Important Dates for AP World

1200

Rise of the Mongols- revived the Silk Road

1215

Magna Carta- document that limited the power of the king, avoids absolute monarchy

1271

Marco Polo- traveled to China during the Yuan Dynasty and documented his travels (one of the first detailed accounts of China’s customs, culture, geography, etc.)

1324

Mansa Musa- attracted European attention to West Africa after his expensive haji

1325

Ibn Buttuta- travels to different Islamic areas of the world and documents his travels (first account of how Islam was practiced in the past)

1347-1348

Bubonic Plague- from China to Europe, fleas on rodents carry disease, increase workers’ rights (downfall of feudalism)

1400’s

Renaissance- begins in Italy, leading to a revival of art, culture, and learning (only the rich)

1453

Ottoman capture Constantinople (End of Byzantine Empire)- Muslim empire takes over a Christian empire + 100 year war ends

1492

Columbus sails to the Americas- increased exploration, American society cleared by disease

1517

Martin Luther’s 95 theses- protestant reformation, protests Catholicism

1526

Mughal Empire begins- in India, Hindu area controlled by Muslims leading to internal conflict

1543

Scientific Revolution- change from religious to scientific view, Copernicus suggested heliocentric model

1571

Battle of Lepanto- Christians fought Ottomans on water, one of the battles that would lead to the decline of the Ottomans

1600

Japan united under Tokugawa Shogunate- causes Japan to be feudalistic but stable

1650

Enlightenment begins- ppl. start to think of different ways to govern (ppl. should have birth rights), sparked American Revolution

1683

Siege of Vienna- stopped Muslim armies from invading Eastern Europe (Vlad the Impaler)

1750

Industrial Revolution begins in England- shifts to factories (end of cottage industry)

1789

French Revolution- French monarchs are replaced by Napoleon (an emperor) + inspired other revolutions (Haitian Rev.)

1791

Haitian Revolution begins- France gets defeated in the Americas, causing the french to shift their focus back to Europe, opening up the oppertunity for the Louisiana Purchase

1815

Congress of Vienna- European leaders meet before the defeat of Napoleon to try to prevent a 2nd French Revolution

1839-1842

Opium Wars- The British gets the Chinese addicted to opium, which shifts the trade balance between the two nations

China discovers this, wages war against Britain, and loses twice, forcing them to open up trade

1848

Communist Manifesto written- Due to an increase in the gap between the rich and poor during the Industrial Revolution, ppl. begin to want everyone to be on equal standing and have equal workload

1853

Commodore Perry opens Japan to trade- after realizing they were technologically behind, the Japanese begins to industrialize

1857

Sepoy Mutiny- ammunition of enfield rifles were coated in cow & pig fat, enraging the Muslim & Hindu sepoys

led to control of India being transferred from the British East Indian Co. to the British gov.

1861

Russian serfdom ends/ Italy unifies- after the Crimean War, Russian ends feudalism and begins to slowly industrialized

Italy begins to become a world power

1870

2nd Industrial Revolution begins- introduces electricity: greatly extending the work day and became a huge advantage to the 1st countries that discovered it

1885

Berlin Conference- European countries meet up to split up Africa

1896

Battle of Adwa- Ethiopia defeats Italy, leaving them to be 1 of 2 African countries that have kept a European country away

1905

Russo-Japanese War- results in Japan obtaining more global power, weakens Russia’s global reputation

1910

Mexican Revolution begins- starts due to conflicts over Diaz’s unfair land distribution

1911

Chinese Revolution- the end of Chinese Dynasties, government is replaced with a republic

1914-1918

WWI- considered one of the largest conflicts ever, completely changed modern warfare

(Panama Canal completed)- significantly decreased the time it took to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean

1917

Russian Revolution- communism is no longer an ideal and comes into actual practice

1939-1945

WWII- results in the US and the Soviet Union becoming world powers

1947

Cold War begins- US is scared Russia will spread communism (Red Scare)

(India/Pakistan Split)- Muslims are scared of having no voice in a predominantly Hindu land so they split off

1948

Israel founded- The British supported the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, led to conflict between Jews and Arabs in the region.

(Gandhi assassinated)- Ghandhi is killed by a Hindhu who believed he was too lenient towards Muslims, people got upset and resorted to violence

1949

Communist Chinese Revolution- China becomes communist, Red Scare for the US

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis- Cuba is ran by a corrupt, but non-communist government. But a revolution turns them communist, causing the US to become wary. After finding Cuba with missiles, the US agreed to a deal with the Soviet Union: US remove its missiles from Turkey and Soviets remove its missiles from Cuba

1989

Tiananmen Square Protest- Chinese students wanted more rights & freedoms, government didn’t like that and resorts to violence to silence them

(Berlin Wall falls)- Berlin Wall symbolized the cold war so its fall signal the end of the Cold War

2001

9-11 attack on the US- results in the strengthening of airport security globally, creates new US department (Homeland Security), US starts a war with Afghanistan (specifically the Taliban)