Timeline of World History

A timeline of world history from prehistory to today: the key events covered by Chronicle, in chronological order and grouped by era.

  1. PrehistoryBefore c. 3000 BC · all 303 articles →
  2. c. 4.54 bn years ago

    Formation of the Earth: How Our Planet Was Born

    A layered rocky planet with an iron core, a silicate mantle and an early crust emerged, opening the Hadean Eon.

  3. c. 4.5 bn years ago

    Formation of the Moon: The Giant Impact With Theia

    Debris from a collision between the proto-Earth and a planet-sized body gathered in orbit to form the Moon, which has accompanied Earth ever since.

  4. c. 4.0-3.5 bn years ago

    Origin of Life on Earth: How and When Life First Began

    Simple single-celled microbes appeared, the ancestors of all living things; how non-living chemistry became life is still unresolved.

  5. c. 2.4 billion years ago

    Great Oxidation Event: How Oxygen First Filled Earth's Air

    Free oxygen became a lasting part of Earth's atmosphere, transforming the chemistry of rocks, oceans and life.

  6. c. 717-635 Ma

    Snowball Earth: The Cryogenian Global Glaciations Explained

    Two long glaciations, the Sturtian and the Marinoan, covered much or all of the oceans in ice before greenhouse warming ended them, setting the stage for the Ediacaran Period.

  7. c. 575-539 Ma

    Ediacaran Biota: Earth's First Large Complex Organisms

    The first assemblages of large, multicellular organisms appeared in the oceans, including some of the earliest animals, before most forms vanished near the start of the Cambrian.

  8. c. 539-505 Ma

    Cambrian Explosion: The Sudden Rise of Animal Life on Earth

    Within some 20 to 30 million years, most major animal body plans, including arthropods, molluscs and chordates, appeared in the fossil record.

  9. c. 521-252 Ma

    Trilobites: The Iconic Arthropods of the Paleozoic Seas

    Trilobites diversified into more than 20,000 known species before dying out in the Permian–Triassic extinction about 252 million years ago.

  10. c. 508 million years ago

    Burgess Shale: Charles Walcott's Cambrian Fossil Discovery

    Found in 1909, the Burgess Shale became the most famous record of Cambrian soft-bodied animals and transformed scientific understanding of early animal evolution.

  11. c. 375 million years ago

    Tiktaalik: The Fish That Took the First Steps Toward Land

    Tiktaalik became the best-known transitional fossil between fish and tetrapods, showing how fins began to evolve into limbs.

  12. c. 372–359 Ma

    Late Devonian Extinction: The Kellwasser and Hangenberg Events

    Roughly three-quarters of marine species disappeared in several pulses; the great Devonian reef systems collapsed and the armoured placoderm fishes died out.

  13. c. 335–175 Ma

    Pangaea: The Supercontinent That United All of Earth's Land

    All major continents were joined for over 100 million years before rifting apart in the Jurassic to form the Atlantic Ocean and today's continents.

  14. c. 251.9 million years ago

    Permian-Triassic Extinction: Earth's Worst Mass Extinction

    An estimated 80 to 90 percent or more of marine species and around two-thirds or more of land vertebrate species died out, ending the Paleozoic Era and reshaping life for the Mesozoic.

  15. c. 201.4 million years ago

    Triassic-Jurassic Extinction: Volcanism and the Rise of Dinosaurs

    Roughly three-quarters of marine species and many land reptile groups died out, leaving dinosaurs as the dominant large land animals of the Jurassic.

  16. c. 66 million years ago

    Chicxulub Asteroid Impact: How the Dinosaurs Were Wiped Out

    A global mass extinction wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs and around three-quarters of plant and animal species, ending the Cretaceous Period.

  17. c. 23-3.6 million years ago

    Megalodon: The Giant Prehistoric Shark and Its Extinction

    The largest known predatory shark dominated the world's oceans for some 20 million years before going extinct around 3.6 million years ago.

  18. c. 3.2 million years ago

    Lucy: The 3.2-Million-Year-Old Australopithecus Skeleton

    The skeleton AL 288-1 became the best-known early hominin fossil and, in 1978, part of the basis for naming Australopithecus afarensis, showing that upright walking preceded large brains.

  19. c. 1.9 million years ago

    Homo erectus: The First Human Species to Leave Africa

    Homo erectus became the first hominin known to spread widely across Africa and Asia and survived for more than 1.5 million years before its extinction.

  20. c. 1.76 million years ago

    Acheulean Hand Axes: The Longest-Used Tool in Human History

    The Acheulean hand axe became the most long-lived tool design in human history, made by several human species over more than 1.5 million years before giving way to Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic technologies.

  21. c. 1.5 million years ago

    Turkana Boy: The Most Complete Homo erectus Skeleton Ever Found

    The Nariokotome skeleton (KNM-WT 15000) gave the first detailed view of the body of Homo erectus, showing tall, long-legged, human-like proportions.

  22. c. 1 million years ago

    Control of Fire by Early Humans: From Wonderwerk to the Hearth

    Hominins used fire at least occasionally by about 1 million years ago, and regular use of hearths became widespread after about 400,000 years ago.

  23. c. 400,000-40,000 years ago

    Neanderthals: Life and Legacy of Europe's Ice Age Humans

    Neanderthals died out about 40,000 years ago, but interbreeding left roughly 1-2 per cent Neanderthal DNA in the genomes of people with ancestry outside Africa.

  24. c. 400,000–4,000 years ago

    Woolly Mammoth: The Ice Age Giant, Its Fossils and Its Extinction

    The woolly mammoth vanished from the mainland around 10,000 years ago; the last known population, on Wrangel Island, died out about 4,000 years ago.

  25. c. 335,000-236,000 years ago

    Homo naledi: The Rising Star Cave Discovery in South Africa

    More than 1,500 fossils from at least 15 individuals were named Homo naledi in 2015; dating in 2017 showed the small-brained species was surprisingly young.

  26. c. 315,000 years ago

    Jebel Irhoud: The Oldest Known Homo sapiens Fossils in Morocco

    New excavations and dating published in 2017 placed the Jebel Irhoud fossils at about 315,000 years old, pushing back the known origin of Homo sapiens by roughly 100,000 years.

  27. c. 200,000 years ago

    Denisovans: The Lost Human Species Revealed by Ancient DNA

    Ancient DNA revealed a previously unknown branch of humans, sister to the Neanderthals, whose genes survive in many living people in Asia and Oceania.

  28. c. 100,000 years ago

    Homo floresiensis: The 'Hobbit' Humans of Flores, Indonesia

    The discovery revealed a small-bodied, small-brained human species that survived on an isolated island until about 50,000 years ago, reshaping views of human evolution in Asia.

  29. c. 75,000 years ago

    Blombos Cave: Engraved Ochre and the Earliest Known Drawing

    Finds at Blombos Cave, published from 2001 onwards, became central evidence that Homo sapiens in Africa made abstract designs, ornaments and pigments tens of thousands of years before the cave art of Ice Age Europe.

  30. c. 70,000-50,000 years ago

    Out of Africa: How Homo sapiens Spread Across the World

    All living people outside Africa descend mainly from a population that left Africa in this period and mixed along the way with Neanderthals and Denisovans.

  31. c. 65,000-50,000 years ago

    First Australians: How Humans Reached Australia by Sea

    Modern humans completed the earliest known long sea crossings and settled all of Sahul, founding the world's longest continuous living cultures.

  32. c. 50,000 to 10,000 years ago

    Quaternary Megafauna Extinction: Why the Ice Age Giants Vanished

    Roughly two-thirds of the world's genera of large land mammals disappeared, transforming ecosystems on every inhabited continent.

  33. c. 50,000 years ago to present

    La Brea Tar Pits: Ice Age Fossils in the Heart of Los Angeles

    Rancho La Brea became one of the richest Ice Age fossil sites in the world, with millions of specimens from more than 600 species.

  34. c. 51,200-45,500 years ago

    Sulawesi Cave Art: The World's Oldest Figurative Paintings

    Dating of Sulawesi's rock art showed that figurative painting and narrative scenes existed in Southeast Asia earlier than in any known European cave.

  35. c. 40,000 years ago

    Venus of Hohle Fels: The Oldest Known Human Figurine

    The figurine pushed the earliest known depiction of the human body back by at least 5,000 years and linked the European Venus tradition to the first modern humans.

  36. c. 40,000 years ago

    Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel: Ice Age Ivory Sculpture

    Reassembled from hundreds of fragments over seven decades, the Lion Man is one of the oldest known figurative sculptures and the oldest known depiction of an imaginary being.

  37. c. 36,000–13,000 years ago

    Altamira Cave Paintings: The Bison Ceiling of Cantabria

    Dismissed as a forgery after 1880, Altamira was accepted as genuine Palaeolithic art in 1902 and became the founding site for the study of Ice Age cave painting.

  38. c. 36,000 years ago

    Chauvet Cave Paintings: Europe's Oldest Painted Cave Art

    Discovered in 1994, the cave pushed the known age of sophisticated painted cave art back to more than 30,000 years and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.

  39. c. 30,000 years ago

    Venus of Willendorf: The Famous Palaeolithic Figurine

    Found during excavations in 1908, the figurine became the world's best-known Palaeolithic image of the human body and is kept at the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

  40. c. 29,000-25,000 years ago

    Pech Merle: The Spotted Horses and Hand Stencils of Quercy

    Rediscovered in 1922, Pech Merle became one of the few decorated Ice Age caves in France whose original paintings can still be visited.

  41. by c. 23,000–21,000 years ago

    Peopling of the Americas: How the First People Reached America

    Humans spread from Beringia throughout the Americas before the end of the last Ice Age, reaching southern Chile by about 14,500 years ago.

  42. c. 17,000 years ago

    Lascaux Cave Paintings: Ice Age Art in the Dordogne, France

    Rediscovered in 1940, the cave became the best-known example of Palaeolithic art; it was closed to the public in 1963 to protect the paintings.

  43. c. 14,000–300 BC

    Jōmon Culture: Japan's Ancient Hunter-Gatherers and First Pottery

    A long-lived culture of settled hunter-gatherers that produced some of the world's earliest pottery and gave way to the rice-farming Yayoi culture.

  44. c. 10,000 BC onward

    Tassili n'Ajjer Rock Art: Prehistoric Paintings of a Green Sahara

    One of the world's largest groups of prehistoric rock art, recording thousands of years of climate change in the Sahara; a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982.

  45. c. 10,000 BC

    Neolithic Revolution: How Farming Began in the Fertile Crescent

    Farming and herding replaced foraging as the main way of life in the Near East and spread from there to Europe, North Africa and South Asia.

  46. c. 9600 BC

    Göbekli Tepe: The World's Oldest Monumental Temple Site

    One of the oldest known monumental sites in the world; a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018 that has transformed ideas about early Neolithic society.

  47. c. 9500 BC

    Domestication of Wheat and Barley: The First Crops of Farming

    Einkorn, emmer and barley became the staple cereals of the first farmers and later of Europe, North Africa and western Asia.

  48. c. 9000-8500 BC

    Star Carr: Britain's Most Famous Mesolithic Site in Yorkshire

    Star Carr became the best-known Mesolithic site in Britain and one of the most important in Europe for understanding life after the last Ice Age.

  49. c. 8000 BC

    Tower of Jericho: The Neolithic Walls of an Ancient Town

    Neolithic Jericho built a massive stone tower and wall, among the earliest known monumental structures, and later produced plastered human skulls.

  50. c. 7500 BC

    Domestication of the Cat: How Wildcats Joined Early Farmers

    The Near Eastern wildcat became the domestic cat, which spread with farmers and traders to nearly every part of the world.

  51. c. 7400–6200 BC

    Çatalhöyük: Life in a 9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Town

    One of the largest and best-preserved Neolithic settlements, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.

  52. c. 7300 BC - AD 700

    Cueva de las Manos: The Cave of the Hands in Patagonia

    The site became one of the best-known rock art sites in South America and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

  53. c. 7000–2600 BC

    Mehrgarh: Early Farming Village of Neolithic South Asia

    One of the earliest known farming settlements in South Asia, occupied for over four thousand years before the rise of the Indus civilisation.

  54. c. 7000–5700 BC

    Jiahu: Bone Flutes, Early Signs and Rice Wine in Neolithic China

    A major early Neolithic village whose flutes, incised signs and fermented-drink residues changed views of early Chinese music, symbols and diet.

  55. c. 6700-4000 BC

    Spread of Farming into Europe: The Neolithic Expansion

    Over roughly 2,500 years farming replaced foraging across most of Europe, largely carried by migrant farmers of Anatolian ancestry who gradually mixed with local hunter-gatherers.

  56. c. 5050–1700 BC

    Chinchorro Mummies: The World's Oldest Artificial Mummies

    The oldest known tradition of deliberate mummification; inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.

  57. c. 5000–3000 BC

    Yangshao Culture: Painted Pottery of Neolithic China

    The first Neolithic culture identified in China and the dominant farming tradition of the middle Yellow River for two thousand years.

  58. c. 4500 BC

    Varna Necropolis: The World's Oldest Processed Gold Treasure

    The cemetery revealed more than 3,000 gold objects and some of the earliest clear evidence of marked social inequality in prehistoric Europe.

  59. c. 4500–3300 BC

    Carnac Stones: Brittany's Neolithic Stone Rows and Their Mystery

    The largest concentration of standing stones in the world, recognised in 2025 as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  60. c. 4000–2500 BC

    Hal Saflieni Hypogeum: Malta's Underground Neolithic Necropolis

    The Hypogeum became the only known prehistoric underground temple-like burial complex of its kind and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

  61. c. 3600–3200 BC

    Ġgantija Temples: Megalithic Temples of Gozo in Prehistoric Malta

    Two megalithic temples that gave their name to the Ġgantija phase of Maltese prehistory and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

  62. c. 3500 BC

    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.

  63. c. 3500–1800 BC

    Norte Chico Civilization: Origins of the Americas' Oldest Cities

    The earliest known complex society in the Americas, whose monumental towns set patterns later followed by Andean civilizations.

  64. c. 3300–2600 BC

    Yamnaya Culture: Steppe Herders Who Reshaped Europe's Genes

    A mobile herding culture whose descendants spread across much of Europe and Asia, leaving a lasting genetic legacy and probably carrying Indo-European languages.

  65. c. 3300 BC

    Ötzi the Iceman: The 5,300-Year-Old Mummy of the Alps

    Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, preserving clothing, tools and medical evidence from the Copper Age.

  66. c. 3200 BC

    Newgrange: Ireland's Neolithic Passage Tomb and Winter Solstice

    A great passage tomb aligned on the midwinter sunrise, now the centrepiece of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  67. c. 3180–2500 BC

    Skara Brae: Orkney's Remarkably Preserved Neolithic Village

    The best-preserved Neolithic village in northern Europe, part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site since 1999.

  68. c. 3000 BC – c. 1500 BC

    Stonehenge: The Prehistoric Stone Circle on Salisbury Plain

    A monumental stone circle aligned on the solstices, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's best-known prehistoric monuments.

  69. 1811–1812

    Mary Anning and the Lyme Regis Ichthyosaur Discovery of 1811

    The Annings' ichthyosaur, followed by Mary Anning's plesiosaur and pterosaur finds, gave early geologists some of the first complete skeletons of extinct marine reptiles.

  70. 1861

    Archaeopteryx (1861): The Fossil Linking Birds and Dinosaurs

    The first Archaeopteryx fossils revealed a Late Jurassic animal with both reptile and bird features, later recognised as key evidence that birds descend from dinosaurs.

  71. 1877-1892

    Bone Wars: The Cope and Marsh Fossil Rivalry of the American West

    The two men named well over a hundred new species of dinosaurs between them, including Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Diplodocus, but the feud damaged both their reputations and finances.

  72. 1902

    Tyrannosaurus rex Discovery: Barnum Brown and the 1902 Find

    Brown's partial skeleton became the type specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex, named by Osborn in 1905, and later finds made it the world's most famous dinosaur.

  73. 1990

    Sue the T. rex: Discovery of the Most Complete Tyrannosaurus

    After a federal seizure and court battle, the skeleton was sold at auction in 1997 to the Field Museum in Chicago, where it has been displayed since 2000.

  74. Ancient Worldc. 3000 BC – AD 500 · all 650 articles →
  75. c. 2600-1900 BC

    Indus Valley Civilisation: Bronze Age Cities of South Asia

    The largest urban culture of the Bronze Age world flourished for some seven centuries, then gradually broke up into smaller regional village cultures after about 1900 BC.

  76. c. 3200 BC

    Uruk: The World's First Great City in Ancient Mesopotamia

    Uruk grew into the largest settlement of its time, where monumental temples, mass administration and writing first appeared together, setting the model for Mesopotamian cities.

  77. c. 3300 BC

    Invention of Cuneiform: How Sumer Created the First Writing

    Bookkeeping signs on clay developed into cuneiform, a script used for about 3,000 years to write more than a dozen languages of the ancient Near East.

  78. c. 3100 BC

    Narmer and the Unification of Egypt (c. 3100 BC)

    Upper and Lower Egypt were ruled as a single kingdom, and Narmer is usually counted as the first king of the First Dynasty.

  79. c. 2670 BC

    Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara: Egypt's First Pyramid

    Egypt's first pyramid was completed as a six-step tomb at the heart of a vast stone funerary complex, opening the age of pyramid building.

  80. c. 2650 BC

    Imhotep: Architect of Djoser and Later God of Medicine

    Imhotep was remembered as the inventor of stone architecture and a great sage, and was eventually worshipped as a god of healing.

  81. from c. 2600 BC

    Mummification in Ancient Egypt: Methods, Beliefs and History

    Artificial mummification became the standard Egyptian way of preparing the dead for eternity and lasted until the spread of Christianity.

  82. c. 2600 BC

    Royal Cemetery of Ur: Queen Puabi and the Great Death Pits

    About 1,850 graves were excavated, including 16 so-called royal tombs with lavish treasures and the remains of sacrificed attendants.

  83. c. 2600-1900 BC

    Harappa: The Indus City That Gave a Civilisation Its Name

    Harappa became the first Indus city to be excavated, gave the Harappan civilisation its name and remains one of the best-studied Bronze Age cities in South Asia.

  84. c. 2560 BC

    Great Pyramid of Giza: Khufu's Tomb and Ancient Wonder

    The largest of the Egyptian pyramids, it remained the tallest human-made structure for over 3,800 years and is the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World.

  85. c. 2500 BC

    Great Sphinx of Giza: History, Builder and Mysteries

    The largest monolithic statue of the ancient world, carved from the Giza bedrock and still a defining symbol of Egypt.

  86. c. 2500-1900 BC

    Mohenjo-daro: Great Bath and Planned City of the Indus Valley

    Mohenjo-daro became the best-known city of the Indus Valley Civilisation and, in 1980, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  87. c. 2334 BC

    Sargon of Akkad: Founder of the World's First Empire

    Sargon united the city-states of Sumer and Akkad under one king, creating the Akkadian Empire that lasted about 180 years.

  88. c. 2100 BC

    Ziggurat of Ur: Ur-Nammu's Great Temple Tower in Sumer

    The best-preserved ziggurat of Sumer, restored in antiquity by Nabonidus, excavated by Woolley and partly reconstructed in the 20th century.

  89. c. 2100 BC

    Epic of Gilgamesh: The World's Oldest Great Work of Literature

    The epic was copied across the Near East for some 1,500 years, was forgotten, and was rediscovered in the 19th century as one of the world's oldest great works of literature.

  90. c. 1971 BC onward

    Karnak Temple Complex: Two Thousand Years of Building at Thebes

    Karnak became the largest temple complex of ancient Egypt and the religious centre of the state god Amun-Ra for some two thousand years.

  91. c. 1900–1375 BC

    Palace of Knossos (c. 1900 BC): The Minoan Labyrinth of Crete

    The largest Minoan palace, centre of Bronze Age Crete for some five centuries, later an administrative seat of Mycenaean Greeks and the source of the Labyrinth legend.

  92. c. 1754 BC

    Code of Hammurabi: Babylon's Famous Law Code of 1754 BC

    The best-preserved law collection of the ancient Near East, copied for over a thousand years and now in the Louvre.

  93. c. 1650–1180 BC

    Hattusa: Capital of the Hittite Empire in Central Anatolia

    Seat of the Hittite kings for some 450 years; its archives of about 30,000 tablets made the rediscovery of Hittite history possible.

  94. c. 1600 BC

    Minoan Eruption of Thera (c. 1600 BC): Santorini's Great Blast

    The island of Thera was buried in pumice and ash, its caldera enlarged and the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri entombed; Minoan Crete was affected but survived.

  95. c. 1600–400 BC

    Olmec Civilization: Rise of Mesoamerica's First Great Culture

    The Olmec created the first great art style, monumental centres and elite networks of Mesoamerica, influencing the Maya, Zapotec and later cultures.

  96. c. 1504–1070 BC

    Valley of the Kings: Royal Tombs of New Kingdom Egypt

    The burial ground of most New Kingdom kings for about 450 years, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site with more than 60 known tombs.

  97. c. 1500–500 BC

    Vedic Period: Ancient India from the Rigveda to the Upanishads

    A pastoral tribal society became a world of agricultural kingdoms, producing the Vedas, the varna system and the ritual and philosophical foundations of Hinduism.

  98. c. 1500 BC – AD 1

    Nok Culture: Terracotta Sculptures and Iron of Ancient Nigeria

    The Nok culture produced the earliest large-scale figurative sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa and some of its earliest iron smelting.

  99. c. 1500–500 BC

    Lapita Culture: Pottery and the First Settlers of Remote Oceania

    Lapita voyagers became the first people to settle Remote Oceania, reaching Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, where their descendants became the ancestors of the Polynesians.

  100. c. 1479–1458 BC

    Hatshepsut: The Woman Who Ruled Egypt as Pharaoh

    A female king of the 18th Dynasty whose peaceful, prosperous reign left major monuments, though her memory was later deliberately erased.

  101. c. 1353-1336 BC

    Nefertiti: Queen of Egypt and the Famous Berlin Bust

    Nefertiti became the most prominent queen of the Amarna period; her fate after about 1337 BC remains uncertain, and her bust is one of the most famous artworks of antiquity.

  102. c. 1353-1336 BC

    Akhenaten and the Amarna Revolution: Egypt's Aten Religion

    A short-lived religious and artistic revolution centred on the Aten, reversed under Tutankhamun and Horemheb, after which Akhenaten was erased from official memory.

  103. c. 1332-1323 BC

    Tutankhamun: The Boy King and His Tomb (c. 1332 BC)

    Tutankhamun's reign ended the Amarna religious experiment; the discovery of his tomb in 1922 became the most famous find in the history of archaeology.

  104. 13th c. BC - 5th c. BC

    Acropolis of Athens: The Sacred Rock From Bronze Age to Pericles

    A Bronze Age fortress became the religious heart of Athens; after the Persian sack of 480 BC it was rebuilt as the most celebrated sanctuary of classical Greece.

  105. 1279-1213 BC

    Ramesses II: The Great Pharaoh of the New Kingdom

    Ramesses II reigned for 66 years, ended decades of war with the Hittites by treaty and left more monuments than any other pharaoh.

  106. c. 1274 BC

    Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC): Ramesses II Against the Hittites

    Tactically inconclusive; Ramesses escaped defeat, but Kadesh and Amurru stayed under Hittite control.

  107. c. 1264-1244 BC

    Abu Simbel Temples: Ramesses II's Monuments in Nubia

    Two rock-cut temples proclaimed Ramesses II's power in Nubia; in the 1960s they were cut up and moved above the rising waters of the Aswan High Dam.

  108. c. 1250 BC

    Mycenae and the Lion Gate (c. 1250 BC): Citadel of Agamemnon

    The most powerful Mycenaean centre gave its name to a civilisation; its palace burned c. 1200 BC and the town was destroyed by Argos c. 468 BC.

  109. c. 1250–1046 BC

    Shang Dynasty Oracle Bones: The Earliest Chinese Writing

    The inscriptions confirmed the existence of the Shang kings and are the earliest substantial body of Chinese writing, ancestral to the modern script.

  110. c. 1200-1150 BC

    Late Bronze Age Collapse: The End of an Interconnected World

    The Hittite empire, Mycenaean palace states and many Levantine cities collapsed, Egypt and Assyria were weakened, and the region entered the early Iron Age.

  111. c. 1200–1000 BC

    Sanxingdui: The Mysterious Bronze Masks of Ancient Sichuan

    The finds revealed an independent Bronze Age civilisation in the Sichuan Basin, distinct from but in contact with the Shang of the Yellow River valley.

  112. c. 1184 BC (traditional)

    Trojan War: History, Archaeology and the Legend of Troy

    Troy was a real and important Bronze Age city destroyed more than once, but whether a war like Homer's took place remains unproven.

  113. c. 1208-1175 BC

    Sea Peoples: Raiders of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean

    Egypt repelled the Sea Peoples twice, but some groups, notably the Philistines, settled on the coast of Canaan as the Late Bronze Age order collapsed.

  114. c. 1070 BC – AD 350

    Kingdom of Kush: Nubia's Great African Empire on the Nile

    Kush became the longest-lived state of ancient Nubia, ruled Egypt for about a century and developed its own script and culture at Meroë before declining in the 4th century AD.

  115. c. 1050 BC

    Phoenician Alphabet: The Script Behind Western Writing

    A compact 22-letter consonantal script became the ancestor of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic alphabets.

  116. c. 1046 BC

    Battle of Muye (1046 BC): The Zhou Conquest of the Shang

    Decisive Zhou victory; the Shang dynasty fell, Di Xin died, and the Zhou dynasty was founded.

  117. from c. 1000 BC

    Bantu Expansion: The Great Migration Across Sub-Saharan Africa

    Bantu languages, farming and ironworking spread across most of Africa south of the equator, shaping the population and cultures of the region to this day.

  118. traditionally 814 BC

    Founding of Carthage: Phoenician Tyre's Colony in North Africa

    Tyrian settlers founded Qart-hadasht, the 'New City', which grew into the leading Phoenician power of the western Mediterranean until its destruction by Rome in 146 BC.

  119. c. 800 BC – AD 900

    Tikal: Rise of the Great Maya City in the Guatemalan Jungle

    Tikal became one of the largest and most powerful cities of the Classic Maya world before declining in the 9th century AD.

  120. c. 800 BC - AD 390s

    Oracle of Delphi: The Pythia and the Sanctuary of Apollo

    For about a thousand years the Pythia's answers guided Greek cities and rulers; the sanctuary declined under Christian rule and was excavated by French archaeologists from 1892.

  121. 776 BC

    First Olympic Games (776 BC): Origins of the Ancient Olympics

    A religious festival with athletic contests for Zeus that was held every four years for over a thousand years and gave the Greeks a shared calendar.

  122. 753 BC

    Founding of Rome (753 BC): Romulus, Remus and the Evidence

    According to legend Romulus founded Rome on the Palatine; archaeology shows villages on Rome's hills merging into a city over the 10th to 6th centuries BC.

  123. c. 750-700 BC

    Homer and the Iliad and Odyssey: Origins of the Greek Epics

    Two epic poems that became the foundation of Greek education and of the Western literary tradition.

  124. c. 668 BC

    Library of Ashurbanipal: The Great Royal Library of Nineveh

    The largest surviving collection of Mesopotamian texts, whose rediscovery made it possible to read cuneiform literature and revealed works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.

  125. 612 BC

    Fall of Nineveh (612 BC): The Collapse of the Assyrian Empire

    Nineveh was captured and destroyed; the Assyrian Empire collapsed by 609 BC and its lands passed to Babylon and the Medes.

  126. c. 610–560 BC

    Etemenanki: The Babylon Ziggurat Behind the Tower of Babel

    A temple tower about 90 metres square at the base, completed under Nebuchadnezzar II, later dismantled; it is widely seen as the historical background to the biblical Tower of Babel.

  127. c. 600 BC

    Hanging Gardens of Babylon: The Lost Wonder of the Ancient World

    Listed among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but no trace has been securely identified at Babylon and their location and existence remain debated.

  128. 587/586 BC

    Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC): Fall of Judah to Babylon

    Babylonian victory; Jerusalem and the First Temple were destroyed, the Kingdom of Judah ended and much of its elite was deported to Babylonia.

  129. c. 575 BC

    Ishtar Gate of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar's Glazed Brick Gateway

    The gate became the best-known monument of ancient Babylon; its front section was reconstructed in Berlin, while its foundations remain at the site in Iraq.

  130. 6th-5th century BC

    Siddhartha Gautama: The Life of the Buddha in Ancient India

    The Buddha's teaching and the monastic community he founded grew into Buddhism, one of the major world religions.

  131. 551-479 BC

    Confucius (551-479 BC): The Life and Teachings of Kong Qiu

    Confucius died with little political success, but his disciples preserved his teachings, which became the official orthodoxy of the Chinese state and shaped East Asian society for two millennia.

  132. c. 550 BC

    Cyrus the Great Founds the Persian Empire (550 BC)

    Cyrus defeated Astyages and took over the Median kingdom, creating the core of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

  133. c. 539 BC

    Cyrus Cylinder: Persian Proclamation and Modern Icon

    A Babylonian foundation inscription presenting Cyrus as Marduk's chosen king; in modern times a celebrated symbol of tolerance and Iranian heritage.

  134. 539 BC

    Fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great (539 BC): End of an Empire

    Persian victory; the Neo-Babylonian Empire ended and Mesopotamia, Syria and the Levant passed under Achaemenid rule.

  135. c. 520 BC

    Behistun Inscription: Darius the Great and Decoding Cuneiform

    Darius I recorded his version of his rise to power in three languages; copied in the 19th century, the text unlocked Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian cuneiform.

  136. c. 518-330 BC

    Persepolis: Ceremonial Capital of the Achaemenid Persian Kings

    Persepolis served as a ceremonial and administrative centre of the Achaemenid kings for nearly two centuries until Alexander the Great looted and burned it in 330 BC.

  137. 509 BC

    Founding of the Roman Republic (509 BC): End of the Kings

    The monarchy was abolished and power passed to two annually elected consuls, beginning the Roman Republic that lasted until the late 1st century BC.

  138. 508/507 BC

    Cleisthenes and the Birth of Athenian Democracy (508 BC)

    Athens adopted a new political order based on ten tribes, local demes and a Council of 500, generally regarded as the beginning of Athenian democracy.

  139. c. 500 BC - AD 500

    Nazca Lines: The Giant Desert Geoglyphs of Southern Peru

    Hundreds of geoglyphs survive in the desert, protected since 1994 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still being discovered today.

  140. c. 5th century BC

    Sun Tzu and The Art of War: China's Classic of Military Strategy

    The Art of War became the most influential military treatise of East Asia and, after its translation from 1772 onward, one of the best-known strategy books in the world.

  141. August or September 490 BC

    Battle of Marathon (490 BC): How Athens Stopped Persia

    Athenian victory; the first Persian invasion of Greece was repelled.

  142. 480 BC

    Battle of Salamis (480 BC): The Naval Victory That Saved Greece

    Decisive Greek victory; the Persian fleet was crippled and Xerxes returned to Asia, leaving an army that was defeated at Plataea in 479 BC.

  143. 480 BC

    Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC): Leonidas and the 300

    Persian victory; after three days the Greek position was outflanked and Leonidas' rearguard was destroyed, opening central Greece to Xerxes.

  144. 475-221 BC

    Warring States Period (475-221 BC): China's Age of Rival Kingdoms

    After two and a half centuries of war and reform, Qin conquered the other six kingdoms between 230 and 221 BC and founded China's first unified empire.

  145. 447 BC

    Parthenon (447 BC): Building the Temple of Athena in Athens

    Athens built a marble Doric temple to Athena that became the most famous monument of classical Greece and a lasting symbol of Western architecture.

  146. 431-404 BC

    Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC): Athens Against Sparta

    Spartan victory; Athens surrendered in 404 BC, lost its empire, fleet and walls, and was briefly ruled by the Thirty Tyrants.

  147. 415-413 BC

    Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC): Athens' Disaster at Syracuse

    Total Athenian defeat: the army and fleet sent to Sicily were destroyed, and Athens never fully recovered its strength in the Peloponnesian War.

  148. c. 400 BC – AD 400

    Mahabharata: The Ancient Indian Epic and Its Historical World

    The Mahabharata became a foundational text of Hinduism and one of the most influential works of world literature.

  149. c. 4th century BC

    Laozi and the Tao Te Ching: Origins of Daoism in Ancient China

    The Tao Te Ching became the founding text of Daoist philosophy and religion and one of the most translated books in the world.

  150. 399 BC

    Trial of Socrates (399 BC): Athens Condemns Its Philosopher

    Socrates was convicted of impiety and corrupting the young, sentenced to death and executed by drinking hemlock.

  151. 336-323 BC

    Alexander the Great (356-323 BC): Conquests of Macedon's King

    Alexander conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire and reached the Indus, but his empire split among his generals after his death in 323 BC.

  152. 335 BC

    Aristotle and the Lyceum (335 BC): Founding Western Science

    Aristotle's school became a centre of research and teaching whose writings shaped philosophy and science for some 2,000 years.

  153. 333 BC

    Battle of Issus (333 BC): Alexander the Great Defeats Darius III

    Decisive Macedonian victory; Darius III fled and his mother, wife and children were captured.

  154. 331 BC

    Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC): The Fall of the Persian Empire

    Decisive Macedonian victory; Darius III fled and the Achaemenid Persian Empire collapsed, leaving Alexander master of its heartland.

  155. 323 BC

    Death of Alexander the Great (323 BC): Babylon and the Succession

    Alexander died without an adult heir; his generals divided the empire and soon went to war, leading to its break-up into rival kingdoms.

  156. c. 322 BC

    Chandragupta Maurya and the Founding of the Maurya Empire

    Chandragupta overthrew the Nanda dynasty and built an empire stretching from Afghanistan to Bengal.

  157. c. 312 BC - AD 106

    Petra: Rock-Cut Capital of the Nabataean Kingdom in Jordan

    Petra grew into the wealthy capital of the Nabataean kingdom, became part of the Roman province of Arabia in AD 106 and is now Jordan's best-known World Heritage Site.

  158. 312 BC - AD 226

    Aqueducts of Ancient Rome: From Aqua Appia to Aqua Claudia

    Eleven aqueducts gave Rome one of the largest public water supplies of the ancient world, feeding fountains, baths and homes.

  159. begun 312 BC

    Via Appia (312 BC): The Appian Way, Queen of Roman Roads

    Rome gained a strategic all-weather road to Campania that became the main route to southern Italy and the eastern Mediterranean.

  160. c. 300 BC onward

    Pyramids of Meroë: The Royal Cemetery of Kush in Sudan

    Meroë became the royal burial ground of the Kingdom of Kush for some six centuries, leaving the largest group of pyramids in Africa outside Egypt.

  161. c. 287-212 BC

    Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC): Mathematician and Engineer

    Archimedes made lasting discoveries in geometry, mechanics and hydrostatics and was killed when Rome captured Syracuse in 212 BC.

  162. c. 285 BC

    Library of Alexandria: Founding, Scholars and Destruction

    Alexandria became the leading centre of Greek scholarship for centuries; the Library declined gradually and had disappeared by late antiquity.

  163. c. 280 BC

    Lighthouse of Alexandria: The Pharos, a Wonder of the World

    The tower guided ships into Alexandria for some 1,500 years before earthquakes ruined it; its name became the word for lighthouse in many languages.

  164. 264–241 BC

    First Punic War (264-241 BC): Rome and Carthage Clash at Sea

    Roman victory; Carthage gave up Sicily and paid a large indemnity, and Sicily became Rome's first overseas province.

  165. c. 261 BC

    Kalinga War (261 BC): The Conquest That Transformed Ashoka

    Kalinga was annexed to the Maurya Empire; Ashoka, by his own account, renounced wars of conquest and promoted dhamma.

  166. c. 250 BC - AD 68

    Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient Jewish Manuscripts from Qumran

    The scrolls became the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible and a unique window on Judaism in the Second Temple period.

  167. c. 3rd century BC

    Great Stupa of Sanchi: Ashoka's Monument and Its Carved Gateways

    A brick Maurya stupa grew into one of the finest surviving early Buddhist monuments, whose gateways are masterpieces of ancient Indian narrative sculpture.

  168. c. 246–210 BC

    Terracotta Army: The Clay Soldiers of China's First Emperor

    Thousands of life-size pottery warriors, horses and chariots were buried near the First Emperor's tomb; rediscovered in 1974, they became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

  169. 230–221 BC

    Qin Unification of China (221 BC): The Birth of an Empire

    Qin conquered Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi and founded China's first centralised empire, whose institutions outlived the dynasty's fall in 207 BC.

  170. Autumn 218 BC

    Hannibal Crossing the Alps (218 BC): Elephants Into Italy

    Hannibal reached northern Italy with about 26,000 men and a few dozen elephants, opening the Italian campaign of the Second Punic War.

  171. 218–201 BC

    Second Punic War (218-201 BC): Hannibal Against Rome

    Roman victory; Carthage lost Spain and its navy, paid 10,000 talents, and Rome became the dominant power of the western Mediterranean.

  172. 216 BC

    Battle of Cannae (216 BC): Hannibal's Masterpiece of Encirclement

    Decisive Carthaginian victory; most of the Roman army was killed or captured, and Capua and much of southern Italy went over to Hannibal.

  173. c. 214 BC

    Great Wall of China: How the Qin and Han Built the First Walls

    Older state walls were joined into a Qin frontier line, which the Han later extended west to Dunhuang and beyond.

  174. 213 BC

    Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars in Qin China (213 BC)

    Private copies of the classics and histories of rival states were ordered destroyed, and more than 460 men were put to death in Xianyang.

  175. 206 BC

    Founding of the Han Dynasty (206 BC): Liu Bang's Rise to Power

    Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu-Han Contention and proclaimed himself emperor in 202 BC, founding the Han dynasty.

  176. 202 BC

    Battle of Zama (202 BC): Scipio Africanus Defeats Hannibal

    Decisive Roman victory; Carthage accepted peace in 201 BC, surrendering its fleet, elephants and independence in foreign policy.

  177. c. 2nd century BC

    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.

  178. 2nd c. BC – 5th c. AD

    Ajanta Caves: Buddhist Rock-Cut Monasteries and Murals of India

    About 30 Buddhist cave monasteries and halls were cut and painted, preserving the finest surviving body of ancient Indian painting.

  179. 196 BC

    Rosetta Stone: The Decree of 196 BC That Unlocked Hieroglyphs

    The bilingual decree gave scholars the key to Egyptian hieroglyphs, deciphered by Champollion in 1822.

  180. c. 150-100 BC

    Antikythera Mechanism: The Ancient Greek Astronomical Computer

    The oldest known geared device, it showed that Hellenistic Greeks could model the movements of the Sun, Moon and probably the planets mechanically.

  181. 149-146 BC

    Third Punic War (149-146 BC): The Destruction of Carthage

    Rome captured and destroyed Carthage, enslaved its survivors and turned its territory into the province of Africa.

  182. 141-87 BC

    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.

  183. 138-125 BC

    Zhang Qian's Mission to the West and the Origins of the Silk Road

    The mission failed to win an alliance with the Yuezhi, but Zhang Qian's reports led Han China to open regular diplomatic and trade contacts with Central Asia.

  184. c. 100 BC

    Teotihuacan: Rise of the City of the Gods in Ancient Mexico

    Teotihuacan grew into a planned metropolis of perhaps 100,000 people whose influence reached across Mesoamerica before its centre was burned around AD 550.

  185. 73-71 BC

    Spartacus and the Third Servile War (73-71 BC): Slave Revolt

    The revolt was crushed by Crassus in 71 BC; Spartacus died in battle and about 6,000 captured rebels were crucified along the Appian Way.

  186. 58-50 BC

    Caesar's Gallic Wars (58-50 BC): The Roman Conquest of Gaul

    Roman victory; all of Gaul between the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Rhine came under Roman rule, at enormous human cost.

  187. 53 BC

    Battle of Carrhae (53 BC): Parthia Destroys Crassus's Army

    Decisive Parthian victory; Crassus was killed, most of his army destroyed or captured, and Rome's eastward expansion was halted at the Euphrates.

  188. 52 BC

    Siege of Alesia (52 BC): Caesar Defeats Vercingetorix

    Decisive Roman victory; the Gallic relief army was routed, Vercingetorix surrendered and the great revolt of 52 BC collapsed.

  189. 51–30 BC

    Cleopatra VII: Last Ptolemaic Ruler of Egypt (51-30 BC)

    Cleopatra's defeat and death in 30 BC ended the Ptolemaic dynasty, and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

  190. January 49 BC

    Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (49 BC): The Die Is Cast

    Caesar entered Italy with an army against the Senate's orders, starting a civil war that ended the Roman Republic's traditional order.

  191. 15 March 44 BC

    Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC): The Ides of March

    Caesar was killed by a group of senators, triggering a new round of civil wars that ended the Roman Republic.

  192. 2 September 31 BC

    Battle of Actium (31 BC): Octavian Defeats Antony and Cleopatra

    Decisive victory for Octavian; Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, their army surrendered and Egypt was annexed by Rome in 30 BC.

  193. 27 BC-AD 180

    Pax Romana (27 BC-AD 180): Two Centuries of Roman Peace

    About two centuries of internal stability, trade and urban growth across the Mediterranean world, ending with the frontier wars, plague and political crises of the late second and third centuries.

  194. 27 BC

    Augustus Becomes First Roman Emperor (27 BC): The Principate

    Octavian handed formal control back to the Senate and people but received the name Augustus and command of key provinces, creating the system of one-man rule known as the Principate.

  195. AD 9

    Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9): Arminius Destroys Varus

    Three Roman legions with their auxiliaries were annihilated; Rome gave up plans for a province between the Rhine and the Elbe.

  196. c. AD 30-33

    Crucifixion of Jesus: The Historical Event in Roman Judea

    Jesus was executed by crucifixion on the orders of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate; his followers' belief in his resurrection gave rise to Christianity.

  197. AD 60-61

    Boudica's Revolt (AD 60-61): The Iceni Queen Against Rome

    The revolt destroyed three Roman towns but was crushed by Suetonius Paulinus; Boudica died soon afterwards and Roman rule in Britain was restored and reformed.

  198. July AD 64

    Great Fire of Rome (AD 64): Nero and the Burning of the City

    Three of Rome's fourteen districts were destroyed and seven badly damaged; Nero rebuilt the city under new rules, began the Golden House and blamed the Christians.

  199. AD 70–80

    Colosseum (AD 70-80): Building Rome's Flavian Amphitheatre

    Rome gained its largest amphitheatre, used for gladiatorial games and animal hunts for over four centuries and now one of the world's best-known monuments.

  200. AD 70

    Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70): Destruction of the Second Temple

    Roman victory; Jerusalem was captured and largely destroyed, and the Second Temple was burned.

  201. AD 73/74

    Siege of Masada (AD 73-74): Last Stand of the Jewish Revolt

    Roman victory; the fortress fell and, according to Josephus, most of its 960 defenders and their families died by their own hands.

  202. AD 79

    Eruption of Vesuvius (AD 79): How Pompeii Was Buried

    Pompeii, Herculaneum and nearby settlements were buried by volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows, preserving them for later excavation.

  203. c. AD 100-700

    Kingdom of Aksum: Rise of the Ancient Ethiopian Empire

    Aksum became one of the great states of late antiquity, adopted Christianity in the 4th century and declined after the 7th century as Red Sea trade shifted.

  204. c. AD 100–800

    Moche Civilization: Warrior-Priests of Peru's North Coast

    The Moche created the first great states of Peru's north coast; their traditions passed to the later Lambayeque (Sicán) and Chimú cultures.

  205. AD 105

    Invention of Paper in China: Cai Lun and the Han Papermakers

    Cai Lun's improved papermaking process made paper a practical writing material in China, from where the craft spread across Asia, the Islamic world and Europe.

  206. c. AD 113-125

    Pantheon, Rome: Hadrian's Temple and Its Great Concrete Dome

    The rebuilt Pantheon survived intact as a church from AD 609 and became the most influential domed building in Western architecture.

  207. AD 122

    Hadrian's Wall (AD 122): Rome's Frontier in Northern Britain

    The wall became the northern frontier of Roman Britain for most of nearly three centuries and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  208. AD 184

    Yellow Turban Rebellion (184): The Uprising That Doomed the Han

    The main revolt was crushed within a year, but the campaigns empowered regional commanders and set China on the path to the warlord era and the Three Kingdoms.

  209. c. AD 200

    Pyramid of the Sun: Teotihuacan's Monumental Great Pyramid

    The pyramid became the dominant monument of Teotihuacan, the largest city of the ancient Americas, and a lasting sacred landmark for later Mesoamerican peoples.

  210. AD 208

    Battle of Red Cliffs (208): Cao Cao's Defeat on the Yangtze

    Decisive allied victory; Cao Cao's attempt to conquer the south failed, ensuring China would split into rival states.

  211. AD 220-280

    Three Kingdoms Period (220-280): Wei, Shu and Wu Divide China

    Wei conquered Shu in 263, the Sima family replaced Wei with the Jin dynasty in 266, and Jin conquered Wu in 280, reuniting China.

  212. AD 235–284

    Crisis of the Third Century (235-284): Empire on the Brink

    The empire fragmented and nearly collapsed, but was reunited by Aurelian and reorganised by Diocletian, emerging as a more militarised and centralised state.

  213. c. AD 250 (found 1987)

    Lord of Sipán: The Richest Royal Tomb Found in the Americas

    The first intact tomb of a Moche ruler ever excavated scientifically, transforming knowledge of Moche kingship and ritual.

  214. AD 312

    Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312): Constantine's Victory

    Constantine won decisively; Maxentius drowned in the Tiber and Constantine became sole ruler of the western Roman Empire.

  215. AD 313

    Edict of Milan (313): Toleration for Christians in the Empire

    Christians and all others gained legal freedom of worship, and property confiscated from the Church was ordered to be returned.

  216. c. AD 320

    Gupta Empire: The Golden Age of Classical India, AD 320-550

    The Guptas built the largest Indian empire since the Mauryas and presided over a classical flowering of art, science and Sanskrit literature before declining in the 6th century.

  217. AD 325

    First Council of Nicaea (325): The Nicene Creed and Arianism

    The council condemned Arius's teaching, adopted the Nicene Creed declaring the Son 'of one substance' with the Father, and set a common rule for dating Easter.

  218. AD 378

    Battle of Adrianople (378): Goths Defeat Emperor Valens

    Decisive Gothic victory; Emperor Valens and roughly two-thirds of the eastern Roman field army were killed.

  219. AD 410

    Sack of Rome (410): Alaric and the Visigoths Take the City

    The Goths plundered Rome for three days and left with great wealth and hostages; the event shocked the Roman world but did not end the Western Empire.

  220. c. AD 427

    Nalanda Mahavihara: Ancient India's Great Buddhist University

    A royal-sponsored Buddhist monastery grew into Asia's leading centre of learning for some seven centuries.

  221. AD 451

    Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451): Attila Checked in Gaul

    Tactical stalemate and strategic success for Aetius; Theodoric I was killed and Attila withdrew from Gaul.

  222. AD 476

    Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476): Romulus Augustulus

    Odoacer deposed the last emperor in Italy and ruled as king; no new Western emperor was appointed, and the Eastern emperor in Constantinople became the only Roman emperor.

  223. AD 499

    Aryabhata and the Aryabhatiya (AD 499): Indian Astronomy

    A concise Sanskrit treatise that shaped Indian mathematics and astronomy for a thousand years and reached the Islamic world.

  224. Middle Agesc. 500 – 1500 · all 652 articles →
  225. 507

    Clovis I and the Battle of Vouillé (507): Rise of the Franks

    Frankish victory; Alaric II was killed, the Visigoths lost most of Gaul, and Clovis became the dominant ruler between the Pyrenees and the Rhine.

  226. 527–548

    Empress Theodora: From Actress to Ruler of the Byzantine Empire

    A former actress became Justinian's crowned empress and political partner, shaping court politics, laws on women and church policy until her death in 548.

  227. 527–565

    Justinian I: The Byzantine Emperor Who Tried to Restore Rome

    Justinian recovered North Africa, Italy and part of Spain, codified Roman law and built Hagia Sophia, but left an exhausted, plague-stricken empire.

  228. c. 529

    Monte Cassino and the Rule of St Benedict (c. 529)

    Benedict's monastery survived repeated destruction, and his Rule became the standard guide for monks and nuns across Western Europe.

  229. January 532

    Nika Riots (532): The Revolt That Nearly Toppled Justinian

    The revolt was crushed by a massacre in the Hippodrome, reported at about 30,000 dead; Justinian's rule was secured and Hagia Sophia was rebuilt.

  230. 532–537

    Hagia Sophia (532-537): Building Justinian's Great Church

    Justinian's Hagia Sophia, dedicated in 537, became the cathedral of Constantinople and the largest domed interior of its age, serving as a church until 1453.

  231. 541–c. 750

    Plague of Justinian (541): The First Recorded Plague Pandemic

    The first known pandemic of bubonic plague killed a large but disputed share of the Mediterranean population and recurred in waves for about two centuries.

  232. 589

    Sui Dynasty Reunification of China (589): End of Division

    The Sui captured the Chen capital Jiankang and its last ruler, reuniting northern and southern China under one dynasty for the first time since the early 4th century.

  233. 597

    Augustine's Mission to Kent (597): Christianity Returns

    King Æthelberht accepted Christianity and Canterbury became the seat of the first archbishop of the English church.

  234. c. 600–1200

    Chichen Itza: History of the Great Maya-Toltec City

    Chichen Itza became the dominant city of the northern Maya lowlands before declining, while remaining a major pilgrimage site.

  235. 605–610

    Grand Canal of China: Emperor Yang's Great Waterway (605)

    A connected inland waterway of roughly 2,000 to 2,700 km linked the Yangtze and Yellow River basins, carrying southern grain north for the next thousand years.

  236. c. 610

    Rise of Islam (610): Muhammad and the First Revelations

    Muhammad began preaching a strict monotheism in Mecca, forming a small, persecuted community that would leave for Medina in 622.

  237. 615–683

    Pakal the Great of Palenque: The Maya King and His Tomb

    Pakal restored Palenque after foreign defeats and made it one of the great Maya cities; his tomb became one of the most famous finds in American archaeology.

  238. 618–907

    Tang Dynasty (618–907): China's Golden Age of Empire and Culture

    The Tang built one of the largest and most cosmopolitan empires of the medieval world, then declined after the An Lushan Rebellion and fell in 907.

  239. 622

    Hijra (622): Muhammad's Migration from Mecca to Medina

    Muhammad settled in Medina as leader of a new community; the year of the Hijra later became year one of the Islamic calendar.

  240. c. 625

    Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (c. 625): Anglo-Saxon Royal Treasure

    One of the richest early medieval burials found in Europe, it transformed understanding of Anglo-Saxon wealth, craftsmanship and international contacts.

  241. 632-661

    Rashidun Caliphate (632-661): The First Four Caliphs

    The early Muslim state expanded from Arabia to an empire from Libya to eastern Iran, then fell into civil war, ending with the rise of the Umayyads in 661.

  242. c. 650 (found 2009)

    Staffordshire Hoard: Largest Anglo-Saxon Gold Find (c. 650)

    The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found, now held jointly by Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent museums.

  243. 661–750

    Umayyad Caliphate (661-750): The Empire Ruled from Damascus

    The dynasty built the largest empire of its time and established Arabic and Islam across it, but was overthrown by the Abbasid Revolution in 750.

  244. c. 672

    Greek Fire: The Byzantine Empire's Secret Incendiary Weapon

    A closely guarded naval weapon that helped Byzantium defeat Arab and Rus fleets; its exact formula was eventually lost.

  245. 682

    Rise of Srivijaya (682): Sumatra's Maritime Buddhist Empire

    Srivijaya became the leading trading power and Buddhist centre of maritime Southeast Asia for more than three centuries.

  246. 690-705

    Wu Zetian: China's Only Reigning Empress (690-705)

    Wu ruled as emperor of her own Zhou dynasty for 15 years until a palace coup in 705 restored the Tang; she remains the only woman to reign in China in her own name.

  247. 691-692

    Dome of the Rock (691): Abd al-Malik's Shrine in Jerusalem

    The Umayyads created the oldest surviving major monument of Islam, a domed shrine over the sacred rock that remains a symbol of Jerusalem.

  248. 8th–16th centuries

    Trans-Saharan Trade: Gold, Salt and Camel Caravans Across Africa

    The caravan trade made West African gold a mainstay of Mediterranean economies and carried Islam, Arabic literacy and new states into the Sahel.

  249. c. 700–1240

    Ghana Empire (Wagadu): West Africa's First Great Gold Empire

    Ghana dominated the West African end of the trans-Saharan gold trade for centuries before declining after the 11th century and being absorbed into the Mali Empire.

  250. 711-c. 718

    Umayyad Conquest of Hispania (711): The Birth of al-Andalus

    The Visigothic kingdom collapsed and most of the Iberian Peninsula became al-Andalus, a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, except for small Christian territories in the north.

  251. 726–843

    Byzantine Iconoclasm: The Battle Over Holy Images, 726-843

    Images were restored in 843, an event celebrated by the Orthodox Church as the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

  252. 732

    Battle of Tours (732): Charles Martel Halts the Umayyad Advance

    Frankish victory; Abd al-Rahman was killed and the Umayyad army withdrew south, ending the largest raid north of the Pyrenees.

  253. 750-1258

    Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258): The Golden Age of Baghdad

    The Abbasids ruled the central Islamic world from Baghdad, presided over a flowering of science and culture, and lost real power long before the Mongols ended the caliphate in Baghdad in 1258.

  254. 752

    Todai-ji and the Great Buddha of Nara: Dedication in 752

    The Great Buddha was dedicated, making Todai-ji the head of Japan's state Buddhist temple network and a lasting symbol of the Nara period.

  255. 755–763

    An Lushan Rebellion (755-763): The Revolt That Broke the Tang

    The Tang dynasty survived with Uyghur help, but lost central control over its provinces and frontiers and never regained its former power.

  256. c. 756

    Kailasa Temple at Ellora: India's Rock-Cut Masterpiece

    The Rashtrakutas created the largest monolithic rock-cut temple in the world, dedicated to Shiva as lord of Mount Kailasa.

  257. c. 780–825

    Borobudur: Building Java's Great Buddhist Monument

    The Sailendra kings created the largest Buddhist monument in the world, a stepped stone mandala covered with more than 2,600 relief panels.

  258. Late 8th century

    Offa's Dyke: King Offa's Great Earthwork on the Welsh Border

    A long bank-and-ditch earthwork marked Mercia's western frontier with the Welsh kingdoms and survives as Britain's longest ancient monument.

  259. 785–987

    Great Mosque of Cordoba: Masterpiece of Umayyad al-Andalus

    The mosque grew into one of the largest in the Islamic world and, after the Christian conquest of Córdoba in 1236, became the city's cathedral.

  260. 793

    Viking Raid on Lindisfarne (793): Start of the Viking Age

    Norse raiders plundered the monastery and killed or enslaved monks; the attack shocked Christian Europe and is the conventional start of the Viking Age.

  261. 794

    Heian-kyo: The Founding of Kyoto as Japan's Capital (794)

    Heian-kyo became Japan's imperial capital for more than a thousand years, until 1869, and gave its name to the Heian period (794–1185).

  262. c. 800

    Book of Kells (c. 800): Ireland's Illuminated Gospel Book

    The finest surviving Insular manuscript, it has been kept at Trinity College Dublin since the 1660s and is a symbol of Irish heritage.

  263. 800

    Coronation of Charlemagne (800): Emperor of the Romans

    Charlemagne became the first emperor in the West since 476, creating a rival to Byzantium and the foundation of the later Holy Roman Empire.

  264. c. 800–950

    Classic Maya Collapse: Why the Southern Maya Cities Fell

    Divine kingship ended in the southern lowlands, most large cities were abandoned and population fell sharply, while Maya society continued and shifted north.

  265. 802

    Founding of the Khmer Empire: Jayavarman II in 802

    Jayavarman II proclaimed himself universal monarch independent of Java, founding the Angkorian Khmer state that lasted until the fifteenth century.

  266. c. 820

    Al-Khwarizmi and the Birth of Algebra in Abbasid Baghdad

    Al-Khwarizmi's books made algebra a distinct field of mathematics and spread Hindu-Arabic numerals to the Islamic world and Europe.

  267. c. 830

    House of Wisdom: Baghdad's Centre of Translation and Science

    The translation movement linked to the House of Wisdom made Greek, Persian and Indian learning available in Arabic and laid foundations for medieval science.

  268. 834

    Oseberg Ship Burial (834): Norway's Finest Viking Ship Grave

    The richest known Viking Age grave was excavated in 1904; its ship and finds are among the best-preserved objects of the period.

  269. August 843

    Treaty of Verdun (843): How Charlemagne's Empire Was Divided

    The empire was split into West Francia, Middle Francia and East Francia; Lothar kept the imperial title but lost overall authority.

  270. c. 850

    Invention of Gunpowder in China: From Elixir to Weapon

    Gunpowder became a standard Chinese military material by the 11th century and, via the Mongol era, spread to the Islamic world and Europe.

  271. c. 850–1150

    Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito: Ancestral Puebloan Centre

    Chaco became the centre of a regional system of great houses and roads, then declined during drought in the twelfth century as population shifted north.

  272. 863

    Cyril and Methodius (863): Apostles to the Slavs and Glagolitic

    The brothers created the first Slavic alphabet and literary language; their disciples carried this legacy to Bulgaria, where the Cyrillic script emerged.

  273. 865

    Great Heathen Army (865): The Viking Invasion of England

    The army destroyed the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia; only Wessex survived, and Scandinavian settlement created the Danelaw.

  274. 868

    Diamond Sutra of 868: The World's Oldest Dated Printed Book

    The scroll survived in a sealed cave for about 900 years and is now recognised as the earliest complete printed book bearing a date.

  275. 874

    Settlement of Iceland (874): Norse Settlers and Ingólfr Arnarson

    Within about 60 years Iceland was fully claimed by settlers, who founded the Althing in 930 and created a lasting Norse-speaking society.

  276. May 878

    Battle of Edington (878): Alfred the Great Defeats the Danes

    West Saxon victory; Guthrum's army surrendered after a siege, Guthrum accepted baptism and his army later withdrew to settle East Anglia.

  277. 911

    Rollo and the Founding of Normandy (911): Saint-Clair-sur-Epte

    Charles the Simple granted Rollo and his Vikings the lands of the lower Seine around Rouen in return for defending the kingdom and accepting baptism, creating the territory that grew into the duchy of Normandy.

  278. 960-1279

    Song Dynasty (960-1279): Commerce, Science and Culture in China

    The Song reunified China proper by 979 and presided over an economic and cultural flowering before losing the north to the Jurchens in 1127 and the south to the Mongols in 1279.

  279. 962

    Otto I Crowned Emperor (962): Birth of the Holy Roman Empire

    Otto I became emperor, linking the German kingship with the imperial title and with Italy in what later became known as the Holy Roman Empire.

  280. c. 988

    Christianization of Kievan Rus (988): Vladimir's Baptism

    Vladimir adopted Byzantine Orthodox Christianity as the faith of Kievan Rus, binding it to Byzantium's religious and cultural world.

  281. c. 1000–1300

    Polynesian Voyaging: How Navigators Settled East Polynesia

    Within roughly three centuries, Polynesians settled almost every habitable island in a triangle of ocean larger than Europe and North America combined.

  282. c. 1000

    Leif Erikson and the Norse in Vinland (c. 1000)

    Norse Greenlanders explored and briefly settled parts of North America about five centuries before Columbus, but did not establish a lasting colony.

  283. 1010

    Brihadisvara Temple: Rajaraja Chola I's Great Temple at Thanjavur

    Rajaraja I completed the largest temple in India of its time, a symbol of Chola imperial power that is still in worship and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  284. c. 1008

    The Tale of Genji: Murasaki Shikibu's Heian Masterpiece

    A 54-chapter prose tale of court life became the most celebrated work of Japanese literature and is often described as the world's first novel.

  285. 1014

    Battle of Clontarf (1014): Brian Boru and the Vikings

    Victory for Brian's army, but Brian, his son Murchad and his grandson Tairdelbach were killed; Norse Dublin survived under Sitric.

  286. 1016

    Cnut the Great Conquers England (1016): A North Sea Empire

    Cnut won at Assandun, shared England with Edmund Ironside and became sole king after Edmund's death on 30 November 1016.

  287. c. 1025

    Avicenna and The Canon of Medicine: Ibn Sina's Legacy

    The Canon of Medicine became the standard medical textbook of the Islamic world and of European universities, used in teaching into the seventeenth century.

  288. c. 1040s

    Bi Sheng and the Invention of Movable Type Printing (c. 1040)

    Bi Sheng created the first known system of movable type, using baked clay characters; the technique was later developed in wood and metal across East Asia.

  289. c. 1050–1350

    Cahokia: The Great Mississippian City by the Mississippi

    Cahokia grew into a city of perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 people, spread Mississippian culture across the Midwest and South, and was largely abandoned by about 1350.

  290. 16 July 1054

    Great Schism of 1054: The Split Between East and West Churches

    Mutual excommunications between Rome's legates and the Patriarch of Constantinople became the symbolic date of the division between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.

  291. 14 October 1066

    Battle of Hastings (1066): The Norman Conquest of England

    Norman victory; Harold II was killed and William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066.

  292. 25 September 1066

    Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066): End of the Viking Age

    Decisive English victory; Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed and the Norwegian survivors sailed home in 24 ships.

  293. c. 1070s

    Bayeux Tapestry: The Embroidered Story of the Norman Conquest

    A unique embroidered narrative of the events of 1064-1066 that survived more than 900 years and is now displayed in Bayeux.

  294. 26 August 1071

    Battle of Manzikert (1071): Byzantium's Defeat by the Seljuks

    Seljuk victory and capture of Romanos IV; the Byzantine civil war that followed opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement.

  295. January 1077

    Walk to Canossa (1077): Henry IV Humbled Before Pope Gregory

    Gregory VII absolved Henry IV of excommunication, but the conflict between empire and papacy soon resumed and lasted until the Concordat of Worms in 1122.

  296. 1086

    Domesday Book (1086): William the Conqueror's Great Survey

    A detailed record of landholding and resources in most of England, still the oldest surviving public record in The National Archives.

  297. June 1094

    El Cid and the Capture of Valencia (1094): Spain's Hero

    El Cid took Valencia after a siege of nearly a year and ruled it as an independent lord until his death in 1099; the city fell to the Almoravids in 1102.

  298. 1096-1099

    First Crusade (1096-1099): From Clermont to Jerusalem

    Crusader capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and creation of four Latin states in the Levant: Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem and Tripoli.

  299. c. 1100 onward

    Timbuktu: Medieval City of Trade, Scholarship and Manuscripts

    Timbuktu became a leading centre of Saharan trade and Islamic scholarship until the Moroccan conquest of 1591 began its long decline.

  300. c. 1100-1450

    Great Zimbabwe: Stone City of a Medieval African Kingdom

    Great Zimbabwe became the capital of a wealthy Shona-speaking state trading gold to the Indian Ocean, then declined in the 15th century as power shifted elsewhere.

  301. c. 1113-1150

    Angkor Wat: Suryavarman II and the World's Largest Temple

    Angkor Wat became the largest religious monument in the world, a Hindu temple later turned to Buddhist worship and now the national symbol of Cambodia.

  302. 1119-1312

    Knights Templar: The Crusading Order from Founding to Downfall

    The order defended the crusader states for nearly two centuries but was arrested in France in 1307 and dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1312.

  303. 1163

    Notre-Dame de Paris: Building the Great Gothic Cathedral

    Notre-Dame became one of the largest and most influential Gothic cathedrals in Europe and the religious heart of medieval Paris.

  304. 1169-1193

    Saladin: Sultan of Egypt and Syria and Foe of the Crusaders

    Saladin united Egypt and Syria under the Ayyubid dynasty, destroyed the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 and retook Jerusalem, which he held against the Third Crusade.

  305. 29 December 1170

    Murder of Thomas Becket (1170): Death in Canterbury Cathedral

    Becket was killed in his own cathedral; he was canonised in 1173, Henry II did public penance, and Canterbury became one of Europe's great pilgrimage centres.

  306. 1173

    Leaning Tower of Pisa: Why the Medieval Bell Tower Tilts

    The campanile was completed in the fourteenth century with a permanent tilt, which engineers reduced and stabilised between 1990 and 2001.

  307. 1180-1185

    Genpei War (1180-1185): Taira and Minamoto Clash for Japan

    Minamoto victory; the Taira were destroyed and Minamoto no Yoritomo built the Kamakura warrior government.

  308. 1185-1192

    Kamakura Shogunate: Minamoto no Yoritomo and Samurai Rule

    Japan gained a warrior government at Kamakura that ruled alongside the imperial court until 1333, beginning nearly seven centuries of shogunal rule.

  309. 1187

    Battle of Hattin (1187): Saladin Destroys the Crusader Army

    Decisive Ayyubid victory; the Frankish field army was destroyed, King Guy was captured and most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell within months.

  310. 1189-1192

    Third Crusade (1189-1192): Richard the Lionheart and Saladin

    The crusaders recovered Acre and the coast from Tyre to Jaffa but not Jerusalem; the Treaty of Jaffa (1192) allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the city.

  311. c. 1190–1280

    Mesa Verde and Cliff Palace: Ancestral Puebloan Cliff Dwellings

    Hundreds of cliff dwellings were built in the 1200s and then left by about 1300, when their people migrated south to the ancestral homes of today's Pueblo nations.

  312. 1192

    Second Battle of Tarain (1192): Prithviraj Chauhan's Defeat

    Decisive Ghurid victory; Prithviraj was captured and executed, opening northern India to Ghurid rule and leading to the Delhi Sultanate.

  313. Begun c. 1199

    Qutub Minar: Delhi's Medieval Victory Tower and Its History

    The tower became the tallest minaret of medieval India and the symbol of the Delhi Sultanate; it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

  314. c. 1200

    Ife Bronze and Terracotta Heads: Masterpieces of Yoruba Art

    Ife artists created some of the most naturalistic sculpture of the medieval world, closely tied to sacred kingship, and their work overturned European prejudices about African art.

  315. c. 1200

    Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela: Ethiopia's New Jerusalem

    Eleven monolithic and semi-monolithic churches were carved from living rock, creating a sacred landscape that is still a major Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrimage centre.

  316. April 1204

    Sack of Constantinople (1204): The Fourth Crusade's Betrayal

    Crusaders and Venetians captured and plundered Constantinople, divided much of the Byzantine Empire and founded the Latin Empire, which lasted until 1261.

  317. 1206

    Genghis Khan and the Rise of the Mongol Empire (1206)

    The steppe tribes were united as a single Mongol nation under Genghis Khan, whose armies went on to conquer much of Eurasia.

  318. 1206

    Founding of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206: Qutb al-Din Aibak

    Aibak became the first independent Muslim ruler based in northern India; under Iltutmish the state was consolidated with Delhi as its capital.

  319. 15 June 1215

    Magna Carta (1215): King John, the Barons and the Rule of Law

    King John granted a charter limiting royal power; it was annulled within weeks, but later reissues made it a lasting foundation of English law.

  320. c. 1235

    Sundiata Keita and the Battle of Kirina (c. 1235): Mali's Birth

    Sundiata's Mande coalition defeated the Sosso kingdom, and Sundiata became the founding ruler of the Mali Empire.

  321. 1237-1240

    Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus (1237-1240) and the Fall of Kyiv

    Most Rus principalities were devastated and became tributaries of the Golden Horde, the beginning of more than two centuries of Mongol overlordship.

  322. 1238–1492

    Alhambra: The Nasrid Palace-Fortress of Granada

    The Nasrid emirs built a walled palace-city that survived the fall of Granada in 1492 and is today the best-preserved palace of medieval Islamic Spain.

  323. 1241-1242

    Mongol Invasion of Europe (1241): Legnica, Mohi and Retreat

    The Mongols crushed the Polish and Hungarian armies and devastated Hungary, then withdrew east in 1242 without trying to hold central Europe.

  324. 1242

    Battle on the Ice (1242): Alexander Nevsky at Lake Peipus

    Victory for Novgorod and its allies; the Livonian Order gave up its recent conquests in the Pskov and Novgorod lands and made peace.

  325. c. 1250–1650

    Moai of Rapa Nui: History of the Easter Island Statues

    Nearly 1,000 statues were carved to honour ancestors; all had been toppled by the mid-1800s, and some have since been re-erected as a World Heritage Site.

  326. 1258

    Siege of Baghdad (1258): Mongols End the Abbasid Caliphate

    Mongol victory; Baghdad was sacked, the caliph executed and the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad ended.

  327. 3 September 1260

    Battle of Ain Jalut (1260): Mamluks Halt the Mongol Advance

    Decisive Mamluk victory; the Mongol commander Kitbuqa was killed and Mongol rule in Syria collapsed.

  328. 1270

    Yekuno Amlak and the Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia (1270)

    The Zagwe dynasty was overthrown and the Solomonic dynasty took power, ruling Ethiopia, with interruptions, until the deposition of Haile Selassie in 1974.

  329. 1271

    Kublai Khan and the Founding of the Yuan Dynasty (1271)

    Kublai founded the Yuan dynasty, conquered the Song by 1279 and became the first non-Chinese ruler of all of China.

  330. 1274 and 1281

    Mongol Invasions of Japan (1274 and 1281): The Kamikaze

    Both invasions failed; Japan remained independent, but the cost of defence weakened the Kamakura shogunate.

  331. c. 1275–1292

    Marco Polo in China: A Venetian at Kublai Khan's Court (1275)

    Marco Polo spent about 17 years in Yuan China, and his book became medieval Europe's most influential account of Asia.

  332. c. 1280

    Maori Settlement of New Zealand: The Last Great Migration

    East Polynesian settlers made New Zealand their home, founding the Maori people and transforming the islands' environment within a few generations.

  333. 1293

    Majapahit Empire Founded (1293): Raden Wijaya and Java

    Raden Wijaya defeated Jayakatwang with Yuan help, then drove out the Yuan army and was crowned first king of Majapahit.

  334. 11 September 1297

    Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297): William Wallace's Victory

    Decisive Scottish victory; the English army was routed and Edward I's hold on Scotland temporarily collapsed.

  335. c. 1299

    Osman I and the Founding of the Ottoman State (c. 1299)

    Osman founded a frontier principality that his successors expanded into the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until 1922.

  336. 1307–1314

    Arrest of the Knights Templar (1307): Fall of a Military Order

    The Order of the Temple was suppressed by Clement V in 1312 and its last grand master was burned in Paris in 1314.

  337. c. 1308–1321

    Dante's Divine Comedy: The Medieval Journey Through Hell

    Completed shortly before Dante's death in 1321, the poem became a foundation of Italian language and European literature.

  338. 1314

    Battle of Bannockburn (1314): Robert the Bruce Defeats England

    Decisive Scottish victory; Stirling Castle surrendered and Bruce's kingship was secured, though England did not recognise Scottish independence until 1328.

  339. 1324-1325

    Mansa Musa's Hajj (1324): Mali's Gold Pilgrimage to Mecca

    Mansa Musa's lavish pilgrimage made Mali famous across the Islamic world and Europe and brought scholars and an architect back to West Africa.

  340. 1325-1354

    Ibn Battuta's Travels (1325-1354): Journeys Across Islam

    Ibn Battuta's dictated account, the Rihla (completed 1355), became one of the most important sources on the 14th-century Islamic world.

  341. 1325

    Founding of Tenochtitlan (1325): Birth of the Aztec Capital

    The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, which grew from a marshy settlement into the capital of the Aztec Empire and one of the largest cities in the world by 1519.

  342. 1336

    Founding of the Vijayanagara Empire (1336) and Hampi

    Harihara and Bukka established an independent kingdom that grew into the Vijayanagara Empire, dominating South India until 1565.

  343. 1337–1453

    Hundred Years' War (1337–1453): England and France at War

    French victory; England lost all its lands in France except Calais, which it held until 1558.

  344. 1346–1353

    Black Death (1346–1353): The Plague That Ravaged Europe

    An estimated 30–60% of Europe's population died, causing deep social, economic and religious change.

  345. 26 August 1346

    Battle of Crécy (1346): English Longbows Defeat French Knights

    Decisive English victory; much of the French nobility was killed and Edward III went on to besiege and capture Calais.

  346. 1352-1353

    Ibn Battuta in Mali (1352): A Traveller at Mansa Sulayman's Court

    Ibn Battuta's account became the only detailed eyewitness description of the medieval Mali Empire written by an outsider.

  347. c. 1159–1669

    Hanseatic League: The Merchant Alliance That Ruled the Baltic

    A loose league of up to some 200 towns dominated northern European trade for about three centuries before declining in the 1500s and 1600s.

  348. 1368

    Hongwu Emperor and the Founding of the Ming Dynasty (1368)

    Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming dynasty, expelled the Yuan court from China and built an autocratic state that lasted until 1644.

  349. May-June 1381

    Peasants' Revolt (1381): Wat Tyler and the March on London

    The rising was suppressed and Richard II's promises to end serfdom were revoked, but no further poll tax of this kind was attempted for centuries and serfdom continued to decline.

  350. c. 1387

    Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: Pilgrims, Stories and Middle English

    Chaucer left a collection of 24 tales within a pilgrimage frame that became a founding work of English literature.

  351. 1389

    Battle of Kosovo (1389): Prince Lazar and Sultan Murad I Fall

    Tactically inconclusive with heavy losses on both sides and both rulers killed, but Serbia was left exhausted and soon became an Ottoman vassal.

  352. 1397

    Kinkaku-ji (1397): Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's Golden Pavilion

    Yoshimitsu's Kitayama villa, centred on a gilded pavilion, became the Zen temple Rokuon-ji; the pavilion survived until an arson attack in 1950 and was rebuilt in 1955.

  353. December 1398

    Timur's Sack of Delhi (1398): Ruin of the Tughluq Capital

    Timur defeated the Tughluq army and sacked Delhi; the Delhi Sultanate was left fragmented and the Tughluq dynasty soon ended.

  354. 1405–1433

    Zheng He's Treasure Voyages (1405–1433): Ming China at Sea

    Seven state-sponsored expeditions spread Ming prestige and the tribute system across the Indian Ocean, then ended abruptly after 1433 and were never repeated.

  355. 1406–1420

    Forbidden City (1406–1420): Building the Ming Imperial Palace

    A vast walled palace complex was completed in 1420 and served as the seat of Chinese emperors until 1912; it became the Palace Museum in 1925.

  356. 15 July 1410

    Battle of Grunwald (1410): Poland-Lithuania Defeats the Teutons

    Decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory; the Grand Master and most of the Order's leadership were killed, beginning the long decline of the Teutonic Order's state.

  357. 25 October 1415

    Battle of Agincourt (1415): Henry V's Famous Victory

    Decisive English victory; much of the French nobility was killed or captured, opening the way for Henry V's conquest of Normandy.

  358. 6 July 1415

    Jan Hus (1415): The Bohemian Reformer Burned at Constance

    Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake; his death provoked a revolt in Bohemia that grew into the Hussite movement and wars.

  359. 1420-1436

    Brunelleschi's Dome: Building Florence Cathedral's Cupola

    The dome was closed in 1436 and remains the largest masonry dome ever built, a landmark of early Renaissance engineering.

  360. 1428

    Aztec Triple Alliance (1428): How the Aztec Empire Was Born

    The defeat of the Tepanec state of Azcapotzalco created an alliance of three city-states that expanded into the tribute empire known as the Aztec Empire.

  361. 1429-1431

    Joan of Arc: The Maid of Orléans, Her Trial and Her Legacy

    Joan helped relieve Orléans and crown Charles VII, was executed for relapsed heresy in 1431, rehabilitated in 1456 and canonised in 1920.

  362. c. 1438

    Pachacuti and the Rise of the Inca Empire (c. 1438)

    Pachacuti's victory over the Chanka and his seizure of power launched the expansion and reorganisation that created the Inca Empire, Tawantinsuyu.

  363. 1443–1446

    Hangul: King Sejong Creates the Korean Alphabet (1443)

    Korea gained a phonetic alphabet of 28 letters, promulgated in the Hunminjeongeum of 1446, which in the twentieth century became the main script of Korean.

  364. 1448–1476

    Vlad the Impaler: Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia

    Vlad III fought the Ottomans and his internal enemies with extreme brutality; he lost his throne in 1462, regained it briefly in 1476 and was killed soon after.

  365. c. 1450

    Gutenberg's Printing Press: Movable Type Changes Europe

    Printing with movable metal type spread to more than 250 European towns by 1500, transforming the production of books and the circulation of ideas.

  366. c. 1450

    Machu Picchu: History of the Inca Royal Estate in the Andes

    Machu Picchu served as a royal estate until it was abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquest; it became world famous after 1911 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

  367. 6 April – 29 May 1453

    Fall of Constantinople (1453): End of the Byzantine Empire

    Ottoman victory; Constantinople was captured, the Byzantine Empire ended and the city became the Ottoman capital.

  368. 1455-1487

    Wars of the Roses (1455-1487): Lancaster Against York

    The House of York won the throne in 1461 and lost it in 1485 to Henry Tudor, whose marriage to Elizabeth of York founded the Tudor dynasty.

  369. 1467–1477

    Onin War (1467-1477): Kyoto Burns and Sengoku Japan Begins

    No clear victor; Kyoto was largely destroyed, the Ashikaga shoguns lost real power, and Japan slid into more than a century of regional warfare.

  370. 1468

    Sunni Ali Seizes Timbuktu (1468): Rise of the Songhai Empire

    Sunni Ali drove the Tuareg from Timbuktu, went on to take Djenne and turned the kingdom of Gao into the Songhai Empire, the largest state in West African history.

  371. 1478

    Spanish Inquisition (1478): Its Founding and Torquemada

    A royal-controlled inquisition was established that tried thousands of conversos and others, lasted until 1834 and contributed to the expulsion of Spain's Jews in 1492.

  372. 1483

    Princes in the Tower (1483): The Mystery of Edward V and Richard

    The two sons of Edward IV disappeared from view in the Tower of London in 1483; they are generally believed to have died there, but who was responsible has never been proven.

  373. 22 August 1485

    Battle of Bosworth (1485): Richard III Falls, the Tudors Rise

    Richard III was killed and his army defeated; Henry Tudor became King Henry VII, founding the Tudor dynasty.

  374. 1492

    Fall of Granada (1492): The End of the Reconquista

    The Nasrid Emirate of Granada surrendered to the Crown of Castile, ending almost eight centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

  375. 1493-1528

    Askia Muhammad (1493-1528): The Songhai Empire at Its Height

    Askia Muhammad founded the Askia dynasty, reorganised Songhai's government on Islamic lines and expanded it into the largest empire in West African history.

  376. Early Modernc. 1500 – 1800 · all 603 articles →
  377. 3 August 1492 – 15 March 1493

    Columbus's First Voyage (1492): Crossing the Atlantic

    Columbus reached the Caribbean and returned to Spain, opening lasting contact between Europe and the Americas.

  378. From 1492

    Columbian Exchange: Crops, Animals and Diseases after 1492

    Plants, animals, microbes and people were redistributed across the globe, transforming diets, economies and populations on every inhabited continent.

  379. 1493–1496

    Columbus's Second Voyage (1493–1496): La Isabela and Colonisation

    Spain founded its first planned town in the Americas at La Isabela, imposed tribute on the Taíno of Hispaniola and began permanent colonisation.

  380. 7 June 1494

    Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Spain and Portugal Divide the World

    Castile and Portugal agreed a dividing meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, giving Portugal Africa, the route to Asia and later Brazil, and Castile most of the Americas.

  381. 1497

    John Cabot's 1497 Voyage to North America on the Matthew

    Cabot reached and briefly landed on the North American coast, the first recorded European landing there since the Norse, giving England a basis for later claims.

  382. 1497–1499

    Vasco da Gama's Voyage to India (1497–1499): Sea Route Opened

    Da Gama reached Calicut in May 1498 and returned to Lisbon in 1499, opening a direct sea route between Europe and India at the cost of more than half his men.

  383. 1499–1502

    Amerigo Vespucci's Voyages (1499–1502) and the Name America

    Vespucci's widely printed letters argued that the lands to the west were a new continent, and his name was given to the Americas in 1507.

  384. 1513

    Piri Reis Map (1513): The Ottoman Map of the Atlantic World

    A surviving fragment of an Ottoman world map that preserves early European knowledge of the Americas, possibly including a lost map by Columbus.

  385. 1513

    Ponce de León in Florida (1513) and the Fountain of Youth Myth

    Ponce de León charted much of the Florida coast, named it La Florida and noted the Gulf Stream, but founded no settlement.

  386. 1514

    Battle of Chaldiran (1514): Ottoman Guns Defeat Shah Ismail

    Decisive Ottoman victory; Selim briefly occupied Tabriz and the Ottomans went on to annex most of eastern Anatolia.

  387. 31 October 1517

    Martin Luther's 95 Theses (1517): The Start of the Reformation

    Luther's challenge to indulgences spread rapidly in print and grew into the Protestant Reformation, dividing Western Christianity.

  388. 1519-1521

    La Malinche (c. 1500-c. 1529): Interpreter of the Conquest

    Her translation and diplomacy made Cortés's alliances and negotiations possible, and she became one of the most debated figures in Mexican history.

  389. 1519-1521

    Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521): Cortés

    Tenochtitlan fell on 13 August 1521, the Mexica state was destroyed and central Mexico became the Spanish colony of New Spain.

  390. 1519-1522

    Magellan-Elcano Expedition (1519-1522): First Circumnavigation

    The ship Victoria returned to Spain with 18 of the roughly 270 men who set out, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

  391. 1520–1566

    Suleiman the Magnificent: The Ottoman Empire at Its Zenith

    The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest power and prestige, expanding into Hungary, Iraq and North Africa and dominating the Mediterranean.

  392. 1521

    Fall of Tenochtitlan (1521): Siege of the Aztec Capital

    Spanish and Indigenous allied victory; the Mexica capital was destroyed, Cuauhtémoc was captured and Mexico City was built on the ruins.

  393. January–May 1521

    Diet of Worms (1521): Luther Defies the Emperor Charles V

    Luther refused to recant; the Edict of Worms declared him an outlaw and banned his writings, but it was never fully enforced.

  394. 1524–1525

    German Peasants' War (1524–1525): Europe's Great Revolt

    The princes and the Swabian League crushed the rebel armies; an estimated 70,000–100,000 people died and most demands went unmet.

  395. c. 1525 – 1860s

    Middle Passage: The Atlantic Crossing of Enslaved Africans

    An estimated 12.5 million Africans were forced aboard slave ships, of whom about 10.7 million survived the crossing to the Americas.

  396. 21 April 1526

    First Battle of Panipat (1526): Babur Founds Mughal Rule

    Decisive victory for Babur; Ibrahim Lodi was killed, the Lodi sultanate fell and Babur took Delhi and Agra.

  397. 29 August 1526

    Battle of Mohács (1526): The Fall of Medieval Hungary

    Decisive Ottoman victory; Louis II died and Hungary split between rival kings, leading to Ottoman-Habsburg partition.

  398. 1529

    Siege of Vienna (1529): Suleiman's First Attempt on Vienna

    The garrison repulsed every assault and the Ottoman army withdrew; Vienna remained in Habsburg hands.

  399. 16 November 1532

    Battle of Cajamarca (1532): The Capture of Atahualpa

    Spanish victory; Atahualpa was captured, paid a huge ransom in gold and silver, and was executed in July 1533.

  400. 1532-1572

    Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire (1532-1572): Pizarro

    The Inca Empire was destroyed and replaced by the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, though an Inca state survived in Vilcabamba until 1572.

  401. 1527–1534

    Henry VIII and the English Reformation: The Break with Rome

    England rejected papal authority and Parliament recognised the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England, opening the way to the English Reformation.

  402. 19 May 1536

    Execution of Anne Boleyn (1536): Fall of Henry VIII's Queen

    Anne was convicted of adultery, incest and treason on charges most historians consider false, and beheaded; Henry married Jane Seymour eleven days later.

  403. 1536–1541

    Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–1541): Henry VIII's Seizure

    More than 800 religious houses were closed, their lands passed to the crown and then largely to the gentry, and monastic life ended in England for centuries.

  404. 1539–1543

    Hernando de Soto Expedition (1539-1543): Across the Southeast

    No gold or empire was found; de Soto died in 1542 and about 300 survivors reached Mexico in 1543, leaving the earliest written record of the Mississippian chiefdoms.

  405. 1540

    Founding of the Jesuits (1540): Ignatius of Loyola's Society

    The bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae created the Society of Jesus, which grew into the largest teaching and missionary order of the Catholic Reformation.

  406. 1543

    Vesalius and the Fabrica (1543): The Birth of Modern Anatomy

    The Fabrica established direct human dissection as the basis of anatomy, exposed errors in Galen and set a new standard for scientific illustration.

  407. 1543

    Copernicus and De Revolutionibus (1543): The Sun at the Centre

    De revolutionibus presented a mathematical model of a Sun-centred universe that, refined by Kepler and Galileo, overturned the Earth-centred cosmos.

  408. 1545–1563

    Council of Trent (1545–1563): The Catholic Counter-Reformation

    The council restated Catholic doctrine against Protestant teaching and launched reforms of the clergy, but the split in Western Christianity became permanent.

  409. 1556-1605

    Akbar the Great: Expansion and Tolerance in Mughal India

    Akbar turned a fragile foothold into a vast, centrally administered empire and set the pattern of Mughal government for the next century.

  410. 23 January 1556

    Shaanxi Earthquake (1556): The Deadliest Earthquake in History

    An earthquake of estimated magnitude around 8 devastated Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan; official records put the dead at about 830,000, the highest toll of any recorded earthquake.

  411. 1560-1582

    Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582): The First Great Unifier of Japan

    Nobunaga ended the Ashikaga shogunate and brought much of central Japan under his control, laying the foundations on which Hideyoshi and Ieyasu completed unification.

  412. 1562–1598

    French Wars of Religion (1562–1598): Catholics vs Huguenots

    Henry IV converted to Catholicism, reunited France and granted the Huguenots limited toleration in the Edict of Nantes of 1598.

  413. 16th – 19th centuries

    Triangular Trade: How Europe, Africa and the Americas Were Linked

    A system of Atlantic commerce forcibly transported millions of Africans to American plantations and helped enrich European ports and merchants.

  414. 1565

    Great Siege of Malta (1565): The Knights Against Suleiman

    The Knights Hospitaller and Maltese defenders held out until a Spanish relief force arrived, and the Ottoman expedition withdrew.

  415. 1565-1815

    Manila Galleon Trade (1565-1815): Ships Linking Asia and America

    For 250 years the galleons carried American silver to Asia and Asian goods to the Americas and Europe, creating the first regular trans-Pacific trade route.

  416. 1568–1648

    Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)

    The seven northern provinces became the independent Dutch Republic, recognised by Spain in the Peace of Münster in 1648; the southern provinces remained under Spain.

  417. 1569

    Mercator Projection (1569): Gerardus Mercator's World Map

    Mercator published an 18-sheet world map on a new conformal projection that showed lines of constant compass bearing as straight lines; it became the standard for nautical charts and later for web maps.

  418. 7 October 1571

    Battle of Lepanto (1571): The Holy League Defeats the Ottomans

    Decisive tactical victory for the Holy League; most of the Ottoman fleet was captured or destroyed, but Venice still lost Cyprus.

  419. 1572

    St Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572): Slaughter in Paris

    Coligny and many Huguenot leaders were killed along with thousands of Protestants; the Wars of Religion resumed and grew more bitter.

  420. 1577-1580

    Francis Drake's Circumnavigation (1577-1580) in the Golden Hind

    Drake completed the second circumnavigation of the world and the first by a captain who survived the whole voyage, returning with enormous Spanish treasure and receiving a knighthood.

  421. 1582–1598

    Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1582-1598): The Peasant Who Unified Japan

    Hideyoshi brought all of Japan under one authority by 1590 and laid the social and fiscal foundations of early modern Japan, but his invasions of Korea failed and his dynasty did not survive him.

  422. 1582–1610

    Matteo Ricci in China (1582-1610): The Jesuit Who Reached Beijing

    Ricci established a lasting Jesuit presence in Beijing, introduced European mathematics and geography to Chinese scholars and shaped a missionary strategy of cultural accommodation.

  423. 8 February 1587

    Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1587) at Fotheringhay

    Mary was beheaded; Elizabeth disowned the act, and Philip II of Spain pressed ahead with the invasion of England.

  424. 1587-1590

    Roanoke Colony (1587): The Mystery of the Lost Colony

    The roughly 115 colonists left on Roanoke Island in 1587 disappeared before John White's return in 1590; their fate remains unknown.

  425. 1588

    Spanish Armada (1588): Philip II's Invasion Fleet Against England

    The invasion failed; the Armada was driven into the North Sea and lost an estimated 50 to 65 ships, mostly in storms on the way home.

  426. 1588-1629

    Shah Abbas the Great: Reviving the Safavid Empire (1588-1629)

    Abbas restored Safavid power, recovered lost provinces and made Isfahan one of the great cities of the world.

  427. 13 March 1591

    Battle of Tondibi (1591): Morocco Destroys the Songhai Empire

    Decisive Moroccan victory; the Songhai empire collapsed and Gao, Timbuktu and Djenne came under Moroccan rule.

  428. 1592–1598

    Imjin War (1592–1598): Japan's Invasions of Korea

    Japan withdrew after Hideyoshi's death without gaining territory, leaving Korea devastated and Ming China financially weakened.

  429. 26 October 1597

    Battle of Myeongnyang (1597): Yi Sun-sin's 13 Ships Against 133

    Korean victory; the Japanese fleet withdrew after losing around thirty ships, and its advance along the west coast of Korea was halted.

  430. 1598

    Edict of Nantes (1598): Henry IV Grants Toleration in France

    The French Wars of Religion ended with limited legal toleration for Protestants in a Catholic kingdom; the edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.

  431. c. 1598

    Naqsh-e Jahan Square: Shah Abbas's Royal Square in Isfahan

    Isfahan gained one of the largest and most celebrated urban squares in the world, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  432. 21 October 1600

    Battle of Sekigahara (1600): The Battle That Decided Japan

    Decisive victory for Tokugawa Ieyasu's Eastern Army, which made Ieyasu the master of Japan and led to the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603.

  433. 1602

    Dutch East India Company (1602): The VOC and the Spice Islands

    The States General merged rival Dutch trading companies into one chartered company with a monopoly on Asian trade, which dominated the spice trade for much of the seventeenth century.

  434. 1603 to 1868

    Tokugawa Shogunate (1603): Ieyasu Founds the Edo Period

    Ieyasu's appointment as shogun in 1603 began a military government that ruled Japan for about 265 years, until the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

  435. 1605

    Gunpowder Plot (1605): Guy Fawkes and the Plan to Kill James I

    The plot failed; its leaders were killed or executed, anti-Catholic laws were tightened, and 5 November became a national day of thanksgiving.

  436. 14 May 1607

    Jamestown Settlement (1607): First Permanent English Colony

    Despite famine, disease and war with the Powhatan, Jamestown survived to become the first permanent English settlement in North America and the capital of Virginia until 1699.

  437. 1609

    Henry Hudson's Half Moon Voyage (1609) up the Hudson River

    No passage to Asia was found, but Hudson's reports of a rich fur country led to Dutch trade on the river and the colony of New Netherland.

  438. 1609-1616

    Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque): Istanbul's Ottoman Icon

    The last great imperial mosque of the Ottoman classical age, still an active mosque and one of Istanbul's most famous landmarks.

  439. 1609-1619

    Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion (1609-1619): Elliptical Orbits

    Kepler replaced circular orbits with ellipses and gave three precise laws of planetary motion, later explained by Newton's theory of gravitation.

  440. 1609-1610

    Galileo's Telescope and Sidereus Nuncius (1610): Moons of Jupiter

    Galileo's observations of the Moon, the stars and Jupiter's four moons made the telescope a scientific instrument and strengthened the case for Copernicus.

  441. 1604–1611

    King James Bible (1611): The Authorized Version's Origins

    A new English translation, printed in 1611, became the standard Bible of the English-speaking Protestant world for some three centuries.

  442. 1618–1648

    Thirty Years' War (1618–1648): Europe's Most Destructive War

    The Peace of Westphalia ended the war in the Empire, recognised Calvinism, strengthened the German princes and gave territory to Sweden and France.

  443. 1620

    Mayflower Voyage and Plymouth Colony (1620): The Pilgrims

    The Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony, the second lasting English settlement in North America; about half died in the first winter.

  444. Autumn 1621

    First Thanksgiving (1621): Pilgrims and Wampanoag at Plymouth

    A three-day harvest gathering of about 50 colonists and some 90 Wampanoag men that was later reimagined as the origin of a national holiday.

  445. 1624-1663

    Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba: Resisting Portuguese Angola

    Nzinga preserved an independent kingdom in Matamba against Portuguese expansion, made peace with Portugal in 1656 and died as queen in 1663.

  446. 10 August 1628

    Vasa Warship (1628): Sweden's Great Ship Sinks on Maiden Voyage

    The Vasa capsized and sank after sailing about 1,300 metres, killing an estimated 30 people; she was raised almost intact in 1961 and is now a museum ship.

  447. 1628

    William Harvey and the Circulation of the Blood (1628)

    Harvey overturned the Galenic model of the blood and established that the heart drives a continuous circulation, a foundation of modern physiology.

  448. Wrecked 4 June 1629

    Batavia Shipwreck and Mutiny (1629): Massacre on the Abrolhos

    The Batavia was lost and about 110 to 125 survivors were murdered by mutineers; Pelsaert's rescue ship captured the mutineers, and Cornelisz and six others were hanged on 2 October 1629.

  449. c. 1632-1653

    Taj Mahal: How Shah Jahan Built a Tomb for Mumtaz Mahal

    A white marble mausoleum and garden complex was completed, becoming the most celebrated monument of Mughal architecture.

  450. 1633–1853

    Sakoku (1633-1853): How Japan Closed Itself to the World

    Japan limited foreign contact to a few controlled channels for over two centuries until American pressure forced it open in 1853–1854.

  451. 1633

    Trial of Galileo (1633): The Inquisition and Heliocentrism

    Galileo was found vehemently suspect of heresy, forced to abjure, his Dialogue was banned and he spent his last years under house arrest.

  452. 1642-1643

    Abel Tasman's Voyage (1642-1643): Tasmania and New Zealand

    Tasman became the first European known to reach Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji, and showed that Australia was not joined to a great southern continent, but found no trade for the VOC.

  453. 1642–1651

    English Civil War (1642-1651): King Charles I versus Parliament

    Parliament won; Charles I was executed in 1649, the monarchy was abolished and England became a republic until 1660.

  454. 25 April 1644

    Fall of Beijing (1644): Li Zicheng and the End of the Ming

    Li Zicheng's Shun regime captured Beijing and the last Ming emperor died by suicide; six weeks later the Manchu Qing took the city.

  455. 1648

    Peace of Westphalia (1648): Treaties That Ended Two Wars

    The Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War ended; Dutch independence was recognised and France and Sweden gained territory, but the Franco-Spanish war continued until 1659.

  456. 30 January 1649

    Execution of Charles I (1649): The Trial and Death of a King

    Charles I was beheaded; the monarchy and House of Lords were abolished and England became a republic until 1660.

  457. 1652

    Founding of the Cape Colony (1652): Jan van Riebeeck at the Cape

    The Dutch East India Company founded a permanent station at the Cape that grew into a slave-holding settler colony, dispossessed the Khoikhoi and laid the foundations of Cape Town.

  458. 1658-1707

    Aurangzeb: The Last Great Mughal Emperor and His Legacy

    Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire to its greatest size, but decades of war in the Deccan and rising revolts left it weakened at his death in 1707.

  459. 28 November 1660

    Founding of the Royal Society (1660): Science in London

    A society for experimental learning was founded and chartered by Charles II in 1662, becoming the world's oldest continuously existing national academy of sciences.

  460. 1661–1715

    Louis XIV: The Sun King's Personal Rule in France (1661–1715)

    France became the leading power in Europe with a strong, centralised monarchy, but repeated wars and heavy spending left the state deeply in debt and the population exhausted.

  461. 1661–1722

    Kangxi Emperor (1661-1722): China's Longest-Reigning Ruler

    Kangxi consolidated Qing rule over China, added Taiwan and Outer Mongolia to the empire and left a stable, prosperous state to his successors.

  462. 1665-1666

    Great Plague of London (1665-1666): The Last Major Plague

    An estimated 75,000 to 100,000 or more Londoners died; it was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in England.

  463. 2–6 September 1666

    Great Fire of London (1666): How the City Burned and Rebuilt

    Most of the walled City of London was destroyed, leading to a rebuilding in brick and stone and a new St Paul's Cathedral.

  464. 6 May 1682

    Palace of Versailles: Louis XIV Moves the Court There (1682)

    Versailles became the official residence of the French kings and the centre of government until 1789, and a model for palaces across Europe.

  465. 1683

    Battle of Vienna (1683): Sobieski and the Ottoman Defeat

    The relief army destroyed the Ottoman siege, saving Vienna and beginning the Holy League war that drove the Ottomans out of Hungary.

  466. October 1685

    Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and the Huguenot Exodus

    Protestant worship was banned in France; an estimated 150,000–200,000 Huguenots fled abroad, while most of the rest were forced into nominal Catholicism until toleration returned in 1787.

  467. 1687

    Newton's Principia (1687): Gravity and the Laws of Motion

    Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation became the foundation of physics and astronomy for more than two centuries.

  468. 1688–1689

    Glorious Revolution (1688): William of Orange Takes the Throne

    James II fled to France; Parliament offered the crown jointly to William and Mary with a Declaration of Right limiting royal power.

  469. 1692–1693

    Salem Witch Trials (1692): Accusations, Trials and Executions

    Nineteen people were hanged and one pressed to death before the governor halted the trials; the colony later admitted the injustice, reversed convictions and paid compensation.

  470. 1700-1721

    Great Northern War (1700-1721): Russia Against Sweden's Empire

    Sweden lost its Baltic empire; by the Treaty of Nystad in 1721 Russia gained Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and part of Karelia and became a great power.

  471. 1701–1703

    The Forty-Seven Ronin (1701-1703): Japan's Famous Revenge Story

    The ronin killed Kira in January 1703 and were ordered to commit seppuku; their act became Japan's most famous story of loyalty, retold as Chūshingura.

  472. 1701 to 1714

    War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714): The Fight for Spain

    Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Austria took Spain's European lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca.

  473. 1703

    Founding of Saint Petersburg (1703): Peter the Great's Capital

    A fortress on the Neva grew into a planned European-style city that became the capital of the Russian Empire from about 1712 to 1918.

  474. 1709

    Battle of Poltava (1709): Peter the Great Defeats Charles XII

    Decisive Russian victory; the Swedish army surrendered at Perevolochna days later and Charles XII fled into Ottoman territory.

  475. c. 1729-1894

    Agojie: The Women Warriors of Dahomey (Dahomey Amazons)

    The Agojie became a core part of Dahomey's army for over 150 years until the kingdom's defeat by France in 1892–1894.

  476. 1735-1796

    Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796): The High Qing at Its Peak

    The Qing Empire reached its greatest territorial extent and cultural splendour, but ended the reign burdened by corruption, rebellion and a strained treasury.

  477. 1736

    Nader Shah: The Afsharid Conqueror Who Sacked Delhi

    Nader restored Iran's borders and founded the short-lived Afsharid dynasty, but his empire fragmented after his assassination in 1747.

  478. 16 April 1746

    Battle of Culloden (1746): The Last Pitched Battle in Britain

    Decisive government victory; the Jacobite army was destroyed in under an hour, ending the 1745 rising and the Stuart cause as a military force.

  479. 1751-1772

    Diderot's Encyclopédie (1751-1772): The Enlightenment in Print

    Completed in 17 volumes of text and 11 of plates, the Encyclopédie became the defining work of the French Enlightenment.

  480. June 1752

    Benjamin Franklin's Kite Experiment (1752): Taming Lightning

    The experiments of 1752 showed that lightning is an electrical discharge and led to the spread of the lightning rod.

  481. 1754–1763

    French and Indian War (1754–1763): Struggle for North America

    British victory; by the Treaty of Paris of 1763 France gave up Canada and its lands east of the Mississippi, and Spain ceded Florida to Britain.

  482. 1 November 1755

    Lisbon Earthquake (1755): Quake, Tsunami and Fire on All Saints

    Lisbon was largely destroyed and an estimated 30,000-50,000 people died there; the city was rebuilt on a new plan and the disaster shook European thought.

  483. 1756–1763

    Seven Years' War (1756-1763): The First Truly Global Conflict

    Britain won a vast empire, gaining Canada and dominance in India, while Prussia kept Silesia; the Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg in February 1763 ended the war.

  484. 1759

    Voltaire's Candide (1759): Satire, Optimism and Enlightenment

    Candide became a bestseller across Europe despite being banned, and remains the most widely read work of the French Enlightenment.

  485. 14 January 1761

    Third Battle of Panipat (1761): Marathas Versus Ahmad Shah

    Decisive Afghan victory; the Maratha army was destroyed, halting Maratha expansion in the north for a decade.

  486. 1762

    Catherine the Great: The 1762 Coup and Her Reign over Russia

    Peter III was deposed and died in custody days later; Catherine ruled Russia as Empress Catherine II until her death in 1796.

  487. 1762

    Rousseau's The Social Contract (1762): The General Will

    The book was condemned and burned in Geneva and Rousseau fled into exile, but its theory of popular sovereignty deeply influenced the French Revolution and modern democratic thought.

  488. 1765

    Stamp Act (1765): The Taxation Without Representation Crisis

    Colonial resistance made the act unenforceable; Parliament repealed it in March 1766 but passed the Declaratory Act asserting its full authority over the colonies.

  489. 1768–1771

    James Cook's First Voyage (1768-1771) on HMS Endeavour

    Cook observed the 1769 transit of Venus, charted both main islands of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, and claimed that coast for Britain.

  490. 1765-1776

    James Watt's Steam Engine (1769): The Separate Condenser

    Watt's separate condenser cut the fuel use of steam engines dramatically, and the Boulton and Watt firm made steam power practical across British industry.

  491. 1770

    Boston Massacre (1770): The Shooting on King Street

    Five civilians were killed; troops were withdrawn from the town, and at trial Captain Preston and six soldiers were acquitted while two were convicted of manslaughter.

  492. 1772–1795

    Partitions of Poland (1772-1795): A Country Erased from the Map

    The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was divided completely among Russia, Prussia and Austria and ceased to exist as a state until 1918.

  493. 16 December 1773

    Boston Tea Party (1773): The Protest That Led to Revolution

    342 chests of East India Company tea were destroyed, and Parliament answered with the Coercive Acts of 1774.

  494. 17 June 1775

    Battle of Bunker Hill (1775): Costly British Victory at Boston

    British victory: the colonists were driven off the Charlestown peninsula, but the British lost over 1,000 men killed or wounded.

  495. 19 April 1775

    Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775): War Begins

    The British destroyed some militia supplies but were driven back to Boston with heavy losses; the Revolutionary War had begun.

  496. 9 March 1776

    Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (1776): Birth of Economics

    The book became the founding text of classical economics and a lasting influence on debates about free trade, markets and the role of government.

  497. 25–26 December 1776

    Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton

    American victory: about 900 Hessian soldiers were captured and the Patriot cause, close to collapse, was revived.

  498. 4 July 1776

    Declaration of Independence (1776): Text, Authors and Legacy

    The Second Continental Congress declared the thirteen colonies independent of Great Britain and set out the principles on which the new nation claimed its rights.

  499. 1777–1778

    Valley Forge (1777–1778): The Continental Army's Hard Winter

    The army survived severe shortages and disease, losing around 1,700–2,000 men, and emerged better trained and organised in June 1778.

  500. September–October 1777

    Battles of Saratoga (1777): Turning Point of the Revolution

    American victory: Burgoyne surrendered some 5,800 men on 17 October 1777, and France entered the war as an ally of the United States.

  501. 14 February 1779

    Death of Captain Cook (1779) at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii

    Cook, four marines and around 17 or more Hawaiians were killed; Cook's remains were partly returned and buried at sea, and the expedition sailed on under Clerke.

  502. 1781

    Siege of Yorktown (1781): Cornwallis Surrenders to Washington

    Decisive Franco-American victory; Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8,000 men, leading Britain to open peace negotiations and effectively ending major fighting in the American Revolutionary War.

  503. 1781

    Zong Massacre (1781): Murder at Sea and the Insurance Case

    About 130 or more Africans were killed; the owners' insurance claim was challenged in court, no one was prosecuted, and the case became a rallying point for abolitionists.

  504. 21 November 1783

    Montgolfier Balloon (1783): The First Manned Flight in History

    Two men flew freely over Paris for about 25 minutes, the first recorded untethered human flight, launching the age of aviation.

  505. 1787

    US Constitution (1787): Philadelphia Convention and Ratification

    The convention replaced the Articles of Confederation with a new federal constitution, which was ratified in 1788 and took effect in 1789.

  506. 1787–1788

    First Fleet (1787–1788): Convict Ships Sail to Botany Bay

    The fleet founded the penal colony of New South Wales at Sydney Cove, beginning British settlement of Australia and the dispossession of its Aboriginal peoples.

  507. 14 July 1789

    Storming of the Bastille (1789): The Day That Began a Revolution

    Insurgents captured the Bastille, and royal authority in Paris collapsed in favour of the new revolutionary order.

  508. 28 April 1789

    Mutiny on the Bounty (1789): Bligh, Christian and Pitcairn

    Christian seized the ship; Bligh and 18 men reached Timor in an open boat, and the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island.

  509. 26 August 1789

    Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

    The Assembly adopted 17 articles proclaiming natural rights and national sovereignty; the text became the preamble of the 1791 Constitution and remains part of French constitutional law.

  510. 1789–1799

    French Revolution (1789–1799): Causes, Events and Legacy

    The absolute monarchy and the privileged society of the old regime were abolished; after a decade of upheaval and war, Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799.

  511. 1789

    Olaudah Equiano and The Interesting Narrative (1789)

    A bestselling first-person account of enslavement that strengthened the British campaign against the slave trade.

  512. 1791–1804

    Haitian Revolution (1791): The Slave Uprising in Saint-Domingue

    The uprising led to the abolition of slavery in Saint-Domingue in 1793–1794 and ultimately to Haitian independence in 1804.

  513. 16 October 1793

    Execution of Marie Antoinette (1793): The Last Queen of France

    The former queen was condemned after a two-day trial and guillotined the same day, becoming one of the best-known victims of the Terror.

  514. 1793–1794

    Reign of Terror (1793-1794): Robespierre and the Guillotine

    Around 17,000 people were officially sentenced to death and many more died in prison or summary killings before the Terror ended with Robespierre's fall.

  515. 21 January 1793

    Execution of Louis XVI (1793): Trial and Death of the French King

    The former king was guillotined, the French Republic was committed to regicide and the war with Europe's monarchies widened within weeks.

  516. 1792-1794

    Macartney Embassy (1793): Britain's Mission to Qing China

    The Qianlong Emperor rejected every British request, and the embassy returned home without a treaty or improved trading rights.

  517. 1796

    Edward Jenner's Smallpox Vaccine (1796): The First Vaccination

    Jenner showed that cowpox protects against smallpox, creating vaccination, which spread worldwide and eventually made possible the eradication of smallpox in 1980.

  518. Modern Erac. 1800 – 1945 · all 602 articles →
  519. 1803

    Louisiana Purchase (1803): How the United States Doubled in Size

    France sold its claim to Louisiana to the United States for about 15 million dollars, roughly doubling the area of the young republic.

  520. 1804

    Napoleonic Code (1804): The Civil Law That Reshaped Europe

    France gained a single civil code of 2,281 articles, which became a model for civil law across Europe, Latin America and beyond.

  521. 1804–1806

    Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806): Crossing a Continent

    The Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific and returned, mapping the Missouri and Columbia routes and recording hundreds of plants, animals and Native communities.

  522. 21 October 1805

    Battle of Trafalgar (1805): Nelson's Victory and Death at Sea

    Decisive British victory; the Franco-Spanish fleet lost 22 ships and Britain secured naval supremacy for a century.

  523. 2 December 1805

    Battle of Austerlitz (1805): Napoleon's Greatest Victory

    Decisive French victory; Austria made peace at Pressburg and the Third Coalition collapsed.

  524. 1808-1814

    Peninsular War (1808-1814): Wellington in Spain and Portugal

    Allied victory; the French were driven out of Spain and Portugal, at enormous cost to the Iberian population.

  525. 1810–1821

    Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821): From Dolores to Freedom

    Spanish rule in New Spain ended with the Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Córdoba, and the Mexican Empire was proclaimed independent in September 1821.

  526. 1812

    French Invasion of Russia (1812): Napoleon's Grande Armée

    Catastrophic French defeat; most of the Grande Armée was destroyed, and Napoleon's enemies formed the Sixth Coalition that drove him from power by 1814.

  527. 1812–1815

    War of 1812: Britain and the United States at War Again

    The Treaty of Ghent restored pre-war borders; Canada remained British, the United States gained confidence, and Native nations lost their British ally and much of their land.

  528. October 1813

    Battle of Leipzig (1813): The Battle of the Nations

    Decisive Coalition victory; Napoleon retreated across the Rhine and French power in Germany collapsed.

  529. 1814–1815

    Congress of Vienna (1814–1815): Redrawing the Map of Europe

    The Final Act of 9 June 1815 redrew the map of Europe and created a balance of power and a system of great-power cooperation that lasted for decades.

  530. 1815 - 1871

    Unification of Italy: The Risorgimento from 1815 to 1871

    The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 and completed with Venetia in 1866 and Rome in 1870, which became the capital in 1871.

  531. 1815–1821

    Napoleon on Saint Helena (1815–1821): Exile and Death

    Napoleon spent the last five and a half years of his life as a British prisoner and died on the island on 5 May 1821; his remains were returned to Paris in 1840.

  532. 18 June 1815

    Battle of Waterloo (1815): Wellington, Blücher and Napoleon

    Decisive victory for Wellington's Allied army and Blücher's Prussians; Napoleon abdicated four days later, ending the Napoleonic Wars.

  533. April 1815

    Mount Tambora Eruption (1815): The Largest Blast in History

    A VEI 7 eruption destroyed the summit and two local kingdoms, killed tens of thousands through blast, famine and disease, and cooled the world's climate in 1816.

  534. 1829

    Rainhill Trials (1829): Stephenson's Rocket Wins the Race

    Rocket was the only locomotive to complete the trials, won the £500 prize and persuaded the directors to run the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with steam locomotives.

  535. 1831-1839

    Trail of Tears: Forced Removal of Native Nations, 1830s

    Around 60,000 people of the Five Tribes were forced west of the Mississippi; thousands died on the journeys and in the camps.

  536. 1836

    Battle of the Alamo (1836): The Siege That Shaped Texas

    Mexican victory; nearly all the Alamo's defenders were killed, but the loss became a rallying cry that helped Texas win independence weeks later.

  537. 1837

    Queen Victoria's Accession (1837): The Start of an Era

    Eighteen-year-old Victoria succeeded her uncle William IV, began a reign of more than 63 years and ended the personal union of the British and Hanoverian crowns.

  538. 1839-1842

    First Opium War (1839-1842): Britain, China and the Opium Trade

    British victory; the Treaty of Nanking ceded Hong Kong, opened five treaty ports and began the era of unequal treaties.

  539. 24 May 1844

    Morse Telegraph (1844): 'What Hath God Wrought' and Morse Code

    The first long-distance electric telegraph line in the United States proved the system, which spread across the country and became the basis of a worldwide network.

  540. 1845 - 1852

    Great Irish Famine (1845-1852): The Potato Blight and Exodus

    About one million people died and well over one million emigrated, and Ireland's population fell by roughly a quarter within a decade.

  541. 1846-1848

    Mexican-American War (1846-1848): War for the American West

    US victory; under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Mexico ceded California and most of the Southwest and accepted the Rio Grande border.

  542. 1848-1849

    Revolutions of 1848: The Springtime of Peoples in Europe

    Most revolutions were defeated by 1849, but serfdom ended in the Austrian Empire, France gained universal male suffrage and several states kept constitutions.

  543. 1848-1855

    California Gold Rush (1848-1855): The Rush That Built the West

    About 300,000 people migrated to California, which became a state in 1850, while its Native population collapsed.

  544. 1850-1864

    Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864): Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Kingdom

    The Qing dynasty survived after retaking Nanjing in 1864, but the war devastated central China and shifted military power to regional armies.

  545. 1853-1856

    Crimean War (1853-1856): Britain, France and Russia at War

    Russia was defeated; the Treaty of Paris (1856) neutralised the Black Sea and checked Russian expansion towards the Ottoman Empire.

  546. 1853-1854

    Perry Expedition (1853-1854): The Black Ships Open Japan

    The Convention of Kanagawa of 31 March 1854 opened Shimoda and Hakodate to American ships and began the end of Japan's seclusion policy.

  547. 1854-1856

    Florence Nightingale at Scutari: The Lady with the Lamp

    Nightingale became a national heroine and used her fame and statistics to drive army health reform and to found modern professional nursing.

  548. 25 October 1854

    Charge of the Light Brigade (1854): Blunder at Balaclava

    The Light Brigade reached the Russian guns but lost close to half its men killed, wounded or captured, with no military gain.

  549. 1854

    Broad Street Cholera Outbreak (1854): John Snow and the Pump

    The outbreak killed 616 people; John Snow linked it to a contaminated public water pump, strengthening the case that cholera spreads through water.

  550. 1856-1860

    Second Opium War (1856-1860): Britain, France and the Qing Empire

    Anglo-French victory; the Treaties of Tianjin and the Convention of Peking opened more ports, legalised the opium trade, placed envoys in Beijing and ceded Kowloon to Britain.

  551. 1857-1858

    Indian Rebellion of 1857: The Great Uprising Against Company Rule

    The uprising was suppressed, and in 1858 the British Crown took over the government of India from the East India Company.

  552. 1858–1866

    Transatlantic Telegraph Cable (1858-1866): Linking Two Continents

    After a short-lived link in 1858, the 1866 cable laid by the Great Eastern gave Europe and North America permanent, near-instant communication.

  553. 1858-1947

    British Raj (1858-1947): Crown Rule in India Explained

    The British Crown ruled India directly for almost ninety years, building a centralised colonial state that lasted until independence and partition in 1947.

  554. 1859–1869

    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.

  555. 24 November 1859

    On the Origin of Species (1859): Darwin's Theory of Evolution

    Darwin's book convinced most scientists within two decades that species evolve, and made natural selection the central idea of modern biology.

  556. 1861

    Attack on Fort Sumter (1861): The First Shots of the Civil War

    After 34 hours of bombardment the Union garrison surrendered and evacuated the fort on 14 April; Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers followed and four more states seceded.

  557. 1862

    Battle of Antietam (1862): America's Bloodiest Single Day

    Tactically inconclusive but a strategic Union success: Lee withdrew to Virginia, and Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation five days later.

  558. 19 November 1863

    Gettysburg Address (1863): Lincoln's 272 Words That Endured

    Lincoln's two-minute dedication speech redefined the Civil War as a struggle for equality and democratic government and became one of the most celebrated speeches in history.

  559. July 1863

    Battle of Gettysburg (1863): Turning Point of the Civil War

    Union victory; Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was repulsed with heavy losses and retreated to Virginia, ending its second invasion of the North.

  560. 1 January 1863

    Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln's Order to Free Slaves

    Declared about 3.5 million enslaved people in Confederate-held areas free, made emancipation a Union war aim and opened the Union army to Black soldiers, paving the way for the Thirteenth Amendment.

  561. 1863–1869

    First Transcontinental Railroad (1863-1869): The Golden Spike

    The Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines met at Promontory Summit on 10 May 1869, creating a continuous rail link from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.

  562. 1865-1877

    Reconstruction Era (1865-1877): Rebuilding the United States

    Slavery was abolished and the 14th and 15th Amendments wrote birthright citizenship, equal protection and Black male suffrage into the Constitution, but white Southern resistance and Northern retreat ended federal intervention in 1877.

  563. 1865

    Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865) at Ford's Theatre

    Lincoln died on the morning of 15 April 1865, Andrew Johnson became president, Booth was killed during the manhunt and four conspirators were hanged on 7 July 1865.

  564. 1868

    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.

  565. March 1869

    Mendeleev's Periodic Table (1869): Ordering the Chemical Elements

    Mendeleev's periodic system organised the elements by atomic weight and properties, predicted undiscovered elements and became the central framework of chemistry.

  566. 1870-1871

    Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871): Fall of the Second Empire

    German victory; the French Second Empire fell, the German Empire was proclaimed and France ceded Alsace and part of Lorraine.

  567. 1871

    Paris Commune (1871): Revolution and the Bloody Week

    The Commune was crushed by the army of the Versailles government; thousands of Parisians were killed and tens of thousands arrested.

  568. 1871

    Unification of Germany (1871): Bismarck and the German Empire

    The German states except Austria were united as the German Empire under the Prussian king as German Emperor.

  569. 1871

    Stanley Meets Livingstone (1871): The Famous Encounter at Ujiji

    Stanley found Livingstone alive at Ujiji, supplied him and made himself famous; Livingstone stayed in Africa and died there in 1873.

  570. October 1871

    Great Chicago Fire (1871): How the City Burned and Rebuilt

    About 3.3 square miles of the city burned, some 300 people died and around 100,000 were left homeless; Chicago was rapidly rebuilt.

  571. June 1876

    Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876): Custer's Last Stand

    Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors annihilated five companies of the US 7th Cavalry under Custer, but the victory provoked a campaign that ended free Plains life within a year.

  572. March 1876

    Telephone Invented (1876): Alexander Graham Bell's First Call

    Bell's patent and first successful call launched the telephone industry; within a few decades telephone networks linked cities across North America and Europe.

  573. 1879

    Edison's Light Bulb (1879): Lighting the World with Electricity

    Edison's team produced a practical high-resistance carbon-filament lamp and built an electric lighting system around it, while Joseph Swan developed a rival lamp in Britain.

  574. 1879

    Battle of Isandlwana (1879): The Zulu Victory That Shook Britain

    Decisive Zulu victory; the British centre column's camp was overrun and more than 1,300 men on the British side were killed.

  575. 1879

    Anglo-Zulu War (1879): Cetshwayo's Kingdom Against Britain

    Britain defeated the Zulu army at Ulundi, captured Cetshwayo and broke up the Zulu kingdom, which was annexed in 1887.

  576. c. 1881-1914

    Scramble for Africa (1881-1914): Europe Partitions a Continent

    By 1914 European states controlled about 90 per cent of Africa; only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent.

  577. 26–27 August 1883

    Krakatoa Eruption of 1883: The Volcano Heard Across the World

    Most of the island collapsed into a caldera; tsunamis killed an officially recorded 36,417 people and the ash and aerosols affected weather worldwide.

  578. 1884-1885

    Siege of Khartoum (1884-1885): General Gordon and the Mahdi

    Mahdist victory; Khartoum fell on 26 January 1885, Gordon was killed and the British relief expedition withdrew.

  579. 1884-1885

    Berlin Conference (1884-1885): Rules for the Partition of Africa

    The General Act of Berlin set rules for new claims on African coasts, declared free trade in the Congo basin and smoothed recognition of Leopold II's Congo.

  580. 1885-1908

    Congo Free State (1885-1908): Leopold II's Rubber Terror

    International outrage over forced labour and atrocities led Belgium to annex the territory as the Belgian Congo in November 1908, ending Leopold II's personal rule.

  581. 1886-1893

    War of the Currents (1886-1893): Edison vs Tesla and Westinghouse

    Alternating current became the standard for generating and distributing electric power, while Edison's direct-current system was gradually confined to special uses.

  582. 29 January 1886

    Benz Patent-Motorwagen (1886): The First Practical Automobile

    Karl Benz received German patent No. 37435 for a vehicle powered by a petrol engine, the design generally regarded as the first practical automobile.

  583. 1888

    Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murders of 1888

    The murders stopped after November 1888, but no one was ever charged and the killer's identity remains unknown.

  584. 1889

    Johnstown Flood (1889): The South Fork Dam Disaster

    The dam collapsed and a flood wave destroyed much of Johnstown, killing 2,209 people; the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was never held legally liable.

  585. 1894-1906

    Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906): The Scandal That Divided France

    Dreyfus was convicted twice but finally cleared by France's highest court in July 1906 and reinstated in the army; the affair reshaped French politics.

  586. 1894-1895

    First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895): Japan's Rise Over Qing China

    Japan defeated Qing China; under the Treaty of Shimonoseki China recognised Korean independence, ceded Taiwan and the Pescadores and paid a large indemnity.

  587. 1895

    Discovery of X-Rays (1895): Wilhelm Röntgen's Accidental Find

    Röntgen identified a new, penetrating form of radiation that revolutionised medical diagnosis and opened the age of modern physics.

  588. 1 March 1896

    Battle of Adwa (1896): Ethiopia's Victory Over Italian Invasion

    Decisive Ethiopian victory; Italy recognised Ethiopia's full independence in the Treaty of Addis Ababa (October 1896).

  589. 1898

    Marie and Pierre Curie Discover Radium and Polonium (1898)

    The Curies announced two new radioactive elements, polonium in July and radium in December 1898, establishing radioactivity as a property of atoms.

  590. 1899-1901

    Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): Uprising and Siege of the Legations

    The Eight-Nation Alliance relieved the legations and occupied Beijing; the Boxer Protocol of 1901 imposed a huge indemnity and foreign garrisons on China.

  591. 1899-1902

    Second Boer War (1899-1902): Britain Against the Boer Republics

    British victory; the two Boer republics were annexed and later joined the Union of South Africa in 1910.

  592. 1900

    Galveston Hurricane of 1900: Deadliest Disaster in US History

    The storm surge destroyed much of Galveston and killed an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people; the city built a seawall and raised its ground level.

  593. 12 December 1901

    Marconi's Transatlantic Radio (1901): Signals Across the Ocean

    Marconi reported receiving a wireless signal across the Atlantic, a claim confirmed in principle by shipboard tests in 1902; regular transatlantic wireless service began in 1907.

  594. 17 December 1903

    Wright Brothers' First Flight (1903): The Birth of Aviation

    The Wright Flyer made four powered, controlled, sustained flights, the longest covering 852 feet (260 m) in 59 seconds.

  595. 1904-1908

    Herero and Nama Genocide (1904-1908) in German South West Africa

    German forces crushed the uprisings, killing an estimated majority of the Herero and about half of the Nama; Germany formally recognised the killings as genocide in 2021.

  596. 1904-1905

    Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905): Japan Defeats a European Power

    Japanese victory; Russia ceded southern Sakhalin and its Manchurian leases and recognised Japanese dominance in Korea in the Treaty of Portsmouth.

  597. 1904–1914

    Panama Canal (1904-1914): Building the Path Between the Seas

    The United States completed a lock canal across Panama, linking the Atlantic and Pacific; it opened on 15 August 1914 and remained under US control until 1999.

  598. 1905

    Einstein's Miracle Year (1905): Special Relativity and E=mc2

    Einstein's four papers of 1905 introduced light quanta, proved the reality of atoms, founded special relativity and showed that mass and energy are equivalent.

  599. 1906

    1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: A City Destroyed

    The earthquake and fires destroyed about 28,000 buildings and killed an estimated 3,000 or more people; the city was rebuilt and the event founded modern earthquake science in the United States.

  600. 1908

    Ford Model T (1908): The Car That Put America on Wheels

    The Model T became the best-selling car of its age, with about 15 million built in the United States, and turned the automobile into an everyday necessity.

  601. 30 June 1908

    Tunguska Event (1908): The Siberian Explosion Explained

    A cosmic body exploded in the air above the taiga, flattening an estimated 80 million trees over about 2,000 sq km without leaving a crater.

  602. 1910-1920

    Mexican Revolution (1910-1920): Madero, Villa and Zapata

    Porfirio Díaz was overthrown, the old federal army was destroyed, the Constitution of 1917 was adopted and power passed to the Sonoran revolutionary leaders by 1920.

  603. 1911-1912

    Xinhai Revolution (1911): The Fall of China's Qing Dynasty

    The Qing dynasty abdicated on 12 February 1912 and the Republic of China replaced more than two millennia of imperial rule.

  604. 14–15 April 1912

    Sinking of the Titanic (1912): The Night the Unsinkable Sank

    The Titanic sank in under three hours; more than 1,500 people died, leading to new international rules on lifeboats, radio watches and ice patrols.

  605. Christmas 1914

    Christmas Truce of 1914: When Enemies Met in No Man's Land

    An unofficial, local ceasefire along much of the British-held front; fighting resumed afterwards and high commands prevented any repeat on the same scale.

  606. September 1914

    First Battle of the Marne (1914): The Miracle That Saved Paris

    Decisive Allied strategic victory; the German armies retreated to the Aisne, ending hopes of a quick German victory in the west.

  607. 28 June 1914

    Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo (1914)

    The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife were killed, triggering the July Crisis that led to the First World War.

  608. 7 May 1915

    Sinking of the Lusitania (1915): U-Boat Attack Off Ireland

    The liner sank in about 18 minutes with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, provoking a major crisis between the United States and Germany.

  609. 1915-1916

    Gallipoli Campaign (1915-1916): Allied Failure at the Dardanelles

    Ottoman victory; the Allies failed to force the Dardanelles and evacuated the peninsula by 9 January 1916.

  610. 1916

    Battle of the Somme (1916): The Bloodiest Day in British History

    The Allies advanced about 10 km at a cost of over a million casualties on both sides; no breakthrough was achieved.

  611. 1916

    Battle of Verdun (1916): France's Longest Battle of World War I

    French defensive victory; Germany failed to take Verdun, and both armies suffered around 700,000 casualties combined.

  612. 1917

    Battle of Passchendaele (1917): Third Ypres and the Flanders Mud

    British and Empire forces advanced about 8 km and took Passchendaele ridge at enormous cost, without the hoped-for breakthrough.

  613. November 1917

    October Revolution (1917): Lenin and the Bolshevik Takeover

    The Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government and set up a Soviet government led by Lenin, leading to civil war and the Soviet state.

  614. March 1917

    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.

  615. 1918

    Execution of the Romanov Family (1918): The Last Tsar's Fate

    The former tsar, his wife, their five children and four members of their household were killed and their bodies secretly buried; the remains were identified by DNA in the 1990s and 2000s.

  616. 11 November 1918

    Armistice of 11 November 1918: The End of Fighting in WWI

    Germany accepted Allied terms and fighting on the Western Front stopped at 11 am on 11 November 1918, effectively ending the First World War.

  617. 1918-1920

    Spanish Flu Pandemic (1918-1920): The Deadliest Flu in History

    An estimated 500 million people were infected and roughly 17 to 50 million or more died, making it the deadliest influenza pandemic on record.

  618. 1919

    Treaty of Versailles (1919): The Peace That Ended World War I

    Germany accepted territorial losses, disarmament, reparations and responsibility for the war; the treaty came into force on 10 January 1920.

  619. 1921–1922

    Discovery of Insulin (1921): Banting, Best and Diabetes

    Insulin was isolated and used successfully on patients, making type 1 diabetes a survivable condition; Banting and Macleod received the 1923 Nobel Prize.

  620. October 1922

    March on Rome (1922): How Mussolini's Fascists Took Power

    King Victor Emmanuel III refused to declare martial law and appointed Mussolini prime minister, creating the first fascist-led government.

  621. 1 September 1923

    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.

  622. May 1927

    Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight (1927): Spirit of St. Louis

    Lindbergh completed the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight, won the $25,000 Orteig Prize and became a world celebrity.

  623. September 1928

    Discovery of Penicillin (1928): Alexander Fleming's Mouldy Plate

    Fleming identified penicillin's antibacterial effect; the Oxford team developed it into a drug, mass-produced from 1943–44, opening the antibiotic era.

  624. October 1929

    Wall Street Crash of 1929: Black Tuesday and the Global Slump

    Share prices collapsed, wiping out tens of billions of dollars in paper wealth; the crash was followed by the Great Depression, though historians debate how far it caused it.

  625. 1929-1939

    Great Depression in the United States (1929-1939)

    Output fell by about a quarter and unemployment reached about 25 per cent by 1933; recovery began under the New Deal but was completed only with Second World War mobilisation.

  626. 1930s

    Dust Bowl (1930s): Drought and Dust Storms on the Great Plains

    Severe drought and wind erosion stripped topsoil from millions of acres, drove hundreds of thousands of people from the Plains and led to lasting federal soil conservation programmes.

  627. 30 January 1933

    Hitler Becomes Chancellor (1933): How the Nazis Took Power

    Hitler was appointed head of a coalition cabinet with only three Nazi ministers, and within months he had dismantled Weimar democracy.

  628. 27 February 1933

    Reichstag Fire (1933): The Blaze That Helped Hitler Seize Power

    The Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February 1933 suspended basic rights, enabling mass arrests of Communists and paving the way for the Nazi dictatorship.

  629. 1934

    Night of the Long Knives (1934): Hitler's Purge of the SA

    The SA leadership and other opponents were murdered, the army backed Hitler, and after Hindenburg's death in August 1934 Hitler became Germany's undisputed Fuhrer.

  630. 1936–1939

    Spanish Civil War (1936–1939): Republicans Against Franco

    Nationalist victory; the Second Spanish Republic was destroyed and Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator until his death in 1975.

  631. 1937

    Bombing of Guernica (1937): The Air Raid That Inspired Picasso

    Most of the town centre was destroyed and an estimated 150 to 300 people were killed; Nationalist troops occupied the ruins three days later.

  632. Sept 1938

    Munich Agreement (1938): Chamberlain, Appeasement and Hitler

    Britain, France and Italy agreed that Germany could annex the Sudetenland; Czechoslovakia, which was not present, was forced to comply, and war was postponed by less than a year.

  633. 9–10 Nov 1938

    Kristallnacht (1938): The Night of Broken Glass in Nazi Germany

    Synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses were destroyed, at least 91 Jews were killed and about 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps; persecution sharply escalated.

  634. 1939

    Invasion of Poland (1939): How World War II Began in Europe

    Poland was defeated and partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union, and Britain and France declared war on Germany, beginning the Second World War in Europe.

  635. 1940–1945

    Auschwitz-Birkenau: History of the Largest Nazi Death Camp

    About 1.1 million people, around 1 million of them Jews, were murdered; the camp was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945.

  636. 1940–1941

    The Blitz (1940–1941): German Bombing of British Cities

    Around 43,000 British civilians were killed and over a million homes damaged, but Britain's war production and will to fight were not broken.

  637. 1940

    Dunkirk Evacuation (1940): Operation Dynamo and the Little Ships

    About 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated to Britain, but the British Expeditionary Force lost almost all its heavy equipment.

  638. 1940

    Battle of Britain (1940): The RAF Against the Luftwaffe

    British defensive victory; the Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority and the German invasion of Britain was postponed indefinitely.

  639. 7 December 1941

    Attack on Pearl Harbor (1941): The Day the US Went to War

    Japanese tactical success; eight US battleships damaged or sunk and 2,403 Americans killed, and the United States entered the Second World War.

  640. 1941–1944

    Siege of Leningrad (1941–1944): 872 Days of Blockade and Hunger

    The city held out; the blockade was broken in January 1943 and fully lifted in January 1944, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives.

  641. 1941

    Operation Barbarossa (1941): Germany Invades the Soviet Union

    Huge German advances and Soviet losses, but the Red Army survived and the offensive was halted before Moscow in December 1941.

  642. 1942–1945

    Manhattan Project (1942–1945): The Race for the Atomic Bomb

    The United States, with British and Canadian participation, produced the first nuclear weapons, tested one on 16 July 1945 and used two against Japan in August 1945.

  643. 1942

    Second Battle of El Alamein (1942): Montgomery Defeats Rommel

    Decisive Allied victory; the Axis Panzer Army Africa was driven out of Egypt and began a retreat that ended with its surrender in Tunisia in May 1943.

  644. 1942–1943

    Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943): Turning Point of the East

    Decisive Soviet victory; the German Sixth Army was encircled and destroyed, and about 91,000 Axis soldiers surrendered.

  645. 1942

    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.

  646. 1942

    Wannsee Conference (1942): Planning the 'Final Solution'

    Senior SS, Nazi Party and ministry officials agreed to cooperate under Heydrich's lead in the deportation and murder of Europe's Jews.

  647. 1943

    Battle of Kursk (1943): The Largest Tank Battle in History

    Soviet victory; the German Operation Citadel failed, and Soviet counter-offensives retook Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov, giving the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war.

  648. 1943

    Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943): Jewish Armed Resistance

    The uprising was crushed and the ghetto razed; tens of thousands of Jews were killed on the spot or deported to camps, but the revolt inspired resistance elsewhere.

  649. 1944–1945

    Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945): Hitler's Ardennes Offensive

    Allied victory: the German offensive was halted short of the River Meuse and pushed back, costing Germany reserves it could not replace.

  650. 1944

    D-Day (1944): The Allied Normandy Landings of Operation Overlord

    Allied victory: about 156,000 troops came ashore by sea and air and secured a foothold in France, opening the Western Front that led to the liberation of western Europe.

  651. 1945

    Surrender of Japan (1945): VJ Day and the End of World War II

    Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration and signed the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945, ending the Second World War and beginning the Allied occupation of Japan.

  652. 9 August 1945

    Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki (1945): Fat Man and Its Victims

    The second and so far last use of a nuclear weapon in war devastated the Urakami valley of Nagasaki and killed an estimated 40,000–80,000 people by the end of 1945.

  653. 6 August 1945

    Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima (1945): The First Nuclear Attack

    The first use of a nuclear weapon in war destroyed most of Hiroshima and killed an estimated 90,000–140,000 people by the end of 1945.

  654. 8 May 1945

    VE Day (1945): Victory in Europe and the German Surrender

    Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending the war in Europe; Victory in Europe Day was celebrated on 8 May in the West and on 9 May in the Soviet Union.

  655. 1945

    Battle of Berlin (1945): The Fall of the Third Reich's Capital

    Soviet victory; Berlin surrendered on 2 May 1945, two days after Hitler's suicide, and Germany surrendered unconditionally within a week.

  656. 1945

    Battle of Okinawa (1945): The Last Great Battle of the Pacific

    US victory after nearly three months; Okinawa became the main staging base for a planned invasion of Japan, at a cost of well over 200,000 military and civilian lives.

  657. 1945

    Battle of Iwo Jima (1945): The Marines and Mount Suribachi

    US victory after five weeks of fighting; almost the entire Japanese garrison was killed, and the island's airfields were used by American aircraft for the rest of the war.

  658. 1945

    Yalta Conference (1945): Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

    The Allies agreed on zones of occupation for Germany, a new frontier and government formula for Poland, the voting rules of the United Nations and Soviet entry into the war against Japan.

  659. Contemporary1945 – present · all 470 articles →
  660. 1945–1946

    ENIAC (1945): The First General-Purpose Electronic Computer

    ENIAC proved that large-scale electronic computation was practical and launched the American computer industry.

  661. 1946

    Iron Curtain Speech (1946): Churchill at Fulton, Missouri

    Churchill's warning of an iron curtain across Europe was widely criticised at first but became the defining image of the Cold War division of the continent.

  662. 1946-1949

    Chinese Civil War 1946-1949: Mao's Communists Defeat Chiang

    Communist victory on the mainland; the People's Republic of China was proclaimed and the Nationalist government withdrew to Taiwan.

  663. 1947

    Partition of India 1947: Mass Migration, Violence and Two Nations

    British India was divided into India and Pakistan; an estimated 10 to 20 million people were displaced and hundreds of thousands to perhaps 2 million were killed.

  664. 1947

    Indian Independence 1947: How the British Raj Came to an End

    British rule ended and power passed to two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, under the Indian Independence Act 1947.

  665. 1947

    Invention of the Transistor (1947): Bell Labs and the Chip Age

    The point-contact transistor, demonstrated on 23 December 1947, began the replacement of vacuum tubes and laid the foundation of modern electronics.

  666. 1948–1949

    1948 Arab-Israeli War: The First War over Israel and Palestine

    Israel survived and expanded beyond the UN partition lines; Jordan held the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip; some 700,000 to 750,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees.

  667. 14 May 1948

    Israeli Declaration of Independence 1948: Founding of Israel

    The State of Israel was proclaimed as the British Mandate for Palestine ended; it was quickly recognised by the United States and the Soviet Union, and neighbouring Arab states went to war.

  668. 30 January 1948

    Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi (1948): Death in New Delhi

    Gandhi was killed; Godse and Apte were tried, convicted and hanged in 1949, and the assassination shocked India and the world.

  669. 1948–1949

    Berlin Airlift (1948–1949): Supplying a Blockaded City by Air

    The Western powers supplied West Berlin entirely by air for over ten months; the Soviet Union lifted the blockade in May 1949 and Germany was divided into two states.

  670. 10 December 1948

    Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): Rights for All

    The UN General Assembly adopted the declaration with 48 votes in favour, none against and eight abstentions, creating the founding text of international human rights.

  671. 1948–1952

    Marshall Plan (1948): American Aid That Rebuilt Western Europe

    Around 13 billion US dollars in aid helped restore Western European production, trade and political stability, and deepened the Cold War division of Europe.

  672. 1 October 1949

    Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October 1949

    The Chinese Communist Party established the People's Republic of China, while the Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan.

  673. 4 April 1949

    Founding of NATO (1949): The North Atlantic Treaty Signed

    Twelve Western countries formed a collective defence alliance; the treaty entered into force on 24 August 1949.

  674. September 1950

    Battle of Inchon (1950): MacArthur's Amphibious Gamble in Korea

    Decisive UN victory; the landing cut North Korean supply lines, led to the recapture of Seoul and reversed the course of the Korean War.

  675. 1950–1954

    McCarthyism (1950-1954): Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare

    McCarthy's influence collapsed after the televised Army-McCarthy hearings, and the Senate condemned him on 2 December 1954.

  676. 1950–1953

    Korean War (1950-1953): The First Hot War of the Cold War

    An armistice signed on 27 July 1953 left Korea divided near the 38th parallel; no peace treaty has ever been concluded.

  677. 1953

    Discovery of the DNA Double Helix (1953): Watson and Crick

    The double-helix model, published in Nature on 25 April 1953, explained how genetic information is stored and copied and founded molecular biology.

  678. 1954–1962

    Algerian War of Independence 1954-1962: France Loses Algeria

    The Évian Accords ended the war; Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962 and most European settlers left.

  679. 17 May 1954

    Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Ending School Segregation

    The Supreme Court held 9–0 that state-mandated racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, overturning 'separate but equal' in education.

  680. 1954–1955

    Salk Polio Vaccine (1955): The Field Trial That Beat Polio

    The inactivated polio vaccine was declared safe and effective and licensed in 1955, and polio cases in the United States fell sharply within a few years.

  681. 1955–1975

    Vietnam War (1955–1975): Causes, Course and Consequences

    North Vietnam and the Viet Cong won; Saigon fell on 30 April 1975 and Vietnam was reunified under communist rule in 1976.

  682. 1955–1956

    Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956): Rosa Parks and a City's Buses

    After 381 days the boycott ended when a Supreme Court-backed ruling in Browder v. Gayle declared bus segregation in Montgomery unconstitutional.

  683. October–November 1956

    Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Uprising Against Soviet Rule

    The revolution was crushed by Soviet forces; about 200,000 Hungarians fled abroad and Imre Nagy was executed in 1958.

  684. October–November 1956

    Suez Crisis 1956: Nasser, the Canal and the End of Empire

    Military success for the invaders turned into political defeat; under US, Soviet and UN pressure Britain and France withdrew and Egypt kept the canal.

  685. 1957

    Little Rock Nine (1957): Integrating Central High School

    Federal troops enforced the desegregation of Central High; the crisis confirmed federal authority over school integration but Little Rock's high schools were closed in 1958–59.

  686. 25 March 1957

    Treaty of Rome (1957): Founding the European Economic Community

    Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands created the European Economic Community and Euratom, which came into being on 1 January 1958.

  687. 4 October 1957

    Sputnik 1 (1957): The First Satellite and the Space Race

    The Soviet Union placed the first artificial satellite in orbit, shocking the West and launching the Space Race between the USSR and the United States.

  688. 1958–1962

    Great Leap Forward 1958-1962: Mao's Campaign and the Great Famine

    The campaign failed and led to the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961, with most estimates of excess deaths between 15 and 55 million.

  689. 1 May 1960

    U-2 Incident (1960): Francis Gary Powers Shot Down Over USSR

    The pilot was captured, the US cover story collapsed and the Paris summit of May 1960 broke down, deepening Cold War tensions.

  690. 30 October 1961

    Tsar Bomba (1961): The Largest Nuclear Weapon Ever Detonated

    A thermonuclear device with an estimated yield of 50 to 58 megatons was detonated, the largest man-made explosion in history.

  691. April 1961

    Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961): The CIA's Failed Landing in Cuba

    Cuban government victory; Brigade 2506 surrendered within three days and Castro's position was strengthened.

  692. 13 August 1961

    Construction of the Berlin Wall (1961): A City Divided Overnight

    East Germany closed the border around West Berlin, stopping mass emigration and dividing the city for 28 years until November 1989.

  693. 1961

    Yuri Gagarin and Vostok 1 (1961): First Human in Space

    Gagarin completed one orbit of the Earth in 108 minutes and returned safely, giving the Soviet Union the first human spaceflight.

  694. October 1962

    Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Thirteen Days on the Nuclear Brink

    The Soviet Union withdrew its missiles from Cuba in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba and a secret promise to remove US Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

  695. 28 August 1963

    March on Washington (1963): Jobs, Freedom and 'I Have a Dream'

    A peaceful crowd of about 250,000 heard King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, building national pressure that helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

  696. 1964

    Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964): The Clash That Escalated Vietnam

    A real clash on 2 August and a probably non-existent attack on 4 August led to US air strikes and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave Johnson broad authority to wage war in Vietnam.

  697. 9 February 1964

    Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964): Beatlemania in America

    An estimated 73 million viewers watched, a record for American television at the time, and the broadcast launched Beatlemania and the British Invasion in the United States.

  698. 2 July 1964

    Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Law That Outlawed Segregation

    The act outlawed segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in employment and federally funded programmes, ending legal Jim Crow in public life.

  699. 21 February 1965

    Assassination of Malcolm X (1965) at the Audubon Ballroom

    Malcolm X was killed by members of the Nation of Islam; two of the three men convicted were exonerated in 2021 after evidence was found to have been withheld.

  700. 1965

    Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965): Bloody Sunday and the Vote

    After police violence on Bloody Sunday shocked the nation, a protected march reached Montgomery and built decisive support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

  701. 1966-1976

    Cultural Revolution 1966-1976: Mao, the Red Guards and Upheaval

    A decade of political persecution, violence and economic disruption ended after Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four; the Party later condemned it as a catastrophe.

  702. June 1967

    Six-Day War 1967: Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Syria at War

    Israeli victory; Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

  703. 3 December 1967

    First Human Heart Transplant (1967): Christiaan Barnard

    The transplanted heart worked, but Washkansky died of pneumonia 18 days later; the operation launched the era of clinical heart transplantation.

  704. 1967–1980

    Eradication of Smallpox (1967–1980): How a Disease Was Ended

    Smallpox became the first human disease to be eradicated; the World Health Assembly declared the world free of it on 8 May 1980.

  705. 1968

    My Lai Massacre (1968): War Crime and Cover-Up in Vietnam

    Between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians were killed; the massacre was covered up for over a year, and of those charged only Lieutenant William Calley was convicted.

  706. 1968

    Tet Offensive (1968): The Surprise Attack That Turned the War

    The offensive was beaten back with very heavy communist losses, but it shattered American confidence, led Johnson to limit the bombing and not seek re-election, and opened the way to peace talks.

  707. 1968

    Prague Spring (1968): Dubcek's Socialism with a Human Face

    The reform movement was ended by a Warsaw Pact invasion; Dubcek was replaced in 1969 and two decades of hardline 'normalisation' followed.

  708. 16 October 1968

    1968 Olympics Black Power Salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos

    Smith and Carlos were suspended by the US team and sent home, but their silent protest became one of the most famous images of the twentieth century.

  709. 4 April 1968

    Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (1968) in Memphis

    King died about an hour after being shot; unrest broke out in more than 100 US cities, and James Earl Ray later pleaded guilty to the murder.

  710. 20 July 1969

    Apollo 11 Moon Landing (1969): The First Humans on the Moon

    Armstrong and Aldrin landed and walked on the Moon and the crew returned safely to Earth, fulfilling the goal set by President Kennedy in 1961.

  711. August 1969

    Woodstock Festival (1969): Three Days of Peace and Music

    An estimated 400,000 people attended a largely peaceful but chaotic festival that became the defining symbol of the 1960s counterculture.

  712. June–July 1969

    Stonewall Riots (1969): The Uprising That Sparked Gay Liberation

    Several nights of protest against police harassment turned gay rights into a mass movement and led to the first Pride marches in 1970.

  713. 29 October 1969

    ARPANET (1969): The First Message and Birth of the Internet

    The first host-to-host message crossed the ARPANET, the packet-switched network that later developed into the internet.

  714. April 1970

    Apollo 13 (1970): The Successful Failure in Space

    The Moon landing was abandoned after an oxygen tank explosion, but all three astronauts returned safely to Earth on 17 April 1970.

  715. February 1972

    Nixon's Visit to China (1972): The Week That Changed the World

    The United States and the People's Republic of China opened direct relations, set out their positions in the Shanghai Communiqué and moved towards full diplomatic recognition in 1979.

  716. 1972

    Munich Massacre (1972): Hostage Attack at the Summer Olympics

    All eleven Israeli team members taken hostage or attacked were killed, along with a West German police officer; five of the eight attackers died.

  717. 1973

    Roe v. Wade (1973): The Supreme Court Abortion Ruling

    The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the Constitution protects a woman's decision to have an abortion, striking down most state bans; the decision was overruled in 2022.

  718. October 1973

    Yom Kippur War 1973: Surprise Attack and the Oil Embargo

    Israel recovered militarily and ended the war across the Suez Canal, but Egypt's early success opened the way to US-brokered disengagement and later peace.

  719. 30 April 1975

    Fall of Saigon (1975): The End of the Vietnam War

    South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally, North Vietnamese forces took Saigon, and Vietnam was formally reunified under communist rule in July 1976.

  720. 1975-1979

    Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979: Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields

    An estimated 1.5 to 2 million people died; the regime fell to a Vietnamese invasion in January 1979, and surviving leaders were tried decades later.

  721. 1977

    Voyager 1 and 2 (1977): The Grand Tour of the Outer Planets

    The two probes explored all four giant planets between 1979 and 1989 and later became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.

  722. December 1979

    Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979): Start of a Decade War

    Soviet forces killed Hafizullah Amin, installed Babrak Karmal and became trapped in a nine-year war against the mujahideen that ended with their withdrawal in February 1989.

  723. 1978-1979

    Iranian Revolution 1979: The Fall of the Shah and Khomeini's Rise

    The Pahlavi monarchy collapsed and Iran became an Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini, confirmed by referendum on 30-31 March 1979.

  724. 1980-1988

    Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988: Saddam Hussein's War against Iran

    A UN-brokered ceasefire under Resolution 598 ended the war with no territorial change, after an estimated half a million or more deaths.

  725. 1980–1989

    Solidarity Movement (1980–1989): Poland's Free Trade Union

    Solidarity forced the communist government into the first free union in the Soviet bloc and, after years underground, won the semi-free elections of June 1989.

  726. 1980

    Mount St. Helens Eruption (1980): America's Deadliest Volcano

    The north flank collapsed in the largest landslide in recorded history; 57 people died, the summit lost about 400 metres and some 600 square kilometres of forest were destroyed.

  727. 1984

    Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984): The World's Worst Industrial Disaster

    About 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas spread over the city; thousands died within days and estimates of total deaths range from about 3,800 to more than 15,000, with hundreds of thousands injured.

  728. 1985

    Live Aid (1985): The Global Concert for Ethiopian Famine Relief

    The concerts and the wider Band Aid campaign raised well over 100 million pounds for famine relief and changed how celebrities and the public engaged with humanitarian causes.

  729. 1985

    Ozone Hole Discovery (1985): CFCs and the Antarctic Ozone Layer

    The discovery of springtime ozone loss over Antarctica confirmed the danger of chlorofluorocarbons and led to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which phased out ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide.

  730. 1986

    Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (1986): What Went Wrong

    All seven crew members died; the shuttle fleet was grounded for 32 months while the solid rocket boosters were redesigned and NASA's management was reformed.

  731. 26 April 1986

    Chernobyl Disaster (1986): The World's Worst Nuclear Accident

    Reactor No. 4 exploded and burned, spreading radioactive contamination across Europe; hundreds of thousands of people were resettled and a large exclusion zone remains.

  732. 1987

    Montreal Protocol (1987): The Treaty That Saved the Ozone Layer

    Governments agreed to cut and later eliminate ozone-depleting chemicals; the treaty became the first to be ratified by every UN member state and the ozone layer is now slowly recovering.

  733. 9 November 1989

    Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989): The Night the Border Opened

    East Germans crossed freely into West Berlin; the Wall was dismantled from 1990 and Germany was reunified on 3 October 1990.

  734. April-June 1989

    Tiananmen Square Protests 1989: Democracy Movement and Crackdown

    The Chinese government declared martial law and used the army to end the protests on 3-4 June 1989, killing hundreds or possibly thousands of people.

  735. 1989-1991

    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.

  736. 1989

    Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989): Disaster in Prince William Sound

    About 11 million US gallons of crude oil polluted some 1,300 miles of coastline; the disaster led to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and decades of litigation.

  737. December 1989

    Romanian Revolution (1989): The Violent Fall of Ceaușescu

    Ceaușescu's regime collapsed; he and his wife were executed on 25 December, and the National Salvation Front led by Ion Iliescu took power.

  738. 1989

    Velvet Revolution (1989): Czechoslovakia's Peaceful Overthrow

    The Communist Party gave up its monopoly on power, a non-communist majority government was formed and Václav Havel was elected president.

  739. 1989

    Revolutions of 1989: The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

    Communist one-party rule ended in six Soviet-bloc states within a year, opening the way to German reunification and the end of the Cold War.

  740. 11 February 1990

    Release of Nelson Mandela (1990): Apartheid Begins to End

    Mandela was freed unconditionally after 27 years in prison, opening formal negotiations to end apartheid.

  741. 1990-1991

    Gulf War 1990-1991: Kuwait Invaded and Operation Desert Storm

    A US-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait and restored its government, but Saddam Hussein remained in power in Baghdad.

  742. 1990-2003

    Human Genome Project (1990-2003): Mapping Human DNA

    An essentially complete reference sequence of the human genome was published in April 2003, freely available to all, launching the era of genomic medicine; the final gaps were closed in 2022.

  743. 1990

    Hubble Space Telescope (1990): Launch, Flaw and Discoveries

    Hubble's mirror flaw was corrected by astronauts in December 1993, and the telescope went on to transform astronomy, helping to fix the age of the universe and revealing its accelerating expansion.

  744. 3 October 1990

    German Reunification (1990): How East and West Germany Became One

    The German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany, creating a single sovereign German state with five new federal states.

  745. 1991

    Dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991): End of the USSR

    The USSR ceased to exist on 26 December 1991 and was replaced by 15 independent states; Russia took over the Soviet seat on the UN Security Council.

  746. 1991–2008

    Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–2008): Collapse of a Federation

    The federation dissolved into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, with Kosovo declaring independence in 2008; wars killed an estimated 130,000–140,000 people.

  747. 1992–1996

    Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996): Longest Siege of a Modern Capital

    The city held out for almost four years; the siege ended after NATO air strikes and the Dayton Agreement, and Bosnian Serb commanders were later convicted of war crimes.

  748. 1992

    Maastricht Treaty (1992): The Birth of the European Union

    The twelve European Community states created the European Union, introduced EU citizenship and set the rules and timetable for economic and monetary union.

  749. 26-29 April 1994

    South African General Election 1994: The First Democratic Vote

    The ANC won 62.65% of the vote, and Nelson Mandela became president of a Government of National Unity on 10 May 1994, formally ending apartheid.

  750. April-July 1994

    Rwandan Genocide 1994: One Hundred Days of Mass Killing

    An estimated 500,000-800,000 people, overwhelmingly Tutsi, were murdered before the Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated the genocidal government in July 1994.

  751. July 1995

    Srebrenica Massacre (1995): Genocide in Bosnia

    More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed; international courts later ruled that the massacre was genocide.

  752. 1998

    International Space Station: History of the ISS Since 1998

    The largest structure ever built in space, continuously inhabited since November 2000 and a long-running model of international cooperation.

  753. 1999

    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.

  754. 2001-2021

    War in Afghanistan (2001-2021): From 9/11 to the Fall of Kabul

    The Taliban were overthrown in 2001 but fought a long insurgency and retook power in August 2021 as US and allied forces withdrew.

  755. 2001

    September 11 Attacks (2001): The Day That Changed the World

    2,977 people were killed and the World Trade Center destroyed; the United States launched the War on Terror, beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan.

  756. 2003-2011

    Iraq War 2003: The Invasion of Iraq and the Fall of Saddam

    The invasion toppled Saddam Hussein within weeks, but no weapons of mass destruction were found and Iraq descended into insurgency and sectarian war before US forces left in 2011.

  757. 2004

    2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: The Boxing Day Disaster Explained

    About 230,000 people were killed and some 1.7 million displaced; an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system was created.

  758. 2005

    Hurricane Katrina (2005): New Orleans, the Levees and Aftermath

    Between about 1,400 and 1,800 people died, New Orleans was flooded for weeks, and damage reached about 125 billion dollars, among the costliest US disasters.

  759. 2007–2009

    2008 Financial Crisis: Subprime Mortgages, Lehman and Recession

    A near-collapse of the global banking system, massive government rescues and the deepest worldwide recession since the 1930s, followed by sweeping financial regulation.

  760. 2010-2012

    Arab Spring (2010-2012): Uprisings Across the Middle East

    Four long-ruling leaders fell, but only Tunisia made a lasting, if fragile, transition to democracy; Libya, Yemen and Syria descended into civil war.

  761. 2010

    Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010): Blowout in the Gulf of Mexico

    Eleven workers died and about 3-4 million barrels of oil escaped; BP paid more than 60 billion dollars in fines, settlements and clean-up costs.

  762. 2010

    2010 Haiti Earthquake: Destruction of Port-au-Prince and Recovery

    Port-au-Prince was devastated, with deaths estimated from under 100,000 to over 300,000 and about 1.5 million people made homeless.

  763. 2011

    Killing of Osama bin Laden (2011): The Abbottabad Raid

    Bin Laden was killed with four others in a 40-minute raid; his body was buried at sea and US-Pakistani relations were badly strained.

  764. 2011-2024

    Syrian Civil War: From the 2011 Uprising to the Fall of Assad

    After more than 13 years of war, an estimated 500,000-600,000 deaths and the displacement of over half the population, the Assad government collapsed on 8 December 2024.

  765. 2011

    Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (2011): Japan's Great Disaster

    About 15,900 people were confirmed dead and some 2,500 remain missing; hundreds of kilometres of coast were devastated and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident followed.

  766. 2011

    Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster (2011): Meltdowns in Japan

    Three reactors melted down and released radioactive material; about 150,000-165,000 people were evacuated and the accident was rated INES level 7.

  767. 2014-2019

    Rise of ISIS (2014): The Islamic State Caliphate in Iraq, Syria

    ISIS ruled a self-declared caliphate across much of Iraq and Syria for nearly five years before an international coalition and local forces destroyed it in 2019; it survives as an insurgent network with affiliates abroad.

  768. 2015

    Paris Agreement (2015): The Global Climate Deal Agreed at COP21

    Nearly every country agreed to hold global warming well below 2°C and pursue 1.5°C, through national pledges strengthened every five years; the treaty entered into force on 4 November 2016.

  769. 23 June 2016

    Brexit Referendum (2016): The UK Vote to Leave the European Union

    Leave won with 51.9 per cent; David Cameron resigned, and the United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.

  770. 2019-2023

    COVID-19 Pandemic: Origins, Lockdowns, Vaccines and Legacy

    More than 7 million deaths were officially reported and excess-mortality estimates are far higher; mass vaccination from December 2020 reduced severe illness, and WHO ended the global emergency on 5 May 2023.