Historical Dates Flashcards
Circa 4.5 Billion B.C.
Formation of the Earth
Circa 3 Billion B.C.
First signs of life appear in Oceans
Circa 600 Million B.C.
Earliest date to which fossils can be traced.
Circa 4.4 million B.C.
Earliest known hominid fossils (Ardipithecus ramidus) found in Aramis, Ethiopia, 1994.
Circa 4.2 million B.C.
Australopithecus anamensis found in Lake Turkana, Kenya, 1995.
Circa 3.2 million B.C.
Australopithecus afarenis (nicknamed “Lucy”) found in Ethiopia, 1974.
Circa 2.5 million B.C.
Homo habilis (“Skillful Man”). First brain expansion; is believed to have used stone tools.
Circa 1.8 million B.C.
Homo erectus (“Upright Man”). Brain size twice that of Australopithecine species.
Circa 1.7 million B.C.
Homo erectus leaves Africa.
Circa 230,000 B.C.
Earliest possible date of Mitochondrial Eve
Circa 100,000 B.C.
First modern Homo sapiens in South Africa.
Circa 70,000 B.C.
Neanderthal man (use of fire and advanced tools).
Circa 35,000 B.C.
Neanderthal man replaced by later groups of Homo sapiens (i.e., Cro-Magnon man, etc.).
Circa 18,000 B.C.
Cro-Magnons replaced by later cultures.
Circa 16,000 B.C.
Earliest possible date of Proto-Afroasiatic Language
Circa 15,000 B.C.
Migrations across Bering Straits into the Americas.
Circa 10,000 B.C.
Semi-permanent agricultural settlements in Old World.
10,000–4,000 B.C.
Development of settlements into cities and development of skills such as the wheel, pottery, and improved methods of cultivation in Mesopotamia and elsewhere.
5500–3100 B.C.
Predynastic Egyptian cultures develop
Circa 5000 B.C.
Earliest Egyptian use of Agriculture
Circa 4500–4000 B.C.
Earliest known civilisation arises in Sumer
Circa 4500 B.C.
Earliest possible date of Proto-Indo-European Language
4241 B.C.
Earliest recorded date in Egyptian calendar
3760 B.C.
First year of Jewish calendar
Circa 3750 B.C.
Earliest possible date of Proto-Semitic Language
Circa 3500 B.C.
First phonetic writing appears in Sumerian
Circa 3100 B.C.
Pharonic Rule in Egypt; Earliest Egyptian Papyrus
Circa 3000 B.C.
Sumerians develop a city-state civilization; Semitic-Speakers Settle in Assyria
Circa 3000 B.C. onward
Bronze Age begins; Copper used by Egyptians and Sumerians. Indus Valley Civilisation flourishes. Construction begins on Stonehenge
Circa 2800 B.C.
Earliest Egyptian Mummies
Circa 2680 B.C.
Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), of the 4th dynasty completes construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza
Circa 2540 B.C.
The Great Sphinx of Giza (c. 2540 B.C.) is built by Pharaoh Khafre
2300-2100 B.C.
Phoenician settlements in modern-day Lebanon
Circa 1700 B.C.
Hyskos Invade Lower Egypt; Hammurabi develops oldest surviving legal code
Circa 1700-1600 B.C.
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
Circa 1600 B.C.
Amosis I frees Egypt from Hyksos Rule
Circa 1500 B.C.
Earliest appearence of Linear-A
Circa 1375 B.C.
Akhenaten develops monotheistic religion in Egypt. His successor, Tutankhamen, returns to old gods.
