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Jul 13, 1299
Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire, empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia. One of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, it spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922, when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various successor states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East. At its height the empire included most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna. -
May 10, 1340
Songhai Empire
It was from one of Mali's former conquests, the kingdom of Gao, that the last major empire of the western Sudan emerged. Although the city of Gao had been occupied by a Songhai dynasty prior to being conquered by Mansa Musa's forces in 1325, it was not until much later that the Songhai empire emerged. -
Mar 4, 1394
Prince Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry the Navigator was the son of King João of Portugal, born in 1394. He is most famous for the voyages of discovery that he organised and financed, which eventually led to the rounding of Africa and the establishment of sea routes to the Indies. Henry was also a very devout man, and was Governor of the Order of Christ from 1420 until his death in 1460. -
Sep 19, 1398
Moctezma
Moctezuma was the fifth Aztec emperor. During his reign the Aztec Empire was consolidated, major expansion was undertaken and Tenochtitlan started becoming the dominant partner of the Aztec Triple Alliance. -
Nov 29, 1445
Beginning of Portuguese slave trade
Prince Henry established a slave market & fort in Arguin Bay in 1445 and they were brought back to Portugal. A large slave auction was held in Lagos in that same year. By 1455 800 Africans were transported to Portugal annually. -
Oct 8, 1451
Reign of Mehmed the Conqueror
Ottoman tradition called for a new sultan to initiate his reign with a great Ghazi conquest. For Mehmed II his ghazi goal was obvious – Constantinople. Speaking to his followers, urging them to press on with their siege of the imperial city, Mehmed II told them that Holy War was their basic duty as it had been for their forefathers. But the risk of failure was high the young sultan was unpopular, his reputation already tarnished. -
Sep 22, 1464
Reign of Sunni Ali
When Sunni Ali Ber came to power, Songhay was a small kingdom in the western Sudan. But during his twenty-eight year reign, it grew into the largest, most powerful empire in West Africa. -
Nov 29, 1483
Martin Luther
Leader of Protestant Reformation. Attacked sale of indulgences and corruption within the priesthood. Called for reform: translation of the Bible from Latin to other languages.
He wrote the 95 Theses. Martin Luther also benefited from the printing press as literate European cities read his 95 Theses. -
Nov 29, 1487
Dias' voyage into Indian Ocean
Dias is thought to be the first European to go around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. However, after rounding the cape, his crew forced him to turn around and return to Portugal. -
Aug 3, 1492
Columbus' first voyage
Christopher Columbus, the famous explorer, traveled to the Americas while searching for an all-water route to China. Columbus began his career at sea sailing on Italian merchant vessels and studying navigation in Portugal. -
Nov 19, 1492
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life. Beginning after Columbus' discovery in 1492 the exchange lasted throughout the years of expansion and discovery. The Columbian Exchange impacted the social and cultural makeup of both sides of the Atlantic. -
Mar 30, 1495
Reign of Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleyman the Magnificent has been known as one of the greatest rulers of the Ottoman Empire. He is mostly remembered as a fierce conqueror of the Islamic religion. In Middle Eastern cultures, however, he is often referred to as a great builder. During his rule as sultan, the Ottoman Empire reached its peak in power and prosperity. -
Nov 13, 1501
Safavid Empire
The Safavid Empire in Persia, which was established by Ismail I in 1501 and lasted until its overthrow by Afghan invaders in 1722, was the shortest-lived of the three Great Islamic Empires, but it was influential nonetheless, particularly because of its adherence to Shi'a Islam as the official religion. The formation of the Safavid Empire differs from that of both the Ottoman and Mughal Empires because it had religious, rather than military, beginnings. -
Jul 10, 1509
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. -
Apr 21, 1519
The Spanish Conquest of Mexico
During the Spanish campaign, Cortés allied with a number of the tributaries and rivals of the Aztecs, including the Totonacs, and the Tlaxcaltecas. After eight months of battles and intrigue, which overcame the diplomatic resistance of the Aztec Emperor Montezuma to his visit, Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, where he took up residence. -
Feb 22, 1526
Mughal Dynasty
The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. It consolidated Islam in South Asia, and spread Muslim arts and culture as well as the faith. The Mughals were Muslims who ruled a country with a large Hindu majority. However for much of their empire they allowed Hindus to reach senior government or military positions. -
Dec 13, 1545
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent played an important part in determining the outcome of the Counter-Reformation. The Council of Trent was a central feature of the Counter-Reformation. But whether Trent represented a positive move by the Catholic Church remains contentious. Any long term change in the Catholic Church depended on the attitude of the pope in power at one particular time. If there was no desire for change, then there would be no change. -
Dec 9, 1556
Reign of Akbar
Akbar was only 14 years of age in 1556 when he succeeded his father Humayun. That year, a formidable anti-Mughal coalition, consisting mainly of Afghanis, tried to recapture northern India but lost its battle against the Mughals at Panipat. Mughal control over northern India was finally established. -
Feb 15, 1564
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist and astronomer. In 1581, Galileo was sent to the University of Pisa to study medicine. While a student at the university, Galileo discovered that he had a talent for mathematics. He was able to persuade his father to allow him to leave the university to become a tutor in mathematics. He later became a professor of mathematics. -
Tokugawa shogunate
a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family.[2] This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was changed in 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1600 until 1868, when it was abolished during the Meiji Restoration. -
Thirty Years War
The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had brought a temporary truce in the religious connict in the German states. This settle-ment had recognized only Lutherans and Roman Catholics, but Cal-vinism had subsequently made gains in a number of states. The Calvinists began to demand recognition of their rights. The Thirty Years' War began, however, as a direct result of a conflict in the Hapsburg-ruled Kingdom of Bohemia. -
John Locke
John Locke was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and idealogue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. His monumental Essay Concerning Human Understanding aims to determine the limits of human understanding. -
Manchus Empire
The Manchus Dynasty was China's last dynasty. The Manchu emperors were unpopular because they were non-Han Chinese and they descended from horsemen from the north and opened up China to exploitation from the West. Even so they made many improvements in the lives of ordinary Chinese and expanded China to its present size. -
Qing Dynasty
The last of the imperial dynasties of China. Under the Qing the territory of the empire grew to treble its size under the preceding Ming dynasty, the population grew from some 150 million to 450 million, many of the non-Chinese minorities within the empire were Sinicized, and an integrated national economy was established. -
Peter the Great
Peter was a grandson of Tsar Michael Romanov (who was crowned as Tsar in 1613). In 1682 Peter was proclaimed Tsar at the tender age of 10. But due to power struggles between different political forces in the country, the young Tsar was forced to rule jointly with his brother Ivan, under the patronage of their sister Sofia. In 1689, after a failed coup d'etat, Sofia was overthrown and exiled to a convent. -
England's Glorious Revolution
King James II's attempt to flee England was to end in humiliating failure. In a spectacular development the King and his small entourage were captured by fishermen, occurring in England in the year 1688. Because of the amazing way that revolution unfolded, the people of the time regarded 1688 as annus mirabilis, the year of the marvels. For the same reasons the revolution that occurred that year in England was almost immediately known by unique name--the “Glorious Revolution.” -
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the short-lived Russian Republic, which was in turn succeeded by the Soviet Union.
