Prehistory
Poulnabrone Dolmen: Neolithic Portal Tomb of the Burren
Excavation revealed the remains of more than 30 Neolithic people, making Poulnabrone one of the best-studied portal tombs in Ireland.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Prehistory
Talheim Death Pit: A Neolithic Massacre in Germany (c. 5000 BC)
The mass grave became the first clear proof of large-scale lethal violence among Europe's earliest farmers.
Prehistory
Venus of Laussel: The Palaeolithic Woman with the Horn
Found in 1911, the relief became one of the best-known images of Ice Age art and a focus of debates about fertility, calendars and symbolism.
Prehistory
Herto Skulls: Homo sapiens idaltu from Ethiopia's Middle Awash
Three crania announced in 2003 provided well-dated evidence of nearly modern humans in Africa about 160,000 years ago, supporting an African origin for Homo sapiens.
Prehistory
Tendaguru Excavations: The German Dinosaur Dig in Tanzania
Some 225 tonnes or more of fossil material reached Berlin, including the giant sauropod Giraffatitan, mounted in 1937 and still one of the tallest dinosaur skeletons on display.
Prehistory
Mistaken Point: Newfoundland's Ediacaran Fossil Coast
Rock surfaces at Mistaken Point preserve some of the oldest known communities of large, complex organisms, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
Modern Era
Great Kanto Earthquake (1923): Tokyo and Yokohama in Ruins
About 105,000 people died, most in fires; Tokyo and Yokohama were largely destroyed and thousands of Koreans were murdered in the aftermath.
Modern Era
Battle of Crete (1941): Germany's Great Airborne Invasion
German victory; Crete was captured, but losses among German airborne troops were so heavy that Germany never again launched a major parachute operation.
Modern Era
February Revolution (1917): The Fall of Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II abdicated, ending three centuries of Romanov rule; a Provisional Government shared power with the Petrograd Soviet.
Modern Era
Meiji Restoration (1868): Japan's Leap into the Modern World
The Tokugawa shogunate was abolished and a new government ruling in the emperor's name centralised Japan and launched rapid industrial, military and social modernisation.
Modern Era
Donner Party (1846-1847): Trapped in the Sierra Nevada Snows
Of the 87 members of the party, about 48 survived; the rest died of starvation, cold, violence or exhaustion.
Modern Era
Suez Canal (1859-1869): Building the Link Between Two Seas
A sea-level canal opened in 1869, cutting thousands of kilometres from voyages between Europe and Asia but leaving Egypt deeply in debt.