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Period: Apr 18, 1420 to Apr 18, 1460
Henry the Navigator
Portuguese prince who directed voyages of exploration down the western coast of Africa. -
Period: Apr 18, 1492 to
Creation of Colonies in the New World
Europe started to colonize the New World from the years 1492-1898 starting with Colombus's voyage. They colonized in North America creating the 113 colonies from 1607-1763 and in South America from 1492-1898. -
Period: Apr 18, 1492 to
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages. -
Period: Apr 18, 1492 to Apr 18, 1503
Columbus
Led expeditions across the Atlantic, reestablishing contact between the peoples of the Americas and the Old World and opening the way to Spanish conquest and colonization -
Period: Apr 18, 1497 to Apr 18, 1519
da Gama
Portuguese explorer. Led the first naval expedition in 1497-1498 from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route -
Period: Apr 18, 1501 to
Safavid Empire
Established by Ismail Safavi, who declared Iran a Shi'ite state. -
Period: Apr 18, 1502 to Apr 18, 1521
Cortes
Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain -
Apr 18, 1517
Protestant Reformation
Religious reform movement within the Latin Christian Church. It resulted in the protesters forming several new Christian denominations, including the Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Church of England. -
Period: Apr 18, 1519 to Apr 18, 1522
Magellan
Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world. -
Period: Apr 18, 1524 to Apr 18, 1532
Pizarro
Spanish explorer who led the conquest of the Inca Empire of Peru in 1531-1533 -
Period: Apr 18, 1526 to Apr 18, 1530
Babur
A military adventurer from Central Asia who rose to power at Kabul after establishing his first kingdom in 1504 -
Period: Apr 18, 1526 to
Mughal Empire
Muslim state exercising dominion over most of India in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries -
Apr 18, 1543
Scientific Revolution
The intellectual movement in Europe, initially associated with planetary motion and other aspects of physics, that by the seventeenth century had laid the groundwork for modern science -
Period: Apr 18, 1564 to
Galileo
An Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution -
Period: Apr 18, 1582 to
Matteo Ricci
An Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission -
Period: to
Tokugawa Shogunate
The last of the three shogunates of Japan -
Period: to
Thirty Years War
Initially was fought largely as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire, although disputes over the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire played a significant part. -
Period: to
Enlightenment
A philosophical movement in eighteenth-century Europe that fostered the belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that governed social behavior and were just as scientific as the laws of physics -
Period: to
Qing Dynasty
Empire established in China by Manchus who overthrew the Ming Empire in 1644. At various times the Qing also controlled Manchuria, Mongolia, Turkestan, and Tibet. The last Qing emperor was overthrown in 1911 -
Period: to
Triangle Trade
Operated from the late 16th to early 19th centuries, carrying slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, Caribbean or American colonies and the European colonial powers, with the northern colonies of British North America, especially New England, sometimes taking over the role of Europe -
Period: to
Peter the Great
Russian tsar who enthusiastically introduced Western languages and technologies to the Russian elite, moving the capital from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg -
Period: to
French-Indian War
Began with a dispute over the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers -
Period: to
Catherine the Great
Expanded Russia's borders to the Black Sea and into central Europe. Promoted westernization and modernization though within the context of her autocratic control over Russia and increasing the control of landed gentry over serfs. Promoted education and the Enlightenment among the elite. She kept up a correspondence with many figures of the Enlightenment in Europe. -
Period: to
Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette
Lead royal monarchs at the time of the French Revolution. Both executed by guillotine after being charged with high treason by the people of France. -
Period: to
American Revolution
The political upheaval in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. -
Decloration of the RIghts of Man
Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution. -
Period: to
French Revolution
A period of radical social and political upheaval in French and European history. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from liberal political groups and the masses on the streets. Old ideas about hierarchy and tradition succumbed to new Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights. -
Storming of Bastille
A medieval fortress and prison in Paris that represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The flashpoint of the French Revolution. Led by a group of frenzied demonstrators. Had been stormed in order to procure ammunition, powder, and weapons. -
Period: to
Haitian Revolution
A period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic -
Period: to
Napoleon
Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile. -
Period: to
Congress of Vienna
Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon -
Waterloo
An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated. Ended the political and military career of Napoleon. It brought almost half a century of international peace in Europe.