World History : Important Dates

BC
10000-4000	Development of settlement into cities and development of skills, such as wheel and pottery making and improved methods of cultivation.
5500-3000	Earliest recorded date of Egyptian calender; first phonetic writing appears; Sumerians develop a city-state civilization.
3000-2000	Pharaonic rule begins in Egypt; completion of the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
3000-1500	The most ancient civilization on the Indian subcontinent, the sophisticated and extensive Indus Valley Civilization, flourishes in what is today Pakistan.
900-800	Phoenicians establish Carthage : The I liad and Odyssey was composed by the Greek poet Homer.
400-300	Pentateuch-first five Books of the Old Testament evolve in final form.
300-251	Invention of Mayan calendar in Yucatan-more exact than older calenders.
101-51	Juleus Caesar (100-44 BC) invades Britain (55 BC) and conquers Gaul, France.
776	First Olympiad in Greece.
753	Rome founded.
490	Battle of Marathon, the Greeks defeated the Iranians/Persians.
327-26	Invasion of India by Alexander, Battle of Hydaspes.
221	Chin-Hung Ti ‘Universal Emperor’ in China, Great Wall of China completed.
55	Invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar, the Great Roman General.
44	Assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus.
4	Birth of Jesus Christ.
AD
29	Crucifixation of Jesus Christ.
43	Roman conquest of Britain.
570	Birth of Prophet Muhammad at Mecca.
622	Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (“hijira”), Beginning of Hijira Era (Muhammadan calender) on July 15.
800	Charlemagne crowned Roman Emperor at St. Peter’s.
871	Accession of Alfred the Great to the throne of Britain.
901	Death of King Alfred the Great.
1066	Battle of Hastings; Norman invasion of England. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandly, defeated the English king Harold II at Hastings.
1215	Magna Carta or the Great Charter signed by King John II at Runnymede in England on June 15.
1280	Gunpowder invented by Roger Bacon.
1338	The Hundred Years War broke out; it lasted upto 1453.
1431	Joan of Arc, a brave French peasant girl, obtained victory over the English at Orleans. She was burnt alive at the stakes.
1443	The Black death i.e., plague broke out in England.
1453	The capture of Constantinople (the home of classical learning) by the Ottoman Turks compelled the Greek scholars to flee to Italy and other West European countries, where they spread the knowledge of Greek philosophy and literature. This was the beginning of Renaissance in Europe.
1486	Bartholomew Diaz rounded the cope of Good Hope.
1492	Columbus sailed on his first expedition to the West Indies which later led to the discovery of America (the New World).
1498	Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese, discovered the seat route to India via the Cape of Good Hope.
1517	Beginning of reformation.
1529-36	Reformation in England under Henry VIII.
1564	Birth of Shakespeare.
1571	Battle of Lapanto; Turks defeated by the Christian League.
1577	Drake, the famous English Admiral; started his voyage round the world for the first time and phindered Spanish ships and ports in South America.
1588	Admiral Drake defeated the Spanish ‘Armada’; England became the ‘Mistress of the Seas’.
1600	Establishment of the British East India Company in India (31st December).
1605	Gunpowder plot in England to blow up the English parliament.
1616	Shakespeare passes away.
1649	Trial and execution of Charles I, beginning of Commonwealth.
1649-60	The Commonwealth and the Protectorate in England.
1660	Restoration of monarchy in England.
1665	The great plague in London.
1679	Habeas Corpus Act.
1688	The Glorious or Bloodless Revolution in England. Despotic rule of the Stuarts ended, and the Parliamentary rule began. Establishment of parliamentary supremacy and abolition of the Divine Rights of Kings.
1704	Battle of Blenheim; Marlborough and Eugene inflicted a crushing defeat on the French army
1707	Union of England and Scotland.
1763	Treaty of Paris; It ended the Seven Years War (1756–63); weakened France, made England a great colonial power.
1776	Declaration of American Independence and formation of a Federal Republic of 13 states called the Union States of America (July 4).
1783	Treaty of Versailles; England recognised the independence of the United States of America.
1789	George Washington elected First President of USA. Beginning of French Revolution; Fall of the Bastille Fort (July 14).
1798	Battle of the Nile. The English under Nelson gained victory over the French.
1805	Battle of Trafalgar; Death of Nelson. Battle of Austerliz – Napolean Bonaparte rounted a combined army of the ussians and the Austrians
1821	Death of Napolean at St. Helena (May 5).
1827	Battle of Navatino; the allied fleets of England, Russia and France destroyed the Turkish fleet; This victory practically secured the independence of Greece.
1833	Emancipation Act of 1833; It abolished slavery in the British dominions.
1837	Accession of Queen Victoria to the throne of England.
1839	Introduction of Penny Postage system in England by Sir Rowland Hill: Aden annexed by England.
1854	The Crimean War began, Russia attacked Turkey; England and France came to the rescue of Turkey.
1861	American Civil War started, Abraham Lincon elected 16th President of USA.
1863	Slavery abolished in America.
1869	Suez Canal opened for traffic.
1885	General Gordon captured and slain at Khartoum.
1899	Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war.
1905	Battle of the sea of Japan; Japan inflicted a crushing naval defeat on Russia; a wave of nationalism spread in Asia.
1911	Chinese Republican Revolution; Amundsen reached South Pole (December 14)
1914	Outbreak of World War-I (August 4)
1916	Battle of Jutland (Naval Battle). The British Grand Fleet under Admiral Jellico defeated the German Fleet under Admiral Scheer.
1917	(March/Febuary) Revolution in Russia; the Czar abdicated and later assassinated; reformist Mensheviks came into power (Prince Lvov, Kerensky). (November/October) Revolution in Russia: Revolutionary Bolsheviks came into power (Lenin).
1918	End of World War-I (November. 11)
1919	The Paris Conference; the Treaty of Versailles.
1920	Foundation of the League of Nations (January. 10)
1921	The Irish Free State established with the status of a Dominion like Canada
1923	Turkish Republic proclaimed with Kemal Ataturk as its First President.
1924	Lenin died, and power passed into the hands of Stalin in Russia.
1925	Treaty of Locarno (between Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium).
1928	Kellogg Pact (signed in Paris by the principal powers of the world for the prevention of war; it had no effect).
1933	Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.
1935	War between Italy and Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Italy annexed Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Plebiscite in Saar.
1939	Germany invaded Poland: Outbreak of World War II (September. 1).
1940	Fall of France after German invasion (June 5); Italy entered World War II (June 11).
1941	Hitler invades Russia (June 22): Framing of the Atlantic Charter (August 14); Japan attacked Pearl Harbour (Hawaii Islands) (December. 7); USA entered World War II (December. 8); China entered World War II (December. 10) Air raids by Japan on Rangoon (December. 22).
1942	Capture of Singapore by Japanese forces (Febuary. 15); Battle of Coral Sea, Japanese fleet suffered heavy losses at the hands of the American fleet (May 3); Battle of Stalingrad (September. 19).
1943	Defeat of Germany at Stalingrad (Febuary. 8); Battle of the Bismarck Sea, America defeated Japan in a naval battle (March 4); Invasion of Italy by the Allies, Armistice between Italy and the Allies (September 3).
1944	Allied forces landed in Normandy under the supreme command of General Ike (Eisenhower); (D-Day) (June 6); Liberation of Paris (August. 25).
1945	Execution of Mussolini (Apr. 22); Unconditional surrender of Germany to the Allies (May 7); USA dropped atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan (August 6 and August 9); Unconditional surrender of Japan (August 14); World War II ended (Aug. 14); Foundation of UNO (October. 24