Timeline-A few major events in world history

  • 3500 - 2600 BCMinoan people settled the island of Crete, became an important maritime power trading with Egypt and Asia Minor
  • 3000 BCAegeans and Minoans developed bronze tools and trade networks
  • 3100 - 2400 BCConstruction of Stonehenge completed in England in multiple phases
  • 2500 - 2000 BCUse of bronze tools spread across mainland Europe
  • 1900 - 1600 BCMycenaean Age began, Mycenaean people spread across the Greek mainland
  • 1627 BCThera Volcano erupted, decimated nearby Minoan settlements, changed the climate of the entire region
  • 1420 BCMycenaeans occupied the Minoan cities on Crete
  • 1104 BCPhoenicians founded the city of Cadiz in present day Spain
  • 1085 BCMadrid founded
  • 900 - 800 BCGreek city states founded. Greeks modified the Phoenician alphabet to create the Greek alphabet
  • 776 BCFirst Olympic games held in Delphi
  • 753 BCRome founded
  • 600 BCThe Forum built in Rome
  • 550 BCWorld wonder, the Temple of Artemis completed in Ephesus
  • 546 BCCyrus the Great proclaimed "King of the Persian Empire"

500 - 400 BC

  • 509 BCRomans converted to a republic form of government
  • 470 - 399 BCThe Greek philosopher, Socrates, developed the Socratic method of inquiry and the beginnings of ethics. He also contributed to philosophical thought.
  • 466 - 456 BCWorld wonder, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia is completed
  • 428 - 348 BCPlato, a student of Socrates, founded one of the earliest organized schools in western civilization, influenced studies of mathematics and philosophy throughout the known world.

400 - 100 BC

  • 384 - 322 BCAristotle, a student of Plato, developed formal logic, the camera obscura, the beginnings of the scientific method, and zoology
  • 353 - 350 BCWorld wonder, the Mausoleum at Harlicarnassus was completed in modern day Turkey
  • 331 - 334 BCAlexander the Great conquered the entire Persian Empire
  • 312 BCThe first Roman aqueduct, Aqua Appia, was constructed
  • 292 - 280 BCWorld wonder, the Colossus of Rhodes is completed. Stood over 30 m (107 ft) high.

100 - 0 BC

  • 70 - 1 BCThe poet Virgil wrote the Aenid
  • 44 BCGaius Julius Caesar assassinated on the Ides of March
  • 30 BCEgypt became a Roman province. Roman general, Mark Anthony and Egyptian pharaoh, Cleopatra committed suicide
  • 27 BCRome's republic ended and the empire began. Augustus Caesar was sole ruler of the Roman Empire
  • 7 BC - 4 CERome conquered Judea in modern day Israel. Jesus of Nazareth was born in this Judean province.

0 - 400 CE

  • 50 -43Romans conquered Britain, founded the city of London
  • 80The Colosseum was built in Rome
  • 122Hadrian's Wall was built in northern England
  • 200 - 300Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths began to organize
  • 306 - 322Constantine declared emperor of the Roman empire. He ended persecution of Christians and converts to Christianity
  • 325Ecumenical Council of Nicea convened to develop Nicene Creed, set the date for Easter, and homogenized Christian beliefs
  • 400 - 600Decline of the Roman Empire

400 - 900 CE

  • 710 - 730Muslim forces crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, conquered Spain
  • 741 - 813Charlemagne expanded the Frankish empire to include modern day Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, northern Italy, and northern Spain.
  • 793 - 802Viking settlers expanded from Scandinavia outwards to northern England, Ireland, and northern France.
  • 825Vikings arrived at Iceland
  • 843Viking settlers founded Dublin
  • 859Russian city of Novogrod founded
  • 872Harold I unified all of Norway
  • 886 - 911Viking leader Rollo sacked Paris and in a treaty, was given the region of Normandy in France

900 - 1100

  • 962The Saxon leader Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope
  • 982 - 985Viking explorer Erik the Red banished from Iceland and subsequently discovered Greenland
  • 1025Poland declared independence from the Holy Roman Empire, emerged as major European power
  • 1057William the Conqueror conquered all of England for France
  • 1066Tower of London constructed
  • 1096 - 1300The Crusades began causing many Muslim and Christian deaths. Crusaders battled across the Middle East and Spain.

1100 - 1400

  • 1144Gothic architecture gained prominence
  • 1237Mongols crossed the Ural mountains and ruled Russia
  • 1252The Inquisition began, torture approved in cases of religious disobedience
  • 1347 - 1350The Black Death struck Europe killing an estimated 30 - 60% of Europe's population
  • 1350 - 1500The Renaissance began in Italy

1400 - 1700

  • 1430Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for leading French troops
  • 1434The Medici family rose to power in Italy, Cosimio de Medici became ruler of Florence
  • 1492Columbus began his exploration of the New World
  • 1492Gutenberg Bible printed using moveable type
  • 1500 - 1600English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch colonies were founded throughout the New World and Africa
  • 1503Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa
  • 1517The Protestant reformation began
  • 1588England defeated the Spanish Armada and gained control of the seas
  • 1600Galileo challenged geocentric view of the universe
  • 1687Isaac Newton founded Newtonian physics

1700 - 1900

  • 1750 - 1850English Industrial Revolution began
  • 1789French revolution stormed the Bastille
  • 1792 - 1821Napoleon conquered much of Europe for the French
  • 1802Ludwig van Beethoven performed Moonlight Sonata
  • 1804Napolean proclaimed Emperor of France
  • 1845 - 1849Irish potato famine killed approximately 1 million Irish
  • 1848Karl Marx argued for socialism, revolutions occurred in Europe; issued Communist Manifesto
  • 1859Charles Darwin publishedOn the Origin of Species
  • 1860 - 1869Italy and Germany unified into modern countries

1900 - 2000

  • 1914 - 1918World War I occurred throughout Europe
  • 1916-Armenian genocide
  • 1930'sGreat Depression weakened European economies
  • 1933Adolf Hitler became Chancellor Germany
  • 1939Winston Churchill became prime minister of Britain
  • 1939 - 1945World War II occurred throughout the world. Hitler created concentration camps for Jews. Russia expanded their country. Mussolini overthrown in Italy.
  • 1944D-Day landing in Normandy by allies
  • 1945Hitler committed suicide; Germany surrendered
  • 1946 - 1990Cold War took place between USSR and the United States
  • 1957USSR launched Sputnik into space
  • 1978World's first successful &test-tube& baby born in Great Britain
  • 1989Poland overthrew communism. Tim Berners-Lee of Great Britain, created the World Wide Web. Berlin Wall demolished
  • 1991USSR collapsed, Cold War ended
  • 1992Maasricht treaty created European Union
  • 1994-Rwandan genocide
  • 1995CERN in Switzerland created antihydrogen atoms
  • 2002The European Union released the Euro as a new form of currency
  • 2003Ten thousand people died in heat wave in France
  • 2005French protestors rioted in the streets. Pope John Paul II died. Bomb attack on three of London's underground trains killed 56, injured over 700
  • 2007 - 2009Russia attacked Georgia
  • 2008Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic arrested on charges of genocide
  • 2010Polish President, Lech Kaczynski and 96 other passengers and crew, killed in airplane crash
  • 2011Greeks rioted in the streets over government and economic troubles
  • 2011- Russia begins involvement in Syria
  • 2014-Sudan refugee crisis- civil war
  • 2016 BREXIT-Great Britain leaves the European Union by popular vote