Early Modern
Francisco de Orellana's Voyage down the Amazon (1541-1542)
Orellana's party became the first Europeans to travel the length of the Amazon, reaching the Atlantic in August 1542.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Contemporary
2008 Sichuan Earthquake: The Wenchuan Disaster in Western China
About 69,000 people were killed, around 18,000 went missing and nearly 5 million were left homeless; China launched a vast three-year reconstruction programme.
Contemporary
Introduction of the Euro (1999): Europe's Single Currency
Eleven EU countries replaced their national currencies with the euro and handed monetary policy to the European Central Bank.
Contemporary
Bloody Sunday (1972): Shootings at a Derry Civil Rights March
Thirteen civilians were killed on the day and another died months later; the shootings deepened the Troubles and were declared unjustified by the Saville Inquiry in 2010.
Contemporary
Invention of the World Wide Web (1989) by Tim Berners-Lee
Berners-Lee created HTML, HTTP, URLs, the first web server and the first browser; CERN released the technology royalty-free in 1993, allowing the Web to spread worldwide.
Contemporary
Overthrow of Haile Selassie 1974: The Derg Seizes Ethiopia
The emperor was deposed, the monarchy was abolished in 1975 and a Marxist military regime ruled Ethiopia until 1991.
Contemporary
Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968): Bombing North Vietnam
More than three and a half years of bombing damaged North Vietnam heavily but failed to break its will or stop the flow of men and supplies to the South.
Ancient World
Xitle Eruption: The Lava That Buried Cuicuilco in Ancient Mexico
Lava flows covered Cuicuilco and some 70-80 square kilometres of the southern Valley of Mexico, ending the settlement's long occupation.
Ancient World
Sima Qian and the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji)
Sima Qian completed a 130-chapter history of China from the legendary Yellow Emperor to his own day, which became the model for the official dynastic histories.
Ancient World
Bakhshali Manuscript: Ancient Indian Mathematics and Zero
The manuscript is the oldest surviving Indian mathematical manuscript and an early witness to a written zero, though its exact date is still debated.
Ancient World
Catiline Conspiracy (63 BC): Cicero Against Catiline
The plot was crushed; five conspirators were executed in Rome without trial and Catiline died in battle at Pistoria in early 62 BC.
Ancient World
Herodotus and the Histories (c. 430 BC): The First Historian
The Histories became the first great prose history in Western literature and earned Herodotus the title father of history.