Historical Dates

Question 1

Circa 4.5 Billion B.C.

Answer 1

Formation of the Earth

Question 2

Circa 3 Billion B.C.

Answer 2

First signs of life appear in Oceans

Question 3

Circa 600 Million B.C.

Answer 3

Earliest date to which fossils can be traced.

Question 4

Circa 4.4 million B.C.

Answer 4

Earliest known hominid fossils (Ardipithecus ramidus) found in Aramis, Ethiopia, 1994.

Question 5

Circa 4.2 million B.C.

Answer 5

Australopithecus anamensis found in Lake Turkana, Kenya, 1995.

Question 6

Circa 3.2 million B.C.

Answer 6

Australopithecus afarenis (nicknamed “Lucy”) found in Ethiopia, 1974.

Question 7

Circa 2.5 million B.C.

Answer 7

Homo habilis (“Skillful Man”). First brain expansion; is believed to have used stone tools.

Question 8

Circa 1.8 million B.C.

Answer 8

Homo erectus (“Upright Man”). Brain size twice that of Australopithecine species.

Question 9

Circa 1.7 million B.C.

Answer 9

Homo erectus leaves Africa.

Question 10

Circa 230,000 B.C.

Answer 10

Earliest possible date of Mitochondrial Eve

Question 11

Circa 100,000 B.C.

Answer 11

First modern Homo sapiens in South Africa.

Question 12

Circa 70,000 B.C.

Answer 12

Neanderthal man (use of fire and advanced tools).

Question 13

Circa 35,000 B.C.

Answer 13

Neanderthal man replaced by later groups of Homo sapiens (i.e., Cro-Magnon man, etc.).

Question 14

Circa 18,000 B.C.

Answer 14

Cro-Magnons replaced by later cultures.

Question 15

Circa 16,000 B.C.

Answer 15

Earliest possible date of Proto-Afroasiatic Language

Question 16

Circa 15,000 B.C.

Answer 16

Migrations across Bering Straits into the Americas.

Question 17

Circa 10,000 B.C.

Answer 17

Semi-permanent agricultural settlements in Old World.

Question 18

10,000–4,000 B.C.

Answer 18

Development of settlements into cities and development of skills such as the wheel, pottery, and improved methods of cultivation in Mesopotamia and elsewhere.

Question 19

5500–3100 B.C.

Answer 19

Predynastic Egyptian cultures develop

Question 20

Circa 5000 B.C.

Answer 20

Earliest Egyptian use of Agriculture

Question 21

Circa 4500–4000 B.C.

Answer 21

Earliest known civilisation arises in Sumer

Question 22

Circa 4500 B.C.

Answer 22

Earliest possible date of Proto-Indo-European Language

Question 23

4241 B.C.

Answer 23

Earliest recorded date in Egyptian calendar

Question 24

3760 B.C.

Answer 24

First year of Jewish calendar

Question 25

Circa 3750 B.C.

Answer 25

Earliest possible date of Proto-Semitic Language

Question 26

Circa 3500 B.C.

Answer 26

First phonetic writing appears in Sumerian

Question 27

Circa 3100 B.C.

Answer 27

Pharonic Rule in Egypt; Earliest Egyptian Papyrus

Question 28

Circa 3000 B.C.

Answer 28

Sumerians develop a city-state civilization; Semitic-Speakers Settle in Assyria

Question 29

Circa 3000 B.C. onward

Answer 29

Bronze Age begins; Copper used by Egyptians and Sumerians. Indus Valley Civilisation flourishes. Construction begins on Stonehenge

Question 30

Circa 2800 B.C.

Answer 30

Earliest Egyptian Mummies

Question 31

Circa 2680 B.C.

Answer 31

Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), of the 4th dynasty completes construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza

Question 32

Circa 2540 B.C.

Answer 32

The Great Sphinx of Giza (c. 2540 B.C.) is built by Pharaoh Khafre

Question 33

2300-2100 B.C.

Answer 33

Phoenician settlements in modern-day Lebanon

Question 34

Circa 1700 B.C.

Answer 34

Hyskos Invade Lower Egypt; Hammurabi develops oldest surviving legal code

Question 35

Circa 1700-1600 B.C.

Answer 35

Assyrians rise to power—cities of Ashur and Nineveh. Twenty-four-character alphabet in Egypt. Cuneiform inscriptions used by Hittites. Peak of Minoan culture on Isle of Crete

Question 36

Circa 1600 B.C.

Answer 36

Amosis I frees Egypt from Hyksos Rule

Question 37

Circa 1500 B.C.

Answer 37

Earliest appearence of Linear-A

Question 38

Circa 1375 B.C.

Answer 38

Akhenaten develops monotheistic religion in Egypt. His successor, Tutankhamen, returns to old gods.