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The turning points of the human story, 1283 events across 7 eras. Browse by era below, or by theme.
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- Banu Hilal Migration Arabises the Maghrebc. 1050 onward (11th century)
- Invention of Standardised Coinage in Lydia (the Lydian Stater)c. 630 BCE
- Haber-Bosch Process Industrialises Synthetic Nitrogen FertiliserSeptember 1913
- Release of ChatGPT and the rise of generative AI30 November 2022
- Monumental urbanism at Caral and the Norte Chico civilisationc. 2600 BCE
- The Pleistocene-Holocene boundary and the start of the Holocenec. 11,700 years ago (c. 9700 BCE)
- Brahmagupta codifies zero and arithmetic of negatives (Brahmasphutasiddhanta)628 CE
- Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine24 February 2022
- The COVID-19 pandemic11 March 2020
- Nagarjuna Founds the Madhyamaka School and Systematises Mahayana Philosophyc. 150 CE
- Apollo 11 Moon landing20 July 1969 (mission 16 to 24 July 1969)
- The 7 October Hamas attack and the Israel-Gaza war7 October 2023
- Cai Lun standardises papermaking105 CE
- Behavioural modernity and major Out-of-Africa dispersalc. 70,000 to 50,000 years ago
- Qing conquest of the Dzungars and the creation of Xinjiang1755 to 1759
- Battle of Feyiase and the rise of the Asante Empire1701
- Wang Mang nationalises land under the Xin dynastyAD 9
- Founding of the Bank of Amsterdam (Wisselbank)31 January 1609
- First mRNA COVID-19 vaccines authorised11 December 2020
- Kuwae Eruption (Vanuatu)c. 1452 CE
- Indianisation of Southeast Asia: Spread of Hindu-Buddhist Culturec. 1st century CE
- Cárdenas Nationalises Mexico's Oil1938
- Castle Bravo Test and the Nuclearisation of the Pacific1 March 1954
- Bayinnaung forges the largest empire in Southeast Asian history1565
- Kilwa's Husuni Kubwa palace marks the Swahili coast's golden ageearly-mid 14th century CE
- Containerisation begins: SS Ideal X first container voyage26 April 1956
- CRISPR-Cas9 gene editingJune 2012
- Han-Xiongnu Heqin Treaty Inaugurates Tribute-and-Marriage Diplomacy198 BC
- Rise of the Kingdom of Ife, cradle of Yoruba civilisationc. 1170 CE
- The AI boom reshapes global markets29 October 2025
- Shah Abbas I and the golden age of Safavid Isfahan1598 (capital moved to Isfahan)
- Timbuktu emerges as a centre of Islamic learningc. 1325
- Tomb of Fu Hao: An Undisturbed Shang Royal Burialc. 1250 BCE
- Soweto Uprising Galvanises Anti-Apartheid Struggle1976
- Earliest securely dated Maya/Mesoamerican Long Count inscription36 BCE (Long Count 7.16.3.2.13)
- Rise of Kerma as an Urban Centre in Nubiac. 2500 BCE
- Shah Ismail I proclaims Twelver Shi'ism the state religion of Iran1501
- Kingdom of Kongo converts to Christianity under Nzinga a Nkuwu (João I)3 May 1491
- Senusret III's Nubian campaigns and administrative centralisationc. 1850 BCE
- Standardised Binary Weights System of the Indusc. 2600 BCE
- Decline and De-urbanisation of the Indus Civilisationc. 1900 BCE
- Death of Pope Francis and election of Pope Leo XIV21 April 2025
- South Korea's martial-law crisis and the removal of President Yoon3 December 2024
- Donald Trump wins the 2024 US presidential election5 November 2024
- 2024 confirmed as first year above 1.5 °C10 January 2025
- Antonine Plague165-180 CE
- Volcanic Winter of 536 and Onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age536 to 537 CE
- The Dust Bowl1930 to 1940 (peak 1934 to 1936)
- The Great Irish Famine1845 to 1852
- 1931 Central China FloodsJune to August 1931
- Emancipation of the serfs in Russia3 March 1861 (19 February O.S.)
- The Franco-Prussian War, German unification and the Paris Commune19 July 1870 to 10 May 1871; German Empire proclaimed 18 January 1871
- Official Introduction of Buddhism to Japan552 CE (traditional date; 538 CE in some sources)
- Cocoliztli Epidemic of 1545 to 15481545 to 1548
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Prehistory to c. 3300 BCE
- Sahelanthropus tchadensis: earliest known hominin candidate
- Ardipithecus ramidus ('Ardi') reshapes the human-ape ancestor
- Australopithecus anamensis: early australopithecine
- Australopithecus afarensis ('Lucy' and relatives)
- The Laetoli footprints capture early hominins walking upright
- Lomekwi 3: the oldest known stone tools, before the genus Homo
- Emergence of early Homo and first consistent stone tool use
- The robust australopithecines (Paranthropus): a specialised chewing lineage
- Earliest humans reach Asia: stone tools at Shangchen, China
- The Acheulean handaxe tradition emerges in East Africa
- Homo erectus emerges and begins long-distance migration
- Dmanisi: the earliest well-dated humans in Eurasia
- The Nariokotome (Turkana) Boy and the modern human body plan
- Homo erectus across Asia: 'Java Man' and 'Peking Man'
See all 133 events in Prehistory →
◀ 7000000 BCEera time axis1500000 BCE ▶
Ancient Civilizations c. 3300 to 800 BCE
- Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Narmer
- Monumental urbanism at Caral and the Norte Chico civilisation
- Austronesian seaborne expansion out of Taiwan
- Rise of Sumerian city-states and kingship
- Step Pyramid of Djoser built at Saqqara
- Mohenjo-daro's Great Bath and Urban Sanitation
- Planned Cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa Built
- Standardised Binary Weights System of the Indus
- Great Pyramid of Giza built for Khufu
- Carving of the Great Sphinx of Giza
- Rise of Kerma as an Urban Centre in Nubia
- Meluhha: Indus Trade with Akkadian Mesopotamia
- Pyramid Texts inscribed in the Pyramid of Unas
- Reforms of Urukagina of Lagash
See all 88 events in Ancient Civilizations →
◀ 3150 BCEera time axis2350 BCE ▶
Classical Antiquity c. 800 BCE to 500 CE
- First Olympic Games held at Olympia
- Sack of Haojing and the Western-Eastern Zhou Transition
- Homeric epics composed and the Greek alphabet adopted
- Tiglath-Pileser III's Military and Administrative Reforms
- Corinth founds Syracuse and the Greek colonisation of the West
- Piye's Kushite Conquest of Egypt and the 25th Dynasty
- Assyrian destruction of the Kingdom of Israel and fall of Samaria
- Guan Zhong's Reforms and the First Hegemony (Qi)
- The Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
- Invention of Standardised Coinage in Lydia (the Lydian Stater)
- Josiah's reform and the 'Book of the Law' (Deuteronomic Reform)
- Fall of Nineveh and Collapse of Assyrian Power
- Rise of the sixteen Mahajanapadas in northern India
- Sushruta Samhita codifies surgery, including rhinoplasty
See all 162 events in Classical Antiquity →
◀ 776 BCEera time axis600 BCE ▶
Post-Classical / Medieval c. 500 to 1500 CE
- Justinian codifies Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis
- Belisarius destroys the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa
- The Gothic War and Byzantine reconquest of Italy
- Volcanic Winter of 536 and Onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age
- Consecration of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
- The Plague of Justinian, the first recorded bubonic pandemic
- Collapse and Burning of Teotihuacan
- Official Introduction of Buddhism to Japan
- Calakmul's coalition defeats Tikal in a 'star war', beginning the Tikal Hiatus
- The Lombards invade Italy
- Sui reunification of China under Emperor Wen
- Pope Gregory the Great and the Gregorian mission to England
- Bhakti devotional movement emerges in Tamil South India
- Buddhas of Bamiyan Carved
See all 185 events in Post-Classical / Medieval →
◀ 529 CEera time axis600 CE ▶
Early Modern c. 1500 to 1800 CE
- Shah Ismail I proclaims Twelver Shi'ism the state religion of Iran
- Afonso de Albuquerque captures Goa and founds the Estado da Índia
- Portuguese capture of Malacca
- Battle of Chaldiran
- Erasmus publishes his Greek New Testament and the rise of Christian humanism
- Selim I conquers the Mamluk Sultanate and the holy cities
- Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses and the start of the Reformation
- Fall of Tenochtitlan and conquest of the Aztec Empire
- Magellan-Elcano expedition completes the first circumnavigation
- Suleiman the Magnificent and the codification of Ottoman law
- Battle of Mohács and the Ottoman conquest of Hungary
- First Battle of Panipat and the founding of the Mughal Empire
- First Ottoman Siege of Vienna
- Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
See all 136 events in Early Modern →
◀ 1501 CEera time axis1532 CE ▶
Modern c. 1800 to 1945 CE
- United States completes the Louisiana Purchase
- Haiti declares independence after a successful slave revolution
- Napoleon crowned Emperor of the French
- Promulgation of the Napoleonic Code
- World population reaches one billion
- Battle of Austerlitz
- Battle of Trafalgar
- Muhammad Ali becomes governor of Egypt
- Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire
- Britain abolishes the transatlantic slave trade
- Dalton publishes his atomic theory
- The Peninsular War
- Spanish American independence movements begin
- Napoleon's invasion of Russia
See all 226 events in Modern →
◀ 1803 CEera time axis1812 CE ▶
Contemporary 1945 to present
- Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech at Fulton
- First Indochina War and the fall of Dien Bien Phu
- Operation Crossroads: First US Postwar Nuclear Tests at Bikini Atoll
- Resumption of the Chinese Civil War
- Independence and Partition of British India
- Invention of the transistor at Bell Labs
- First Kashmir War
- Japan Adopts Its Postwar "Peace Constitution"
- Communist coup in Czechoslovakia
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted
- Berlin Blockade and Airlift
- Creation of Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program)
- Establishment of Apartheid in South Africa
See all 353 events in Contemporary →
◀ 1946 CEera time axis1948 CE ▶