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4004 BC |
Creation of the world; Fall of Adam |
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2349 BC |
|
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2242 BC |
Tower of Babel dispersion, nations founded |
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1996 BC |
Abram born in Ur of the Chaldaeans |
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1715 BC |
Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream and becomes the governor of Egypt at 30 years of age |
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1600 BC |
Phoenician civilization established in Mediterranean |
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1491 BC |
Exodus of Israel from Egypt; Ten Commandments given by God; Moses writes the Pentateuch |
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1184 BC |
Trojan War between Myceneae and Troy; Fall of Troy |
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1015 BC |
Solomon builds Temple in Jerusalem |
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800 BC |
Homer composes The Iliad and The Odyssey |
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753 BC |
Romulus founds Rome on the Tiber River in Italy |
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586 BC |
Nebuchadnezzar destroys the Temple and Jerusalem (Babylonian captivity dates from 606 BC with deportation of 10,000 Jews, including Daniel, to Babylon) |
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539 BC |
Cyrus the Great issues decree to allow the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem |
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509 BC |
Rome becomes a Republic after the last of its kings is expelled |
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508 BC |
Last Athenian tyrant overthrown; demokratia (rule by the people) begins in Athens |
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492-79 BC |
The Greco-Persian War: Greece resists Persian conquest |
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330 BC |
Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire |
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146 BC |
Rome destroys Carthage, a Phoenician colony, ending Third Punic War |
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30 BC |
Octavian (Caesar Augustus) defeats Mark Antony to become the first emperor of Rome |
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4-0 BC |
Birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem of Judea |
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27-33 AD |
Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church |
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43 AD |
Britain becomes a Roman province when Caractacus is defeated by Claudius |
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48 AD |
Conversion of Saul; writes most of the New Testament epistles and establishes many churches |
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64 AD |
Persecution of the Christians begins in the Roman Empire |
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70 AD |
Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed following Jewish revolt; Jews scattered a second time |
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312-13 |
Emperor Constantine becomes a Christian; issues Edict of Milan to end Christian persecution |
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325 |
First Ecumenical Council adopts Nicene Creed defining orthodox Christian doctrine |
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330 |
Constantine founds Constantinople and moves the seat of the Roman Empire thither |
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426 |
Roman legions leave Britain to fight increasing barbarian invasions |
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432 |
Briton Patrick captured by Irish slavers; eventually evangelizes pagan Ireland |
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449 |
Briton chief Vortigern invites Anglo-Saxons to Britain to help fight the Picts |
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451 |
Attila the Hun defeated at the Battle of Chalôns in Gaul |
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476 |
Germans sack Rome and replace emperor with their king; Western Roman Empire ends |
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496 |
Clovis, king of the Franks in Gaul, converts to Christianity |
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622 |
Flight of the Prophet (Mohammed) from Mecca to Medina |
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711 |
Visigothic kingdom of Spain falls to the Mohammedans |
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732 |
Charles the Hammer defeats the Mohammedans at Tours / Poitiers in France |
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800 |
Charlemagne crowned in Rome on Christmas Day; Holy Roman Empire established |
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843 |
Treaty of Verdun divides Charlemagne’s Empire into Germany, Italy, and France |
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911 |
Charles the Simple gives Normandy to Rollo the Viking in exchange for peace |
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1066 |
Norman Duke William defeats Saxon Harold at Hastings; Norman rule of Saxon England begins |
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1077 |
Palestine falls to the Turks; persecution of Christian pilgrims sparks two centuries of Crusades |
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1166 |
Assize of Clarendon re-establishes trial by jury in England |
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1202 |
Fibonacci publishes Liber Abaci: popularizes Arabic numbers, concept of zero in Europe |
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1215 |
John Lackland signs the Magna Charta under duress at Runnymede |
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1241 |
Death of the Great Khan arrests Mongol invasion of Europe |
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1248 |
English scientist Roger Bacon publishes formula for gunpowder, invented by Chinese |
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1295 |
Marco Polo returns from China; introduces idea of paper, paper money, coal, post riders, wealth of the East |
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1337-1453 |
Hundred Years’ War between England and France |
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1382 |
Wycliffe finishes his English translation of the Bible |
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1440-55 |
Johann Gutenberg invents and perfects printing press using moveable metal type |
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1453 |
Turks conquer Constantinople; end Roman Empire of the East; establish Ottoman Empire |
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1492 |
Ferdinand and Isabella drive the last Moors (Muslims) from Spain |
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1492 |
October 12: Columbus lands on American soil in the West Indies |
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1498 |
Vasco da Gama rounds Cape of Good Hope and reaches India by sea for Portugal |
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1517 |
October 31: Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on Wittenberg chapel door |
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1519-22 |
Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigates the globe |
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1534 |
Act of Supremacy recognizes king rather than pope as head of the church of England |
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1543 |
Copernicus publishes the heliocentric theory of the solar system |
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1555 |
Peace of Augsburg allows Lutherans to be recognized in the Holy Roman Empire |
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1568-1609 |
The Netherlands (Protestant) successfully revolt against Spanish (Catholic) rule |
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1588 |
English navy under Sir Francis Drake defeats the Spanish Armada |
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1598 |
Edict of Nantes grants Huguenots (French Protestants) religious toleration |
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1607 |
First permanent English settlement in the United States established at Jamestown, Virginia |
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1611 |
Publication of new English translation of the Bible: King James Version |
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1620 |
December 21: English Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock; sign Mayflower Compact |
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1648 |
Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years’ War, separates church from state in Germany, allows Protestant worship |
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1687 |
Isaac Newton publishes Principia Mathematica, which revolutionized physics, mathematics, and scientific investigation |
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1769 |
James Watt improves the steam engine so as to make its use practical |
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1776 |
July 4: The First Continental Congress signs the Declaration of Independence |
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1786 |
Thomas Jefferson writes Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom, unique in history |
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1787, 1791 |
U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights ratified and adopted |
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1789 |
Fall of the Bastille in Paris heralds the beginning of the French Revolution, violent overthrow of medieval order in Europe |
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1804 |
Napoleon takes the Imperial crown from the pope and crowns himself at Notre Dame in Paris as a direct re-creation yet repudiation of the crowning of Charlemagne 1000 years earlier; Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806 |
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1815 |
Napoleon defeated at the Battle of Waterloo; Napoleonic Empire ends |
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1848 |
Year of Revolutions in Europe; Communist Manifesto published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels |
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1859 |
Charles Darwin publishes On Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life |
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1865 |
May 25: First Memorial Day marks end of Civil War, Reconstruction legislation grants freedom, citizenship, equal protection and due process to former slaves |
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1870 |
Italian Unification: Kingdom of Italy annexes the Papal States and deprives the Pope of all temporal power; Rome becomes the capital of Italy |
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1876, 1878 |
Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison invent telephone and electric incandescent light bulb |
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1895-98 |
Conclusion of Spanish-American war establishes the United States as a world power |
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1902 |
Wright brothers make first successful airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina |
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1914 |
June 28: Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo, sparking World War I |
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1915 |
Einstein publishes General Theory of Relativity |
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1917 |
Russian Revolution establishes first modern Communist state |
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1918 |
November 11: Armistice signed ending World War I, Ottoman Empire dissolved |
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1938 |
Otto Hahn first splits the atom, receives the Nobel prize |
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1939 |
September 1: Germany invades Poland, sparking World War II |
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1941 |
December 7: Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, draws U.S. into World War II |
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1945 |
May 8: VE Day – Germans surrender unconditionally to Allies |
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1945 |
August 6, 9: U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan |
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1945 |
August 15: VJ Day – Japanese surrender unconditionally to Allies |
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1945 |
October 24: United Nations established with 50 member nations |
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1947 |
ENIAC, first high speed electronic computer, put into operation by the U.S. Army |
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1948 |
Modern state of Israel is created to give Jews persecuted by the Holocaust a homeland |
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1969 |
First man, American Neil Armstrong, lands on the moon |
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1973 |
U.S. Defense Dept. initiates development of what becomes the Internet |
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1991 |
Disintegration of Soviet Union and end of Cold War |
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2001 |
September 11: Islamic fanatics attack New York, Washington DC; sparks War on Terrorism |
100 PIVOTAL EVENTS OF WESTERN HISTORY
2 thoughts on “100 PIVOTAL EVENTS OF WESTERN HISTORY”
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Thank you very much for your kind words, and for visiting today Finn.