| 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) |
| c.5000-3000 | Yangshao culture in China |
| c.5000 | Mangoes cultivated in SE Asia |
| 5000 | Domestication of corn in Mexico |
| 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. |
| 3200 | Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt |
| 3100 | Egyptian hieroglyphic writing |
| 3000 | Egyptians develop weaving from plant fibers (flax) |
| c.3000-2000 | Anthropomorphic religion in Mesopotamia |
| 3000 | Silk manufacturing. China. |
| 2770-2200 | Old Kingdom in Egypt |
| 2650 | Construction of first pyramid in Egypt, first monumental columnar forms |
| 2500-1500 | Indus Civilization in India |
| ~2500 | Basic forms for furniture, wind instruments in Egypt |
| 2334-c.2200 | Akkadian Empire |
| c. 2200-1750 | Hsia (Xia) Dynasty in China |
| 2050-1786 | Middle Kingdom in Egypt |
| ~2000 | Terra-cotta pottery in Egypt |
| ~2000 | Solar Calendar in Egypt |
| c.2000 | Minoan worship of the Mother Goddess |
| c.2000 | Extensive commerce between Egypt and Crete |
| c.2000-1500 | Height of Minoan Civilization |
| 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 |
| 2000 | Potatoes cultivated in Andes |
| c.1900 | Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia. |
| 1800 | Egyptian belief in personal immortality |
| c.1790 | Code of Hammurabi |
| c.1750-1100 | Shang Dynasty in China |
| c.1700-1500 | Evidence of ideographic script in China |
| c.1600-1200 | Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece |
| c.1600-1200 | Hittite Empire in Asia Minor (Anatolia) |
| c.1600 | Invention of alphabet (consonants only). Syria |
| ~1580-1090 | Temple building in Egypt |
| 1560-1087 | New Kingdom in Egypt |
| c.1550 | Kassites overthrow Babylonians |
| c.1523-1027 | Shang dynasty and invention of writing |
| c.1500-300C.E. | Olmec civilization in Central America |
| c.1500-500 | Arrival of the Aryans and development of Vedic society (India) |
| 1500 | Lima Beans Cultivated in Peru |
| 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.1400 | Development of alphabet by Phoenicians |
| ~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.1250 | Trojan War |
| c.1250 | Moses unites Hebrews in worship of Yahweh |
| c.1200-1100 | Collapse of Mycenaean civilization in Greece |
| c.1200s | Moses leads Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine |
| c.1200-1025 | Hebrew occupation of Canaan |
| c.1200-800 | Vedas in India |
| c.1100-250 | Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China |
| c.1100-771 | 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 |
| c.800 | Beginning of city-states in Greece |
| 771-c.250 | Eastern Zhou (Chou) |
| c.753 | Rome founded |
| c.750-612 | Height of Assyrian Empire |
| c.750-600 | Concentration of landed wealth in Greece |
| c.750-600 | Greek overseas expansion |
| c.750-550 | Hebrew prophetic revolution |
| c.750-400 | Astronomical observation and record-keeping by New Babylonians |
| 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.625 | Zoroaster formulates religion in Persia |
| 612-539 | New Babylonian Empire |
| c.600 | Invention of coinage by Lydians |
| c.600 | Thales of Miletus |
| c.600 | Deuteronomic code |
| 594 | Reforms of Solon in Athens |
| 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 |
| 539 | Conquest of Babylon by Persians |
| 525 | Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt |
| 525 | Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt |
| c.530 | Pythagoras |
| 525-456 | Aeschylus |
| c.513 | Persian conquest of northwestern India and Indus Valley |
| 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 |
| c.500 | Crop cultivation in rows in China |
| c.500 | Iron plow in China |
| c.500 | Royal Road of Persians |
| 496-406 | Sophocles |
| 490-479 | Greco-Persian War |
| 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 | Hebrew Song of Songs |
| 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 |
| c.400 B.C.E.-70C.E. | Hebrew prophetic revolution |
| 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 |
| 384-322 | Aristotle |
| c.373-288 | Mencius |
| 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.322-183 | Maurya dynasty in India |
| c.320-250 | Zeno the Stoic |
| 310-230 | Aristarchus |
| c.300-700C.E. | Teotihuacán culture in Mexico |
| 300-237 | Xunzi (Hsün-tzu) |
| c.300-100 | Hellenistic international trade |
| c.300 | Wrought iron in China |
| c.300 | Emergence of Mithraism |
| c.287-212 | Archimedes |
| c.276-195 | Eratosthenes |
| c.273-232 | Reign of Emporer Ashoka in India |
| 264-146 | Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage |
| 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 |
| c.250-100 | Growth of slavery, decline of small farmer in Rome |
| c.250-50 | Oriental mystery cults in Rome |
| 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 |
| c.220-150 | Herophilus |
| 206B.C.E.-220C.E. | Han Dynasty in China |
| c.205-118 | Polybius |
| c.200 | Use of the seed drill in China |
| c.200 | The Skeptics |
| c.200 | Use of iron in Sub-saharan Africa |
| c.183-145 | Greek Invasion of India |
| c.183-145 | Greek Invasion of India |
| c.179-104 | Dong Zhongsho (Tung Chung-shu) |
| 146 | Destruction of Carthage by Rome |
| 146 | Destruction of Carthage by Rome |
| c.146-60 | Introduction of Greek philosophy to Rome |
| c. 145-86 | Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien) |
| c.141-87 | Emporer Han Wudi (Wu Ti) in China |
| c.140 | First Chinese ambassadors to India |
| 133-121 | Reforms of the Gracchi brothers in Rome |
| 111 | Chinese expansion to S. China Sea and Vietnam |
| 106-43 | Cicero |
| c. 100 | Beginning of Japanese state |
| c. 100 | Invention of the Rudder in China |
| 98-55 | Lucretius |
| 70-19 | Virgil |
| 65-8 | Horace |
| 59B.C.E.-17C.E. | Livy |
| 47 | Fire destroys the great library at Alexandria |
| 46-44 | Dictatorship of Caesar in Rome |
| 43B.C.E.-17C.E. | Ovid |
| 27B.C.E.-14C.E. | Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome |
| c.300-700C.E. | Teotihuacán culture in Mexico |
| 206 B.C.E.-220 C.E. | Han Dynasty in China |
| 27B.C.E.-14C.E. | Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome |
| c.0-100 | Shaka and Kushan invasions in northern India |
| c.25-300 | Kushan rule in northwestern India |
| 34-65 | Seneca |
| 55-117 | Tacitus |
| 61. | Treaty of Samos between Rome and Kush |
| c.78 | Kushan emporer Kanishka promotes Buddhism in India |
| 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 |
| c.200-900 | Expansion of Bantu speakers in Africa |
| c.200-300 | Creation of the Yamato state in Japan |
| 200 | Completion of Roman jurisprudence by great jurists |
| c.200 | Camels first used for trans-Saharan transport |
| c.200 | Porcelain in China |
| c.204-270 | Plotonius |
| 220-589 | Buddhism reaches China |
| 221-280 | Three Kingdoms Era |
| 235-284 | Civil war in the Roman empire |
| c.250 | Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) controls Red Sea trade |
| c.251-356 | Anthony of Egypt reputed father of hermit monasticism |
| 284-305 | Diocletian |
| c.300-1500. | Mayan civilization in Central America |
| c.300-800 | Classical age of Hindu culture in India |
| c.300-500 | Barbarian invasions of China |
| 306-337 | Constantine I |
| 311 | Beginning of toleration of Christians in Roman Empire |
| 320-467 | Gupta dynasty in India |
| c.340 | Pachomius draws up code of monastic behavior in Luxor, Egypt |
| 354-430 | St. Augustine |
| 379-395 | Theodosius I |
| c.380-450 | Kalidasa, India's greatest poet |
| 380 | Christianity becomes the official Roman religion |
| c.405 | Adoption of Chinese writing in Japan |
| 410 | Visigoths sack Rome |
| c.450 | Rise of Ghana in West Africa |
| 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 |
| 500 | Manufacture of glass and magnetic compass in China |
| c.520 | Benedictine monastic rule |
| 527-565 | Justinian |
| 532-537 | Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia |
| c.550-1250 | Great stone temple architecture in India |
| c.550 | Corpus of Roman law |
| c.552 | Spread of Buddhism in Japan |
| c.570-632 | Muhammad |
| 589-618 | Sui dynasty in China |
| 590-604 | Pope Gregory I |
| c.600-1500 | Extensive slave trade from sub-Saharan Africa to Mediterranean |
| c.600-1000 | Sanskrit drama in India |
| c.600-1000 | Tiahuanaco culture in South America |
| c.600 | Manufacture of bark paper in Mayan civilzation |
| 604 | Shotoku's Seventeen Article Constitution in Japan |
| c.606-648 | King Harsha in India |
| 610-641 | Byzantine Emperor Heraclius |
| 610 | Muhammad preaches reform, monotheism in Arabia |
| 618-907 | Tang Dynasty in China, economic, political and artistic brilliance |
| 622 | Muhammad's Hijrah |
| 630 | Muhammad enters Mecca in triumph |
| 632-661 | Caliphate emerges as an institution |
| 636-651 | Muslims conquer Syria, Persia and Egypt |
| 641 | Muslim conquest of 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 |
| c.700-1050 | Predominantly agrarian economy in the West |
| 710 | Nara establised as Japan's first capitol (and first city) |
| 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 |
| 732 | Charles Martel defeats Muslims at Poitiers |
| 735 | Death of the Venerable Bede |
| 750-1258 | The Abbasid dynasty (Islamic dynasty) |
| c.750 | Beowulf |
| c.750 | Book of Kells (Ireland) |
| 751 | Battle at Talas River ends Islamic penetration of Central Asia |
| 751 | Pepin the Short annointed king of the Franks |
| 762 | Abbasids move Muslim capital from Damascus to Baghdad |
| 768-814 | Charlemagne |
| 794-1185 | Heian era and literary flowering in Japan |
| 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 |
| c.900 | Woodblock printing of books in China, Japan, and Korea |
| 907-960 | The Era of the Five Dynasties in China--warfare |
| 910 | Foundation of Cluny |
| 936-973 | Otto the Great of Germany |
| 945 | Buyids occupy Baghdad |
| c.950 | Foundation of the Kievan state |
| c.950 | Death of Al-Farabi |
| 960-1279 | Song (Sung) dynasty in China |
| c.988 | Byzantine conversion of Russia to Christianity |
| 1000-1500 | Muslim invasions of India |
| c.1000-1500 | Consolidation of states in Africa |
| c.1000-1500 | Inca civilization in South America |
| c.1000-1200 | Romanesque style in architecture and art |
| 1000-1200 | Development of neo-Confucianism |
| 1021-1086 | Wang An-shih, political reformer and author in China |
| c.1025-1100 | Destruction of Byzantine free peasantry |
| c.1050-1300 | Agricultural advance, revival of towns and trade in the West |
| 1055 | Baghdad falls to the Seljuk Turks |
| 1037 | Death of Avicenna |
| 1046 | Beginning of Reform Papacy |
| 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 |
| 1079-1142 | Peter Abelard |
| 1090-1153 | St. Bernard of Clairvaux |
| 1095-1099 | First Crusade |
| c.1095 | Song of Roland |
| c.1100-1897 | Kingdom of Benin |
| c.1100-1500 | Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures blend in Swahili civilization along eastern coast |
| 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 |
| c.1120 | Rubaiyat of Umar Khayyam |
| 1122 | Concordat of Worms ends investiture struggle |
| c.1140-1260 | Translation of Aristotle's works into Latin |
| 1141-1279 | Height of landscape painting in China |
| c.1150-1500 | Gothic style in architecture and art |
| c.1150 | Explosive powder used in weapons in China |
| 1152-1190 | Frederick I (Barbarossa) of Germany |
| 1154-1189 | Henry II of England |
| c.1155-1157 | Peter Lombard's Sentences |
| c.1162-1227 | Genghis Khan |
| c.1165-1190 | Poetry of Chrétien de Troyes |
| c.1168-1253 | Robert Grosseteste |
| 1180-1223 | Philip Augustus of France |
| c.1180 | Windmill invented |
| 1185-1333 | Kamakura Shogunate and Japanese feudalism |
| 1187 | Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin |
| 1187 | Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin |
| 1192 | Establishment of Shogunate in Japan |
| 1192 | Destruction of Buddhism in India |
| 1198-1216 | Pope Innocent III |
| 1198 | Death of Averroës |
| c.1200 | Zen Buddhism in Japan |
| c.1200 | Innoculation for smallpox in China |
| 1204 | Crusaders sack Constantinople |
| 1204 | Death of Maimonides |
| 1206-1526 | Turkish Sultanate at Delhi |
| 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 |
| c.1224 | Decline of the Kingdom of Ghana |
| 1225-1274 | St. Thomas Aquinas |
| 1226-1270 | Louis IX (St. Louis) of France |
| c.1235 | Development of Chinese drama |
| c.1250-1277 | Height of Scholasticism |
| c.1250 | Poetry of Sadi |
| 1258 | Mongols destroy Baghdad and kill the last Abbasid Caliph |
| 1270-1478 | Imperial revival in Ethiopia |
| c.1270 | Romance of the Rose |
| 1272-1307 | Edward I of England |
| 1274 | Mongols unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan |
| 1279-1368 | Mongol (Yüan) dynasty in China |
| 1281 | Mongols unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan |
| 1285-1349 | William of Ockham |
| 1285-1314 | Philip IV (the Fair) of France |
| c.1290 | Mechanical clock invented |
| 1290-1320 | Sultanate of Delhi |
| 1291 | Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land |
| 1291 | Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land |
| 1294-1303 | Pope Boniface VII |
| c.1300-1500 | Mali empire in middle Niger region |
| 1300-1500 | Rise of the daimyo in Japan |
| c.1300-1327 | Period of Master Eckhart's activity |
| c.1300-1450 | European economic depression |
| c.1300 | Marco Polo travels in China |
| 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.1325 | Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) founded by Aztecs |
| c.1325 | Ibn Battuta, famous North African traveler, begins 29-year, 75,000 mile world tour |
| c.1330 | University of Tmbuktu |
| 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 |
| c.1370 | Persian poetry of Hafiz |
| 1378-1417 | The Great Schism of the papacy |
| 1381 | English peasant's revolt |
| c.1390 | Chaucer's Canterbury Tales |
| 1397-1494 | Medici Bank |
| 1398 | Sack of Delhi by Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) |
| 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.1493-1582 | Expansion of Songhay |
| 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 |
