E. Napp

Anchor Dates:

  • Approximately 4 billion to 5 billion years old – The age the earth is estimated to be
  • Approximately 3.5 billion years ago – Living beings are said to have appeared
  • 65 million years ago – primates developed; mammals developed
  • For 3 million to 4 million years – Hominid, or humanlike, life has existed on earth
  • 3 to 4 million years ago – These earliest hominids known as australopithecines emerged in southern and eastern Africa
  • 2 to 3 million years ago – Humanity’s immediate predecessors, the early members of the genus Homo, were born, also in Africa
  • About 1 million years ago, Homo habilis, died out but an even more sophisticated hominid, Homo erectus originated in southern and eastern Africa
  • Between 100,000 and 250,000 years ago, true humans (Homo sapiens, meaning “wise human”) appeared the earliest variant was the Neanderthal
  • Between 60,000 and 100,000 a more advanced form developed  Cro-Magnon
  • Approximately 30,000 years ago, Neanderthal died out
  • Ca. 10,000 to 2.5 million years ago Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age
  • Ca. 10, 000 to 12,000 years ago Many historians propose that there was a Mesolithic era, or Middle Stone Age  marking the transition from the ice age to a warmer epoch
  • Ca. 5,000 or 6,000 to 10,000 years ago Neolithic, or New Stone Age
  • Approximately 8000 B.C.E. Wheat and barley cultivation - in the Middle East
  • 8000 to 7000 B.C.E. first cities (include Jericho, on the west bank of the Jordan River, and Çatal Hüyük, in what is now Turkey
  • 7000 B.C.E. Millet and barley grown in India
  • 6500 B.C.E. Agriculture spread to the Balkans from Middle East
  • Approximately 6400 B.C.E. signs of metallurgy (gold, silver, lead, and copper)
  • 6000 B.C.E. Agriculture in the Nile Valley from Middle East
  • 6000 B.C.E. Agriculture in northern China (probably independently)
  • 5500 B.C.E. Agriculture in other parts of northeast Africa (diffusion from Nile)
  • 5000 B.C.E. Agriculture in Southeast Asia (diffusion from China)
  • 5000 to 400 B.C.E. an urban center, Danpo, appeared in China
  • 4000 B.C.E. Agriculture in continental Europe (diffusion)
  • 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.Cities became more common
  • Ca. 3500-1200 B.C.E. The Bronze Age began
  • Between 3500 and 3000 B.C.E. Earliest form of writing developed  Sumerians
  • Between 3500 and 2350 B.C.E. First civilization developed in Mesopotamia – The Sumerians
  • Around 3300 B.C.E. Sumerians created a script called cuneiform
  • Around 3100 B.C.E. king Menes united Upper (southern) and Lower (northern Egypt)
  • Around 3100 B.C.E. Egyptians developed a written script called hieroglyphics
  • Ca. 3100-2575 B.C.E. Early dynastic period of Egyptian history
  • Around 2630 B.C.E. Egyptians constructed pyramids
  • Approximately 2500 B.C.E.-900 C.E.Epic journeys by Polynesians across Pacific Ocean
  • Around 2040 B.C.E.-1640 B.C.E. Egyptian Middle Kingdom arose
  • By 2000 B.C.E. Chinese discovered the science of bronze-working
  • Sometime after 2000 B.C.E. The Hebrews under the leadership of Abraham started practicing monotheism
  • Ca. 2000 B.C.E.-1450 B.C.E. Minoan culture on island of Crete
  • 1792 -1750 B.C.E. During reign of Babylonian king Hammurabi  one of the world’s first law codes
  • 1750 B.C.E. Shang Dynasty of China
  • Approximately 1750 B.C.E. Kingdom of Kush emerged in Africa
  • 1700 B.C.E. The Hittites (By 1200s B.C.E.  dominated Mesopotamia  first to make systematic use of iron weapons)
  • Around 1532 B.C.E. -1070 B.C.E. Egyptian New Kingdom
  • Approximately 1500 B.C.E. Aryans enter Indian subcontinent
  • Sometime after 1500 B.C.E.  Vedas appeared in written form
  • 1450 B.C.E.-1150 B.C.E. Mycenaean civilization on Greek mainland
  • Ca. 1400 B.C.E-1200 B.C.E. Hebrews were enslaved by Egyptians
  • By around 1400 B.C.E. Phoenicians devised the world’s first true alphabet
  • Around 1200 B.C.E.Development of Iron
  • Ca. 1200 B.C.E.-400 B.C.E. Olmec civilization
  • About 1100 B.C.E. Phoenicians settled on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean
  • 1027 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E. Zhou Dynasty of China
  • Around 1000 B.C.E. Bantu Migration throughout sub-Saharan Africa
  • 911 B.C.E.-612 B.C.E. Assyrians created the world’s first true empire
  • Ca. 900 B.C.E.-250 B.C.E.Chavín civilization
  • Between 900 B.C.E.-500 B.C.E. Upanishads written
  • Ca. 800 B.C.E.-500 B.C.E.Greek city-states and the archaic period
  • 721 B.C.E. Hebrews were conquered by Assyrians
  • 605 B.C.E.-539 B.C.E. Chaldeans most famous king Nebuchadnezzar
  • Ca. 604 B.C.E. Birth of Laozi
  • Ca. 600-500 B.C.E. Lydians, another Middle Eastern people, reputed to have invented metal coinage as a practical and portable form of currency
  • Ca. 563 B.C.E.-483 B.C.E. Siddhartha Gautama lived
  • Ca. 540 B.C.E.-468 B.C.E. Mahavira lived
  • 530 B.C.E.-331 B.C.E. Persians  created one of the largest empires
  • 509 B.C.E.-31 B.C.E. Roman Republic
  • Ca. 500 B.C.E.-338 B.C.E. Greeks’ classical period
  • Around 500s B.C.E. Zoroastrianism developed
  • Ca. 500s B.C.E. Confucianism developed
  • Around 483 B.C.E. Buddhism split into Mahayana and Theravada schools
  • 480 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E. “Warring States” period of Chinese history
  • 470 B.C.E.-399 B.C.E. Socrates
  • Ca. 461 B.C.E.-429 B.C.E. Pericles of Athens
  • 431 B.C.E.-404 B.C.E. Peloponnesian War
  • 428 B.C.E.-347 B.C.E. Plato
  • 384 B.C.E.-322 B.C.E. Aristotle
  • 356 B.C.E.-323 B.C.E. Alexander the Great
  • 269 B.C.E.-232 B.C.E. Reign of Ashoka
  • 264 B.C.E.-146 B.C.E. Punic Wars
  • 221 B.C.E.-206 B.C.E. Qin Dynasty in China
  • 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E. Han Dynasty in China
  • 184 B.C.E. Collapse of the Mauryan Empire
  • 91 B.C.E-30 B.C.E. Civil wars in Rome
  • 44 B.C.E. Julius Caesar assassinated
  • 31 B.C.E. End of Roman Republic
  • 30 B.C.E.-14 C.E. First Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus
  • Ca. 4 B.C.E.-29 C.E. Jesus of Nazareth
  • 100-400 C.E. Hopewell culture
  • Ca. 150 C.E.Teotihuacán founded
  • 200s to Early 600s C.E. Sassanid Dynasty
  • Approximately 250-900 C.E. Maya Civilization
  • 313 C.E. Christianity granted legal status by Edict of Milan in Roman Empire and granted by emperor Constantine
  • Ca. 300-794 C.E. Nara period in Japan
  • 320-550 C.E. Gupta Empire in Indian subcontinent
  • 380 C.E. Christianity made the official religion of the Roman Empire
  • 392 C.E. Christianity proclaimed the only legal faith of the Roman Empire
  • 476 C.E. Collapse of the Western Roman Empire
  • 476 C.E. Eastern Roman Empire became known as Byzantine Empire
  • Approximately 500s C.E. Kingdom of Ghana emerged
  • Approximately 500 to 1500 C.E. European Middle Ages
  • 500s to 1100s C.E. Srivijayan Empire of Sumatra (Complex of Borobudur)
  • 500s to 1454 C.E.Khmer Empire in Cambodia (Angkor Wat)
  • Ca. 500-1000 C.E. Early Middle Ages
  • 570-632 C.E. Muhammad
  • 589-618 C.E. Sui Dynasty in China
  • 618-906 C.E. Tang Dynasty
  • 622 C.E. Hegira or Hijra (Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina)
  • 661-750 C.E. Umayyad Caliphate
  • 750-1258 C.E. Abbasid Caliphate
  • 794 C.E. Japanese emperor shifted capital to the city of Heian (present-day Kyoto)
  • 794-1185 C.E. Heian period of Japan
  • 960-1279 C.E. Song Dynasty in China
  • 986-1156 C.E. Toltec civilization
  • Around 1000 C.E. Vikings reached what is today Canada
  • Ca. 1000-1300 C.E. High Middle Ages
  • 1000s and early 1100s C.E. Fujiwara clan rules Japan
  • After 1000 C.E. Vietnamese states of Annam and Champa under Chinese rule
  • Between 1000 and 1500 C.E. Many city-states flourished on East African shores
  • 1055 C.E.Seljuk Turks captured Baghdad
  • 1066 C.E. Normans invaded England
  • 1054 C.E. The Great Schism
  • 1096 C.E. Start of Crusades
  • Between 1155 and 1162 C.E. Temujin born
  • 1160 C.E. Minamoto clan took control of Japanese government
  • 1185-1333 C.E. Kamakura shogunate established by Minamoto clan in Japan
  • 1206 C.E. Temujin united the Mongols and was proclaimed Genghis Khan
  • 1215 C.E. Magna Carta
  • 1225-1274 C.E. Thomas Aquinas
  • 1227 C.E. Genghis Khan died
  • 1250-1460 C.E. West African kingdom of Mali
  • From Middle of the 1200s C.E. to Middle 1300s C.E. Delhi Sultanate
  • 1258 Mongols took Baghdad and destroyed Abbasid Caliphate
  • 1266 Marco Polo visited China
  • 1271-1368 C.E. Yuan Dynasty
  • End of 1200s C.E.Ottomans formed an independent state
  • 1300 Little Ice Age begins
  • Ca. 1300-1500 C.E. Late Middle Ages
  • Ca. 1300-1520 C.E. Aztecs
  • Ca. 1300s-1536 C.E. Incas
  • 1300s Start of the Renaissance
  • 1304 Birth of Ibn Battuta
  • 1312-1337 Mansa Musa
  • 1336-1573 Ashikaga Shogunate
  • 1337-1453 Hundred Years’ War
  • 1347 Bubonic Plague reaches Europe
  • 1368-1644 Ming Dynasty in China
  • 1405-1433 Voyages of Zheng He
  • 1453 Fall of Constantinople, Byzantine capital
  • 1492 Christopher Columbus’ journey
  • 1493 and 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas
  • 1498 Vasco da Gama’s journey
  • 1500s Beginning of Scientific Revolution
  • 1500s-1800s Colonization of the Americas
  • 1500s-1800s Atlantic Slave Trade
  • 1517Cortés arrived in Mexico
  • 1517 Marlin Luther protested the sale of indulgences
  • 1519 Magellan’s expedition begins
  • 1520 Babur invades northern India  Mughal Empire established
  • 1532-1536 Conquest of Incas
  • 1534 England breaks with Church in Rome
  • 1543 Copernicus publishes sun-centered theory
  • 1556-1605 Akbar the Great of the Mughal Empire
  • 1582 Russia, a small Slavic state centered in Moscow, begins its expansion
  • 1587-1628 Abbas I of the Safavid Empire
  • Mid-1600s South Africa colonized by the Dutch
  • 1603-1868 Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan
  • 1618-1648 Thirty Years’ War
  • 1633 Galileo’s Trial
  • 1642-1727 Sir Isaac Newton
  • 1642-1651 English Civil War
  • 1644-1911 Qing Dynasty in China
  • 1648 Peace of Westphalia signed, ending Thirty Years’ War
  • 1652 European settlers arrive at Cape of Good Hope
  • 1653 Taj Mahal completed
  • 1661-1716 Reign of Louis XIV of France
  • 1668 Glorious Revolution
  • 1700s Agricultural Revolution in England
  • 1700s The Industrial Revolution begins in England
  • 1700s Increase of English control over India
  • 1700s The European Enlightenment or the Age of Reason
  • 1756-1763 Seven Years War
  • 1775-1783 American Revolution
  • 1776 Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations
  • 1776 Declaration of American Independence
  • 1789-1799 French Revolution
  • 1788 European settlers arrive at Sydney, Australia
  • 1799-1815 Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Ca. 1800 Industrial Revolution in western Europe
  • 1800s The Age of Imperialism begins
  • 1800s Gold and diamonds found in South Africa
  • Early 1800s Nations of Latin America achieve independence
  • 1804 Haitian independence
  • 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna
  • 1839 First Opium War begins
  • 1845 The Irish Potato Famine
  • 1848The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
  • 1848 Revolutions throughout Western Europe
  • 1850-1864 Taiping Rebellion
  • 1853-1856 Crimean War
  • 1853 Commodore Perry arrives in Japan
  • 1857 The Sepoy Mutiny
  • 1859 Charles Darwin publishes “Origin of Species”
  • 1861 Tsar Alexander II freed the serfs
  • 1861 Start of U.S. Civil War
  • 1863 Slavery Abolished in U.S.A.
  • 1868 Meiji Restoration in Japan
  • 1869 Opening of Suez Canal for Traffic
  • 1870 Unification of Italy
  • 1871 Unification of Germany
  • 1884-1885 Berlin Conference
  • Late 1800s Boer Wars
  • 1900 Boxer Rebellion
  • 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War
  • 1911 Qing Dynasty in China collapses
  • 1911 Chinese republic founded
  • 1914-1918 World War I
  • 1915 Start of Armenian Genocide
  • 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
  • 1917 Balfour Declaration
  • 1918 Collapse of Ottoman Empire
  • 1919 Treaty of Versailles
  • 1919-1933 Weimar Republic
  • 1920 League of Nations
  • 1920 Women’s Suffrage in U.S.A.
  • 1920s Emergence of modern Turkish state
  • 1922 Soviet Union established
  • 1923-1936 Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) labored to create a modern, secular state in Turkey
  • 1922  Mussolini gained effective leadership of Italy
  • 1925 Death of Sun Yat-sen
  • 1929 Stalin gained effective leadership of the Soviet Union
  • 1929 Start of Great Depression
  • 1930 Gandhi’s Salt March
  • By 1930 Muhammad Ali Jinnah led the newly formed Muslim League
  • 1933 Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany
  • 1934 Long March in China
  • 1935 Nuremberg Laws
  • 1936 Beginning of Spanish Civil War
  • 1937 Rape of Nanjing
  • 1939-1945 World War II
  • 1942 Nazis met at the Wannsee Conference
  • 1945 Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau
  • 1945 Founding of United Nations
  • 1945 Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • 1945 Nuremberg Trials begin
  • 1945 Start of the Cold War
  • 1946 Civil War in China
  • 1947 Marshall Plan
  • 1947 India achieved independence
  • 1948 Assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi
  • 1948 Enactment of Apartheid laws
  • 1948 United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • 1948 Founding of Israel
  • 1949 Chinese Communist Party came to power in China
  • 1949 Founding of NATO
  • 1950-1953 Korean War
  • 1953 Death of Stalin
  • 1953 Discovery of DNA
  • 1955 Warsaw Pact
  • 1956 Suez Canal Nationalized by Nasser
  • 1957 Space race began
  • 1957 European Economic Community formed
  • 1957 Gold Coast achieved independence
  • 1957 Sputnik
  • 1958 Mao’s Great Leap Forward
  • 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba
  • 1959-1975 Vietnam War
  • 1960 Founding of OPEC
  • 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
  • 1961 Berlin Wall
  • 1962 Publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
  • 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
  • 1963 Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique published
  • 1964-1990 Imprisonment of Nelson Mandela
  • 1966 Mao’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
  • 1968 Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia
  • 1969 U.S.A.  First man to walk on moon
  • 1970 Celebration of First Earth Day
  • 1971 Birth of Bangladesh
  • 1972 SALT Treaty
  • 1973 Outbreak of Fourth Arab-Israeli War
  • 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge in Cambodia
  • 1976 Death of Mao Zedong
  • 1978 Deng Xiaoping in power in China
  • 1978 Agreement between Egypt and Israel
  • 1979 Iranian Revolution
  • 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
  • 1979 Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua
  • 1979 Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq
  • 1980 Creation of Solidarity in Poland
  • 1980 War between Iran and Iraq
  • 1980s Intifada
  • 1981 IBM introduces first personal computer
  • 1984 Assassination of Indira Gandhi
  • 1985-1991 Mikhail Gorbachev led Soviet Union
  • 1989 Tiananmen Square protests
  • 1989 Taliban to power in Afghanistan
  • 1990 Nelson Mandela released from prison
  • 1990 The first known World Wide Web page is written
  • 1991 Collapse of Soviet Union
  • 1991 Persian Gulf War
  • 1993 The Maastricht Treaty  Formally establishing the European Union
  • 1994 Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa
  • 1994 Rwandan Genocide
  • 1995 Internet electronically connects the world
  • 2001 Al-Qaeda attack on American soil
  • 2001 U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan
  • 2002 Euro becomes official currency of twelve European countries