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World History Timeline

By mhelton1
  • 200,000 BCE

    Africa: First homo sapiens appear.

  • 64,000 BCE

    Africa: First bow and arrow used.

  • 50,000 BCE

    Africa: First needles used.

  • 40,000 BCE

    Europe: Oldest cave paintings.

  • 33,000 BCE

    Europe: Oldest known domesticated dogs.

  • 26,000 BCE

    World: Earliest known use of fibers.

  • 25,000 BCE

    Europe: Oldest permanent human settlement.

  • 16,500 BCE

    North America: First colonization of North America.

  • 13,000 BCE

    Europe: Earliest domestication of pigs.

  • 8500 BCE

    Europe: Earliest domestication of cattle.

  • 8000 BCE

    Asia: Earliest Chinese settlements.

  • 5000 BCE

    South America: Nomadic peoples reach South America.

  • 4000 BCE

    Middle East: Civilization emerges in Fertile crescent.

  • 3700 BCE

    Europe: Minoan civilization begins.

  • 3500 BCE

    The wheel is invented.

  • 3300 BCE

    Asia: Indus Valley Civilization begins.

  • 3200 BCE

    Middle East: Cuneiform is invented in Sumeria.

  • 3200 BCE

    Europe: Civilization begins in Greece.

  • 3100 BCE

    Africa: First dynasty begins in Egypt.

  • 3000 BCE

    Europe: Stonehenge is constructed.

  • 3000 BCE

    Africa: First known use of papyrus.

  • 2700 BCE

    Africa: Old Kingdom begins in Egypt.

  • 2600 BCE

    Central America: Mayan civilization appears.

  • 2500 BCE

    World: Mammoths go extinct.

  • 2205 BCE

    Asia: First dynasty begins in China.

  • 1600 BCE

    Europe: Mycenaean Greeks emerge.

  • 1600 BCE

    Asia: Hittite Empire at peak.

  • 1200 BCE

    Middle East/Mediterranean: The earliest use of the Phoenician alphabet on the island of Byblos.

  • 1200 BCE

    World: Bronze Age begins.

  • 1020 BCE

    Middle East: Kingdom of Israel founded.

  • 800 BCE

    Europe: Rise of Greek city-states.

  • 753 BCE

    Europe: Founding of Rome.

  • 660 BCE

    Asia: Japan has first emperor.

  • 653 BCE

    Middle East: Rise of Persian Empire.

  • 508 BCE

    Europe: Athens adopts Democracy.

  • 33

    Middle East: Christianity becomes an established religion in the Middle East.

  • Jan 1, 1000

    Asia: Gunpowder is created in China.

  • Jan 1, 1440

    Europe: The printing press is invented in Germany.

  • Aug 3, 1492

    North America: Columbus reaches the Americas.

  • May 20, 1498

    Asia: Vasco da Gama reaches India.

  • Feb 1, 1519

    Central America: Cortes begins invasion of the Aztec Empire.

  • North America: Jamestown is founded by the English.

  • North America: The American Colonies declare independence from the British.

  • North America: United States Constitution is signed.

  • Europe: The French Revolution begins.

  • Europe: First vaccine is given in England.

  • North America: The Louisiana Purchase is made.

  • Europe: Napoleon invades Russia.

  • North America: Mexico declares independence from Spain.

  • Period: to

    Europe: Crimean War begins in Russia.

  • North America: First Japanese immigrants arrive in U.S.

  • North America: U.S. Civil War begins.

  • North America: Emancipation Proclamation frees slaves in the U.S.

  • North America: Lincoln is assassinated.

  • North America: U.S. Civil War ends.

  • Asia: Meiji Restoration begins in Japan.

  • Europe: Great Britain legalizes labor unions.

  • Europe: Belgium forms the International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of Africa.

  • North America: Telephone is invented in the U.S.

  • Europe: Anti-Semitic pogroms pop up in Russia.

  • Europe: Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria, and Italy formed.

  • North America: Chinese Expulsion Act passed in U.S.

  • Europe: Berlin Conference takes place on colonization of Africa.

  • Africa: Gold discovered in South Africa.

  • North America: Statue of Liberty dedicated in U.S.

  • South America: Brazil ends slavery.

  • Oceania: New Zealand first country to grant suffrage to women.

  • Asia: Sino-Japanese War begins.

  • Asia: Sino-Japanese War ends.

  • North America: Plessey vs. Ferguson legalizes "separate but equal" doctrine in U.S.

  • North America: USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor, Cuba.

  • North America: U.S. annexes Hawaii.

  • Africa: Boer War begins in Southern Africa.

  • Asia: Boxer Rebellion begins in China.

  • Asia: Boxer Rebellion ends.

  • Africa: Boer War ends.

  • North America: First airplane flight achieved.

  • Asia: Russo-Japanese War begins.

  • Asia: Russo-Japanese War ends.

  • North America: Food and Drug Act passed.

  • Europe: Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Bosnia.

  • Europe: World War I begins.

  • Europe: Bolshevik Revolution begins in Russia.

  • North America: U.S. enters World War I.

  • World: World War II ends.

  • North America: Prohibition is enacted in the U.S.

  • World: League of Nations established.

  • North America: Women's suffrage ratified in U.S.

  • Asia: Chinese Communist Party founded in China.

  • Europe: Vladimir Lenin dies in the Soviet Union.

  • North America: Charles Lindbergh makes first solo transatlantic flight.

  • Europe: Penicillin is discovered in England.

  • North America: National Revolutionary Party founded in Mexico.

  • North America: Stock market crashes in U.S.

  • Asia: Japan invades Manchuria.

  • Europe: Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany.

  • Europe: Hitler invades Rhineland.

  • Europe: Spanish Civil War begins.

  • Asia: Japan invades China.

  • Middle East: Oil discovered in Saudi Arabia.

  • Europe: Spanish Civil War ends.

  • Europe: Germany invades Poland.

  • Europe: World War II begins.

  • North America: U.S. enters World War II.

  • North America: First atomic bomb detonated.

  • World: World War II ends.

  • North America: First computer created.

  • Middle East: Israel becomes a nation.

  • World: NATO is formed.

  • Asia: Korean War starts.

  • Asia: Korean War ends.

  • North America: Brown vs. Board of Education ruling.

  • Europe: Warsaw Pact formed.

  • Asia: Vietnam War begins.

  • Europe: U.S.S.R. launches Sputnik into orbit.

  • Asia: Great Leap Forward begins in China.

  • North America: Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba.

  • Africa: Nigeria gains independence.

  • Africa: South Africa gains independence.

  • Europe: Berlin Wall is constructed.

  • North America: Cuban Missile Crisis.

  • North America: March on Washington for Civil Rights.

  • North America: JFK is assassinated.

  • North America: Civil Rights Act passed in U.S.

  • Asia: Cultural Revolution begins in China.

  • Asia: Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of India.

  • North America: MLK assassinated.

  • Middle East: Golda Meir becomes Prime Minister of Israel.

  • North America: Roe vs. Wade decision.

  • Asia: Vietnam War ends.

  • Middle East: Islamic Republic of Iran declared.

  • Middle East: Soviet-Afghan War begins.

  • North America/ Middle East: Iran-Contra Affair

  • Middle East: Soviet-Afghan War ends.

  • Asia: Tienanmen Square Protests begin.

  • Europe: East and West German Reunification

  • Europe: Soviet Union collapses.

  • Middle East: Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accord signed.

  • Europe: European Union founded.

  • World: World Trade Organization formed.

  • North America: September 11 terrorist attacks.

  • Middle East: U.S. invades Iraq.