-
10,000 BCE
Invention of the handbow
The earliest evidence of archery dates to the late Paleolithic period, around 10,000 BC, when the Egyptian and neighbouring Nubian cultures used bows and arrows archery for the purposes of hunting and warfare. -
3000 BCE
Humans first using bow/arrow
The earliest people known to have regularly used bows and arrows were the Ancient Egyptians, who adopted archery around 3,000BC for hunting and warfare. -
3000 BCE
Horses were first domesticated
Humans acquire their most important single ally from the animal kingdom when they domesticate the horse, in about 3000 BC. -
Period: 499 BCE to 449 BCE
Greco Persian Wars
A series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. -
Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE
The Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. -
300 BCE
Development of the trebuchet
The traction trebuchet is believed to be an ancient war engine which was invented in China in 300BC. It is thought that the trebuchet may have developed from the stave sling. -
Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE
Punic Wars
A series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were some of the largest wars that had ever taken place. The term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus, meaning "Carthaginian", with reference to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry. -
203
Development of the M.O.A.B.
A large-yield bomb, developed for the US military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory. -
618
Development of the first handcannon
Hand cannons were rudimentary and brutish, but they were the first firearms used during combat in recorded history. -
904
Invention of gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. Originally developed by the Taoists for medicinal purposes, gunpowder was first used for warfare about 904 AD. -
Period: 1095 to 1492
Crusades
A series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best-known crusades are the campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Muslim rule. -
Period: 1337 to 1453
One Hundred Years War
A series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war. -
1400
Development of the matchlock gun
Matchlock, in firearms, a device for igniting gunpowder developed in the 15th century, a major advance in the manufacture of small arms. -
Period: Feb 1, 1519 to Aug 23, 1525
Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, overthrew the Aztec Empire. This event is called the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Cortés helped old enemies of the Aztecs defeat them in one of the most important events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
A war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. One of the most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities not only from military engagements but also from violence, famine, and plague. -
Development of the first submarine
In 1620, the first successful submarine was built by Cornelius Drebbel and tested in the Thames River, where it completed a three-hour journey. -
Period: to
English Civil War
A series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists principally over the manner of England's governance. -
Period: to
Napoleonic Wars
A series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions, financed and usually led by the United Kingdom. -
Development of the revolver gun
Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and an American patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836 for a Revolving gun, and made the first production model on March 5 of that year. Another revolver patent was issued to Samuel Colt on August 29, 1839. -
Period: to
The Taiping Rebellion
A massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in China from 1850 to 1864 between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. -
Invention of the first iron-clad warship
The result was the first ocean-going ironclad, Gloire, begun in 1857 and launched in 1859. Gloire's wooden hull was modelled on that of a steam ship of the line, reduced to one deck, sheathed in iron plates 4.5 inches (110 mm) thick. -
Period: to
The American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. -
Invention of the first machine gun
The first fully automatic weapon was created by Hiram Maxim in 1885; his Maxim machine gun used a recoil system to fire up to 500 rounds per minute. -
Period: to
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising, or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, toward the end of the Qing dynasty. -
Period: to
World War 1
A global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. -
Development of the first tank
At the Souain experiment, France tested an armoured tracked tank prototype, the same month Little Willie was completed.Ultimately however, the British were the first to put tanks on the battlefield, at the battle of the Somme in September 1916. -
Period: to
Russian Civil War
A multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire immediately after the two Russian Revolutions of 1917, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. -
Period: to
World War 2
A global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. -
Use of the first atomic bomb
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima. The “Little Boy” exploded with about 13 kilotons of force, leveling five square miles of the city and killing 80,000 people instantly. -
Period: to
Cold War
A period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II. The historiography of the conflict began between 1946 and 1947. The Cold War began to de-escalate after the Revolutions of 1989. -
First hydrogen bomb being tested
Ivy Mike was the codename given to the first test of a full-scale thermonuclear device, in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion. It was detonated on November 1, 1952 by the United States on the island of Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean, as part of Operation Ivy. -
Development of the anti-satellite laser
Japan and other countries about the test in advance. It was the first known successful satellite intercept test. -
Period: to
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda, which took place between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. -
Period: to
Second Congo War
Began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. The war officially ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power.