AP World History – Unit 0 Key Dates

Vocabulary-style flashcards pairing major world-history events with their corresponding dates to aid Unit 0 revision.

1st Agricultural Revolution

c. 8000 BCE – transition from hunting-gathering to farming

Mesopotamia founded

c. 5000 BCE – first known urban civilization in the Fertile Crescent

Egypt founded

c. 6000 BCE – early Nile River settlements that led to Pharaonic Egypt

Bronze Age begins

c. 3300 BCE – widespread use of bronze tools and weapons

Phoenicians active by sea in the Mediterranean

c. 3000 BCE – maritime traders who spread the alphabet

Epic of Gilgamesh written

c. 2500 BCE – one of the earliest known literary works

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro founded

c. 2000 BCE – major urban centers of the Indus Valley Civilization

Babylon founded

c. 1900 BCE – Mesopotamian city-state that became an empire

Rule of Hammurabi

c. 1790 BCE – Babylonian king famous for his law code

Hittite Empire in Central Asia

c. 1322–1220 BCE – Anatolian power that mastered ironworking

Oracle bones used in China

c. 1200 BCE – earliest known Chinese writing for divination

Zhou Dynasty begins

c. 1045 BCE – longest-lasting Chinese dynasty, Mandate of Heaven concept

Roman Republic founded

509 BCE – overthrow of Roman monarchy, start of republican government

Persian (Achaemenid) Empire

550–330 BCE – vast empire founded by Cyrus the Great

Beginning of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism

6th century BCE – major Eastern philosophical and religious traditions emerge

Alexander the Great’s rule

336–323 BCE – Macedonian conqueror who created a Hellenistic empire

Silk Road trade begins

130 BCE – overland routes linking China with the Mediterranean

Pax Romana

2nd century CE – 200-year period of Roman peace and prosperity

Christianity starts

32 CE – ministry of Jesus and early Christian movement

Romans sack Jerusalem and destroy the Second Temple

70–72 CE – beginning of the Jewish Diaspora

Edict of Milan

313 CE – Constantine legalizes Christianity in the Roman Empire

Council of Nicaea

325 CE – first ecumenical council defining core Christian doctrine

Constantinople becomes Roman capital

330 CE – emperor Constantine relocates the imperial capital

Visigoths sack Rome

410 CE – first time Rome falls to a foreign enemy

Trans-Saharan trade begins

4th century CE – camel caravans link West Africa to the Mediterranean

Rule of Justinian

527 CE – Byzantine emperor who codified Roman law

Founding of Islam

622 CE – Hijra marks year 1 of the Islamic calendar

Moors conquer North Africa & Southern Europe for Islam

661–750 CE – Islamic expansion across the Mediterranean

Umayyad Caliphate ends

750 CE – overthrown by the Abbasids

Abbasid Caliphate

750–945 CE – Islamic Golden Age centered in Baghdad

Sirijava Kingdom begins in Sumatra

350 CE – powerful maritime state controlling trade routes

Heian Period in Japan

794 CE – classical Japanese culture flourishes

Wood-block printing begins in China

c. 730 CE – revolutionizes information dissemination

Fall of the Classical Mayan civilization

c. 900 CE – collapse of central lowland city-states

Great Schism of the Christian Church

1054 CE – split between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches

Battle of Manzikert

1071 CE – Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines, opening Anatolia

Champa rice arrives in China

9th century CE – high-yield crop boosts Tang-Song population

Mississippian culture founded

c. 800 CE – mound-building civilization in North America

Settlement of Hawaii by Polynesians

c. 200 CE – long-distance Pacific navigation and colonization