history of world

Approx. Time       Events & People

3500 BC                 The wheel is used in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq.

3114 BC, August 13            Start of the Mayan calendar. The Mayans had 20 days in their month starting with day 0 and ending with day 19. They understood zero not only as a place holder, but as a true counting number.

3100 BC Work begins on Stonehenge in England. Some of the stones came from 240 miles away, the Preseli Mountains in southwestern Wales. What possessed the Neolithic people to build such a momument is still unknown.

2900 BC First Egyptian hieroglyphs

2750 BC Egyptians build first known dam called the Sadd el-Kafara 37 ft tall, 348 ft wide of rubble masonry filled with 100,000 tons of gravel and stone.

2700 BC Egyptians create 365 day calendar with new year starting in June.

2575 BC Work begins on the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt.

2000 BC                 Minoan Bronze age culture on Crete develops hieroglyphic script and extensive palace complex at Knossos.

1650-1700 BC        Minoan "Linear A" asyllabic script created - still undeciphered.

1650 BC Minoan "Linear B" script created.

1450 BC Minoan culture destroyed perhaps by the Mycenaeans

1200 BC Invasion of the Sea Peoples destroys Mycenaean civilization. Greece enters a 400 year "Dark Age"; writing was forgotten; cities abandoned. Linear B would not be read again until modern times.

1185 BC                 Trojan War.

1130 BC                 Iron used for weapons and tools.

1120 BC Magnetic compass invented

1100 BC Phoenicians develop alphabetic script

1000 BC Chinese develop gunpowder by mixing saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur and grinding carefully

750-700? BC          Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey

750-680? BC          Hesiod writes Theogony, ("Birth of the Gods"), which details a version of Greek mythology.

776 BC   Olympic games start in Greece.

775-750 BC            Lycurgus gives laws to the Spartans which included the banning of silver and gold, redistribution of all land, creation of a senate, eating at public mess (so no dainty desire for expensive food would develop), and forbidding all useless occupations.

753 BC   According to legend, Rome is founded by Romulus. Twelve birds circled overhead during the founding ceremonies and legend had it that the city would survive for 12 centuries.

725 BC   Sparta conquers Messenia and forms Helot slavery. Having slaves to do all the tedious work of farming allows the Spartans to spend all their time in military training.

650 BC   Earliest coins appear. Later, Lydian kingdom produces the first true coins with guaranteed quality and weight.

650 BC   Earliest writing in the Americas by the Olmec culture.

621 BC   Draco publishes his harsh laws for Athens. Many crimes punishable by death (hence the term 'Draconian').

600 BC   Anaximander theorizes that humans arose from other species.

594 BC   Wide reaching reforms of Solon in Athens.

585 BC, May 28    Greek philosopher Thales predicts an eclipse.

559 BC   Cryus the Great becomes king and will lead Peria to form a great empire that will stretch from Egypt to India.

550 BC   The Greek engineer Eupalinos designs a water tunnel 1036 meters long through a solid limestone mountain to bring water to the ancient city of Samos. Work started on both ends and met in the middle, an extraordinary feat of ancient mentioned by Herodotus.

532 BC   Pythagoras starts his school in Croton Greece. He founds a brotherhood which sees the world through numbers.

508 BC   Cleisthenes reforms enacted in Athens. Attica divided into demes.

505 BC   Cleisthenes starts what will become democracy in Athens

500 BC   The concept of the wheel roles into Britain, but not the Americas.

490 BC   Twenty-six miles from Athens on the plain of Marathon, 11,000 Athenians fight 100,000 Persians. If the Greeks lose the battle, the city of Athens will flee to the hills. If the Athenians win the battle at Marathon, the Athenians will stay and try to hold the city against the Persian navy. While the battle rages the Athenians waited for the word, to flee or to fortify. A lone runner, Eucles, runs 26 miles and brings the much awaited news. According to legend, he utters "Nike" (victory) and then dies from exhaustion. 6,400 Persians are killed but only 192 Greeks.

480 BC   Spartan King Leonidas, 300 Spartans, and their allies make a sacrificial last stand at Thermopylae against Xerxes and the Persians. King Xerxes demands the surrender of the Greeks weapons, to which King Leonidas replies, "Molon Labe", or "Come and take them." (See: Texas Independence, "Come and Take It" flag).

479 BC   Athenian navy is victorious over the Persian Navy at battle of Salamis.

479 BC   110,000 Greek hoplites defeat 300,000 Persians at the battle of Plataea. The Persians suffered 257,000 casualties, the Greek only 159.

480 BC   Anaxagoras of Clazomenae arrives in Athens. He taught the philosophy of Ionia to the Athenians sparking the flowering of Western philosophy.

485 BC   Protagoras of Abdera (485-415) is born. He states that truth, goodness, and all other values are relative, depending solely on the person or society.

484-425 BC            Herodotus of Halicarnassus aka, the first Historian. Oddly enough, for being a Historian, we know practically nothing about him. He writes The Histories about the Persian War with Greece creating the genre of historical writing.

460-455 BC            Birth of Thucydides who writes The Peloponnesian War and builds upon Herodotus's work of recording history. Thucydides though, is more direct and rigorous in his writing, leaving out extraneous stories and dubious material. He also omits references to the gods as causing events in human affairs.

480 BC   Second Persian War. The Athenians retreat, and the Persian forces led by Xerxes destroy Athens, but Greek forces win a major naval battle at Salamis.

371 BC   The Theban commander Epaminondas defeats the reigning champs of the Peloponnese, the Spartans, in the Battle of Leuctra. This is the beginning of the end of the Spartans as a Greek superpower.

450 BC   Twelve Tables of Roman law are published.

433 BC   The Parthenon in Athens is completed after 40 years of work. This stunning piece of architecture was the crowning achievement of Pericles.

430 BC   Democritus theorizes that matter is composed of tiny grains that cannot be subdivided. He calls them "atomos".

415 BC   The disastrous Athenian invasion of Sicily. Before his death, Pericles warned the Athenians not to try to expand their empire until the war with Sparta was completed. They knew better and destroyed two fleets trying to win new territory. Although not the final blow in the war with Sparta, this disaster started the decline of Athens.

406 BC   Battle of Arginusae.

404 BC   Sparta finally defeats Athens in the Peloponnesian War with a navy financed by the Persians.

399 BC   Socrates is put on trial. He is arrogant and antagonistic during the proceedings. Had he been more gracious he might have escaped the hemlock. The vote was 281 to 220.

396 BC   Rome defeats the Etruscan city of Veii after 80 years of war and starts the eventual rise of Rome. The Etruscans were skilled engineers and craftsmen. Many of the "Roman" innovations, like their numerals, were really taken from the Etruscans.

371 BC   The Thebans defeat of a Spartan Army at Leucrra. This marks the end of the centuries-old Spartan reputation of being unbeatable.

386 BC   The Gallic Senones tribesmen sack Rome and occupy it for seven months. The Romans never forgot this.

386 BC   Plato starts "The Academy" in Athens.

Battle of Mantinea              Epaminondas leads the Thebans to war against the Spartans again, and wins again. He is killed in the battle. The war between Thebes and Sparta leaves Greece weaken just in time for the upstart Macedonians to enter the stage.

21 July 356 BC      Herostratus burns the temple of Artemis in Ephesus to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. Alexander the Great was born the same night.

338 BC   Philip of Macedon conquers Greece in the battle of Chaeronea.

336 BC   Aristotle starts "The Lyceum" in Athens .

333 BC   Alexander the Great defeats Persia under Darius at battle of Issus. Alexander was the fourth in a line of great men and scholars: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. Darius escapes and gathers his forces for the next battle.

October 1, 331 BC               Alexander's 35,000 troops fight Darius's 200,000 in the battle of Gaugamela. Darius has leveled the wide plain to allow better use of his chariots and superior numbers. Alexander leads his troops off to the edge of the prepared field. This tatic opens a gap in the Persian lines that Alexander drives into, threatening King Darius himself. In panic Darius flees. Seeing their king depart, some in the Persian army scatter.

332 BC   Alexander the Great conquers Egypt. The Greeks bring coinage into Egypt for the first time.

Summer 326 BC    At the Hyphasis river, Alexander's army refuses to march further into India and he is forced to turn back.

323 BC   Alexander dies near Babylon and is reported to have left kingdom, "to the best". Four of his generals carve up the empire and usher in the Hellenistic period.

310 BC   Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos born. He was one of the first to suggest the earth moved about the sun.

287 BC   Strato of Lampsacus (ca. 340-ca. 270 BC) becomes the third head of the Aristotle's school, the Lyceum. Strato correctly theorizes that objects accelerate when falling. He notes this by observing water flows from a roof as a solid stream at first and then breaks into droplets as it is getting faster. Another demonstration is that stones dropped from higher heights have larger craters in sand.

297 BC   The Pharos Lighthouse built by the Ptolemies

279 BC   "One more such victory and we are lost," said the Greek King Pyrrhus after the battle of Asculum in Italy with the Romans.

280 BC   King Pyrrhus of Epirus wins a battle against the Romans, but his casualties are very high.

264-241 BC            First Punic War between Rome and Carthage (called "Punic" from "Phoenician"). Hamilcar Barca commands the army and never loses a major battle. Hamilcar feels betrayed when the politicians of Carthage surrender. He feels they can still win the war. Hamilcar makes his son Hannibal swear an oath to hate Rome.

250          Alexandrian Librarian Eratosthenes of Cyrene calculates dimensions of the earth to within a 5 percent. After reading that on the summer solstice the sun is directly overhead at Aswan and shines straight down into a well, one the same day of the year, he calculates the angle of a shadow at noon in Alexandria to be 7 degrees. Knowing the distance to Aswan was 5,000 stadia, the circumference must be 360/7 times larger or about 250,000 stadia (25,000 miles).

206 BC   Qin Shi Huang dies - first emperor to unite all of china.

218 BC   Second Punic War - Hannibal Barca crosses the Alps to attack Rome. (Hannibal is praised by Machiavelli for being brutal in visible examples, thereby gaining order in his army, so the amount of true cruelty to his soldiers was less than if he had been softer). Hannibal is wildly successful militarily, but cannot pry the Italian cities away from Rome.

216 BC   Hannibal has one of the greatest military victories at Cannae. About 70,000 men from the Roman forces are killed, only 6,000 of Hannibal's.

202 BC   Hannibal defeated at the battle of Zama by Scipio Africanus.

133 BC   Tiberius Gracchus has Marcus Octavius physically ejected from the Assembly to prevent Octavius from vetoing one of Tiberius's laws. This egregious violation of ancient law and custom starts a series of events that will eventually destroy the Republic. Ironically, Plutarch claimed Marcus Octavius was an ancestor of Emperor Augustus.

87-80 BC                Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla fight over Rome. Sulla makes himself dictator and resigns in 80 BC.

73 BC     Spartacus, a former Roman soldier and gladiator fights against Rome.

44 BC     Julius Caesar assassinated.

52 BC, September                Battle of Alesia - Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, retreats to a natural fortress at Alesia. Caesar orders his men to build fortifications all around the fortress so Vercingetorix is trapped inside. Reinforcements for the Gauls start to arrive, and Caesar orders his men to build fortifications on the other side. The Romans are now trapped inside a "donut" with Gauls on the inside and outside. Caesar narrowly wins the battle through a personal charge with his German cavalry.

51 BC     Cleopatra & Ptolemy XII inherit Egypt. Ptolemy was the name of Alexander the Great's general who "inherited" Egypt. Cleopatra was the name of Alexander the Great's sister. Almost three centuries later, the Greek influence in Egypt was still strong.

31 BC     Against all odds, Octavian defeats Antony at battle of Actium. (His soldiers lose heart when Antony leaves the fight to follow Cleopatra who is fleeing the battle).

27 BC     Caesar Augustus made Roman Emperor.

5 BC - 6 AD          Jesus born

1 AD      Unfortunately, since the scholars designing the new calendar didn't have the concept of zero, the new date system is calculated to start at year 1.

 

Approx. Time       Events & People

1 AD      Unfortunately, since the scholars designing the new calendar didn't have the concept of zero, the new Gregorian calendar is calculated to start at year 1.

9 AD      Battle of Teutoberg Forest - 20,000 Roman soldiers under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus in Germany are ambushed while in a long convoy line through the Teutoberg Forest. Many years later Emperor Augustus, desperately needing those legions, went around the palace late at night muttering, "Varus, give me back my legions."

~30         Jesus is crucified.

70            The Romans under Titus destroy Jerusalem, after a long siege; 1.5 million Jews die. The gold taken from the temple finances the Colosseum in Rome.

85-165    Claudius Ptolemy devises a framework of Astronomy which will last for 1400 years. He also calculates pi as 3+8/60+30/602 which in decimals is "3.1416666...", not too bad an estimate for the time.

96-180    Rome has several consecutive "Good Emperors": Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius .

120s        Roman Emperor Hadrian begins the impressive 73 mile long defensive wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts and other warring tribes.

250s        Beginning of the Classic period for the Maya.

313          Edict of Milan is issued. Christians are now tolerated in the Roman Empire.

361          Emperor Julian, "The Apostate," tries to return the Empire back to the Pagan religions.

378. August 9       The Battle of Adrianople (Hadrianopolis) - the beginning of the end of Roman military power. Not waiting for reinforcements becasue he wanted all the glory for himself, Emperor Valens gives the order to his weary men to attack the circled wagons of the Goths. In a surprise to all, the absent Gothic Cavalry happens to return just as the battle is about to begin. The heavy Cavalry routes the light horsemen of the Romans and is victorious over the Roman infantry. Some scholars think this was a historic turning point in the tactics of warfare when the Cavalry gained supremacy over infantry. Others counter that the Roman infantry could have withstood the Cavalry if they had been properly rested, trained, and had a better commander. In either case, the Battle of Adrianople shook the confidence of the Roman Empire. From this point onward the Romans will deal in a defensive manner with the Goths. The Goths were originally glad to be allowed to enter the Empire, but were treated very badly and abused by corrupt Roman administrators. This treatment angered the Goths and they turned against the Romans.

410          Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric

476, September 4  Odovacar, a Germanic chieftain, removes the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus. His name is ironic since Romulus founded Rome and Augustus was its first emperor.

496          Clovis converts to orthodox Christianity

541          Justinian's Plague starts and kills 40% of Constantinople by 544 and 25% of Europe south of the Alps. By the Eighth century this bubonic plague disappears mysteriously not to return to Europe until the Fourteenth century.

550          Persians use windmills to power irrigation pumps.

570          Mohammad born. Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Persia, & N. Africa fall to Muslim armies many decades later.

632          Muhammad dies.

637          A vastly superior army of Iranian Sassanians is defeated by determined Arab Muslims in the battle of Qadisiyya.

650          The beginning of the Mississipian Cahokia culture in America, the most advanced of the plains people. The Cahokia people will build the largest earthen mound structure in North America, Monk's Mound and create an astronomic observatory now known as Woodhenge, and trade from the Great Lakes to the Gulf coast. They decline in 1400, a century before the Europeans arrive.

657-680 The earliest poem written in English, Caedmon's Hymn, is composed.

732          Battle of Tours, Charles Martel stops a Muslim army and the Muslim advance into Western Europe.

793          Vikings start raiding Ireland.

800          The "Medieval Warming Period" starts and lasts until 1315 or 1350. The Vikings settle Greenland. English farmers grow grapes for wine. Temperatures rise in Europe and farming does well. The population on Europe swells.

900s        Fall of the Mayan Classic period. Cities deserted all over Mesoamerica.

999          Gerbert (940-1003) becomes Pope Sylvester II and writes about "Arabic" numerals. Unfortunately the new numbering system doesn't really take hold in Europe until the 14th century. From Paul Gans "It should be noted that the Arabic numerals were neither invented by nor used by the Arabs. They were developed in India by the Hindus around 600 AD." (I dimly remember reading about "counting boards" being used with roman numerals in US Colonial times. Does anyone else remember hearing that?)

1009        An army led by Caliph al-Hakim destroys the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This desecration will be a rallying point for the Crusades to come.

1095        Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade to protect the Christian pilgrims from attack. In 1099 they succeed.

1024        The Chinese issue the first paper money.

1066        Harold Godwinson wins the Battle of Stamford Bridge and a second battle at Fulford against the Viking invaders of England lead by Harold Hardraada. Harold then marched his weary army to Hastings to meet yet another invader, Duke William of Normandy. Harold Godwinson was defeated, and the period of Norman domination began. William brought with him the French practice of building stone castles. Few stone castles had been in England before, but by only 1100 England had 84.

1086        The Doomsday Book is written for William the Conqueror to detail the wealth and property of England.

1099        The first crusade captures Jerusalem.

1140        Angkor Wat, a huge temple complex, is built in Cambodia.

1144        Second Crusade started by Bernard of Clairveaux after the Christian kingdom of Edessa falls to Muslims.

1149        Oxford University is founded in Oxford England.

1175        The Toltec civilization collapses in Mexico.

1187        The magnetic compass becomes common for ocean going ships.

1200        The Mayan culture revives after it's collapse in 900ad and survives until the 1450s when it falls shortly before the Europeans arrive.

1202        Leonardo Fibonacci publishes "The Book of the Abacus" and revolutionizes mathematics in Europe.

1206        Genghis Khan leads the Mongol armies. 30 to 60 million people are killed in their campaigns building the largest known land empire. It stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea.

1204        On the way to the holy land for the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders get a little confused and take over Constantinople instead.

1215, June 15        King John of England and his nobles sign the Magna Carta.

1223        Genghis Kahn invades Russia.

1241 April 9          The Battle of Liegnitz is fought between Prince Henry and the Mongols commanded by Batu Khan for control of Poland. The Mongols successfully defeated another European army.

1242        Florence Italy mints the florin, the first gold coin in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. It is a sign that stability, trade, and wealth are returning to Europe. The florin would remain a popular coin for five centuries.

1250        European sailors now begin to use the magnetic compass.

1275        Marco Polo starts on his alleged trip to China. He returns in 1295 to Venice.

1281, August        After conquering most of Asia, Kublai Khan invades Japan with 4,400 ships and 140,000 soldiers, but a Typhoon, a "Divine wind", (Kamikaze) destroys most of the fleet. 70,000 troops die in the storm - the worst naval disaster in history.

1285        Spectacles for the farsighted are invented in Italy.

1300        Eyeglasses are common in Rome for scholars.

1300        After 1,500 years, the Anasazi of Arizona abandon their cliff dwellings for unknown reasons.

1300        Gunpowder is being used for warfare in England after being introduced to Europe in 1242.

1315        Great Famine of 1315-1317 Torrential rains and cool weather devastate crops in Europe. Millions die. Criminal activity increases. Acts of cannibalism, infanticide, and child abandonment abounds. The Medieval Warming Period is waning.

1309        Pope Clement V moves papacy to Avignon, starting the 70 year "Babylonian Exile" in France.

1323        The Aztec tribe is forced to flee their homeland to a remote island in a lake because they sacrificed a young Colhua princess from the neighboring tribe to their god instead of marrying her to a prince. In their new island home they see an eagle perched on a cactus which the Aztecs, or Mexica as they are called, take for a divine sign that this is their home.

1337        Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane) a Muslim conqueror of Mongol descent, is born. Through a savage campaign, he wins a huge territory in the middle east and Asia. Some think his feats rival Alexander the Great. 17 million people may have died from his conquests.

1346        The Bubonic plague starts in China and moves westward aided by the ease of travel in the Mongol empire. The Mongols laid siege to the port of Kaffa on the Crimean peninsula and catapulted plague corpses into the beseiged city. The Mongol army withdraws, but has succeeded in bringing the plague to Europe.

1346        The Black Plague (aka Bubonic) enters Sicily. Contemporary accounts place the death toll at one third of inhabitants. Vast social changes result. Workers become a scarce commodity, increasing their bargaining power with employers. Farm land reverts back to forests as the number of farmers decrease.

1346        English defeat the French at battle of Crecy.

1415        Using the Welsh longbow, the English devastate the French at Agincourt.

1431        Joan of Arc burned at the stake. She is credited with leading the French in victory over the English. The English had been dominating France since Agincourt. The Welsh Longbow was a major reason. Joan of Arc was helped by artillery that could now damage castle walls.

1441        First documented black African slaves imported into Europe.

1453        The Christian kingdom of Constantinople finally falls to the Muslims. Mahomet II using European artillery mercenaries destroys the walls. This is the first use of a forward observer to direct artillery fire whose crews cannot see their targets. In a sense this is the final fall of the Roman Empire.

1455        German inventor Johann Gutenberg revolutionizes knowledge transfer. He improves or invents three items: the printing press, movable metal type, and an oil-based ink. His first work is the 42-line Bible.

1462        Ivan III finally overthrows the mongol overlords and declares Russia the third Rome; which is why the title 'Czar' sounds so much like 'Ceasar'.

1476        The Chimu civilization in Peru is defeated by the rising power of the Inca. The Chimu started around 1100.

1487        Aztec ruler Ahuitzotl sacrifices 20,000 prisoners to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli.

1489        Instead of using abbreviated words to indicate addition and subtraction, German mathematician Johann Widmann starts the practice of using the symbols "+" and "-".

1492, October 12 Queen Isabella's advisers correctly state that China could be visited by going West since they knew the earth was round, but that a ship would run out of supplies first since it was so far. Chistopher Columbus uses some creative math and Fortunately for Christopher Columbus the Americas got in the way. He lands in the Bahamas. He dies in 1506 still thinking he had landed in Asia.

1494        Charles VIII invades Italy with new bronze cannons. In only eight hours, the French break through the fortress walls of Monte San Giovanni, which had previously withstood a siege of seven years. The arrival of the mobile cannon greatly reduces the value of fortresses and had wide political impact - mostly increasing the power of kings over their nobles, since nobles could no longer defy the king and hide behind their castle walls.

1498        Captain Vasco da Gama becomes the first European to travel to India via sea.

1500        Portuguese trader Cabral swings to far West in his route to India and accidently discovers Brazil. If Columbus had not been successful eight years earlier, this is when the New World would be discovered.

1513        Vasco Nunez de Balboa is the first European to see the Pacific ocean. Jealous of his fame, members of the Spanish court convince the King that Balboa is guilty of treason. Balboa is beheaded in 1519.

1514        After studying in Italy, Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) returns to Poland convinced that the earth revolves around the sun. He dedicates his work to his friend Pope Paul III.

1517        An Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nails his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg; unknowingly initiating the Protestant revolution.

1519        Ferdinand Magellan starts what will be the first circumnavigation of the globe. He is killed in 1521, but 15 of his sailors will continue back to Europe.

1521        Hernando Cortez conquers the Aztec empire by turning its neighbors against it.

1521, May             The Constable of France, Charles de Bourbon, attacks Rome. He is killed early by a crossbow dart, but his army sacks the treasures of ages from the eternal city.

1532, November   Inca ruler Atahuallpa mets Francisco Pizarro. Atahuallpa wanted to impress the Spanish and the Inca by coming to the meeting with 4,000 unarmed men showing that he was so powerful he needed no soldiers to protect the royal personage. The Spanish slaughter the Incas and hold Atahuallpa hostage. With 150 men, Pizarro conquers the Inca empire of six million people. Moral to the story: Don't trust strangers wanting gifts.

1536        John Calvin writes The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

1550-1850              The Little Ice Age strikes Europe. After the Medievel Warming Period, when climate was ideal for raising grains in Europe, temperatures start to fall, and with them the fortunes of many in Europe. Crops fail and many starve and freeze to death.

1556        Earthquake in China kills 830,000.

1572        The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Tens of thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants) are killed in France.

1575        In Japan two armies meet. The side with guns wins for the first time, yet by mutual agreement, guns are outlawed 100 years later.

1585        Thomas Hariot first writes about an amazing herbal remedy introduced to him by the local peoples of America called tobacco. (It's really the revenge of the indigenous peoples of America - its killed more Europeans than they could have imagined).

1582, October 4    To correct for the drifting of the equinox from March 21, Pope Gregory XIII decrees that the next day would be October 15. Not all countries obey his edict and many disputes arise over interest to be paid, and wages.

1569        Gerardus Mercator publishes his cylindrical projection of the earth.

1588        Philip II's Spanish Armada of 130 ships attack England, but are defeated.

March 20, 1602     United East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie ), or the VOC founded. This was the first multinational joint-stock company, a landmark in economic development. The VOC prospered for centuries, but went bankrupt in 1795 due to corruption and poor management.

1603, Feb 7            Battle at Glenfruin when the MacGregors slaughtered the Colquhouns (my ancestors).

1609        The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico is founded.

1617, Apr 4           John Napier, inventor of logarithms (1614) and Napier's Bones (ivory sticks which foreshadowed the slide rule) dies in Edinburgh.

1619        Johann Kepler finally solves the mystery of the motion of the planets. The early Greeks thought the study of the heavens was the highest calling of mankind and Johann discovered the plan. He stated three laws of planetary motion. His third law states: "The squares of the planets' orbital periods are proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes of their orbits." I personally think he is one of the most underrated scientist in history.

1620        Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth.

1648        1/4 of Polish Jews are massacred, many move to Jerusalem.

1685        The Edict of Nantes revoked by Louis XIV in France. Many Huguenots are killed and many (like my ancestors) flee France.

1653,Dec 16          Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1686        Isaac Newton writes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy which shows the laws of the heavens are the same as the laws of earth.

1707, October       Four British warships lead by Admiral Shovell run aground on the Scilly Islands off the English coast killing 2000 sailors. This intensifies the search for a solution to "The Longitude Problem". Eventually solved by John Harrison with an accurate clock.

1712        Thomas Newcomen creates the first successful steam engine used to evacuate water from mines.

1714        Jethro Tull perfects the seed drill, which produces eight times more wheat from the sown seed. For his efforts, he is vilified.

1735        Carolus Linneaus creates a taxonomic system for naming species

1754        Scottish chemist Joseph Black discovers carbon dioxide and later the latent heat of fusion.

1776        The American colonies declare themselves independent of Great Britain.

1776, September 6               David Bushnell navigates his primitive submarine, the Turtle, toward a British ship. His attempt at sinking the ship fails, but scares the blockading British ship away.

1777, September 7               A British sharpshooter, Major Patrick Ferguson, has an American officer in his sights, but does not fire, since it would be unprofessional to kill an unsuspecting officer. The officer is later revealed to be George Washington.

1778, January 18  James Cook is the first European to travel to Hawaii.

1781, October 19  General Cornwallis surrenders to the colonists in American while the band plays "The World Turned Upside Down". 25,000 Americans died in the war.

1783, November 21              First manned hot air balloon flight in Paris by Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis D'Arlands.

1786        Sir William Jones, Chief Justice of India, proposes that Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and many European languages were all descended from a common Proto-Indo-European language.

1789, July 14         The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille to free prisoners. Oddly enough the Bastille was empty of any real prisoners.

1791, November 4                Miami Chief 'Little Turtle' inflicts the worst defeat by Native Americans on the US Army under the command of Arthur St. Clair, ninth President of the Continental Congress in the Battle of Wabash. Six hundred soldiers are killed, one-quarter of the US Army.

1790        Based on traveling thouands of miles in England, John McAdam invents a new way to create roads by using crushed stones and gravel to remove water quickly from the roadbed. His improvement allows for faster travel and more trade in England.

1795        The Metric system of measurement was introduced into France.

1798        Thomas Malthus publishes An Essay on the Principle of Population claiming starvation was inevitable for the human race. Oddly enough, 200 years later the world is better feed than ever, but many still believe him.

1801        Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents a loom that uses punched cards to create designs in fabric. Workers fearful for their jobs threw their sabots, or shoes, into the machines to destroy them; giving rise to our word 'sabotage'.

1804        Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France.

1805        Napoleon's navy defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar by Nelson.

1805, April 27       William Eaton leads the first American overseas miltary action on land. Against enormous odds, the Marines and mercenaries take the city of Derna, Tripoli.

1812, June 24        Napoleon takes Moscow, but its a hallow victory. The city is burned to the ground and the Tsar does not surrender. Napoleon and whats left of the Grand Armee retreat.

1814        The Battle of Trafalgar. The British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson defeats a combined Spanish-French Fleet. AGAMEMNON was the name of one of his ships (see Babylon5).

1814        During the War of 1812, the British under the command of General Robert Ross attack Washington DC and burned the White House, but not before enjoying a lovely dinner prepared by Dolly Madison before she fled.

1815, June 18        Napoleon defeated at Waterloo

1816        The Year Without a Summer. Mount Tambora erupts and throws so much dust in the air that it causes 10 inches of snow to fall in June in New England (US). Crops fail and famine is common. Many blame Benjamin Franklin and his experiments with electricity for the freak weather. Mary Shelley is forced inside and writes Frankenstein.

1822        Jakob Grimm, of Grimm Fairy Tales fame, proposes 'Grimm's Law' - that many consonants have shifted in a consistent way from Non-Germanic languages (like Latin and Greek) to Germanic languages (like English). For example, 'p's become 'f's, as in Latin 'pater' becoming English 'father'; Latin 'pisces' becomes English 'fish'.

1833        Charles Babbage designs the Difference Machine - a forerunner of the modern computer. Traditionally it was thought to fail because metallurgy was not yet advanced enough. Recent views blame his machinist for wasting the money and being lazy.

1833        England outlaws slavery and frees 780,993 slaves in its possessions.

1838 January 24   Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph in public.

1840, March 28     The ironclad gunboat, the Nemesis, built by a Scottish shipbuilder John Laird, leaves England bound for China becoming the first ironclad to round the Cape of Good Hope. In China, she destroys nine war-junks, five forts, two military stations and a shore battery in a single day. The technological gap in warfare is widdening between Europe and the rest of the world.

1845-1848              The Great Hunger (aka Potato Famine). Blight causes potato crop to fail. 1.5 million die of starvation and disease. Ireland still exports grain to England to pay rents. Help from England was too little too late.

1847, Sept 14        United States troops enter Mexico City under the command of General Winfield Scott. A treaty ending the Mexican American war was signed in February.

1848, February 26                Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels publish a little pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto.

1854        Admiral Perry visits Japan with his Black Ships and opens trade with the West.

1854, October 25 During the Crimean War, Lord Cardigan led the British cavalry against the Russians in what would become known as "The Charge of the Light Brigade".

1856        Louis Pasteur shows that disease is spread from tiny, little organisms, instead of bad vapors. Germ theory is born.

1859        Charles Darwin publishes Origin of Species.

1859        George Bissel sees prices for whale oil skyrocketing as the spermicitti whales are overhunted and gambles on hiring Edwin Drake to drill an oil well in Titusville, PA. Progress is very slow and Bissel mails Drake to shut down the well. Fortunately the letter arrives late. Edwin Drake had just stuck the first oil well the day before. Whale oil was selling for 5 dollars a gallon, and kerosene soon sold for 10-25 cents a gallon.

1860        James Clerk Maxwell completes his four equations of electromagnetism.

1860        Herman Hollerith invents an electronic tabulator for the US Census. He starts a company that eventually becomes IBM.

1864, February 17                The Confederate H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink an enemy ship, the Union Housatonic. The Hunley sinks shortly afterwords killing all nine men on board.

1864, April 19       The CSS Albemarle, a Confederate ironclad designed by an 19 year old, and built in a corn field, sinks a Union ship and wins the Battle of Plymouth for the South.

1865        Augustinian monk Gregor Mendel lays the foundation for modern genetics

1862, May 4          A scout in the Civil War became the first person to be killed by a pressure activated land mine. This novel instrument of war was developed by Southern Gabriel J. Rains. and has been a scourge of the earth ever since. Land mines caused a third of the American injuries in Vietnam War.

1866        Prussia invades Austria. Prussia had smartly sent observers to the American Civil War. They learned of railroads, telegraphs, and new firearms. The Prussians used this newfound knowledge in a war with Austria. They slaughtered the Austrians using their new Needle guns which used a cartridge instead of muzzle loading, and could be reloaded in a prone position. With the railroads they brought fresh troops quickly to battle areas.

1866        The United States and Europe are connected by a 2,500 mile long telegraph cable.

1867, August 2     Using their new .50 caliber Springfield breech loading rifles, 26 soldiers from Fort Kearny, Wyoming fend off 1,500 Lakota Indians led by Red Cloud in "The Wagon Box Fight". The Lakota attacked in waves. The second wave expected to kill the reloading soldiers, but instead were greeted by a round of bullets from the new repeating rifles. Three soldiers and approximately 50 Indians were killed.

1876        Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

1876        Michelson and Morley fail to verify the existence of the ether.

1876        At the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow Indians defeated General George Custer's troops. Many have speculated that if Custer had not split his troops, and kept the cannon, he could have won easily. 25% of the Indians are estimated to have had superior weapons than the US Cavalry. The Indians had Spencers, Winchesters, and Henry repeating rifles. Custer's men were armed primarily with the Springfield single shot rifles.

August 26,1883    The island volcano of Krakatoa in Indonesia brilliantly explodes. 36,000 people are killed. The tide is influenced in England and fine volcanic dust settles in New York. The sound of the explosion is heard 3,000 miles away.

April 20, 1898       The Spanish-American War starts. Newspaper reports of alleged atrocities by the Spaniards against Cubans fanned the flames for the US to intervene to free the Cubans from their Colonial overlords. Ironically after the war, The US was in possession of its own colonies of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

1899-1902              Boer War. The descendants of the Dutch fight for independence from Britain.

1901        Guglielmo Marconi sends the first wireless transatlantic radio signal from England to Newfoundland.

1903        Orville and Wilbur Wright fly the first heavier than air craft.

1904        Japanese sink half the Russian fleet in the opening move of the Russo-Japanese war. The Russians badly underestimate the modern Japanese fleet which a year later destroys most of the remaining navy. The Japanese used the new Marconi radios to scout for the oncoming Russian Navy.

1905        While working as a patent clerk, Albert Einstein, publishes his theory of relativity and also states energy equals matter (E = mc2). This is his 'miracle year'. He publishes four vastly different papers. Three of them are Nobel prize winning material in their own right.

1906        HMS Dreadnought starts new era in warships. It was unique in some of the following ways: more armor (11 inch plate), larger than predecessors (18,000 tons), used steam turbine engine for smoother, faster, more reliable power, used single caliber guns instead of a mix of large and small guns. The Dreadnought battleship design started a very expensive arms race.

1911        Rutherford proposes the 'Solar System' model of the atom.

1911        Instead of each state's legislature selecting them, United States senators are to be elected by popular vote.

1912        The unsinkable Titanic goes down with over 1,500 souls. A steward from the White Star Line is reported as having said, "Not even God Himself can sink this ship". "Hubris" is what the Greeks called it.

1914, August 3     Germany declares war on France starting the "war to end all wars".

1916, April            Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, and four others begin a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing from Antarctica to South Georgia Island in what will be, according to many, the greatest sailing journey of all time. Their original ship, the Endurance was crushed in the ice so six of the men set sail in one of the life boats, the James Caird, to get help for the others trapped back in Antarctica.

1916        Einstein publishes his 'General Relativity' paper.

1916, 31 May        The Battle of Jutland. The first and last great battle of the Dreadnought class ships. Britain and Germany spent untold fortunes to build and man these ship, but battle was inconclusive.

1916        The First Battle of the Somme began. It lasted five months and the death toll of over one million was for the sake of an Allied advance of 125 square miles.

1917, Apr 6           The United States enters World War I against Germany. The tide of the war is already against the Germans. Ten million people will die from the war.

1917, December 17              The first true aircraft carrier, the British HMS Argus is launched.

1918, November 11              On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month World War I is officially over. The treaty was signed at 5am with hostilities to cease at 11am. During those 6 hours, 2,738 soldiers died, 320 of those were American. American commanders who knew the war was to be over in hours still sent soldiers into battle to "punish" the Germans.

1940, November   Proving the worth of aircraft carriers, the HMS Illustrious launches an attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto with 21 out-dated Fairey Swordfish biplanes. Three of the six battleships are severely damaged. Some naval officers take note, many still dismiss aircraft carriers as just novelties.

1918        Influenza virus kills 20 million people. About a quarter of the US population catches it and 2 to 3% die from it.

June 4, 1942          The battle of Midway starts in the Pacific. Japan loses four carriers and more importantly 200 highly trained pilots. This is the turning point in the Pacific war and cements the role of the aircraft carrier as the dominant naval vessel.

1923        DeBroglie proposes the matter-wave theory.

1923        Heisenberg probably stated his uncertainty principle.

1928        First Soviet 5-year Plan. 5 million Ukrainian peasants are deliberately starved to death. Visiting journalists ignore famine and praise Stalin's success.

1928 Sept 15         Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming notices penicillin mold killing a staphylococcus culture. The revolution of antibiotics is started.

1930        The "planet" Pluto discovered

1932        Sir James Chadwick discovers the neutron

1935        Scottish engineer Robert Watson-Watt shows his new invention, Radar, to the British Military. 19 Radar stations are active on the eve of WWII saving countless British lives.

1937, May 6          The German airship Hindenburg explodes in New Jersey. Amazingly 61 of the 97 persons aboard survive.

1938, November 10              Kristallnacht, a night of terror visited upon the Jews of Germany by the Nazis. Hundreds of Jews are killed and the glass from synagogues and businesses are shattered onto the streets.

1939, November 30              The Soviet Union invades Finland and starts the Russo-Finish War. The Soviets do so poorly against such a weaker opponent that Hitler is confirmed in his belief that the political purge eviscerated the Red Army. The Soviets do win the war on March 12, 1940.

1940        Alan Turing with help from Polish sources and Cambridge mathematician, W. G. Welchman breaks the German Enigma code saving countless Allied lives.

1941, June 22        Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, is launched 129 years to the day after Napoleon crossed the Niemen into Russia. Stalin did not believe the numerous intelligence reports detailing the German buildup. It was the largest military operation ever mounted.

1941, December 8                Japanese attack Wake island. The defenders of the tiny island fight against overwhelming odds and hold the island, providing the first victory for the US in the Pacific. Reinforcements are sent from Hawaii, but later, in a very controversial decision, recalled back to Hawaii. The Wake island defenders push back advancing Japanese soldiers, but the American officers surrender the island on Decmeber 23, in another controversial decision.

1942, December 2 At the University of Chicago Enrico Fermi and friends generate the first self-sustained nuclear reaction.

1942, February 23                A Japanese submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara California

1942, May 7          Carrier groups of Japanese and Americans fight the Battle of the Coral Sea. This is the first time that the ships fighting never had sight of each other; airplanes did the damage. Although the battle is a draw, one carrier loss for both sides, the Japanese invasion plans in the south are thwarted.

1943, July 12         The largest tank engagement, the Battle of Kursk, is fought between the Germans and the Russians.

1943, September 9               The battleship Roma is attacked by two German Fritz X bombs, becoming the first vessel sunk by a guided weapon.

1944, June 6          The largest amphibious landing in history, the invasion of Normandy, starts. This begins the end for the Third Reich (well, unless you talk with the Russians about the Eastern Front).

1945, March 9-10 First fire-bombing of Tokyo.

1945, August 6     At 08:16, the B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped an atomic bomb containing 60 kg of uranium-235 on Hiroshima Japan, killing an estimated 80,000 civilians outright and perhaps over 200,000 total.

1945, August 9     The B-29 named "Bocks Car" dropped a the bomb, "Fat Man", containing 8 kg of plutonium-239 on Nagasaki Japan. (The B-29 program cost 3 million dollars, while the atomic bomb cost less, 2 million).

1945, August 14   VJ Day - Japan surrenders in WWII eight days after the second atom bomb is dropped. His subjects hear Emperor Hirohito voice the next day for the first time on the radio as he announces the surrender.

1949        Half of all the gold mined in history, 22,000 tons, is in the United States.

1952, November 1                Ushering in the thermonuclear age, the first hydrogen bomb named 'Mike' is detonated by the US. 'Mike' was not a practical weapon since it weighed 70 tons and was a big as a house.

1954, January 21  Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine, is launched.

1957        Sputnik I becomes the first man-made satellite.

1959 December     Launching the SSBN George Washington, the world's first nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, the US moves unknowingly ahead in the cold war.

1960, January 23 Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh travel to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the lowest point on earth, in the Bathyscaphe Trieste. Oddly, no one has ever gone back a second time.

1961, January 3    An experimental nuclear power plant in Idaho, the SL-1, goes "prompt critcal" during maintence and kills three Army specialists. The reactor is buried on site.

1961, April 11       Yuri A. Gargarin becomes the first human in space and to orbit the earth

1963        Norman Borlaug launches the "Green Revolution" by breeding a strain of wheat that yields three to five times than ordinary wheat. Borlaug saves millions of lives in India, which after much bureaucratic red tape, finally allows the grain to be imported.

1964        Quarks are proposed to be the basic building blocks of most matter.

1969, July 20         Neil Armstrong walks on the surface of the moon.

1982, March 19     A group of Argentine scrap-metal merchants raise their flag over the island of South Georgia in the opening scene of what will become the Falklands War with Great Britain.

1984        Largest bio-terrorist attack in the United States modern history occurs in The Dalles, Oregon. 751 people become ill with the salmonella bacteria spread by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

1994        Hutus massacre 800,000 Tutsis in a few weeks using Machetes and clubs (Why can't we all just get along?)

 

EuropeAD 1

14            Death of Roman emperor Augustus

43            Roman emperor Claudius invades Britain

60 - 61    Rebellion of Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, against Romans in Britain

64            Great Fire of Rome

68 - 69    Civil war in Roman empire after Emperor Nero dies

c. 80        Completion of colosseum amphitheatre in Rome

AD 100

116 - 17 Roman empire reaches its greatest extent, under Emperor Trajan (98 - 17)

122 - 38 Hadrian's Wall built to defend province of Britain

166 - 67 Roman empire devastated by plague

180          Death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius; end of Pax Romana

AD 200

212          Roman citizenship formally extended to all free-born people within the empire

235 - 84 Long period of civil war and chaos in Roman empire

271 - 76 Building of Aurelian walls around Rome

284 - 305                Diocletian is emperor of Rome; major reforms; forms "Tetrarchy" of four emperors to rule the empire together

AD 300

313          Christianity tolerated throughout Roman empire

324          Constantine becomes sole emperor (western emperor in 312)

330          New city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) inaugurated on site of ancient Greek city of Byzantium in European Turkey

360s        First invasions of Europe by Huns from central Asia

378          Romans defeated at Adrianople by Visigoths: Emperor Valens killed

AD 400

RELIGIOUS WORLDS

410          Aaric the Goth, king of the Germanic people, the Visigoths, sacks Rome

432          St. Patrick introduces Christianity to Ireland

445          Attila the Hun attacks western Europe

c. 450      Saxons from Germany begin to invade Britain

451          Attila defeated at Ch_lons

476          Germanic invader Odoacer expels Romulus Augustus, last emperor of Rome, and takes control of the city

AD 500

527 - 65 Reign of Justinian, Byzantine emperor; he tries to reunite the eastern and western branches of the Christian church which are bitterly divided

529          St. Benedict founds monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome

529 - 34 Justinian introduces codes of law

552 - 53 Monks smuggle silkworms to Constantinople from China; start of important Byzantine silk industry

563 - 97 St Columba comes from Ireland to spread Christian religion in Scotland

597          Mission of St. Augustine to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity

AD 600

c. 600      Beginning of an important period of art and literature in Ireland

c. 602      Slavic tribes begin settlement of the Balkans

664          Synod of Whitby in England; Roman Christianity chosen in preference to Celtic

c. 670      Syrian chemist, Callinicus, invents Greek Fire, a highly inflammable liquid used by the Byzantine army in battle; first used in Battle of Cyzicus c. 673

c. 675      Bulgars, nomadic people from the Russian steppes, settle in lands south of the Danube

AD 700

715          Muslim forces conquer most of Spain; only the mountainous north, home of the Basque people, remains independent

732          Charles Martel , king of the Franks, defeats Muslims at Poitiers in France, stopping Muslim advance northwards

768          Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks

784 - 96 Offa , king of Mercia in central England, builds defensive dyke between England and Wales

787          Vikings make their first raids on the coasts of Britain

AD 800

NEW NATIONS

800          Pope crowns Charlemagne emperor of Rome on Christmas Day in St Peter's Church, Rome

c. 800      First castles built in western Europe

809 - 17 War between the Byzantine empire and the Bulgars - Khan Krum of Bulgaria defeats Byzantines in 811 and kills their emperor

814          Death of Charlemagne

841          Vikings found Dublin on east coast of Ireland

c. 843      Charlemagne 's Frankish empire breaks up

843          Kenneth /MacAlpin unites kingdom of Scotia and becomes first king of Scotland (dies c. 859)

844 - 78 Rule of /Rhodri Mawr , first prince of all Wales

c. 860      Vikings rule at Novgorod in Russia

862          Vikings led by /Rurik are invited by East Slavic and Finnish tribes of north Russia to rule them

871 - 99 Reign of Alfred The Great of England

878          Alfred defeats Vikings under Gudrum at Ethandune; Treaty of Wedmore divides England between them

885 - 86 Vikings raid Paris in France

c. 891      Monks write the history of England in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

AD 900

c. 900      Magyars, nomadic people from central Asia, invade Europe

910          Benedictine Abbey of Cluny is founded in Burgundy, France

911          Rollo, Viking chief, settles in Normandy, France

912 - 61 Rule of Abd-al-Rahman III, Omayyad caliph of Cordoba, Spain; during his peaceful reign he develops arts and industry, such as paper-making

936 - 73 Reign of Otto The Great, king of Germany; he is crowned Holy Roman emperor in 962

937          Athelstan of England defeats large army of Scots, Irish, and Danes at Battle of Brunanburh, northern England

942 - 50 Record of Welsh law is written down on the orders of Hywel Dda, Prince of all Wales

955          Otto defeats Magyars at Battle of Lechfeld, near Augsburg, and defeats Slavs at Reichnitz

963          Mieszko I founds kingdom of Poland; he is succeeded by Boleslav I, who expands its territory greatly

976 - 1025              Reign of Basil II, Byzantine emperor who defeats Bulgarians in 1014

978          Vladimir becomes Grand Prince of Kiev

c. 986      Eric The Red, Viking explorer, sets up a colony in Greenland

987 - 96 Reign of Hugh Capet, first Capetian king of France

c. 989      Vladimir of Kiev chooses Orthodox Christianity as the official religion for his people

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

1020        Italian towns, including Rome, Florence and Venice, become city states

1000 - 38                Rule of Stephen, first of Arpad dynasty of Hungary; he accepts Christianity for his people

1014        Brian Boru, High King of all Ireland, defeats Vikings at Battle of Clontarf, but is killed after victory

1016 - 35                Reign of Canute, Viking king of England, Denmark, Norway and Sweden

1019 - 54                Yaroslav the Wise, ruler of Kiev in Russia, unifies many Russian principalities

1020s      Boleslav I of Poland creates a powerful state

1034        Scotland becomes united down to present border with England

1035 - 66                Normandy in north of France grows powerful

1037        Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Le¾n unite

1054        Split between Catholic church of Rome and Orthodox Christian church of Byzantium

1066        William Duke of Normandy, defeats Harold of England at Battle of Hastings

1072 - 91                Norman armies conquer Sicily

1077        Pope Gregory expels Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV from church; Henry pleads forgiveness, but conflict between empire and Papacy continues into 12th century

1086        Survey of England by order of William I is recorded in Domesday Book

1098        Monastery founded at Citeaux in France; start of Cistercian order of monks

AD 1100

c. 1115 - 42            French teacher Henry IV makes Paris centre of religious learning

1115 - 53                Career of Bernard of Clairvaux, whose abbey becomes most important monastery in Europe

1119        Bologna University founded in Italy; Paris University, in France, is founded in 1150

1124 - 53                David I rules Scotland

1132 - 44                St Denis Abbey, the first Gothic church, built by Abbot Suger in Paris

1139 - 85                Alphonso I becomes first king of Portugal

1152 - 90                Reign of powerful Holy Roman emperor Frederick I, called Barbarossa (red beard)

1154 - 89                Reign of Henry II Plantagenet of Anjou as king of England; he reforms law and government

1171 - 72                Henry II invades Ireland and is accepted as its lord

1180 - 1223            Philip II Augustus rules France, conquering Angevin lands in the west

1190        Teutonic Order of knights, a military society, set up in Germany to defend Christian lands in Palestine and Syria

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

1209        St Francis of Assisi founds Franciscan religious order

1212        Almohads defeated by Christians at battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

1215        English King John seals Magna Carta, giving more power to barons

1240        Russian Alexander Nevsky defeats Swedes at great battle on the Neva river

1241        L_beck and Hamburg form a Hansa (association) for trade and mutual protection; beginning of Hanseatic League

1249        University College, first college of Oxford University, England, founded

c. 1254    Explorer Marco Polo born in Venice

1262        Iceland and Greenland come under Norwegian rule

1273        Rudolph I becomes first Habsburg ruler of Austria

1282 - 84                Edward I of England conquers Wales

1284        Peterhouse, first college of Cambridge University, founded in England

1284        Sequins coined in Venice, Italy

c. 1290    Invention of spectacles in Italy

1291        Three Swiss cantons join together to begin struggle for independence from Habsburgs

AD 1300

1308        Papal court moves to Avignon; Great Schism follows

1314        Scots defeat English at Battle of Bannockburn

1337        Edward III of England claims French throne - 100 Years War (1337 - 1453) begins

1346        English defeat French at Battle of Cr_cy

1347        Bubonic plague or Black Death reaches Europe

1358        Jacquerie Revolt; peasant uprising north of Paris, France

1370        Geoffrey Chaucer writes first book, Book of the Duchess

1373        Treaty of Anglo-Portuguese friendship; the English and Portuguese are still allies today

1381        Peasants' Revolt in England led by Wat Tyler

1389        Christian Serbs defeated by Ottoman Turks at Kossovo in Serbia

1397        Kalmar Agreement unites three Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

1403        Ghiberti sculpts human bodies in realistic style for bronze doors of Florence baptistry, heralding the Renaissance

1415        John Hus, Bohemian religious reformer, burnt at stake

1417        End of Great Schism in Catholic church; a single pope elected in Rome

1429        Joan of Arc leads French forces against occupying English army at Siege of Orl_eans

1431        Joan of Arc is burnt at the stake by the English

1430s      Gutenberg, a German metalworker, experiments with printing using moveable type

1447        Casimir IV of Poland unites Polish kingdom with Grand Duchy of Lithuania

1453        Ottomans besiege and capture Constantinople, ending Byzantine empire

1453        End of 100 Years War; English expelled from all France except Calais

1455 - 56                First Bible printed in Europe by Gutenberg

1456        Hungarians under nobleman John Hunyadi storm Belgrade and drive out Turks

1462 - 1505            Reign of Ivan III (the Great), Grand Prince of Muscovy

1466        Birth of Desiderius, Dutch scholar and leader of revival of learning in northern Europe

1478 - 92                Rule of Renaissance art patron, Lorenzo de' Medici

1479        Crowns of Aragon and Castile in Spain united under Ferdinand and Isabella

1480        Spanish Inquisition introduced to uncover heresy

1485        Henry VII becomes first Tudor king of England and Wales after defeat of last Plantagenet king Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth

1492        Christian Spanish capture Granada in Spain from Muslims

1492        Christopher Columbus lands on Bahama islands, Cuba, and Hispaniola; he is first European to reach Americas since Vikings

1497 - 98                Portuguese Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and sails on to India

1498        Italian religious reformer, Savonarola, burnt at stake

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

1500        Black-lead pencils used in England

1506 - 1612            Construction of basilica of St Peter's in Rome

1517        Martin Luther, German scholar, publishes 95 objections to Catholic practices

1519        Charles, archduke of Austria (and king of Spain), elected Holy Roman emperor (retires in 1556)

1519        Death of Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci

1527        Troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, sack Rome and capture Pope Clement VII

1534        Henry VIII of England breaks with Rome; makes himself head of English church

1541 - 64                Leadership of John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland

1545 - 63                Council of Trent, Italy; Catholics efforts to reform

1547        Tsar Ivan IV "the Terrible" (reigns 1533 - 84) takes power in Russia

1556 - 98                Reign of Philip II of Spain

1558 - 1603            Reign of Elizabeth I of England

1559 - 84                Building of palace of Escorial outside Madrid

1560s - 90s            French Wars of Religion: Protestant minority in conflict with Catholic majority as leading nobles struggle for power under weak Valois kings

1564 - 1616            Life of English playwright, William Shakespeare

1568 - 1648            Dutch campaign for independence from Spanish rule

1571        Don John of Austria smashes Ottoman fleet at Battle of Lepanto

1572        Massacre of St Bartholomew: 8,000 Protestants die in Paris, France

1572        Dutch Sea Beggars take Brill

1575 - 86                Stephen Batory, prince of Transylvania in Romania, is elected king of Poland

1577 - 80                English seaman Francis Drake sails round the world

1580 - 1640            Spain united with Portugal

1588        English fleet defeats Spanish Armada off south coast of England

1598        Henry IV, first Bourbon king of France, grants equal rights to Protestants

AD 1600

COMMERCE AND COLONIES

1605        End of Boris Godunov's reign in Russia

1605        Gunpowder Plot fails

1609        Italian Galileo Galilei confirms that the sun is the centre of the universe

1611 - 32                Reign of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden

1613        Michael becomes tsar of Russia; Romanov dynasty begins

1613 - 29                Reign of Bethlen Gabor in Hungary

1618 - 48                30 Years War involves almost all Europe except Britain

1619 - 28                In London, England, William Harvey discovers the circulation of the blood

1624        Cardinal Richelieu becomes first minister in France

1625        Dutchman Hugo Grotius publishes De Jure Belli ac Pacis, which becomes the basis of international law

1627 - 28                Catholics besiege Huguenots in La Rochelle on western coast of France

1628        Petition of Right, England; parliament curtails king's powers

1629 - 40                British king Charles I tries to rule without parliament

1632 - 54                Reign of Queen Christina of Sweden

1640        Portugal gains independence from Spain

1642 - 47                Civil war in England, Scotland, and Ireland

1643        Italian physicist Torricelli invents the barometer

1643 - 1715            Reign of Louis XIV of France

1645 - 69                Candian War between Venice and Ottoman Turks

1648        Treaty of Westphalia ends 30 Years War

1648 - 53                The Frondes; revolts against mazarins rule in France

1649        Charles I of England and Scotland executed

1678        Imaginary "popish Plot" to overthrow Charles II of England invented by Titus Oates

1679        Habeas Corpus Act in England ensures no imprisonment without court appearance first

1682 - 1725            Reign of Peter the Great of Russia

1683        Turks besiege Vienna; beaten off by John Sobieski

1685        Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France

1688        Revolution in England against James II brings William of Orange to the throne

1689        Formation of Grand Alliance of Habsburgs, the Dutch, and the English against France

1697        Treaty of Ryswick between France and Grand Alliance

1697 - 98                Peter I (the Great) of Russia travels through western Europe in disguise

1699        Treaty of Karlowitz; Habsburgs gain almost all Hungary

AD 1700

THE AGE OF ENQUIRY

1700s      Age of Enlightenment introduces revolutionary new ideas to Europe

1700s      Agricultural Revolution begins in Britain; later spreads across Europe

1700 - 21                Great Northern War: Russia is victorious and replaces Sweden as the dominant power in northeastern Europe

1701 - 13                Much of Europe involved in War of Spanish Succession; French routed at Battle of Blenheim, 1704

1703        Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, founds St Petersburg

1707        Act of Union unites England and Scotland

1712        In England, Thomas Newcomen invents a workable steam pump for use in mines

1712        Religious warfare in Switzerland

1713 - 40                Reign of King frederick william I of Prussia

1715        First Jacobite rising in Britain attempts to restore exiled Stuart dynasty to throne

1720        South Sea Bubble - financial scandal in England

1721 - 42                Robert Walpole is first and longest-serving British prime minister

1724        Peter the Great founds Russian Academy of Sciences

1726 - 43                Cardinal Fleury governs France peacefully

1733 - 35                France and Austria fight War of Polish Succession to make their candidates Polish king

1740 - 86                Frederick The Great rules Prussia; he greatly expands its territory and Prussia becomes a major power in Europe

1740 - 48                Prussia attacks Austria and drags much of Europe into War of Austria Succession

1741 - 61                Reign of Elizabeth I of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great; she founds Russia's first university at Moscow

1745 - 46                Second Jacobite rising in Britain led by Bonnie Prince Charlie attempts but fails to restore exiled Stuart dynasty to British throne

THE AGE OF REVOLUTION

1750 - 77                Sebastian de Carvalho (later Marquis of Pombal) appointed foreign secretary and acts as chief minister to Jose_ I of Portugal; introduces reforms

1754        Concordat with Vatican gives Spanish church independence from Rome

1755        The great Lisbon earthquake in Portugal; many thousands killed

1756 - 63                Seven Years War; Prussia and Britain versus France, Austria, and Russia

1757        Battle of Rossbach; Frederick The Great of Prussia defeats French and Austrians

1762        Publication of French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau's Contrat Social

1762 - 96                Reign of Russian empress Catherine the Great

1764 - 95                Reign of King Stanislas Poniatowski, the last king of Poland

1772 - 95                Poland is divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia

1773 - 75                Emelian Pugachev leads uprising of Cossacks and peasants in Russia

1774 - 92                Reign of Louis XVI, king of France

1777        Accession of Maria as queen of Portugal; she exiles Pombal but continues his work

1778        War of Bavarian Succession between Prussia and Austria

1780        Joseph II, co-ruler of Austria with his mother Maria Theresa in 1780, becomes sole ruler on her death; ten year period of important reforms

1783        Russian government annexes the Crimea

1783 - 1801            William Pitt the Younger is prime minister of England

1787 - 92                Turkey fights Russia to regain the Crimea, but is defeated

1788 - 90                Sweden attacks Russia, but a peace treaty confirms the pre-war borders

1789        Outbreak of French Revolution; Paris Bastille stormed (14 July)*

1795        France overruns Netherlands; creates dependent Dutch republic

1798-99 Wolfe Tone organizes Irish revolt against English rule

AD 1800

INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY

1800        Italian scientist Volta invents electric cell

1801 - 25                Reign of Tsar Alexander I of Russia

1804        First oil lamp made in England, designed by Frenchman Argand

1804        Napoleon becomes Emperor of the French

1805        Battles of Trafalgar (British naval victory) and Austerlitz (French army victory)

1806        Napoleon brings the Holy Roman empire to an end

1807        Britain abolishes slave trade; slavery continues until 1833

1808 - 14                The Peninsular War in Spain

1812        First tin cans produced in England for preserving food

1812        Napoleon reaches Moscow; is forced by partisan warfare and burning of Moscow to retreat to France

1813        Napoleon defeated in the "Battle of the nations", Leipzig

1815        Battle of Waterloo; final defeat of Napoleon

1815        Congress of Vienna follows defeat of Napoleon; map of Europe decided

1821-29 Greek War of Independence, against Turks

1827        Frenchman Nic_phore Ni_pce takes the first photograph

1827        Battle of Navarino Bay; British, French, and Russian navies destroy Turkish fleet

1830        Russians suppress Polish revolt

1830        Revolution in France

1830 - 31                Kingdom of Belgium is founded

1832        First Great Reform Bill gives more men the vote in Britain

1833        Abolition of slavery in British empire

1840        Penny postage stamp introduced in Britain; postage stamps transform postal systems

1841        Nationalist leader Lajos Kossuth founds Hungarian liberal reform newspaper

1844        First effective Factory Act in Britain

1847 - 48                Civil war leaves Switzerland a federal state

1848        Publication of the Communist Manifesto

1848        Year of Revolution throughout Europe

THE RISE OF NATIONALISM

1851        The Great Exhibition in England

1852        Louis Napoleon becomes Emperor Napoleon III of the French

1853 - 56                Crimean War: Russia fights Turkey, Britain, France, and Sardinia

1860        Italian parliament meets in Turin; Garibaldi takes southern Italy; most of Italy unified

1861        Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom in Russia

1862 - 90                Career of Bismarck as chief minister of Germany

1863 - 64                Poles rebel against Russian rule

1866        Prussia defeats Austria at Sadowa in Seven Weeks War

1867        Disraeli introduces Second Reform Bill in Britain

1868 - 74                Gladstone is British prime minister for first time

1870 - 71                Franco-Prussian War; Napoleon III abdicates, Third Republic established in France (to 1940)

1871        Unification of Germany: Prussian king William I becomes emperor of Germany

1874 - 80                Disraeli's second and last government in Britain

1876        Turks put down Bulgarian rising with great cruelty

1878        Congress of Berlin ends Russo-Turkish War (1877 - 78); freedom for some Balkan countries

1881        Assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia

1882        Triple Alliance is formed between Germany, Austria, and Italy

1885        German Karl Benz is first to sell motor cars

1887        Bulgaria elects Ferdinand of Coburg king; it becomes leading Balkan state

1888 - 1918            Kaiser (Emperor) William II reigns in Germany

1891 - 94                Franco-Russian agreement

1895        In France, the Lumi_re brothers invent the film projector

1895        Assassination of Bulgarian prime minister Stambuloff

1895        Marconi invents wireless telegraphy

AD 1900

THE WORLD GOES TO WAR

1900        German naval law introduces 20-year building programme for a high seas fleet to compete with the British navy

1901 - 05                Separation of the church from the state in France

1901        Foundation of Russian Social Revolutionary party (Bolsheviks)

1903        Assassination of Alexander, king of Serbia

1903 - 05                Scandal breaks in Belgium over Belgian rule in Zaire

1904        "Entente Cordiale" between Britain and France

1904 - 05                Russo-Japanese War

1905        Revolution in Russia

1905        Norway breaks away from Sweden; elects King Haakon VII

1906        Liberal government comes to power in Britain; many reforms

c. 1906    Navy arms race escalates

1908        Young Turk revolution

1908        Carlos I of Portugal assassinated

1908        Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina

1908        Ferdinand I proclaimed emperor of Bulgaria

1910        Portuguese revolution brings about the end of the monarchy

1912 - 13                Balkan Wars

1913        Coup d'_tat of Young Turks in Turkey

1914        Assassination of heir to Austrian throne leads to outbreak of World War I

1914        Battle of the Marne

1914        Battle of Tannenberg between the Germans and the Russians; German victory

1915        Dardanelles Campaign; British try to force passage to Constantinople

1915        Germans start submarine campaign to blockade British Isles

1916        Battle of Jutland between British and German fleets; stalemate

1916        Easter Rising against British government in Ireland

1917        Russian Revolution: Liberal revolution (February); Bolshevik revolution (October)*

1918        Armistice ends World War I

PEACE AND WAR

1919        Ernest Rutherford splits atom for first time

1921        Lenin introduces New Economic Policy in Russia

1922        Irish Free State founded

1922        Mussolini becomes Italian prime minister; dictator from 1925

1923 - 30                Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in Spain

1924        First British Labour party victory at a general election

1924        Death of Vladimir Lenin

1925        Locarno Agreements between major European powers aim to maintain peace and stability

1926        In Britain, John Logie Baird invents the television

1928        French begin to build fortification, the Maginot Line, on German border

1928        Stalin launches five-year plan to expand Soviet industry

1931        Republic declared in Spain after King Alfonso XIII abdicates

1931        Statute of Westminster makes dominions of British empire self-governing

1933        Nazi leader Hitler appointed German chancellor; Nazis begin organized persecution of Jews

1934        Mussolini meets Hitler

1936        Germany invades Rhineland region on French-Belgian border

1936 - 39                Civil War in Spain

1937        Eamonn de Valera becomes prime minister of Ireland (Eire)

1938        Hitler compels Austria to form union with Germany (the "Anschluss")

1938        Munich crisis: France and Britain agree to let Germany partition Czechoslovakia

1939        Stalin and Hitler agree to divide Poland between them

1939        Germany invades Poland; this leads to World War II

1940        British scientists develop radar

1940        France surrenders to Germany

1941        Jet aircraft developed in England and Germany

1943        German Sixth Army fails to capture Stalingrad (present-day Volgograd) in Soviet Union, and surrenders

1944        Allies invade France and begin to reconquer Europe

ONE WORLD

1948 - 49                The Berlin airlift

1949        Britain recognizes the independence of Ireland

1951        Sir Winston Churchill forms his first peacetime government in England

1953        Death of Stalin in Russia; Nikita Khrushchev takes power

1953        DNA discovered

1955        The Warsaw Pact is signed

1956        Soviet troops invade Hungary and quash revolt

1957        Russians launch Sputniks; Laika, a small dog, becomes the first living creature in space

1957        The Treaty of Rome ushers in the EEC

1958        Charles de Gaulle brings strong presidential rule to France

1961        Russian Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space

1961        Berlin Wall built to stop East Germans fleeing to the West

1961        Female oral contraceptive pill comes onto the market

1964        Leonid Brezhnev takes over from Khrushchev as ruler in Russia

1968        Paris erupts into student riots followed by general strike

1968        Czechoslovakia tries to initiate internal reforms; Soviet troops enter Prague and end "Prague Spring"

1972        "Bloody Sunday" in Londonderry, Northern Ireland; troops fire on civil rights marchers

1972        Munich Olympics; Israeli athletes killed by Arab "Black September" organization

1976        Helsinki convention on human rights adopted

1977        240 Czech intellectuals sign Charter 77 stating that democratic freedoms are still denied

1979        Britain elects first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher

1980        Independent trade union, Solidarity, formed in Poland

1985        Mikhail Gorbachev elected Soviet Communist party leader; introduces reforms

1986        Nuclear power disaster at Chernobyl in Ukraine

1989        Berlin Wall dismantled

1990        East and West Germany are unified as one nation

1990        Solidarity's Lech Walesa is elected president of Poland

1991        Break-up of the Soviet Union, resignation of Gorbachev; Yeltsin takes power in Russia

1992        Yugoslavia breaks up and erupts into bloody civil war

 

AsiaAD 1

9-23        Rule of Wang Mang as emperor of China

25            Eastern Han dynasty begins its rule over China

c. 33        Jesus Christ, Jewish religious leader, crucified

c. 50        Buddhism reaches China

AD 100

c. 105      Paper invented in China, perhaps by Cai Lun

c. 120      In China Zhang Heng introduces the seismograph

c. 120-62                Kushan King Kanishka rules large areas of northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and central Asia

184-205 In China, rebellion by members of Yellow Turban sect greatly weakens Han dynasty

c. 190      Rise of Hindu Chola kingdom near Tanjore, southern India

AD 200

220          End of Han dynasty in china, followed by Three Kingdoms and Jin dynasty

c. 224      End of Parthian power in Persian empire: beginning of Sassanid dynasty under Ardashir I (224-41)

260          Shapur I of Persia defeats Roman emperor Valerian in battle; Valerian captured

AD 300

c. 320      Rise of Gupta empire in Ganges Valley, India

360          Embassy from King Meghavarna of Sri Lanka reaches Gupta court; religious monument for Sri Lankan visitors is built

376          Beginning of reign of Chandragupta II; golden Gupta age

386          Beginning of era of north-south division in China (to 589)

399          Chinese Buddhist historian, Fa-hien, begins his journey through India

AD 400

RELIGIOUS WORLDS

c. 400      Gupta empire grows until it stretches across the whole width of India

489          Large Buddhist temples built in China; Buddhists also use cave temples

AD 500

c. 500      Indian mathematicians introduce the zero (0)

c. 500-15                The Huns, a nomadic central Asian people, destroy the powerful Gupta empire of India

c. 538      Buddhism reaches Japan, and slowly spreads throughout the country

570          Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, is born in Mecca

580s        Wen di, the first Sui emperor, reunites divided Chinese empire

595          Indian mathematicians use decimal system

AD 600

c. 605-10                Chinese build Grand Canal to link Yangtze with Chang¹an

618          Tang dynasty begins in China

626          Tang court adopts Buddhism

632          Death of Mohammed

634          Beginning of the Arab empire

645-784 Japanese court imitates Chinese form of government

646-700 Political and social reforms (Taika) take place in Japan

c. 650      Revelations of Mohammed are written; they become the Koran

661-750 The Muslim Omayyads rule in Damascus, Syria

AD 700

710-84    Nara, south of present-day Kyoto, is capital of Japan

711          Omayyads conquer Sind and found first Muslim state in India

751          Arabs win Battle of River Talas, central Asia; Islam comes to China

762          Abbasid dynasty ruling Iraq makes Baghdad its capital

786-809 Reign of Harun-al-Rashid, greatest Abbasid ruler

794          Heian-kyo (Kyoto) becomes capital of Japan

794-1185                Heian period in Japan; more independence from China

AD 800

NEW NATIONS

802          King Jayavarman II of Khmer people of Cambodia founds Angkorian dynasty which becomes centre of Khmer life

813-33    Rule of Abbasid caliph al-Mamun; he sets up a House of Wisdom in Baghdad that becomes the most important school in the Arab world

820s        Persian mathematician Musa al-Chwarazmi develops system of algebra

845          Buddhism banned in China

AD 850

850s        Arabs perfect astrolabe

858          Beginning of Fujiwara clan¹s control of Japanese emperors

866          Fujiwara Yoshifusa (804-72) becomes regent over child emperor Seiwa

868          The Diamond Sutra, the oldest printed book still in existence, is produced by wood block printing in China

886-1267                Chola dynasty rules much of south India from capital at Tanjore

887          Fujiwara Mototsune (836-91) becomes chief advisor to the Japanese emperor

889          Khmers start to build capital city at Angkor, Cambodia

AD 900

906-07    Collapse of Tang dynasty in China after many years of war; for the next 50 years, China is divided into many warring states

907-26    Khitan Mongols under Ye-lu a-pao-chi conquer inner Mongolia and several districts of northern China

935          Koryo state founded in western central Korea

941          Fujiwara Tadahira becomes civil dictator in Japan

950

960          Song dynasty reunifies China

962          Alptigin, Turkish warrior slave, seizes Afghan fortress of Ghazni and founds Ghaznavid dynasty

970          Paper money introduced by Chinese government

983          1,000 chapter encyclopaedia, Taiping Yulan, produced in China

985          Chola king Rajaraja I (985-1014) conquers Kerala in south India, and Sri Lanka in 1001

997-1030                Mohammed of Ghazni rules Afghan empire; he invades India 17 times

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

c. 1000    Chinese perfect gunpowder and begin to use it in warfare

c. 1008-20              Japanese court lady Murasaki Shikibu writes the famous novel, Tale of Genji

1014        Rajendra I becomes ruler of the Cholas, who dominate much of India

1044        Anawrata takes power in Burma; he builds a large empire, strengthens his army, and founds a dynasty of able rulers

AD 1050

1065        Muslim Seljuk Turks invade Asia Minor

1071        Seljuks defeat Byzantine army at Battle of Manzikert; they capture Jerusalem in 1076

c. 1090    Mechanical clock, driven by water, built in Kaifeng (China¹s capital city)

1096        Christian rulers from Europe go on First Crusade to retake Palestine from Seljuks

1099        Crusaders capture Jerusalem, in Palestine

AD 1100

1113-50 Reign of Suryavarman II of Cambodia; he starts building temple complex of Angkor Wat

c. 1120    Chinese play with painted playing cards

1147-49 Christian armies of Second Crusade defeated by Turks in Asia Minor and abandon siege of Damascus

1150

c. 1163    Birth of Genghis Khan, creator of Mongol empire

1173-93 Saladin overcomes Palestine and Syria, taking Damascus

1180s      Decline of Chola kingdom

1186-87 Last Ghaznavid ruler deposed by Mohammed of Ghur, Muslim founder of an empire in North India

1187        Saladin defeats Christians at Hattin and takes Jerusalem

1192        Truce between Christian Richard I of England and Muslim Saladin ends Third Crusade

1192        In Japan, Minamoto Yoritomo becomes shogun after long civil war ends with his victory

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

c. 1203    Hojo family rules Japan after Minamoto Yoritomo¹s death

1206        Former Turkestan slave Aibak founds new sultanate of Delhi in north India

1206        Mongol empire founded by Genghis Khan

1229        Christians regain Jerusalem, but lose it in 1244

AD 1250

1256        Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, founds Mongol kingdom of Persia

1260        Khubilai, grandson of Genghis, becomes Great Khan

1260        Battle of Ain Jalut - Mongols, under Hulagu, halted by Mamluks in Palestine

1271        Venetian explorer Marco Polo sets out for China

1281        Mongols driven away from Japan by kamikaze, the divine wind

AD 1300

c. 1300    Osman I founds Ottoman dynasty in Turkey

1321        Tughluq dynasty founded in Delhi

1335-38 Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese general, rebels against emperor and becomes first of the Ashikaga shoguns

1336        Hindu empire of Vijayanagar in India founded by Harihara I becomes centre of resistance to Islam

AD 1350

1350        Last Hindu Javanese kingdom of Majapahit begins to spread in southeast Asia

1368        Mongols driven out of China; Zhu Yuanzhang founds Ming dynasty

c. 1390    Ottoman Turks complete conquest of Asia Minor

1398        Tamerlane sacks Delhi

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

1402        Tamerlane, Mongol conqueror from central Asia, defeats Ottomans at battle of Ankyra in Turkey

c. 1403-09              Encyclopaedia of over 20,000 chapters, the Yongle dadian, compiled in China

1405-33 Chinese Muslim, Zheng He, makes seven voyages westwards to collect tribute for Ming emperors

1411-42 Reign of Indian sultan Ahmad Shah of Gujarat, who builds splendid capital city of Ahmadabad

1419-50 Korea prospers under King Sejong; he introduces official Korean script

1420-21 Chinese Ming capital moves from Nanjing to Beijing

AD 1425

1430s      Collapse of Khmer empire in southeast Asia; Angkor Wat abandoned after being sacked by Thai army in 1431

1431-33 Zheng He makes his seventh and final voyage; he sails as far as the east coast of Africa

1448-88 Thailand expands under King Trailok; he brings about major administrative and legal reforms

1449-74 Rule of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in Japan

AD 1450

c. 1460    Imperial porcelain works at Jingdezhen in China successfully import Ming pottery abroad

1463-79 War between Ottoman Turks and Venetians; Turks eventually triumphant

1467-77 Onin War in Japan, a civil war beginning as a conflict over shogunal succession, ends Ashikaga shogunate¹s authority

1483        Ashikaga Yoshimasa completes building of the Silver Pavilion Temple, or Ginkakuji, at Kyoto in Japan

1488        First major Ikko-ikki, or Uprising of Ikko Buddhists, in Japan

1488        Ming emperors order rebuilding of Great Wall to defend China from northern invaders

1492        Sikander Lodi, sultan of Delhi (1489-1517), annexes Bihar and moves his capital to Agra to facilitate conquest of Rajasthan

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

1501-24 Reign of Ismail, first Safavid shah of Persia

1520-66 Reign of Sulayman the Magnificent; Ottoman empire at its peak

1526        Babur (descendant of Mongol ruler Genghis Khan and of Tamerlane), first Moghul emperor, invades India

1546        Tabinshwehti conquers Pegu from the Mons and assumes title of king of all Burma

1549-51 Mission of Jesuit St. Francis Xavier to Japan

1551        Bayinnaung inherits the Burmese throne and overruns Thailand

1556-1605              Reign of Moghul emperor Akbar in India

1568-c. 1600          Period of national unification in Japan begins when feudal lord, Oda Nobunaga, captures capital, Kyoto

1573-1620              Reign of emperor Wan Li in China: period of great paintings and porcelain-making; imperial kilns at Jingde zhen produce vast quantities of china

1587-1629              Reign of Shah Abbas I (the Great) of Persia; he consolidates and expands territories

1592-98 Korea succeeds in beating of Japanese invasions

c. 1590-1605          Burma breaks up into small states

AD 1600

COMMERCE AND COLONIES

c. 1600    Abbas I (reigns from 1587 to 1629) introduces reforms in Persia and expands territory

1600        Battle of Sekigahara, Japan; Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats rivals; takes power and the Tokugawa or Edo period begins

1600-14 English, Dutch, Danish, and French East India Companies founded

1607        Confucianism begins to be main force in Tokugawa politics and society

1612-39 Japanese persecute Christians

1619-24 Dutch establish virtual monopoly of spice trade in Moluccas and other Indonesian islands

1620s      Beginning of Japanese national policy of restriction of contact with the outside world

1627        Manchus overrun Korea, which later becomes vassal state

c. 1628    Kingdom of Burma breaks up into small states

1632-48 Shah Jahan builds Taj Mahal at Agra in India

1641        Dutch capture Malacca on the Malay peninsula

1644        Quing (Manchu) dynasty takes over in China

1657        Tokugawa Mitsukuni begins compilation of History of Japan

1658-1707              Emperor Aurangzeb is the last great Moghul emperor; after 1707 empire begins to break up

1661-1722              Reign of the Kangxi emperor in China; Chinese territory extended and books and scholarship developed

1664        Dutch force king of Thailand to give them monopoly of deerskin exports and seaborne trade with China

1683        Formosa (Taiwan) becomes Chinese territory

1690        English East India Company official Job Charnock founds the city of Calcutta, on a swamp by the Hooghly river in Bengal, northeastern India

AD 1700

THE AGE OF ENQUIRY

1703        In Japan, 47 ronin commit suicide

1707        Death of Moghul emperor Aurangzeb followed by break-up of empire

1709        Ghilzai people under Mir Vais defeat Persian army; Afghanistan no longer obedient province of Persian empire

1709        Death of shogun Tsunayoshi of Japan

1716-45 Reforming shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune rules Japan

1716        Manchu emperor Kangxi sends troops to expel Junkar people from Tibet; in 1720 Kangxi enthrones seventh Dalai Lama as tributary ruler of Tibet

1722        Death of Kangxi, enlightened Manchu emperor

1722-35 Rule of Manchu emperor Yongzheng; Treaty of Kiakhta signed with Russia; Siberian-Mongolian border defined

1724        Asaf Jah, a minister of the Moghul emperor, retires to the Deccan; he becomes an independent ruler and is declared first Nizam of Hyderabad

1725        Gujin tushu jicheng, the largest encyclopaedia ever printed, in 10,000 chapters, commissioned by Qing emperor Yongzheng

1729        Yongzheng sets up Grand Council, an informal and flexible body of military advisers

1735        Nadir Shah, chief adviser and general to last Safavid ruler in Persia, defeats Turks in great battle at Baghavand and captures Tiflis

1736-47 Nadir Shah reigns as shah of Persia

1736-96 Rule of Qianlong, as Qing emperor; boundaries of empire reach farthest limits; population increases greatly; frequent rebellions crushed ruthlessly

1739        Nadir Shah invades India and sacks Delhi, taking away Peacock Throne of the Moghul emperors, and vast wealth

1740s      Power of Hindu Marathas of central India expands into northern India

THE AGE OF REVOLUTION

1750        Chinese capture Lhasa and take over state of Tibet

1750-79 Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747-73), who united Afghanistan, invades India, takes Lahore; plunders Delhi in 1755

1753        Alaungaya reunites Burma; founds last Burmese dynasty, the Kombaung (to 1885)

1756        ³Black Hole² of Calcutta

1757        Robert Clive defeats Siraj ud daula, Nawab of Bengal, at Battle of Plassey

1758        Aoki Konyo, Japanese scholar who introduced the sweet potato into Japan, completes Dutch/Japanese dictionary

1761        Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Durrani of Afghanistan; great Afghan victory

1762        British fleet captures Manila in Philippine Islands from Spain

1763        Britain becomes dominant power in India as a result of the Treaty of Paris

1767        Burmese invade Thailand, destroying its capital, Ayudhya, and forcing Thais to accept Burmese overlordship, but have to withdraw to repulse Chinese invasion of Burma

1774-85 Warren Hastings is governor-general of British India

1777        Christianity introduced to Korea by Chinese Jesuits

1782-1809              Rama I reigns in Thailand; founds Chakri dynasty

1783-88 Severe famine in Japan

1784        United States begins to trade with China

1792        Chinese army marches into neighbouring Nepal

1792        Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab, founder of Saudi Arabia, dies

1794        Aga Mohammed founds Kajar dynasty and unites all Persia

1796        Emperor Qianlong of China relinquishes power, but still directs government (to 1799)

1799        Ranjit Singh founds Sikh kingdom in Punjab, India

AD 1800

INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY

1802-20 Emperor Gia-Long unites Vietnam

1803-05 Second Maratha War disrupts central India

1804        Russian envoy visits Nagasaki in Japan and tries to get commercial treaty, but fails

1811-18 Mohammed Ali overruns much of Arabian peninsula; ends first Saudi empire

1815        Java restored to Dutch by British

1817-19 Last Maratha War; Maratha defeat; British rule India except Punjab, Sind, Kashmir

1819        Singapore founded by Stamford Raffles

1820        Peace treaty ends piracy and leads to 150 years of British supremacy in the Persian Gulf

1820-41 Minh Mang, emperor of Vietnam, reverses Gia-Long¹s policies and expels Christians

c. 1820s Development of North Pacific whaling industry; Japanese authorities clash with ships¹ crews

1824-26 First Burmese War with Britain

1825-28 Persian-Russian War; Russia captures Tabriz

1825-30 Javanese revolt against Dutch

1828        Indian Hindu Raja Ram Mohan Roy founds reforming Hindu society, Brahmo Samaj

1829        Practice of suttee (widow burning) made illegal in India

1831        Mohammed Ali of Egypt seizes Syria; he rules it until 1840

1835-63 Dost Mohammed rules in Afghanistan

1837-53 Shogunate of Tokugawa Ieyoshi in Japan

1838        Nakayama Miki founds faith-healing Tenri sect in Japan

1839        Ottoman sultan Abdul Majid starts the ³Tanzimat², a programme of modernisation

1839-42 First Afghan War with British; a British army annihilated

1839-42 Opium War in China

1844        Cambodia becomes a Thai protectorate

1845-49 Sikh Wars with Britain; Britain annexes Punjab

1848        Accession of Nasir ud-din, ablest of the Kajar dynasty of Persia

THE RISE OF NATIONALISM

1850-64 Taiping rebellion in China; Nanking falls, 1853

1851-68 King Rama IV rules Thailand; opens the country to foreign trade

1852        Nasir-ud-Din (1848-96) takes personal power in Persia; major reforms of administration by Vizier Mirza Taki

1853-78 Able king Mindon Min reigns in Burma

1854        Treaty of Kanagawa; United States and Japan agree their first modern trade treaty

1857-58 Indian Mutiny shakes British rule in India; East India Company abolished in 1858

1860        In China, British and French forces loot and burn down the emperor¹s summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing

1862        French begin to occupy Indo-China (southeast Asia)

1865-70 King Kojong persecutes Christians in Korea; reform of traditional institutions

1868-1910              Reign of Rama V, founder of modern Thailand

1868-1912              Meiji period in Japan: great leap forwards in industrialization; 1868, capital moves to Edo (renamed Tokyo), shogunate abolished; 1875-88, civil legal code drawn up

1872        First Japanese railway opens (Tokyo to Yokohama)

1876        Queen Victoria of Britain is proclaimed empress of India

1876        Japanese pressure forces Korea to open ports to trade

1876-78 Famine in the Deccan, southern India; over five million die

1877        Satsuma rebellion in Japan; last stand of traditional samurai class is defeated

1878-79 Second Afghan War: British invade Afghanistan to counter Russian influence

1884        Dowager Empress Cixi sacks grand council of China

1885        Foundation of Indian National Congress; campaign for home rule

1885-86 Third Burmese War; Britain annexes Burma

1889        New Meiji constitution for Japan; first general election in 1890`

1894-95 War between Japan and China; Japanese win, occupy Korea

1896        British persuade Malay states to form federation

1898        In China Dowager Empress Cixi crushes attempts at reform

1899        France proclaims protectorate in Laos, southeast Asia

AD 1900

THE WORLD GOES TO WAR

1900        Boxer rebellion in China

1900        Russia annexes Manchuria

1902        Anglo-Japanese Alliance agreed

1902        Series of commercial treaties between China and Britain, United States, and Japan

1902        Ibn Saud captures Riyadh, beginning the creation of Saudi Arabia

1903        British viceroy of India (Lord Curzon) sends an expedition into Tibet

1905        Japan presses Korea to sign a treaty whereby Japan ³protects² Korea

1905        Japanese navy fights and defeats Russian fleet in Tsushima strait

1907        Emperor Kojong of Korea abdicates; he is succeeded by his son Sujong

1908        Death of Chinese empress dowager Cixi and of the Guangxu emperor

1911-12 Chinese rebellion against Manchus; republic is established, Sun Yat-sen first president, but warlords gain power

1912-26 Taisho period in Japan

1912        Japan constructs its first dreadnought battleship

1913        China recognizes Outer Mongolia as independent

1913        Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, awarded Nobel Prize for Literature

1916        Beginning of Arab revolt against Ottoman Turks in Hijaz

1916        Hussein proclaims himself King of the Arabs

1917        Balfour Declaration promises homeland for Jews in Palestine

1917        British troops capture Baghdad and Jerusalem

1917-25 Sun Yat-sen struggles for leadership of Chinese republic

1918        Emir Faisal proclaims Syrian state; becomes king in 1920

PEACE AND WAR

1919        British troops massacre over 300 Indian civilians at Amritsar

1920        Palestine becomes British mandate

1920        Indian leader Gandhi launches peaceful non-cooperation movement against British rule

1923        Mustafa Kemal becomes president of new republic, Turkey

1924        Chinese nationalist party, Kuomintang, holds first national congress

1927        Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek establishes government at Nanking; Communists challenge his rule

1928        Japanese troops murder military ruler of Manchuria

1930        First Round Table Conference between British government and Indian parties

1931        Japanese occupy Chinese province of Manchuria

1932        Absolute rule of Thai king ends; he agrees to new constitution

1934        Communists go on Long March through China, led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De

1934        Opening of British oil pipeline from Kirkuk (Iraq) to Tripoli (Syria)

1935        Government of India Act passed; provinces of British India granted autonomy and self-government from 1937

1936        General strike in Syria; French grant Syria home rule

1937-38 Conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine

1937-45 Undeclared war breaks out between China and Japan

1941-42 Japanese overrun much of southeast Asia

1945        World Zionist Conference calls for Jewish state in Palestine

1945        United States drops atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

ONE WORLD

1947        India gains independence

1947        Japan¹s new democratic constitution comes into effect

1948        Israeli independence leads to the first Arab-Israeli war

1949        Mao Zedong proclaims People¹s Republic of China

1950-53 Korean War

1951        United States and 48 other countries sign peace treaty with Japan in San Francisco

1953        Mao Zedong introduces first five-year plan in China

1954        Vietminh defeat French troops at Dien Bien Phu

c. 1955    Start of period of fast economic growth in Japan

1961        Troops from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states take over defence of Kuwait from British in face of Iraqi threat

1964        Tokyo Olympic Games; first Olympic Games in Asia

1964        Arab leaders set up Palestine Liberation Organization to unite Palestinian refugees

1965-73 Vietnam War

1966        Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister of India

1967        Six Day War between Israel and neighbouring Arab states

1970        Communist Khmer Rouge forces take over Cambodia

1971        After a brief Indo-Pakistani war, East Pakistan declared independent as Bangladesh

1973        Yom Kippur War between Arabs and Israelis begins

1973        Cut in Arab oil production and increased prices cause oil crisis in United States and Europe

1976        Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong die; fall of ³Gang of Four²

1978        Vietnam invades Cambodia and forces out Khmer Rouge

1979        Ayatollah Khomeini adopts Islamic constitution for Iran

1980        Iran-Iraq War breaks out

AD 1982

1982        Israeli forces invade Lebanon

1984        Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikhs

1988        Ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War

1989        Mass demonstrations for democracy in Tian¹anmen Square, Beijing, China, end in massacre

1989        Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia

1990        Iraq invades Kuwait; United States and allies send forces to the Gulf region; Gulf War begins

1991        Allied forces liberate Kuwait

1995        Itzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, assassinated

 

AfricaAD 1

17 - 24    Revolt of Tacfarinas, Numidian leader, against Roman government in North Africa

40            Mauretania (now northern Morocco and northwestern Algeria) annexed by Rome

61 - 63    Roman force explores up the Nile Valley into Sudan

AD 100

c. 100      Aksum becomes capital of major state in Eritrea, northern Ethiopia

115          Revolt of Jewish community in Cyrenaica (northeastern Libya) against Roman administration

193 - 211                Libyan Septimius Severus is emperor of Rome

AD 200

c. 200      Roman emperor Septimius Severus strengthens frontier defences in North Africa with chain of forts and long ditches

238          Revolt in Africa against Roman rule begins half-century of unrest

295 - 300                Emperor Diocletian reorganizes local government in North Africa

AD 300

c. 300 - 400            Bantu cereal cultivators in southeast Africa begin to herd cattle

c. 330 - 40              Beginning of conversion of kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia-Eritrea to Christianity, by Bishop Frumentius

c. 350      End of Kushite civilization at Meroe; it is possibly brought down by invasion from kingdom of Aksum

c. 397      Berber prince Gildo begins a major rebellion against Roman emperor Honorius

AD 400

RELIGIOUS WORLDS

c. 400      Use of iron spreads through eastern Africa

400s        Christianity in the Aksum empire in northeastern Africa becomes more widespread

AD 500

c. 500      The Ghanaian empire becomes the most important power in West Africa

525          King Kaleb of Aksum conquers Yemen in southern Arabia; he builds many churches

c. 550 - 600            Nubians in Sudan, northeastern Africa, become Christian

AD 600

640 - 41  Caliph Omar, a successor to Mohammed as Islamic leader, conquers Egypt

c. 640 - 711            Arabs, carrying the Muslim faith, expand across northern Africa

642          Arabs erect first mosque in al-Fustat, new capital of Muslim Egypt

652          Christian Nubians and Arabs in Egypt agree that Aswan on Nile should mark southern limit of Arab expansion

697 - 98  Arabs destroy Byzantine city at Carthage in North Africa; new city of Tunis built nearby

AD 700

c. 788      Idris, Arab chief, becomes ruler in Morocco

AD 800

NEW NATIONS

800 - 909                Aghlabid dynasty rules in Tunis on the coast of North Africa; the rulers set up a colony in Sicily (827 - 902) and invade southern Italy

c. 800 - c. 950        Christian empire in Ethiopia continues after the decline of Aksum

800s        Arabs and Persians explore East African coast and set up trading stations at Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwa, and Mogadishu

868          Ahmad ibn-Tulun, Egyptian noble of Turkish descent, breaks away from Abbasid caliphate and sets up Tulunid dynasty in Egypt

AD 900

c. 900      Kasar Hausa (Hausaland), a fertile region on the lower Niger river in West Africa, prospers due to increasing trade and industry

c. 950 - 1050          Igbo-Ukwu culture thrives in eastern Nigeria

969          Fatimid dynasty expands from Tunis and conquers Egypt from Tulunid dynasty; Fatimids build Cairo which becomes Egyptian capital

970s        Fatimids built al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the world's first universities; it still exists today

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

1000s      Bantu-speaking peoples set up kingdoms in southern Africa

1000s      Kingdoms of Takrur and Gao flourish in West Africa due to gold trade

1021 - 35                Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Zahir marks start of decline of Fatimid power

c. 1050s  Culture of Yoruba people of Ife flourishes in Nigeria in West Africa; it survives until

1050s - 1146          Almoravids, Berber Muslims from western Sahara, take over Morocco, Algeria, and part of Muslim Spain; they invade Ghana in 1076, and establish power there

1062        Almoravids found capital at Marrakech

AD 1100

c. 1100    Ghana empire in West Africa declines

c. 1100    Katanga in Zaire central Africa probably founded

1147        Almohads, Berber Muslims opposed to Almoravids, seize Marrakech and go on to conquer Almoravid Spain, Algeria, and Tripoli

1150s      Zagwe dynasty rules in Ethiopian highlands

1171        Saladin, Muslim warrior and commander in Egyptian army, overthrows Fatimid dynasty

1173        Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

C. 1200 - 30           King Lalibela of Ethiopia responsible for churches cut from rock

1218        Ayyubid empire breaks up but Ayyubids rule Egypt to 1250

c. 1220    City state of Kilwa in Tanzania increases in prosperity

c. 1230    Hafsid monarchy takes over from Almohads in Tunisia and acquires much trade across the Sahara desert

c. 1235    Great warrior leader Sun Diata founds Mali empire in West Africa; it expands under his rule

c. 1250    Kanem kingdom in Lake Chad region begins to break up into rival factions

1250        Last Ayyubid ruler in Egypt murdered; Mamluks, soldiers from central Asia employed by Ayyubids, seize power and found military state

1260 - 77                Mamluk commander Baybars takes over as sultan of Egypt

AD 1300

1300        Ife culture of West Africa produces famous brasses

1324        Emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Arabia

1348        Egypt devastated by plague, called Black Death

1352 - 53                Ibn Battuta, Berber scholar, travels across Africa and writes an account of all he sees

c. 1380s  Foundation of Kongo kingdom in Congo river-mouth region of Zaire, central Africa

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

c. 1400    Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa thrives on gold trade

1400s      Gold from mines in Zimbabwe is exported to Asia via Sofala on the east coast

c. 1400    Engaruka community farms land in Tanzania

c. 1420    Portuguese sailors begin to explore west coast of Africa

1420s      Songhai people in Gao region, West Africa, begin raids on Mali empire

c. 1430    Sultans of Kilwa on east African coast begin grand building programme

1434 - 68                Reign of Christian emperor Zera Yacub in Ethiopia; he expands church and promotes great monasteries

c. 1450    Building at Great Zimbabwe, southern Africa, at its height

1462        Sonni Ali becomes ruler of the Songhai and goes on to build an empire

1482        Portuguese explore Congo river estuary

1491        Ruler of Congo kingdom baptized as Christian by Portuguese

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

1500s      Songhai empire in West Africa enters period of greatest expansion and power under Askia Mohammed Turré

1500s      Trade encourages growth of Hausa states in West Africa

1505-07  Portuguese capture Sofala on east coast and found Mozambique; they begin to trade with Africans

1507        Nzinga Mbemba, Christian and Portuguese ally, becomes king of Kongo kingdom in central Africa

1517        Ottomans defeat Mamluks and conquer Egypt

1529        Muslims defeat Christian Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Shimbra Kure and overrun the kingdom until 1543, when Portuguese troops help to defeat them

c. 1530    Beginning of trans-Atlantic slave trade organized by Portuguese

1560s      First Portuguese embassies in Timbuktu, West Africa

1562        Sir John Hawkins starts English slave trade, taking cargoes of slaves from West Africa to the Americas

c. 1570 - c. 1610    Kanem-Bornu kingdom in western Central Africa at its most powerful; alliance with the Ottomans brings it firearms, military training, and Arab camel troops

c. 1575    Portuguese begin to colonize Angola; more than a century of warfare follows

1590-91  Songhai empire overthrown by Moroccan army

c. 1598    First Dutch trade posts set up on Guinea coast, West Africa

AD 1600

COMMERCE AND COLONIES

1600s      Kalonga kingdom, north of Zambezi river, becomes rich through ivory trade

1600s      Hausaland dominates trade routes to Sahara

1600s      Great Zimbabwe replaced by several regional capitals in Transvaal, Botswana, and Zimbabwe

1620s      Queen Nzinga of Ndongo fights Portuguese in Angola

1650s      Portuguese clash with Muslims in Zambezi region

c. 1650    Ethiopia expels Portuguese missionaries and diplomats

1652        Dutch found Cape Town in South Africa

1660s      Mawlay-al-Rashid restores sultanate of Morocco

1670s      French settle in Senegal

1670s      Fulani pastoralist people gain control of Bondu in southern Senegal

1680s      Rise of Asante kingdom in West Africa

1680s      Butua kingdom flourishes in Zimbabwe plains; Portuguese are driven into Zambezi valley, and also eastwards

1686        Louis XIV of France officially annexes Madagascar

1698        Portuguese expelled from Mombasa on eastern coast

AD 1700

THE AGE OF ENQUIRY

1701        Osei Tutu creates free Asante nation in West Africa

c. 1705    Bey (army commander) Husain ibn Ali founds dynasty at Tunis in North Africa

c. 1705    Kongo prophetess, Dona Beatrice, founds new religious cult and helps to end civil war

1710        Dey (military leader) becomes pasha in Algiers, controlling northern Algeria

1714        France captures the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean

1720s      Yoruba state of Oyo still dominates region west of the Niger river in West Africa

1722 -23 Asante conquer kingdom of Bono-Mansu north of the forest area of Akan region of West Africa

1724-34  King Agaja of Dahomey in West Africa temporarily disrupts slave trade; it is reintroduced in the 1740s

c. 1725    Fulani Muslim cleric Alfa Ibrahim appointed ³Commander of the Faithful² in Futa Jalon in West Africa

1727        Death of Mulai Ismail followed by 30 years of anarchy in Morocco

1740s      The Lunda create prosperous new kingdom

1746        Mazrui dynasty in Mombasa, East Africa, becomes independent from Oman

1755        The first outbreak of smallpox, brought by sailors, in Cape Town, South Africa, spreads rapidly inland; it kills many Khoisan hunters and herders

1764-77  Reign of Osei Kwadwo, Asante ruler, in West Africa

1768-73  Scottish explorer James Bruce travels in Ethiopia

1768        Ali Bey, a Mamluk army officer, makes himself ruler of Egypt

1770s      Tukolor kingdom gains power in former Songhai region of West Africa

1773        Ali Bey dies a week after being wounded in a battle with rebels led by Abu'l-Dhahab

1777        Sidi Mohammed, ruler of Morocco (1757-90), abolishes Christian slavery

1779        Dutch farmers in Cape Colony clash with organized Xhosa resistance

1781        Militant Tijaniyya Islamic order set up in Algeria

1785        Omani rulers reassert influence in Zanzibar

1787        Tuaregs, nomads in Sahara, abolish Moroccan pashalik of Timbuktu

c. 1788    Usuman dan Fodio, a Fulani cleric, stirs holy war against a Hausa king

1788        African Association founded in England to explore interior of Africa

1795        British seize Cape Colony from Dutch for the first time

1795-96  Scottish explorer Mungo Park travels through Gambia and reaches Niger

AD 1800

INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY

1804        Fulani begin jihad (holy war) in northern Nigeria

1805-06  Mungo Park explores Niger river, West Africa

1805-48  Mohammed Ali rules Egypt; Egypt breaks away from Ottoman empire

1807        Asante invade Fante confederacy of states

1808        Fulani invade Bornu near Lake Chad

1814        Cape Colony in south Africa formally ceded to Britain by Netherlands

c. 1816-28              Career of Zulu ruler Shaka in South Africa

c. 1820    Fulani emirate founded in Adamawa, West Africa

1820-64  Fulani in Mali, West Africa, found and rule Hamdallahi caliphate

1822        Liberia founded in West Africa as home for freed slaves

1825        Egyptians found the city of Khartoum in Sudan

1828        Basel mission to Ghana (then called Gold Coast), West Africa

1828        Shaka, Zulu ruler, assassinated by his half-brother Dingane who takes over as ruler of Zulu nation

1830        French invade Algeria; they gradually occupy the country

1832-47  Abd-al-Kadir leads Arab resistance to France in Algeria

1836-37  The Great Trek of Boers (Dutch farmers) away from British in South Africa; they fond the Republic of Natal in 1838 and the Orange Free State in 1854

1840        Imam Sayyid Said, ruler of Oman (1806-56), makes Zanzibar, a small island off the east African coast, his capital

1843        Britain takes over Natal from the Boers as a British colony

1852        Tukolor leader al-Hajj 'Umar launches jihad along Senegal and upper Niger rivers to establish Islamic state

1852        In South Africa, Britain recognizes Transvaal's independence

1853-56  Dr David Livingstone crosses Africa; follows course of Zambezi river, reaches Victoria Falls

1855-68  Reign of Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia

1863        Al-Hajj 'Umar takes Timbuktu

1865-68  Wars between Orange Free State and Moshweshwe's Basuto people, in South Africa

1867        Diamonds discovered at Kimberley at South Africa

1869        Suez Canal opened

1872        Cape Colony in South Africa granted self-government by Britain

1873-74  War between Asante kingdom and Britain

1874        Beginnings of Mande state in old Mali under Samori Turé

1879        Zulu war with British; British defeated at Isandlwana but victorious at Ulundi

c. 1880    Beginning of the European ³Scramble for Africa²

1880-81  First Boer War, Transvaal defeats Britain

1885        Conference in Berlin on Scramble for Africa

1885        in Sudan, Muslim leader, the Mahdi, takes Khartoum from Egypt; General Gordon killed

1886        Gold found in Transvaal

1894        French set up protectorate in Dahomey (Benin), West Africa

1895-96  Jameson Raid into Transvaal

1896        France takes Madagascar

1896        Ethiopian ruler Menelik crushes Italian army at Adowa

1897        Slavery banned in Zanzibar

1899-1902              Second Boer War in South Africa

AD 1900

THE WORLD GOES TO WAR

1900        Buganda, East Africa, is ruled by the kabaka, or king, with British advice

1900-01  Rising in Asante, West Africa; Britain annexes Asante

1902        Treaty of Verceniging ends second Boer War in South Africa; defeated Boers remain bitter and determined to regain power

1903        Sokoto caliphate in Hausaland taken over by Britain

1904        French create federation of French West Africa

1905        Kaiser William II of Germany visits Tangier and provokes crisis with France

1905        Maji-Maji rebellion begins in Tanzania (German East Africa)

1906        Tripartite pact (Britain, France, Italy)seeks to preserve integrity of Ethiopia

1907        Government of Mozambique organized

1908        Belgium takes over Congo Free State

1909        Franco-German agreement reached on Morocco

1909        Liberia calls on United States for financial assistance

1910        Union of South Africa

1912        New loans to Liberia coupled with US control over customs revenue

1912        French make Morocco a protectorate at Treaty of Fez

1913        South African government introduces laws to reserve 87 per cent of land for whites

1914        Britain and France occupy German colonies in West Africa

1916        Boer leader Jan Smuts leads an anti-German drive from Kenya into Tanzania (German East Africa)

1916        British and Belgian troops take Yaounde, the capital of the German Cameroons

1917        Ras Tafari (later, Haile Selassie) becomes regent of Ethiopia

1917        German forces in German East Africa withstand British and Portuguese at Mahiwa; Germans withdraw into Mozambique

1919        ANC demonstrates against pass laws in Transvaal

1920s      More British and Indians settle Kenya

1921-26  Abd-el-Krim leads Berbers and Arabs against Europeans in North Africa

1922        Egypt becomes independent from Britain under King Fuad

1923        Ethiopia admitted to League of Nations

1930        White women given the vote in South Africa

1930        Ras Tafari crowned emperor of Ethiopia, and takes name Haile Selassie

1931        First trans-African railway completed, from Angola to Mozambique

1934-36  British colonial government of Ghana suppresses radical African critics

1936        Representation of Natives Act denies black South Africans any chance of political equality

1935-36  Italians under Mussolini invade and annex Ethiopia

1939        South Africa declares war on Germany at start of World War II

1941        German army under Rommel attacks British in North Africa

1941        Ethiopia liberated from Italians by Ethiopians and British, and recognized as independent

1942        British defeat German army at Battle of El Alamein in Egypt

1943        Germans and Italians driven from North Africa

1948        Afrikaner National Party wins power in South Africa

1951        Libya gains independence

1952-59  Mau-Mau guerrilla war against British in Kenya

1954-62  War for independence in Algeria; freedom won in 1962

1954-70  Colonel Nasser rules Egypt; revolutionary changes

1956        Suez crisis; Britain and France attempt to regain control of Suez canal from Egypt, but fail

1956        Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan gain their independence

1957        Ghana is first country in sub-Saharan Africa to become independent

1958-60  Independence for Zaire, Nigeria, Somalia, and 12 of France's 13 sub-Saharan colonies

1960s      Civil war in south Sudan

1960-65  Civil war in Zaire, formerly Belgian Congo

1961-67  Independence for Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana, Gambia, and Swaziland

1963        Organization of African Unity founded

1965        White regime in Zimbabwe declares independence

1967-70  Biafran War, Nigeria

1970s      Severe droughts in northeastern Africa and the lands on the southern edge of the Sahara

1974        Nigeria becomes leading oil producer in Africa

1974-91  Revolutionary regime in Ethiopia; civil war spreads

1974-75  Portuguese colonies gain independence after long struggle

1976        African schoolchildren spark uprisings in Soweto in South Africa

1980        Zimbabwe gains independence after guerrilla war

1983-      Conflict in Sudan; more than 1.5 million people die

1983-      African countries adopt IMF (International Monetary Fund) plans for managing their economies

1989-      Zambia and other countries see changes of government by democratic election

1990        Namibia gets independence

1990        Nelson Mandela freed in South Africa; process of dismantling apartheid begins

1993        Eritrea (in north Ethiopia) breaks from Ethiopia; first successful secession in post-colonial Africa

1994        African National Congress (ANC) wins first multi-racial election ever held in South Africa

 

OceaniaAD 300

c. 300      Beginning of early eastern Polynesian culture

AD 500

500s        Polynesians, originally from Southeast Asia, settle in Hawaiian Islands and Easter Island

500s        Polynesians continue to navigate eastwards

AD 700

c. 700      Easter Islanders begin to build stone platforms which form part of ceremonial enclosures

c. 700      First Polynesians settle in the Cook Islands

AD 900

NEW NATIONS

c. 900      First settlers from the Cook Islands, ancestors of the Maoris, reach the South Island, New Zealand

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

c. 1000    Maori people settle in New Zealand

c. 1000    Polynesians begin to build stone temples

AD 1100

1100s      First statues erected on previously constructed platforms in Easter Island

1100s      Beginnings of organized societies in Hawaiian Islands

1100s      Earliest settlements by Polynesians in Pitcairn Island

c. 1150    Maoris begin to settle in the river mouth areas in the north of the South Island, New Zealand, notably at Wairau Bar

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

c. 1200    Tui Tonga monarchy builds coral platform for ceremonial worship on island of Tonga in South Pacific

c. 1250    Beginnings of intensive valley irrigation schemes in Hawaiian Islands

AD 1300

c. 1300    Hawaiian peoples start to develop class structure as a result of economic growth through agriculture

c. 1300    Stone temple complexes, or ÒmaraeÓ, erected on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and on Moorea Island in the Society Islands

c. 1300    Huge stone statues erected on Easter Island

c. 1350    Maoris flourish in the North Island, New Zealand; first terrace-type fortifications, called ÒpaÓ, built

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

c. 1400    Tonga people build major ceremonial centre at Mu'a, on the largest island in the Tongatapu Group, South Pacific Ocean

1400s      Widespread cultivation of wet taro in Hawaiian islands

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

c. 1500    A village of oval stone houses is built on Easter Island

c. 1511    Portuguese navigators begin to explore the Pacific

1519-22  Ferdinand Magellan attempts voyage around the world: he navigates the Pacific, but later dies; his crew completes the voyage

1525        Diego Ribeiro, official mapmaker for Spain, makes first scientific charts covering the Pacific

1525        Portuguese probably visit Caroline Islands, northeast of New Guinea, and nearby Palau Islands

1526        Portuguese land on Papua New Guinea

1550s      Maoris in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand build fortified enclosures called ÒpaÓ

1567        Alvaro de Menda–a, Spanish sailor, sets sail from Callao in Peru westwards across the Pacific; he reaches the Ellice Islands and Solomon Islands, east of New Guinea; in 1569 he arrives back in Callao

1595        Menda–a visits Marquesas Islands and then Nderic (Santa Cruz)

AD 1600

COMMERCE AND COLONIES

1600s      Beginning of building of ÒtupaÓ, stone towers with inner chambers, on Easter Island

c. 1600    In Tonga, dominant political leadership passes from Tu'i Tonga dynasty to Tu'i Konokupolu dynasty

1606        Luis Vaez de Torres from Spain sails around New Guinea and reaches the straits now named after him

1642-44  Abel Tasman reaches Tasmania and New Zealand

1680s      Statue building ends on Easter Island; resources and then population decline, and this leads to civil war

AD 1700

THE AGE OF ENQUIRY

1700s      First contact between Tahitians and Europeans; they meet in Opunohu Valley on Moorea Island

1722        Dutch navigator Roggeveen reaches Samoa Islands and Easter Island in the Pacific

Mid 1700s             Aboriginal culture continues to flourish

1767        British Captain Samuel Wallis is the first European to reach Tahiti; six months later, French navigator Bougainville visits the islands

1768-71  First of British Captain James Cook's three voyages to Pacific

1770        Spanish sailors reach Easter Island

1772-75  Captain Cook's second voyage to the Pacific

1776-79  Cook's third voyage; on his way through the Pacific he lands in Hawaii and is clubbed, or stabbed, to death by islanders Comte la PŽrouse, French navigator, leads expedition to Pacific and northwest America; touches Japan; he is lost at sea in 1788

1787-89  Voyage of Lieutenant William Bligh in the Bounty to the Pacific to find breadfruit plants; crew mutiny and put him to sea

1788        First British convicts shipped to Botany Bay, Australia

1790        Bligh returns to England

1793        First free British settlers reach Australia

1798        Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania navigated by Bass and Flinders

1799        Major civil war in Tonga

AD 1800

INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY

1801-03  Matthew Flinders circumnavigates, then names, Australia; it means ÒsouthernÓ

1810        Kamehameha I becomes king of all Hawaii

1815        Russia tries to make landings in Hawaiian Islands

1819        Pomare II establishes Society Islands' first legal code

1819        Death of Kamehameha I of Hawaii; his heir, Kamehameha II, abolishes system which restricted contact between men and women

1821        Protestant missionaries arrive in Cook Islands

1824        Kamehameha II of Hawaii visits England and dies there

1825        Dutch annexe Irian Jaya, western part of New Guinea

1830        Tahitian Protestant missionaries arrive in Fiji

1830        Malietoa Vaiinupo of Savai'i becomes king of Samoa

1831        Charles Darwin sets out on five-year voyage to Pacific for scientific research

1834        French Catholic missionaries arrive in Mangareva in Tuamotu Islands in South Pacific

1837-40  Frenchman Jules Dumont d'Urville attempts to chart coast of Antarctica; from 1838-42, Lt Charles Wilkes leads US exploring expedition to Antarctica

1837-40  Frenchman Jules Dumont d'Urville attempts to chart coast of Antarctica; from 1838-42, Lt Charles Wilkes leads US exploring expedition to Antarctica

1840        British and Maoris in New Zealand sign Treaty of Waitangi

1840        Kamehameha III begins constitutional monarchy in Hawaii; first written Hawaiian constitution

1842        France annexes the Marquesas Islands and makes Tahiti protectorate

1848        Hawaiian King Kamehameha III gives his people shares in the islands

1850        Britain transfers some powers to the four major Australian colonies; they achieve self-government by 1856

1851        Gold found in southeastern Australia

1853        France annexes New Caledonia

1854        Eureka stockade; brief miners' revolt at Ballarat

1860        R O Burke and W J Wills cross Australia from south to north

1860-70  Second Maori War in New Zealand

1861        Gold discovered in Otago, New Zealand

1864        First French convicts sent to New Caledonia

1865        First Chinese labourers arrive in Hawaii

1865        New Zealand seat of government transferred from Auckland to Wellington

1869        Germany acquires land in Caroline Islands

1870s      Gold Rush in New Caledonia

1871        Cakobau, most important leader of Bau, one of Fiji Islands, establishes a national monarchy in Fiji

1874        Prince David Kalakaua becomes ruler of Hawaii (to 1891)

1878        New Caledonian peoples rebel against French

1879        Britain establishes a naval station in Samoa

1880        Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly, is hanged; becomes a folk hero

1880        France annexes Tahiti as a colony

1885-86  Goldfields opened up in Papua New Guinea

1889        Malietoa Laupepa king of Samoa; is recognized by Britain, United States, and Germany, ÒjointsupervisorsÓ of Samoa

1893        Votes for women introduced in New Zealand

1897        New Zealand introduces eight-hour working day; old age pensions, 1898

1898        United States annexes Hawaii

1899        Australia and New Zealand troops sent to Boer War

AD 1900

THE WORLD GOES TO WAR

1900        Phosphate-rich Ocean Island annexed by British

1900        New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands

1901        Britain gets control over Tonga's external relations

1901        Commonwealth of Australia formed

1902        Votes for women introduced in Australia

1904        Fijian delegates sit in legislative council for Fiji

1905        British New Guinea becomes the possession of Australia, and is named Papua

1906        Britain and France rule over New Hebrides

1907        New Zealand becomes a dominion

1907        First elections for national assembly in Philippines

1909        Creation of separate Labour party in New Zealand

1910        First victory for Labor party under Andrew Fisher in Australian general election

1911        Universal military training established in New Zealand

1913        Wallis Islands become a French protectorate

1913        Foundation of United Federation of Labour and Social Democratic party in New Zealand

1915        Britain annexes Gilbert and Ellice islands

1916-18  Efforts to introduce national army conscription in Australia defeated in referenda

1917        Filipino National Guard organized in Philippine Islands

1918        Queen Salote becomes queen of Tonga

1918        Influenza epidemic kills one fifth of population of Western Samoa

1919        Dry dock completed at Pearl Harbor in US territory of Hawaii

1920        New Zealand given mandate over Samoa

1920        Formation of a federal Country Party in Australia

1920        New Zealand becomes member of League of Nations

1921        Australia given mandate over German New Guinea

1927        Canberra becomes federal capital of Australia

1929        Uprising of Mau people of Samoa against New Zealand government

1931        Foundation of United Australia Party (UAP)

1933        Australia takes control of large sector of Antarctica

1935        First Labour government elected in New Zealand; many reforms follow

1936        Arbitration court of New Zealand fixes basic wage for man and wife and three children

1937        Formation of New Zealand National Party, in opposition to Labour Party

1939        Robert Menzies becomes Australian prime minister

1941        Japanese attack US fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; United States enters World War II

1942        Naval victory of US fleet over Japanese fleet off Midway Island in the Pacific

1940s      Immigration of non-English-speaking Europeans to Australia begins to change national ethnic make-up

1946        United States tests atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands; continuing US and French nuclear testing on Pacific islands causes massive resentment

1959        The Antarctic Treaty limits exploitation of Antarctica

1962        Western Samoa becomes independent

1970        Tonga and Fiji gain independence from Britain

1975        Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia

1975        Political crisis in Australia as governor-general, appointed by British monarch, controversially dismisses elected government, causing considerable resentment

Mid 1970s             Asian immigration to Australia increases sharply; it continues to be high, making Australia more multicultural

1980s      Australia and New Zealand go through economic recession; both develop trade links with Asia

1984        New Zealand declared a nuclear-free zone; in 1985 Rainbow Warrior sunk by pro-nuclear agents

1986        Treaty of Rarotonga sets up South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone

 

AmericaAD 1

c. 1          El Mirador in northern Guatemala, perhaps the greatest early Maya city, is at its height

c. 1          The growing city of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico has a population of more than 40,000 people

c. 50        Nazca culture flourishes in coastal Peru; the Nazca create vast, enigmatic lines and patterns in the desert

AD 100

c. 100      The Moche civilization on the Peruvian coast begins; it flourishes at Sipan

c. 100      Hopewell culture flourishes on upper Mississippi

c. 100      Mogollon culture develops in southwestern United States; interesting painted pottery is produced

c. 100-200              Monte Alban centre in Oaxaca, Mexico, at greatest extent of its power

AD 200

c. 200-375              First period of major construction at city of Tiahuanaco, near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia

c. 250      In Guatemala, Honduras, and eastern Mexico, classic period of Maya civilization begins

AD 300

c. 375-600              City of Tiahuanaco continues to develop; eventually, 50,000 people live there

c. 378      Rivalry between leading Maya cities Tikal and Uaxact™n ends in invasion and capture of Uaxact™n by Tikal, which goes on to great prosperity

AD 400

RELIGIOUS WORLDS

c. 400      Zapotec state with its capital at Monte Alban flourishes in southern Mexico

AD 500

c. 500      Thule people move into Alaska

c. 500      Hopewell culture in northern America builds elaborate burial mounds, makes pottery, and uses iron weapons

AD 600

c. 600      Tiahuanaco civilization begins in Bolivia

c. 600      Height of Maya civilization

c. 600      Rise of Huari in Peru

c. 650      Hopewell people established along the upper Mississippi river

c. 650      Teotihuacan in Mexico thrives as an important trade centre

AD 700

c. 700      Rise of Mississippi culture in the Mississippi river basin; flat-topped mounds built as temple bases

c. 700-900              In eastern Arizona, Pueblo people live in houses above ground for the first time

c. 750-800              Collapse of Teotihuacan civilization in Mexico

AD 800

NEW NATIONS

c. 800      Hohokam people expand settlements and enlarge houses

c. 850      Maya civilization in the southern lowlands of Mexico collapses; many cities are abandoned

c. 890      Huari empire begins to collapse in Peru

AD 900

c. 900-c. 1100        Maya power in northern Mexico begins to fade

c. 900-c. 1100        Pueblo settlements in North America; inhabitants build circular rooms with wall benches

c. 900-c. 1150        Hohokam culture flourishes in Arizona and New Mexico, North America

c. 900      Toltecs build capital at Tula, Mexico

919-1130                Pueblo peoples live at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

990s        Toltec people take over Chichen Itza

AD 1000

MONKS AND INVADERS

c. 1000    Farmers in Peru grow sweet potatoes and corn

c. 1000    Leif Ericson reaches North America

AD 1100

c. 1100    Height of Chimu civilization at Chan Chan, on the northwest coast of Peru

c. 1100    Anasazi people in North America build cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and the Canyon de Chelly

1100s      Rise of Incas in Peru; they were farmers led by warrior chiefs

1100-1200              Hohokam people of Arizona, North America, begin to build platform mounds

c. 1150    End of Hopewell culture in North America

1170s      Mexican Toltecs' capital at Tula overthrown by fierce Chichimec nomads by the northern desert

c. 1180    Toltecs driven out of Chichen Itza

c. 1190    End of first period in which flat-topped mounds were built as bases for temples in the Mississippi river area

AD 1200

CONQUEST AND PLAGUE

c. 1200    Cahokia in North America, city of temple mounds, at its height

c. 1200    Incas in Peru centred around growing settlement of Cuzco

c. 1200-50              Complexes of apartment blocks and circular kivas built at Cliff Canyon and Fewkes Canyon, Colorado

c. 1250s  Chimu people expand their empire along northern coast of Peru

c. 1250s  Maya revival; following collapse of ChichÈn Itz·, a new capital is built at Mayapan

AD 1300

c. 1300    Incas begin to expand their empire throughout the central Andes

c. 1325    Aztecs found city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) on an island in Lake Texcoco

c. 1370    Acampitchtli chosen king of Aztecs

c. 1390s  Viracocha becomes eighth Inca ruler; an Inca myth tells how he travelled to the Pacific and never returned

AD 1400

THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE

c. 1400    Pueblo people abandon northern sites and gather in large towns

1400s      Expansion of Aztec empire in Mexico

1400s      Inca empire enters period of expansion

1426-40  Aztecs at Tenochtitlan form „Triple Alliance¾ with neighbouring cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan; emperor Itzcoatl reorganizes state to concentrate power in his hands

c. 1438    Inca emperor Viracocha dies; his successor Pachacuti expands Inca empire north to Ecuador

1440s      Incas build great fortress at Cuzco

1440-68  Reign of Aztec emperor Moctezuma I; he and his warriors conquer large areas of eastern Mexico, taking many people prisoner

c. 1450    Inca city of Machu Picchu built on high ridge above Urubamba river in Peru

1455        Huge temple built to Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli in Tenochtitlan

1470s      Collapse of Chimu culture in northern Peru

1471-93  Emperor Topa Inca expands Inca empire into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina

1473        Tenochtitlan absorbs neighbouring Aztec city, Tlatelolco

1486-1502              Rule of Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl; Aztec empire at height of power in Mexico

AD 1500

THE GREAT RULERS

1500s      French exploration in Canada begins

1502-04  Columbus's fourth voyage; he reaches Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia

1513        Vasco N™'ez de Balboa, Spanish explorer, first sights the Pacific Ocean

1519-21  Hernando Cort's, Spanish soldier-explorer, brings down the Aztec empire in Mexico

1532-33  Francisco Pizarro, Spanish soldier, invades and destroys Inca empire in Peru

1534        French explorer, Jacques Cartier, makes first expedition to settle in Canada

1540s      Spanish arrive in California

1576        Martin Frobisher, English explorer, sets out to find a northwest passage to China; he reaches the Canadian coast, and Frobisher Bay is named after him

1584        Sir Walter Raleigh sends an exploring party to Virginia in North America, followed a year later by a colonizing expedition, which fails

AD 1600

COMMERCE AND COLONIES

1607        Jamestown Colony, first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia

1608        Quebec in Canada founded by French settlers

1610        Hudson Bay explored by Henry Hudson

1620        Pilgrim Fathers sail to America in the Mayflower

1625        French settlements in the Caribbean (St Christopher) begin

1626        Dutch found New Amsterdam in North America

1629        Massachusetts founded

1638        First printing press reaches America

1642        Montreal, Canada, founded

1646        The Bahamas colonized by the English

1655        English capture Jamaica from the Spanish

1664        English capture New Amsterdam from the Dutch; it is renamed New York

1679        Father Hennepin reaches Niagara Falls in Canada

1681        Territory granted in North America to English Quaker William Penn; known as Pennsylvania

1681-82  Frenchman La Salle explores Mississippi river from source to mouth, and founds Louisiana

AD 1700

THE AGE OF ENQUIRY

1700s      European settlers exploit the Caribbean

1700s      North American colonies begin to prosper

1701        City of Detroit founded in North America by Antoine de Cadillac to control passage between Lakes Erie and Huron

1711        Tuscarora War between settlers and Native Americans in North Carolina

1715        Yamasee nation attacks South Carolina colony, killing hundreds of English settlers

1716        French build fortress, one of the strongest in North America, at Louisbourg in Canada

1717        Spain establishes Viceroyalty of New Granada in South America

1718        City of New Orleans is founded on Mississippi river

1718        Death of William Penn, the Quaker founder of the state of Pennsylvania

1718-20  Dispute between French and Spanish over territory of Texas; Texas becomes Spanish possession

1726        Spanish found city of Montevideo in Uruguay to stop further Portuguese colonization southwards from Brazil

1727        Coffee first planted in Brazil, by Europeans

1727        First discovery of diamonds in Brazil in Minas Gerais area where gold is already mined

1730s      Vitus Bering, Danish explorer employed by Russia, reaches strait between Asia and North America named after him

1735        Libel trial of John Peter Zeuger in New York helps establish freedom of the press in North America

1736        Natural rubber discovered in the humid rain forests of Peru

1736        Academic schools of S'o Paulo and S'o Jos' founded in Brazil by Portuguese Jesuits

1739        Outbreak of War of Jerkins' Ear; Spain and Britain fight for control of North American and Caribbean waters

1739        South Carolina is shaken by slave revolts

1740s      Population of the 13 colonies reaches 1.5 million, including 250,000 slaves; Boston and Philadelphia largest cities

1742        Juan Santos takes name Atahualpa II and leads Native Americans of Peru in unsuccessful revolt against Spanish

1745        British force including New England settlers capture French fortress of Louisbourg in Canada

1753        French occupy Ohio valley in North America

1754-63  Anglo-French war in North America

1759        General James Wolfe defeats French at the Battle of Quebec

1759        Jesuits expelled from Brazil by Portuguese authorities

1760        All Canada passes into British hands

1762        British expedition against Cuba seizes Havana from Spain

1763        Rio de Janeiro becomes capital of Brazil

1763        Pontiac Conspiracy: Native Americans rise against British in North America

1765        Stamp Act imposed on British colonies in Americas

1773        Boston Tea Party: colonists in North America rebel against British taxes

1775        American Revolution breaks out in skirmish at Lexington

1776        US Declaration of Independence (4 July)

1776        Spanish create Viceroyalty of La Plata in South America

1777        Treaty of San Idelfonso defines Spanish and Portuguese possessions in Brazil

1780-82  Revolt of Tupac Amaru, Inca descendant, in Peru

1781        British Lord Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, ending American Revolution

1783        US independence recognized at Treaty of Paris

1787        US Constitution drawn up

1789        Conspiracy of Tiradentes in Brazil; revolt in Minas Gerais gold mines

1789-97  George Washington is first president of the United States

1790s      Revolt in Haiti against French rule, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, who for a time runs the country

1791        Canada Act divides Canada into Upper and Lower Canada

1793        Trinidad captured from Spanish in Caribbean

AD 1800

INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY

1801        Thomas Jefferson becomes third US president

1803        Louisiana Purchase; United States buys vast tracts of land in Midwest from France

1804-06  Lewis and Clark's expedition beyond Mississippi

1807        Portugal's John VI flees to Brazil; his son Pedro declares it independent under him in 1822

1808-09  Rebellions against Spain begin in South America

1810        Hidalgo begins revolts against Spanish rule in Mexico

1812-14  United States in war with Britain; White House burnt

1816        BolÌvar defeats Spanish in Venezuela; independence confirmed in 1821

1820        The US Missouri Compromise ensures a balance between free and slave states

1821        San Martin wins independence for Peru

1825        BolÌvar founds new state of Bolivia

1828        Uruguay becomes independent

1836        Texas wins independence from Mexico; siege of the Alamo

1838        Trail of Tears; in the United States, thousands of eastern Native Americans are forced to move west, many dying on the way

1840        Upper and Lower Canada are united in self-governing union

1846-48  US war against Mexico; California and New Mexico ceded to United States

1848        Meeting in Seneca Falls, New York, calls for equal rights for American women

1849        California gold Rush

c. 1850    Jeans invented in California, United States

1850        US Congress compromises over expansion of slavery; fails to resolve tension between states

1850-89  Remarkable national progress in Brazil under Pedro II

1856        Anti-slavery Republican party formed in United States

1858-61  Reformer Benito Juarez is Mexican president

1859        John Brown's attempt to start slave revolt alarms whites in southern United States

1861-65  Civil War in United States; attempt by southern states to secede is defeated

1862        US land given to European immigrants to farm

1862-90  Last wars against Native Americans in western United States

1863-67  French invade Mexico and set up Austrian archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico

1865        Thirteenth Amendment to US Constitution outlaws slavery

1865-70  Paraguay attacks neighbouring countries and is almost annihilated

1866-77  Northern US Republicans force through radical reconstruction of southern states

1867        Britain makes Canada a dominion

1870-88  Antonio Guzman rules Venezuela; major reforms

1876        In United States, Alexander Bell invents telephone

1877        US inventor Thomas Edison invents the record-player

1876-1911              Rule of President Diaz of Mexico: period of great expansion

1879-84  The War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia

1883        Edison invents the light bulb

1885        Canadian Pacific railway opens

1886        American Federation of Labor established

1888        Slaves freed in Brazil

1889        First Pan-American Conference held at Washington

1889        Pedro II deposed by army revolt; Brazil becomes a republic

1891        Civil war in Chile

1898        Spanish-American War; Spain gives Cuba independence, United States takes Puerto Rico, Guam, and Philippines as colonies

AD 1900

THE WORLD GOES TO WAR

1901-09  Theodore Roosevelt is US president; he works to reform business, railways, child labour, and to conserve natural resources

1903        Panama secedes from Colombia with US backing

1903        Boundary dispute over Alaska between Canada and United States settled

1904        Final settlement between Bolivia and Chile after the War of the Pacific

1904-09  Presidency of Ismael Montes in Bolivia; period of social and political reforms

1905        Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan formed in Canada

1906        Alaska elects a delegate to US Congress

1906        Cuba occupied by US forces following a liberal revolt

1907        Run on American banks checked by J P Morgan

1908        Henry Ford produces first Model T car

1911        President Diaz of Mexico overthrown

1912        Alaska granted territorial status in United States

1912        Arizona and New Mexico become US states

1912        Secret ballot and universal suffrage introduced in Argentina

1913-21  Woodrow Wilson is president of United States

1914        Panama Canal opened

1914        Completion of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Canada

1916-22  Hipolito Irigoyen elected president of Argentina: extensive reforms

1917        Mexico adopts a new constitution

1917        Brazil declares war on Germany

1917        United States declares war on Germany

1918        Venezuela oilfields opened

1918        US President Wilson puts forward the Fourteen Points for settling World War I

1919-20  US Congress refuses to recognize League of Nations

1919-30  Great material progress in Peru during presidency of Augusto LeguÌa

1920-33  Prohibition against sale of alcohol in United States

1921-25  Progressive government of President Juan Bautista Saavedra in Bolivia

1922        First portable radio and first car radio made in United States

1926        Panama and United States agree to protect Panama canal in wartime

1929        US Wall Street Stock Exchange crashes; Great Depression follows

1930        Getulio Vargas becomes Brazilian president, and assumes dictatorial powers in 1937

1932        Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes US president

1932-35  Chaco war between Bolivia and Paraguay

1933        Peruvian president Sanchez Cherro assassinated by an „aprista¾

1933        US „New Deal¾ laws, such as National Industry Recovery Act, promote economic recovery

1935        US Social Security Act - first step in creation of welfare state

1937        US National Labour Relations Act

1938        Mexico takes over US and British oil companies in Mexico

1941        US Congress passes Lend-Lease Act; billions of dollars' worth of military hardware loaned to Allies

1944        First free presidential elections in Guatemala

1945        US scientists build first atomic bomb

1947        In Truman Doctrine US government promises aid to any government resisting Communism

1948-51  Under Marshall Plan, United States dispenses aid to Europe to help post-war recovery

1949        United States and West European nations set up North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for collective security

1950s      Black Americans intensify campaign for civil rights

1955        Army officers seize power from Argentinian president Peron

1962        Cuban missile crisis

1963        US president John F Kennedy assassinated

1963        Thousands march on Washington DC to press for civil rights for black Americans

1964        Military leaders seize power in Brazil

1964        US Civil Rights Act bans racial discrimination in federal funding and employment

1968        Major protests in United States against Vietnam war

1969        US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin land on the moon

1970-74  Micro-computers developed in United States

1972        US Congress passes Equal Opportunity Act in response to growing women's movement

1973        Elected Chilean president Allende killed in a military coup led by General Pinochet

1973        United States launches space station Skylab 4

1974        US president Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal

1978        Camp David summit between Egypt and Israel hosted by the United States

1979        Sandinistas seize power in Nicaragua

1980-82  Civil war in El Salvador

1982        Falklands War between Argentina and Britain

1982        Mexico fails to repay foreign loans, provoking international financial crisis

1989        US soldiers invade Panama and depose ruler, General Noriega

1990        Sandinistas defeated in Nicaraguan elections

1993        Palestinian leader Arafat and Israeli prime minister Rabin sign peace agreement in United States

1994        Sports legend, O J Simpson tried for murder. He is acquitted in 1995