Period 1

Neolithic Revolution

10,000 BCE

The Neolithic Revolution was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population.

Paleolithic Era

9600 BCE

A significant development during this period was the migration of humans around the world, and the end of the last Ice Age period altering the climate. In terms of relevance to world history, the Paleolithic could be considered the dawn of modern humans, and the beginning of our history as a species.

Stone Age

8700 BCE

The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make implements with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 8700 BCE and 2000 BCE with the advent of metalworking.

Sumerian Civilization

4500 BCE

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages, and one of the first civilizations in the world along with Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley.

Akkadian Civilization

2334 BCE

The Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic empire centered in the city of Akkad, which united all the indigenous Akkadian speaking Semites and Sumerian speakers under one rule. The Empire controlled Mesopotamia, the Levant, and parts of Iran. Map of the Akkadian Empire. ... Its founder was Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BCE).

Mesopotamian city states established

2300 BCE

Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major territorial states such as the city of Eridu, the Akkadian kingdoms, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires.

Indus River Civilization Decline

1800 BCE

Definite reason that led to the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization is not known, as no reliable resource of that period is available at present. It has been found out that around 2000 BC some major climatic changes started occurring in the Indus Valley. These changes had led to floods in the plains and cities

Hammurabi's Code

1754 BCE

The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice. Hammurabi's Code was carved onto a massive, finger-shaped black stone stele (pillar) that was looted by invaders and finally rediscovered in 1901.

Shang Dynasty

1700 BCE

The Shang Dynasty is the earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, though other dynasties predated it. The Shang ruled from 1700 to 1027 B.C. and were known for their advances in math, astronomy, artwork and military technology.

Olmec Civilization

1200 BCE

The Olmec culture thrived along Mexico's Gulf coast from roughly 1200 to 400 B.C. Best known today for their carved ​colossal heads, the Olmecs were an important early Mesoamerican civilization which had much influence on later cultures such as the Aztecs and the Maya.

Phoenicians create Alphabet

1200 BCE

The Phoenicians were very skilled sailors, traders and shipmakers, who, in their haste of management and pursuit of efficiency, gave the world one of its greatest gifts: The modern alphabet system. This remarkable Phoenician example spread around the Mediterranean world and was adopted quickly.

Zhou Dynasty

1046 BCE

The Zhou Dynasty was the longest-lasting of ancient China's dynasties. It followed the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) and it finished when the army of the state of Qin captured the city of Chengzhou in 256 BCE.

Chavin Civilization in Andean South America

900 BCE

The Chavín culture is an extinct, prehistoric civilization, named for Chavín de Huantar, the principal archaeological site at which its artifacts have been found.

Assyrian Empire

609 BCE

Assyrian Empire was a Mesopotamian kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant. It existed as a state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC until its collapse between 612 BC and 609 BC - spanning the periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age.

Persian Empire

550 BCE

Cyrus the Great, king of the Persians, successfully conquered the Medes and united the Iranian people together for the first time. Cyrus continued to expand the Persian territory to the west and to gain control of vital trade routes that crossed modern Iran.

Persian Wars

499 BCE

The Persian force was decisively defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon, ending Persian efforts for the time being. Darius then began to plan to completely conquer Greece, but died in 486 BC and responsibility for the conquest passed to his son Xerxes.

Golden Age of Pericles

495 BCE

Pericles, Athenian statesman largely responsible for the full development, in the later 5th century bce, of both the Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece.