History All Dates

6th Century B.C.E. (aka 500s BCE)

life of Buddha, Confucius, Laozi the (beginnings of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism)

333

Roman capital moved to Constantinople

4th C

Beginning of Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

476

"Fall" of Rome

527

Justinian rule of Byzantine Empire

550

Fall of Gupta Dynasty/Empire

622

Founding of Islam

c. 730

Printing invented in China

732

Battle of Tours (end of Muslim move into France)

c. 900

Decline of classical Maya

1054

Great Schism in Christian Church (Roman Catholic & Eastern Orthodox)

1066

Norman conquest of England

1071

Battle of Manzikert (Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantine army)

1095

1st Crusade

1206

Chinggis Khan begins Mongol conquests

1258

Mongols sack Baghdad, end of Abbasid caliphate

1271-1295

Marco Polo's travels

1279-1368

Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty in China

1324

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage/hajj

1325-1349

travels of Ibn Battuta

1347-1348

Bubonic plague in Europe

1368-1644

Ming Dynasty

1405-1433

Zheng He's voyages

1438

Rise of Inca Empire

1453

Ottomans capture Constantinople

1450s

Printing Press in Europe (Gutenberg)

ca 1480s

Height of Aztec Empire

1488

Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope

1492

Columbus and the Reconquista of Spain

1502

1st African Slaves to Americas

1517

Martin Luther/Prot Reformation

1521

Cortez conquered the Aztecs

1529

1st unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Vienna (under Suleiman)

1533

Pizarro toppled the Inca

1545

Discovery of silver at Potosí

1571

Battle of Lepanto (Ottoman naval defeat)

1571

1st Manila Galleon (global trade)

1588

Spanish Armada

1600

Battle of Sekigahara (beg of Tokugawa Shogunate)

1607

foundation of Jamestown

1618-1648

30 Years War

1644

end of Ming/beg of Qing Dynasty

1653

Cape Town colony founded (Dutch)

1683

2nd unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Vienna (Mehmet IV)

1689

Glorious Revolution/English Bill of Rights

1756-1763

7 Years War (French and Indian War)

1767

Invention of the Spinning Jenny (using machines to manufacture)

1776

Declartion of Independence (American Rev)

1776

Adam Smith writes Wealth of Nations

1789

French Revolution begins

1796

Jenner's smallpox vaccine

1804

Haitian independence

1807

British abolish Trans-Atlantic slave trade

1807-08

Janissary Revolt

1815

Congress of Vienna

1820s

Independence in Latin America

1839

1st Opium War in China

1839-1878

Tanzimat Reforms

1848

Marx & Engles' The Communist Manifesto

1848-1849

European revolutions

1853

Commodore Perry opens Japan

1857

Sepoy Mutiny

1861

end of Russian serfdom

1861-1865

U.S. Civil War

1861-1870

Italian unification

1863

U.S. Emancipation Proclamation

1871

German unification

1885

Berlin Conference division of Africa (begins "Scramble for Africa")

1893

New Zealand grants women suffrage

1896

Battle of Adwa (Ethiopians defeat Italians)

1898

Spanish-American War (US acquires Philippines, Cuba, Guam, & Puerto Rico)

1899-1902

Boer War (British in control of S Africa)

1750-1900

Industrial Revolution

1935

Italian invasion of Ethiopia

1937

Japanese invasion of (rest of) China (Rape of Nanking)

1939

German blitzkrieg in Poland

1941

Pearl Harbor, entry of US into WWII

1945 Feb

Yalta Conference (beg of Cold War?)

1945 Aug

Hiroshima/Nagasaki

1945 Sept

end of WWII (Japan surrenders)

1947 June

Truman Doctrine ("official" decl of Cold War)

1947 Aug

independence & partition of India

1948

Birth of Israel

1948-49

Berlin Blockade/Airlift

1949 Apr

NATO founded

1949 Oct

Chinese Communist Revolution

1950-1953

Korean War

1954

Vietnam expels France (Dien Bien Phu)

1955

Bandung Conf (Non-Aligned Nations)

1956

Feb Khrushchev begins de-Stalinization

1956

Fall Nationalization of Suez Canal

1957

Sputnik

1959

Cuban Revolution (Fidel Castro)

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis

1966-1976

Chinese Cultural Revolution

1967

6-Day War

1973

Yom Kippur war (OPEC Oil Embargo)

1979

Iranian Revolution

1979

China begins "Socialist Market Economy" reforms (Deng Xiaoping)

1987

1st Palestinian Intifada