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10,000 BCE
Discovery of the Fertile Cresent
When nomads discovered the Fertile Cresent, it was very useful to them. They were able to collect edible plants, hunt animals, and most importantly, they found cereal grains which could be stored and eaten at a much later date. The Fertile Cresent would later prove to be even more important when agriculture was discovered. -
Period: 9000 BCE to 4000 BCE
The Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution marked the discovery of agriculture, the discovery of domesticating plants and animals, and people setting up permanent homes. Before the revolution, people were nomadic, meaning they were always on the move in search of food. Agriculture allowed for people to set up permanent homes, which resulted in the creation of villages. Because agriculture provided a consistent and steady food source, there was a surplus, which allowed for the population to increase. -
4300 BCE
The Urban Revolution
As more and more villages were emerging, they were starting to combine into cities. These cities were located in southern Mesopotamia and Egypt. The formation of cities would be a set up for empires to come, claiming the cities and joining them together. -
3400 BCE
The First Written Languages
The Sumerians were the first to create a written language which was mostly used to keep track of business and trading. The Egyptians developing hieroglyphs shortly after the Sumerians had invented cuneiform. The Egyptians too, mostly used their written language to track business and trading. In addition hieroglyphs were used in pyramids and for decoration. -
2700 BCE
The Influence of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh, mostly known from The Epic of Gilgamesh, was a real Sumerian king, ruling at about 2700 BCE. Not only was the epic the world's first great literary work, it also served as an inspiration for many other stories. -
334 BCE
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great played a crucial role in Greece's war against Persia. He united the Greeks, more specifically Athens and Sparta, who were fighting each other, and eventually defeated the Persians. In addition to Persia, Alexander would go on to conquer Egypt, Mesopotamia and many other empires. -
212 BCE
Rome's Origins
Rome was very heavily inspired by Greece. So much so that many Romans believed that it was bad thing how similar they were after a raid on the Greek colony Syracuse. Rome would go on to be much like the Greeks with many high points and many lows. -
395
The Slow Fall of the Roman Empire
As Theodosius I, emperor of Rome, layed on his deathbed, he divided Rome into a western and eastern portion. Each would be ruled by one of his two sons. The western side was not so lucky though, it was successfully attacked by the Visigoths, and later again by the Vandals. -
476
Rome Overtaken by "Barbarians"
Despite Rome's "fall," there was still some control and stability in the hands of Germanic tribes. New laws and regulations were made with the conquering of Rome that were meant to protect and keep it prosperous. -
732
Battle of Tours
Charles Martel, prince of the Frankish kingdom, fought an army of Spanish Muslims to keep out Islamic influence away from Europe. This battle was a very important moment in world history as a different outcome would've dramatically changed Europe. -
1430
Invention of the Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg is credited by many to have created the best invention of all time. The printing press allowed for books, letters, articles and other written works to be easily copied for mass production. The Chinese too had thought of this idea some time earlier but had never executed on the idea as well as Gutenberg. -
1492
Christopher Columbus "Discovers" the New World
Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas accidentally while he was sailing for westerly route to the East Indies. The islands of the Caribbean which was what Columbus found, were deemed good for growing sugar and were eventually turned into sugar producing colonies. The colonists tried to use the natives as slaves but failed as they were dying from European diseases, so slaves were brought from Africa to the Caribbeans. -
Coffee's Welcoming to Europe
English travels visiting Arabia noted that coffeehouses were just like bars they had for drinking. Although coffee wasn't initially approved of in Europe, the Pope had to decide whether or not coffee should be allowed. The Pope was very pleased by the drink and eventually coffeehouses started emerging all over Europe. -
Period: to
Shifts in Trade Power
The Arab monopoly on coffee was broken by the Dutch, removing Portugal as the strongest European nation in the East Indies. The Dutch had control over spice trade and became the leading commercial power until France got a hold on coffee plants and started to using the plant to its full extent. With coffee plants growing in South America, Brazil eventually ruled and became the largest coffee supplier. -
Europe Reaches China
When Europe first reached China to trade, it seemed there was nothing in it for China, they claimed themselves to be the best civilization and were somewhat correct as they had far more advancements in nearly all fields. This led to strict and overall poor trading between the two nations. -
Coffee in France
Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, a French naval officer was desperate to bring coffee to the French West Indies. During a visit to Paris, he obtained a cutting of the only coffee tree in Paris through his connections and made it his mission to safely bring it to the West Indies. Through a rough voyage, he successful managed to bring the plant to his home and grew the plant. Eventually he began spreading cuttings of the plant with his friends and soon the French began to make coffee exports. -
The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was fought between the French and the British with the help of the American colonists and Native Americans. The war was over who the America's belonged to and the British won the war but were left with a very high debt which led them to taxing the American colonies unfairly, which led to the Revolutionary War. -
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution saved Britain from slew of problems it was facing. Now that Britain was able to make its own products quickly and with little labor, financial problems would lower and lower consistently. The Revolution also lessened Britain's need for trade with China as textile factories were starting to appear all over Britain -
The Financial Revolution
With new joint-stock companies being introduced and improvements on public and private financing, Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations which encouraged capitalism and would inspire new thriving civilizations. -
The Revolutionary War
With the British in major debt from the French and Indian War, taxes were put on the colonies such as the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. All these acts were considered outrageous and unfair by the colonist which led to them rebelling with the Boston Tea Party were crates of tea were dumped into Boston harbor. After years and years of fighting, the British eventually gave up and the United States of America was an independent nation in 1781. -
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
A series of wars fought between Britain and the Dutch over complete control of the East Indies trade lasted four years and the British won and gained nearly complete control of global tea trade. -
The Start of the French Revolution
Outside a coffeehouse, the news of the only trusted government official by the people, Jacques Necker's dissmissal at the meeting at Versailles, caused outrage and led to the Bastille being attacked by a mob of protesters two days after the speech given by Camille Desmoulins, a lawyer, who essentially started the Revolution. -
The Whisky Rebellion
The Whisky Rebellion was led by a group of American farmers that protested against the new tax on whisky. This event showed that the newly formed United States could do what Britain could not. The U.S. was able to dispatch the rebels easily and maintain stability. -
The British East India Company
During the Industrial Revolution, the British East Company expanded trade further into the east by using money from tea trading to help pay for the company's advance into India. -
Tea Plantations in India
Britain realized that growing tea in India was very suitable and would be cheaper. Also, after the end of the Opium War, Britain needed to get its tea from somewhere. Tea plantations started to form and it became profitable for Britain and India. -
World War I
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand caused Austria-Hungary to go to war with Serbia and many more countries joined in the war to help with their ally and due to personal conflict with other countries. -
Period: to
World War II
World War II started when Britain and France declared war on Germany after Germany had invaded Poland in 1939. Learning from the first World War, the United States stayed neutral in the beginning but joined in after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941. The Axis Powers were eventually defeated by the Allies after a long and bloody war. -
Period: to
Cold War
The Cold War focused mainly on the United States and the Soviet Union competed to prove which was the better economic power and which had the better governing system. The United States fought for capitalism, while the Soviet Union defended communism. The United States believed communism was not good and did everything it could to stop countries from being converted by the Soviets to communism. Eventually the the war finally ended with fall of the Berlin Wall. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was between the the communists of North Vietnam with their allies in the south, the Viet Cong, against South Vietnam with their ally the United States. South Vietnam and the United states did win with North Vietnam signing a treaty. -
Period: to
Iraq War
The United States of America declared going to war in Iraq due to terrorist threats with weapons capable of massive destruction. As the war raged on and on the terrorists were diminishing to the point to where the United States withdrew from Iraq
