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Period: Feb 16, 1299 to
Ottoman Dynasty
Made up of the members of the House of Osman beginning with Osman I though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan. Before that the tribe/dynasty was known as Söğüt Beylik or Beys but was renamed Osmanlı in honour of Osman. -
Period: Feb 16, 1394 to Feb 16, 1460
Prince Henry the Navigator
Henry, Duke of Viseu, was an important figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and the Age of Discoveries -
Period: Mar 30, 1432 to May 3, 1461
Reign of Mehmed the Conqueror
Also called Mahomet II in early modern Europe was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire twice, first for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire, transforming the Ottoman state into an empire. Mehmed continued his conquests in Asia, with the Anatolian reunification, and in Europe, as far as Bosnia and Croatia. Mehmed II is regarded as a national hero in Turkey. -
Feb 16, 1441
Beginning of Portuguese slave trade
Was the start of European slave trade in Africa. Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão captured Africans in Cabo Branco and took them to Portugal as slaves. Lançarote de Freitas, a tax-collector from the Portuguese town of Lagos, forms a company to trade with Africa. -
Period: Feb 17, 1464 to Feb 17, 1492
Reign of Sunni Ali
He reigned from about 1464 to 1492. Sunni Ali was the first king of the Songhai Empire, located in west Africa and the 15th ruler of the Sonni dynasty. Under Sunni Ali's infantry and cavalry many cities were captured and then fortified, such as Timbuktu (captured in 1468) and Djenné (captured in 1475). -
Period: Feb 17, 1464 to
Songhay Empire
The Songhai Empire was a Songhai state located in western Africa. From the mid-15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. -
Period: Feb 16, 1483 to Feb 16, 1546
Martin Luther
Was a German monk, former Catholic priest, professor of theology and seminal figure of a reform movement in 16th century Christianity, subsequently known as the Protestant Reformation. -
Feb 16, 1488
Dias' voyage into Indian Ocean
Was a Portuguese explorer who became the first European mariner to round the southern tip of Africa that opened a way for a sea route from Europe to Asia. Dias’ ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and sailed around Africa’s southernmost point, Cabo das Agulhas, to enter the waters of the Indian Ocean -
Feb 16, 1492
Columbus' first voyage
Christopher Columbus departed mainland of Spain on August 3, 1492. He made it to the port in the Canary Islands for a final restock and left on September 6. He was in command of three ships: the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María during this voyage. -
Feb 17, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed at Tordesillas now in Valladolid province, Spain on 7 June 1494 and authenticated at Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa. This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde Islands which was already Portuguese and the islands entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage that were claimed for Spain. -
Period: Feb 17, 1494 to Feb 17, 1566
Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent
Also known as “the Magnificent” in the West and “Kanuni” in the East, he was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe, presiding over the apex of the Ottoman Empire's military, political and economic power. -
Period: Feb 17, 1501 to
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid Empire was based in what is today Iran. This Islamic Empire was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east. -
Feb 16, 1509
John Calvin
Was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism -
Feb 17, 1519
Spanish conquest of Mexico
Was one of the most significant events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The campaign began in February 1519, and was declared victorious on August 13, 1521, when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Moctezuma was convinced that Cortés was a god, as the Spanish brought horses and guns, which the Aztecs had never seen before. -
Period: Feb 16, 1526 to
Mughal Dynasty
Was an empire extending over large parts of the Indian subcontinent and ruled by a dynasty of Chagatai-Turkic origin. In the 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell to the superior mobility and firepower of the Mughals. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices -
Sep 25, 1540
Foundation of Society of Jesus
A Christian male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents. Jesuits work in education, intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes and promote social justice and ecumenical dialogue. -
Period: Oct 14, 1542 to
Reign of Akbar
Also known as Akbar the Great or Akbar I, was Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his death. He was the third ruler of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India. A strong personality and a successful general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include nearly all of the Indian Subcontinent north of the Godavari river. -
Period: Dec 13, 1545 to Dec 4, 1563
Council Of Trent
Was the nineteenth council opened at Trent on 13 December, 1545, and closed there on 4 December, 1563. Its purpose was the determination of doctrines of the Church in answer to the Protestants. -
Period: Sep 4, 1563 to
Reign of Emperor Wanli
Was the thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son. His rule of forty-eight years (1572-1620) was the longest in the Ming dynasty and it witnessed the steady decline of the dynasty. -
Period: Feb 15, 1564 to
Galileo Galilei
Was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution. His contributions to observational include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest moons of Jupiter named the Galilean moons in his honor, the observation and analysis of sunspots. He also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. -
Spanish Armada
Literally "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or "Invincible Fleet" was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in August 1588 under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor establishment of protestantism in England -
Period: to
Tokugawa shogunate
also known as the Tokugawa bakufu (徳川幕府?) and the Edo bakufu (江戸幕府?), was the last feudal Japanese military government which existed between 1600 and 1868.[1] The heads of government were the shoguns,[2] and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan.[3] The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of shogunate became known as the Edo period.[4] This time is also called the Tokugawa period[1] or pre-modern (Kinsei).[5] -
Period: to
Thirty Years' War
Began when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking rebellion among Protestants. The war came to involve the major powers of Europe, with Sweden, France, Spain and Austria all waging campaigns primarily on German soil. -
Period: to
John Locke
was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism". -
Period: to
Qin Dynasty
Was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. The dynasty was formed after the conquest of the six other states by the state of Qin, and its founding emperor was known as Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Gansu and Shaanxi. -
Peace of Westphalia
Was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch, with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch. -
Period: to
Seven Years' War
It involved most of the great powers of the time and affected Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines. In the historiography of some countries, the war is alternatively named after combatants in the respective theatres: the French and Indian War as it is known in the United States or the War of the Conquest as it is known in Canada. -
Establishment of 1st colony in Australia
The British found a colony of banished convicts in the South Sea to enable the mother city Sorø to exploit the riches of those regions, had been put forward in 1766 by John Callander in Terra Australia Cognita. Following the loss of the Revolutionary War. Great Britain needed to find alternative land for a new British colony. -
Period: to
Haitian Revolution
Was a slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, that culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was the only slave revolt which led to the founding of a state. -
End of the British slave trade
The British slave trade was one of the most efficient "machines' of the 18th century. It estimates were that more than 3 million African people were transported across the Atlantic to work in the colonies. Profits for Britain were massive so it may come as a surprise to discover that, in the 19th century, British people actually led the fight to end slavery.