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May 2, 1360
Yonglo becomes Ming Emperor
The Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, the fourth son of the new leader of the central Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang would later rise to become the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. -
Mar 22, 1371
Zheng he captains his first voyage
While Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented, the routes were not. Zheng He's fleet was following long-established, well-mapped routes of trade between China and the Arabian peninsula employed since at least the Han Dynasty. Along with the use of a more than abundant amount of crew members that were regular military personnel, leads some to speculate that these expeditions may have been geared at least partially at spreading China's power through expansion. During the Three Kingdoms Period. -
Mar 4, 1394
Prince Henry of Portugal is Born
He was the third (or, counting children who died in infancy, the fifth) son of João I, the founder of the Aviz dynasty, under whom Portugal, victorious against Castile and against the Moors of Morocco, began to take a prominent place among European nations; his mother was Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt. -
Feb 3, 1439
Johann Gutenburg the Printing Press
Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450's, and the first book to ever be printed was a Latin language Bible, printed in Mainz, Germany. When Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1445, he forever changed the lives of people in Europe and, eventually, all over the world. -
May 29, 1453
Fall of Constantinople to the Turks
The city was defended by, at most, 10,000 men. The Turks had between 100,000 and 150,000 men on their side. -
Oct 19, 1453
The Hundred Years' War Ends
The Hundred Years' War was a long struggle between England and France over succession to the French throne. It lasted from 1337 to 1453, so it might more accurately be called the "116 Years' War." -
Mar 9, 1454
Amerigo Vespucci charts New World coast
Amerigo Vespucci took part in four different voyages to the New World (America) during his career as a sailor. He followed in the footsteps of the great explorers Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan in his direction of travel. Like Columbus and Magellan before him, Vespucci travelled west from Europe to South America, which he recognised as a new continent and not part of Asia, as Columbus had believed. -
Aug 15, 1483
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a large and renowned chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. -
Dec 2, 1485
H. Cortez lands on Mexican coast
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro,was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. -
Mar 12, 1488
B. Dias reaches Cape of Good Hope
Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias was a milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish direct trade relations with the Far East (although in his histories Herodotus proves, disbelievingly, that some Phoenicians had done so far earlier than this. Dias called the cape Cabo das Tormentas ("Cape of Storms"), which was the original name of the "Cape of Good Hope". -
Oct 23, 1491
Ignatius of Loyola founds the Jesuit order
After being seriously wounded in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony purportedly inspired Loyola to abandon his previous military life and devote himself to labour for God, following the example of spiritual leaders such as Francis of Assisi. After experiencing a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus at the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in March 1522, he went to Manresa, where he began praying for -
Aug 3, 1492
C. Columbus spots land in North America
Columbus led his three ships - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria - out of the Spanish port of Palos. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. His first stop was the Canary Islands where the lack of wind left his expedition becalmed until September 6. -
Aug 29, 1492
Ferdinand and Isabella end war with Muslims
The war was a joint project between Isabella's Crown of Castile and Ferdinand's Crown of Aragon. The bulk of the troops and funds for the war came from Castile, and Granada was annexed into Castile's lands. The Crown of Aragon was less important: apart from the presence of King Ferdinand himself, Aragon provided naval collaboration, guns, and some financial loans. Aristocrats were offered the allure of new lands, while Ferdinand and Isabella centralized and consolidated power. -
Jun 7, 1494
Spain and Portugal agree to Treaty of Tordesillas
The agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers. -
May 20, 1498
Vasco da Gama lands in India
Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, as well as the Atlantic and the Indian oceans entirely and definitively, and in this way, the West and the Orient. -
Nov 28, 1501
Donatello creates his David Statue
Donato di Niccolò Bardi, called Donatello, was born in 1386 in Florence, Italy. Little is known about his life, although many short stories about his life are recorded by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists (1550). In Florence Donatello learned the basics of sculpting at the Stonemasons' Guild, where he learned other crafts as well. Donatello then became an apprentice (a person who works to learn a trade) to Lorenzo Ghiberti (c. 1378–1455). -
Apr 15, 1508
Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a large chapel in the Vatican City. It is renowned for its Renaissance art, especially the ceiling painted by Michelangelo, and attracts more than 5 million visitors each years. The Sistine Chapel stands on the foundation of an older chapel called the Capella Magna. In 1477, Pope Sixtus IV instigated a rebuilding of the chapel, which was then named for him. The chapel is 40.23 meters long, 13.40 meters wide, and 20.70 meters high (about 132 by 44 by 68 feet). -
Oct 26, 1510
Raphael paints School of Athens
The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. School of Athens refers to a famous fresco painted by Raphael in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. -
Feb 18, 1516
Mary I becomes Queen
Queen Mary I of England reigned as Queen of England for a short five years (r.1553-1558), the first reigning queen since the disputed Mathilda in the 12th Century. Most historians consider her reign to be unfruitful in that she never was able to fulfill her dream of returning England to the Roman Catholic Church. She also never had any children of her own to continue her dynasty in England. Her foreign policies met with failure as well. -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses
Martin Luther (1483-1546) is rightly regarded as the founder of the ... Though in later accounts of himself he liked to dwell on the lowliness of his ... Indeed in all biographies of him the central importance of Luther's 95 Theses (to .... Luther, in posting the Theses, 'had no intention', he claimed, 'to give [them] so much publicity. -
Dec 19, 1517
Leonardo Da Vinci starts the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa was Earth's most famous painting. The shocking theft of the Mona Lisa, in August 1911, appeared to have been solved 28 months later, when the painting was recovered. In an excerpt from their new book, the authors suggest that the audacious heist concealed a perfect—and far more lucrative—crime. -
Nov 15, 1532
F. Pizzaro meets Atahualpa
In January 1531, a Spanish expedition led by Francisco Pizarro, on a mission to conquer the Inca Empire, landed on Puná Island. Pizarro brought with him 169 men and 69 horses.The Spaniards headed south and occupied Tumbes, where they heard about the civil war that Huáscar and Atahualpa were waging against each other. About a year and a half later, in September 1532, after reinforcements arrived from Spain, Pizarro founded the city of San Miguel de Piura, and then marched towards the heart -
Jun 4, 1533
21- Ivan the Terrible becomes ruler of Russia
He became ruler at the age of three. Ivan was the first Russia ruler to use the title of czar. -
Sep 7, 1533
Elizabeth I becomes Queen
Elizabeth was probably at the royal manor at Hunsdon when her mother was arrested and executed after being at court for Christmas (and likely the last time she saw her mother). Henry had remarried and was eagerly awaiting the son he hoped Jane Seymour was carrying. As it turned out, she was indeed to bear Henry a son, Edward (future Edward VI). Jane died shortly after her son was born. -
Apr 20, 1534
Jacques Cartier claims land in Canada
Cartier set sail under a commission from the king, hoping to discover a western passage to the wealthy markets of Asia.[11] In the words of the commission, he was to "discover certain islands and lands where it is said that a great quantity of gold and other precious things are to be found". It took him twenty days to sail across the ocean. Starting on May 10 of that year, he explored parts of Newfoundland, the areas now the Canadian Atlantic provinces and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. During one st -
May 19, 1536
Anne Boleyn is executed
Anne Boleyn was the first English queen to be publicly executed. -
Oct 12, 1537
Edward VI is born
Edward became king at the age of nine, when his father died in January 1547. His father had arranged that a council of regency should rule on his behalf, but Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, took power and established himself as protector. Somerset and the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, were intent on making England a truly Protestant state, supported by the young king. An English Prayer Book was issued in 1549 with an Act of Uniformity to enforce it. -
Mar 31, 1543
22 - Nicolaus Copernicus begins studying planetary movement
Nicholas Copernicus proposed to switch the places of the Earth and the Sun. He put the Sun in the center of the universe and placed the Earth in revolution around the Sun. To account for the daily motion of the heavens, he set the Earth rotating about its own axis. To calculate the positions of planets, Copernicus used elaborate geometrical schemes, much like his Greek and Islamic predecessors (historians are still trying to decide just what sources contributed to his ideas). -
Mar 5, 1556
21- Philip II became King of Spain
Ruled Spain, Spanish Netherlands, and the American Colonies. He gained wealth by taxing gold and silver. -
Jul 7, 1579
21- William of Orange led the overthrow of Spanish rule in the Netherlands
The Dutch opened the flood gates at Leiden to drive out the Spanish. -
English East India Company is founded
The East India Company was originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, and more properly called the Honourable East India Company. -
Dutch East India Company is founded
In Asia it is often considered to have been the first multinational corporation in the world and it was the first company to issue stock. -
21- Don Quixote de la Mancha was written
This was the birth of the modern European novel. -
Henry Hudson is last seen
In the spring of 1611, Hudson intended to search for a western outlet from James Bay. But the crew mutinied and set Hudson adrift in a small boat with his son, John, and seven loyal crewmen. Hudson and his party were never seen again. -
William Shakespheare dies
William Shakespheare was a famous english play write.
He had 3 children, Hamnet Shakesphere, Judith Quiney, and Susanna Hall. -
21- The Thirty Years War
A conflict over religion, over territory, and for power among European ruling families. -
New Netherlands becomes New York
In 1609, Henry Hudson Sailed west. He was searching for northwest sea route to Asia. He didn't find a route. He did, however, explore three waterways near presentday New York That were later named for him - The Hudson River, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. -
21- Charles I takes the English throne
When Parliament refused to give him money, he disolved it. He also signed the petition of Right. -
22 - Galileo publishes his many findings in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
In the Copernican system the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, while in the Ptolemaic system everything in the Universe circles around the Earth. The Dialogue was published in Florence under a formal license from the Inquisition. Galileo was convicted of "grave suspicion of heresy" based on the book, which was then placed on the Index of Forbidden Books, from which it was not removed until 1835 (after the theories it discussed had been permitted in print in 1822). -
22 - Thomas Hobbes outlines the social contract in Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan in the late 1640s. At the time he was living in exile (Paris) which he chose voluntarily in order to avoid persecution. Not without reasons he feared that the forces of the Parliament could put him on trial because of his royalist convictions. In fact undertook writing Leviathan to defend the monarchist idea. The book was finished two years after the execution of Charles I and was presented as a special gift to his successor Charles II who was also exiled in Paris. -
21- Frederick William becomes ruler of Prussia
He encouraged religious tolerance and legal reform. -
21- English Civil War
Cromwell and Puritans charged King Charles with treason. He was found guilty and executed. -
21- Louis XIV becomes King of France
Louis was % years old when he became King. The true ruler was Cardinal Mazarin. He ended the Thirty Years War in 1648. -
21- Charles II reigns
His period of rule was called the Restoration. During reign Parlament passed habeas corpus. -
21- France invades the Spanish Netherlands
They gain 12 towns. They have success. -
La Salle claim Mississippi River for Spain
The Expeditions of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle were a series of trips into the Mississippi and Ohio Valley by French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle that began in the late 1660s and continued for two decades. Much of the area that was explored was land that no European had ever ventured into. The expeditions led to the establishment of an overland trade route connecting French colonies in Canada with the French colonies in Louisiana. -
22 - Isaac Newton published his laws of gravity in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
One of the most important works in the history of modern science is Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), composed by English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. The Principia was revolutionizing because it provided an exact quantitative description of the motions of visible bodies, the significance of which is apparent in Newton’s laws of motion: -
22 - John Locke justifies rebellion in Two Treatises on Government
Two Treatises was first published, anonymously, in December 1689 (following printing conventions of the time, its title page was marked 1690). Locke was unhappy with this edition, complaining to the publisher about its many errors. For the rest of his life, he was intent on republishing the Two Treatises in a form that better reflected his meaning. Peter Laslett, one of the foremost Locke scholars, has suggested that Locke held the printers to a higher "standard of perfection". -
21- Peter the Great Takes the Throne
He took a trip to Europe called "The Great Embassy." He wanted to make Russia like Europe. -
21- War of Spanish Succession
Great Britain was the big winner. Thrones of France and Spain could not be united. -
21- Russia new capitol
The Capitol was called St. Petersburg. It was built on a swampy site and 25,000 - 100,000 people died building it -
22 - Frederick the Great begins his reign in Prussia
Frederick II (German: Friedrich; 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786) was the third Hohenzollern king, reigning over the Kingdom of Prussia from 1740 until 1786.[1] Frederick's achievements during his reign included his military victories, his reorganization of Prussian armies, his patronage of the Arts and the Enlightenment in Prussia, and his final success against great odds in the Seven Years' War. He became known as Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed Der Alte Fritz ("Ol -
22 - Denis Diderot published the first volumes of his Encyclopedia
Denis Diderot (French: [dəni didʁo]; 5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic and writer. He was a prominent figure during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. -
22 - Gabriel Fahrenheit makes the first mercury-in-glass thermometer
Grabriel Fahrenheit invented the Alcohol Thermometer in 1709, and the Mercury Thermometer in 1714.The key to Fahrenheit's thermometer was a new method for cleaning Mercury that enabled it to rise and fall within the tube without sticking to the sides. -
22 - Catherine the Great puts down the serf Rebellion
Catherine reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas, and many new cities and towns were founded on her orders. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and private landowners led to increased levels of reliance on serfs. This was one of the chief reasons behind several rebellions, including the large-scale Pugachev' -
22 - Cesare Beccaria writes against torture in On Crimes and Punishment
Cesare Bonesana-Beccaria, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio. (Italian: [ˈtʃɛːzare bekkaˈriːa]; 15 March 1738 – 28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, politician and one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers. He is best known for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty, and was a founding work in the field of penology and the Classical School of criminology. He promoted criminal justice. -
Seven Years' War begins
Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754-55 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America and seized hundreds of French merchant ships. Meanwhile rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers "switched partners"; Prussia established an alliance with Britain while traditional enemies France and Austria formed an alliance of their own. -
21- The Seven Years War
It was fought in Europe, India, and North America. It was between France and Britain. -
22 - Mary Wollstonecraft is born
Feminist writer and intellectual Mary Wollstonecraft was born on April 27, 1759, in London. Brought up by an abusive father, she left home and dedicated herself to a life of writing. While working as a translator to Joseph Johnson, a publisher of radical texts, she published her most famous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She died 10 days after her second daughter, Mary, was born. -
22 - Joseph II abolishes serfdom in Austria
When Joseph became sole ruler, he was determined to implement his own policies. One was broadening church reform. Joseph’s role as church reformer has been the subject of considerable debate. In Austrian history the term Josephinism generally means subjecting the Roman Catholic Church in the Habsburg lands to service for the state, but the origins and extent of such subjection have generated controversy. Both Maria Theresa and Joseph were devoutly Roman Catholic. -
22 - The Declaration of Independence is signed
The Declaration was signed has long been the subject of debate. Within a decade after the event, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams all wrote that the Declaration had been signed by Congress. -
First slave revolts in Hispaniola
The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was a slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was the only slave revolt which led to the founding of a state. Furthermore, it is generally considered the most successful slave rebellion ever to have occurred and as a defining moment in the histories of both Europe and the Americas. -
Machiavelli writes The Prince
The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics. -
22 - George III becomes the King of Great Britain
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738[1] – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch -
22 - Beethoven dies
The death of Ludwig van Beethoven on 26 March 1827 followed a prolonged illness. It was witnessed by his sister-in-law and by his close friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who provided a vivid description of the event. Beethoven's funeral was held three days later, and the procession was witnessed by a large crowd. He was buried in the cemetery at Währing, although his remains were moved in 1888 to Vienna's Zentralfriedhof.
