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15,000 BCE
Native Americans Arrive in the Americas
Native Americans arrived in the Americas via the Beringia land bridge, which during this time had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lowering of sea levels. Populations then started to form. -
Period: 1300 to 1501
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries. Occurring after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages it was associated with great social change. The culture and style of art and architecture developed during the Renaissance. -
Period: 1492 to 1501
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange started roughly around the 15th century and lasted until the 16th century. It was the transfer of plants, animals, and germs from one side of the Atlantic to the other. Europeans learned about many new plants such as beans, corn, sweet and white potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco. The Europeans introduced them to animals such as a horse that they adapted to quickly and also brought a disease known as smallpox that the Natives were not immune to. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus arrives in the Americas
Christopher Columbus set sail in his first voyage around August 1492, leaving with three ships. He made it into the Island of the Americas around October 12, 1492. When he arrived he was greeted with gratitude and respect for the Natives thought he came from the heavens since they were very different. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon the Spanish and Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. It divided the "New World" of the Americas between the two powers. Because the early 1400s brought great advances in European exploration and so in order to make trade more efficient, Portugal attempted to find a direct water out that would lead it to India and China. -
Period: 1517 to
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in particular to papal authority. The leader of this movement was Martin Luther who was a German professor of theology. It started when he put his 95 thesis on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, German.
