1453
Fall of Constantinople & rise of the Ottoman Empire
1492
Columbus' expedition to the "New World"
1492(2)
Fall of Granada & completion of the Spanish Reconquista
1513
Machiavelli's The Prince
1517
Luther posted "95 Theses"
1536
Calvin's The Institutes of Christian Religion
1555
Peace of Augsburg ends the Schmalkaldic Wars
1588
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
1618
Defenestration of Prague marks the beginning of the Thirty Years' War
1648
Treaty (Peace) of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War
1649
Execution of Charles I of England
1688
Glorious Revolution in England
1690
Locke's Two Treatises on Government
1713
Treaty (Peace) of Utrecht ends the War of Spanish Succession
1713(2)
Charles VI of Austria's Pragmatic Sanction
1748
Treaty of Aix
1762
Rousseau's Social Contract
1763
Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War
1776
Smith's Wealth of Nations
1776(2)
American colonies issue Declaration of Independence
1789
Beginning of the French Revolution
1793
Execution of Louis XVI
1795
Execution of Robespierre marked the end of the Reign of Terror
1799
Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power
1815
Congress of Vienna ends the Napoleonic Wars
1830
July Revolution in France
1832
Great Reform Bill in Britain
1848
Revolutions of 1848
1848(2)
Marx & Engels Communist Manifesto
1851
The Great Exhibition in London
1859
Darwin's Origin of Species
1861
Alexander II's emancipation of serfs in Russia
1867
Austria's Augsleich
1869
J.S. Mill's "On Liberty"
1885
Berlin Conference
1900
Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
1905
Revolution of 1905 in Russia
1913
Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" debuts in Paris
1914
Start of World War I
1917
Russian Revolution
1919
Treaty of Versailles ends World War I
1921
Lenin's NEP (New Economic Policy)
1933
Hitler appointed German Chancellor
1937
Picasso's Guernica
1938
Munich Conference
1939
Start of World War II
1945
End of World War II
1957
Launch of Sputnik
1957
Treaty of Rome created European Economic Community (EEC)
1961
Berlin Wall built
1962
Start of Second Vatican Council
1968
Paris Student Riots
1975
Helsinki Accords
1979
Thatcher became Prime Minister of Britain
1985
Gorbachev became premier of the Soviet Union
1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall and Revolutions in Eastern Europe
1991
Start of civil war in Yugoslavia
1991
Collapse of the Soviet Union
1992
Maastricht Treaty created European Union
1997
Blair's "New Labour" Party took power in Britain
1999
Launch of the Euro
2000
Putin elected President of Russia
2004
European Union expanded to include many "Eastern Bloc" countries