World Timeline

  • The World Timeline gives a perspective on the key dates of the Rise and Fall of Empires.
  • It includes the dates of Wars, Battles, Monuments, Pandemics, Eruptions, Religions, Calendars and new Technology, from the earliest human skeleton in c.4.4M BCE to the present day.

4.54 B to 300,000 BCE

Year Country Event
4.54 B, BCE World Earth Creation Date. It is based on the geological time scale (GTS), a rock record for dating the Earth.
3.48 B, BCE World First Life on Earth: Stromatolites and other microbial mat fossils found in sandstone in Western Australia.
245-66 M, BCE World Dinosaur Era.
66 M, BCE Mexico Chicxulub crater formed by the Chicxulub Impactor, an Asteroid that impacted the Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico, causing the Fifth Mass Extinction Event in 540 million years. It resulted in the Extinction of the non-flying Dinosaurs and 75% of plant and animal species.
4.4 M, BCE Ethiopia ‘Ardi’: skeleton of a female hominid, older than ‘Lucy’, found in Aramis.
3.22 M, BCE Ethiopia ‘Lucy’: the first human skeleton to be found (3.22-3.18 M BCE).
2.6 M, BCE Stone Age begins (2.6 M-3,000 BCE)
0.8 M, BCE Spain Earliest archeological evidence of human existence in Europe found in Spain and Italy.
0.7 M, BCE Britain 32 Flint tools found in Pakenham, Suffolk.
0.4 M, BCE Greece Petralona skull, earliest human skeleton found in Europe in a cave in Chalkidiki.
0.3 M, BCE Homo Sapiens emerge from Homo Erectus in 300,000 BCE and migrate from Africa into Europe and the Middle East.
0.3 M, BCE Britain 44 Flint axes found in Harnham, Salisbury.
0.113 M, BCE World Start of the Last Ice Age (113,000-9,500 BCE).
0.04 M, BCE Neanderthals become extinct (c.40,000 BCE). The date they split from modern humans is uncertain.

15,000-6,000 BCE

Year Country Event
14,500 BCE France Lascaux Cave Paintings. Some correspond to maps of star constellations.
9,500 BCE World End of the Last Ice Age, or Last Glacial Period (113,000-9,500 BCE)
8,400 BCE Britain Mesolithic Cemetery of 100 skeletons found in Burrington Coombe, Mendips.
8,000 BCE Scotland World’s oldest known Calendar found in Warren Field, near Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire. It consists of 12 Mesolithic pits and an arc that form a Lunisolar calendar that matches the Phases of the Moon.
6.676 BCE India Start of the Hindu Saptarsi Calendar used by the Mauryan Kings.
6,500 BCE Jordan, Syria Concrete: Nabataean Traders use concrete in housing structures, floors and underground cisterns. From 600 BCE, the Romans used concrete blocks in construction and Domes.
6,000 BCE Portugal Almendres Cromlech, located near Evora, it is a stone circle constructed in phases between 6-4,000 BCE.
5,509 BCE Greece Start of the Byzantine Calendar. The 1st September, and not the 1st January, was considered as the date of Earth Creation and was based on the starting point of Lunar and Solar cycles. It was implemented between c.691-1728 CE.
5,500 BCE Ethiopia Start of the Ethiopian Calendar.

5,000 BCE

Year Country Event
4,900 BCE Germany Goseck Circle, Upper Saxony.
(1,600 BCE) Germany Nebra Skydisc Site, 23 miles from Goseck Circle. Both Sites aligned to winter and summer solstices.
4,500 BCE France Carnac: earliest Stones.
4,500 BCE Persia Start of Zoroastrian Calendar of 360 days.
4,500 BCE Mesopotamia Sumer Civilisation (4,500-1,900 BCE)
4,500 BCE Mesopotamia Invention of the Wheel and Axle (4,500-3,300 BCE)
4,240 BCE Start of the Sothic Cycle according to Meyer. (or 2,782 BCE)
4236 or 4241 BCE Egypt Start of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar of 360 days.

4,000 BCE

Year Country Event
c.4,000 BCE Egypt Egyptians added 5 extra days to their Calendar. (Or may have been after 1,495 BCE)
c.4,000 BCE Mesopotamia Ur excavations by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1929 revealed 10 ft (3.2m) of mud indicating a Great Flood estimated around 4,000 BCE.
(cont,) Prof Max Callowan-Kish (1929-1931) estimated the earliest layer to 3300-2900 BCE. The Persian Gulf came inland 400 miles (640km) by 100 miles (160km) wide.
c.4,000 BCE Britain Maiden Castle, Neolithic Causeway built.
c.4,000 BCE Britain Glastonbury ‘sweet track’: 1.5 mile (2km) oak track system. The crannog of Westhay island lake village connected to ‘Ponter’s Ball’ earthwork.
3,761 BCE Levant Start of the Jewish Calendar.
c.3,700 BCE Peru Aspero, city of the Norte Chico Civilisation (3,700-1,800 BCE).
3,600 BCE Malta Mnajdra Stone Temple. Mnajdra has 15 ton free-standing stone blocks (3,500-2,500 BCE).
3,500 BCE Scotland Knap of Howar, Papa Westray, Orkney Islands. It is the oldest house in Northwestern Europe.
3,500 BCE Mesopotamia Epic of Gilgamesh from Uruk (Babylon).
3,500 BCE France Breton Neolithic Age (3,500-1,500 BCE)
3,500 BCE France Gavrinis Chambered passage tomb, Gavrinis, Morbihan Bay, Brittany.
(cont.) Similar to Newgrange which was started c.300 years later.
3,300 BCE Pakistan, India Indus Valley Civilisation, Pakistan (3,300-1,300 BCE) and the beginning of Hinduism, the oldest Religion in the world.
3,200 BCE Bronze Age begins (3,200-500 BCE) End of Stone Age.
3,200 BCE Ireland Newgrange and 30 Monuments in the Boyne Valley.
3,200 BCE Scotland Skara Brae (3,200-2,500 BCE) Neolithic village of 10 houses, Orkney Monuments
3,131 BCE Guatemala Mayan world creation date.
3,114 BCE (cont.) Start of Mayan Calendar. Mayans record the first rising of planet Venus.
3,102 BCE India Hindu Table of 4 Planet system.
(cont.) Mesopotamia Venus is also absent from the Babylonian 4 planet system.
3,100 BCE Egypt First Dynasty of Kings, King Menes. (But Royal pottery dates from 3,800 BCE)

3,000 BCE

Year Country Event
3,000 BCE World The Six Cradles of Civilisation begin.
3,000 BCE France Carnac, Brittany. 30 Sites of Standing stones.
3,000 BCE Turkey Troy I.
3,000 BCE Britain The Ridgeway: Chalk Road from Lyme Regis to Hunstanton.
3.000 BCE Britain Maiden Castle: Dorchester, becomes the largest Hill fort in Europe.
2,950 BCE Britain Stonehenge, Stones placed in 2,550 BCE, The Cursus in 2,300 BCE.
3,000 BCE Britain Old Sarum, Cerne Abbas Giant, White Horses on the Ridgeway.
3,000 BCE Scotland Standing Stones of Stenness, Orkney Monuments
c.3,000 BCE India Vedas. Includes the Flood Myth of Manu.
c.2,900 BCE Mesopotamia Cuneiform Tablets reveal a Great Flood during reign of Ziusudra of Shurupak (Sumeria, Iraq)
(cont.) Mesopotamia Ziusudra is similar to Noah in The Bible and Utnapishtim of Akkadia.
2,900 BCE Scotland Callanish Standing Stones (2,900-2,600 BCE)
2,950 BCE Egypt King Narmer, First King of Egypt. Listed by Manetho.
2,900 BCE Crete Early Minoan I and II (2,600 BCE) Faience beads and Cutin marble vases.
2,852 BCE China Fu Hsi: First Sovereign of Ancient China.
2,800 BCE Mesopotamia Temple of the Moon Ur, twinned with Harran (Carrhae).
2,782 BCE Start of the Sothic Cycle (every 1,460 yrs)
2,700 BCE Scotland Maes Howe, Chambered tomb, Orkney Monuments.
2,700 BCE Mesopotamia Enmibaragisi, First Sumerian King on a Stele at Isin.
2,697 BCE China Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, the earliest Chinese mortal ruler.
2,650 BCE Egypt Step Pyramid, Saqqara (King Djoser).
2,637 BCE China Start of Chinese Calendar under Huangdi (according to 14th century BCE document)
2,627 BCE Peru Pyramids of Caral.
2,600 BCE Mesopotamia The Standard of Ur depicts ox drawn 4 wheel chariots.
2,600 BCE Britain Avebury (2,600-2,500 BCE).
2,600 CE Britain Grime's Graves Neolithic Flint Mine in Norfolk.
2,500 BCE Mesopotamia Assyrian Empire (2,500-609 BCE).
2,500 BCE Mexico Olmec Civilisation (2,500-400 BCE).
2,490 BCE Britain Silbury Hill (2,490-2,340 BCE).
c.2,450 BCE Egypt Great Pyramid Tallest building in the world until 1221 CE and the construction of the Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
c.2,450 BCE Egypt Solar Boat: one of 5 boat pits covered with 18 ton stones beside Great Pyramid in Egypt.
2,334 BCE Mesopotamia Akkadian Empire (2334-2154 BCE).
2,300 BCE Egypt Battery Jar to generate electricity found in Egyptian Tomb.
2.205 BCE China Minister Yu in China constructs water control works against ‘The Great Deluge’.
2,137 BCE China Chinese Astronomers Hsi and Ho executed for missing Eclipse of October 22nd.
2,060 BCE Mesopotamia Law of Ur-Nammu: Oldest Laws in the world, written on a Cylinder seals.
2,050 BCE Britain Seahenge, Holme-next-the-sea: 56 oak posts around an upturned oak.

2,000 BCE

Year Country Event
2,000 BCE Ireland Tara Hill. Mound of the Hostages Passage Grave.
1,950 BCE Crete Middle Minoan Period (1,950-1,550 BCE). Minoan Linear B, Palaces, Towns.
1,900 BCE Mesopotamia Babylonian Empire (1900-1600 BCE).
1,860 BCE Wales Great Orme Copper Mine (1860-600 BCE)
c.1,800 BCE Britain Bank Barrow at Maiden Castle (1,791 feet or 546m long).
1,800 BCE Britain Woodhenge.
1,792 BCE Mesopotamia Code of Hammurabi.
1,700 BCE India Earliest date for the Vedas.
1,642 BCE Greece Minoan Eruption of Thera (Santorini) (date uncertain c.1642-1540 BCE). One of the world’s biggest eruptions, it was recorded in Ancient Egypt and China.
1,640 BCE Egypt Hyksos capture Avaris, capital of the Nile Delta.
1,600 BCE Egypt Ebers Papyrus, Thebes, 800 Medical Remedies.
1,537 BCE Egypt Heliacal Rising of Sirius observed in Egypt.
1,550 BCE Levant Phoenician Empire (1550-300 BCE)
1,532 BCE Egypt Hyksos expelled.
1,529 BCE Greece Deucalion Flood.
1,500 BCE Egypt Wall Painting by a Minoan artist in the Palace of Avaris, Egypt.
1,500 BCE Turkey Start of Iron Age (1200 BCE elsewhere).
1,495 BCE Egypt 5 days added to their Calendar (or added in 4,236 BCE).
1,479 BCE Levant Battle of Megiddo.
1,473 BCE Egypt Queen Hatshepsut (Gloriana) voyage to Punt.
(cont.) Egypt Senmut's Tomb, her architect, depicts night sky in reverse.
1,460 BCE Turkey Hittite Empire (1460-1180 BCE) capital at Hattusa.
c.1,450 BCE Egypt Possible date of the Exodus from Egypt.
1,400 BCE Persia Birth of Zoroaster, Founder of Zoroastrianism.
1,365 BCE Levant Tyre, Lebanon, founded by King Abi-Milki (1365-56 BCE)
1.353 BCE Egypt Ahkenaten (Father of Tutankhamun) moves capital to El Amarna, Egypt.
1,332 BCE Egypt Tutankhamun crowned Pharaoh of Egypt then assassinated same year.
1,330 BCE Persia Rise of the Persian Empire using Iron.
c.1,300 BCE China Divination used on animal bones.
c.1,274 BCE Levant Battle of Kadesh, Syria, involving 5,000 Egyptian and Hittite Chariots.
c.1,259 BCE Levant Treaty of Kadesh: First Treaty Document.
1,209-8 BCE Egypt Pharaoh Merneptah, Egyptian victory over the Libyans.
1,208 BCE Egypt Pharaoh Merneptah defeats Sea Peoples first invasion.
1,200 BCE Iron Age begins (1,200-586 BCE)
c.1,200 BCE Crete Mycenaean Empire collapses.
c.1,200 BCE Turkey Collapse of the Hittite Empire, capital at Hattusa.
1,200 BCE Greece Greek Dark Ages: (1100-750 BCE) a period of little known history or archeology.
1,193 BCE Greece Trojan War (1193-1184 BCE) and the Fall of Troy.
1,188 BCE Egypt Sea Peoples invasion of Egypt is defeated by Ramses III.
1,100 BCE Greece Great Amphictonic League formed between the Greek cities.
1,100 BCE Austria Hallstatt Salt Mine.
1,100 BCE Astrolabe
c.1,075 BCE Egypt Report of Wenamun
1070 BCE Sudan Kingdom of Kush (1070 BCE-350 CE), capital at Napata and Meroe in the Sudan.
1,059 BCE Halley’s Comet first observed (next in 240 BCE, and again in 1066 CE)

1,000 BCE

Year Country Event
1,000 BCE China Slavery ceases to be a feature of Chinese civilisation.
c.961-22 BCE Levant King Solomon marries the daughter of Pharaoh Pasebkhanu II. Song of Solomon.
957 BCE Levant Temple of Solomon (957-587 BCE).
c.989-36 BCE Levant Tyre, Hiram builds Temple of Melqart, Solomon’s Temple, operates a Fleet to Ophir.
c.950 BCE Greece Homer: writes the Odyssey, Iliad (c.950-850 BCE).
c.900 BCE China First metal coins made from bronze in the shape of cowrie shells.
853 BCE Levant Battle of Qarqar: King Ahab confronts the Assyrians with 2,000 chariots in Syria.
821-774 BCE Levant Pygmalion, King of Tyre, Lebanon.

800 BCE

Year Country Event
800 BCE Spain Spain: Cadiz founded by the Phoenicians.
776 BCE Greece First Olympic Games at Olympia. Initially held every 8 years, then every 4.
776 BCE China Eclipse recorded during reign of King Yen Yang.
770-481 BCE China Autumn and Spring Period.
775 BCE N. Africa Carthage, Tunisia, founded by Queen Dido of Tyre.
753 BCE Italy Rome founded by Romulus on 21st April. Start of the Roman Period.
750 BCE Egypt Kushite Dynasty (25th Dynasty) rules Egypt from Napata, Meroe, Sudan.
750 BCE Greece Earliest record of the Greek Alphabet.
734 BCE Levant Tyre pays Tribute to Assyria.

700 BCE

Year Country Event
c.700 BCE Korea 35,000 Dolmens erected in the Korean Peninsular between c.700-c.300 BCE. 40% of the world’s Dolmens at three main sites, Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Island.
677 BCE Assyria Army of Sennacherib destroyed by the army of King Tirhakah of Ethiopia.
671 BCE Assyria Assyria conquers Egypt.
670 BCE Sudan Iron Smelting begins in Meroe and in Egypt in 650 BCE.
650 BCE Greece First western coins: Electrum coins found (650-625 BCE) in the Great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Followed by Lydian Lion coins (610-560 BCE) made from Electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.
638 BCE Greece Kolaios of Samos reaches Tartessus.
628 BCE Persia Birth of Zoroastra, the Persian Prophet.
612 BCE Mesopotamia Assyrian Empire falls to the Medes and Scythians.
605 BCE Persia Nebuchadnezzar II invades the Levant.
604 BCE China Birth of Lai Zi, Founder of Taoism.

600 BCE

Year Country Event
600 BCE Egypt Pharaoh Nechos II (610-595 BCE): Fleet circumnavigates Africa in 3 years.
600 BCE Egypt Nechos II commissions a Canal to the Red Sea and sends Triremes there.
600 BCE Mesopotamia Ur and Babylon rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar.
600 BCE Scotland First Brochs and Duns appear.
587 BCE Mesopotamia Babylonians destroy the Temple of Solomon.
585 BCE Levant Tyre falls to Nebuchadnezzar III of Babylon. Carthage becomes mother city of Phoenicia.
c.563-483 BCE India Birth of Buddha, Founder of Buddhism.
551-479 BCE China Birth of Confucious Founder of Confucianism.
(cont.) Lao Tzu (Laozi) (6-8th century BCE) Founder of Taoism. He was a contemporary of Confucious.
550 BCE Persia Achamenid Empire (550-330 BCE): Cyrus the Great conquers Median Empire.
544 BCE India Start of the Buddhist Calendar.
539 BCE Persia Cyrus the Great captures Babylon and Tyre becomes a vassal state.
(cont.) He establishes a Postal System crossing 1600 miles (2,575km) in 9 days.
525 BCE Persia King Cambyses (530-522 BCE) occupies Egypt.
521-486 BCE Persia Persepolis built by Darius I.
509 BCE Italy Roman Republic (509-27 BCE).
508 BCE Italy First Navigation Treaty between Rome and Carthage defining zones of influence.

500 BCE

Year Country Event
500 BCE India Pandyan Dynasty (500 BCE-1759 CE)
500 BCE N. Africa Carthage destroys Tartessus in Spain.
425 BCE N. Africa Admiral Hanno of Carthage explores west coast of Africa.
490 BCE Greece Greco-Persian War: Battle of Marathon
480 BCE Greece Second Greco-Persian War: Battle of Thermopylae, Artemesium and Battle of Salamis.
450 BCE India Buddhism adopted.
450 BCE Italy Laws of the Twelve Tables adopted.
450 BCE China Crossbow invented.
430 BCE Sahara Garamantes Kingdom (c. 5th century BCE – c. 5th century CE). Capital at Garama, Fezzan.
404 BCE Egypt Egypt liberated from Persia.

400 BCE

Latin League absorbed by Rome.

Year Country Event
400 BCE India Chola Empire in Southern India (400 BCE-1540 CE)
390 BCE Italy Battle of the Allia on the 18th July, followed by the Sack of Rome by the Gauls.
372-288 BCE China Mencius, disciple of Confucious, argues People’ Right to overthrow a Tyrannical Government.
356 BCE China Great Wall of China begun.
348 BCE Italy Second Navigation Treaty between Carthage and Rome.
342 BCE Egypt Persians reconquer Egypt.
338 BCE Italy End of the Latin War (340-338 BCE) Latium absorbed into the Roman Republic.
336 BCE Greece Assassination of Philip of Macedon, succession of his son, Alexander the Great
334 BCE Greece Alexander the Great invades Asia Minor.
332 BCE Levant Fall of Tyre, Gaza and Egypt.
331 BCE Persia Battle of Gaugamela, Fall of Persia.
330 BCE Britain Pytheus of Massiglia describes British Isles in a Periplus.
329-25 BCE Greece Alexander the Great invades Afghanistan and India.
323 BCE Greece Death of Alexander the Great buried in Alexandria.
321 BCE India Mauryan Empire (321 BCE-185 CE)
312 BCE Persia Seleucid Empire (312-63 BCE) Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria.

300 BCE

Year Country Event
300 BCE Britain Maiden Castle undergoes intense building activity.
300 BCE Levant Founding of Antioch
290 BCE China Bridge over the River Wei with 68 spans and 39 feet (12m) wide deck.
287 BCE China Bridge of the Yellow River using a pontoon bridge of sunken boats.
c.279 BCE Italy Third Navigation Treaty between Rome and Carthage.
266 BCE Italy Rome occupies the Italian Peninsular.
264-246 BCE N. Africa First Punic War between Rome and Carthage.
247 BCE Persia Parthian Empire (247 BCE-224 CE)
246 BCE China Cheng Kuo Canal opened connecting the Rivers Jing and Luo.
233 BCE China Sun Tzu writes the ‘Art of War’.
221 BCE China Unification of China under the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE)
220 BCE China Great Wall of China linked together by Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
219-201 BCE N. Africa Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage.
209 BCE China Terracotta Army created as part of a Funerary Complex for Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
206 BCE China Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)
206 BCE China Chinese Junk first described during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE)

200 BCE

Year Country Event
200 BCE Persia Baghdad Battery: Rod of iron surrounded by a copper sheet. Just needed vinegar as the electrolyte.
190 BCE Armenia Armenian Empire (190 BCE-428 CE)
149-146 BCE N. Africa Third Punic War
146 BCE N. Africa Mago’s Agricultural Manual
120-101 BCE Italy Cimbrian Wars against Rome.

100 BCE

Year Country Event
91 BCE Italy Lex Julia extends Roman Citizenship to all of Italy.
89 BCE Italy Abolition of Human Sacrifice by Roman Law.
72-71 BCE Italy Spartacus and the Third Servile War
58-51 BCE France Gallic Wars, Gaul becomes a Roman Province.
53 BCE Persia Battle of Carrhae: Parthians defeat a Roman Army.
50 BCE Greece Tower of Winds in Athens.
46 BCE Italy Julian Calendar adopted.
44 BCE Italy Assassination of Julius Caesar
31 BCE Italy Battle of Actium defeat of Queen Cleopatra VII and Mark Anthony.
30 BCE Egypt Egypt becomes a Roman Province after Roman Armies invade.
27 BCE Italy Augustus creates the Roman Empire.
25 BCE Egypt Great Library of Alexandria partially destroyed by fire.

1 CE

Year Country Event
1 CE Alaska Ipiutak at Point Hope, a city of 800 houses.
1 CE Levant Birth of Jesus (1-30 CE) founder of Christianity.
9 CE Germany Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends Roman attempt to conquer Germania.
11 CE China China starts using paper money.
31 CE China Invention of a water powered metallurgical blowing machine using continuous bellows.
43 CE Britain Roman Conquest of Britannia (43-410 CE) under Claudius. Britain becomes a Roman Province.
60 CE Britain Boudicca's Revolt
61 CE Egypt Abortive Roman Expedition to discover Source of the Nile.
64 CE Italy Great Fire of Rome
79 CE Italy Mount Vesuvius eruption, Pompeii lost.
80 CE Italy Colosseum completed.
83 CE China China: First record of the Compass for navigation.

100 CE

Year Country Event
100 CE Ethiopia Aksumite Empire (100-940 CE)
105 CE China Invention of Paper. Paper made into rolls by Cai Lun under the Emperor He Di.
106 CE Levant Nabataean Kingdom annexed by Trajan
122-128 CE Britain Hadrian's Wall.
130 CE China Zhang Heng invents the seismograph.
139 CE Sothic Cycle
c.150 CE Egypt Ptolemy publishes a Map of the World.
165-180 CE Italy Antonine Plague or Plague of Galen.

200 CE

Year Country Event
224 CE Persia Sassanid Empire (224-651 CE)
249 CE Italy Plague of Cyprian (249-262 CE)
275 CE Italy Aurelian Walls completed in Rome.

300 CE

Year Country Event
300 CE Ghana Wagadou or Ghana Empire (300-1240 CE)
314 CE Ethiopia Ethiopia adopts Christianity
317-589 CE China Tartars occupy Lands north of Yangtse.
320 CE India Gupta Empire (320-550 CE)
324 CE Greece Last Trireme Battle, Battle of the Hellespont. By 400 CE, Zosimus wrote Trireme building methods were forgotten.
330 CE Greece Byzantine Empire (330 or 395-1453 CE).
365 CE Greece Crete Earthquake and Tsunami of 21 July 365 CE
370 CE Danube East of the Danube. the Hunnic Empire (370-469 CE).

400 CE

Year Country Event
457 CE France Merovingian Dynasty (457-751 CE)
476 CE Italy Fall of the Roman Empire.
461-486 CE France Kingdom of Soissons remains as the last Roman State after the Fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE. It was located between the Marne and the Seine in Gaul.
496 CE Mexico Toltec Empire (496-1122 CE).

500-1000 CE

Year Country Event
525 CE Greece Anno Domini dating system invented by an Eastern European Christian monk from Scythia Minor on the Danube called Dionysius Exiguus.
541 CE Europe Plague of Justinian (541-549 CE).
551 CE Levant Beirut Earthquake and Tsunami caused c.30,000 deaths.
c.570 CE Arabia Birth of Muhammad (570-632 CE) in Mecca, founder of Islam.
618-906 CE China Establishment of Buddhism
622 CE Arabia Start of Islamic Calendar or Hijiric Calendar (1 AH)
632 CE Arabia Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 CE).
(cont.) Middle East Arab Armies occupy the Middle East: Arabia, Levant, Persia (651 CE), Transcaucasus, Egypt (636 CE) and North Africa (by 650 CE).
640-42 CE Greece Arab navies first blockade Constantinople.
661 CE Spain Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE) occupies Spain, Transoxiana, Maghreb, Sindh.
677-8 CE Greece Greek Fire: First use in the Siege of Constantinople,
696 CE N. Africa Arab armies conquer North Africa.
697 CE Italy Republic of Venice (697-1797 CE).
711 CE Spain Arab armies invade and occupy Spain (711-1492 CE)
732 CE France Battle of Poitiers, (10th Oct) also known as the Battle of Tours. The Arab Army Invasion of France is stopped by Charles Martel.
732 CE France Carolingian Empire (c.732-888 CE) begins under Charles Martel.
750 CE Iraq Abbasid Caliphate (750-1517 CE), capital at Kufa, then Anbar.
756 CE Spain Caliphate of Cordoba (756-1031 CE).
793 CE England Lindisfarne burnt by Danish ships (8th June).
793 CE Scandin. Scandinavian North Sea Empire also known as the Viking Empire (793-1066 CE).
(cont.) Scandin. Viking Empire: England, Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland, Orkneys, Shetlands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland (North America) and Normandy, Latvia, Russia.
794 CE Scotland Orkneys conquered by the Danes and Iona burnt in 795 CE.
800 CE France Carolingian Empire (800-888 CE) Charlemagne crowned Emperor.
802 CE Cambodia Khmer Empire (802-1431 CE).
804 CE Denmark Kingdom of Denmark (804-1536 CE)
808 CE China First confirmed reference to Gunpowder as six parts saltpetre, six parts sulfur, one part birthwort herb. Used as a fire weapon until the canon is developed in 1220 CE.
962 CE Germany Holy Roman Empire (962-1806 CE).

1,000 CE

Year Country Event
1014 CE Ireland Battle of Clontarf: Viking defeat ends 221 years of occupation of Ireland.
1016 CE England King Cnut of Norway and Sweden invades England.
1044 CE China First written formula for Gunpowder.
1054 CE Greece Christianity: The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church (16th July).
1066 CE England Norman Occupation of Britain from France. End of 273 years of Viking attacks.
1071 CE Turkey Battle of Manzikert: Seljuk Turks occupy Turkey.
1086 CE England Domesday Book completed.
1095 CE Levant First of the Crusades (1095-1291 CE) by the Roman Catholic Popes to regain Jerusalem.
1096 CE Italy Republic of Genoa (1096-1797 CE).
1098 CE Levant Crusader States (1098-1291): County of Edessa (1098-1150 CE), Principality of Antioch (1098-1287 CE), County of Tripoli (1102-1289 CE), Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291 CE)
1099 CE England Lyonesse submerged (the land between Cornwall and the Scillies), according to the Saxon Chronicle.

1,100 CE

Year Country Event
1119 CE Cyprus Order of Knights Templar founded. By 1135 they have their own Navy and control Cyprus.
1137 CE Ethiopia Abyssinian Empire (1137-1974 CE).
1147 CE Levant Second Crusade
1154 CE England House of Plantagenet, also known as the Angevin Kings (1154-1485 CE).
1160-1227 CE Mongolia Ghengis Khan and the Golden Horde (1205-1227 CE).
1180 CE Stern post Rudder and Magnetic Compass appear in Europe.
1180 CE Levant Third Crusade
1185 CE Japan Age of the Samurai (1185-1876 CE)
c. 1190 CE Levant Teutonic Knights (1190-1809 CE) founded in Acre.

1,200 CE

Year Country Event
1204 CE Greece Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople.
1206 CE Mongolia Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE).
1207 CE China Mongols conquer China, Iran and Central Asia (1207-1227 CE)
1209 CE France Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France.
1215 CE Levant Fifth Crusade
1220 CE China The Canon is developed in China and appears in Western Europe by 1326 CE.
1228 CE Levant Sixth Crusade
1235 CE Mali Mali Empire (1235-1670 CE) possible Capital at Niani, Timbuktu an important city.
1242 CE Siberia Golden Horde (1242-1502 CE): Central Asia to the Urals and Black Sea.
1248-54 CE Levant Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France.
1257 CE Indonesia Eruption of Samalas Volcano on the island of Lombok. It caused a volcanic winter which possibly launched the Little Ice Age in the Northern Hemisphere (1600-1850 CE).
1270 CE Levant Eighth Crusade
1270 CE Ethiopia Ethiopian Empire (1270-1974 CE)
1271 CE Levant Ninth Crusade under Edward I
1271 CE China Travels of Marco Polo in China (1271-1295 CE).
1274-81 CE China Mongol attempted Invasions of Japan.
1291 CE Levant Fall of Acre, the last Crusader State.
1299 BCE Turkey Ottoman Empire (1299 or 1517-1922 CE) in Turkey.

1,300 CE

Year Country Event
1305 CE France French Popes at Avignon for 67 years (1305-1377 CE).
1307 CE France Templars arrested by King Philippe of France on Friday 13th October. Jack de Molay Grand Master burnt in 1314 CE.
1312 CE Italy Templar Order dissolved by Papal Bull. Arles given to Knights of Malta.
1315-17 CE Europe Great Famine. Northern Europe (north of the Alps and Pyrenees) experienced heavy rains leading to crop failure, death from starvation and the end of a period of high population growth since 1050 CE.
1337 CE France Hundred Years War (1337-1453 CE) between England and France. Notable Battles, Crecy (1346 CE), Poitiers (1356 CE), Agincourt (1415 CE), Siege of Orleans (1428-9 CE), Battle of Castillon (1453 CE).
1346 CE France Battle of Crecy (26th Aug). Early use of small canon is claimed to have been used on the battlefield. Longbow established as the main battlefield weapon.
1347-51 CE Black Death: worst Pandemic in history where 30-60% of the affected population died.
1350 CE Thailand Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350-1767 CE), Capital at Ayutthaya.
1356 CE Baltic Hanseatic League (1356-1648 CE), German Baltic cities.
1369-1405 CE Asia Empire of Timurlane: from Moscow to Samarkand, Delhi to Baghdad and Ankara.

1,400 CE

Year Country Event
1400-1600 CE Europe Renaissance: Western European Countries rediscovered the art, technology and culture of Classical Antiquity.
1412 CE China Chinese Fleets perform seven separate voyages using 7 masted Junks.
1415 CE Portugal Portuguese Empire (1415-1999 CE).
1418 CE Age of Discovery and the Age of Sail (mid 15th-mid 19th centuries CE)
(cont.) Portugal Portugal invented the Caravel and discovered the Atlantic Archipelagos, the west coast of Africa, and the Sea Route to India (1498 CE) and Brazil (1500 CE), whilst Spain discovered America (1492 CE).
1428 CE Mexico Aztec Empire (1428-1521 CE).
1438 CE Peru Inca Empire (1438-1533 CE), capital Cusco.
1440 CE Germany First Printing Press with movable type invented by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz.
1453-1918 CE Greece Ottoman Empire takes over the Byzantine Empire.
1453 CE England End of One Hundred Years War between England and France.
1455-85 CE England Wars of the Roses, civil war in England.
1465 CE Sudan Songhai Empire (1464-1592 CE) Capital at Gao, Timbuktu an important city.
1479 CE Spain Spanish Empire (1479-1975 CE).
1492 CE Spain Columbus discovers America.
1498 CE Portugal Vasco da Gama discovers the Sea Route to India (1498 CE) and Brazil (1500 CE)

1,500-1,800 CE

Year Country Event
1500 CE Europe The castle becomes obsolete after 1500 CE and is replaced by walled cities with earth ramparts, to better defend against the Canon.
1517 CE Christianity: The Reformation, a Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church.
1519-22 CE Spain First Circumnavigation of the Globe by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano, from Seville via the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
1534 CE France French Empire (1534-1980 CE).
1543-1700 CE Europe The Scientific Revolution. Aristotle’s Geocentric Universe and Theories of Physics and Nature are overturned. Nicholas Copernicus publishes his theory of the Heliocentric Universe. 1591 Galileo Galilei demonstrates the Properties of Gravity, 1618 Johannes Kepler publishes his Laws of Planetary Motion.
(cont.) 1630 Galileo publishes his laws of physics. 1687 Isaac Newton publishes his Laws of Gravity, which become the basis for modern physics and astronomy.
1547 CE Russia Tsardom of Russia (1547-1721 CE), Russian Empire (1721-1917 CE) Catherine the Great (1762-1796 CE).
1568 CE Holland Dutch Empire (1568-1975 CE) War of Dutch Independence (80 yrs war) (1582-1648 CE)
1582 CE Gregorian Calendar replaced the Julian Calendar.
1600-1814 CE ‘Little Ice Age’ in the Northern Hemisphere. River Thames regularly froze over for 2 months of the year.
1603 CE Britain British Empire (1603-1997 CE)
1618 CE Europe Thirty Years War (1618-1648 CE) between Sweden, Denmark, France and the Holy Roman Empire.
1648 CE Europe Treaty of Westphalia ended the 30 years war and the 80 years war.
1715 CE Europe The Age of Enlightenment (1715-1789 CE), the pursuit of ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government and the separation of church and state.
1755 CE Scotland First artificial Refrigerating machine invented by William Cullen. It used a pump to create a partial vacuum over diethyl ether which then boiled and absorbed heat from the air around it. USA: First commercial refrigerator using an electric pump patented in 1899 by the inventor Albert T. Marshall.
1756 CE Seven Years War (1756-1763 CE) was a world war between an Alliance led by Britain and an Alliance led by France.
1760-1840 CE The Industrial Age and the Industrial Revolution. (replaced by the Information Era from 1947 onwards).
1764 CE Britain Invention of the Spinning Jenny by James Hargreaves which led to the industrialization of textile manufacturing.
1770-1914 CE Britain Age of Steam. Thomas Watt and Matthew Boulton perfected industrial steam engines.
1776 CE USA Declaration of Independence of the 13 Colonies to become the United States of America (4th July).
1776 CE USA First military use of a Submarine, ‘Turtle’, designed by David Bushnell.
1783 CE France First Hot Air Balloon Free Flight (untethered) carrying two men. It took place in Paris and was built by the Montgolfier brothers using silk and paper.
1789 CE France French Revolution (14th July). Fall of the French Monarchy.
1792 CE France First French Republic (21st Sep). French Monarchy abolished.
1792 CE France First use of the Guillotine (24th Apr). King Louis XVI was executed by Guillotine on the 21st Jan. 1793 CE and Queen Marie Antoinette on the 16th October.
1797 CE Italy Dissolution of the Republics of Venice and Genoa, and the Dutch East India Company (1799 CE) by Napoleon Bonaparte.
1799 CE France Napoleon Bonaparte becomes First Consul then Emperor of France (1799-1814 CE).
1799 CE Italy First Battery, the Voltaic Pile, invented by the Engineer Alessandro Volta.

1,800 CE

Year Country Event
1802 CE UK First Electric Light invented by Humphrey Davy. First Commercial Electric Light Bulb invented in USA by Thomas Edison in 1879.
1803-15 CE Napoleonic Wars: France versus a Coalition of European States, Russia and the Ottoman Empire.
1804 CE UK First Railway Steam Engine by Richard Trevithick.
1807 CE USA First Public Steamboat Service provided on the Hudson River by the ‘North River Steamboat’ built by Robert Fulton.
1807 CE France First Internal Combustion Engine, The Pyreolophore, patented by the Niepce Brothers, Nicephore and Claude.
1808 CE L. America Independence of Latin American Colonies from Spain and Portugal (1808-1826 CE).
1809 CE Prussia Abolition of the Order of Teutonic Knights in Marienburg by Napoleon (24th Apr).
1816 CE S. Africa Zulu Empire (1816-1887 CE)
1816 CE UK First working Telegraph invented by Francis Ronalds.
1822 CE UK First Mechanical Computer, the Difference Engine invented by Charles Babbage for navigation calculations.
1822 CE France First permanent Photographic Image created by Nicephore Niepce. He called the technique Heliography. In 1824 he created the first permanent photographic image using a camera obscura. In 1839 his former partner Louis Daguerre patented the Daguerreotype, the first photographic process to become publicly available.
1825 CE UK First Public Passenger Steam Train Railway Service by the Stockton and Darlington Railway using Locomotion No. 1 built by George Stephenson.
1839 CE France First Commercial Camera produced by Alphonse Giroux. It was a Daguerreotype camera licensed by Daguerre and Isidore Niepce.
1844 CE USA First Telegraphic message sent by line between Washington and Baltimore by Samuel Morse (24th May).
1853 CE Crimea Crimean War (1853-1856 CE) Ottoman Empire, France, UK, Sardinia against Russia.
1854 CE Italy Italy: First Telephone, the ‘Teletrofono’, invented by Antonio Meucci. USA: 30th Jan 1877 Alexander Bell patented the First Telephone after making successful calls over distances of 8 miles (13km).
1861 CE USA American Civil War (1861-1865 CE). 620,000 war fatalities.
1862 CE USA Gatling Gun patented by Dr Richard J Gatling (4th Nov). It was an early 6 barrel self-loading machine gun, but was not fully automatic as it needed to be hand cranked. Some examples were used by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
1863 CE Switzerland Founding of The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva on the 17th Feb. by Henry Dunant. The purpose was for protecting the victims of conflicts and providing them with assistance.
1864 CE Switzerland First Geneva Convention signed on 27th Aug. by 12 States to provide for the treatment and care of the War Wounded and Prisoners of War. It was revised in 1906, 1929 and lastly in 1949.
1867 CE Sweden Invention and Patenting of Dynamite by Alfred Nobel (7th May). He stabilised Nitroglycerine by adding Diatomite. Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize in 1895.
1868 CE Japan Empire of Japan (1868-1947 CE).
1869 CE Egypt Suez Canal opened (17th Nov). It was built by Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps and linked the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Canal is 120 miles (193km) long.
1870-71 CE Germany Franco-Prussian War (19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871), The war led to Alsace and Lorraine being ceded to Germany and to the Unification of Germany.
1871 CE Germany German Empire and the Unification of Germany (18th Jan).
1873 CE USA First cable operated street running train, the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco, invented by Andrew Smith Hallidie (2nd Aug).
1876 CE USA First Telephone Call by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone (10th Mar).
1877 CE USA First Phonograph invented by Thomas Edison using a rotating cylinder. Emile Berliner later invented the flat disc rotating record, or phonograph record, which became the standard for most of the 20th century.
1878 CE UK First Hydroelectric power plant in Cragside, Northumberland by William Armstrong. USA 1882 CE, First commercial hydroelectric powerplants at Niagara Falls, New York and Appleton, Wisconsin.
1881-1914 CE Africa Scramble for Africa. 90% of Africa was colonised by 7 Western European Empires: Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
1883 CE USA First street electric lighting in Roselle, New Jersey by Thomas Edison (18th Jan).
1883 CE Indonesia Eruption of Krakatoa (26th August to 21st October). It is the deadliest volcanic eruption recorded in history with the explosion heard around the globe. It caused global darkening of the skies and red sky sunsets for years afterwards.
1884 CE UK First Automatic Machine Gun, the Maxim Gun, invented by the American-British Inventor Hiram Maxim. It completely changed warfare and led to the first ‘Machine Gun War’: WWI.
1886 CE Germany First series production Automobile using a gasoline powered four stroke engine, designed and patented by Karl Benz.
1887-8 CE USA First Electric Tramway in Richmond, Virginia. It used a spring loaded trolley pole attached to an overhead wire invented by Frank J. Sprague. By 1889, there were 110 Electric Tramways using his system.
1893 CE USA First Public Radio Wireless Transmission in St. Louis by Nikola Tesla.
1895 CE France First Motion Picture Projector called the Cinematographe invented by the Lumiere Brothers. The first Movie was ‘The workers leaving the Lumiere factory’.
1895 CE Sweden Nobel Peace Prize established (27th Nov). Five Nobel Prizes are awarded annually by the Norwegian Nobel Committe on behalf of the Nobel Foundation for the greatest achievement for humanity.
1895 CE Germany Discovery of X-Rays (8th Nov) by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen who took the First Medical X-Ray Photograph of his wife’s hand on 22nd December.
1896 CE France Discovery of Radiation by Pierre Becquerel.
1896 CE UK Wireless. First Patent for a radio wave based wireless telegraphy communication system by Guglielmo Marconi.
1898 CE France Study of Radioactivity leads to the discovery of Polonium in July and Radium in December by Pierre and Marie Curie, who named the Rays emitted as ‘Radioactivity’.
1898 CE Spanish-American War (21st Apr-13th Aug): Between Spain and the USA. Spain lost Cuba and ceded sovereignty of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Phillipines to the USA.
1899 CE USA First commercial refrigerator using an electric pump patented by the inventor Albert T. Marshall.

1,900 CE

Year Country Event
1902 CE Germany Trinitrotoluene (TNT) (completely different from Dynamite) was first used as an explosive by the German Armed Forces to fill artillery shells.
1903 CE USA First Powered Flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk (17th Dec).
1909 CE USA First Patent for Synthetic Plastic called Bakelite by Belgian Chemist Leo Baekeland (9th Dec).
1913 CE USA First moving assembly line  for the mass production of a complete automobile, the Ford Model T (1st Dec). It was invented by Henry Ford at his Highland Park Plant in Michigan. It reduced the automobile assembly time from 12 hours to 1 hour 33 minutes.
1914 CE Panama Panama Canal opened (15th Aug). It is 51 miles (82km) long and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. One of the world’s greatest engineering projects.
1914-1918 CE First World War (WWI). First Machine Gun War. Fall of the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire. Started 28th July 1914 and ended with the signing of the Armistice at 11.00am on 11th November 1918. It resulted in the death of 9M in combat and 5M civilians.
1917 CE Russia February Revolution (6th Mar), Monarchy deposed by the Army, followed by the October Revolution by the Communists. This led to the reforming of the Russian Empire as the world’s first constitutional Communist State, the USSR, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on 30 December 1922.
1917 CE UK First Television. Archibald Low patented his ‘Televista’, moving images broadcast by wireless.
1918 CE Global 1918 Flu Pandemic: caused by the H1N1 virus it caused 17-50 million deaths worldwide.
1920-1946 CE Switzerland League of Nations founded in Geneva, Switzerland (19th Jan) by 42 Nations, as the first intergovernmental organisation aimed at maintaining World Peace.
(cont.) It had a General Assembly, a Secretariat and a Council with four Permanent Members, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan and four others, elected by the General Assembly.
1922-1991 CE USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (former Russian Empire) (30 Dec. 1922-1991 CE).
1925 CE UK UK: First Public demonstration of a Television Transmission by the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird (25th Mar).
1926 CE USA Start of the Space Age (16th Mar). Robert Goddard launched a liquid fuelled rocket.
1927-49 CE China Chinese Civil War (1st Aug) between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of China (ROC) versus the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP succeeded in taking control of mainland China whilst the ROC retired to Taiwan on 7th December 1949. The two sides have never signed a Peace Treaty.
1928 CE UK Discovery of Penicillin by Alexander Fleming (28th Sep). It led to the introduction of Antibiotics.
1929-39 CE USA Wall Street Crash (29th Oct) and the Great Depression (10 yrs).
1932 CE UK First TurboJet Engine Patented by Sir Frank Whittle and produced as the Whittle W.2/700 which powered the Gloster E.28/39 in 1941. However, it was the fourth Jet to fly after the Heinkel He 178 in 1939, the Caproni Campini N.1 Motorjet in 1940 and the Heinkel He 280 in 1941.
1933 CE Germany Third Reich (1933-1945 CE)
1934-39 CE Development of modern Radar Detection by 8 nations independently and simultaneously: UK, USA, USSR, Germany, Japan, France, Netherlands and Italy.
1935 CE USA First commercial production of Nylon by Wallace Hume Carothers at Dupont Research Facility (28th Feb)
1935-37 CE Ethiopia Italian Invasion of Ethiopia (3rd Oct).
1936-39 CE Spain Spanish Civil War between the Second Spanish Republic and the Nationalists under General Franco. Began 17th July and ended 1st April 1939 CE.
1937-45 CE China Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Nationalist and Communist Parties of China. It began on 7th July with the Invasion of Manchuria and ended on the 2nd September 1945 CE.
1939-1945 CE 1st Sep Second World War (WWII) (1st Sep). Collapse of the Third Reich, the Italian Empire and the Empire of Japan. 50-56M war fatalities and 19-28M deaths from disease and famine.
1942 CE Germany First long range guided Ballistic Rocket, V2.
1943 CE Britain First programmable electronic digital computer, Colossus, developed by Tommy Flowers at Bletchley Park to decode the German Lorenz cipher (1st Dec)
1944 CE International Monetary Fund (IMF) founded by 44 countries at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference in July. The aim was to prevent another Great Depression.
1945 CE Japan First Nuclear Weapons: The Allies drop the world’s first two Atomic Bombs, classed as Nuclear Weapons, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (5-9th Aug) ending WW II and completely changing the future conduct of warfare.
1945 CE USA Official launch of the United Nations (UN) (24th Oct) with 46 Nations and 5 Permanent Members of the Security Council, UK, USA, France, USSR and the Republic of China. Its HQ is on international territory in New York, USA. The League of Nations ceased operations on 20th April 1946.
1947-1991 CE A Cold War exists between the two new Superpowers of the USA and the Soviet Union (12th Mar) which is fought by proxy armies around the globe. It lasts until the collapse of the Soviet Union on the 26th December 1991.
1947 CE USA First Patent filed for a Digital Computer by ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) also known as the ‘Giant Brain’. The Patent was granted in 1964.
1947 CE USA Information Era or Digital Era begins with the development of the Transistor at Bell Labs (Dec).
1949 CE China People’s Republic of China (PRC) established (1st Oct).
1950-53 CE Korea Korean War (25th Jun) between North Korea supported by China (PRC) and the USSR, against South Korea supported by the USA and the UN. War fatalities over the 3 years numbered 3M. No peace treaty has ever been signed and the war has not officially ended.
1951 CE USA First nuclear reactor to produce electricity at the Experimental Breeder Reactor EBR-1 in Idaho (29th Dec). The first nuclear powerplant to produce electricity for the power grid was the Obninsk Nuclear Powerplant in the USSR on 27th June 1954.
1956 CE USA Malcolm McLean patented the first commercially successful Intermodal Shipping Container. It became adopted worldwide.
1957 CE USSR Sputnik, First Satellite launched by a rocket in Space (4th Oct). There were over 4,500 satellites in space by 2020 CE.
1958 CE Europe European Union (EU) established by the Treaty of Rome (1st Jan).
1959 CE USA First monolithic integrated circuit chip invented by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor.
1959 CE USA First successful commercial dry plain paper copier (16th Sep), Xerox 914. Chester Carlson invented Xerography in 1938 CE and sold his copyright in 1947 CE to the Haloid company, later known as Xerox.
1960 CE USA First Laser operated by Theodore H Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, California (16th May).
1961 CE USSR First man in Space, Yuri Gagarin, Vostok I (12th Apr).
1962 CE Cuba Cuban Missile Crisis (18-29th Oct) The ‘Cold War’ between the USA and Soviet Union very nearly escalates into a Nuclear Conflict and World War III.
1963 CE Moscow-Washington Hotline inaugurated (30th Aug) to improve communications during periods of tension or natural disasters. It was Text only, and had dedicated teams of translators at both ends, to reduce the 6-12 hour delays experienced during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is still in use in an upgraded form.
1963 CE Netherlands Philips Company release the first audio compact cassette player using magnetic tape (Aug 30th).
1969 CE Moon First man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, USA (20th Jul).
1971 CE Mars First successful MARS Landing by MARS 3, a robotic spacecraft from the USSR.
1970’s CE Start of the Information Age also known as the Digital Age or Third Industrial Revolution (1970’s – Present).
1980 CE Japan First Laptop size portable computer with an LCD screen and a rechargeable battery (July), patented by Yokio Yozawa working at Suwa Seikosha (Seiko).
1980 CE France Launch of Minitel in France by the French Post and Telephone Company, PTT. which operated until 30th June 2012. It offered an end user information system called Videotex online service using terminals connected to the phone line. This gave users the ability to access the telephone directory, see stock market prices, book airline and train tickets, access databases, buy goods online, use a mail box and chat, 13 years before the World Wide Web was launched.
1980 CE USA Beginning of Social Media: BBS the Bulletin Board System is a computer server that operates software which allows users to connect via a terminal application. Users could exchange messages, upload and download software, before the advent of the Internet. First social networking and video website was Bolt.com in 1996. The First true Social Media website followed in 1997, Sixdegrees.com.
1982 CE Japan Sony released the first Compact Disc (CD) Player, the Sony CDP-101 (1st October).
1983 CE USA Official launch of the Internet (1st Jan) with Transfer Control Protocol/ Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) installed on the Arpanet to create a networking model between supercomputers.
1984 CE USA First Mobile Phone, Dynatac, developed by Martin Cooper using Bell AMPS system.
1986 CE USSR Mir Space Station launched by USSR (20th Feb). It returned to Earth after 15 years on 23rd March 2001, having been continuously occupied for 9 years and 11 months.
1993 CE Switzerland World Wide Web launched into the Public Domain by CERN (30th Apr). It was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee who published his idea in March 1989.
1994 CE USA First Smartphone, Simon Personal Communicator developed by IBM.
1998 CE Space International Space Station (ISS) launched (20th Nov) and continuously occupied since this date. It is a multinational alliance between NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA and CSA.
1999 CE USA Napster launched the first music digital download filesharing platform using MP3 files (1st Jun).

2000 CE

Year Country Event
2002-4 CE World SARS-CoV-1, meaning Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1, was a global pandemic over a two year period that resulted in 8,000 cases worldwide and 774 deaths.
2007 CE USA Iphone went on sale June 29th. Invented by Steve Jobs and Apple, it started the era of the Smartphone with internet connectivity and Apps.
2008 CE USA Tesla produced their first electric car, the Roadster.
2012 CE Guatemala End of the Mayan ‘Great Cycle’ (21st Dec) of 5,128 yrs 280 days (based on a 365 day year) or 1,872,000 days. The Mayans also recorded an 18.5 year eclipse cycle.
2020 CE World SARS-CoV-2 (12th Jan 2020-5th May 2023) known as Covid 19, is a Global Covid Pandemic caused by the Sars CoV 2 virus. Millions have been affected and millions have died. It resulted in an emergency global mass vaccination campaign. The emergency officially ended on May 5th 2023, although the Pandemic continued.
2020 CE Space USA and China both successfully landed a Mars Rover, which are exploring the Mars surface and transmitting data back to Earth.
2022 CE Ukraine Russian Invasion of Ukraine (22nd February). A new Cold War between members of NATO and the Russian Federation (Russia) begins.
2022 CE USA ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot released in November, starting the AI boom.
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