AP WORLD HISTORY IMPORTANT DATES

1206 – Rise of Genghis Khan (Mongol Empire goes on to conquer Song China, Abbasid and Russia)
1258 - Mongols sack Baghdad (end of Abbasid Caliphate)
1271 - 1295 - Marco Polo's Travels; visits Yuan dynasty (inspires European exploration)
1300s – Italian Renaissance (rebirth of Europe)
1324 - Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca (Ruler of Mali - Muslim)
1325 - 1349 - Ibn Battuta's Travels (travels to West African Kingdoms, Swahili city-states, Mecca –
documents experience of Islamic world)
1337-1453 – Hundred Years War (fought between Britain and France, rise of nationalism, use of
gunpowder in warfare – knights lose influence, feudalism declines)
1347 - 1348 - Bubonic Plague in Europe (people move from manors to cities – feudalism declines)
Mid 1300s – Rise of Aztec/Inca Empires (Pre-Columbian Civilizations)
1368 – Ming Dynasty (replaces Yuan)
1405 - 1433 - Zheng He's voyages (Ming Dynasty chance to dominate is over, Western Europe will rise)
1453 - Ottomans conquer Constantinople (Byzantine Empire)
1492 - Columbus “discovers” Americas (searching for all water-route to Asia)
1498 – Vasco Da Gama reached India (opens up European trade across Indian Ocean)
1502 – Atlantic Slave Trade (highest volume of slaves during 18 th century)
1517 - Martin Luther/95 Theses (start of Protestant Reformation)
1521 - Cortez conquered the Aztecs
1526 – Founding of Mughal Empire (Babur, Akbar, Aurangzeb)
1533 - Pizarro conquered the Incas
1600s – Beginning of Japanese isolation (Tokugawa Shogunate)
1618 - 1648 - 30 Years War (religious wars- Protestant Reformation)
1643 – King Louis XIV (France – Absolute Monarchy)
1689 – Peter the Great (Westernization of Russia)
1750s - Industrialization begins in England
1775-1783 – American Revolution (gains independence from Britain)
1789 - French Revolution begins (rise of Napoleon)

1804 - Haitian Independence (1 st Latin American country that gained independence from Europe, slave
uprising)
Early 1800s – Latin American Wars for independence (most countries gain independence by 1825)
1839 - 1860s - Opium Wars in China (Britain forces China to open up trade to foreigners)
1848 - Communist Manifesto (the rise of Karl Marx… socialism/communism)
1853 – American Commodore Matthew Perry pressures Japan to open up to the West
1853-1856 – Crimean War (Ottomans defeat Russia with help of Britain/France; Russia will abolish
serfdom/industrialize)
1861 – Russia abolishes serfs (lives of peasants won’t improve)
1857 - Sepoy Mutiny in India (British government colonized India)
1868 – Meiji Restoration (Japan will industrialize, westernize – begin colonizing surrounding lands)
1884-1885 – Berlin Conference (Scramble for Africa – European leaders divide up Africa)
1885 – Founding of the Indian National Congress (political party that will support Indian independence)
1905 - Russo-Japanese War (triggers 1905 Russian Revolution)
1910 – Japan annex Korea
1910 - 1920 - Mexican Revolution (Porfirio Diaz removed from power)
1911 - Chinese Revolution (Qing dynasty falls, Nationalists control Chinese government)
1914 - 1918 - World War I
1917 - Russian Revolution (Lenin rises to power – Russia becomes communist and gets out of WWI)
1929 - Start of Great Depression (caused by overproduction, weakening demand, stock market crash,
bank failures and high unemployment rates)
1931 - Japanese invasion of Manchuria
1937 – Japanese invade China (Nationalist and communist in China join forces to fight Japanese)
1939 - German invasion of Poland (start of WWII)
1945 - End of WWII
1947 – India gained independence from Britain (Partition of India… India – Hindus; Pakistan – Muslims)
1947-1991 – Cold War (United States – democracy vs Soviet Union – communism)
1948 - Creation of state of Israel (orchestrated by the United Nations
1949 - Mao Zedong comes to power in China (China becomes communism after a civil war with
Nationalist)

1950 - 1953 - Korean War
1959 - Cuban Revolution (rise of Fidel Castro)
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis (caused by Bay of Pigs – failed attempt by USA to remove Castro)
1967 - Chinese Cultural Revolution (Mao tries to revive communism in China)
1979 - Iranian Revolution (rise of Ayatollah Khomeini – Iran becomes Islamic state)
1984 – Meiners is born
1989 - Fall of Berlin Wall (West and East Germany reunited
1991 - Fall of USSR
2001 - 9/11 Terror Attacks on US