History Timeline

By emersyn.miller
  • 1464

    The Sunni dynasty in Africa begins

  • 1526

    Ottomans defeat Hungarians at Mohacs

  • 1555

    Peace of Augsburg divides Christianity in Germany

    The first permanent legal basis for the coexistence of Lutheranism a Catholicism in Germany. It was signed on September 25, 1555 by Charles 5th (holy roman emperor) and the Schmalkaldic League in the city of Ausburg. It allowed the state princes to select either Lutheranism of Catholicism as the religion of their land. It permitted the emigration of residents who differ in religion. It ended the conflict between Lutheranism and Catholicism.
  • 1562

    French Wars of Religion begin

  • 1571

    Christian alliance destroys Ottoman fleet at Battle of Lapanto

    The Ottoman Empire grew from being a minor power in modern Turkey to controlling much of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. By 1453, they had broken the power of the Byzantine Empire and taken the great city of Constantinople as their new capital of Istanbul. Constantinople had been the biggest thorn in the side of westward expansion and after it was taken the powerful Ottomans burst into Eastern Europe and quickly challenged Venice for control of the seas.

  • Start of the Thirty Years' War

    The Thirty Years’ War was a 17th-century religious conflict fought primarily in central Europe. It remains one of the longest and most brutal wars in human history, with more than 8 million casualties resulting from military battles as well as from the famine and disease caused by the conflict. The war lasted from 1618 to 1648, starting as a battle among the Catholic and Protestant states that formed the Holy Roman Empire.

  • Shakespeare's First Folio is published

    The 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare is the first printed collection of Shakespeare’s plays, published seven years after his death in 1616. Of the 36 plays assembled by his friends and fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell, eighteen were being published for the first time.The Folger Shakespeare Library has 82 copies of the First Folio, the largest collection in the world. Of an estimated original print run of about 750 copies, only 235 are known to survive.

  • English found Massachusetts Bay Colony

    The 1620's were a time of political and religious turmoil in England. The protracted struggle for supremacy between monarch and Parliament reached new heights in 1629, when Charles I disbanded the rival body and ruled alone for 11 years. Official pressure was also applied on religious dissenters, notably the Pilgrims and the Puritans. Some were imprisoned for their nonconformist views and others lost lucrative official positions.

  • Oliver Cromwell begins reign as Lord Protector of England

  • Louis XIV begins absolutist in France

    The reign of France’s Louis XIV (1638-1718), known as the Sun King, lasted for 72 years, longer than that of any other known European sovereign. In that time, he transformed the monarchy, ushered in a golden age of art and literature, presided over a dazzling royal court at Versailles, annexed key territories and established his country as the dominant European power. During the final decades of Louis XIV’s rule.

  • La Salle claims Mississippi Valley for France

  • Louis XV of France comes to the throne

    Louis was born at Versailles on 15 February 1710. At the age of five, he succeeded his great grandfather Louis XIV as king of France. The Duke of Orleans became regent. After the duke's death, Louis was heavily influenced by his former tutor, Andre-Hercule de Fleury, whom he later created chief minister. Fleury ensured relatively stable government for the next 17 years. In 1725, Louis was married to Maria Leczczynska, daughter of the deposed king of Poland.

  • Delhi, Mogul India, is destroyed by Persians

  • British forces, led by Sir Robert Clive, defeat the Moguls

  • Thomas Jefferson writes the Decloration of Independence

    At the Second Continental Congress during the summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was charged with drafting a formal statement justifying the 13 North American colonies’ break with Great Britain. A member of a five-man committee that also included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson drew up a draft and included Franklin’s and Adams’ corrections. At the time, the Declaration of Independence was regarded as a collective effort of the Continental Congress.