|
4,600,000,000bc
Earth is born!
245,000,000 - 65,000,000bc
Dinosaurs roam the Earth
110,000,000bc
'SuperCroc' thrives in Niger
8,000,000bc
Global climate cools and dries
5,000,000bc
Australopithecus, the first evolved people arrive
2,300,000bc
Genus Homo arrives - larger brains and have language
1,400,000bc
First use of fire by humans, evidence found in Kenya
Africa (Homo Erectus)
200,000bc
First Homo Sapiens in China, exist alongside Neanderthals
100,000bc
Use of fire becomes widespread throughout Africa and Asia
60,000bc
First people in Australia, aborigines
35,000bc
People make sparks using flint and iron pyrite
First people to the Americas
24,000bc
Neanderthals die out
12,000bc
Earliest human artifacts discovered in Alaska
10,000bc
First use of agriculture, in China
9000bc
First domesticated sheep
8000bc
First domesticated goats
7000bc
Pottery is invented
6000bc
Mesopotamian civilization (Iraq) begins, as does the Sumerian culture and the beginnings of cuneiform - the first writing
Eskimos come to North America via the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska
First domesticated cattle
4000bc
First domesticated horses
Invention of copper metallurgy
3500bc
Sumerians develop cuneiform and Egyptians develop hieroglyphs
Wheeled carts invented
3300bc
First recorded history in Egypt
3000bc
First wheel used in Mesopotamia
Cities begin to develop
Invention of candles
Bronze used for weapons and armor
Semite Phoenicians arrive in eastern Mediterranean
2700bc
Imhotep - second King of 3rd dynasty in Egypt, constructs the world's first stone building, for royal burial
2530bc
Great pyramids of Egypt built
2500 - 1700bc
Indus river civilization flourishes in India, swift decline after 1800bc
2323bc
Texts that contain instructions for speaking with the deities are written inside pyramid walls
2205 - 1570bc
Xia Dynasty in China
2100bc
Thebes (Egypt) rises to power in south Egypt
2000bc
Canaan (Palestine) conquered by Israelites
Alpaca and Llama in Andes regions become domesticated
Birth of Abraham - father of Judaism, Christianity, Islam
2000 - 300bc
Growth of the Mayan empire in Mexico
1991 - 1960bc
Art and literature flowers in Egypt
1950bc
First Egyptian female monarch: Sobekneferu
1696 - 1654bc
Hammurabi rules in Babylon (Mesopotamia)
1640 - 1400bc
Egypt ruled by the Semites
1570 - 1045bc
Shang Dynasty in China
1500bc
Aryans from Central Asia settle upper Indus river plains
Iranian plateau is settled by Aryan tribes
Hittites develop Iron metallurgy
Phoenicians invent the alphabet
1400bc
Temple of Hapshepsut constructed at Dayr, for the female pharaoh Hapshepsut
1353bc
Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV renounces the worship of the old gods and introduces the concept of monotheism to Egypt,
with the God Aton, the disk of the sun being the central diety
1350bc
Assyrian culture begins in northern Mesopotamia
1250bc
The biblical patriarch Aaron was born (founder of priesthood and brother to Moses)
1200bc
Celts begin in France and Germany
Invention of steel
1050bc
Birth of Absalom - favorite son of King David of Israel
1045 - 256bc
Zhou dynasty in China
1000bc
Ionian Greeks living in Persia
850bc
Greek Homer writes the Odyssey and the Iliad
Greek city of Athens founded
Birth of Ahab - King of Israel
800bc
Founding of Carthage, by Dido, queen of Carthage
753bc
Rome founded by Romulus
734bc
Greek city of Syracuse is founded
700bc
Aqueducts invented
640bc
Coins invented
620bc
Birth of Alcman - Greek poet who wrote erotic poetry
600bc
Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus born - founder of Greek philosophy
Invention of the kite
Hanging gardens of Babylon created
582bc
Pythagoras is born
570bc
Birth of Lao Tzu
563bc
Buddha lives
551bc
Confucius lives
550bc
Cyrus the Great establishes Persia (Iran) as the greatest empire in the world, after conquering Babylonia
Birth of Aesop - the legendary Greek fabulist
Birth of Egyptian pharaoh Ahmose II - he later built the temple of Isis at Memphis
Birth of Alcmaeon - the first recorded anatomist
525bc
Birth of Aeschylus ("the father of greek tragedy")
522bc
Son of Cyrus, Darius I conquers the Ionian Greeks and the Egyptians
509bc
Foundation of Roman republic
500bc
Egyptian pharaohs begin to claim divine ancestry
Carthage controlled the entire North African coast
Sun Tzu writes the "Art of War"
482bc
Birth of Herodotus, Greek historian, 'father of history'
470bc
Birth of Socrates
460bc
Birth of Hippocrates - greatest physician of antiquity, 'father of medicine'
458bc
Aeschylus writes the "Oresteia"
450bc
Flowering of Greek culture
40 ft. Statue of Zeus erected at Olympia by Greek sculptor Phidias
449bc
Roman code of laws developed
444bc
Birth of Agesilaus - King of Sparta from 399 - 360bc
431bc
Pelopennisian war between Athens and Sparta
427bc
Birth of Plato
415bc
First five books of Bible written
409bc
Carthage at war with Greece over Sicily
404bc
Spartans conquer Athens
404 - 371bc
Sparta the dominant power in Greece
400bc
Catapults invented
384bc
Birth of Aristotle
358bc
Temple of Artemis constructed at Ephesus
356bc
Birth of Alexander of Macedon (Alexander the Great, or simply Alexander)
341bc
Epicurus is born - Greek philosopher
335bc
Alexander the Great conquers the civilized world
334bc
Alexander conquers Persia
332bc
Alexander founds Alexandria in northern Egypt
323bc
Death of Alexander of Macedon
304bc
Agothocles names himself the 'the King of Sicily'
Under Agothocles Siciliy enjoys its last period of independence from Rome
300bc
Persian Selucid empire rules Persia until 200 AD
Birth of Euclid
280bc
Colossus of Rhodes built - 100ft. Bronze statue of Greek god Helios
Pharos of Alexandria built (famous lighthouse)
264 - 241bc
First Punic War - Rome versus Carthage
259bc
Birth of Qin Shihuangdi
250bc
Great Wall of China built to protect China's northern borders
225bc
Colossus of Rhodes destroyed
222bc
Celts found Milan in Italy
221 - 206bc
Qin Dynasty
218 - 201bc
Second Punic War, Hannibal loses Spain to Carthage
206bc
Beginning of Han dynasty in China
200 - 100bc
Babylon is the capital of Babylonia
Alexandria library has almost 500,000 volumes of books, later destroyed
First use of Vellum as writing material
149bc
Rome destroys Carthage
106bc
Birth of Cicero, famous Roman orator, statesman, and writer
100bc
Silk road built (trade route between China all the way to Europe and Egypt, trade in silk)
Basques first appear in written history
Glass-blowing invented
51bc
Cleopatra becomes queen of Egypt
44bc
Ides of March - Caesar assassinated
30bc
Fall of the Egyptian empire as a dominant power
27bc
Octavian (Augustus Caesar) becomes Emperor of Rome
14bc
Birth of Agrippina - she was regarded as a model of heroic womanhood
10bc - 10 ad
Birth of Jesus
14
Death of Augustus Caesar
57
First recorded contact between Japan and China
Great Fire in Rome
68 - 69
Civil war in Rome, after death of Emperor Nero
70
Jerusalem is destroyed by Roman armies (Jerusalem at this time is the center of the Christian movement)
80
Coliseum completed in Rome
Boadicea, leader of the Celts, rebels against the Romans in Britain
100
Greek translations of Old Testament made in Alexandria
Birth of Ptolemy, whose explanations dominated scientific thought until the 16th century
105
Paper invented in China
120
Zhang Heng introduces the seismograph
121 - 180
Marcus Aurelius is emperor of Rome, champion of the poor
122
Hadrian's wall is built in Britain
150
Slavic people expand around Western Russia and Eastern Europe
166 - 167
Roman empire devastated by Black Plague
200
End of Han Dynasty in China
221
Sextus Julius Africanus writes the 'Chronologia' - a history of the world from the 'creation' to AD 221.
224
Ardashir I founds the Sassanid dynasty in Persia, conquers Armenia, and establishes
Zoroastrianism as the official religion of Persia
262
Temple of Artemis destroyed by Goths
300 - 900
Height of the Mayan civilization
The Yamato civilization in Japan were building large burial structures, wider than the Pyramids of Egypt
312
Constantine the Great reunifies Rome, moves capital to Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)
330
Beginnings of the Byzantine Empire
350
Huns invade southern Russia and occupy Ukraine
Russia invaded by Huns and others until the mid 10th century
Beginning of Middle Ages
354
Birth of St. Augustine, greatest of all Latin Fathers and a great Western Doctor of the Church
360
Huns invade Europe
370
Birth of Alaric I (king of the Visigoths)
395
Alaric I invades Greece
396
Sparta destroyed by the Goths (King Alaric I of the Goths)
400
India has higher level of science and technology than Europe
Beginning of the Gothic style
Alaric I invades Italy
410
Alaric I invades Rome and pillages the city
432
St. Patrick introduces Christianity to Ireland
433
Attila the Hun invades Rome proper
450
Saxons of Germany begin invasions of Britain
Birth of Alaric II (King of the Visigoths)
458 - 751
Merovingian dynasty rules in France
490
Persians defeated by the "White Huns"
500
Clovis, founder of France conquers most of France and Belgium. He converts this area to Roman Catholic Christianity.
He also founds the Merovingian dynasty
506
Alaric II issues the code of laws known as the "Breviary of Alaric"
510
Northern India crushed by the Huns
532
Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) built in Istanbul
539
Milan destroyed by Goths
568
Alboin, King of the Lombards invades Italy
570
Birth of Mohammed, prophet of Islam
581
Birth of Sui Dynasty in China
600
Introduction of Buddhism from Korea to Japan
Birth of Ali (the first descendant and successor of Mohammed - according to Shi'ites)
602
Slavic tribes begin settlement of the Balkans
613
Birth of Ayeshah - third wife of Mohammed - she is known as "the mother of believers"
618 - 907
Tang Dynasty in China
632 - 651
Persia is invaded by the Arabs who gradually replace Zoroastrianism with Islam
651
End of the Sassanid dynasty in Persia
655
The Koran, the text of Islam is written around this time
700
Beowulf is written
Windmills invented
Invention of porcelain
714
Birth of Pepin the Short, later king of the Franks
716
Arab empire extends to Spain and to China
731
Birth of Abd-ar-Rahman I - Umayyad emir who conquered most of Muslim Spain
750
Around this time there are several female rulers in Japan
Birth of Yamabe no Akahito - Japanese poet, known as one of the 'twin stars' of the great anthology of classical Japanese poetry called the 'Manyoshu'
770
Iron horseshoes come into common use
771
Charlemagne rules in France
774
Charlemagne overthrows the German Lombards
788
Indian philosopher Shankara develops a system of philosophical thought that has the soul fundamentally identical to God
790
Vikings begin assault on Britain
800
Bushii, or samurai begin to gain land in Japan and become a powerful, local elite
First castles built in western Europe
841
Vikings founded the city of Dublin
850
Birth of Habib Ibn Aus Abu Tamman - compiles 'the Hamasu' - celebrated anthology of Arab poetry
855
Russian nation founded by Vikings
868
Diamond Sutra is the first book ever published
871
Alfred the Great comes to power in Britain
891
Birth of Abd-ar-Rahman III - Umayyad emir - under him the Umayyad emirate reached its peak of power
897
Birth of Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani - wrote the 'Al-Aghani' - treasury of Arabic song and poetry
900
Turks begin invasions of India, bringing Islam
960 - 1279
Song Dynasty in China
962
Otto I founds the second Holy Roman Empire in Germany
970
Chinese government introduces paper money
983
Massive encyclopedia (the first) called the Taiping Yulan is produced in China
990
Greenland first explored by Erik the Red, a Norwegian settler - these settlements later die out
1000
Seljuk Turks (Sunni Islamists) rule most of Iran until the Mongol invasions
Romanesque style is in vogue
Leif Ericson reaches North America
1027
Birth of William I - William the Conqueror - first Norman king of England
1048
Alexius I Comnenus (Byzantine emperor) defeats the Normans of Sicily
1050
Rise of the sect of Zen, emphasizing meditation, and intense self-discipline (in Asia)
Crossbows invented
1066
William, Duke of Normandy is victorious at the battle of Hastings
1095 - 1291
The 7 Crusades take place
1100
Indian philosopher Ramanuja states that God is fundamentally different than the human being (opposite of Shankara)
1200
Birth of Pope Innocent IV
End of Romanesque style
1123
Birth of Frederick Barbarossa (king of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire)
1129
Birth of Henry the Lion
1137
Eleanor of Aquitane becomes queen of France
1165
Birth of Phillip II (king of France and Spain)
1173
Saladin becomes sultan of Egypt
1187
Jerusalem falls to the Muslims
1190
Teutonic order of knights is set up in Germany to defend Christianity from Muslims
1200
Japan is invaded by Mongols twice. Each time the Mongols are held back by strong typhoons.
Spinning wheel is introduced to Europe from India
Invention of magnetic compass, chimney, horseshoe, 3-field crop rotation, windmill
1215
Magna Carta signed
1221
Mongols invade northern India and remain dominant power there until 1500
1222
Mongols invade and destroy much of Persia
1223
Genghis Khan invades Russia and destroys much of it
1233
Spanish Inquisition begins
1239
Birth of Edward I (Edward Longshanks)
1260
Foundation of the Medici family in Italy, banking and political family that ruled Florence
1265
Birth of Dante
1279 - 1368
Yuan Dynasty in China
1286
Invention of the clock
1290
Invention of spectacles
1299
Turkish Ottoman Empire founded
1300 - 1600
Height of Aztec Empire
Lighthouse of Alexandria destroyed
1325
Italian Rennaisance begins
1337 - 1453
100-year war between France and England
1346
Cannon becomes used widely
1347 - 1351
Black plague kills 25 million people in Europe
1348
Egypt devastated by Black Plague
1350
First gunpowder used as a projectile by a German monk
1368 - 1644
Ming Dynasty rules in China
1400
Founding of Inca civilization
End of the Gothic period
1423
German civil war
1430
Joan of Arc is handed over to the English
1431
Joan of Arc is executed in England
1450
Florence becomes center of Renaissance
Johannes Gutenberg invents movable type (printing press)
End of Middle Ages
1452
Birth of Leonardo Da Vinci
1453
Constantinople becomes Istanbul
End of the Byzantine Empire
1473
Birth of Copernicus - heliocentric universe
1475
Birth of Michelangelo
1480
Modern chess appears
1491
Birth of Ignatius of Loyola - founder of the Jesuit church
1492
Columbus reaches Caribbean
1495 - 1521
Height of Portuguese power
1500
Ivan the Great rules in Russia, he rids Russia of Mongol control
Beginning of long, economic expansion in Europe, thanks to the Spanish colonies in South America (silver)
1513
Macchiavelli writes "The Prince"
1517
Reformation in Germany by Martin Luther
1519
Ferdinand Magellan attempts voyage around the world
1520 - 1566
Height of Ottoman Empire under Suleiman I
1521
Spanish conquer Aztecs
1526 - 1700
Mughal empire in India comprises most of modern-day India
1527
End of Italian Renaissance
1530
Beginning of transatlantic slave trade by the Portuguese
1533
Spain conquers Incas in Peru
Ivan the Terrible rules in Russia, begins conquest of Siberia
1542
Spanish Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier converts many Indians to Christianity
1545
Council of Trent, in Europe, Catholic Church's response to Protestantism, reform of the Church
1550
First nation states come into existence
1552
Birth of Matteo Ricci - gave the Chinese their first understanding of the West
1555
Treaty of Augsburg - rulers allowed to decide what religion their subjects follow
1564
Shakespeare born
Galileo born
End of Renaissance
1568 - 1600
Period of reunification in Japan, Oda Nobunaga captures Kyoto (capital of Japan)
1571
Birth of Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and natural philosopher
1585
John Davis, the English navigator once again discovers Greenland
1588
Height of Spanish Empire
1590
Miyamoto Musashi, the great swordsman is alive in Japan
Microscope invented
1594
Birth of Oliver Cromwell
1596
Descartes is born. Father of modern philosophy
1600
English East India Company founded
China is the largest, most sophisticated empire on earth
Economic expansion in Europe halts, and brings in era of economic depression and uncertainty
Beginning of the Baroque period
Camera obscura invented
1606
Netherlands Dutch discover Australia. William Jansz sails the Torres Strait
1607
First permanent British settlement in North America, at Jamestown, Virginia
1608
Quebec is established
1612
Basilica of St. Peters is completed in Rome
1613
Romanov dynasty begins in Russia
1618 - 1648
Thirty years war between Catholics and Protestants
Ferdinand III leader of Catholics
Gustavus Adolphus leader of Protestants
1619 - 1622
Little Ice age in Europe (very cold)
1630
Scientific inquiries become rational and adopt Platonism over Aristotelianism
1638
Birth of Louis XIV
Athanasius Kircher (a Jesuit priest) is the first person to descend into an active volcano and live to write about it
1640 - 1660
English revolution
1643
Invention of the barometer
1644 - 1911
Manchu Qing Dynasty in China
1652
Dutch found Cape Colony in South Africa
1653
Completion of Taj Mahal
1655
Great Red Spot on Jupiter discovered
1665
Isaac Newton invents Calculus
1679
Introduction of the Habeus Corpus Act in England
1682 - 1725
Peter the Great rules in Russia, remodels the military
1700
Russian explorer Bering discovers Alaska, Russians decimate the Aleut people of southeast Alaska
End of Baroque period
1700 - 1800
Age of Enlightenment
1724
Birth of Ahmad Shah Durani - Founder and first monarch of Afghanistan
1732
Invention of Sextant
1734
End of Spanish Inquisition
1740
Industrial revolution begins in England with the first factories (textiles)
1750
British defeat the French and establish themselves as the dominant foreign power in India
Beginning of Neo-classical period
1754 - 1763
Anglo-French war in North America
1755
Birth of Hannah Adams - first American woman to support herself by writing
1756
Mozart is born
1757
British empire extends to India
1762 - 1796
Catherine the Great rules in Russia, spreads serfdom and modernizes the country
1765
Steam engine is invented
1768 - 1771
English Captain James Cook sails the Pacific
Cook discovers bits of Australia, Alaska, Antarctica
1771
Joseph Priestley shows that plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen
1773
Captain James Cook reaches furthest southern point of any explorer, crosses Antarctic circle
Boston Tea Party
1775 - 1783
American Revolution
1776
Declaration of Independence is signed by U.S. Congress
1783
First hot-air balloon
1787
Constitution of the U.S. is signed
1789
French Revolution
1793
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin
Friedrich Accum pioneers the invention of gas lighting
1796
Napoleon Rises to power
Attacks and is defeated by Russia. Russia gains new respect in Europe
1800
Greenland is mapped by numerous explorers and navigators
William Blake (English poet) argues that industry will ruin the environment
Beginning of Romantic style
Library of Congress founded
Anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide proposed
1801
Robert Fulton builds first submarine
Joseph Jacquard introduces the mechanical loom
1803
Louisiana Purchase
1804
Haiti becomes the first black, autonomous republic
1806
Napoleon ends the Holy Roman Empire
1807
Britain abolishes the slave trade
1809
End of Neo-classical period
1810
South American colonies split from Spain
1812
War between Britain (in Canada) and the U. S. (War of 1812)
First tin cans used in Britain for preserving food
1814
Rosetta Stone hieroglyphics of Egypt deciphered
1815
Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon defeated
1816
Simon Bolivar defeats Spanish in Venezuela
Invention of stethoscope
1819
Diving suit invented
John Couch Adams deduces mathematically the location of the planet Neptune
1820
Missouri Compromise in the US ensures balance between free and slave states
1821
Michael Faraday builds electricity-powered motor
1821 - 1829
Greek war of independence from Turkey
1822
Brazil breaks away from Portugal
1823
Monroe Doctrine
1825
Shaka rules Zululand (southern Africa)
1829
Beginning of Smithsonian Institution
1830
Establishment of the Mormon church
Kingdom of Belgium founded
1833
Beginning of Victorian era
1834
Charles Babbage designs the first automatic digital computer, the "Analytical Engine"
1835
Samuel Morse develops Morse Code
1836
Texas wins independence from Mexico
1837
Samuel Morse debuts the telegraph
Invention of the daguerreotype - first practical form of photographic reproduction
1838
Trail of Tears
Birth of Cleveland Abbe - meteorologist and founder of U.S. Standard Time
1839
Opium wars in China
Charles Goodyear invents vulcanized rubber
1840
Penny postage stamps introduced in Britain
Canada becomes self-governing entity
1842
First surgical operation using anaethesia is performed
1846
Neptune discovered
1846 - 1848
U.S. battles Mexico
1847
Foundation of the Vegetarian Society U.K.
Creation of the Associated Press (AP)
1848
Publication of the Communist Manifesto
1849
California gold rush
1850
End of Romantic style
Modern soccer (football) is born about this time
Invention of jeans
1851
Invention of the stereoscope - a 3D picture viewer
1853 - 1856
Crimean war, Russia defeated by France and Britain
1856
Birth of Edward Acheson - inventor of electrical wire insulation
Birth of Nikola Tesla - inventor of AC power and wireless transmission of energy
1858
First transatlantic telegraph cable connects Europe and North America
Darwin proposes theory of natural selection
1861
Beginning of U.S. civil war
Jeremy Bentham's 'Panopticon' idea is born
Alexander II of Russia emancipates the serfs (of Russia)
1865
Assasination of Abe Lincoln
Klu Klux Klan (KKK) established
13th amendment to the American constitution outlaws slavery
1867
U.S. buys Alaska from Russia
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
1869
Opening of Suez Canal to Navigation
1870
Germ theory of disease is proposed
Birth of Alfred Adler who later invents the concept of 'the inferiority complex'
1870 - 1890
The last of the American Indian tribes were defeated and moved onto reservations in the United States
1875
Birth of Albert I - King of the Belgians during the first World War
1876
Invention of the telephone
Invention of internal-combustion engine
1879
Invention of light bulb
Birth of Sir Patrick Abercrombie - pioneer of town planning in Britain
1879 - 1884
War of the Pacific between Bolivia, Peru, and Chile
1881
American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton
Pasteur develops anthrax vaccine
1882
Pasteur develops rabies vaccine
1883
U.S. standard time zones adopted
1886
Statue of Liberty is dedicated
1888
Reign of Jack the Ripper in London (serial killer)
George Eastman introduces the Kodak camera and roll film
Slaves freed in Brazil
1889
Eiffel Tower is built
1890
Height of Prussian Empire in Germany
Clement Ader pioneers aviation by building the 'Eole' - the first aeroplane
1892
First movies created - about 15 minutes in length
1894
Japan invades and defeats China
Taiwan given to Japan from China
1895
Norweigan Henryk John Bull makes first official landing on Antarctica, he was a whaler
1896
Tabulating Machines Company is founded (later becomes IBM)
1898
Spanish-American war
U.S. annexes Hawaii
1900
Boxer Uprising in northern China, peasants revolt against foreigners (Japanese)
Iran adopts a constitution making the shah accountable to a code of laws
1901
New York Yankees baseball team founded (as Baltimore Orioles)
End of Victorian era
1902
Frederick Werner invents radio receiving and transmitting systems
1903
Wright brothers make first flight
Arthur Korn invents the fax machine
1904
Russia goes to war with Japan, Japan wins
Norweigan Carl Anton Larsen establishes the first whaling station on Antarctica
1905
Norweigan independence from Sweden
1906
Existence of vitamins suggested
Fred Albee pioneers the techniques of bone grafting
1908
Henry Ford produces first model-t car
1909
Foundation of the NAACP
1911
Xinhai revolution in China
1912
Roald Amundsen is the first to reach the South Pole
Pangaea is proposed as an idea
Fred Albee invents machine tools for orthopedic uses
1912 - 1913
Balkan wars
1914 - 1918
World War I
Allies: U.K., France, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, Russian Empire, Japan, Italy, United States
Axis: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
1914
Panama Canal is built
Assasination of Francis Ferdinand - begins World War I
1917
Russian revolution, Romanov dynasty overthrown - communists take over
1919
Treaty of Versailles
Irish Republican Army (IRA) founded
1920
Women gain the right to vote in the United States
Founding of Lebanon republic
1920 - 1930
Art Deco architecture style in vogue
1920 - 1933
Prohibition against sale of alcohol in United States
1920 - 1946
League of Nations
1921
Denmark lays claim to Greenland
First Transatlantic radio contact made
1922
USSR founded by Bolsheviks
Mussolini's fascists rise in Italy
First portable radio in US
1924
Death of Lenin, Stalin grabs power in Russia
1926
Television invented
1928
Penicillin is first observed by Alexander Fleming
French build Maginot Line
1929
Great Depression - world economy in shambles
Museum of Modern Art founded
Hydrogen fusion proposed as the energy source for stars
1930
Nazi's rise to power
AIDS virus originates in central Africa
Pluto discovered
Frederick Werner invents a complete television system
1931
Japan occupies Manchuria
Empire State building is completed
Nylon invented
1932
Electron microscope invented
1933
Hitler made German Chancellor
New Deal introduced by F.D.R.
1934 - 1935
Long March in China
1935
The AP develops the Wirephoto
US Social Security Act
1936
China at war with Japan
Japan signs anti-communist pact with Germany and Italy
First broadcast television programs (England)
Hoover Dam completed
1936 - 1939
Spanish civil war
1937
Japan takes over northern China
China, under Chiang Kai-Shek, retreats to Sichuan province
1938
Abbott and Costello begin comedic performances on radio
1939 - 1945
World War II
1940
British scientists develop radar
France surrenders to Germany
1941
Japan attacks U.S. at Pearl Harbor
Hanford nuclear site in Washington developed
1942
Manhatten project in U.S.
1943
Jacques Cousteau makes first dive with compressed air aqualung
1944
World Bank is established
Howard Aiken introduces the electromechanical Mark I - the world's first program-controlled calculator
1945
First atomic bomb detonated at Alamagordo, New Mexico
First Atomic bomb (to be used against people) dropped on Hiroshima
Then on Nagasaki, Japan
United Nations is established
1946 - 1954
First Indochina war (France v. Vietnam)
1946 - 1966
"La Violencia" in Columbia (claimed some 200,000 lives)
1947
Truman Doctrine
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is born
Debut of the instant camera
India gains independence
First supersonic flight
Carbon-14 dating introduced
1948
Israel becomes a nation
Korea becomes an independent nation
World Health Organization (WHO) established
Transistor invented at Bell Laboratories
"LP" (record) is introduced
Sri Lanka gains independence from Britain
1940 - 1980
Cold war
1949
NATO comes into existence
Mao Zedong's Communist China begins
1950 - 1953
Korean war
1951
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians
1952
First polio vaccine developed
1953
The Rosenbergs are executed
DNA is discovered
1954
Church of Scientology founded by L. Ron Hubbard
First nuclear-powered reactor constructed
1955
Frederick Werner completes a color television receiver
1957
First artificial satellites launched into space
Russia launches Sputnik, dog becomes first earth-born creature in space
1958
NASA founded
1958 - 1960
Great Leap Forward under Mao Zedong in China
1959
The integrated circuit debuts
1959 - 1975
Vietnam war
1960
First laser is built
1961
Berlin Wall built
Peace Corps created
First person to space
Amnesty International founded
Female oral contraceptive developed
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis
Telstar, the first communications satellite is launched
Thomas S. Kuhn talks about replacing axiomatic systems theory with paradigmatic systems theory
1960 - 1980
People fight for ecology and environmental protection (return of the humanism of the 16th century)
1963
JFK is assassinated
Kenyan independence
1964
US Civil Rights Act
1965
IBM introduces the word processor
1966
Abortion legalized in the U.S.
Foundation of the Black Panther party
1966 - 1976
Cultural revolution in China
Beginning of Jewish occupation of the Palestinian West Bank
1968
Robert Kennedy assasinated
Completion of Aswan High Dam in Egypt
Beginnings of terrorism in Ireland
1969
First man on the moon
ARPANET invented by the Department of Defense
Unix comes into existence
Libya overthrows colonial government
1970 - 1989
Terrorism flourishes in Italy (the Red Brigade)
1971
Founding of Greenpeace
First e-mail message sent
Texas instruments releases first portable electronic calculator
C.G. Abbot - astrophysicist - devises instrument to convert solar energy to power
1972
Theft that led to Watergate scandal
Palestinians murder several Jewish athletes at the Olympic games in Munich
Magnavox "Odyssey" is first home video game system
1973
World Trade Center is completed
US launches first space station: Skylab 4
1974
MIT releases the Altair - the first successful personal computer. Uses an Intel 8080 microprocessor
Sears Tower is completed
1975
Founding of Microsoft
Trans-Alaska pipeline built
1975 - 1979
Khmer Rouge rules Cambodia under Pol Pot
1976
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak form Apple Computers Company
1977
Founding of Oracle Corporation
1979
Three-mile island nuclear disaster
The first cellular phone is released in Tokyo
Ayatollah Khomeini adopts Islamic constitution for Iran
1980
MSDOS is developed by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
Beginning of postmodernism
Zimbabwe gains independence
Theory that a comet struck the earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs is introduced
1980 - 1982
Civil war in El Salvador
1980 - 1988
Iraq invades Iran and they have war
1981
MTV debuts
First space shuttle flight
1982
Israel invades Lebanon
Falklands war between Britain and Argentina
1983
CD is introduced
TCP/IP is adopted by ARPANET users
Conflict in Sudan where more than 1.5 million people die
1984
William Gibson coins the term 'cyberspace'
DNA fingerprinting method devised
1985
Windows 1.0 is released
Commodore Amiga becomes the first true multimedia, personal computer
1986
Challenger space shuttle disaster
Chernobyl nuclear disaster
1989
Tianammen Square protest and massacre in Beijing, China
Collapse of Berlin Wall, East and West Germany reunite
Founding of America Online (AOL)
Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska
Tim Berners-Lee proposes a global hyptertext system, the World Wide Web
Manuel Noriega deposed by US troops in Panama
1990
World Wide Web is developed (WWW)
Bill Gates becomes richest man in the world
Iraq invades Kuwait
Persian Gulf War
Collapse of Soviet Union, end of Cold War
Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
1991
MP3 introduced
1992
Windows 3.1 is introduced
HTML debuts
Breakup of Yugoslavia into civil war
1993
Mosaic is released
1994
Suicide of Kurt Cobain (of rock band Nirvana)
1995
Oklahoma City bombing
Windows 95 is released
RealAudio is introduced
O.J. Simpson acquitted of murder charges
1996
First cloned sheep
DVD introduced
Affordable, digital cameras become commonplace
1997
Chess master Gary Kasparov plays a chess match against IBM's Deep Blue computer and loses
1999
Jack Kevorkian was sentenced to prison for 10 to 25 years
Debut of Napster
2000
George W. Bush vs. Al Gore, presidential election, the outcome is still disputed.
Battle in Seattle: protestors square off against police over WTO
2001
Terrorists attack and destroy the World Trade Center in New York City
United States attacks and flattens Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden escapes
2002
Hubble Telescope shows Universe to be approximately 14 billion years old.
"Toumai" - the oldest known human relative is found, prompting paleontologists to rethink the origins of the human species.
2003
The United States goes to war against Iraq and deposes the dictator Saddam Hussein.
|