100 Important Events Flashcards
The Agricultural Revolution: Humans Domesticate Plants and Animals
c. 11,000 - 4,000 BCE
The First Cities Emerge in Mesopotamia
c. 4000 - 3000 BCE (Iraq)
The First Wheeled Vehicles Appear in Mesopotamia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus
c. 3500 BCE (Iraq, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania)
The First Writing Systems Appear in Mesopotamia (Cuneiform), Egypt (Hieroglyphics) and the Indus Valley (Indus Script)
c. 3200 BCE
The Ancient Egyptians Build the Great Pyramid of Giza for Pharaoh Khufu
c. 2560 BCE (Egypt)
The Origin and Development of Modern Alphabets
c. 1850 - 800 BCE (Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Greece)
Babylonian King Hammurabi Issues the Code of Hammurabi, One of the Earliest Legal Codes
c. 1754 BCE (Iraq)
As Knowledge of Iron Metallurgy Spreads, the Bronze Age Ends and the Iron Age Begins
c. 1200 - 500 BCE
The Rise of Ancient Greek Civilization
c. 800 - 336 BCE (Greece)
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Roman Civilization
c. 753 BCE – 476 CE (Italy)
— 753 BCE: Legendary date of founding of Rome
— 509 BCE: Legendary date of founding of the Roman Republic
— 202 BCE: Rome under Scipio Africanus defeats Carthage under Hannibal at the Battle of Zama to end the Second Punic War (Tunisia)
— 146 BCE: Roman armies destroy the city of Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War (Tunisia)
— 49 BCE: Julius Caesar and his army cross the Rubicon, starting Roman Civil War
— 44 BCE: Julius Caesar is assassinated in the Senate by Brutus, Cassius and others
— 31 BCE: Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, ending the Roman civil wars (Greece)
— 27 BCE: The Senate makes Octavian (later called Augustus) Imperator, effectively ceding power to him and marking the beginning of the Roman Empire
— 27 BCE-180 CE: Pax Romana, a period of relative peace in the Roman Empire
— 9 CE: In the Battle of Teutoberg Forest, Germanic forces led by Arminius ambush and destroy three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus (Germany)
— 312 CE: Constantine defeats rival Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge to become co-emperor
— 313 CE: Co-emperors Constantine and Licinius issue the Edict of Milan, which makes Christianity legal in the Roman Empire
— 390 CE: Theodosius the Great issues the Edict of Thessalonica, which makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire
— 395 CE: Death of Theodosius; from this point, the Roman Empire is permanently divided between Eastern and Western portions
— 410 CE: Sack of Rome by the Visigoths under Alaric
— 476 CE: Flavius Odoacer leads a revolt that deposes Emperor Romulus Augustulus, marking the end of the Western Roman Empire
The Life of the Buddha and Birth of Buddhism
c. 563 - 400 BCE (India)
The Life of Confucius and Birth of Confucianism
551 - 479 BCE (China)
Alexander the Great Creates an Immense Empire
336 - 323 BCE (Greece)
Unification of China under Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Who Begins Building The Great Wall
221 - 206 BCE
The Birth of the Modern Calendar (Roman, Julius Caesar)
45 BCE (Italy)
The Life of Jesus and the Birth of Christianity
c. 4 BCE - 70 CE (Israel)
The Life of Muhammad and the Birth of Islam
570 - 630 CE (Saudi Arabia)
The Franks, Led by Charles Martel, Defeat a Umayyad Caliphate Army under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi at the Battle of Tours-Poitiers, Halting the Muslim Advance into Western Europe
732 CE (France)
Pope Leo III Crowns Charlemagne, Carolingian King of the Franks and the Lombards, as the First Holy Roman Emperor
800 CE (France, Germany)
The Invention of Gunpowder and its Use in Weaponry
c. 800 - 1300 (China)
Norse Explorers Discover and Colonize New Lands in the North Atlantic
c. 870 - 1000 CE (Iceland, Greenland, US)
Norman Conquest of England
1066 CE (UK)
The First University Is Established, at Bologna
1088 CE (Italy)
The First Crusade
1095 - 1099 (France, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Israel)
King Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire Builds Angkor Wat; Originally Dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, It Became a Buddhist Temple by the End of the 12th Century
c. 1150 CE (Cambodia)
Shogun Minamato no Yorimoto Overthrows the Taira Emperor, Establishing the Kamakura Shogunate; Start of 675 Years of Shogunate Rule in Japan
1192 CE
Genghis Khan Establishes a Vast Mongol Empire, Which Is Expanded After His Death
1206 - 1260 (Central Asia, China)
English Nobles Force King John to Sign the Magna Charta Restricting His Powers
1215 (UK)
Europe Hears Tales of the Far East From Marco Polo
1271 - 1300 (Italy; Asia)
The Rise and Fall of the Aztec Civilization
1325 - 1521 (Mexico)
The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) Devastates Europe, Killing One-Third of the Population
1347 - 1348 (Europe)
The Renaissance: A Rediscovery of Classical Knowledge Brings About Innovations and Achievements in Arts and Culture
c. 1350 - 1600 (Italy, Europe)
The Inca People Create an Empire
1438 - 1533 (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia)
Johannes Gutenberg Invents a Printing Press Using Movable Metal Type and Oil-Based Ink, Bringing Inexpensive Printing of Books and Papers to the West
1440 - 1455 (Germany)
The Ottoman Turks Take Constantinople, Marking the Fall of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire
1453 (Turkey)
Christopher Columbus Arrives in the West Indies and Claims the Land for Spain; European Conquest of the Americas Begins
1492 (The Bahamas)
Portuguese Explorer Vasco da Gama Finds a Sea Route from Europe to India, Allowing Portugal To Create a Trading Empire
1498
Spanish and English Explorers Returning to Europe Bring Back New World Foods, Including Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn (Maize), Squash and Cacao
1500 - 1600
The Slave Trade: Enslaved African People Are Brought to the Americas
1502 - 1619 (US, Haiti, Dominican Republic)
Martin Luther Sends his 95 Theses to the Archbishop of Mainz, Marking the Start of the Protestant Reformation
1517 (Germany)
Suleiman the Magnificent Rules Ottoman Empire During Period of Great Expansion
1520 - 1566 (Turkey)
Ferdinand Magellan’s Expedition Is the First to Circumnavigates the Globe, Although Magellan Is Killed in the Philippines and Does Not Complete the Voyage
1522
Polish Scientist Nicolaus Copernicus’s On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres Shows that the Movement of Heavenly Bodies Is Best Explained By a Heliocentric Model (That Is, the Earth Revolves Around the Sun, and Not the Other Way Around)
1543
England under Queen Elizabeth I Repels a Spanish Invasion by Defeating the Spanish Armada
1588 (UK)
William Shakespeare Writes Hamlet
1599 - 1601 (UK)
English Colonists Establish Their First Permanent Settlement in the New World at Jamestown, Virginia
1607 (US)
Galileo Galilei Publishes The Starry Messenger, Which Announces a Series of Astronomical Discoveries Made Using a Home-Made Telescope
1609 - 1610 (Italy)
England Undergoes A Civil War
1642 - 1660
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan Builds the Taj Mahal, a Mausoleum for his Favorite Wife, Mumtaz Mahal
1632 - 1653 (India)
The Power of Steam is Harnessed in the Steam Engine
1663 - 1801 (UK)
The Holy Roman Empire, the Hapsburg Monarchy and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Join Forces to Defeat the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Vienna, Halting Ottoman Expansion into Western Europe
1683 (Austria)
Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica Explains Universal Laws of Motion and Gravitation That Provide a Foundation for the Science of Physics Until Einstein
1687 (UK)
Innovations in the British Textile Industry Spark the Industrial Revolution
1733 - 1785
The Boston Tea Party: American Colonists Protest New British Taxes by Throwing Tea in Boston Harbor
12/16/1773 (US)
The American Revolution (declaration of independence)
1775 - 1783 (US) (1776)
The French Revolution
1789 - 1799 (France)
The Medical Revolution
1796 - 1885 (UK; US; France)
The Birth of Rail Transport
1802 - 1830 (UK)
Enslaved People in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, Having Fought a Successful Revolution, Establish the New Nation of Haiti
1804
The Napoleonic Wars:
1799 - 1815 (France, Europe)
The End of the African Slave Trade and Abolition of Slavery
1807 - 1888 (UK, US, Mexico, Brazil)
— 1807: The United Kingdom abolishes the slave trade
— 1808: The United States bans the importation of slaves
— 1824: Mexico abolishes slavery
— 1833: Slavery is abolished in the British Empire
— 1836: The Republic of Texas declares independence from Mexico and reinstates slavery
— 1865: The Thirteenth Amendment to the American Constitution abolishes slavery (US)
— 1888: Brazil abolishes slavery
Spain’s Colonies in Central and South America Fight for and Win Independence
1817 - 1825
The Invention of the Telegraph Revolutionizes Communication
1832 - 1840
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Publish The Communist Manifesto, Which Explains History in Terms of Class Struggle and Proposes That Workers Unite and Overthrow Capitalism
1848 (UK)
Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, which Proves that Natural Selection is the Mechanism of Biological Evolution
1859 (UK)
The American Civil War
1860 - 1865
The Meiji Restoration: Tokugawa Yoshinobu Abdicates to Emperor Meiji, Ending Shogun Rule in Japan
1867 CE
Opening of the Suez Canal Linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
1869 (Egypt)
Alexander Graham Bell Patents the Telephone
1876 (US)
European Powers Colonize Africa
1880s (Europe, Africa)
— 1830: France invades and colonizes Algeria
— 1884-1885: At the Berlin Conference, European leaders divide up Africa
— 1885: King Leopold of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State as a private corporate colony (Democratic Republic of Congo)
— 1895: France establishes French West Africa, a consolidation of eight French colonial territories (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, French Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger)
— 1908: Belgium annexes the Congo Free State
— 1910: France establishes French Equatorial Africa from its central African colonies (Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Gabon)
— 1912: Italy forms the colony of Italian Libya from colonies taken from the Ottoman Empire
The Suffrage Movement: Women Fight For the Right to Vote
1893 - 1928
The Suffrage Movement: Women Fight For the Right to Vote
1893 - 1928
The Invention of Radio
1879 - 1901
The Discovery of X-Rays
1895
Orville & Wilbur Wright Fly the First Heavier-than-Air Powered Aircraft
12/17/1903 (US)
After Defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan Is Recognized as a World Power
1904 - 1905
Albert Einstein’s Annus Mirabilis
1905 (Switzerland)
World War I
1914 - 1918 (Europe, Asia, Africa)
The Russian Revolution
1917 - 1922
A Global Influenza Epidemic Kills 20 Million People
1918
The Invention of Television
1925 - 1929
Global Depression Follows Crash of US Stock Market
1929 - 1940 (US; Europe; Asia)
The Rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
1920 - 1939 (Germany)
Revolution in China
1911 - 1949
World War II
1939 - 1945 (US, Europe, Asia, Africa)
The United Nations Is Formed
1945 - 1946 (Europe, N. & S. America, Asia, Africa, Australia)
The Digital Revolution: The Invention of the Digital Electric Computer
1965: Olivetti introduces the Programma 101, the first commercially produced personal desktop computer (Italy)
After Long Struggle, India Obtains Its Independence from the UK
1947
The Cold War
1945 - 1989 (US, Russia, Europe)
The Discovery of the Double Helical Structure of DNA
1953 (UK)
U.S. Civil Rights Movement
1954 - 1968 (US)
— 5/17/1954: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated education is unconstitutional
— 12/1/1955: Rosa Parks refuses to sit in the back of the bus, sparking Montgomery bus boycott
— 1957: President Eisenhower sends US troops to protect black students attending Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
— 1960: First lunch counter protest in Greensboro, North Carolina
— 8/28/1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. leads march on Washington, makes “I Have a Dream” speech
— 9/15/1963: Four black girls killed in bombing of church in Birmingham, Alabama
— 7/2/1964: President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
— 2/21/1965: Assassination of Malcolm X
— 3/7/1965: Protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
— 8/6/1965: President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act
— 4/4/1968: Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Vietnam War
1955 - 1975 (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos)
Soviet Union Launches Sputnik, First Man-Made Satellite
10/4/1957 (Russia)
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration Approves the First Contraceptive Pill
5/9/1960 (US)
Yuri Gagarin Becomes the First Man in Space
1961 (Russia)
U.S. President John F. Kennedy Is Assassinated in Dallas, Texas
11/22/1963 (US)
Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Land on the Moon and Walk on its Surface
7/20-21/1969 (US, Moon)
The Birth of the Internet
1965 - 1995 (US)
— 1985: The first dot-com domain name is registered
— 1989: America Online (AOL) is launched
The Cold War Ends
1989 - 1991 (Europe, Russia)
— 11/9/1989: Opening of gates between East and West Berlin; demolition of Berlin Wall begins (Germany)
— 1989-1990: Fall of Communist governments in Eastern Europe
— 1990: Reunification of Germany
— 12/26/1991: Soviet Union is dissolved
The End of Apartheid in South Africa
1990 - 1994
Al Qaeda Terrorists Attack New York City and Washington, D.C. With Hijacked Planes, Destroying World Trade Towers; US Declares “War on Terror”
9/11/2001 (US)
