World History Topics

Neanderthals

Period: 130,000 BCE to 38,000 BCE

Cro-Magnons

Period: 40,000 BCE to 8000 BCE

Neolithic Period

Period: 10,000 BCE to 2200 BCE

the later part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed.

Iron was developed and used by the Hittites.

Period: 5000 BCE to 3000 BCE

Sumerians arrive in Mesopotamia

3500 BCE

1. Sumerians developed bronze by adding tin to copper.
2. They developed the wagon wheel.
3. They created the sundial to keep time.

The Bronze Age

Period: 3300 BCE to 1200 BCE

Embalming created

3200 BCE

Hieroglyphics

3100 BCE

Cuneiform - earliest writing system

3100 BCE

the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

Indo Europeans migrate

3000 BCE

they colonized Europe with wheel vehicles, horse-riding, and chariots, and their language went on to influence many of today's languages including german, greek, english, spanish, etc.

Worship of Ra

Period: 2600 BCE to 2200 BCE

Minoan Civilization flourished

Period: 2500 BCE to 1450 BCE

The Minoans were an early Greek civilization of the Bronze Age, living on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea until around the 11th century BCE. They were named after the mythical King Minos, a son of Zeus, by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. https://study.com/academy/lesson/minoan-civilization-facts-map-timeline.html#:~:text=The%20Minoans%20were%20an%20early,British%20archaeologist%20Sir%20Arthur%20Evans.

Indus River Valley Civilization

Period: 2500 BCE to 1700 BCE

Fall of Sumerian city-states

2000 BCE

Indo European immigrants overwhelmed Neolithic peoples in Italy.

Period: 2000 BCE to 1000 BCE

Hammurabi's Law Code

1750 BCE

The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. The Code is important because it influenced other rulers like the Roman ruler Justinian. The statutes defined legal obligations and reparations in civil, family, and criminal law. Hammurabi Code examples include statutes that provided severe punishment for criminals, sometimes even death.

Shang Dynasty in China

Period: 1700 BCE to 1000 BCE

Hittites built a Kingdom in Anatolia after conquering Asia Minor

1650 BCE

Hittite conquer the city of Babylon

1595 BCE

Mesopotamia—“the land between two rivers”—gave birth to many of the world’s first great cities. The splendid city of Babylon, located between the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris some 97 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, was one of them. Unlike the many towns that fell and disappeared, Babylon was resilient, rising from its own ashes time and again, even as new conquerors invaded and took over. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/beautiful-babylon-jewel-ancient-world/

Ten Commandments probably written

1200 BCE

The Iron Age

Period: 1200 BCE to 550 BCE

Phoenicians develop alphabet

1000 BCE

Wu Dynasty in China

Period: 1000 BCE to 200 BCE

Wu killed the Shang king and established a new dynasty because the Shang lacked strong leaders and grew weak.

Etruscans, Indo-European immigrants, ruled northern Italy

Period: 900 BCE to 500 BCE

First Olympic Games

776 BCE

Hellenic Age

Period: 700 BCE to 336 BCE

The time period after the dark age in Greece when the Dorians invaded and conquered and many skills were lost and poverty increased.

Assyrian Empire Falls

612 BCE

The Chaldeans, who lived in the ancient city of Babylon, formed an alliance with the Medes from the east. The alliance captured Nineveh (the Assyrian capital) and brought down the Assyrian Empire. (World History Topics)

Coinage began in Lydia

600 BCE

Israelites follow Monotheism during the time of Moses

600 BCE

Draco

600 BCE

Was the leader of Athens around 600 BC. He had very harsh rules that were written down. People finally knew what the rules were, it wasn't just made up by the Aristocrats, but also since they were so harsh, we now have the current word, Draconian.

Solon led Athens

594 BCE

Canceled land debts and freed debtors from slavery
limits on the amount of land 1 person has.
Promoted trade, urged farmers to grow cash crops not grain.
Promoted industry, ordered fathers to teach sons a skill
extended citizenship to foreigners who were artisans
political reforms and got Athens to be democratic/aristocratic
citizens of all classes participate in Assembly and public law courts
a council was established to draft measures that went to assembly for approval and it had 400 people.

Buddha was alive

Period: 563 BCE to 483 BCE

Peisitratus led Athens

546 BCE

Pushed reforms in a radical direction and divided large estates among landless farmers and extended citizenship to men who did not own land and provided poor people with loans and put many of them to work building temples and public works.
(World History)

Chaldean Empire is conquered

539 BCE

The Persians, under Cyrus II, came from the mountains to the northeast and seized Babylon. They then conquered the rest of the Chaldean Empire. (World History Topics)

Persians take control

525 BCE

During the 540s BC, Cyrus had developed a strong army, conquered the Medes, and advanced into neighboring lands. He added northern Mesopotamia, Syria, Canaan, and the Phoenician cities to his empire. He also took over the kingdom of Lydia and the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. In 525 BC, Cyrus's son Cambyses conquered Egypt, bringing all of the Middle East under Persian control. (World History Topics)

Cleisthenes led Athens

508 BCE

Established democracy with laws. Sought to end local rivalries, break power of aristocracy and recognize structure of Athenian government. Assembly won powers and was the major political body. All citizens could belong to it. they were equal before the law and had freedom of speech. Regular people could be in government. A person could be exiled if he was a political guy and enough people voted him gone. (World History)

Socrates born

470 BCE

Parthenon built

432 BCE

Peleponnesian War

Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE

The war between Sparta + the Anti-Athens alliance and the Athenian empire. Sparta won.

Phillip II became king of Macedonia

357 BCE

Philip II conquered all of Greece except Sparta

337 BCE

Philip II died and his son, Alexander the Great, became king

336 BCE

Alexander led 30,000 soldiers and 5,000 cavalry into Asia to open his campaign of "West against East"

334 BCE

Hellenistic Period

Period: 323 BCE to 31 BCE

The three centuries of Greek history between the death of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. and the rise of Augustus in Rome in 31 B.C.E. are collectively known as the Hellenistic period
(colorado.edu)

Euclid of Alexandria wrote The Elements of Geometry

300 BCE

First major Roman road, Appian Way, was constructed

300 BCE

It connected Rome with southeastern Italy.

First Punic War

Period: 264 BCE to 241 BCE

War between Carthage and Rome over the strait of Messina, a passage between Sicily and Italy. Rome won

Archimedes invented the compound pully and cylinder screw

250 BCE

Eratosthenes estimated earth's circumference to within 1 percent of the correct figure.

240 BCE

Second punic war

Period: 219 BCE to 202 BCE

Hannibal led the Carthaginians against Scipio and Romans. They fought over land and Rome won.

Third Punic War

Period: 149 BCE to 146 BCE

Rome decided to force war on Carthage. The Romans burned Carthage and sold its surviving population into slavery. Rome won obviously and had complete control over the western Mediterranean.

Spartacus and a slave army revolt

Period: 73 BCE to 71 BCE

An army of 70,000 slaves led by the slave Spartacus plundered the Italian countryside in an effort to win freedom. With great difficulty, the Romans finally crushed the uprising and killed about 6,000 of Spartacus's followers. Putting down revolts cost Rome troops and money and placed a strain on its resources.

Julius Caesar ruled Rome

Period: 46 BCE to 44 BCE

He was one of Rome's greatest generals and political leaders. He carried out social reforms to help the poor. He also brought about the calendar that was used in western Europe until early modern times. He gave citizenship to people outside of Italy in the provinces and helped end the Roman Republic.

Fall of Roman Republic

27 BCE

1. The rise of Augustus Caesar as dictator led to the fall of the Roman Republic.
2. Slaves replacing the workers leading to mass unemployment did too.

Augustus (Octavian) reigned Rome

Period: 27 BCE to 14

He rebuilt the city of Rome and became a great patron of the arts. he introduced many reforms to the empire

Pax Romana

Period: 27 BCE to 180

Roman Peace

Marcus Aurelius Died

178

Last of the five Good Emperors of Rome

Army Legions installed 28 Emperors only to kill them off

Period: 192 to 281

Political disorder led to fall of Rome

Diocletian Ruled Rome

Period: 284 to 305

Helped handle Rome's weakening political and economic state after inflation hit hard.

Constantine Ruled Rome

Period: 312 to 334

Helped stabilize the roman empire by reinforcing Diocletian's stuff. He also made a bunch of jobs hereditary to keep farmers making food because of the shortage.

Constantine moves capital of Rome to Constantinople

330

Constantinople

330

The Roman Emperor, Constantine, build Constantinople in 330. In AD 400, it was the richest part of the Roman Empire

German barbarian invasions of Rome

Period: 350 to 490

From late 300s to late 400s AD.

Roman Emperor Theodosius made Eastern and Western Rome two empires

393

Became byzantine empire in the east and roman empire in the west.

Roman Empire Divided

395

Roman Empire divided with the eastern half becoming the Byzantine Empire. It's capital was Constantinople.

Huns invade Rome

Period: 395 to 453

Ended when their leader died.

Romans abandoned Britain

413

In AD 410, after centuries of ruling the distant province of Britain, the Roman Empire, burdened by escalating military threats, political instability, and economic challenges, decided to withdraw its forces and administration from the island. By the early 5th century, the Roman Empire could no longer defend itself against either internal rebellion or the external threat of Germanic tribes expanding in Western Europe. Basically when Rome declined, Anglo Saxons took control.

Vandals raided and sacked Rome

455

Fall of Rome

476

Wasn't really when Rome fell, it was gradual. but since Odoacer called himself a king and didn't name a substitute emperor, it is known as the fall of the Roman Empire.

Middle Ages

Period: 476 to 1448

The Middle Ages led to many developments such as
1. a rise of a money economy (the idea of banking was developed)
2. trade expanded and led to a high in Venice, Pisa, and Genoa
3. a heavier plow was developed which made it faster and easier to plow, and possible to use horses
4. guilds were created which protected artists and merchants and the quality of their goods
5. education became more popular, and nuns and monks taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, etc.

Justinian became emperor of Byzantine

527

Justinian Code, or Corpus of Civil Law

527

Justinian had scholars codify their laws and over six years, 10 scholars put them together into the Corpus of Civil law. They threw out outdated laws and simplified many, and what they put together remains a basis for most European legal systems.

Birth of Muhammad

570

Jihads

650

After Muhammad died, Caliphs were the new leaders of the Muslims. They were originally related to Muhammad but that changed later. The first four were known as the "Rightly Guided Caliphs." They wanted to protect and spread Islam. They conquered land and weakened the Persian and Byzantine Empires and eventually the Persian Empire was under Muslim control. These conquests were called jihads, and they were the holy struggle to bring Islam to other lands, which justified it in their eyes.

Charlemagne and creation of a Christian Roman Empire

Period: 760 to 820

Viking Invasions

800

Vikings from Scandinavia invaded Carolingian kingdoms (Charlemagnes land in Europe basically just excluding Spain.)

Magyars, fierce nomads, left a trail of destruction

850

Feudalism Spread through western Europe

Period: 900 to 1050

The system was based on land being given to nobles by monarchs in exchange for loyalty and military aid. Land came with peasants and power.

Holy Roman Empire

962

Holy Roman Empire

Period: 962 to 1805

It was one of Europe's largest medieval and early modern states, but its power base was unstable and continually shifting. The Holy Roman Empire was not a unitary state, but a confederation of small and medium-sized political entities.

Seljuk Turks take Jerusalem

999

Seljuk Turks, Muslims from central Asia, took Jerusalem. It was a holy land to them because that is where Muhammad ascended to heaven. They took it in the late 1000s and it created chaos in Palestine. They also threatened the Byzantine Empire, especially Constantinople.

The Church separated into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church

1024

Political and geographical and doctrinal differences led to this separation, especially when the pope gave Charlemagne, the Frankish leader, the title of emperor, which he wasn't allowed to do.

First Crusade

1096

Pope Urban II asked for a volunteer army to take Palestine and Jerusalem back from the Seljuks, the Muslims of central Asia. Three armies traveled through western Europe and they killed many Jews and met in Constantinople. Jerusalem fell and they massacred most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants.

Second Crusade

1147

Seljuks conquered part of the Crusader states in Palestine. The monk Bernard of Clairvaux persuaded King Louis VII of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III to lead armies to Palestine. They were defeated by the Seljuks easily because the two quarreled and were ineffective in military.

Trojan War

1150

Mid-1200s B.C.

Third Crusade

1189

Saladin united the Muslim forces and captured Jerusalem in 1187. Holy Roman Emperor, King France, King England assembled warriors for the Third Crusade. Failed. Emperor died on the way and his army went home. French King returned to France before his army even met Jerusalem. King Richard of England continued alone. He won several battles but couldn't win completely and instead signed a truce with the Muslim Seljuks and tried to persuade Saladin to return Jerusalem to the Christians. He said no.

Ghengis Khan invasions

1200

Ghengis Khan, a Mongol leader, organized Mongol armies and created a large empire. They took over some steppe peoples, and eventually China. This happened in the early 1200s.

Fourth Crusade

1204

Crusaders, instead of going to Jerusalem, attacked the Christian city of Constantinople. They burned and destroyed and stole and left a bitterness between Eastern Orthodox world and Western Europe. Weakened Byzantine Empire severely making the later Muslim advance into eastern Europe possible.

Crusades helped feudalism break down and increased the authority of kings

1210

Middle Class emerges in England during the reign of Henry III

1250

Renaissance

Period: 1350 to 1600

A few important ideas:
1. Intellectual movement of humanism. It included the dignity and worth of the individual, as well as the idea of human improvement through developing skills and talents like politics, sports, and arts. It wasn't religious.
2. Artists studied and worked with perspective and depth, also learning more about human anatomy and expression. They created realistic paintings on damp plaster, known as as frescoes.

Slavs take over as leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Religion

1453

This happened as a result of the fall of Constantinople, who had before had the leadership of the Eastern Orthodox religion. These were the Byzantinians.

Mercantilism

1500

Reformation

Period: 1517 to 1648

The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s. It resulted in the creation of a branch of Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to differences in doctrine. Started with Martin Luther in 1517 and his 95 Theses.

John Calvin sets up Consistory

1541

John Calvin, a reformer, set up a church of 12 elders that was given the power to control almost every aspect of people's daily lives.

Elizabeth the First

1558

She was Protestant and put this back as the religion of the country, but also included some Catholic ideas. The people were pretty happy with this mix especially after Bloody Mary who was the last queen. The only people who weren't happy were the Puritans who wanted their religion to be pure and not with the new Catholic stuff, so they branched off and became influential in the church and in parliament.

Age of Enlightenment

Period: 1650 to 1800

Europe's new thinkers developed scientific thinking, and challenged the science of the times. Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Newton, Copernicus, Kepler, and many more were such thinkers.

American Revolution

Period: 1765 to 1781

Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence

Jul 4, 1776

British surrender to Americans in Yorktown, Virginia

1781

Middle East

2023

Fertile Crescent + Mesopotamia

2023

Asia Minor

2023