylonia won independence from Assyria, and Nabopolassar's dynasty went on to rule an empire from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean until 539 BC.
Prehistory
Sarazm: Proto-Urban Settlement of Prehistoric Central Asia
A major centre of early metallurgy and trade in Central Asia, inscribed as Tajikistan's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
Prehistory
Invention of the Wheel: Earliest Wheels and Wheeled Vehicles
Wheeled carts and wagons spread across much of western Eurasia within a few centuries, transforming farming, trade and later warfare.
Prehistory
Creswell Crags: Britain's Only Known Ice Age Cave Art
The 2003 discovery of engravings in Church Hole gave Britain its first confirmed Palaeolithic cave art.
Prehistory
Neanderthal 1: The 1856 Feldhofer Cave Find in Germany
The bones became the type specimen of Homo neanderthalensis, the first fossil human species to be formally named.
Prehistory
First Land Plants: How Plants Colonised the Land
Plants evolved from freshwater green algae, colonised the land and began to create soils, alter the atmosphere and form the basis of land ecosystems.
Modern Era
Battle of Midway (1942): The Turning Point in the Pacific War
Decisive US victory; Japan lost four fleet carriers and the initiative in the Pacific passed to the Allies.