c.2000

Minoan worship of the Mother Goddess

c.2000

Extensive commerce between Egypt and Crete

c.2000-1500

Height of Minoan Civilization

c.1600-1200

Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece

c.1500-800

Dark Ages of Greek history

c.1500-1400

Mycenaean dominance on Crete

c.1400

Destruction of Knossos and end of Minoan Civilization

c.1250

Trojan War

c.1200-1100

Collapse of Mycenaean civilization in Greece

c.800

Beginning of city-states in Greece

c.750-600

Concentration of landed wealth in Greece

c.750-600

Greek overseas expansion

c.753

Rome founded

c.750

The Iliad and The Odyssey

c.700

Earliest Greek settlement in Egypt's Nile delta

c.650

Shift from cavalry to infantry in Greece

c.650-500

Doric architectural style

c.600

Invention of coinage by Lydians

c.600

Thales of Miletus

594

Reforms of Solon in Athens

c.530

Pythagoras

525-456

Aeschylus

508

Reforms of Cleisthenes in Athens

c.500-432

Phidias

c.500-400

Ionic architectural style

c.500

Establishment of Roman Republic

c.500

Orphic and Eleusinian mystery cults

496-406

Sophocles

c.490-420

Protagoras

490-479

Greco-Persian War

487-429

Perfection of Athenian democracy

c.484-420

Herodotus

c.480-406

Euripides

478-404

Delian League

c.471-400

Thucydides

469-399

Socrates

c.460

The Parthenon

460-c.377

Hippocrates

c.460-362

Democritus

c.450

Law of the Twelve Tables, Rome

c.450-400

The Sophists

c.448-380

Aristophanes

431-404

Peloponnesian War

429-347

Plato

c.400-300

Corinthian style architecture

384-322

Aristotle

c.370-310

Praxiteles

342-270

Epicurus

338

Macedonian conquest of Greece

334-323

Conquests of Alexander the Great

323

Death of Alexander, division of his empire

c.323-285

Euclid

c.320-250

Zeno the Stoic

310-230

Aristarchus

c.300-100

Hellenistic international trade

264-146

Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage

c.287-212

Archimedes

c.276-195

Eratosthenes

c.250-100

Growth of slavery, decline of small farmer in Rome

c.250-50

Oriental mystery cults in Rome

c.220-150

Herophilus

c.205-118

Polybius

c.200

The Skeptics

c.183-145

Greek Invasion of India

146

Destruction of Carthage by Rome

c.146-60

Introduction of Greek philosophy to Rome

133-121

Reforms of the Gracchi brothers in Rome

106-43

Cicero

98-55

Lucretius

70-19

Virgil

65-8

Horace

59B.C.E.-17C.E.

Livy

46-44

Dictatorship of Caesar in Rome

43B.C.E.-17C.E.

Ovid

27B.C.E.-14C.E.

Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome

27B.C.E.-14C.E.

Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome

34-65

Seneca

55-117

Tacitus

61.

Treaty of Samos between Rome and Kush

c.80

The Colosseum

96-180

The "Good Emporers" in Rome

c.120

The Pantheon

c.120-250

Height of Roman portrait statuary

121-180

Marcus Aurelius

130-c.200

Galen

200

Completion of Roman jurisprudence by great jurists

c.204-270

Plotonius

235-284

Civil war in the Roman empire

284-305

Diocletian

306-337

Constantine I

311

Beginning of toleration of Christians in Roman Empire

354-430

St. Augustine

379-395

Theodosius I

380

Christianity becomes the official Roman religion

410

Visigoths sack Rome

476

Deposition of last western Roman emporer

c.480-524

Boethius

493-526

Theodoric the Ostrogoth king of Italy

c.500-700

Decline of towns and trade in the west

c.520

Benedictine monastic rule

527-565

Justinian

532-537

Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia

c.550

Corpus of Roman law

590-604

Pope Gregory I

610-641

Byzantine Emperor Heraclius

630

Muhammad enters Mecca in triumph

c.700-1050

Predominantly agrarian economy in the West

711

Muslims conquer Spain

c.715-754

Missionary work of St. Boniface in Germany

717

Muslims unsuccessfully attack Constantinople

726-843

Iconoclastic controversy in Byzantine Empire

735

Death of the Venerable Bede

c.750

Beowulf

c.750

Book of Kells (Ireland)

751

Pepin the Short annointed king of the Franks

768-814

Charlemagne

c.800-1000

Height of Byzantine commerce and industry

c.800-850

Carolingian Renaissance

800

Charlemagne crowned emperor

c.850-911

Carolingian Empire distintegrates

871-899

Alfred the Great of England

c.880-911

High point of Viking raids in Europe

910

Foundation of Cluny

936-973

Otto the Great of Germany

c.950

Foundation of the Kievan state

c.988

Byzantine conversion of Russia to Christianity

c.1000-1200

Romanesque style in architecture and art

c.1025-1100

Destruction of Byzantine free peasantry

1046

Beginning of Reform Papacy

c.1050-1300

Agricultural advance, revival of towns and trade in the West

1054

Beginning of Schism between Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches

1054

Beginning of Schism between Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches

1066

Norman conquest of England

1071

Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert

1073-1085

Pope Gregory VII

1077

Penance of Henry IV at Canossa

1090-1153

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

1095-1099

First Crusade

c.1095

Song of Roland

c.1100-1300

Origins of universities in the West

c.1100-1220

Troubadour poetry

1100-1135

Henry I of England

1108-1137

Louis VI of France

c.1115-1153

Height of Cistercian monasticism

1122

Concordat of Worms ends investiture struggle

c.1140-1260

Translation of Aristotle's works into Latin

c.1150-1500

Gothic style in architecture and art

1152-1190

Frederick I (Barbarossa) of Germany

1154-1189

Henry II of England

c.1155-1157

Peter Lombard's Sentences

c.1165-1190

Poetry of Chrétien de Troyes

c.1168-1253

Robert Grosseteste

1180-1223

Philip Augustus of France

c.1180

Windmill invented

1187

Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin

1198-1216

Pope Innocent III

1198

Death of Averroës

1204

Crusaders sack Constantinople

1204

Death of Maimonides

1208-1213

Albigensian Crusade

1210

Founding of Franciscan Order

1212

Spanish victory over Muslims at Las Navas de Tolosa

1212-1250

Frederick II of Germany and Sicily

c.1214-1294

Francis Bacon

1215

Magna Carta

1215

Fourth Latern Council

1216

Founding of Dominican Order

1225-1274

St. Thomas Aquinas

1226-1270

Louis IX (St. Louis) of France

c.1250-1277

Height of Scholasticism

c.1270

Romance of the Rose

1272-1307

Edward I of England

1285-1349

William of Ockham

1285-1314

Philip IV (the Fair) of France

c.1290

Mechanical clock invented

1291

Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land

1294-1303

Pope Boniface VII

c.1300-1327

Period of Master Eckhart's activity

c.1300-1450

European economic depression

1305-1378

Babylonian captivity of papacy

c.1305-1337

Paintings of Giotto

c.1310

Dante's Divine Comedy

1315

Floods throughout western Europe

c.1320-1500

height of nominalism

c.1330-1384

John Wyclif

1337-1453

Hundred Years War

1347-1350

Black Death

c.1350-1450

Height of Hanseatic League

c.1350-1450

Political chaos in Germany

c.1350

Boccaccio's Decameron

1378-1417

The Great Schism of the papacy

1381

English peasant's revolt

c.1390

Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

1397-1494

Medici Bank

1400-1441

Paintings of Jan van Eyck

c.1408-1415

Jon Hus preaches in Bohemia

1414-1417

Council of Constance

1420-1434

Hussite Revolt

c.1427

Imitation of Christ

1429-1431

Appearance of Joan of Arc

1431-1449

Council of Basel, defeat of conciliarism

c.1450-1500

Rise of princes in Germany

c.1450

Printing with movable type

c.1453-1513

Reassertion of royal power in France

1453

Heavy artillery (cannons) helps Turks capture Constantinople and end Hundred Years War

1454-1485

Peace among Northern Italian states

1455-1485

War of the Roses in England

1462-1505

Ivan III lays foundation for Russian Empire

1469

Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella

1485-1603

Strong Tudor dynasty in England

c.5000-3000

Yangshao culture in China

c.5000

Mangoes cultivated in SE Asia

c.3750

First evidence of cotton weaving. Mohenjo-Daro, India.

c.3500-2500

Longshan culture in China

c.3400

First evidence of wheel-made pottery. Sumeria.

c.3200-1600

Indus Valley civilization

c.3200-2340

Cities in Mesopotamia

c.3200

Wheeled transport develops in Mesopotamia.

c.3200

Lunar calendar in Mesopotamia

c.3200

Cuneiform in Sumeria.

c.3000-2000

Anthropomorphic religion in Mesopotamia

3000

Silk manufacturing. China.

c.2500-1500

Indus Civilization in India

2334-c.2200

Akkadian Empire

c. 2200-1750

Hsia (Xia) Dynasty in China

c.2000-1800

Mathematical advances in Old Babylonia

c.2000-1600

Old Babylonian Empire

c.2000

Horse introduced to W. Asia

c.2000

"Personal" religion develops in Mesopotamia

c.1900

Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.

c.1790

Code of Hammurabi

c.1750-1100

Shang Dynasty in China

c.1700-1500

Evidence of ideographic script in China

c.1600-1200

Hittite Empire in Asia Minor (Anatolia)

c.1600

Invention of alphabet (consonants only). Syria

c.1550

Kassites overthrow Babylonians

c.1523-1027

Shang dynasty and invention of writing

c.1500-500

Arrival of the Aryans and development of Vedic society (India)

c.1400

Development of alphabet by Phoenicians

c.1250

Moses unites Hebrews in worship of Yahweh

c.1200s

Moses leads Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine

c.1200-1025

Hebrew occupation of Canaan

c.1250

Trojan War

c.1200-800

Vedas in India

c.1100-250

Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China

c.1027-771

Western Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China

c.1025-933

Unified Hebrew monarchy, Saul, David, and Solomon

c.1000

Rise of caste system in India

933-722

Kingdom of Israel

933-586

Kingdom of Judah

c.800-600

Upanishads in India

771-c.250

Eastern Zhou (Chou)

c.750-612

Height of Assyrian Empire

c.750-550

Hebrew prophetic revolution

c.750-400

Astronomical observation and record-keeping by New Babylonians

c.625

Zoroaster formulates religion in Persia

612-539

New Babylonian Empire

c.600

Deuteronomic code

586

Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem

c.563-483

Life of Gautama, the Buddha

c.551-479

Confucius

c.550

Laozi

c.540-468

Life of Mahavira, founder of Jainism in India

c.563-483

Life of Gautama, the Buddha

c.540-468

Life of Mahavira, founder of Jainism in India

539

Conquest of Babylon by Persians

525

Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt

c.513

Persian conquest of northwestern India and Indus Valley

c.500

Crop cultivation in rows in China

c.500

Iron plow in China

c.500

Royal Road of Persians

490-479

Greco-Persian War

c.450

Hebrew Song of Songs

c.400

Book of Job

c.400

Coinage in China

c.400

Trace harness in China

c.400

Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

c.400-200

Mahabharata and Ramayana reach final form in India

c.400 B.C.E.-70C.E.

Hebrew prophetic revolution

c.373-288

Mencius

334-323

Conquests of Alexander the Great

323

Death of Alexander, division of his empire

c.322-183

Maurya dynasty in India

c.300

Wrought iron in China

c.300

Emergence of Mithraism

300-237

Xunzi (Hsün-tzu)

c.273-232

Reign of Emporer Ashoka in India

c.261

Ashoka conquers Kalinga, leading to spread of Buddhism in India

c.250-208

Han Fei-tzu and Li Ssu--development of Legalism in China

221-206

Unification of China under Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty

221-206

Destruction of Confucian literature under Legalist regime

221-206

Standardization of weights and measures, coinage, writing system under Legalist regime

206B.C.E.-220C.E.

Han Dynasty in China

c.200

Use of the seed drill in China

c.183-145

Greek Invasion of India

c.179-104

Dong Zhongsho (Tung Chung-shu)

c.141-87

Emporer Han Wudi (Wu Ti) in China

c.140

First Chinese ambassadors to India

c. 145-86

Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien)

111

Chinese expansion to S. China Sea and Vietnam

c. 100

Beginning of Japanese state

c. 100

Invention of the Rudder in China

206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.

Han Dynasty in China

c.0-100

Shaka and Kushan invasions in northern India

c.25-300

Kushan rule in northwestern India

c.78

Kushan emporer Kanishka promotes Buddhism in India

220-589

Buddhism reaches China

221-280

Three Kingdoms Era

c.200

Porcelain in China

c.200-300

Creation of the Yamato state in Japan

c.300-800

Classical age of Hindu culture in India

c.300-500

Barbarian invasions of China

320-467

Gupta dynasty in India

c.380-450

Kalidasa, India's greatest poet

c.405

Adoption of Chinese writing in Japan

500

Manufacture of glass and magnetic compass in China

c.550-1250

Great stone temple architecture in India

c.552

Spread of Buddhism in Japan

c.570-632

Muhammad

589-618

Sui dynasty in China

c.600-1000

Sanskrit drama in India

604

Shotoku's Seventeen Article Constitution in Japan

c.606-648

King Harsha in India

610

Muhammad preaches reform, monotheism in Arabia

618-907

Tang Dynasty in China

622

Muhammad's Hijrah

632

Muhammad dies

632-661

Caliphate emerges as an institution

636-651

Muslims conquer Syria, Persia and Egypt

645

Taika Reform Edict

651

Publication of the Qu'ran, sacred book of Islam

c.656

Split in Islam between Shiites and Sunnites

661-750

The Umayyads dynasty (Islamic kingdom)

661

Umayyads move Muslim capital from Medina to Damascus

c.700-1300

Height of Islamic commerce and industry

710

Nara establised as Japan's first capitol (and first city)

750-1258

The Abbasid dynasty (Islamic dynasty)

751

Battle at Talas River ends Islamic penetration of Central Asia

762

Abbasids move Muslim capital from Damascus to Baghdad

794-1185

Heian era and literary flowering in Japan

c.900

Woodblock printing of books in China, Japan, and Korea

907-960

The Era of the Five Dynasties in China--warfare

945

Buyids occupy Baghdad

c.950

Death of Al-Farabi

960-1279

Song dynasty in China

1000-1500

Muslim invasions of India

1000-1200

Development of neo-Confucianism

1037

Death of Avicenna

1021-1086

Wang An-shih, political reformer and author in China

1055

Baghdad falls to the Seljuk Turks

1095-1099

First Crusade

c.1120

Rubaiyat of Umar Khayyam

1141-1279

Height of landscape painting in China

c.1150

Explosive powder used in weapons in China

c.1162-1227

Genghis Khan

1185-1333

Kamakura Shogunate and Japanese feudalism

1187

Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin

1192

Establishment of Shogunate in Japan

1192

Destruction of Buddhism in India

c.1200

Zen Buddhism in Japan

c.1200

Innoculation for smallpox in China

1206-1526

Turkish Sultanate at Delhi

c.1235

Development of Chinese drama

c.1250

Poetry of Sadi

1258

Mongols destroy Baghdad and kill the last Abbasid Caliph

1274

Mongols unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan

1279-1368

Mongol (Yüan) dynasty in China

1281

Mongols unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan

1290-1320

Sultanate of Delhi

1291

Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land

1300-1500

Rise of the daimyo in Japan

c.1300

Marco Polo travels in China

1368-1644

Ming dynasty in China

c.1370

Persian poetry of Hafiz

1398

Sack of Delhi by Timur the Lame (Tamerlane)

c.1500

Founding of Sikh religious sect

1549-1551

Introduction of Christianity to Japan

1582-1610

Matteo Ricci in China

c.1591

Decline of Songhay afer defeat by Moroccans

1453

Heavy artillery (cannons) helps Turks capture Constantinople and end Hundred Years War

c.20,000.

Migration across the Bering Sea to the Americas

5000

Domestication of corn in Mexico

2000

Potatoes cultivated in Andes

1500

Lima Beans Cultivated in Peru

c.1500-300C.E.

Olmec civilization in Central America

c.300-700C.E.

Teotihuacán culture in Mexico

c.300B.C.E.-700

Teotihuacán culture in Mexico

c.300-1500.

Mayan civilization in Central America

c.600-1000

Tiahuanaco culture in South America

c.600

Manufacture of bark paper in Mayan civilzation

800-1000

"Time of Troubles" in Mesoamerica

c.1000-1500

Inca civilization in South America

c.1000-1300.

Toltec hegemony

c.1325

Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) founded by Aztecs

4.4 mya

Earliest evidence of pre-human hominid species

4-2 mya

Hominid species-(australopithecus afarensis) in Ethiopia

1.8 mya

Nutcracker Man discovered in Tanzania by Mary Leakey

1.8 mya

Homo habilis or tool-making man

1.7 mya

Homo erectus or erect man

~1 mya

Homo erectus begins to migrate to Europe and Asia

100,000-40,000

Neanderthal Man, in Africa and Europe

100,000+

Homo sapiens, or wise man

10,000-6,000

Shift from Hunter Gatherer to food producer in some areas (West Asia initially, Egypt by 6,000)

3200

Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

3100

Egyptian hieroglyphic writing

3000

Egyptians develop weaving from plant fibers (flax)

2770-2200

Old Kingdom in Egypt

2650

Construction of first pyramid in Egypt, first monumental columnar forms

~2500

Basic forms for furniture, wind instruments in Egypt

~2000

Solar Calendar in Egypt

~2000

Terra-cotta pottery in Egypt

2050-1786

Middle Kingdom in Egypt

1800

Egyptian belief in personal immortality

1560-1087

New Kingdom in Egypt

~1580-1090

Temple building in Egypt

~1375

Akhenaton introduces monotheism in Egypt

~1375

Naturalistic art in Egypt

~1300

Transparent glass invented in Egypt

~1300

Use of Papyrus, pen, and ink for writing in Egypt

~1300-1100

Increasing use of iron in Western Asia

c.700

Earliest Greek settlement in Egypt's Nile delta

525

Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt

334-323

Conquests of Alexander the Great

323

Death of Alexander, division of his empire

264-146

Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage

c.200

Use of iron in Sub-saharan Africa

146

Destruction of Carthage by Rome

47

Fire destroys the great library at Alexandria

61

Treaty of Samos between Rome and Kush

c.200-900

Expansion of Bantu speakers in Africa

c.200

Camels first used for trans-Saharan transport

c.250

Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) controls Red Sea trade

c.251-356

Anthony of Egypt reputed father of hermit monasticism

c.300

Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) accepts Christianity

c.340

Pachomius draws up code of monastic behavior in Luxor, Egypt

c.450

Rise of Ghana in West Africa

c.600-1500

Extensive slave trade from sub-Saharan Africa to Mediterranean

636-651

Muslims conquer Syria, Persia and Egypt

641

Muslim conquest of Egypt

c.1000-1500

Consolidation of states

c.1100-1500

Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures blend in Swahili civilization along eastern coast

c.1100-1897

Kingdom of Benin

c.1224

Decline of the Kingdom of Ghana

1270-1478

Imperial revival in Ethiopia

c.1300-1500

Mali empire in middle Niger region

c.1325

Ibn Battuta, famous North African traveler, begins 29-year, 75,000 mile world tour

c.1330

University of Tmbuktu

c.1493-1582

Expansion of Songhay

c.1591

Decline of Songhay afer defeat by Moroccans