History

Homo Sapiens

160,000 BCE

Earliest remains of Homo sapiens, the modern human race, found in Ethiopia, Africa.

Neanderthals

120,000 BCE

Neanderthals living in Europe.

Homo Sapiens

100,000 BCE

Homo sapiens move out of Africa.

Homo Sapiens

75,000 BCE

Homo sapiens living in Southeast Asia.

Homo Sapiens

45,000 BCE

Homo sapiens living in Australia.

Homo Sapiens

40,000 BCE

Homo sapiens move into Europe, living alongside the existing Neanderthal populations.

Neanderthals

28,000 BCE

Last surviving Neanderthal population, living in what is now southern Spain, becomes extinct.

Cultivation of Crops

11,000 BCE

Rye cultivated east of what is now Aleppo, Syria.

Domestication of Animals

8500 BCE

Sheep domesticated in what is now Iraq.

Domestication of Animals

8000 BCE

Pigs domesticated in China

Cultivation of Crops

8000 BCE

Wheat cultivated in Syria and Turkey, and barley cultivated in Israel, Jordan, and Iran.

Domestication of Animals

6500 BCE

At Mehrgarh, on the northern edge of the Indus Valley, sheep and goats are farmed.

Early Egypt

6000 BCE

Hunter-gatherers start turning to settled agriculture along the Nile Valley.

Cultivation of Crops

6000 BCE

Wild rice cultivated along the Chang (Tangtze) River in China.

Domestication of Animals

6000 BCE

Cattle, probably bred from the wild aurochs, domesticated in Greece and Turkey.

Mesopotamia

5500 BCE

The first archaeological evidence of Sumerians in Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia

5400 BCE

Advanced farming methods, including irrigation projects, first appear in Mesopotamia.

Domestication of Animals

4500 BCE

Horses domesticated in Ukraine.

Early Egypt

4000 BCE

In Egypt, at Naqada, near modern Luxor, a simple village culture flourishes.

Domestication of Animals

4000 BCE

Humped cattle (zebu) are the most common domesticated animal in the Indus Valley.

Early India

4000 BCE

Farmers begin to settle on the Indus floodplain and to construct dams and canals for irrigation.

Early India

4000 BCE

Copper is in use in the Indus region.

Early Egypt

3500 BCE

Rectangular brick houses replace circular huts at Naqada, and other Egyptian sites. Walled towns appear

Early India

3500 BCE

The potter's wheel is introduced to the Indus region.

Mesopotamia

3500 BCE

The first Sumerian towns appear. Primitive writing is developed.

Mesopotamia

3400 BCE

Uruk becomes the first large Sumerian city, with a population of around 50,000.

Early Egypt

3300 BCE

By this date Egyptians are using both river- and ocean-going sailing boats.

Early Egypt

3200 BCE

The first know examples of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing date from this time.

Early Africa

3000 BCE

Yam were cultivated in West Africa.

Early China

3000 BCE

At Banpo in northern China, communities build large meeting houses over 60 feet long.

Mesopotamia

3000 BCE

The ox-drawn plow, invented in the Near East, changes the landscape as farmers clear forests to make bigger fields.

Neolithic Age of Greece

3000 BCE

Wealth from olive and vine culture encourages the growth of the first towns in the Aegean Sea region.

Early Australia

3000 BCE

Walga Rock in Western Australia is used as a shelter by Aboriginal hunter-gatherers and reamins in use for the next 5,000 years.

Mesopotamia

3000 BCE

Independent Sumerian city-states flourish in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq).

Mesopotamia

3000 BCE

Early cuneiform writing begins to replace pictographs.

Old Kingdom

2950 BCE

Egypt's Early Dynastic Period begins when the First Dynasty is established under the Pharaoh Menes.

Old Kingdom

2900 BCE

Egyptian astronomer-priests devise the first 365-day calendar.

Phoenicians

2900 BCE

The Phoenicians, a seafaring people of the Mediterranean's eastern shore, settle on the Lebanese coast and establish settlements.

Mesopotamia

2900 BCE

In Sumer, the first ziggurats, stepped temple-towers are bulit.

Old Kingdom

2800 BCE

Egyptian scribes begin to write on papyrus made from the crushed stems of a fibruous plant growing along the banks of the Nile River.

Early Scotland

2800 BCE

Neolithic (New Stone Age) settlers at Skara Brae north of Scotland bulid stone houses sunk beneath ground level and covered with turf.

Mesopotamia

2750 BCE

Gilgamesh becomes ruler of Uruk. He will later be immortalized as a semidivine king in the world's first literary epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Early China

2700 BCE

The production of silk from silkworms starts in China.

Bronze Age of Greece

2700 BCE

Early Minoan civilization develops on Crete.

Mesopotamia

2600 BCE

Rulers of the southern city-state of Ur are buried in tombs together with their attendants.

Old Kingdom

2550 BCE

The Great Pyramid at Giza is built as a 480-foot-high tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu.

Old Kingdom

2500 BCE

The cat is first domesticated in Egypt

Central Asia

2500 BCE

The two-humped Bactrian camel is domesticated in Central Asia.

Early China

2500 BCE

Bronzeworking begins to develop from this time on in China.

Mediterranean

2500 BCE

Farmers around the Mediterranean develop the technique of winemaking.

Indus River Valley

2500 BCE

In India's Indus Valley cities like Harappa attract a population of up to 40,000 people living in houses with bathrooms and toilets connected to a common drainage system.

Mesopotamia

2500 BCE

Sumerian writing spreads abroad as trade routes are opened.

Mesopotamia

2350 BCE

The Sumerian city-states are overrun by Sargon of Akkad, a ruler whose power base lies farther north within Mesopotamia. Sargon establishes the first empire known in history.

Bronze Age of Greece

2300 BCE

Immigrants from Anatolia (Turkey) bring Bronze Age culture to Greece.

Indus River Valley

2300 BCE

The Indus civilization is at its height and continues to flourish for the next 400 years.

First Intermediate Period

2125 BCE

Egypt's Old Kingdom gives way to a time of troubles called by modern scholars the "First intermediate Period."

Early England

2100 BCE

A massive stone circle made up of blocks weighing up to 50 tons makes Stonehenge southern England's major ceremonial center.

Mesopotamia

2100 BCE

From Ur, King Ur-Nammu reasserts Sumerian power, founds schools for scribes, establishes the first legal code, introduces calendar reforms, and promotes international trade.

Middle Kingdom

2040 BCE

Start of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt as Mentuhotep II, ruler of Upper Egypt, conquers Lower Egypt to reunite the country.

Cultivation of Crops

2000 BCE

Rice is cultivated in northern Vietnam's Red River Valley.

Indus River Valley

2000 BCE

First evidence of bronze in the Indus region.

Ironworking

2000 BCE

Ironworking spreads across western Asia, although another millennium will pass before the metal is widely available.

Mesopotamia

1950 BCE

Ur is sacked by the Elamites from southwestern Iran, bringing the great age of Sumerian civilization to an end.

Mesopotamia

1900 BCE

The Amorites establish a dynasty of kings in the town of Babylon.

Mesopotamia

1850 BCE

The patriarch Abraham, father and founder of the Jewish religion, lived in Ur around this time.

Early India

1800 BCE

Aryans arrive in northwestern India, bringing with them chariots, cattle, and the Sanskrit language.

Mesopotamia

1792 BCE

Hammurabi I comes to the throne of Babylon. By his death in about 1750 BCE the city is the center of an empire stretching to Assyria and the Iran.

Shang Dynasty

1766 BCE

Foundation of China's Shang Dynasty, the first for which solid archaeological evidence exists.

Indus River Valley

1750 BCE

For reasons that remain unexplained the Indus Valley cities are abandoned by their inhabitants.

Mesopotamia

1750 BCE

The earliest literary classic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, is written down.

Trade

1700 BCE

Amber and other luxury items, as well as raw materials like copper and tin, are traded back and forth across central Europe.

Domestication of Animals

1700 BCE

Horses are started to be used as draft animals, revolutioning transportation. Horseback riding, however, remains uncommon.

Middle Kingdom

1640 BCE

Egypt's middle kingdom comes to an end and the Second intermediate Period begins in Egypt as the Hyksos kings take power in northern Egypt. They bring with them the horse-drawn chariot.

Bronze Age of Greece

1600 BCE

The Mycenaean civilization emerges on the Greek mainland at about this time.

New Kingdom

1550 BCE

Ahmose reunites Egypt, driving out the Hyksos and begins the New Kingdom.

Early Vietnam

1500 BCE

Bronze is made into weapons, tools, and ornaments in Vietnam.

Cultivation of Crops

1500 BCE

Rice cultivation reaches the Ganges Valley in India.

New Kingdom

1473 BCE

Queen Hatshepsut becomes Egypt's second female pharaoh.

Shang Dynasty

1400 BCE

In China Shang Dynasty bones are inscribed with a fully developed script.

New Kingdom

1333 BCE

The boy-king Tutankhamen comes to power in Egypt.

Ganges River Valley

1300 BCE

Evidence of Ironworking appears in the valley of the Ganges.

New Kingdom

1290 BCE

Accession of Ramses II, whose 66-year reign marks the peak of Egyptian power.

Bronze Age of Greece

1250 BCE

Greece's Mycenaean civilization collapses.

New Kingdom

1220 BCE

The Israelites leave Egypt on the migration to Canaan known as the Exodus.

Early Israel

1200 BCE

The Jews, under the kingship of Joshua, conquer Canaan.

Phoenicia

1100 BCE

The Phoenicians adopt a phonetic (sound-based) alphabet, a radical departure from the pictographic scripts.

New Kingdom

1070 BCE

Egypt's New Kingdom comes to an end as civil war divides the nation.

Dark Ages of Greece

1050 BCE

Dorian invaders from Anatolia (modern Turkey) move into Greece bringing with them the secrets of ironworking.

Zhou Dynasty

1027 BCE

In China, the Shang Dynasty is overthrown by the Zhou. The new dynasty extends the cultural advances made in the Shang centuries.

Israel

1020 BCE

Saul becomes the first king of the Israelites.

Israel

1006 BCE

David rules first over the southern kingdom of Judah and later over all Israel, establishing his capital in Jerusalem.

Early Steppes

1000 BCE

The people of Central Asia develop the skills of horseback riding.

Zhou Dynasty

1000 BCE

Skilled bronzemaking is widespread in China.

Vedic Age

1000 BCE

The Brahmanic caste system becomes well established in India.

Early Persia

1000 BCE

Migrating Aryans form the kingdom of Para (Persia).

Ironworking

1000 BCE

Ironworking techniques spread from the Middle East to southern Europe.

Cultivation of Rice

950 BCE

Rice is domesticated by West African farmers in the flood basins of the middle Niger River.

Israel

950 BCE

King Solomon builds the Great Temple at Jerusalem.

Mesopotamia

930 BCE

The Assyrian Empire becomes dominant in the Tigris Valley region.

Israel

925 BCE

The Jewish kingdom separtes into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

Early Steppes

900 BCE

Steppe horsemen introduce the saddle and horseback archery.

Dark Ages of Greece

900 BCE

Sparta is founded in the southern Peloponnese region of Greece; its citizens become renowned for their military discipline.

Early Rome

850 BCE

The first settlements appear on the site of Rome's Palatine Hill.

Phoenicia

814 BCE

The Phoenician colony of Carthage is founded in North Africa.

Ironworking in Africa

800 BCE

Ironworking begins to spread across sub-Saharan Africa.

Early Korea

800 BCE

Wet rice cultivation and bronze technology are exported from China to Korea.

Dark Ages of Greece

800 BCE

Sparta and Athens grow in power and grandeur.

Etruria

800 BCE

Etruscans establish the first towns in Italy, building on hillside terraces and surrounding their settlements with huge timbered walls.

Phoenicia

800 BCE

The Phoenician trading empire extends through much of the coastal Mediterranean.

Archaic Greece

776 BCE

The first Olympic Games are held at Olympia in southern Greece.

Rome

753 BCE

The traditional date of the foundation of Rome.

Archaic Greece

750 BCE

The first evidence of a Greek alphabet comes from this period.

Archaic Greece

750 BCE

The great epics of Homer are composed (although not yet written down).

Mesopotamia

732 BCE

Assyria conquers Damascus. Over the next 17 years the Assyrians also overcome Babylon and make Israel and Judah vassel (subject) states.

Archaic Greece

683 BCE

In Athens, Greece, hereditary kingship comes to an end, to be replaced with elected officials.

Mesopotamia

673 BCE

Babylonian astrologers correctly predict a solar eclipse.

Mesopotamia

612 BCE

The Assyrian Empire falls to the Babylonians.

Phoenicia

600 BCE

Phoenicians complete their circumnavigation of Africa.

Zhou Dynasty

600 BCE

Ironworking begins to develop in China.

Zhou Dynasty

600 BCE

The Book of Songs, the first anthology of Chinese poetry is compiled.

Archaic Greece

600 BCE

Coinage comes into use on the Greek mainland.

Archaic Greece

594 BCE

Solon becomes sole governor of Athens. His laws lay the foundations of Athenian democracy.

Israel

586 BCE

After a long siege, Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He destroys the city including the Temple, and takes many Jews captive to Babylon.

Iron Age of India

563 BCE

Birth of Siddhartha Gautama in India.

Lydia

560 BCE

Croesus becomes king of Lydia, a legendarily rich kingdom in Asia Minor (Turkey).

Early Persian Empire

558 BCE

Cyrus becomes ruler of Persia.

Zhou Dynasty

551 BCE

Birth of Confucius.

Early Persian Empire

547 BCE

Cyrus the Great defeats Croesus, and brings all of Asia Minor under control of the Persian Empire.

Archaic Greece

539 BCE

The first know Greek tragedy is performed at Athens.

Early Persian Empire

539 BCE

Babylon falls to Cyrus the Great, bringing Mesopotamia under Persian rule. Jewish exiles are permitted to return to their homeland of Judah.

Early Persian Empire

530 BCE

Death of Cyrus the Great. His is succeeded by his son Cambyses, who conquers Egypt.

Domestication of Animals

525 BCE

Camels are introduced into North Africa from Persia.

Iron Age of India

524 BCE

Siddhartha has the vision on which the Buddhist religion will be founded.

Early Persian Empire

521 BCE

Cambyses dies, and Darius I comes to the throne of Persia. He begins to extend the borders of the Persian Empire beyond the Indus into northern India, defeating disunited Aryan forces.

Israel

515 BCE

A new temple is completed in the rebuilt Jerusalem.

Roman Republic

509 BCE

Traditional date for the foundation of the Roman Republic.

Zhou Dynasty

500 BCE

Bronze coins are introduced in China.

Ironworking

500 BCE

Ironworking begins in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand).

Zhou Dynasty

500 BCE

Sun Tzu of China writes the Art of War, the earliest military handbook.

Archaic Greece

499 BCE

The Greek cities of Ionia on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor rebel against Persian rule.

Roman Republic

494 BCE

After going on strike, Roman plebeians win the right to appoint tribunes to protect their interests.

Early Persian Empire

490 BCE

King Darius I of Persia launches an attack against mainland Greece to punish the city-states for their support of the Ionian cites. His forces are defeated at the Battle of Marathon.

Iron Age of India

483 BCE

Death of the Buddha or Enlightened One. The First Great Council of his followers is held to agree on the main tenets of his teaching.

Warring States Period

481 BCE

The Warring States Period begins in China, lasting until 221 BCE; A weakened China is divided among about 20 different kingdoms vying for supermacy. In theory the emperors of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty still have overall control, but in practice their authority counts for little.

Archaic Greece

480 BCE

Spartans fight to the last man in an attempt to halt a fresh Persian invasion by King Xerxes (Ashsuarus) at Thermopylae, but fail.

Warring States Period

479 BCE

Death of Confucius, the Chinese sage whose name is given to the body of Chinese beliefs known as Confucianism.

Classical Greece

460 BCE

The Greek physician Hippocrates, traditionally regarded as the founder of the scientific study of medicine, is born.

Domestication of Animals

450 BCE

Reindeer are domesticated by nomadic herders in the Sayan Mountains of Central Asia.

Classical Greece

448 BCE

The Athenian stateman Pericles starts construction of the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena completed over the following 10 years.

Classical Greece

399 BCE

The Greek philosopher Socrates, is convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens by his teachings and is sentenced to drink hemlock, a deadly poison.

Classical Greece

385 BCE

Plato founds the Academy in Athens as a school for teaching philosophy.

Warring States Period

361 BCE

Xiao becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Qin in western China; his chief minister, the philopshoper Shang Yang, introduces sweeping reforms to end the power of the aristocracy and strengthen the army. Over the next 21 years Shang Yang turns Qin from a small realm into a strong, centralized state.

Classical Greece

359 BCE

Philip II comes to power in Macedon and sets about transforming his small kingdom into a major power.

Warring States Period

350 BCE

The crossbow is invented in China.

Warring States Period

350 BCE

Earthen frontier walls are built in northern China as a defense against invading nomads; they will continue to be built and linked together until 214 BCE forming the Great Wall of China.

Classical Greece

343 BCE

Philip employs the philosopher Aristotle as tutor for his son Alexander.

Classical Greece

336 BCE

After the murder of Philip II his son Alexander becomes king of Macedon and adopts Philip's plan to invade Persia.

Early Persian Empire

335 BCE

Darius III becomes Persian ruler.

Classical Greece

334 BCE

Alexander invades Anatolia and routs a Persian army.

Classical Greece

332 BCE

Alexander takes control of Egypt, and the following year founds the city of Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.

Classical Greece

331 BCE

Alexander defeats a Persian army winning control of Mesopotamia.

Classical Greece

330 BCE

Alexander burns down the Persian royal palace. After that, Darius III is murdered by one of his governors, leaving Alexander in control of all the Persian Empire's lands.

Classical Greece

329 BCE

Alexander conquers what is today Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and invades the Indus Valley through 326 BCE

Classical Greece

323 BCE

Alexander the Great dies suddenly in Babylon, this unleashes a long power struggle between his successors for control of the lands he conquered.

Mauryan Empire

321 BCE

From a power base in northwestern India Chandragupta Maurya seizes control of the kingdom of Magadha and founds the Mauryan Empire.

Roman Republic

312 BCE

The first major Roman road, the Appian Way, is begun. Running south from Rome to Capua, it is the first link in a network that eventually stretch over 50,000 miles.

Mauryan Empire

311 BCE

Chandragupta Maurya extends his kingdom as far as the Indus Valley, where he encounters resistance from Alexander's successors.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

305 BCE

In the power vacuum following Alexander's death, Ptolemy, Egypt's Macedonian governor, proclaims himself pharaoh; the Ptolemaic Dynasty that he founds will rule Egypt until 30 BCE.

Early Seleucid Empire

305 BCE

Seleucus, one of Alexander's former generals, establishes the Selucid Kingdom in Mesopotamia and Persia.

Mauryan Empire

305 BCE

Chandragupta signs a peace treaty with Seleucus; by its terms the Mauryans receive much of today's Afghanistan and Pakistan in return for their alliance and a corps of 500 war elephants.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

300 BCE

Euclid, a Greek mathematician working at the court of Ptolemy I in Alexandria, outlines the main principles of geometry.

Hellenistic Greece

287 BCE

Archimedes is born in the Greek colony of Syracuse, Sicily: He will be remembered for calculating the value of pi and for breakthroughs in science and mechanics.

Warring States Period

280 BCE

By this date the conflicts of the Warring States are slowly drawing toward a resolution: Only seven main kingdoms - Qin, Zhou, Wei, Han, Qi, and Yan - now survive as independent states.

Mauryan Empire

269 BCE

In India, the Mauryan Empire reaches it height with the accenssion of Ashoka: In his 37-year reign he will extend his power over all but the far south of the Indian subcontinent.

Mauryan Empire

259 BCE

Indian Emperor Ashoka becomes an adherent to Buddhism. His emissaries carry the cree not only across India but beyond, to Sri Lanka and into Southeast Asia.

Roman Republic

241 BCE

Victory in the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage gives Rome control of Sicily, its first overseas province.

Mauryan Empire

232 BCE

Ashoka's death marks the start of the Mauryan Empire's decline.

Qin Dynasty

221 BCE

The Warring States Period in China ends with final victory for the Kingdom of Qin and the unification of China under the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi.

Roman Republic

218 BCE

The Second Punic War breaks out between Rome and the North African city of Carthage. The Carthaginian general Hannibal crosses the Alps with a force of 46,000 men and 37 war elephants to invade Italy from the north.

Qin Dynasty

214 BCE

The Great Wall of China is completed.

Qin Dynasty

210 BCE

Shihuangdi dies and is buried with a "Terracotta Army" of more than 7,000 pottery soldiers. After his death civil war breaks out among his heirs.

Qin Dynasty

206 BCE

The entire Qin Royal family is massacred by rebels led by a peasant warrior, Liu Bang.

Han Dynasty

202 BCE

Liu Bang establishes a new dynasty, the Han, becoming its first emperor under the name Gaozu.

Roman Republic

201 BCE

The Second Punic War ends with Rome in undisputed control of the Mediterranean.

Domestication of Animals

200 BCE

The water buffalo is used as a draft animal in Southeast Asia from around this time.

Roman Republic

197 BCE

Hispania (Spain) becomes a province of the Roman Republic.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

196 BCE

Texts celebrating Pharaoh Ptolemy V are carved on the Rosetta Stone in Greek and Egyptian scripts; 2,000 years later they will be the key to deciphering hieroglyphics.

Shunga Dynasty

185 BCE

Buddhism in India suffers a major setback when Pushyamitra seizes power from Ashoka's Mauryan successors: Under the new Shunga Dynasty the Brahmin elite of Hinduism returns to power.

Seleucid Empire

167 BCE

The Selucid king, Antiochos IV, outlaws the practice of Judaism even in Judah itself, rededicating the Temple of Jerusalem to the Greek god Zeus. His actions spark off the Revolt of the Maccabeans, followers of Judah Maccabeus.

Seleucid Empire

164 BCE

The Maccabean rebels win back and rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem. These events are commemorated each year as the holiday of Hanukkah.

Roman Republic

150 BCE

The Romans revolutionize engineering and construction with the discovery of how to make and work with concrete.

Roman Republic

146 BCE

The Greek city-state of Corinth is sacked, effectively bringing Greek resistance to Roman rule to and end.

Roman Republic

146 BCE

The Third Punic War ends with the final destruction of Carthage, leaving Rome as the unchallenged master of the Mediterranean Sea.

Hasmonean Dynasty

142 BCE

Judah Maccabeus's brother Simon establishes an independent Jewish state under the rule of the Hasmonean Dynasty.

Han Dynasty

117 BCE

In China iron and salt are made state monopolies, increasing the Han Dynasty's control over the nation's economy.

Han Dynasty

112 BCE

The minting of coins is made a state monopoly in Han China.

Han Dynasty

105 BCE

Traditional date for the invention of paper, made from scraps of cloth and wood chips, in China. For the next two centuries paper will only be used for wrapping and packing, not for writing.

Roman Republic

102 BCE

Uprisings by Germanic tribes are ruthlessly put down by the Romans.

Trade

100 BCE

The Silk Road trade route between China and the West across Central Asia is in full swing.

Han Dynasty

85 BCE

The earliest known Chinese lacquerware dates from this time.

Roman Republic

82 BCE

Lucius Sulla is appointed dictator of Rome. He butchers his opponents.

Roman Republic

80 BCE

The Greeks invent a calculator for astronomical or calendrical purposes that use an elaborate system of intermeshing gears.

Roman Republic

71 BCE

A slave revolt led by a Thracian slave and gladiator name Spartacus is crushed.

Roman Republic

64 BCE

The Roman general Pompey conquers Syria.

Roman Republic

63 BCE

Pompey wins control of the Bible lands for Rome, forcing the Hasmoneans to accept Rome's authority. Judea (Israel and Judah) become a province of the Roman Empire.

Roman Republic

60 BCE

Rome founds colonies in what is today Switzerland.

Roman Republic

58 BCE

Julius Caesar begins a 10-year campaign to conquer Gaul (France).

Ptolemaic Dynasty

51 BCE

Cleopatra becomes ruler of Egypt as coregent with her brother. The two become involved in a power struggle that Cleopatra wins with the help of the visiting Julius Caesar.

Roman Republic

50 BCE

The invention of glassblowing in Syria revolutionizes the glassmaking industry.

Roman Republic

49 BCE

Julius Caesar takes his troops without permission across the Rubicon, a stream separating Italy from Gaul. He fights a civil war with the general and politician Pompey the Great.

Roman Republic

45 BCE

Following the defeat and death of Pompey, Caesar becomes sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

Roman Republic

44 BCE

Declared dictator for life, Julius Caesar is assassinated on his way to a meeting of the Roman Senate by colleagues unwilling to accept one-man rule.

Roman Republic

43 BCE

Caesar's adopted son and heir Octavian joins forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus to reconstitute the government.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

40 BCE

Mark Antony gives Cleopatra 200,000 volumes to add to the library in Alexandria, making it the greatest in the world.

Judea

40 BCE

Herod the Great is appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate. He replaces the last of the Hasmonean kings, and builds a new temple in Jerusalem.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

37 BCE

Mark Antony, who is married to Octavian's sister, provokes anger in Rome by flaunting his relationship with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt.

Roman Republic

31 BCE

Octavian's navy under the command of Agrippa, defeats Antony and Cleopatra's forces at the Battle of Actium. This leaves Octavian master of the Roman world.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

30 BCE

Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide. Rome annexes Egypt.

Roman Empire

27 BCE

Octavian takes the name Augustus and is given overriding authority over all Rome's territories, inaugurating the imperial period of Roman history.

Roman Empire

19 BCE

The Roman general Agrippa completes the conquest of Spain.

Roman Empire

19 BCE

The poet Virgil completes the Aeneid, the greatest Roman epic.

Han Dynasty

10 BCE

The Chinese invent methods for drilling wells over 3,250 feet deep to obtain water and natural gas.

Judea

4 BCE

Probable year of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Judea.

Han Dynasty

2

A census gives the population of China's Han Empire at 57 million.

Roman Empire

6

Rome annexes Judea as a province of the empire, one of its governors, Pontius Pilate, will later convict Jesus of sedition.

Han Dynasty

10

The Chinese build cast-iron suspension bridges strong enough to carry vehicles.

Roman Empire

14

Augustus dies and is succeeded as emperor by the 55-year-old Tiberius.

Roman Empire

30

Jesus of Nazareth is crucified in Jerusalem. Peter, his disciple brings his followers together in the days after his death.

Roman Empire

37

Tiberius is succeded by the crazed Caligula, who, two years later, proclaims himself a god.

Roman Empire

41

Caligula is murdered by soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, who replace him with his uncle, Claudius.

Roman Empire

43

A Roman army under Claudius conquers Britain and establishes the city of London on the Thames River.

Han Dynasty

50

Brought by Indian merchants and missionaries, Buddhism establishes a presence in China, but makes headway only slowly against the country's own strong spiritual traditions.

Roman Empire

54

Claudius dies, reputedly poisoned by his own wife, Agrippina, to be replaced by Nero, her 17-year-old son by a previous husband.

Roman Empire

57

The Christian apostle Paul is sent for trial to Rome and is eventually executed under Emperor Nero.

Roman Empire

60

Indian exports of spices, jewels, and textiles become such a drain on the Roman economy that the Emperor Nero bans the import of pepper.

Roman Empire

64

Nero executes Christians after a great fire in Rome; Peter, the first bishop of Rome, is believed to have died in this persecution.

Roman Empire

66

The First Jewish Revolt breaks out against Roman rule.

Roman Empire

68

A Jewish sect hides more than 600 religious manuscripts in caves at Qumran, Jordan. Discovered in 1947 and known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the documents include the earliest known copies of the Jewish Bible.

Han Dynasty

70

Work begins on China's Grand Canal, which eventually reaches a length of more than 1,100 miles.

Roman Empire

70

Jerusalem is captured by imperial troops after a 139-day siege. The Temple is destroyed, and many Jews are forced into exile.

Roman Empire

73

The last Jewish rebels commits mass suicide at the clifftop fortress of Masada in southern Judea to avoid having to surrender to Roman troops.

Roman Empire

79

The volcano Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on Italy's west coast.

Roman Empire

80

The Colosseum, an amphitheater holding over 50,000 spectators is completed in Rome.

Roman Empire

80

The four Gospels are written.

Roman Empire

100

Greco-Roman merchants are sailing to East Africa for ivory.

Han Dynasty

100

Buddhism begins to spread in China.

Roman Empire

117

The Roman conquest of Armenia and Parthia (northwest Persia) marks the high point of imperial expansion.

Roman Empire

120

Plutarch, the Greek historian, biographer, and philosopher, dies.

Roman Empire

132

In Judea the Second Jewish Revolt breaks out under Simeon bar Kokba.

Roman Empire

133

The Roman Emperor Hadrian completes his stone and turf wall across northern Britain.

Roman Empire

135

The bar Kokba revolt is crushed by Roman forces. In its wake Judea is renamed Palestine, and its former Jewish population is scattered; Jew are forbidden to enter Jerusalem.

Roman Empire

161

The philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius rules Rome with humane policies.

Roman Empire

168

Egyptian astronomer and geographer Ptolemy dies. His legacy is the Earth-centered view of the universe that becomes known as the Ptolemaic-System.

Roman Empire

192

The despotic Roman Emperor Commodus is strangled.

Three Kingdoms

220

The last Han emperor is deposed and the empire is divided into three separate kingdoms.

Sasanian Empire

224

Persia's Sasanian Empire is founded when the Parthian realm is over thrown.

Roman Empire

235

In Rome a chaotic period begins in which power rests with the army, in all, 37 different men are declared emperor over the next 35 years.

Roman Empire

240

For the first time the Roman Empire finds itself attacked on several fronts: in Africa, in Europe, and in Persia.

Roman Empire

248

Anti-Christian rioting breaks out in Alexandria, Egypt.

Early Frankish Kingdom

256

The Franks take advantage of the withdrawal of a Roman garrison from Gaul to cross the Rhine frontier into the empire.

Goths

267

The Goths, a Germanic tribe occupying the Black Sea region (Ukraine and Bulgaria), make one of several incursions into Roman territory, pillaging Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece.

Roman Empire

286

Troubled by barbarian attacks, the Emperor Diocletian divides the Roman Empire into western and eastern parts, appointing his friend, Maximus, to rule the west.

Gupta Empire

320

Chandragupta I, the founder of the Gupta Empire, begins to expand his kingdom from a small heartland on the southern banks of the Ganges River.

Roman Empire

330

Constantine founds the city of Constantinople on the Bosporus strait between Europe and Asia.

Six Dynasties Period

350

Dunhuang, an oasis town at the edgeof the Gobi Desert on the Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean, becomes a flourishing Buddhist center.

Huns

350

The Huns, nomadic horsemen from Central Asia begin raiding across the eastern Persian border.

Spread of Buddhism

372

Missionaries bring Buddhism to Korea, where it will become the state religion for over 1,000 years.

Gupta Empire

380

In India, the Gupta Empire reaches its peak under Chandragupta II, almost rivaling the Mauryan Empire in size.

Roman Empire

391

Christianity is proclaimed the official religion of Egypt. Many temples of the old gods are destroyed.

Visigoths

397

The Visigoths, led by Alaric, rampage through the Balkans and Greece.

Spread of Hinduism

400

Indian traders introduce Hinduism to parts of Southeast Asia.

Vandals

406

A barbarian army of Vandals crosses the Rhine and invades deep into Gaul.

Roman Empire

407

Britain ceses to be part of the Western Roman Empire after the Roman garrison is withdrawn.

Roman Empire

413

Eastern Emperor Thodosius II builds a strong defensive wall to protect Constantinople.

Roman Empire

415

Hypatia, a mathematician and philosopher of Alexandria, is murdered by a Christian mob, perhaps on the instructions of Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, who resented her influence.

Huns

446

The Huns invade the Roman Empire.

Six Dynasties Period

450

By this time 90 percent of the population of northern China is Buddhist.

Early England

450

Groups of Anglo-Saxons, originally from northern Germany and Denmark, begin to settle in eastern and southern England.

Roman Empire

476

The last emperor of Rome in the west is deposed by Odoacer, a barbarian general who declares himself king of Italy, thus marking the end of the Roman Empire in the west.

Frankish Kingdom

481

Clovis becomes king of the Franks, whose territory consists at the time of an area in present-day Belgium.481

Gupta Empire

510

The Huns invade Gupta lands in India, bringing the empire to an end.

Six Dynasties Period

517

The Emperor Wu Ti becomes a Buddhist and introduces the new religion to central China.

Gupta Empire

520

Aryabhata, a Hindu astronomer and mathematician correctly states that the Earth rotates on its axis.

Byzantine Empire

529

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I codifies Roman law in a publication that will influence the law of most European countries down to modern times.

Byzantine Empire

538

The church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the first building with a large domed roof, is consecrated. It will remain the largest church in the Christian world until the 16th century.

Gupta Empire

550

The game of chess originates in the Indus Valley in India.

Spread of Buddhism

552

Buddhism is introduced from Korea to the Japanese court.

Byzantine Empire

562

The Treaty of Edessa establishes temporary peace between the Byzantines and Sassanians. The Sassanians abadond claims to the Black Sea region in return for an annual payment of 30,000 gold pieces.

Early Arabia

570

Birth of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca, Arabia.

Asuka Period

593

Prince Shotuku becomes regent for the Empress Suiko.

The Sahara Desert

600

As climate change increases aridity, the Sahara spreads slowly south.

Gupta Empire

600

Indian mathematicians have developed a decimal system and the concept of zero by this date.

Asuka Period

604

Prince Shotoku issues the Seventeen Article Constitution.

Sui Dynasty

605

A four-year program begins in China to build the 1,200-mile Grand Canal.

Early Arabia

610

Muhammad's divine mission begins with the first appearance to him of the Archangel Gabriel.

Khmer Empire

612

The first inscription in the Khmer language at Angkor in Cambodia dates from this year.

Early England

615

By now the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England is largely complete.

Tang Dysnasty

618

Usurping his Sui cousin, Li Yuan seizes power in China, founding the Tang Dynasty.

Sasanian Dynasty

620

King Khusrow II is captured and executed by the Byznatine Emperor Heraclius, heralding the decline of Persia's Sasanian Dynasty.

Early Arabia

622

Muhammad and his followers leave Mecca for the city of Medina.

Byzantine Empire

629

Heraclius retakes Egypt, Syria, and Palestine for Byzantium but almost immediately faces a new threat from the forces of Islam.

Early Arabia

630

Meccans surrender their city, and the Kaaba, to the Muslims. Muhammad launches a raid through northern Arabia to the borders of Byzantine Syria.

Rashidun Caliphate

632

Muhammad dies, and a meeting of elders elect his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, to inherit his authority as caliph, rather than his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Byzantine Empire

639

Byzantium is seriously weakend by the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt.

Byzantine Empire

641

Heraclius dies, leaving the Byzantine Empire beset by barbarian tribes from the north and west, Arabs from the south, and Persians from the east.

Asuka Period

646

All land in Japan comes under imperial control.

Rashidun Caliphate

651

Caliph Uthman brings Muhammad's teachings together to form a single sacred volume, the Koran.

Tang Dysnasty

653

The first known Tang Dynasty law code dates from this year; its influence will linger for centuries.

Rashidun Caliphate

656

Ali ibn Abi Talib eventually becomes caliph, but his succession is disputed. Outbreak of first civil war between Ali and dissident Muslims led by Muawiya, governor of Syria.

Tang Dynasty

659

Tang Dynasty victories agains the Turks extend Chinese control of the Silk Road westward.

Umayyad Caliphate

661

The war ends with Ali's murder and Muawiya's recognition as caliph. His Umayyad descendants hold power over the Islamic world for the next 90 years.

Early England

664

The Synod of Whitby, a church council held in northern England, establishes papal control over the English church, rejecting practices favored in the Celtic churches of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

Byzantine Empire

678

Byzantine forces use "Greek fire", a flammable mixture fired from bronze tubes, to end a five-year blockade of Constantinople, marking a first significant setback for Islam's forces.

Umayyad Caliphate

680

The conflict passes down a generation as Husayn, son of Ali, attempts to seize power from Muawiya's heir, Yazid. He and his supporters are massacred at Karbala, Iraq.

Umayyad Caliphate

683

Yazid dies, and a second civil war breaks out. Power passes eventually at Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who reasserts Umayyad power at the cost of permanently alienating his Shiite opponents.

Frankish Kingdom

687

Pepin of Heristal unites all the Frankish territories at the Battle of Tertry.

Umayyad Caliphate

692

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is completed on the spot from which the Prophet is reputed to have ascended to heaven.

Tang Dynasty

700

China enjoys a period of great artistic creativity under the Tang emperors; poetry, figure painting, and pottery all reach high levels of attainment.

Umayyad Caliphate

705

Arab armies under generals, including Muhammad bin Qasim extend Islamic rule into Central Asia, the Indus Valley, and part of the Punjab in northwest India.

Nara Period

708

The earliest official coinage is introduced in Japan.

Umayyad Caliphate

711

The first Muslim raids across the Straits of Gibraltar into southern Spain takes place under the military leadership of Jabal Tariq ibn Ziyad and others.

Frankish Kingdom

714

Charles Martel succeeds his father Pepin as ruler of the Franks.

Umayyad Caliphate

715

The Arab conquest of Spain as far as the Pyrenees is completed under the leadership of Musa ibn Nusayr and others.

Nara Period

720

The Nihon Shoki, the earliest history of Japan, is written.

Tang Dynasty

738

Schools are established in every prefecture and district in China by imperial edict.

Tang Dynasty

750

The Chinese develop woodblock printing on single-sheets of paper; at first it is used mainly to print devotional Buddhist pictures and literature.

Abbasid Caliphate

750

The first paper mill is established in the Islamic empire.

Abbasid Caliphate

750

Arab merchants from North Africa trade across the Sahara, exchanging salt, glass, and horses for African gold, ivory, and slaves.

Abbasid Caliphate

750

As-Saffah, a descendent of Ali, mounts a successful revolt against the Umayyads. He massacres almost the entire Umayyad family, and establishes his own Abbasid Dynasty, which reigns throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Abbasid Caliphate

760

The Arabs adopt Indian numerals, they are the "Arabic" numerals in general use today.

Abbasid Caliphate

762

Baghdad is established as the new capital of the Abbasid caliphate, and becomes the center of a thriving commercial empire, with trade to China and East Africa.

Frankish Empire

768

Charlemagne succeeds his father Pepin as king of the Franks, ruling with his brother Carloman.

Rajput Provinces

788

Birth of Sankaracharya, the great Hindu philosopher and guru; he will reinterpret the Vedas and found four monastic centers of learning in India that still survive today.

Vikings

793

Vikings raid Lindisfarne Monastery, off the coast of northern England. This is their first major raid in Europe.

Nara Period

794

Emperor Kammu establishes the imperial court at Heian (Kyoto).

Vikings

800

Attracted by the riches of Byzantium and the Islamic world, Swedish Vikings known as Varangians begin to thrust south through the East Slavic heartland, traveling down rivers to the Black Sea.

Frankish Empire

800

Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned in Rome as the first of the Holy Roman emperors by the pope.

Tang Dynasty

811

The Tang emperors of China issue an early form of paper currency.

Abbasid Caliphate

820

Caliph Al-Ma'mun establishes the House of Wisdom, an academy that sponsors the translation of important Greek and Indian scientific and philosophical works.

Abbasid Caliphate

830

The Arab mathematician Al-Khwarizmi introduces the concept of algebra.

Tang Dynasty

845

Nonnative relgions, including Buddhism and Christianity, are banned in China; Confucianism is restored as the state ideology.

Early Pagan Kingdom

849

Burmans establish Pagan as their capital city.

Trade

850

Trade is on the increase in southern Africa, as shown by substantial finds of imported goods at a site on the Limpopo River.

Tang Dynasty

850

In China gunpowder is mentioned for the first time.

Early Russia

855

Eastern Vikings, known to the Byzantines as Varangians and to the local Slavs as Rus (from which the word "Russia" will derive), establish the state of Kiev in Ukraine.

Early Russia

862

The Varangian ruler Rurik establishes a capital at Novgorod.

Vikings

867

Danish Vikings occupying England capture the town of York.

Saffarid Dynasty

871

Arabs inhabiting what is now southeast Iran and Pakistan establish their independence from the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad under the Saffarid Dynasty, which goes on to conquesr all Iran.

House of Wessex

878

Alfred the Great, king of Wessex in southwest England, defeats the Danes at the Battle of Edington.

Early Russia

882

Oleg, Rurik's successor, becomes ruler of Novgorod; he will unite it and Kiev to form the first Russian state which will extend from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea.

Abbasid Caliphate

890

The Arab astronomer al-Battani calculates the exact length of the year and the precession of the equinoxes.

Abbasid Caliphate

890

The Persian scholar ar-Razi describes infectious diseases.

Printing

900

Woodblock printing is widely used in China, Japan, and Korea.

Fatimid Dynasty

909

The Fatimid Dynasty, leaders of the Ismaeli branch of Shia Islam, is established in Tunisia.

Abbasid Caliphate

930

Rebels led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi sack Mecca, confirming a weakening of Abbasid power. Difficulties are compounded by the westward advance of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia.

Early Russia

943

Prince Igor Syatoslavich, Oleg's successor, invades Azerbaijan.

House of Wessex

954

Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York, is killed; England is united under the Anglo-Saxon King Edred.

Song Dynasty

960

Seizing power in a military coup, Taizu becomes the first emperor of the Song Dynasty.

Ghaznavid Dynasty

962

Alptigin, a Turkish warrior, founds a Turkic Islamic kingdom in Afghanistan, with its capital at Ghazni. The Ghaznavid Dynasty will control this region for two hundred years.

Abbasid Caliphate

965

Birth of al-Hazen, Arab scientist who did pioneering work on vision. His Book of Optics remains the most authoritative treatment of optics for centuries.

Fatimid Dynasty

972

A university is founded at Cairo.

Abbasid Caliphate

977

A hospital is founded in Baghdad that employs 24 physicians and houses a surgery and a department of eye disorders.

Song Dynasty

984

Chiao Wei-Yo invents the canal lock - an enclosure with gates at each end - for raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to another.

Vikings

986

Erik the Red founds Viking settlements on Greenland.

House of Capet

987

Hugh Capet is crowned king of France, founding the Capetian Dynasty.

Early Russia

988

Vladimer, Svaitoslav's son and successor, converts to Orthodox Christianity and orders his people to be baptized en masse. In return he is given the hand of the Byzantine emperor's, Basil II, sister Anna.

Kingdom of Ghazni

998

Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni declares jihad for the conversion of India.

Zimbabwe

1000

First Iron Age settlements in Zimbabwe.

Song Dynasty

1000

By this time the Chinese are burning coal for fuel.

Vikings

1000

Viking Greenlanders found a shortlived settlement in Newfoundland.

Spread of Christianity

1000

King Olaf introduces Christianity to Sweden.

Khmer Empire

1004

The reign of King Suryavarman I of Khmer; he extends the Khmer Empire westward into Thailand.

Fatimid Dynasty

1005

The House of Knowledge, a science library, is founded in Cairo, Egypt.

Fatimid Dynasty

1009

Caliph al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Heian Period

1010

The Tale of Genji, which many scholars claim to be the world's first novel, is written at the Heian court by Lady Murasaki Shikibu.

House of Denmark

1016

Canute, son of the Danish king, defeats an English army and becomes king of all England.

Kingdom of Ghazni

1023

Mahmud of Ghazni destroys and loots the wealthy Hindu temple of Somnath on the Gujarat coast, returning to Afghanistan with about 6 tons of gold.

Kingdom of Ghazni

1030

Mahmud of Ghazni dies; under his successors his dynasty limps on, though much reduced.

Seljuk Empire

1035

The Seljuks return to Khurasan under Chaghri-Beg and Tughril-Beg.

Song Dynasty

1044

The Song administrator Fan Zhongyan introduces a program of bureaucratic, military, and land reforms. Measures include civil-service recruitment strictly on academic merit and the abolition of appointments by patronage.

Chandela Dynasty

1050

Dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, the magnificent Kandarya Mahadeva Temple is completed in north-central India. More than 900 carvings of gods, dancing girls, and demons decorate its exterior.

House of Wessex

1051

Edward the Confessor of England names Duke William of Normandy as his heir.

The Great Schism

1054

The schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches becomes permanent.

Seljuk Empire

1055

Tughril-Beg of the Seljuk Turks captures Baghdad from its Buyid rulers and restores the Abbasid (Sunni) caliphate.

Almoravid Dynasty

1056

The Berber Almoravid Dynasty begins the conquest of Morocco and part of Algeria.

Pagan Kingdom

1057

Anawrahta conquers the Mon city of Thaton in southern Myanmar; he transports the Mon royal family, and their scholars and craftsmen, to Pagan.

Almoravid Dynasty

1062

The Almoravids establish their capital at the Morocan city of Marrakesh.

Seljuk Empire

1064

Seljuk Turks, led by Alp Arslan, invade Armenia and occupy the old capital of Ani.

House of Normandy

1066

Following the death of King Edward, the English throne goes to Harold, earl of Wessex. William invades England, defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and is crowned king.

Seljuk Empire

1071

Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan set out on a campaign against Fatimid Egypt but turn back to defeat a Byzantine army in eastern Anatolia.

Seljuk Empire

1072

While subduing an uprising in Central Asia, Alp Arslan is fatally stabbed by a prisoner. He is succeeded by his 18-year old son, Malik Shah, whose title "shah," meaning "king" in both Arabic and Persian, indicates the Seljuk ruler's ambition to unite the Muslim world.

Heian Period

1075

The Japanese warrior class of samurai is growing as powerful landowners hire large private armies for protection.

Song Dynasty

1075

Magnetized needle compasses are in use as navigational devices on Chinese ships.

Song Dynasty

1075

Landscape painting on panels or long rolls of silk flourishes in China under the Song emperors.

Holy Roman Empire

1075

Pope Gregory VII's ban on lay investitures (appointments) to the church is challenged by Henry IV, Holy Roman emperor. The struggle between the papacy and the empire is known as the Investiture Contest.

Holy Roman Empire

1076

At the Synod of Worms bishops loyal to Henry IV declare Pope Gregory VII deposed. In return Gregory declares Henry deposed and excommunicates him and the bishops supporting him.

Holy Roman Empire

1077

Threatened by rebellion in Germany, Henry IV goes as a penitent to Canossa in Italy. After Henry has waited for three days, Pope Gregory VII agrees to absolve (forgive) him and to reinstate him as emperor.

Song Dynasty

1078

Iron production in China reaches 125,000 tons per year; a single ironworks employs nearly 30,000 workers.

House of Normandy

1078

The Normans build the White Tower, a stone fortress that forms the core of the present-day Tower of London.

Seljuk Empire

1079

Omar Khayyam and a team of scientists under Seljuk patronage produce a solar calendar that is the world's most accurate until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.

Song Dynasty

1083

Sima Guang, Chinese scholar and statesman, completes a history of China from 403 BCE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty.

Holy Roman Empire

1083

Henri IV's army captures Rome. In 1084 Gregory VII appeals for aid to the Normans of southern Italy; the Normans repel Henry's army but go on to sack Rome itself, forcing Gregory into exile.

Seljuk Empire

1086

Malik Shah invades Palestine and expels the ruling Egyptian Fatimid Dynasty.

Almoravid Dynasty

1086

The Almovarids under the leadership of Yusuf ibn Tashfin invade southern Spain from Morocco at the invitation of local Muslim rulers and defeat King Alfonso VI of Castile; they establish their rule over much of Spain.

Early Italy

1088

The first European university is founded at Bologna in northern Italy.

Song Dynasty

1092

A water-driven mechanical clock is built for the Song court.

Seljuk Empire

1092

On the death of Malik Shah the Seljuk sultanate begins to fragment.

Song Dynasty

1095

80,000 candidates take the civil service examinations.

The Crusades

1095

Pope Urban II appeals for the launch of the First Crusade.

The Crusades

1096

The First Crusade ends with the capture of Jerusalem.

The Crusades

1098

The crusaders capture Antioch in Syria from the Seljuks.

The Crusades

1099

After capturing Jerusalem, the crusader leaders decide to rule the Holy Land as a feudal kingdom divided into four great baronies of the king of Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon, their overlord.

Song Dynasty

1100

China's population reaches 97 million.

Ghurid Dynasty

1100

The Ghurid Dynasty takes control of northwestern Afghanistan form the Ghaznavids.

Jagannath Temple

1100

Hindu Temple building is at its height in India; the Jagannath Temple at Puri in Orissa is begun about this time.

Trade

1100

Caravansaries (hostels providing free shelter for travelers) are built along important trade routes in Asia Minor.

Agriculture

1100

Padded horse collars are introduced in Europe; they make it possible for horses to pull heavy plows, so improving agricultural productivity.

House of Normandy

1100

King William II of England is killed by an arrow while out hunting; the throne passes to his younger brother Henry.

Kingdom of Ghazni

1111

Death of al-Ghazali, the most important Muslim jurist and theologian of his day.

House of Aragon

1118

King Alfonso I of Aragon captures Saragossa from the Muslims and extends his kingdom to the Mediterranean.

Agriculture

1120

Windmills first come into use in Europe.

Holy Roman Empire

1122

An agreement between Pope Calixtus IIand the German Emperor Henry V, the Concordat of Worms, ends the contest over lay investiture.

The Crusades

1124

Tyre falls to the crusaders; most of the coast of Palestine is now in the hands of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Khmer Empire

1125

The Khmer ruler Suryavarman II begins the construction of the temple of Angkor Wat in present-day Cambodia.

Southern Song Dynasty

1126

The Jin capture the Song capital of Kaifeng and take the emperor,We Zong, and his son, Qin Zong, prisoners. Other members of the dynasty flee, where Gao Zong declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty with a new capital at Hangzhou on the Yangtze River.

Northern Song Dynasty

1130

Ships powered by paddlewheels are in use on lakes and rivers in Chinas

House of Capet

1137

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wealthy heriess of the duke of Aquitaine in southwest France, marries King Louis VII of France.

Legend of King Arthur

1140

Geoffrey on Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain spreads the popular legends of King Arthur and the Round Table.

Southern Song Dynasty

1141

At the urging of General Yui Fei's political enemies, Emperor Gao Zong recalls his general to Hangzhou and has him executed before making peace with the Jin.

The Crusades

1144

al-Din Zengi, the governor of Mosel, captures Edessa from the crusaders, prompting the Second Crusade.

The Crusades

1147

The Second Crusade, led by Louis VII of France ends in failure.

Seljuk Empire

1150

The Seljuk Turks' Sultanate of Rum (named in honor of imperial Rome) now extends deep into Byzantine territory in what will come to be known as Turkey.

House of Seville

1150

Averroes (Ibn Rushd), the most famous Islamic philosopher of his day, is active in Cordoba, Spain; his writings translated into Latin, will be responsible for reintroducing knowledge of Aristotle's works to western Europe.

House of Seville

1150

Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.

House of Anjou

1152

Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry of Anjou and makes Henry the master of much of western France.

House of Anjou

1154

Henry of Anjou inherits the English crown, founding the Plantagenet Dynasty as King Henry II.

House of Capet

1163

Construction begins of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Ayyubid Dynasty

1171

Saladin establishes himself as Egypt's first Ayyubid sultan.

House of Anjou

1192

King Richard I is taken hostage by Duke Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Third Crusade. A ransom paid, he returns to England two years later.

Ghurid Empire

1203

Sultan Muhammad Ghuri completes the Buddhist subjugation of northern India.

Mongol Empire

1206

At a gathering of clan cheiftains, Temuji is proclaimed Genghis Khan ("Universal Ruler") of all the Mongol peoples.

House of Anjou

1215

King John is forced to limit royal power by signing the Magna Carta, or the Great Charter.

Song Dynasty

1232

First recorded use of gunpowder-fired rockets by the Chinese against a Mongol army.

Empire of Mali

1235

Keita founds the Empire of Mali.

Yuan Dynasty

1271

Kublai Khan establishes the Yuan Dynasty, reuniting northern and southern China under his rule.

Yuan Dynasty

1275

European traveler Marco Poll arrives at the Chinese court.

Early Ottoman

1281

Osman (Uthman) makes himself master of the area around Bursa in Asia Minor; founding what will eventually become known as the Ottoman Dynasty.

Early Italy

1307

Italian poet Dante Alighieri begins work on his Divine Comedy, the first significant work of literature to be written in a vernacular language (Tuscan) rather than in Latin.

Mamluk Sultanate

1318

The al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque is completed in 1335, and is considered Cairo's best-preserved Mamluk building

Empire of Mali

1324

Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca.

Yuan Dynasty

1330

The technique of decorating porcelain in underglaze cobalt blue is popular in China.

House of Valois

1337

Edward III's refusal to do homage to Philip VI for English lands in France precipitates the Hundred Years' War.

The Black Death

1341

The plague that will become known as the Black Death starts in Central Asia.

House of Plantagenet

1356

In the Hundred Years' War and English army commanded by Edward, the Black Prince, defeats the French at Poitiers and captures France's King John II and his son Philip.

Chagatai Khanate

1361

Timur is recognized as leader of the Barlas tribe of Chagatai Mongols, the group that ruled the Central Asian stepplands.

Ming Dynasty

1368

China's Mongol Yuan ruler flees to Mongolia, and Zhu Yuanzhang proclaims the new Ming Dynasty, assuming the imperial title Hongwu.

House of Plantagenet

1387

English poet Geoffry Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales.

The Black Death

1400

Because of the Black Death, Europe's population is thought to be 50% lower than it was 100 years earlier.

Florentine Republic

1403

Lorenzo Ghiberti designs the bronze doors of the baptistery at Florence, a masterpiece of early Renaissance art.

Florentine Republic

1420

The Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi starts to build the dome of Florence Catherdral; completed in 1461, it is a unique engineering feat.

Ming Dynasty

1424

After the death of Emperor Yongle, China soon surrenders its position as the leading naval power in the Indian Ocean and retreats into isolation.

House of Valois

1430

Joan of Arc is tried as a witch and burned at the stake the following year.

Florentine Republic

1434

Cosimo de Medici establishes the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence, and begins a 30-year domination of the city.

Holy Roman Empire

1438

Albert of Hapsburg is elected Holy Roman Emperor; from this time on the title remains in the hereditary possession of the Hapsburg Dynasty until it is abolished in 1806.

Slavery

1441

Portuguese traders export the first slaves from Africa to Europe.

Byzantine Empire

1453

The Byzantine Empire comes to an end when Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks. The city is renamed Istanbul.

House of Valois

1453

The French drive the English from France, ending the Hundred Years' War.

Holy Roman Empire

1455

Gutenberg publishes the first commercially printed book, the Gutenberg Bible, at Mainz, Germany.

Florentine Republic

1469

Lorenzo de Medici, also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent comes to power in Florence; he gathers many of the great artists of the day to his court.

Houses of Aragon and Castile

1478

The Spanish Inquisition is established to investigate and prosecute heretics.

Age of Exploration

1480

The astrolabe (an instrument for measuring latitude from the height of the sun at noon) is adapted for use at sea.

House of Tudor

1485

King Richard III is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, putting the Tudor Dynasty's Henry VII on England's throne.

House of Aviz

1488

Portuguese sailor Bartholomeo Dias sailing for King John II becomes the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope

Vatican

1503

Pope Julius II becomes pope; a patron of the arts, he commissions the rebuilding of St. Peter's Cathedral by the architect Bramante and the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo.

Florentine Republic

1506

Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa and compiles his notebooks on mechanics, anatomy, and astronomy.

Florentine Republic

1513

The Italian political theorist Macchiavelli writes The Prince, a key work on statecraft that instructs rulers on how to hold power.

House of Tudor

1516

The English scholar Thomas More publishes Utopia, which describes an imaginary land with an ideal social and political system.

Holy Roman Empire

1517

Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Cathedral in Germany criticizing abuses by the Catholic church, and starts the Protestant Reformation.

Slavery

1518

The transatlantic slave trade gears up as Spanish authorities grant a license permitting 4,000 Africans slaves to be imported into the New World.

Ottoman Empire

1520

Suleiman I, known as Suleiman the Magnificent becomes Ottoman sultan after the death of his father, Selim I, from cancer.

House of Hapsburg

1521

Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines. His around-the-world voyage continues under his second in command.

House of Tudor

1533

Henry VIII of England divorces his first wife Catherine of Aragon, leaving him free to marry Anne Boleyn. As a result, he is excommunicated by the pope. Two years later he assumes the title of supreme governor of the Church of England.

House of Jagiellonian

1543

Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, suggesting that the planets orbit the Sun.

House of Rurikids

1547

Ivan the Terrible takes personal power becoming the first Russian ruler to bear the title "czar."

House of Tudor

1553

Mary I becomes queen of England, and restores Catholicism as the national religion. Many Protestants are tortured and killed for their faith, earning the queen the nickname "Bloody Mary."

Mughal Empire

1555

Akbar becomes emperor and established the true greatness of the Mughal Empire. He extended Mughal rule across the whole of northern India. Akbar gave the Mughal Empire stability and a strong system of government by pursuing tolerant policies toward his Hindu subjects.

House of Hapsburg

1555

Charles V acknowledges the right of local German rulers within the Holy Roman Empire to decide the official religion of their territories.

House of Rurikids

1555

Construction of St. Basil's Cathedral begins in Moscow.

House of Tudor

1558

Elizabeth becomes queen of England upon the death of Mary I.
During her long reign of nearly 50 years England was transformed from a divided country troubled by religious strife to one of comparative peace, stability, and prosperity, an outcome that owed much to Elizabeth's determination and strength of character.

Slavery

1562

Captain John Hawkins get the English slave trade started with a raid up West Africa's Sierra Leone River.

Slavery

1570

Portugal establishes a colony in Angola, southwest Africa, as a major center for the transatlantic slave trade.

Muromachi Period

1570

Nagasaki in southern Japan is opened up to foreign trade by Omura Sumitada, the local daimyo (lord).

House of Valois

1572

The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre takes place in Paris; hundreds of Hugenots are murdered on the orders of King Charles IX's mother, Catherine de Medici.

House of Hapsburg

1572

The Dutch War of Independence gathers pace with a revolt against the Duke of Alba, the Spanish governor of the Netherlands. In 1588, the United Dutch Provinces win freedom and become a republic.

Vatican

1582

The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII for whom it is named, replaces the Julian calendar. The new calendar is accepted at once by most Catholic countries but only gradually by Protestant ones.

Momoyama Period

1587

Japan's Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi bans Christianity and expels Jesuits from the country.

House of Stuart

1587

Mary, Queen of Scots is found guilty of plotting the murder of Queen Elizabeth I and is executed.

Safavid Dynasty

1588

Shah Abbas I restored the fortunes of the Safavid Dynasty and secured the country's frontiers against the Ottomans and Uzbeks. He revived trade and encouraged merchants, craftsmen, and artists to settle in his new capital Esfahan, which he transformed into one of the largest and most beautiful cities in the world.

House of Tudor

1598

The Globe Theatre in London opens with a performance of William Shakespeare's Henry V.

House of Bourbon

1598

Henri IV signs the Edict of Nantes, guaranteeing religious toleration in France.

House of Tudor

1600

Foundation of the English East India Company in India

Momoyama Period

1600

At the battle of Sekigahara the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats three rivals to win undisputed control over Japan.

House of Orange

1602

The Dutch East India Company is founded to trade with Southeast Asia.

Ottoman Empire

1609

Construction begins on the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

House of Bourbon

1610

Henry IV of France is assassinated in Paris by a religious fanatic. He is succeeded by the nine-year-old Louis XIII, whose mother Marie de Medici rules as regent under the guidance of Cardinal Richelieu.

House of Adolphus

1611

King Gustavus II ascends the throne of Sweden, beginning Sweden's rise to become a major European power.

Romanov Dynasty

1613

Michael I is elected czar of Russia; beginning the Romanov Dynasty that will last until the Russian Empire collapses in 1917.

Ming Dynasty

1615

Nurhachi, leader of the Juchen (Manchu) people, unites the tribes on China's northeast frontier, laying the groundwork for his later conquest of China and the founding of the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty.

House of Hapsburg

1615

Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes completes his epic masterpiece Don Quixote.

House of Stuart

1616

William Shakespeare, England's greatest playwright, dies in Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of 52.

Vatican

1616

Denounced as a heretic for confirming Copernicus's observation that the Earth moves around the Sun, Galileo Galilei is barred from scientific study by the Catholic Church.

House of Hapsburg

1618

The Thirty Years' War begins with an uprising against Hapsburg rule after two counselors of the ardent Catholic King of Bohemia, Ferdinand II, are thrown from a window.

Mughal Empire

1632

Following the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan orders the construction of her tomb, the Taj Mahal at Agra, which will take 22 years to complete.

House of Orange

1637

"Tulipmania" reaches its height in the Netherlands; prices will eventually crash by 95 percent.

House of Bourbon

1637

In his Discourse on Method, French philosopher Rene Descartes proposes his principle of methodical doubt whereby science begins with observation, followed by analysis.

Slavery

1638

Firmly established at St. Louis on the Senegal River, French settlers begin to participate in the transatlantic slave trade.

House of Orange

1642

Rembrandt van Rijn paints The Nightwatch.

House of Stuart

1644

England's Parliament forms the New Model Army to fight a civil war against King Charles I. Five years later, Charles is captured, tried, and executed. England becomes a republican commonwealth.

Romanov Dynasty

1648

Russian explorer Semyon Dezhvyov leads an expedition along the Arctic coast and around Asia's northeast cape to the Pacific Ocean.

House of Hapsburg

1648

The Thirty Years' War is ended by the Peace of Westphalia. The power of the Hapsburgs is checked, and the independence for the Dutch Republic, the Swiss Confederation, and some 250 German states is guaranteed.

Interregnum

1653

Oliver Cromwell dissolves Parliament and takes power in England as lord protector.

Mughal Empire

1658

Aurangzeb deposes and imprisons his father, Emperor Shah Jahan, becoming the last of the great Mughal emperors. He will seek to enforce strict Sunni orthodoxy, repressing Sikhism and Hinduism along with minority Islamic groups.

House of Stuart

1660

The Restoration sees the English monarchy restored in the person of King Charles II.

Qing Dynasty

1662

Emperor Kangxi comes to the throne at the age of seven, assisted by his regents, he grants his Chinese subjects parity with the Manchus.

Edo Period

1673

Mitsui Takatoshi of the Mitsui banking family opens a dry goods store in Edo, Japan; it is the predecessor of the celebrated Mitsukoshi department store.

Dodo

1681

The dodo, a large flightless bird, is made extinct by sailors on the African island of Mauritius.

House of Bourbon

1682

Louis XIV moves his court to the new palace of Versailles outside Paris.

House of Bourbon

1685

Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes, which since 1598 has guaranteed the right of French Protestant Huguenots to worship freely.

House of Stuart

1687

Isaac Newton publishes Principia Mathematica, in which he sets out his three laws of motion.

Romanov Dynasty

1697

Czar Peter makes a grand tour of Europe; traveling incognito, he visits shipyards in England and the Netherlands.

House of Bourbon

1734

The French writer Voltaire publishes his "Philosophical Letters", which call for political and religious toleration.

House of Hohenzollern

1740

Frederick the Great, also known as Frederick II of Prussia ascends the throne; under his rule economic and social reforms are introduced, and the legal code liberalized.

House of Bourbon

1747

Denis Diderot begins work on the Encyclopedia. The first volume is published four years later.

Signing of The Declaration of Independence

1776