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130 BCE
The Silk Road
The Silk Road was a trade route that went from China to Eastern Europe. It went along the northern borders of China, India and Persia and then ended up in Eastern Europe near today's Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road was important because it helped to generate trade and commerce between a number of different kingdoms and empires. -
1400
Age of Exploration
The Age of Exploration (also called the Age of Discovery) began in the 1400s and continued through the 1600s. It was a period of time when the European nations began exploring the world. They discovered new routes to India, much of the Far East, and the Americas. The Age of Exploration took place at the same time as the Renaissance. -
McDonald’s
In the 1950s, McDonald’s was a local fast food restaurant in the US. Through globalization, Mcdonald's went from being a local fast-food restaurant in the US to a global sensation in the fast-food industry. There are now McDonald's restaurants in almost every country. People from different countries with different cultures are greatly influenced and exposed to some of American's local cultures - hamburgers and french fries. -
The internet
The internet allows people and businesses to communicate instantly. Satellite communications allow a global view and communications links even in very remote areas. They enable TV and telephone communications. Mobile phones enable people to communicate and to access the internet wherever they are. -
The end of the Cold War
The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. The west was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the Soviet Union. Three things happened when the Cold War ended. The first was U.S. power. The second was the rise of China as the center of global industrial growth based on low wages. The third was the re-emergence of Europe as a massive, integrated economic power. -
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The collapse of the Soviet Union started in the late 1980s and was complete when the country broke up into 15 independent states on December 25, 1991. This signaled the end of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States -
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a controversial trade pact signed in 1992 that gradually eliminated most tariffs and other trade barriers on products and services passing between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. -
Social Media
Social media allow us to communicate, share ideas, activities, events, play games, listen to music and many more things. It is undeniably a great source of entertainment, news and global awareness. In 1987, the direct precursor to today's internet came into being when the National Science Foundation launched a better digital network known as the NSFNET. A decade later, in 1997, the first true social media platform was launched.