World history timeline
100 turning points, from the first modern humans to the present day. Filter by era or region, search for a subject, and follow any event into a full guide or encyclopedia article.
Showing 100 of 100 events
Prehistory
- c. 300,000 BCEAfrica
Early Homo sapiens
Fossils from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco show anatomically early modern humans living in Africa.
Read about Homo sapiens - c. 40,000 BCEGlobal
Cave art and ornaments
People in Europe and Indonesia paint caves and carve figures, among the oldest known art.
Guide: A short history of Western art - c. 12,500 BCEMiddle East
Bread before farming
Hunter-gatherers at Shubayqa in Jordan bake bread from wild cereals.
Guide: The history of bread - c. 9,500 BCEMiddle East
Göbekli Tepe
Monumental carved stone enclosures are raised in what is now Turkey, before farming was established.
Read about Göbekli Tepe - c. 9,000 BCEMiddle East
Farming begins
Wheat and barley are domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, one of several independent origins of agriculture.
Guide: The agricultural revolution and the first cities - c. 3,200 BCEMiddle East
Writing is invented
Cuneiform appears in Mesopotamia, first used to record goods and labour.
Read about Cuneiform - c. 3,100 BCEAfrica
Egypt is unified
Upper and Lower Egypt are joined under one ruler, beginning three thousand years of pharaonic history.
Guide: Ancient Egypt: three thousand years on the Nile
Ancient world
- c. 2,600 BCEAsia
Indus cities flourish
Planned cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa have drains, grids and standard weights.
Read about Indus Valley Civilisation - c. 2,560 BCEAfrica
Great Pyramid of Giza
The pyramid of Khufu is completed by organised, paid crews of workers.
Guide: Ancient Egypt: three thousand years on the Nile - c. 1,754 BCEMiddle East
Code of Hammurabi
The Babylonian king has a law code carved in stone for public display.
Read about Code of Hammurabi - c. 1,600 BCEAsia
Shang dynasty
The first Chinese dynasty with written records uses oracle bones for divination.
Read about Shang dynasty - c. 1,200 BCEAmericas
Olmec civilization
The Olmecs build ceremonial centres on the Gulf Coast of Mexico and carve colossal stone heads.
Read about Olmecs - 776 BCEEurope
First recorded Olympic Games
By tradition, the games at Olympia begin, held every four years for over a millennium.
Guide: The Olympic Games - c. 563 BCEAsia
The Buddha is born
Siddhartha Gautama is born in the region of modern Nepal; scholars debate the exact date.
Guide: The world's major religions - c. 551 BCEAsia
Confucius is born
His teachings on ethics and social order go on to shape East Asian thought.
Read about Confucius - c. 508 BCEEurope
Athenian democracy
Cleisthenes reorganises Athens, laying the foundations of direct democracy.
Guide: Greece and Rome: the political inheritance - 399 BCEEurope
Trial of Socrates
The philosopher is sentenced to death in Athens; his student Plato records his ideas.
Guide: What is philosophy? - 334 BCEMiddle East
Alexander's campaigns
Alexander the Great invades the Persian Empire and conquers territory as far as India.
Read about Alexander the Great - c. 300 BCEEurope
Stoicism is founded
Zeno of Citium begins teaching in the painted porch of Athens.
Guide: Stoicism: the philosophy of what you can control - 221 BCEAsia
Qin unifies China
Qin Shi Huang becomes the first emperor of a unified China, standardising writing and weights.
Read about Qin Shi Huang - c. 130 BCEAsia
Silk Road opens
Han China's contacts with Central Asia open overland trade routes linking East and West.
Guide: Trade routes and the exchange of ideas - 27 BCEEurope
Roman Empire begins
Octavian takes the title Augustus, and Rome's republic becomes an empire.
Guide: Greece and Rome: the political inheritance - c. 105 CEAsia
Paper improved in China
Cai Lun is credited with improving papermaking at the Han court.
Guide: The printing press and the information revolution - c. 125 CEEurope
The Pantheon
Rome's great domed temple is completed; its concrete dome is still the largest unreinforced one.
Guide: Architecture through the ages - 476 CEEurope
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The last Western emperor is deposed, while the Eastern Empire continues from Constantinople.
Guide: The Middle Ages in Europe
Middle ages
- 537 CEEurope
Hagia Sophia completed
Justinian's church in Constantinople raises a vast dome over a square space.
Guide: Architecture through the ages - c. 610 CEMiddle East
Beginning of Islam
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad receives his first revelation near Mecca.
Guide: The world's major religions - 628 CEAsia
Rules for zero
The Indian mathematician Brahmagupta sets out arithmetic rules for zero and negative numbers.
Guide: Numbers and number systems - 762 CEMiddle East
Baghdad founded
The Abbasid capital becomes a centre of scholarship and translation.
Guide: The Islamic Golden Age - 800 CEEurope
Charlemagne crowned
The Frankish king is crowned emperor by the pope in Rome.
Read about Charlemagne - 868 CEAsia
Oldest dated printed book
The Diamond Sutra is printed from woodblocks in China.
Guide: The printing press and the information revolution - c. 1,000 CEAsia
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu writes one of the world's earliest novels at the Japanese court.
Guide: The story of the novel - 1,096 CEMiddle East
First Crusade sets out
European armies march toward Jerusalem after the pope's call in 1095.
Read about Crusades - 1,206 CEAsia
Genghis Khan proclaimed
A great assembly names Temüjin universal ruler of the Mongols.
Guide: The Mongol Empire - 1,215 CEEurope
Magna Carta
English barons force King John to accept limits on royal power.
Guide: The Middle Ages in Europe - 1,258 CE
- 1,324 CEAfrica
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage
The ruler of Mali travels to Mecca with so much gold that he affects prices in Cairo.
Read about Mansa Musa - 1,347 CEEurope
The Black Death reaches Europe
Plague kills perhaps a third or more of Europe's population within a few years.
Guide: Public health and epidemics - 1,405 CEAsia
Zheng He's voyages begin
Chinese treasure fleets sail across the Indian Ocean to Arabia and East Africa.
Read about Zheng He - c. 1,440 CEEurope
Gutenberg's press
Movable metal type makes printed books cheap in Europe.
Guide: The printing press and the information revolution - 1,453 CEEurope
Fall of Constantinople
The Ottoman Empire captures the Byzantine capital.
Read about Fall of Constantinople - 1,492 CEAmericas
Columbus reaches the Americas
The voyage begins sustained contact between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
Guide: The Age of Exploration - 1,498 CEAsia
Vasco da Gama reaches India
A direct sea route from Europe to Asia opens the spice trade to Portugal.
Guide: The spice trade
Early modern
- 1,517 CEEurope
The Reformation begins
Martin Luther's criticisms of the church spread quickly through print.
Guide: The printing press and the information revolution - 1,521 CEAmericas
Fall of Tenochtitlan
Spanish forces and Indigenous allies take the Aztec capital.
Read about Fall of Tenochtitlan - 1,522 CEGlobal
First circumnavigation
The surviving ship of Magellan's expedition returns to Spain.
Guide: The Age of Exploration - 1,543 CEEurope
Copernicus publishes
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres places the sun at the centre.
Read about Nicolaus Copernicus - 1,602 CEAsia
Dutch East India Company
A powerful trading company is founded to control Asian spice trade.
Guide: The spice trade - 1,605 CEEurope
Don Quixote
Cervantes publishes the first part of what is often called the first modern European novel.
Guide: The story of the novel - 1,628 CEEurope
Circulation of the blood
William Harvey describes how the heart pumps blood around the body.
Guide: The heart and circulation - 1,687 CEEurope
Newton's Principia
Isaac Newton sets out his laws of motion and universal gravitation.
Guide: Motion and forces - 1,689 CEEurope
Locke's Two Treatises
John Locke argues that government rests on consent and protects natural rights.
Guide: Political philosophy and the social contract - 1,769 CEEurope
Watt's steam engine
James Watt patents the separate condenser, making steam engines far more efficient.
Guide: The Industrial Revolution - 1,776 CEAmericas
American Declaration of Independence
Thirteen British colonies declare themselves independent states.
Read about United States Declaration of Independence - 1,783 CEEurope
First human flight
A Montgolfier hot-air balloon carries two people over Paris.
Guide: The history of flight - 1,789 CEEurope
The French Revolution
Crisis and hunger topple the old regime and spread ideas of rights and citizenship.
Guide: Revolutions and the making of the modern state - 1,796 CEEurope
First vaccine
Edward Jenner shows that cowpox material protects against smallpox.
Guide: The immune system
Modern
- 1,804 CEAmericas
Haitian independence
Haiti becomes the first nation founded after a successful revolt of enslaved people.
Read about Haitian Revolution - 1,830 CEEurope
First intercity railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens, relying entirely on steam locomotives.
Guide: The Industrial Revolution - 1,831 CEEurope
Electromagnetic induction
Michael Faraday shows that moving magnets can produce electric current.
Guide: Electricity and the power grid - 1,854 CEEurope
John Snow's cholera map
Mapping deaths around a London water pump helps found epidemiology.
Guide: Public health and epidemics - 1,859 CEEurope
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin publishes his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Guide: Evolution by natural selection - 1,863 CEEurope
Football's first rules
The Football Association is founded in London and codifies the game.
Guide: The history of football - 1,865 CEEurope
Mendel's pea experiments
Gregor Mendel presents the laws of inheritance, ignored until 1900.
Guide: Genetics and inheritance - 1,869 CEEurope
Mendeleev's periodic table
Dmitri Mendeleev arranges the elements and predicts undiscovered ones.
Guide: Atoms and the periodic table - 1,876 CEAmericas
The telephone
Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for the telephone.
Read about Telephone - 1,884 CEAfrica
Berlin Conference
European powers set rules for claiming African territory, accelerating colonisation.
Guide: Decolonization and the new nations - 1,896 CE
- 1,903 CEAmericas
The Wright brothers fly
The first controlled, sustained, powered aeroplane flight takes place at Kitty Hawk.
Guide: The history of flight - 1,905 CEEurope
Einstein's miracle year
Papers on relativity, light and atoms transform physics.
Read about Albert Einstein - 1,914 CEEurope
First World War begins
An assassination in Sarajevo sets off a war that destroys four empires.
Guide: The First World War - 1,917 CEEurope
Russian Revolution
The Bolsheviks seize power, leading to the creation of the Soviet Union.
Read about Russian Revolution - 1,918 CEGlobal
Influenza pandemic
A flu pandemic infects about a third of the world's population.
Guide: Public health and epidemics - 1,928 CEEurope
Penicillin discovered
Alexander Fleming notices mould killing bacteria in his laboratory.
Guide: Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance - 1,929 CEGlobal
The Great Depression
The Wall Street crash begins a worldwide economic collapse.
Read about Great Depression - 1,939 CEEurope
Second World War begins
Germany invades Poland; the war becomes the deadliest in history.
Guide: The Second World War - 1,945 CEGlobal
United Nations founded
Fifty-one countries establish a new international organisation after the war.
Read about United Nations
Since 1945
- 1,947 CEAsia
Indian independence and Partition
British India is divided into India and Pakistan amid mass displacement.
Guide: Decolonization and the new nations - 1,947 CEAmericas
The transistor
Bell Labs invents the transistor, the building block of modern electronics.
Guide: How computers work - 1,948 CEGlobal
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The UN General Assembly adopts a common standard of rights for all people.
Read about Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 1,953 CEEurope
DNA double helix
Watson and Crick, using data from Rosalind Franklin, describe DNA's structure.
Guide: DNA, RNA and how a gene becomes a protein - 1,957 CEGlobal
Sputnik 1
The Soviet Union launches the first artificial satellite.
Guide: The history of space exploration - 1,960 CEAfrica
The Year of Africa
Seventeen African countries gain independence.
Guide: Decolonization and the new nations - 1,961 CEGlobal
First human in space
Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth aboard Vostok 1.
Guide: The history of space exploration - 1,962 CEAmericas
Cuban Missile Crisis
Thirteen days bring the superpowers close to nuclear war.
Guide: The Cold War - 1,963 CEAmericas
March on Washington
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his I Have a Dream speech.
Read about Civil rights movement - 1,969 CEGlobal
Moon landing
Apollo 11 astronauts walk on the Moon; ARPANET sends its first messages the same year.
Guide: The Moon - 1,977 CEGlobal
Voyager launches
Two probes set out on a grand tour of the outer planets.
Guide: A tour of the planets - 1,980 CEGlobal
Smallpox eradicated
The World Health Assembly declares smallpox wiped out.
Guide: Public health and epidemics - 1,989 CEEurope
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Crowds breach the wall as communist governments collapse across Eastern Europe.
Guide: The Cold War - 1,991 CEGlobal
The World Wide Web goes public
Tim Berners-Lee's web becomes available beyond CERN; the Soviet Union dissolves the same year.
Guide: How the internet works - 1,994 CEAfrica
End of apartheid
South Africa holds its first all-race elections, and Nelson Mandela becomes president.
Read about Nelson Mandela - 1,995 CEGlobal
First exoplanet around a sun-like star
51 Pegasi b is discovered, opening the search for other worlds.
Guide: Exoplanets and the search for life - 1,997 CEAmericas
Deep Blue beats Kasparov
A computer defeats the reigning world chess champion in a match.
Guide: The history of chess - 2,003 CEGlobal
Human Genome Project completed
Scientists publish a near-complete sequence of human DNA.
Guide: Genetics and inheritance - 2,007 CEGlobal
More people in cities than countryside
For the first time, over half of humanity lives in urban areas.
Guide: Population and cities - 2,015 CEGlobal
Paris climate agreement
Nearly every country agrees to limit global warming.
Read about Paris Agreement - 2,020 CEGlobal
COVID-19 pandemic
The World Health Organization declares a pandemic in March.
Guide: Public health and epidemics - 2,021 CEGlobal
James Webb Space Telescope launches
The infrared observatory begins studying the earliest galaxies.
Guide: Stars, galaxies and the universe - 2,022 CEGlobal
Eight billion people
The United Nations marks the world population reaching eight billion.
Guide: Population and cities
Dates before about 1000 BCE are approximate, and historians still debate some of them.