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Earliest remains of Homo sapiens, the modern human race, found in Ethiopia, Africa.
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Neanderthals living in Europe.
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Homo sapiens move out of Africa.
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Homo sapiens living in Southeast Asia.
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Homo sapiens living in Australia.
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Homo sapiens move into Europe, living alongside the existing Neanderthal populations.
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Last surviving Neanderthal population, living in what is now southern Spain, becomes extinct.
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Rye cultivated east of what is now Aleppo, Syria.
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Sheep domesticated in what is now Iraq.
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Pigs domesticated in China
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Wheat cultivated in Syria and Turkey, and barley cultivated in Israel, Jordan, and Iran.
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At Mehrgarh, on the northern edge of the Indus Valley, sheep and goats are farmed.
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Hunter-gatherers start turning to settled agriculture along the Nile Valley.
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Wild rice cultivated along the Chang (Tangtze) River in China.
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Cattle, probably bred from the wild aurochs, domesticated in Greece and Turkey.
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The first archaeological evidence of Sumerians in Mesopotamia.
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Advanced farming methods, including irrigation projects, first appear in Mesopotamia.
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Horses domesticated in Ukraine.
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In Egypt, at Naqada, near modern Luxor, a simple village culture flourishes.
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Humped cattle (zebu) are the most common domesticated animal in the Indus Valley.
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Farmers begin to settle on the Indus floodplain and to construct dams and canals for irrigation.
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Copper is in use in the Indus region.
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Rectangular brick houses replace circular huts at Naqada, and other Egyptian sites. Walled towns appear
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The potter's wheel is introduced to the Indus region.
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The first Sumerian towns appear. Primitive writing is developed.
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Uruk becomes the first large Sumerian city, with a population of around 50,000.
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By this date Egyptians are using both river- and ocean-going sailing boats.
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The first know examples of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing date from this time.
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Yam were cultivated in West Africa.
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At Banpo in northern China, communities build large meeting houses over 60 feet long.
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The ox-drawn plow, invented in the Near East, changes the landscape as farmers clear forests to make bigger fields.
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Wealth from olive and vine culture encourages the growth of the first towns in the Aegean Sea region.
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Walga Rock in Western Australia is used as a shelter by Aboriginal hunter-gatherers and reamins in use for the next 5,000 years.
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Independent Sumerian city-states flourish in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq).
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Early cuneiform writing begins to replace pictographs.
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Egypt's Early Dynastic Period begins when the First Dynasty is established under the Pharaoh Menes.
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Egyptian astronomer-priests devise the first 365-day calendar.
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The Phoenicians, a seafaring people of the Mediterranean's eastern shore, settle on the Lebanese coast and establish settlements.
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In Sumer, the first ziggurats, stepped temple-towers are bulit.
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Egyptian scribes begin to write on papyrus made from the crushed stems of a fibruous plant growing along the banks of the Nile River.
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Neolithic (New Stone Age) settlers at Skara Brae north of Scotland bulid stone houses sunk beneath ground level and covered with turf.
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Gilgamesh becomes ruler of Uruk. He will later be immortalized as a semidivine king in the world's first literary epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
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The production of silk from silkworms starts in China.
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Early Minoan civilization develops on Crete.
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Rulers of the southern city-state of Ur are buried in tombs together with their attendants.
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The Great Pyramid at Giza is built as a 480-foot-high tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu.
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The cat is first domesticated in Egypt
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The two-humped Bactrian camel is domesticated in Central Asia.
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Bronzeworking begins to develop from this time on in China.
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Farmers around the Mediterranean develop the technique of winemaking.
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In India's Indus Valley cities like Harappa attract a population of up to 40,000 people living in houses with bathrooms and toilets connected to a common drainage system.
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Sumerian writing spreads abroad as trade routes are opened.
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The Sumerian city-states are overrun by Sargon of Akkad, a ruler whose power base lies farther north within Mesopotamia. Sargon establishes the first empire known in history.
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Immigrants from Anatolia (Turkey) bring Bronze Age culture to Greece.
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The Indus civilization is at its height and continues to flourish for the next 400 years.
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Egypt's Old Kingdom gives way to a time of troubles called by modern scholars the "First intermediate Period."
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A massive stone circle made up of blocks weighing up to 50 tons makes Stonehenge southern England's major ceremonial center.
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From Ur, King Ur-Nammu reasserts Sumerian power, founds schools for scribes, establishes the first legal code, introduces calendar reforms, and promotes international trade.
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Start of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt as Mentuhotep II, ruler of Upper Egypt, conquers Lower Egypt to reunite the country.
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Rice is cultivated in northern Vietnam's Red River Valley.
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First evidence of bronze in the Indus region.
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Ironworking spreads across western Asia, although another millennium will pass before the metal is widely available.
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Ur is sacked by the Elamites from southwestern Iran, bringing the great age of Sumerian civilization to an end.
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The Amorites establish a dynasty of kings in the town of Babylon.
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The patriarch Abraham, father and founder of the Jewish religion, lived in Ur around this time.
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Aryans arrive in northwestern India, bringing with them chariots, cattle, and the Sanskrit language.
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Hammurabi I comes to the throne of Babylon. By his death in about 1750 BCE the city is the center of an empire stretching to Assyria and the Iran.
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Foundation of China's Shang Dynasty, the first for which solid archaeological evidence exists.
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For reasons that remain unexplained the Indus Valley cities are abandoned by their inhabitants.
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The earliest literary classic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, is written down.
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Amber and other luxury items, as well as raw materials like copper and tin, are traded back and forth across central Europe.
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Horses are started to be used as draft animals, revolutioning transportation. Horseback riding, however, remains uncommon.
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Egypt's middle kingdom comes to an end and the Second intermediate Period begins in Egypt as the Hyksos kings take power in northern Egypt. They bring with them the horse-drawn chariot.
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The Mycenaean civilization emerges on the Greek mainland at about this time.
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Ahmose reunites Egypt, driving out the Hyksos and begins the New Kingdom.
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Bronze is made into weapons, tools, and ornaments in Vietnam.
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Rice cultivation reaches the Ganges Valley in India.
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Queen Hatshepsut becomes Egypt's second female pharaoh.
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In China Shang Dynasty bones are inscribed with a fully developed script.
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The boy-king Tutankhamen comes to power in Egypt.
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Evidence of Ironworking appears in the valley of the Ganges.
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Accession of Ramses II, whose 66-year reign marks the peak of Egyptian power.
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Greece's Mycenaean civilization collapses.
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The Israelites leave Egypt on the migration to Canaan known as the Exodus.
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The Jews, under the kingship of Joshua, conquer Canaan.
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The Phoenicians adopt a phonetic (sound-based) alphabet, a radical departure from the pictographic scripts.
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Egypt's New Kingdom comes to an end as civil war divides the nation.
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Dorian invaders from Anatolia (modern Turkey) move into Greece bringing with them the secrets of ironworking.
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In China, the Shang Dynasty is overthrown by the Zhou. The new dynasty extends the cultural advances made in the Shang centuries.
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Saul becomes the first king of the Israelites.
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David rules first over the southern kingdom of Judah and later over all Israel, establishing his capital in Jerusalem.
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The people of Central Asia develop the skills of horseback riding.
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Skilled bronzemaking is widespread in China.
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The Brahmanic caste system becomes well established in India.
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Migrating Aryans form the kingdom of Para (Persia).
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Ironworking techniques spread from the Middle East to southern Europe.
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Rice is domesticated by West African farmers in the flood basins of the middle Niger River.
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King Solomon builds the Great Temple at Jerusalem.
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The Assyrian Empire becomes dominant in the Tigris Valley region.
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The Jewish kingdom separtes into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
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Steppe horsemen introduce the saddle and horseback archery.
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Sparta is founded in the southern Peloponnese region of Greece; its citizens become renowned for their military discipline.
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The first settlements appear on the site of Rome's Palatine Hill.
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The Phoenician colony of Carthage is founded in North Africa.
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Ironworking begins to spread across sub-Saharan Africa.
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Wet rice cultivation and bronze technology are exported from China to Korea.
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Sparta and Athens grow in power and grandeur.
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Etruscans establish the first towns in Italy, building on hillside terraces and surrounding their settlements with huge timbered walls.
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The Phoenician trading empire extends through much of the coastal Mediterranean.
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The first Olympic Games are held at Olympia in southern Greece.
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The traditional date of the foundation of Rome.
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The first evidence of a Greek alphabet comes from this period.
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The great epics of Homer are composed (although not yet written down).
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Assyria conquers Damascus. Over the next 17 years the Assyrians also overcome Babylon and make Israel and Judah vassel (subject) states.
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In Athens, Greece, hereditary kingship comes to an end, to be replaced with elected officials.
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Babylonian astrologers correctly predict a solar eclipse.
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The Assyrian Empire falls to the Babylonians.
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Phoenicians complete their circumnavigation of Africa.
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Ironworking begins to develop in China.
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The Book of Songs, the first anthology of Chinese poetry is compiled.
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Coinage comes into use on the Greek mainland.
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Solon becomes sole governor of Athens. His laws lay the foundations of Athenian democracy.
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After a long siege, Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. He destroys the city including the Temple, and takes many Jews captive to Babylon.
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Birth of Siddhartha Gautama in India.
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Croesus becomes king of Lydia, a legendarily rich kingdom in Asia Minor (Turkey).
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Cyrus becomes ruler of Persia.
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Birth of Confucius.
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Cyrus the Great defeats Croesus, and brings all of Asia Minor under control of the Persian Empire.
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The first know Greek tragedy is performed at Athens.
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Babylon falls to Cyrus the Great, bringing Mesopotamia under Persian rule. Jewish exiles are permitted to return to their homeland of Judah.
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Death of Cyrus the Great. His is succeeded by his son Cambyses, who conquers Egypt.
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Camels are introduced into North Africa from Persia.
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Siddhartha has the vision on which the Buddhist religion will be founded.
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Cambyses dies, and Darius I comes to the throne of Persia. He begins to extend the borders of the Persian Empire beyond the Indus into northern India, defeating disunited Aryan forces.
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A new temple is completed in the rebuilt Jerusalem.
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Traditional date for the foundation of the Roman Republic.
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Bronze coins are introduced in China.
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Ironworking begins in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand).
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Sun Tzu of China writes the Art of War, the earliest military handbook.
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The Greek cities of Ionia on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor rebel against Persian rule.
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After going on strike, Roman plebeians win the right to appoint tribunes to protect their interests.
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King Darius I of Persia launches an attack against mainland Greece to punish the city-states for their support of the Ionian cites. His forces are defeated at the Battle of Marathon.
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Death of the Buddha or Enlightened One. The First Great Council of his followers is held to agree on the main tenets of his teaching.
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The Warring States Period begins in China, lasting until 221 BCE; A weakened China is divided among about 20 different kingdoms vying for supermacy. In theory the emperors of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty still have overall control, but in practice their authority counts for little.
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Spartans fight to the last man in an attempt to halt a fresh Persian invasion by King Xerxes (Ashsuarus) at Thermopylae, but fail.
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Death of Confucius, the Chinese sage whose name is given to the body of Chinese beliefs known as Confucianism.
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The Greek physician Hippocrates, traditionally regarded as the founder of the scientific study of medicine, is born.
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Reindeer are domesticated by nomadic herders in the Sayan Mountains of Central Asia.
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The Athenian stateman Pericles starts construction of the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena completed over the following 10 years.
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The Greek philosopher Socrates, is convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens by his teachings and is sentenced to drink hemlock, a deadly poison.
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Plato founds the Academy in Athens as a school for teaching philosophy.
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Xiao becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Qin in western China; his chief minister, the philopshoper Shang Yang, introduces sweeping reforms to end the power of the aristocracy and strengthen the army. Over the next 21 years Shang Yang turns Qin from a small realm into a strong, centralized state.
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Philip II comes to power in Macedon and sets about transforming his small kingdom into a major power.
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The crossbow is invented in China.
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Earthen frontier walls are built in northern China as a defense against invading nomads; they will continue to be built and linked together until 214 BCE forming the Great Wall of China.
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Philip employs the philosopher Aristotle as tutor for his son Alexander.
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After the murder of Philip II his son Alexander becomes king of Macedon and adopts Philip's plan to invade Persia.
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Darius III becomes Persian ruler.
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Alexander invades Anatolia and routs a Persian army.
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Alexander takes control of Egypt, and the following year founds the city of Alexandria on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
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Alexander defeats a Persian army winning control of Mesopotamia.
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Alexander burns down the Persian royal palace. After that, Darius III is murdered by one of his governors, leaving Alexander in control of all the Persian Empire's lands.
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Alexander conquers what is today Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and invades the Indus Valley through 326 BCE
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Alexander the Great dies suddenly in Babylon, this unleashes a long power struggle between his successors for control of the lands he conquered.
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From a power base in northwestern India Chandragupta Maurya seizes control of the kingdom of Magadha and founds the Mauryan Empire.
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The first major Roman road, the Appian Way, is begun. Running south from Rome to Capua, it is the first link in a network that eventually stretch over 50,000 miles.
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Chandragupta Maurya extends his kingdom as far as the Indus Valley, where he encounters resistance from Alexander's successors.
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In the power vacuum following Alexander's death, Ptolemy, Egypt's Macedonian governor, proclaims himself pharaoh; the Ptolemaic Dynasty that he founds will rule Egypt until 30 BCE.
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Seleucus, one of Alexander's former generals, establishes the Selucid Kingdom in Mesopotamia and Persia.
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Chandragupta signs a peace treaty with Seleucus; by its terms the Mauryans receive much of today's Afghanistan and Pakistan in return for their alliance and a corps of 500 war elephants.
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Euclid, a Greek mathematician working at the court of Ptolemy I in Alexandria, outlines the main principles of geometry.
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Archimedes is born in the Greek colony of Syracuse, Sicily: He will be remembered for calculating the value of pi and for breakthroughs in science and mechanics.
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By this date the conflicts of the Warring States are slowly drawing toward a resolution: Only seven main kingdoms - Qin, Zhou, Wei, Han, Qi, and Yan - now survive as independent states.
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In India, the Mauryan Empire reaches it height with the accenssion of Ashoka: In his 37-year reign he will extend his power over all but the far south of the Indian subcontinent.
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Indian Emperor Ashoka becomes an adherent to Buddhism. His emissaries carry the cree not only across India but beyond, to Sri Lanka and into Southeast Asia.
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Victory in the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage gives Rome control of Sicily, its first overseas province.
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Ashoka's death marks the start of the Mauryan Empire's decline.
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The Warring States Period in China ends with final victory for the Kingdom of Qin and the unification of China under the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi.
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The Second Punic War breaks out between Rome and the North African city of Carthage. The Carthaginian general Hannibal crosses the Alps with a force of 46,000 men and 37 war elephants to invade Italy from the north.
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The Great Wall of China is completed.
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Shihuangdi dies and is buried with a "Terracotta Army" of more than 7,000 pottery soldiers. After his death civil war breaks out among his heirs.
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The entire Qin Royal family is massacred by rebels led by a peasant warrior, Liu Bang.
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Liu Bang establishes a new dynasty, the Han, becoming its first emperor under the name Gaozu.
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The Second Punic War ends with Rome in undisputed control of the Mediterranean.
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The water buffalo is used as a draft animal in Southeast Asia from around this time.
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Hispania (Spain) becomes a province of the Roman Republic.
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Texts celebrating Pharaoh Ptolemy V are carved on the Rosetta Stone in Greek and Egyptian scripts; 2,000 years later they will be the key to deciphering hieroglyphics.
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Buddhism in India suffers a major setback when Pushyamitra seizes power from Ashoka's Mauryan successors: Under the new Shunga Dynasty the Brahmin elite of Hinduism returns to power.
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The Selucid king, Antiochos IV, outlaws the practice of Judaism even in Judah itself, rededicating the Temple of Jerusalem to the Greek god Zeus. His actions spark off the Revolt of the Maccabeans, followers of Judah Maccabeus.
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The Maccabean rebels win back and rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem. These events are commemorated each year as the holiday of Hanukkah.
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The Romans revolutionize engineering and construction with the discovery of how to make and work with concrete.
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The Greek city-state of Corinth is sacked, effectively bringing Greek resistance to Roman rule to and end.
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The Third Punic War ends with the final destruction of Carthage, leaving Rome as the unchallenged master of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Judah Maccabeus's brother Simon establishes an independent Jewish state under the rule of the Hasmonean Dynasty.
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In China iron and salt are made state monopolies, increasing the Han Dynasty's control over the nation's economy.
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The minting of coins is made a state monopoly in Han China.
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Traditional date for the invention of paper, made from scraps of cloth and wood chips, in China. For the next two centuries paper will only be used for wrapping and packing, not for writing.
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Uprisings by Germanic tribes are ruthlessly put down by the Romans.
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The Silk Road trade route between China and the West across Central Asia is in full swing.
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The earliest known Chinese lacquerware dates from this time.
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Lucius Sulla is appointed dictator of Rome. He butchers his opponents.
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The Greeks invent a calculator for astronomical or calendrical purposes that use an elaborate system of intermeshing gears.
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A slave revolt led by a Thracian slave and gladiator name Spartacus is crushed.
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The Roman general Pompey conquers Syria.
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Pompey wins control of the Bible lands for Rome, forcing the Hasmoneans to accept Rome's authority. Judea (Israel and Judah) become a province of the Roman Empire.
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Rome founds colonies in what is today Switzerland.
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Julius Caesar begins a 10-year campaign to conquer Gaul (France).
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Cleopatra becomes ruler of Egypt as coregent with her brother. The two become involved in a power struggle that Cleopatra wins with the help of the visiting Julius Caesar.
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The invention of glassblowing in Syria revolutionizes the glassmaking industry.
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Julius Caesar takes his troops without permission across the Rubicon, a stream separating Italy from Gaul. He fights a civil war with the general and politician Pompey the Great.
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Following the defeat and death of Pompey, Caesar becomes sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
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Declared dictator for life, Julius Caesar is assassinated on his way to a meeting of the Roman Senate by colleagues unwilling to accept one-man rule.
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Caesar's adopted son and heir Octavian joins forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus to reconstitute the government.
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Mark Antony gives Cleopatra 200,000 volumes to add to the library in Alexandria, making it the greatest in the world.
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Herod the Great is appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate. He replaces the last of the Hasmonean kings, and builds a new temple in Jerusalem.
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Mark Antony, who is married to Octavian's sister, provokes anger in Rome by flaunting his relationship with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt.
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Octavian's navy under the command of Agrippa, defeats Antony and Cleopatra's forces at the Battle of Actium. This leaves Octavian master of the Roman world.
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Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide. Rome annexes Egypt.
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Octavian takes the name Augustus and is given overriding authority over all Rome's territories, inaugurating the imperial period of Roman history.
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The Roman general Agrippa completes the conquest of Spain.
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The poet Virgil completes the Aeneid, the greatest Roman epic.
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The Chinese invent methods for drilling wells over 3,250 feet deep to obtain water and natural gas.
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Probable year of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Judea.
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A census gives the population of China's Han Empire at 57 million.
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Rome annexes Judea as a province of the empire, one of its governors, Pontius Pilate, will later convict Jesus of sedition.
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The Chinese build cast-iron suspension bridges strong enough to carry vehicles.
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Augustus dies and is succeeded as emperor by the 55-year-old Tiberius.
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Jesus of Nazareth is crucified in Jerusalem. Peter, his disciple brings his followers together in the days after his death.
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Tiberius is succeded by the crazed Caligula, who, two years later, proclaims himself a god.
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Caligula is murdered by soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, who replace him with his uncle, Claudius.
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A Roman army under Claudius conquers Britain and establishes the city of London on the Thames River.
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Brought by Indian merchants and missionaries, Buddhism establishes a presence in China, but makes headway only slowly against the country's own strong spiritual traditions.
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Claudius dies, reputedly poisoned by his own wife, Agrippina, to be replaced by Nero, her 17-year-old son by a previous husband.
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The Christian apostle Paul is sent for trial to Rome and is eventually executed under Emperor Nero.
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Indian exports of spices, jewels, and textiles become such a drain on the Roman economy that the Emperor Nero bans the import of pepper.
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Nero executes Christians after a great fire in Rome; Peter, the first bishop of Rome, is believed to have died in this persecution.
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The First Jewish Revolt breaks out against Roman rule.
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A Jewish sect hides more than 600 religious manuscripts in caves at Qumran, Jordan. Discovered in 1947 and known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the documents include the earliest known copies of the Jewish Bible.
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Work begins on China's Grand Canal, which eventually reaches a length of more than 1,100 miles.
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Jerusalem is captured by imperial troops after a 139-day siege. The Temple is destroyed, and many Jews are forced into exile.
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The last Jewish rebels commits mass suicide at the clifftop fortress of Masada in southern Judea to avoid having to surrender to Roman troops.
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The volcano Vesuvius erupts, burying the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on Italy's west coast.
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The Colosseum, an amphitheater holding over 50,000 spectators is completed in Rome.
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The four Gospels are written.
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Greco-Roman merchants are sailing to East Africa for ivory.
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Buddhism begins to spread in China.
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The Roman conquest of Armenia and Parthia (northwest Persia) marks the high point of imperial expansion.
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Plutarch, the Greek historian, biographer, and philosopher, dies.
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In Judea the Second Jewish Revolt breaks out under Simeon bar Kokba.
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The Roman Emperor Hadrian completes his stone and turf wall across northern Britain.
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The bar Kokba revolt is crushed by Roman forces. In its wake Judea is renamed Palestine, and its former Jewish population is scattered; Jew are forbidden to enter Jerusalem.
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The philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius rules Rome with humane policies.
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Egyptian astronomer and geographer Ptolemy dies. His legacy is the Earth-centered view of the universe that becomes known as the Ptolemaic-System.
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The despotic Roman Emperor Commodus is strangled.
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The last Han emperor is deposed and the empire is divided into three separate kingdoms.
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Persia's Sasanian Empire is founded when the Parthian realm is over thrown.
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In Rome a chaotic period begins in which power rests with the army, in all, 37 different men are declared emperor over the next 35 years.
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For the first time the Roman Empire finds itself attacked on several fronts: in Africa, in Europe, and in Persia.
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Anti-Christian rioting breaks out in Alexandria, Egypt.
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The Franks take advantage of the withdrawal of a Roman garrison from Gaul to cross the Rhine frontier into the empire.
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The Goths, a Germanic tribe occupying the Black Sea region (Ukraine and Bulgaria), make one of several incursions into Roman territory, pillaging Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece.
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Troubled by barbarian attacks, the Emperor Diocletian divides the Roman Empire into western and eastern parts, appointing his friend, Maximus, to rule the west.
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Chandragupta I, the founder of the Gupta Empire, begins to expand his kingdom from a small heartland on the southern banks of the Ganges River.
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Constantine founds the city of Constantinople on the Bosporus strait between Europe and Asia.
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Dunhuang, an oasis town at the edgeof the Gobi Desert on the Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean, becomes a flourishing Buddhist center.
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The Huns, nomadic horsemen from Central Asia begin raiding across the eastern Persian border.
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Missionaries bring Buddhism to Korea, where it will become the state religion for over 1,000 years.
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In India, the Gupta Empire reaches its peak under Chandragupta II, almost rivaling the Mauryan Empire in size.
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Christianity is proclaimed the official religion of Egypt. Many temples of the old gods are destroyed.
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The Visigoths, led by Alaric, rampage through the Balkans and Greece.
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Indian traders introduce Hinduism to parts of Southeast Asia.
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A barbarian army of Vandals crosses the Rhine and invades deep into Gaul.
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Britain ceses to be part of the Western Roman Empire after the Roman garrison is withdrawn.
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Eastern Emperor Thodosius II builds a strong defensive wall to protect Constantinople.
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Hypatia, a mathematician and philosopher of Alexandria, is murdered by a Christian mob, perhaps on the instructions of Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, who resented her influence.
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The Huns invade the Roman Empire.
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By this time 90 percent of the population of northern China is Buddhist.
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Groups of Anglo-Saxons, originally from northern Germany and Denmark, begin to settle in eastern and southern England.
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The last emperor of Rome in the west is deposed by Odoacer, a barbarian general who declares himself king of Italy, thus marking the end of the Roman Empire in the west.
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Clovis becomes king of the Franks, whose territory consists at the time of an area in present-day Belgium.481
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The Huns invade Gupta lands in India, bringing the empire to an end.
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The Emperor Wu Ti becomes a Buddhist and introduces the new religion to central China.
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Aryabhata, a Hindu astronomer and mathematician correctly states that the Earth rotates on its axis.
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Byzantine Emperor Justinian I codifies Roman law in a publication that will influence the law of most European countries down to modern times.
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The church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, the first building with a large domed roof, is consecrated. It will remain the largest church in the Christian world until the 16th century.
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The game of chess originates in the Indus Valley in India.
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Buddhism is introduced from Korea to the Japanese court.
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The Treaty of Edessa establishes temporary peace between the Byzantines and Sassanians. The Sassanians abadond claims to the Black Sea region in return for an annual payment of 30,000 gold pieces.
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Birth of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca, Arabia.
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Prince Shotuku becomes regent for the Empress Suiko.
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As climate change increases aridity, the Sahara spreads slowly south.
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Indian mathematicians have developed a decimal system and the concept of zero by this date.
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Prince Shotoku issues the Seventeen Article Constitution.
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A four-year program begins in China to build the 1,200-mile Grand Canal.
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Muhammad's divine mission begins with the first appearance to him of the Archangel Gabriel.
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The first inscription in the Khmer language at Angkor in Cambodia dates from this year.
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By now the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England is largely complete.
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Usurping his Sui cousin, Li Yuan seizes power in China, founding the Tang Dynasty.
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King Khusrow II is captured and executed by the Byznatine Emperor Heraclius, heralding the decline of Persia's Sasanian Dynasty.
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Muhammad and his followers leave Mecca for the city of Medina.
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Heraclius retakes Egypt, Syria, and Palestine for Byzantium but almost immediately faces a new threat from the forces of Islam.
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Meccans surrender their city, and the Kaaba, to the Muslims. Muhammad launches a raid through northern Arabia to the borders of Byzantine Syria.
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Muhammad dies, and a meeting of elders elect his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, to inherit his authority as caliph, rather than his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.
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Byzantium is seriously weakend by the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt.
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Heraclius dies, leaving the Byzantine Empire beset by barbarian tribes from the north and west, Arabs from the south, and Persians from the east.
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All land in Japan comes under imperial control.
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Caliph Uthman brings Muhammad's teachings together to form a single sacred volume, the Koran.
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The first known Tang Dynasty law code dates from this year; its influence will linger for centuries.
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Ali ibn Abi Talib eventually becomes caliph, but his succession is disputed. Outbreak of first civil war between Ali and dissident Muslims led by Muawiya, governor of Syria.
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Tang Dynasty victories agains the Turks extend Chinese control of the Silk Road westward.
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The war ends with Ali's murder and Muawiya's recognition as caliph. His Umayyad descendants hold power over the Islamic world for the next 90 years.
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The Synod of Whitby, a church council held in northern England, establishes papal control over the English church, rejecting practices favored in the Celtic churches of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.
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Byzantine forces use "Greek fire", a flammable mixture fired from bronze tubes, to end a five-year blockade of Constantinople, marking a first significant setback for Islam's forces.
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The conflict passes down a generation as Husayn, son of Ali, attempts to seize power from Muawiya's heir, Yazid. He and his supporters are massacred at Karbala, Iraq.
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Yazid dies, and a second civil war breaks out. Power passes eventually at Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam, who reasserts Umayyad power at the cost of permanently alienating his Shiite opponents.
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Pepin of Heristal unites all the Frankish territories at the Battle of Tertry.
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The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is completed on the spot from which the Prophet is reputed to have ascended to heaven.
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China enjoys a period of great artistic creativity under the Tang emperors; poetry, figure painting, and pottery all reach high levels of attainment.
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Arab armies under generals, including Muhammad bin Qasim extend Islamic rule into Central Asia, the Indus Valley, and part of the Punjab in northwest India.
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The earliest official coinage is introduced in Japan.
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The first Muslim raids across the Straits of Gibraltar into southern Spain takes place under the military leadership of Jabal Tariq ibn Ziyad and others.
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Charles Martel succeeds his father Pepin as ruler of the Franks.
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The Arab conquest of Spain as far as the Pyrenees is completed under the leadership of Musa ibn Nusayr and others.
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The Nihon Shoki, the earliest history of Japan, is written.
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Schools are established in every prefecture and district in China by imperial edict.
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The Chinese develop woodblock printing on single-sheets of paper; at first it is used mainly to print devotional Buddhist pictures and literature.
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The first paper mill is established in the Islamic empire.
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Arab merchants from North Africa trade across the Sahara, exchanging salt, glass, and horses for African gold, ivory, and slaves.
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As-Saffah, a descendent of Ali, mounts a successful revolt against the Umayyads. He massacres almost the entire Umayyad family, and establishes his own Abbasid Dynasty, which reigns throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
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The Arabs adopt Indian numerals, they are the "Arabic" numerals in general use today.
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Baghdad is established as the new capital of the Abbasid caliphate, and becomes the center of a thriving commercial empire, with trade to China and East Africa.
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Charlemagne succeeds his father Pepin as king of the Franks, ruling with his brother Carloman.
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Birth of Sankaracharya, the great Hindu philosopher and guru; he will reinterpret the Vedas and found four monastic centers of learning in India that still survive today.
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Vikings raid Lindisfarne Monastery, off the coast of northern England. This is their first major raid in Europe.
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Emperor Kammu establishes the imperial court at Heian (Kyoto).
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Attracted by the riches of Byzantium and the Islamic world, Swedish Vikings known as Varangians begin to thrust south through the East Slavic heartland, traveling down rivers to the Black Sea.
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Charlemagne, king of the Franks, is crowned in Rome as the first of the Holy Roman emperors by the pope.
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The Tang emperors of China issue an early form of paper currency.
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Caliph Al-Ma'mun establishes the House of Wisdom, an academy that sponsors the translation of important Greek and Indian scientific and philosophical works.
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The Arab mathematician Al-Khwarizmi introduces the concept of algebra.
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Nonnative relgions, including Buddhism and Christianity, are banned in China; Confucianism is restored as the state ideology.
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Burmans establish Pagan as their capital city.
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Trade is on the increase in southern Africa, as shown by substantial finds of imported goods at a site on the Limpopo River.
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In China gunpowder is mentioned for the first time.
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Eastern Vikings, known to the Byzantines as Varangians and to the local Slavs as Rus (from which the word "Russia" will derive), establish the state of Kiev in Ukraine.
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The Varangian ruler Rurik establishes a capital at Novgorod.
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Danish Vikings occupying England capture the town of York.
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Arabs inhabiting what is now southeast Iran and Pakistan establish their independence from the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad under the Saffarid Dynasty, which goes on to conquesr all Iran.
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Alfred the Great, king of Wessex in southwest England, defeats the Danes at the Battle of Edington.
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Oleg, Rurik's successor, becomes ruler of Novgorod; he will unite it and Kiev to form the first Russian state which will extend from the Gulf of Finland to the Black Sea.
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The Arab astronomer al-Battani calculates the exact length of the year and the precession of the equinoxes.
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The Persian scholar ar-Razi describes infectious diseases.
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Woodblock printing is widely used in China, Japan, and Korea.
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The Fatimid Dynasty, leaders of the Ismaeli branch of Shia Islam, is established in Tunisia.
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Rebels led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi sack Mecca, confirming a weakening of Abbasid power. Difficulties are compounded by the westward advance of the Seljuk Turks from Central Asia.
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Prince Igor Syatoslavich, Oleg's successor, invades Azerbaijan.
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Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York, is killed; England is united under the Anglo-Saxon King Edred.
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Seizing power in a military coup, Taizu becomes the first emperor of the Song Dynasty.
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Alptigin, a Turkish warrior, founds a Turkic Islamic kingdom in Afghanistan, with its capital at Ghazni. The Ghaznavid Dynasty will control this region for two hundred years.
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Birth of al-Hazen, Arab scientist who did pioneering work on vision. His Book of Optics remains the most authoritative treatment of optics for centuries.
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A university is founded at Cairo.
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A hospital is founded in Baghdad that employs 24 physicians and houses a surgery and a department of eye disorders.
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Chiao Wei-Yo invents the canal lock - an enclosure with gates at each end - for raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to another.
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Erik the Red founds Viking settlements on Greenland.
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Hugh Capet is crowned king of France, founding the Capetian Dynasty.
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Vladimer, Svaitoslav's son and successor, converts to Orthodox Christianity and orders his people to be baptized en masse. In return he is given the hand of the Byzantine emperor's, Basil II, sister Anna.
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Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni declares jihad for the conversion of India.
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First Iron Age settlements in Zimbabwe.
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By this time the Chinese are burning coal for fuel.
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Viking Greenlanders found a shortlived settlement in Newfoundland.
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King Olaf introduces Christianity to Sweden.
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The reign of King Suryavarman I of Khmer; he extends the Khmer Empire westward into Thailand.
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The House of Knowledge, a science library, is founded in Cairo, Egypt.
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Caliph al-Hakim orders the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
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The Tale of Genji, which many scholars claim to be the world's first novel, is written at the Heian court by Lady Murasaki Shikibu.
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Canute, son of the Danish king, defeats an English army and becomes king of all England.
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Mahmud of Ghazni destroys and loots the wealthy Hindu temple of Somnath on the Gujarat coast, returning to Afghanistan with about 6 tons of gold.
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Mahmud of Ghazni dies; under his successors his dynasty limps on, though much reduced.
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The Seljuks return to Khurasan under Chaghri-Beg and Tughril-Beg.
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The Song administrator Fan Zhongyan introduces a program of bureaucratic, military, and land reforms. Measures include civil-service recruitment strictly on academic merit and the abolition of appointments by patronage.
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Dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, the magnificent Kandarya Mahadeva Temple is completed in north-central India. More than 900 carvings of gods, dancing girls, and demons decorate its exterior.
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Edward the Confessor of England names Duke William of Normandy as his heir.
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The schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches becomes permanent.
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Tughril-Beg of the Seljuk Turks captures Baghdad from its Buyid rulers and restores the Abbasid (Sunni) caliphate.
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The Berber Almoravid Dynasty begins the conquest of Morocco and part of Algeria.
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Anawrahta conquers the Mon city of Thaton in southern Myanmar; he transports the Mon royal family, and their scholars and craftsmen, to Pagan.
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The Almoravids establish their capital at the Morocan city of Marrakesh.
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Seljuk Turks, led by Alp Arslan, invade Armenia and occupy the old capital of Ani.
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Following the death of King Edward, the English throne goes to Harold, earl of Wessex. William invades England, defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and is crowned king.
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Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan set out on a campaign against Fatimid Egypt but turn back to defeat a Byzantine army in eastern Anatolia.
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While subduing an uprising in Central Asia, Alp Arslan is fatally stabbed by a prisoner. He is succeeded by his 18-year old son, Malik Shah, whose title "shah," meaning "king" in both Arabic and Persian, indicates the Seljuk ruler's ambition to unite the Muslim world.
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The Japanese warrior class of samurai is growing as powerful landowners hire large private armies for protection.
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Magnetized needle compasses are in use as navigational devices on Chinese ships.
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Landscape painting on panels or long rolls of silk flourishes in China under the Song emperors.
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Pope Gregory VII's ban on lay investitures (appointments) to the church is challenged by Henry IV, Holy Roman emperor. The struggle between the papacy and the empire is known as the Investiture Contest.
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At the Synod of Worms bishops loyal to Henry IV declare Pope Gregory VII deposed. In return Gregory declares Henry deposed and excommunicates him and the bishops supporting him.
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Threatened by rebellion in Germany, Henry IV goes as a penitent to Canossa in Italy. After Henry has waited for three days, Pope Gregory VII agrees to absolve (forgive) him and to reinstate him as emperor.
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Iron production in China reaches 125,000 tons per year; a single ironworks employs nearly 30,000 workers.
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The Normans build the White Tower, a stone fortress that forms the core of the present-day Tower of London.
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Omar Khayyam and a team of scientists under Seljuk patronage produce a solar calendar that is the world's most accurate until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
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Sima Guang, Chinese scholar and statesman, completes a history of China from 403 BCE to the beginning of the Song Dynasty.
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Henri IV's army captures Rome. In 1084 Gregory VII appeals for aid to the Normans of southern Italy; the Normans repel Henry's army but go on to sack Rome itself, forcing Gregory into exile.
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Malik Shah invades Palestine and expels the ruling Egyptian Fatimid Dynasty.
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The Almovarids under the leadership of Yusuf ibn Tashfin invade southern Spain from Morocco at the invitation of local Muslim rulers and defeat King Alfonso VI of Castile; they establish their rule over much of Spain.
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The first European university is founded at Bologna in northern Italy.
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A water-driven mechanical clock is built for the Song court.
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On the death of Malik Shah the Seljuk sultanate begins to fragment.
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80,000 candidates take the civil service examinations.
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Pope Urban II appeals for the launch of the First Crusade.
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The First Crusade ends with the capture of Jerusalem.
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The crusaders capture Antioch in Syria from the Seljuks.
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After capturing Jerusalem, the crusader leaders decide to rule the Holy Land as a feudal kingdom divided into four great baronies of the king of Jerusalem, Godfrey of Bouillon, their overlord.
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China's population reaches 97 million.
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The Ghurid Dynasty takes control of northwestern Afghanistan form the Ghaznavids.
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Hindu Temple building is at its height in India; the Jagannath Temple at Puri in Orissa is begun about this time.
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Caravansaries (hostels providing free shelter for travelers) are built along important trade routes in Asia Minor.
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Padded horse collars are introduced in Europe; they make it possible for horses to pull heavy plows, so improving agricultural productivity.
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King William II of England is killed by an arrow while out hunting; the throne passes to his younger brother Henry.
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Death of al-Ghazali, the most important Muslim jurist and theologian of his day.
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King Alfonso I of Aragon captures Saragossa from the Muslims and extends his kingdom to the Mediterranean.
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Windmills first come into use in Europe.
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An agreement between Pope Calixtus IIand the German Emperor Henry V, the Concordat of Worms, ends the contest over lay investiture.
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Tyre falls to the crusaders; most of the coast of Palestine is now in the hands of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
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The Khmer ruler Suryavarman II begins the construction of the temple of Angkor Wat in present-day Cambodia.
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The Jin capture the Song capital of Kaifeng and take the emperor,We Zong, and his son, Qin Zong, prisoners. Other members of the dynasty flee, where Gao Zong declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty with a new capital at Hangzhou on the Yangtze River.
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Ships powered by paddlewheels are in use on lakes and rivers in Chinas
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Eleanor of Aquitaine, wealthy heriess of the duke of Aquitaine in southwest France, marries King Louis VII of France.
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Geoffrey on Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain spreads the popular legends of King Arthur and the Round Table.
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At the urging of General Yui Fei's political enemies, Emperor Gao Zong recalls his general to Hangzhou and has him executed before making peace with the Jin.
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al-Din Zengi, the governor of Mosel, captures Edessa from the crusaders, prompting the Second Crusade.
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The Second Crusade, led by Louis VII of France ends in failure.
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The Seljuk Turks' Sultanate of Rum (named in honor of imperial Rome) now extends deep into Byzantine territory in what will come to be known as Turkey.
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Averroes (Ibn Rushd), the most famous Islamic philosopher of his day, is active in Cordoba, Spain; his writings translated into Latin, will be responsible for reintroducing knowledge of Aristotle's works to western Europe.
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Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages.
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Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry of Anjou and makes Henry the master of much of western France.
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Henry of Anjou inherits the English crown, founding the Plantagenet Dynasty as King Henry II.
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Construction begins of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
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Saladin establishes himself as Egypt's first Ayyubid sultan.
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King Richard I is taken hostage by Duke Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Third Crusade. A ransom paid, he returns to England two years later.
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Sultan Muhammad Ghuri completes the Buddhist subjugation of northern India.
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At a gathering of clan cheiftains, Temuji is proclaimed Genghis Khan ("Universal Ruler") of all the Mongol peoples.
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King John is forced to limit royal power by signing the Magna Carta, or the Great Charter.
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First recorded use of gunpowder-fired rockets by the Chinese against a Mongol army.
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Keita founds the Empire of Mali.
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Kublai Khan establishes the Yuan Dynasty, reuniting northern and southern China under his rule.
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European traveler Marco Poll arrives at the Chinese court.
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Osman (Uthman) makes himself master of the area around Bursa in Asia Minor; founding what will eventually become known as the Ottoman Dynasty.
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Italian poet Dante Alighieri begins work on his Divine Comedy, the first significant work of literature to be written in a vernacular language (Tuscan) rather than in Latin.
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The al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque is completed in 1335, and is considered Cairo's best-preserved Mamluk building
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Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca.
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The technique of decorating porcelain in underglaze cobalt blue is popular in China.
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Edward III's refusal to do homage to Philip VI for English lands in France precipitates the Hundred Years' War.
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The plague that will become known as the Black Death starts in Central Asia.
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In the Hundred Years' War and English army commanded by Edward, the Black Prince, defeats the French at Poitiers and captures France's King John II and his son Philip.
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Timur is recognized as leader of the Barlas tribe of Chagatai Mongols, the group that ruled the Central Asian stepplands.
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China's Mongol Yuan ruler flees to Mongolia, and Zhu Yuanzhang proclaims the new Ming Dynasty, assuming the imperial title Hongwu.
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English poet Geoffry Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales.
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Because of the Black Death, Europe's population is thought to be 50% lower than it was 100 years earlier.
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Lorenzo Ghiberti designs the bronze doors of the baptistery at Florence, a masterpiece of early Renaissance art.
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The Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi starts to build the dome of Florence Catherdral; completed in 1461, it is a unique engineering feat.
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After the death of Emperor Yongle, China soon surrenders its position as the leading naval power in the Indian Ocean and retreats into isolation.
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Joan of Arc is tried as a witch and burned at the stake the following year.
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Cosimo de Medici establishes the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence, and begins a 30-year domination of the city.
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Albert of Hapsburg is elected Holy Roman Emperor; from this time on the title remains in the hereditary possession of the Hapsburg Dynasty until it is abolished in 1806.
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Portuguese traders export the first slaves from Africa to Europe.
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The Byzantine Empire comes to an end when Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks. The city is renamed Istanbul.
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The French drive the English from France, ending the Hundred Years' War.
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Gutenberg publishes the first commercially printed book, the Gutenberg Bible, at Mainz, Germany.
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Lorenzo de Medici, also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent comes to power in Florence; he gathers many of the great artists of the day to his court.
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The Spanish Inquisition is established to investigate and prosecute heretics.
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The astrolabe (an instrument for measuring latitude from the height of the sun at noon) is adapted for use at sea.
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King Richard III is killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, putting the Tudor Dynasty's Henry VII on England's throne.
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Portuguese sailor Bartholomeo Dias sailing for King John II becomes the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope
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Pope Julius II becomes pope; a patron of the arts, he commissions the rebuilding of St. Peter's Cathedral by the architect Bramante and the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo.
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Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa and compiles his notebooks on mechanics, anatomy, and astronomy.
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The Italian political theorist Macchiavelli writes The Prince, a key work on statecraft that instructs rulers on how to hold power.
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The English scholar Thomas More publishes Utopia, which describes an imaginary land with an ideal social and political system.
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Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenburg Cathedral in Germany criticizing abuses by the Catholic church, and starts the Protestant Reformation.
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The transatlantic slave trade gears up as Spanish authorities grant a license permitting 4,000 Africans slaves to be imported into the New World.
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Suleiman I, known as Suleiman the Magnificent becomes Ottoman sultan after the death of his father, Selim I, from cancer.
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Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines. His around-the-world voyage continues under his second in command.
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Henry VIII of England divorces his first wife Catherine of Aragon, leaving him free to marry Anne Boleyn. As a result, he is excommunicated by the pope. Two years later he assumes the title of supreme governor of the Church of England.
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Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, suggesting that the planets orbit the Sun.
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Ivan the Terrible takes personal power becoming the first Russian ruler to bear the title "czar."
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Mary I becomes queen of England, and restores Catholicism as the national religion. Many Protestants are tortured and killed for their faith, earning the queen the nickname "Bloody Mary."
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Akbar becomes emperor and established the true greatness of the Mughal Empire. He extended Mughal rule across the whole of northern India. Akbar gave the Mughal Empire stability and a strong system of government by pursuing tolerant policies toward his Hindu subjects.
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Charles V acknowledges the right of local German rulers within the Holy Roman Empire to decide the official religion of their territories.
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Construction of St. Basil's Cathedral begins in Moscow.
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Elizabeth becomes queen of England upon the death of Mary I.
During her long reign of nearly 50 years England was transformed from a divided country troubled by religious strife to one of comparative peace, stability, and prosperity, an outcome that owed much to Elizabeth's determination and strength of character. -
Captain John Hawkins get the English slave trade started with a raid up West Africa's Sierra Leone River.
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Portugal establishes a colony in Angola, southwest Africa, as a major center for the transatlantic slave trade.
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Nagasaki in southern Japan is opened up to foreign trade by Omura Sumitada, the local daimyo (lord).
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The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre takes place in Paris; hundreds of Hugenots are murdered on the orders of King Charles IX's mother, Catherine de Medici.
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The Dutch War of Independence gathers pace with a revolt against the Duke of Alba, the Spanish governor of the Netherlands. In 1588, the United Dutch Provinces win freedom and become a republic.
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The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII for whom it is named, replaces the Julian calendar. The new calendar is accepted at once by most Catholic countries but only gradually by Protestant ones.
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Japan's Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi bans Christianity and expels Jesuits from the country.
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Mary, Queen of Scots is found guilty of plotting the murder of Queen Elizabeth I and is executed.
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Shah Abbas I restored the fortunes of the Safavid Dynasty and secured the country's frontiers against the Ottomans and Uzbeks. He revived trade and encouraged merchants, craftsmen, and artists to settle in his new capital Esfahan, which he transformed into one of the largest and most beautiful cities in the world.
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The Globe Theatre in London opens with a performance of William Shakespeare's Henry V.
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Henri IV signs the Edict of Nantes, guaranteeing religious toleration in France.
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Foundation of the English East India Company in India
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At the battle of Sekigahara the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats three rivals to win undisputed control over Japan.
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The Dutch East India Company is founded to trade with Southeast Asia.
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Construction begins on the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
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Henry IV of France is assassinated in Paris by a religious fanatic. He is succeeded by the nine-year-old Louis XIII, whose mother Marie de Medici rules as regent under the guidance of Cardinal Richelieu.
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King Gustavus II ascends the throne of Sweden, beginning Sweden's rise to become a major European power.
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Michael I is elected czar of Russia; beginning the Romanov Dynasty that will last until the Russian Empire collapses in 1917.
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Nurhachi, leader of the Juchen (Manchu) people, unites the tribes on China's northeast frontier, laying the groundwork for his later conquest of China and the founding of the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty.
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Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes completes his epic masterpiece Don Quixote.
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William Shakespeare, England's greatest playwright, dies in Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of 52.
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Denounced as a heretic for confirming Copernicus's observation that the Earth moves around the Sun, Galileo Galilei is barred from scientific study by the Catholic Church.
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The Thirty Years' War begins with an uprising against Hapsburg rule after two counselors of the ardent Catholic King of Bohemia, Ferdinand II, are thrown from a window.
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Following the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan orders the construction of her tomb, the Taj Mahal at Agra, which will take 22 years to complete.
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"Tulipmania" reaches its height in the Netherlands; prices will eventually crash by 95 percent.
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In his Discourse on Method, French philosopher Rene Descartes proposes his principle of methodical doubt whereby science begins with observation, followed by analysis.
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Firmly established at St. Louis on the Senegal River, French settlers begin to participate in the transatlantic slave trade.
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Rembrandt van Rijn paints The Nightwatch.
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England's Parliament forms the New Model Army to fight a civil war against King Charles I. Five years later, Charles is captured, tried, and executed. England becomes a republican commonwealth.
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Russian explorer Semyon Dezhvyov leads an expedition along the Arctic coast and around Asia's northeast cape to the Pacific Ocean.
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The Thirty Years' War is ended by the Peace of Westphalia. The power of the Hapsburgs is checked, and the independence for the Dutch Republic, the Swiss Confederation, and some 250 German states is guaranteed.
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Oliver Cromwell dissolves Parliament and takes power in England as lord protector.
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Aurangzeb deposes and imprisons his father, Emperor Shah Jahan, becoming the last of the great Mughal emperors. He will seek to enforce strict Sunni orthodoxy, repressing Sikhism and Hinduism along with minority Islamic groups.
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The Restoration sees the English monarchy restored in the person of King Charles II.
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Emperor Kangxi comes to the throne at the age of seven, assisted by his regents, he grants his Chinese subjects parity with the Manchus.
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Mitsui Takatoshi of the Mitsui banking family opens a dry goods store in Edo, Japan; it is the predecessor of the celebrated Mitsukoshi department store.
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The dodo, a large flightless bird, is made extinct by sailors on the African island of Mauritius.
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Louis XIV moves his court to the new palace of Versailles outside Paris.
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Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes, which since 1598 has guaranteed the right of French Protestant Huguenots to worship freely.
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Isaac Newton publishes Principia Mathematica, in which he sets out his three laws of motion.
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Czar Peter makes a grand tour of Europe; traveling incognito, he visits shipyards in England and the Netherlands.
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The French writer Voltaire publishes his "Philosophical Letters", which call for political and religious toleration.
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Frederick the Great, also known as Frederick II of Prussia ascends the throne; under his rule economic and social reforms are introduced, and the legal code liberalized.
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Denis Diderot begins work on the Encyclopedia. The first volume is published four years later.
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