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10,000 BCE
Discovery of Beer
At the end of the Stone Age and at the beginning of the Neolithic Period, beer was first discovered in the Fertile Crescent. Cereal grains, wheat and barley, were accidentally fermented and lead to the creation of beer. Beer was used as a form of currency to pay slaves or workers, religious offerings, and acted as a social drink. Beer represents the transition of the lesser advanced Stone Age to the more advanced Neolithic Period. -
9600 BCE
End of The Stone Age
The people who first migrated out of Africa 50,000 years ago were nomadic. They hunted fish and game. They would live in caves, huts or tents made of skins for a short period of time until they had to find a new food source. Nomadic peoples would gather plants and grains. Their tools consisted of bows and arrows (for hunting animals), fishhooks (for catching fish), and needles (most likely for sewing to create clothes or housing). These tools allowed people to provide food and supplies. -
9500 BCE
The Beginning of the Neolithic Period
Nomadic people begin to domesticate animals and plants. People also began to create permanent settlements. Within the settlements, people became specialized in specific crafts and created specialized tools for specific tasks such as farming. People first settled in the Fertile Crescent region. The region covers Egypt, and Mesopotamia (present day Iraq, Iran and Turkey). By having specialized jobs, people began to advance in technology and in culture within their society. -
4300 BCE
The Urban Revolution
"The Urban Revolution" is a direct result of the Agricultural Revolution. The population began to grow within the Fertile Crescent and throughout Egypt because people could obtain more food by growing and harvesting it. Specialized jobs allowed for a closer society where people could share their beliefs and ideas with one another. growing and storing food also allowed people to stay in one area and develop a culture and a city. -
3200 BCE
Writing is First Discovered
Writing was first found in the ancient region of Sumer in Asia. Pictograms were created by deep, wedged impressions. This lead to the first form of writing, known as "cuneiform". "Cunieform" was presented on clay tablets or reeds. This first form of writing was later used to help create modern Western alphabets. Writing allowed people to have a set language of communication and made it possible to document specific events. -
2350 BCE
King Sargon Begins His Rule
King Sargon, from Akkad, united and ruled ancient Sumer's neighboring city-states. He also conquered parts of Mesopotamia, and parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Sargon was the first person in history to rule an empire containing a multi-ethnic population. His reign began the Akkadian golden age. His rule set a precedent for many empires and kingdoms to come because he had multiple ethnicities in his empire which represented equality. -
870 BCE
King Ashurbanipal's Feast
King Ashurbanipal II of Assyria held a feast to celebrate his new capital at Nimrud. At his feast, King Ashurbanipal II served equal quantities of wine and beer to all of his guests to showcase his vast amount of wealth. Wine and beer during this time showed status within society. Therefore, the more wine or beer your had, the more elite you were within your community. -
500 BCE
The Beginning of the Golden Age of Greece
The golden age of ancient Greece lead to intellectual, scientific, and technological advances and achievements. Law, politics, science, and philosophy of the golden age became the foundation of Western thought. From this golden age came a new government, a form of democracy. This allowed people to become more involved in their society and gave people a chance to share their beliefs. -
410 BCE
The Beginning of the Germanic Empire
A Germanic tribe, the Visigoths, attacked Rome. They soon later created a kingdom that spanned from Spain and western Gaul. Rome was later attacked again, but this time they were attacked by the Vandals. The western empire of Rome was then split into many separate kingdoms. By being split into many kingdoms, it was hard to unify Rome and trade. -
300 BCE
Alexander the Great Begins to Build his Empire
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, unites Greece and defeats Persia. He conquered lands such as India and Persia and many lands within the Mediterranean region. The years in which Alexander influenced the Mediterranean were known as the Hellenistic Period. Alexander influenced the lands that he conquered, through the act of cultural diffusion. He even went as far to name a city after himself, Alexandria. Alexander created his own individual culture which was spread through conquering. -
150 BCE
Romans Replace the Greeks as the Dominant Power in the Mediterranean
The Romans, people from central Italy, conquered the Greeks, and became a dominant power. To show sophistication, the Romans incorporated Greek culture in their society. Such examples of Greek culture was the Greek alphabet, Greek gods and myths, and Greek architecture. The Roman education consisted of the study of Greek literature and language. Although many aspects of the Greek culture were adapted into Roman society, Romans developed a distinct culture called Greco-Roman culture. -
1430
Invention of Gutenberg's Printing Press
The printing press helped spread knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and discoveries throughout Europe. The printing press helped spread the knowledge of the technology of distillation and eventually lead to the creation of brandy and whiskey. The printing press was also used to create books and flyers. This invention was more efficient to use as opposed to hand writing everything. -
1440
Atlantic Slave Trade
During the 1440's, The Portuguese captured and shipped black slaves from western ports in Africa to the Atlantic islands . The reason behind this was to grow more sugar. The conditions on the boats were not healthy, and crammed. Many people died on the way over to the Atlantic Islands. Slaves would be traded in exchange for European goods. This is significant because it eventually led to slavery in the southern U.S and caused corruption in villages in Western Africa. -
1492
Christopher Columbus Starts the Age of Exploration
In hope of sailing to the Indies, Columbus sets sail from Spain. Columbus arrived to what he thought was the Indies, but instead it was the Americas. He called the natives Indians because he thought he was in the Indies. Once contact was established with the New World, International trade began. This was known as the Columbian Exchange. This was significant because it allowed for items such as food and plants to be trade between both Europe and the Americas. -
1500
Beginning of Colonization
England set sail to start colonizing lands in North America. By having contact with people in North America, many goods were exchanged between the two continents. This process was known as mercantilism. It was solely created to benefit the mother country (England). Without mercantilism or colonists, there may not be some of the foods, plants, and animals In North America that there is today. mercantilism and colonization allowed people to create new relationships and bond with one another. -
1543
The Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution allowed people to think differently about the world and their surroundings. People began to think more about reason and what makes the most sense rather than what the Bible stated. During this period, people also began to accept science and teachings of science. The Scientific Revolution took place in Europe and ideas from the Scientific Revolution later spread to other regions and continents throughout the world. -
The Period of Enlightenment: 1685-1815
The Enlightenment, was a time when people applied Western thought in Germany, Britain, and France. people would use rationality and apply it to things such as philosophy, politics, and religion. During the Enlightenment, Western thinkers were less conservative and instead open to new ideas. The Age of Exploration allowed people to think of more possibilities and learn from people of other regions of the world through cultural diffusion. This was a large contributor to the Enlightenment. -
Newton's discovery of Gravity
Isaac Newton published a book called "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. In this book, Newton wrote about the principle of gravity and explained the motions of things on earth and things in outer space. Newton introduced his idea of gravity and motions during the Age of Reason and the Scientific Revolution in Europe.This allowed people of the general world to understand how the Earth moves as well as other celestial objects. It also provoked scientists to do more scientific research. -
The Industrial Revolution: 1767-1828
The Revolution first began in Britain. The Revolution first started with the manufacturing of textiles and then branched out into other industrial works. The first innovation was replacing hard labored people with accurate and more sustainable machines. With new machines and innovations came with new sources of power such as water and steam. New jobs were also created in order to maintain and work the machines. The Industrial Revolution made the production of goods more efficient/larger. -
The Encyclopedie
The Encyclopedie was the first known encyclopedia. It was created by Denis Diderot and Jean le Ron d' Alembert of France. The encyclopedia contained twenty- eight volumes. The encyclopedia contained information that was discovered during the enlightenment. It gave people a general, scientific idea of the world. Religious authorities tried to ban and went against the encyclopedia because it went against their religious teachings. The encyclopedia allowed people to learn more efficiently as well. -
The Tea Act of Britain
The act was created because people were secretly smuggling tea which caused the East India Company to lose profit. So, the British gave the rights to the company to ship tea from India straight to America.This allowed the East India Company to create a monopoly on tea. The British government also reimbursed the East India Company for their loss of profit by taxing the colonists. By taxing the colonist, they became angry, but the price of tea went down. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party happened because the colonists in America were angered about taxation under the Tea Act. The colonists also wanted to gain independence from King George of Britain. In protest, colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians, and tipped three shiploads of tea overboard into the Boston Harbor. This event is significant because it eventually lead to the American Revolution and the colonists' independence from Britain. -
Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War first started due to a conflict between Britain and the 13 colonies. Several acts were passed by Britain to ensure that their economy and country was making the most money that it can. These acts include the Molasses Act, the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, and the Tea act which later led to the Boston Tea Party. These acts led to the social inequality and oppression of Native people and slaves. People became fed up with taxes and wanted to break away from Britain. -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution was started in order to gain Independence as a population in France. The event that sparked the start of the war was in a coffee shop when Camille Desmoulins stated "To arms, citizens! To arms! The French people would soon later mob the Bastille and all of Paris turned into chaos. The war caused debt which led to financial crisis, and food shortage. They also faced a harsh winter during the war because of this. Citizens became poor and the economy weakened. -
The Civil War: 1861-1865
The Civil War was a war fought around the act of slavery and it involved the Southern U.S and the Northern U.S. The Civil War was a conflict over prohibiting slavery and the preservation of the Union. This war was significant because it united the states in both the north and the south, slavery was abolished, and the confederates in the southern states were defeated. It also set a small precedent of unity and equality in the U.S from there on. -
World War I: 1914-1918
World War I was fought primarily to achieve the most amount of power in Europe.Three continents were involved in the war and it was mainly fought in Western and Eastern Europe. Central powers within Europe struggled with outside powers such as the U.S. as the war progressed, "trench-warfare" began developing in Western Europe. This led to many deaths due to bad conditions and disease from "trench warfare". This war greatly impacted economics and politics throughout the world. -
World II: 1939-1945
The war first began when Adolf Hitler of Germany invaded Poland. This provoked other countries such as the United Kingdom and France to join the war. Germany, Italy, and Japan later formed the axis alliance. The U.S entered the war when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This caused many Americans to support the war effort and create propaganda to get others to join. To quickly end the war in Japan, the U.S bombed Hiroshima. Although this ended the war quickly, it caused great devastation. -
The Cold War
The Cold War was a time when the U.S and the Soviet Union were rival powers. It was Capitalist v Communist. After World War II, the Soviet Union expanded their territory in Europe which scared Americans because they believed that communism was spreading fast and would take over the world.This caused a great motivation for the U.S. to spread capitalism and democracy throughout the world. With all this motivation, the U.S succeeded and became the central power of the world. The economy thrived!! -
The Vietnam War
This was a decade long war that put Communist N. Vietnam against S. Vietnam and the U.S. Almost 3 million lives were lost during this war. Some Americans opposed the war which lead to president Nixon calling for the U.S to withdraw from the war. the war was brought to an end when communists gained control of Saigon and created the Republic of Vietnam. This war was important because it was fought in order to unify Vietnam. It is an example of how two different viewpoints may lead to conflict. -
The Falling of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier that separated non communists in Western Berlin from communists in East Germany. The wall had barbed wire and armed soldiers. It was built by the communist government of East Germany. The wall was also created to prevent citizens of West Berlin and West Germany from escaping. The wall finally came down when the East German government let up on border controls. When the wall fell, it created unity between many peoples in Germany.
