World History First Semester Timeline

By arhausk
  • Period: 1400 to

    The Renaissance

    The Renaissance was an artistic movement that started in Italy and spread to northern Europe.
  • Period: 1400 to

    European Exploration

    During this time period, many European countries conquered and colonized a lot of different countries.
  • 1420

    Prince Henry of Portugal

    Started sponsoring voyages and helped kick off European exploration
  • 1440

    Johannes Gutenberg

    Johannes Gutenberg
    Invented the movable printing press which helped get the Renaissance started.
  • Aug 3, 1492

    Christopher Columbus

    Left Spain to go discover the "New World"
  • 1497

    Vasco da gama

    Made his first trip to India and found a water route there
  • 1503

    Leonardo da Vinci

    Leonardo da Vinci
    Created the Mona Lisa
  • 1504

    Michelangelo

    Finished creating the statue of King David
  • 1509

    Desiderius Erasmus

    Wrote “The Praise of Folly”
  • 1512

    Michelangelo

    Michelangelo
    Finished painting the Sistine Chapel
  • Period: 1517 to

    The Reformation

    The Reformation was a political, cultural, intellectual, but mostly a religious movement throughout Europe that changed Christianity to make it the way it is now.
  • Oct 31, 1517

    Martin Luther

    Put his 95 theses, against things the Catholic church was doing, on the church door.
  • 1519

    Hernan Cortez

    Invaded Mexico and seized the Aztec's ruler along with their belongings.
  • Sep 20, 1519

    Ferdinand Magellan

    Left his country to go circumnavigate the world
  • Nov 16, 1532

    Francisco Pizarro

    Trapped the Inca's emperor and discovered what would now be the country of Peru
  • 1534

    King Henry VIII

    Established the Church of England and declared himself the head of it.
  • 1534

    Jacques Cartier

    Discovered what would now be Quebec, Canada
  • Aug 15, 1534

    St. Ignatius de Loyola

    Established the Society of Jesus
  • 1536

    John Calvin

    Wrote "Institutes of the Christian Religion" which influenced the Switzerland Reformation.
  • 1543

    Nicolas Copernicus

    Discover and developed the heliocentric theory and published it in his book.
  • Period: 1543 to

    The Scientific Revolution

    A time period where mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry changed how people viewed societies and nature.
  • Period: 1550 to

    Age of Absolutism

    A time period in European history where monarchs successfully gathered the wealth and power of the state to themselves and were not really influenced by the people.
  • 1558

    Elizabeth I

    Elizabeth I
    Became the Queen of England
  • Dec 13, 1577

    Francis Drake

    Left England to become the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe
  • William Shakespeare

    Wrote "Romeo and Juliet"
  • William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare
    Wrote "Hamlet"
  • Miguel de Cervantes

    Miguel de Cervantes
    Published "Don Quixote" which was the first book of its kind
  • Johannes Kepler

    Developed laws of planetary motion and published his first two
  • Galileo Galilei

    Wrote a letter about discovering three of Jupiter's moons, becoming the first person to realize Jupiter had moons.
  • William Harvey

    Studied the vascular system and announced his discovery of the circulation of blood within the body
  • Period: to

    The 30 Years' War

    This war took place during the Reformation; it was fought between the Catholics and Protestants of many different national armies.
  • Johannes Kepler

    Published his third law of planetary motion
  • Period: to

    English Civil War

    This was a conflict between parliament (led by Oliver Cromwell) and Charles I that ended with the execution of Charles I.
  • Charles I

    Charles I
    Was executed because he lost the English Civil War and parliament did not want a monarchy anymore
  • Thomas Hobbes

    Thomas Hobbes
    Wrote "Leviathan" which explained his political philosophy, such as how he thought the best type of government was an absolute monarchy
  • Oliver Cromwell

    Oliver Cromwell
    Became England's Lord Protector (which means he was England's leader that was not a monarch) after Charles I was killed
  • Charles II

    Charles II
    After being exiled, he became king and restored the monarchy: starting what is known as the Restoration period
  • Isaac Newton

    Isaac Newton
    Developed/Invented the laws of gravity
  • Louis XIV

    Moved the royal court to his expensive palace of Versailles
  • Period: to

    The Enlightenment

    This was a time period where European politics, science, philosophy, and communications were majorly altered.
  • Period: to

    The Glorious Revolution

    This event was the overthrowing of King James II, which allowed William and Mary to become the rulers of England.
  • William and Mary

    William and Mary
    became joint monarchs which led to an event known as the "Glorious Revolution"
  • John Locke

    John Locke
    Wrote Two Treatises of Government which strongly influenced the American founding fathers
  • Peter the Great

    Became czar of Russia and helped improve the military and country by westernizing them
  • Baron de Montesquieu

    Baron de Montesquieu
    Wrote "The Spirit of Laws" which majorly contributed to political theory
  • Voltaire

    Voltaire
    Was and Enlightenment thinker who wrote "Candide" which caused a lot of controversy
  • Frederick the Great

    Helped conduct the first partition of Poland and made Prussia stronger by gaining them land
  • Period: to

    The French Revolution

    A period of time in France filled with social and political upheaval in France.
  • The Storming of the Bastille

    The Storming of the Bastille
    Revolutionaries decided to storm the Bastille, which was a prison in France that held a lot of political prisoners, starting the French Revolution.
  • Louis XVI

    Louis XVI
    Was the King of France at the start of the French Revolution, until he was executed, starting The Reign of Terror
  • The Reign of Terror

    A time period during the French Revolution where Robespierre executed anyone who he considered an enemy of France, it ended with his execution.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte

    Napoleon Bonaparte
    Was exiled from France for the second time after being their powerful, and mostly successful military leader for many years
  • The Battle of Waterloo

    This was Napoleon Bonaparte's final battle, during which he was defeated.
  • Eugene Delacroix

    Eugene Delacroix
    Painted "Liberty Leading the People" which commemorated the July Revolution of that year