- Amanda Roraback
Important Dates (BCE to Present)

Pre-History to 600 BC
BIG THEMES
Paleolithic --> Neolithic (farming 8,000 BC)
First Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley)
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
Sumerians in Mesopotamia (5000 BC-1750 BC)
Hammurabi Code 1772
Egypt unified 3118 BC
Egyptian Kingdoms (Old, Middle, New)
Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC)
Beginning of Bronze Age 3000 BC
Minoans (Crete) (2000 - 1450 BC)
Olmec (1400-400 BC)
Bantu Migrations in Africa (2000 BC)
Aryan (Indo-European) migrations (1750-1000 BC)
Mycenaean Greece (1600-1100 BC)
China
Shang (1600-1046 BC)
Zhou (1045-256 BC)
Phoenicians (1550-300 BC)
Hebrews in Israel (1025 BC-931 BC: King Saul, David, Solomon)
Zoroastrianism (founded ca. 1000 BC)
5000 BC - 1750 BC Sumerian Civilization, Tigris-Euphrates Valley. Mesopotamia
Govt: Priest-kings, advised by elected General Assembly, separate city-states
City-states: Kish, Ur, Uruk, Nippur - walled cities with own deities,
Religion: Ziggurats, polytheism, gods (Anu, Enlil, Inanna/Ishtar, Shamash, Marduk)
Science: Base 60, astrology
Social: Cuneiform writing, city-states with temples, beer
Economy: few raw materials (reeds, oil), engaged in trade, jewelry
3118 BC - King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt
3000 BC - Bronze Age
2600-1100 BC -- Minoan Civilization on Crete
King Minos, Labyrinth, Minotaur, Thera volcano
2560 BC -- Building of the Great Pyramid at Giza (Old Kingdom)
2500 -600 BC -- Assyrian Empire
Semitic-speaking, Mesopotamia, from Assur city-state, see Neo-Assyrians (911-612 BC)
2500-1750 BC– Harappan Civilization (Indus Valley)
Mohenjodaro and Harappa, bricks, port of Lothal, undeciphered writing
2334-2279 BC - Sargon of Akkadia - unified Sumerian city-states
2150-1400 BC -- Epic of Gilgamesh (Enkidu, Utnapishtim, immortality, flood)
2000 BC – Bantu speaking people begin to migrate southwards
2000-1450 BC - Minoan Civilization
Crete, labyrinth, bulls, frescoes, navy, Thera Volcano, overtaken by Mycenaeans
1772 BC -- Code of Hammurabi written
1750 -- Elamite invasion of Amorites ending Sumerian Civilization
1700 BC – Kingdom of Kush south of Egypt
1600 - 1046 BC -- Shang Dynasty China
Oracle bones divination, Chinese writing, bronze, jade, silk, Yellow River valley, ancestor worship, used chariots, warrior aristocracy, center of the world/"Middle Kingdom," rulers were religious and political authority, sacrifices
1600-1100 BC -- Mycenaean Civilization, around Aegean Sea (Greece)
Linear B (first written Greek language), Greek gods, site of Trojan War according to Homer, Dorian invasion (Sea Peoples)
1550 - 300 BC -- Phoenicians
Sea traders from Tyre and Byblos (present-day Lebanon), purple dye, luxury items, Phonetic alphabet used by Arabs, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans etc. moved to Carthage after Persians, Lost Punic-Wars (264-146 BC) to Romans
c. 1500 - 1000 BC -- Aryan migration (Indo-Europeans)
Brought Sanskrit, Rig Veda, caste, cow veneration to India and Indo-European languages to Iran, Hittites, Europe
1400-1200 BC -- Olmec
"Olmec" is Nahuatl word for "rubber people." Based in San Lorenzo and La Venta (Guatemala, Mesoamerica), La Venta Great Pyramid, colossal heads, jade, bloodletting and human sacrifice, long count calendar and zero, ballgames
1353-1336 BC – Reign of Akhenaten (wife Nefertiti), Aten worship, Amarna
1332 BC-1323 BC – Tutankhamen (Back to Amun worship, tomb found)
1279 – 1213 BC – Ramses the Great
Led expeditions to Levant, tomb Valley of Kings, Abu Simbel 1255 BC, Tomb to wife with Book of Dead, Osiris, Anubis, erased Amarna Period from history, campaigns in Nubia, Battle of Kadesh against Hittites
1120 BC - Enuma Elish (Sumerian creation story) written
1045-256 BC -- Zhou (China)
Mandate of Heaven, Declined by 800 BC, 600 BC used iron weapons, feudalism, Late Zhou/Warring States 480-221 BC
1025 BC - 1st Hebrew King Saul in Israel after return from Egypt (Exodus)
1010 - 970 BC - Hebrew King David (defeated Philistines, founded Jerusalem for Hebrews)
1000 BC -- Zoroastrianism
Date not known, Zoroaster was Prophet, popular in Persia 600 BC to 650 CE (Darius the Great), Ahura Mazda= "good/wise god" who created world, represented by fire, Ahriman= "bad god," good v. evil, Avestas and Gathas, split into Parsis (India) and Iranians, Nowruz (New Year)=Zoroastrian festival still celebrated
970 - 931 BC - Hebrew King Solomon
Built First Temple in Jerusalem, taxes caused split of 12 Tribes, 10 tribes in north fell to Neo-Assyrians (721 BC), 2 tribes in south to Babylonian Captivity
911-612 BC - Neo-Assyrians
Spoke Aramaic and Akkadian,in 721 BC conquered north Israelites ("Ten Lost Tribes"), Ashurbanipal (r. 668-627 BC), palace/library at Nineveh, cruel to enemies, Assyrians defeated by Chaldean-Median coalition 612 BC.
900 BC – Brahmanism (reincarnation, dharma, karma, four varnas)
776 BC --First Olympics in Greece.
753 BC -- Foundation of Rome.
721 BC -- Neo-Assyrians conquer northern Kingdom of Israel, Ten Lost Tribes assimilated
600 BC TO AD 600
BIG THEMES
Development of Religions (Buddhism, Jainism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity)
Greek City States, Alexander, Hellenism, Roman Republic and Empire
Silk Roads
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
Persian Empire (550 -330 BC)
Greco-Persian Wars
Buddhism (c. 500 BC)
Roman Republic (509-29 BC)
Golden Age of Athens (480-404 BC)
Warring State Period, China (475-221 BC)
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)
Hellenistic Age (323-31 BC)
Mauryan Empire (321-185 BC)
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220)
Teotihuacan (c. 100 BC -AD 750)
Roman Empire (27 BC-AD 476)
Christianity (AD 6)
Moche (200-700)
Maya (c. 250-900)
Constantine (306-337)
Theodosius (347-395)
Justinian (527-565)
TIMELINE
626-539 BC -- Neo-Babylonian Empire, Mesopotamia
Sacked Assyrian capital of Nineveh 612 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605-562 BC), conquered south Israel, Judah and Benjamin, Cyrus defeated Neo-Babylonians, 539 BC
587 -538 BC -- Hebrews (Jews) in Babylonian Captivity (released by Cyrus)
563 BC – 483 BC – Siddhartha (Buddha) and Jainism
550-330 BC -Persian (Achaemenid) Empire
Founded by Cyrus the Great, defeated Lydia, Neo-Babylonians, released Hebrews from Captivity, Cambyses (Egypt), Darius the Great, Xerxes, Darius III
509-29 BC -- Roman Republic
Romulus and Remus, rape of Lucretia, consuls, senate
c. 500 BC -- Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama, Middle Way (BW asceticism and luxury), Four Noble Truths (Suffering, Desire), Eightfold Path, later divided into Mayahana and Theraveda
499-449 -- Greco-Persian Wars
490 BC Greeks defeated the Persians (Darius) at the Battle of Marathon.
480 BC Persians (Xerxes) invades Greece, Persians defeated at Salamis and Plataea
480-221 BC -- Warring States period
Hundred Schools: Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism developed
480-404 BC – Golden Age of Athens
Delian League, Pericles, period of Socrates (470 BC), Plato (428 BC), Aristotle (384 BC)
450 BC -- Twelve Tables of Rome
Innocent until guilty, plebeians and patricians can't marry, females must have guardians, deformed child must be killed, no meetings at night
356-323 BC Alexander the Great
332 BC -- Egypt conquered by Alexander (Ptolemy)
330 BC - Darius III murdered
326 BC - India conquered by Alexander the Great
324-200 BC – Mauryan Empire
N. India, Founded by Chandragupta Maurya: (Kautilya, Arthashastra, Jain), Ashoka
323 BC -- Alexander died at Babylon. (After Alexander = Hellenism)
323-31 BC -- Hellenistic Age
c. 265-238 BC – Ashoka
Mauryan Empire, Buddhism after Kalinga, rock edicts, Sarnath lion capital, stupas
264-146 BC – Punic Wars
Carthaginians (Phoenicians) v. Romans, 2nd Punic War = Hannibal crossing Alps, 3rd Battle of Zama, expansion of Rome, veterans lost farms sold land, Latifundias, slavery
221-206 BC-- Qin Dynasty
Legalism, Qin Shi Huangdi, terra cotta soldiers, burned books, standardized weights and measures, Wall of China begins
206 BC- 221 CE -- Han Dynasty
Confucianism, civil service exams, "golden age," paper, rudder, Silk Route, end = Buddhism, paper making
200 BC – Invasions of North India by Bactrian Greeks, Sakas, Kushans
139 BC – 1368 – Zhang Qian opened Silk Road (began with Han, ended with Yuan Dynasty)
c. 100 BC - AD 750 -- Teotihuacan
Population 200,000, one of largest cities, oligarchy, human sacrifice, pyramid, Quetzalcoatl, chinampas ("floating islands") pottery, traded w/ Maya
63 BC -- Pompey (Roman Emperor) conquered Israel, Roman rule 63 BC - AD 324
49-44 BC- Julius Caesar
Roman general, took Gaul, Crossed Rubicon, affair with Cleopatra, consul for life , Julian calendar, centralized power, stabbed by senators in 44 BC for fear he would crown himself king.
30 BC – Egypt becomes province of Roman Empire
A.D.
4 (or so) -Birth of Jesus Christ.
30-375 -- Kushan Empire (India)
Possibly spoke Greek, Kanishka (127-150), Gandhara = spread of Mahayana Buddhism, diplomatic contacts with Roman Empire, Sassanian Persians, Axum, Han, later Hinduism
50 – Kingdom of Axum arises in Ethiopia
70 -- Second Temple destroyed by Romans (Tiberius and Titus)
127-150 -- Kanishka, Kushan Empire, patron of Buddhism, spread on Silk Road (Mahayana)
132-36 -- Bar Kochba Revolt in Judea (Israel)
Jews banished from Jerusalem (renamed Aeolia Capitolina), visit on Tisha B'Av
c. 200-700 -- Moche
Peru, Andes Mts., quipu, hierarchcal clans called ayllu owned land communally, warrior-priests, mita labor system (like serfdom and corvee), llama and alpaca, roads, bridges, hillside terraces, waru waru agriculture,quinoa, corn, ceramics textiles, not political united under a single state, no written script, ended BC of environment.
c. 250-900 -- Maya
Guatemala/Mesoamerica, 40 city-states, corn, squash, pyramids/Chichen Itza, Quetzalcoatl, human sacrifice, slavery, hieroglyphics, math/zero, astronomy, calendar, collapse is mystery
284-305 – Diocletian, Crisis of Third Century, Tetrarchy, persecution of Christians
306-337 -- Constantine
Roman Emperor, Edict of Milan 313 (Christianity is legal), Council of Nicaea 325, Capiltal moved to Constantinople (Byzantium)
320-500 – Gupta Empire in India
Founded by Chandragupta I (named after Chandragupta Maurya), Classical period, Hinduism, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Bhaktism (devotion to Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna etc.), artists highly valued, Kamasutra (rules of art of love/marriage accd. to Hindu laws), Ajanta Caves, Concept of zero, numbers (later "Arabic numerals"), chess, medical advances
347-395 – Theodosius
Last to rule over east and west, Christianity becomes official religion, destroys Temple of Apollo, ends Olympics (393), sons Arcadius and Honorius.
375 Huns' invasion of Europe, 455-528 invade India
399-412 -- Faxian, Buddhist monk traveled from China to India, visited Buddhist sites.
vv476 -- Fall of Rome
527-565 -- Justinian
Byzantine emperor, sought to re-conquer west, conquered Vandal kingdom and Ostrogoths, Justinian code = uniform Roman law (still basis of civil law in many states), Hagia Sophia = center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Plague of Justinian in early 540s, Procopius as historian, Theodora, Peace with Sassanids
600-1450
BIG THEMES
Spread of Islam (Muhammad, Ummayad, Abbasid, Shi'a-Sunni split)
Mongols
Black Death (Bubonic Plague)
European Middle Ages (Charlemagne)
Increase in trade routes (Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan)
Migrations (Mongols, Vikings)
Travelers: Marco Polo, Mansa Musa, Ibn Battuta
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
Muhammad (570 - 632)
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Umayyad Dynasty (661-750)
Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)
Charlemagne crowned by Pope (800)
Vikings (800-1100)
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Crusades (1095–1291)
Aztecs (1200s - 1500s)
Mongols (1206-1368)
Mali (1235–c. 1600)
Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526)
TIMELINE
Sui Dynasty (581-618)
Grand Canal, Great Wall continued, Confucian civil service exams, Buddhism popular
570-632 Prophet Mohammed Born in Mecca, Arabia, Prophet, Islam
618-907 Tang Dynasty , Chang'an
First Emperor Tang Taizong (Confucian), Govt. rejected Buddhism, restored Confucianism, distributed land in equal-field principle, bureaucracy of merit (elaborate exams/books), bureaucracy more complex (6 ministries: personnel, finance, rites, army, justice), Censorate checked officials, Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade, inventions: woodblock printing (868 oldest book), gunpowder (9th c.), medicine, ship construction, expanded Grand Canal (built by Sui), tributary system like Han (Korea, Japan, Vietnam made regular monetary payments), near monopoly on silk industry, Tang elite love of luxury = uprisings like An Shi/An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) Rebellion, Uighurs saved Tang from internal revolt in 750s
602-644 - Xuanzang - Chinese Buddhist Monk who went to India to find Buddhist texts.
622 -- Flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina (first year in Muslim calendar)
650-1335 - Rajput Dynasties (n. India), Regional dynasties (S. India), warlike clans Rajasthan
661-750 Umayyad (Capital Damascus)
Dome of Rock, conquered northern Africa, Spain, Iran
711 – Muslims invade Spain
712 -- Arabs (Umayyads) take Sind (India)
726 – mid 9th c. – Iconoclast controversy
Byzantine Emperor Leo III commanded image of Christ taken down from Chalke gate of imperial palace.
732 -- Battle of Tours (Charles Martel defeat Muslims in France)
750-1258 Abbasid (Capital at Baghdad)
Life of luxury, integrated mawali (non-Arab Muslims), merchants and landlords wealthy, slave labor increasingly important, Arab learning: algebra, Arab numerals, 1001 Nights, defeated by Mongols, Harun al Rashid (r. 786-809)
755-763 -- An Lushan (An Shi) Rebellion against Tang
786-809 -- Rule of Harun al Rashid
Greatest Abbasid Caliph, Islamic Golden Age, Islamic art, music, library in Baghdad, elephant to Charlemagne, Book, Thousand and One Nights, set in his court.
794-1185 - Heian Japan, Kyoto, Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese influences
Tale of Genji (poetry, literature), seppuku, Kyoto, Chinese influences, Fujiwara clan (aristocratic family)
800 – Charlemagne
Frankish king, crowned emperor by Pope in 800 (angered Byzantines, saw Charlemagne as barbarian, proved how closely church and government tied), trade with Abbasids (ally against Spanish Umayyads), sent out missi dominici, envoys of the lord
800-1100 - Vikings from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden)
Leave Scandinavia because of overpopulation. To Europe, raid towns, Viking boats have low hulls so can sail up rivers. Vikings settle in France (Normandy) and England (Danelaw), most convert to Christianity.
800-970 - Magyars attack Europe from east, expert horsemen, landed in Hungary area
960-1279 Song Dynasty
Neo-Confucianism, foot-binding, reduction of status of women, movable type printing, Champa rice from Vietnam
997-1027 - Raids of Mahmud Ghazni
Northern India, Ghazni not interested in ruling, just plunder, caused decline of Buddhism
1000-1500 -- Swahili city-states
Nearly 40 autonomous urban centers along western African coastline. all heavily involved in Indian Ocean trade, multi ethnic (Persians, Arabs, Africans), Islam, some city-states ruled by Arab sheiks or merchant families, Mogadishu, Mombasa, Sofala, Zanzibar.
1054 -- Great Schism (East-West Schism)
Break between Eastern Orthodox Church (Byzantium) and Roman Catholic Church.
1055 – Seljuk Turks take Baghdad
1066 –Battle of Hastings (William the Conqueror introduced feudal monarchy to England)
1071 – Seljuk Turks attack Manzikert
1095–1291 Crusades
Byzantine Empire threatened by Seljuk Turks, Urban II called for first crusade at Council of Clermont to free the Holy Land (E. Mediterranean) from "infidels" (Muslims), Urban II to reunify East/West Churches, Saladin (Egypt) defeated Crusaders leading to 3rd Crusade. 4th Crusade - Western Crusaders to Constantinople, Italy became wealthy trade city (in center of Crusade routes) leading to Renaissance.
1095 -- First Crusade
1200s - 1500s -- Aztecs
Chief city Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), at height 1/2 million population, marketplace, pyramids, human sacrifice, more warlike than Toltecs, 1300s conquered empire of 125,000 sq. mi., ruled 5-12 million, taxed by tributary system (food, gold), roads, defeated by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.
1206-1520s Delhi Sultanate (Muslims)
Captured the city of Delhi and most of northern India, Turko-Afghan chieftains dominate northern India, encouraged Islam, patron of arts, but not much rule outside Delhi
Southern India: Chola Kingdom (850-1267), Vijayanagar, Cheras, Pandyas
1206-1368 Mongols
Founded by Genghis Khan
1215 -- Magna Carta (parliaments as check on royal authority
1235-1600 - Mali Empire (West Africa)
Sudanic state, founded by Sundiata (1235-1255), sahel, exported salt, gold and animal skins across Sahara via camel caravans, cities: Timbuktu, D'jenne (Jenne), Gao, Mansa Musa pilgrimage to Mecca, 1324
1237 -- Mongols conquer Russia
1258 -- Mongols capture Baghdad (end of Abbasids)
1241 - Hanseatic League created (100+ city-states in Baltic & North Sea - common trade, fight off pirates)
1264-1294– Reign of Kublai Khan in China
1271-1295 – Journeys of Marco Polo
1283-1547 -- Grand Duchy of Moscow
Vassal state of the Golden Horde, then sovereign state in 1480 under Ivan III/Great (first "ruler of all Rus"
1299 – Osman (a Seljuk Turk) establishes Ottomans
13th c. - Islam to Southeast Asia, Sufi mystics (Java and islands of modern Indonesia)
1300s - 1500s -- Incas
See Moche culture, built massive empire in Andes, road network 13,000 miles, elaborate bureaucracy, extreme social stratification, ruler was descendant of sun god (looking at him = death) who legally owned all land, mita, quechua language, quipu ("talking knots), "Chosen Women"/"Virgins of the Sun" (women who lived in convents, did rituals), Inca defeated by Sp. conquistador Pizarro who killed Atahualpa in 1533,
1324 -- Mansa Musa (Mali) 1312-1337
Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), caused devaluation of gold, see Spanish map 1375, Mansa Musa centralized governement and expanded trade
1325-1354 -- Ibn Battuta, Muslim explorer
1336-1646 – Vijayanagar Empire in South India
1337-1453 -- Hundred Years War
French v. Br, Joan of Arc, longbow = end of knights, early gunfire/cannons
1348-1350 – Black Death
1350 - Kingdom of Songhai arises
1464 under Sunni Ali the kingdom expands
1368-1644 – Ming Dynasty ("brilliant" dynasty)
Founded by Hongwu, eliminated Mongol influence, back to Chinese traditions, Confucian examination system, centralized Chinese govt. position of chief minister established, government emissaries ("mandarins") to direct local administrations, used eunuchs, conscripted laborers to rebuild irrigation, promoted manufacture of porcelain lacquer ware silk cotton, Yongle encyclopedia.
1390-1891 - Independent state of Kongo (1891-1914 = vassal of Portugal)
1413-1415 – Zheng He voyages
Muslim eunuch, sailed world under Ming Emperor Yongle. Treasure ships/expedition fleet to Southeast, South, West Asia, Gavin Menzies claimed he went to America before Columbus, voyages ended after Yongle died by Confucian scholar-bureaucrats.
1415 -- Portuguese explore northwest Africa guided by Prince Henry the Navigator,
Conquer Ceuta in N. Africa (1st European foothold in Africa), colonize islands/sugar.

1450-1750
BIG THEMES
Exploration, discovery of the New World
Gunpowder Empires (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal)
Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther, Calvin)
Scientific Revolution (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton)
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Columbus in America (1492)
Protestant Reformation (1517)
Mughal Empire (1526-1858) (Babur, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb)
Scientific Revolution (1550-1700) (Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton)
TIMELINE
1453 – Fall of Constantinople to Ottomans
1462-1492 – Sonni (Sunni) Ali, first king of Songhai Empire (1464-1591)
Timbuktu and Djenne
1480 -- Ivan III (Ivan the Great) stopped tribute the Golden Horde Mongols
Moscow independent, considered the "Third Rome" (after Rome, Constantinople), Ivan became "Grand Prince of All Russia" in 1485,
1488 – Portuguese around Cape of Good Hope (Bartholomew Dias)
1492 - Reconquista completed in Spain by Isabelle and Ferdinand, Spanish Inquisition
1492 – Columbus sailed to New World
Sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
1494 – Treaty of Tordesillas divided explored world between Spain and Portugal
1498 – Portuguese traders in India (Vasco da Gama)
1501 – Safavids (Shi’a) to power in Iran, founded by Shah Ismail, Shi'a Islam
Shah Abbas the Great (1571-1629) (Isfahan, spread to Caucasus), rivalry with Sunni Ottomans, one of three gunpowder empires (with Ottomans/Mughals)
1509-1542 - King Afonso (AKA Nzinga Mbemba)
Ruler of Kingdom of Kongo when Portuguese came, baptized after father converted to Christianity, tried to convert Kongo to a Catholic country by est. Roman Catholic Church in Kongo, fought conservatives with Portuguese weapons, Kongolese aristocracy adopted Portuguese names, titles, coats of arms, dress, elite youth to Europe, denounced slavery. After Afonso, Kingdom became major source of slaves for Portuguese
1514 –Battle of Chaldiran Safavid/Ottomans -stopped spread of Safavids and Shi’ism
1517 - Martin Luther posted 95 Theses on door of Wittenberg Church
1518 to 19th c. Slaves, Middle Passage
1519 – Magellan sails around world
1525 -- Francis I (France) struck alliance with Suleiman (Ottoman Empire)
1526 – Babur (India), Founder of Mughal Empire
Descendant from Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, one of gunpowder empires, Akbar, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb (see below)
1532 - Pizarro conquers Peru/Incas, executes last Sapa Inca (Incan emperor), Atahualpa
1541 -- Silver found near Potosi, Bolivia
1543 -- Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, by Copernicus (1473-1543), heliocentrism
1555 -- Peace of Augsburg - Charles V recognized Lutherans
1556 -- 1605 -- Akbar the Great, India
Mughal grandson of Babur, Muslim but proclaimed Din-i-Ilahi (hybrid religion)/religious tolerance, no more jizya, 75% of population Hindu, outlawed sati, golden age
1564 -- Songhai destroy Mali
1571 -- Battle of Lepanto - Holy League (Organized by Pope Pius V) defeated Ottomans: ended Turk domination of Mediterranean.
1574 – Portuguese began to settle in Angola
1582-1610 - Matteo Ricci, Christian missionary, in China
1600 – British East India company (established in India)
1600s- Dutch Boers in South Africa
1603-1868 - Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, Edo Period
Military government Tokugawa bakufu ("tent govt," temporary/mobile), daimyo (260 powerful lords, judiciary, money, schools), Samurai, shoguns in Edo (Tokyo), Daimyo had to live in Edo parttime, shoguns restricted contact with foreigners, no large ships, no imported books, only Nagasaki open to Chinese/Dutch.
1607 -- Jamestown, Virginia established as first English settlement in North America
1608 -- French colony of Quebec established
1609 - Dutch establish trading posts in India (English in 1612, French 1674)
1613 - Romanov dynasty in Russia
1618-1648 -- Thirty Years War in Europe
1628-1658 -- Shah Jahan (India)
Mughal emperor, built Taj Mahal for his 3rd wife, Mumtaz Mahal, neglected state
1632 - Publication of Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (science v. church)
By Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) ("Father of Modern Science," Heliocentrism, telescope, sunspots, house arrest/heretic)
1642-1651 - English Civil War, King Charles I (Royalists, Anglican) v. Parliament (Puritans)
Charles I beheaded, led to rule by Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector 1653-1658)
1643-1715 - Reign of Louis XIV (Versailles, Divine Right, Sun King)
1644-1912 - Qing Dynasty, China (founded by Manch, Nurhaci)
People unhappy with luxury-loving Ming Emperors/powerful eunuchs, Manchu outlawed intermarriage Manchu/Chinese, Manchu queue, Kangxi (1661-1722) = Confucian scholar, added Taiwan, Mongolia, Qianlong (1711-1799) = merchants in west, Vietnam/Nepal were vassals, poet, calligraphy, cancelled taxes, then eunuchs again/end of golden reign
Opium Wars (1839-1860), Taiping Rebellion, Cixi, Self-Strengthening, Spheres of Influence, extraterritoriality, Boxer Rebellion, Puyi
1651 - Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, social contract, give up liberties for strong leader
1658 -1707 – Aurangzeb (India)
Mughal. seized neglected and corrupt bureaucracy of Shah Jahan, expansion, rid India of Hindu influences, jizya returned, wars drained treasury, peasant uprisings and revolts by Muslim and Hindu princes.
1682-1725– Rule of Tsar Peter the Great (Russia)
Grand Embassy to Europe, Westernized Russian nobles/boyars (cut off beards), secular schools, invited experts, modernized alphabet, Julian calendar, created strong navy, westernized army, war with Sweden (Great Northern War), St. Petersburg "Window to the West," took control of Orthodox Church, new divisions of country, Table of Ranks (controlled boyars by ranking them in military/govt.), didn't change peasants lives
1687 - Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton (1643-1642), laws of motion and gravitation.
1700 – European traders in India
1703-1792 - Abd al-Wahhab, Muslim theologian, creates austere religion based on sharia
1740s - Wahhab joins forces with Muhammad Ibn Saud, local Arab chieftain.

1750-1900
BIG THEMES
Industrialization
Revolutions: American, French, Haitian, Latin American
Scramble for Africa
Opium Wars
Meiji Restoration
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
American Revolution (1775-1783)
French Revolution/Napoleon (1789-1815)
Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)
Opium Wars (China) (1839-1860)
Sepoy Rebellion (India) (1857)
American Civil War (1861-1865)
Meiji Restoration (Japan) (1868-1912)
Boxer Rebellion (China) (1900)
1757 – Battle of Plassey (Br. victory over Nawab of Bengal and his French allies give Br. India Co. control of Bengal and begins expansion of British power in India)
1762-1796 – Catherine the Great
Husband Peter III, Potemkin, crushed Crimea, Poland partitioned, colonized Alaska, Pugachev Rebellion, tightened control over serfs, supported nobles(boyars), Enlightened despot (Voltaire, Diderot)
1776 – U.S. Declaration of Independence (Jefferson)
1787 -- US Constitution written
1789-1799 – French Revolution
1791-1804 – Haitian slave rebellion
1800 – Political dominance of British introduces Western culture, language, govt technology.
1804 – Napoleon became Emperor of France
1807-1814 – Napoleon fought Peninsular War (Spain/Portugal)
1807 – British banned slave trade (US in 1808)
1810 -- Mexican rebellion led by Father Hidalgo
1815 – Napoleon finally defeated at Waterloo (Congress of Vienna)
1822 – US founded Liberia for freed slaves.
1822 – Brazil becomes independent, Pedro, son of king of Portugal, becomes emperor
By 1825 – Mex, Central and South America independent from Spanish
Creoles, Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin
1830 – French invade Algeria
1833 -- British outlawed slavery
1834 - Boers left Cape Colony to interior after British outlaw slavery, clashed with Zulu under Shaka, Boers established two republics in interior: the Transvaal and Orange Free State
1836 – Dutch Boers (Voortrekkes)
Great Trek: Cape Town to Transvaal and Orange Free State
1839-42 -- First Opium War Treaty of Nanjing 1842, Hong Kong to U.K. ports opened.
1839-1876 -- Tanzimat reforms in Ottoman Empire
1846-48 – Mexican American War Mexico loses California, New Mexico, Utah to U.S.
1848 - Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Engels published
1849 -- Gold Rush in California
1850-1864 -- Taiping Rebellion in China: Hong Xiuquan (believed to be younger brother of Jesus)
1853 - 56 – Crimean War: Russia loses to coalition of Ottomans, British, French, Sardinians
1854 – Matthew Perry to Japan (led to Meiji Restoration)
1856 - 1860 -- Second Opium War
1857 - Sepoy Rebellion British crush rebellion, established direct imperial rule, the Raj.
1861 -- Russia ends serfdom
1861-1865 - Civil War in the U.S., Emancipation Proclamation
1863 – Slavery abolished in US
1867 – Diamonds found in Orange Free State (1888 Cecil Rhode's De Beers Co. dominated mining)
1867 -- Dominion of Canada established
1868-1912 -- Meiji Restoration in Japan, end of feudalism, zaibatsu
1869 – Suez Canal opens
1879 – Zulu Wars (Zulus defeat British at Isandlwana, but defeated at Ulundi)
1880-81 First Boer Wars (Br. colonizers v. Boers from Transvaal Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek or ZAR) with help from Orange Free State.
1882 – British in Egypt (to protect Suez Canal)
1884 – Germans take Namibia, Tanzania, Togo and Cameroon, Mahdi leads anti-British uprising in Sudan (Mahdi takes Khartoum in 1885)
1885 – Berlin Conference
Bismarck (German Chancellor) decided rules of colonization of Africa), Congo Free State founded by Leopold II (for rubber, 76x bigger than Belgium)
1885 - Gold found in Transvaal -- led to Boer War of 1899-1902
1886 – Kenya becomes British colony
1890 - Massacre at Wounded Knee - last battle with Indians in U.S.
1898 – Spanish-American War
U.S. defeats the Spanish and acquire Spanish territories: Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Cuba becomes independent, American presence in Asia inspires Open-Door Notes
1899 – United Fruit Company founded (1901 hired by Guatemala)
1899-1901 - Boxer Rebellion in China
1899-1902 -- Boer War in South Africa between Britain and Dutch Boers after gold found in Transvaal (1885), after conflict Boers had dominance over natives.
1902 - Boer republics united into the Union of South Africa controlled by GB
1900 TO PRESENT
BIG THEMES
World War I (1914-1918)
World War II (1939-1945)
Cold War (1945-1991)
Decolonization
MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS
World War I (1914-1918)
Great Depression (began 1929)
World War II (1939-1945)
People's Republic of China (Mao Zedong, 1949)
Korean War (1950-1953)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
Iranian Islamic Revolution (1979)
September 11 attack (2001)
Inventions: Electricity (late 1800s), telephone (1876), radio (1920s), TV (1950s), Computer (1980s)
1900 – Boxer Rebellion (not put down by Cixi, Spheres of Influence nations put it down)
1900 -- Open Door Notes (John Hay)
1904-1905 – Russo-Japanese War, Japan wins
1904-1914 - Construction of Panama Canal
1905-1907 - Maji Maji rebellion in German East Africa (Tanzania)
Triggered because Germans forced indigenous population to grow cotton for export, 2-300,000 dead, mostly civilians who died of famine.
1908 - Young Turks stage coup in Ottoman Empire,
1910-1920 - Mexican Revolution
Dissatisfaction over rule of Porfirio Diaz that favored wealthy landowners and industrialists, 1910 Francisco Madero ran for president, Diaz had him arrested, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata campaign, took Ciudad Juarez, forced Diaz to resign, Madero back, unpopular, replaced by Gen. Victoriano Huerta, then Carranza 1914, constitution, 900,000 died.
1911/12 – Chinese Revolution (Republican era)
(AKA Xinhai Revolution), last Qing Emperor Puyi (6 yrs. old) abdicated 1912, Sun Yat Sen and Nationalists, Yuan Shikai took over
1912 -- Italy conquered Libya
1914-1918 - World War I (1914-1918)
1914 -- Panama Canal opens
1917 – Feb/Mar and Oct/Nov Russian Revolutions, US enters World War I
1918 – WWI ends
1919 – Treaty of Versailles
War Guilt Clause (Germany guilty for war), 14 points (Woodrow Wilson, self-determination, League of Nations), US didn't sign
1933 – Hitler became chancellor, FDR (Roosevelt) became US President
1935-36 -- Italy conquered Ethiopia
1939-1945 -- World War II
1939 – Hitler invaded Poland (WWII)
1941 – British drove Italians out of Ethiopia
1942 -- British defeat the Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt
1947 – India independence from Britain (and creation of Pakistan)
Jawaharlal Nehru became first Indian PM (1947-1964)
1948 – Israel independence
1948-1991 -- Apartheid in S. Africa
1949 – Chinese Communist Revolution – Mao Zedong
1951 – Libya becomes independent
1952-55 – Mau Mau uprising in Kenya against British by Kikuyu, Jomo Kenyatta arrested
1953 – Stalin dies (Khrushchev), Cuban Revolution (Castro v. Batista)
1956 – Suez Canal nationalized by Gamel abdul Nasser, caused Suez War
1956 - Morocco and Tunisia independent
1656 - Oil discovered in Nigeria
1960 – Sharpeville massacre in S.Africa
1961 – Berlin Wall erected in East Germany
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy
1964 – Kenya independent (followed by Zambia, Gambia, Botswana)
1969 -- Qaddafi took power in Libya
1971 – War between East and West Pakistan = creation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan)
1971 – Idi Amin to power in Uganda
1972 – Nixon visited Mao Zedong in China (arranged by U.S. Sec. of State, Kissinger)
1974 -- Heili Selassie in Ethiopia deposed
1979 – USSR invaded Afghanistan
1979 - Islamic Revolution in Iran (Khomeini overthrew Shah)
1979 - Margaret Thatcher became PM of Britain
1980-1988 – Iran-Iraq War
1980 – Mugabe became PM of Zimbabwe
1989 - Berlin Wall dismantled, Eastern European countries become independent.
1989 - Tiananmen Square Massacre, China
1991 – Soviet Union collapsed
1994 – South Africa ended Apartheid, F.W. DeKlerk, Nelson Mandela = president of S. Africa
2001 - Muslim Terrorists under Osama bin Laden flew into Twin Towers, NY,
U.S. to war in Afghanistan against Taliban
2003 - U.S. to war against Saddam Hussein, Iraq