History 1500-2022

By BronWat
  • 1500

    Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral officially discovers Brazil and claims the land for Portugal.

  • 1501

    Safavid dynasty rules Iran until 1736.

  • 1503

    Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three or four years later.

  • 1509

    Henry The VIII Ascends The Throne

  • 1509

    The Battle of Diu marks the beginning of Portuguese dominance of the Spice trade.

  • 1514

    The Battle of Orsha halts Muscovy's expansion into Eastern Europe.

  • 1515

    The Ottoman Empire wrests Eastern Anatolia from the Safavids after the Battle of Chaldiran.

  • 1516

    The Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and gain control of Egypt, Arabia, and the Levant.

  • 1517

    The Protestant Reformation begins when Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Saxony.

  • 1519

    Hernán Cortés leads the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

  • Jun 30, 1519

    Magellan Circumnavigates The World

  • 1543

    The Nanban trade period begins after Portuguese traders make contact with Japan.

  • 1556

    The Shaanxi Earthquake in China is history's deadliest known earthquake.

  • 1569

    The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is created with the Union of Lublin which lasts until 1795.

  • 1580

    After the struggle for the throne of Portugal, the Portuguese Empire comes to an end and the Spanish and Portuguese crowns are united for 60 years.

  • Battle of Kinsale, one of the most important battles in Irish history, fought.

  • Dutch East India Company founded. Its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age.

  • The Mughal Empire grants extensive trading rights to the British East India Company.

  • The Thirty Years' War devastates Central Europe.

  • Wars of the Three Kingdoms, civil wars throughout Scotland, Ireland, and England.

  • Torture is outlawed in England.

  • Cape Town founded by the Dutch East India Company in South Africa.

  • British troops capture New Amsterdam and rename it New York.

  • The Great Fire of London.

  • Salem witch trials in Massachusetts.

  • Act of Union passed merging the Scottish and the English Parliaments, thus establishing The Kingdom of Great Britain.

  • Louis XIV died leaving France deep in debt.

  • Kangxi Emperor of China died.

  • The Qianlong Emperor of China oversaw a huge expansion in territory.

  • Frederick the Great crowned King of Prussia.

  • Battle of Plassey signaled the beginning of British rule in India.

  • The Bengal famine of 1770 killed one third of the Indian population.

  • American Revolution

  • French Revolution

  • The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merge to form the United Kingdom.

  • War Of 1812

  • Greece becomes the first country to break away from the Ottoman Empire after the Greek War of Independence.

  • Spanish Inquisition officially ends.

  • The Origin of Species published.

  • Russia abolishes serfdom.

  • The British East India Company is dissolved.

  • First electrical power plant and grid in Godalming, Britain.

  • Krakatoa Eruption

  • The United States gains control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.

  • World War I Starts

  • World War II Starts

  • California Gold Rush

  • Chile Magnitude 9.5 Earthquake

  • End Of The Vietnam War

  • Fall Of The Berlin Wall

  • Rwandan Genocide

  • The Attacks On The World Trade Centre and Pentagon Occur

  • Mars Exploration Rovers land on Mars; Opportunity discovers proof that that area of Mars was once covered in water.

  • Japan Magnitude 9.0 Earthquake