History of the World

Michael Kerrigan was educated at St. Edward’s College and University College, Oxford, England. He is the author of History of the World, Abandoned Places of World War II, The Cold War and Amazing Churches of the World. He is a columnist, book reviewer, and feature writer for publications including the Scotsman and the Times Literary Supplement. Michael Kerrigan lives with his family in Edinburgh.

• Contents to include: The Bronze Age: From the Rift Valley to the Siege of Troy, 6000–1200 BC Prehistoric Preamble: 1. Human origins; East African Rift Valley; migrations outward into Eurasia; emergence of Neanderthals (up to 400,000 ya) and Homo Sapiens (300,000 ya; in Europe by c. 200,000 ya). The Paleolithic from c. 50,000 ya. Migration of Australia’s first peoples from southeast Asia, c. 50,000 ya; migration into Americas overland via Beringia c. 25,000 ya. Hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Cave/rock paintings. From c. 7000 BC, agriculture in ‘Fertile Crescent’ and along the Indus. Catal Huyuk. 2. 6500 BC. Rise of Indus Valley Civilization, with Bronze technology – pre-Vedic beginnings of Hinduism 3. 5500 BC Sumer – and Mesopotamian civilizations more widely. (Cuneiform script in use by 3500 BC.) 4. 4300 BC Predynastic Egypt 5. 3200 BC Hieroglyphs in Egypt 6. 2675 BC Old Kingdom. Pyramids. 7. 2500 BC Minoan Greece. Cult of the bull. (But labyrinth modern myth-making ...) 8. 2300 BC Gun-Yu Flood, China 9. 2200 BC Ironmaking in Anatolia 10. 2130 BC Egypt, First Intermediate period 11. 1980 BC Egypt, Middle Kingdom 12. c. 1894 BC– (till c. 1595) First Babylonian Empire 13. 1630 BC Second Intermediate 14. 1530 BC Egypt, New Kingdom. Valley of the Kings 15. 1500 Aryan nomads invade India from the north 16. 1500 BC Mycenaean Greece 17. 1500 BC– (till AD) Nok Culture in interior of Nigeria; using iron from 9C 18. 1300 BC Colonists from southeast Asia settle Melanesia, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa Classical Era: From the Pharaohs to the Fall of Rome, 1200 BC to 500 AD 19. 1185 BC Siege of Troy / Trojan War 20. 1047– (till 930) Kingdom of Israel traditionally founded; amalgamation of Israel and Judah under Saul, David, Solomon 21. 1046 BC Start of Zhou dynasty in China; invoked so-called ‘Mandate of Heaven’ to legimitize their rule 22. 800 BC Traditional date for foundation of Carthage by Phoenicians 23. 800 BC– Greek colonies; age of Homer 24. 800 BC– Etruscan civilization central Italy. Great necropolis-builders. 25. 800 BC– Emergence of Paracas culture in Peru 26. 776 BC Olympic Games in Greece 27. 700 BC– Zhou Empire reaches its height in China 28. 760 BC– Kingdom of Kush, Nubia 29. 700 BC– Mayan civilization beginning to come together in southern Mexico/Guatemala 30. 667 BC Reputed founding of Byzantium by Greeks from Megara. Later Constantinople and finally Istanbul 31. 664 BC Late-Period Egypt 32. 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar II becomes King of Babylon. Second Babylonian Empire 33. 587 BC Nebuchadnezzar II sacks Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem 34. 556 BC Birth of Buddha 35. 551 BC Sun Tzu writes his Art of War 36. 551 BC Birth of Kong Fuzi, or Confucius, Chinese philosopher and moral leader 37. 559 BC Reign of Cyrus II, the Great, begins in Persia. Foundation of Achaemenid Empire. Conquers Babylon (and orders rebuilding of Temple in Jerusalem). 38. 522 BC Darius I, the Great becomes Persian Emperor 39. 510 BC Roman Republic founded 40. 500 BC Cleisthenes’ reforms – Athenian democracy 41. 500 BC (till 100 AD) Emergence of Adena Culture in North American Midwest. 42. 5C BC– La Tène Culture (and Celts a bit more generally) 43. 492 BC Persian Invasion of Greece. Marathon 490. 44. 449– Golden Age of Pericles. 45. 460 BC Birth of Hippocrates the "Father of Medicine" 46. 399 BC Death of Socrates. The Socratic Succession: Plato, S’s student; Aristotle, attended P’s Academy, founded c. 367. Idealism vs Empiricism. 47. 359 BC Philip II seizes power in Macedon 48. 336 BC– Alexander’s conquests 49. 323– Ptolemaic Egypt 50. 322 BC– (till 184 BC) Maurya Empire in India; from conversion of Asoka (269 BC) Buddhist. 51. c. 287 BC Birth of Archimedes: Greek mathematician, p 52. 264 BC First Punic War, Hannibal 53. 246 BC Shihuangdi of Qin Dynasty becomes first Chinese emperor; buried with Terracotta Army. 54. 150 BC– (till c. 960 AD) Aksum Kingdom in Ethiopia 55. 100 BC– (till c. 700 AD) City of Teotihuacan founded in central Mexico. 56. 100 BC– (till 800 AD) Nazca civilization emerging on Peruvian coastal plain. 57. 49 BC Julius Caesar, war in Gaul 58. 44 BC Assassination of Caesar; 59. 27 BC Caesar’s protégé Octavian reigns as Augustus, first Roman Emperor 60. 1C BC–1C AD Fayyum Portraits AD Anno Domini, Year of the Lord, rise of Christianity 61. 79 Eruption of Vesuvius; destruction of Pompeii. 62. 129–216 AD Galen. Early (and surprisingly late – not really displaced till 19C) medicine. Humours, etc. 63. 250– Maya civilization at its height 64. Mayan Codices (Dresden, Madrid ... etc] 65. 250– (till 710) Yamato Kingdom, Japan 66. 312 Vision of Constantine on eve of Battle of Milvian Bridge 67. 324 Byzantium, now ‘Constantinople’, capital of Rome’s Eastern Empire 68. 383–410 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain 476 Visigoths sack Rome; Western Roman Empire falls 69. 500 Hawaii and Easter Island settled Medieval Period: From the Rise of Islam to the Fall of Constantinople, 501– 1450 70. 541 The Justinian Plague 570 Mohammad born. 71. 618– (till 907) Tang Dynasty in China 72. 632– After Muhammad’s death, followers conquer Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Persia, & N. Africa fall to Muslim armies many decades later. Shia/Sunni split. 73. c. 628 Indian mathematician Brahmagupta adds concept of zero to early Hindu (for historic reasons known as ‘Arabic’ in West) numbering systems. 74. 661– (till 750) Umayyad Caliphate, based in Damascus. 75. 8C (or thereabouts) The Islamic Aesthetic – representation frowned upon, so emphasis on calligraphy and craft. 76. 7–8C Korea’s Silla Kingdom at its height, unified by King Munmu 77. 711 Umayyad Invasion of Spain. 78. c. 720 King Pelagius’ victory over Muslim force at Covadonga, Spain, start of a long campaign of Reconquista 79. 732 Charles Martel’s Frankish/Aquitanian force turns out Muslim invaders at Poitiers/Tours. 80. 750– (till 1258) Abbasid Caliphate, based in Baghdad 768– (till 814) Charlemagne King of the Franks 81. 778– (till 850) Borobudur Buddhist temple built in Java 793 Vikings begin raiding Ireland, England, France. Settle Iceland and Greenland and establish foothold in N. America. 82. c. 800 Book of Kells (and/or Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720). Monastic culture. 83. 800 Pope Leo III resurrects title of Roman Emperor for Charlemagne. Despite some territories in northern Italy, more an honorary title 84. 843 Treaty of Verdun 85. 866– (till 1868) Fujiwara clan ruling Japan as powers behind imperial throne. 86. 10C Chimú Culture flourishing on coastal plain of Peru 904 Gunpowder is used as a weapon for the first time in the siege of Wuchang, China. 87. 907–1107 Song Dynasty. Seen as a sort of golden age for Chinese landscape art. 1. 909– (till 1171) Fatimids (former slave-soldiers) form Caliphate, with capital in Cairo 2. 918 Wang Kon, King of Koguryo, picks up pieces of crumbling Silla, and conquers other territories, establishing Koryo Kingdom in Korea 3. 976– Byzantine Empire attains its height in reign of Basil II 4. 10C Island-hopping colonization of Polynesia completed 5. 11C Building of Great Zimbabwe begins around now 6. 1001 Vikings settle on N. American coast 7. 1054 Great Schism. Eastern Orthodox Church breaks off from Rome 8. 1066 Normans conquer England 9. 1071 Seljuk Turks win at Manzikert, opening way to west 1095– (till 1099) First Crusade, called by Pope Urban II 10. 1104 Manchurian nomads, the Jurchen (later to be known as the Manchu), start mounting raids into Korea. 11. 12C– Gothic architecture (and associated crafts/arts [woodcarving, stained glass ...). Cathedrals (Chartres, Cologne, Sainte-Chapelle, etc). 12. 1146 Second Crusade 100.1150 Suryavarman II dies, having brought Khmer Kingdom to its greatest height with construction of Angkor Wat temple complex. Leaves dangerous power- vacuum behind him. 101.1165 Birth of Temujin or Genghis Khan. 102.1171 England’s Henry II begins conquest and colonization of Ireland. 103.1174 Saladin takes Syria back from the crusaders. Makes himself Sultan, founding Ayyubid Dynasty. 104.1180–5 Genpei War in China between Taira and Minamoto clans. Minamoto no Yoritomo wins and appoints himself Shogun, 1192. 105.1187 Saladin defeats Crusaders at Hattin 106.1189 Richard I, Lionheart, succeeds HII as King of England. Will spend most of his reign away on crusade 107.1189 York Massacre. 150 Jews commit suicide while being besieged in tower by angry mob. 108.1200 Emergence of Hausa states along Niger Valley 1206 Genghis Khan leads the Mongol armies. 30 to 60 million people are killed in their campaigns building the largest known land empire. 1215 England's King John puts his stamp on the Magna Carta binding himself to obey the country's laws such as Habeas Corpus 109.1259 Kublai Khan takes power in China 1275 Marco Polo starts on his alleged trip to China. He returns in 1295 to Venice. 110.1273 Death of Rumi greatest Persian poet 111.1300– (till 1519) Aztecs extending their rule through Valley of Mexico. 112.1320 Mansa Musa captures Timbuktu from Tuareg and makes it capital of Mali Empire, which reaches its greatest extent around now. 113.1320 Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ 114.1320– (till 1350) Ancestors of the Maori (Polynesian settlers, perhaps from Marquesas) arrive in New Zealand 1337 The Hundred Years War between England and France starts when the king of France invades Gascony, which is held by the English King Edward III 1346–48 The Bubonic plague starts in China and moves westward aided by the ease of travel in the Mongol empire. 115.1368 Chu Yüan-chang becomes first Ming Emperor of China 1405 The Great Ming Voyages 1431 Joan of Arc burned at the stake. 116.1453 The Byzantine empire finally falls as Constantinople falls to the forces of Muhammad From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, 1450–1750 117.1450s Gutenberg Bible (and printing revolution). 118.1469 Lorenzo de’ Medici Lord of Florence (Renaissance – Duomo, Raphael, etc). 119.1488 Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. 120.1492 Reconquista of Spain complete. Jews expelled. 121.1492 Columbus reaches America. ‘Columbian Exchange’ of foods – and bringing of Old World diseases to unprotected indigenous population 122.1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divides New World up between Spain and Portugal 123.1494 Development of double-entry book keeping in Italy 124.1506 Leonardo paints ‘Mona Lisa’ 125.1506– (till 1626) Construction of St Peter’s Basilica. Funded in part by sale of indulgences. 126.1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa is the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. 127.1517 An Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nails his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg; unknowingly initiating the Protestant Reformation. 128.1519–21 Hernán Cortés’ conquest of Mexico 129.1519–21 Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition to the Indies, will end up being first ever circumnavigation 130.1520 Suleiman I, ‘the Magnificent’, Ottoman Sultan 131.1526– (till 1857) Mughal Empire founded by Babur in northern India 132.1527 Pope Charles V’s refusal to annul the marriage of England’s Henry VIII with Catherine of Aragon prompts his break with Rome and England’s Reformation. 133.1532 Renaissance Realpolitik: The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli. 134.1532 Inca ruler Atahuallpa meets Francisco Pizarro. 135.1540 Founded by Ignatius Loyola, ‘Society of Jesus’ or Jesuits, recognized by Pope Paul III 136.1540 Jesuit priest St Francis Xavier leads a mission to Asia (Indonesia, Japan and (offshore) China). 137.1541 Marooned in Upper Amazon region after crossing Andes, Francisco de Orellanas and his men float downriver to Atlantic. 138.1542 Fray Bartolomé de las Casas’ Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies denounces cruelty of Spanish colonization in the Americas 139.1542 Spanish Crown introduces ‘Laws of the Indies’, including abolition of encomienda – right of settlers to exact tribute and labour from indigenous people in Americas 140.1543 Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus ... published 141.1545 Estimated 100,000 indigenous people die in typhus outbreak in New Spain which mostly spares European settlers. 142.1545 Opening of richest mine in the Americas, at Potosí, Bolivia 143.1545 Council of Trent begins. Eight-year programme of consultation. Launches Catholic ‘Counter-Reformation’ 144.1547 Ivan IV, ‘the Terrible’, becomes first Russian Tsar. St Basil’s 145.1550–1 Valladolid Debate on rights of Spanish settlers vs indigenous peoples in Americas. All Spanish campaigns of conquest suspended pending outcome. 146.1550–1850 The Little Ice Age strikes Europe. 147.1553 ‘Bloody’ Mary I Queen in England. Turns clock back, restoring Catholicism and martyring Protestants who won’t comply. 148.1554 Mary I’s half-sister Elizabeth imprisoned on suspicion of involvement in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s Protestant rebellion. 149.1555 Peace of Augsburg. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V agrees that local rulers can decide which faiths will be established within their realms. 150.1556 Three years after taking Mongol Khanate of Khazan, expansionist Muscovy takes Khanate of Astrakhan, opening up way down Volga to Caspian Sea. 151.1556 Earthquake in China kills 830,000. 152.1557 Portuguese trading colony established on the coast of mainland India at Macao. 153.1559 Elizabeth Tudor crowned queen of England 154.1562–98 Wars of Religion – The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. 155.1563–84 El Escorial built for Philip II of Spain – part-palace, part-funereal complex, part imperialist assertion. 156.1564 William Shakespeare, titan of English literature, is born in Stratford-on- Avon in England. Globe Theatre. 157.1566 Outbreak of Eighty Years’ War. Netherlands came to Spanish ruling Habsburg monarchs as legacy of their Burgundian ancestors but Protestant Dutch weren’t comfortable with Spanish Catholic overlordship. Philip II of Spain sends Duke of Alba to Brussels to put down unrest but fighting will continue on and off for decades. 158.1567 Catholic Mary Queen of Scots ousted by confederacy of Protestant lords 159.1571 Battle of Lepanto. Fleet of ‘Holy League’ (Spain and Italian possessions) defeat Ottoman Navy. Last major engagement involving galleys. 1585 Thomas Hariot first writes about an amazing herbal remedy introduced to him by the local peoples of America called tobacco. 160.1588 Philip II sends ‘Invincible Armada’ against England but it’s defeated. 161.1590 North Berwick Witch Trials. Frenzy whipped up by James VI (James I of England) Hundreds of women (and some men) executed over next century or so in Scotland 162.1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu was the most powerful man in Japan after Hideyoshi had died in 1598. In the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Ieyasu defeated the Hideyori loyalists 163.1605 The Gunpowder Plot. 164.1607 English settle in Jamestown. 165.1610 Using his improved telescope, Galileo discovers Jupiter's four moons. 166.1612 Galileo Galilei proposes, for the first time in history, that the Sun rotates on its axis after charting the locations of sunspots over time. 167.1618 Defenestration of Prague. Thirty Years War begins in central Europe 168.1619 Johann Kepler finally solves the mystery of the motion of the planets showing the orbit of planets are elliptical. 169.1619 First shipment of slaves arrives in English colony of Virginia 170.1620 Pilgrim Fathers land in New England 171.1630 Rene Descartes writes the Meditations. 172.1639 A group of explorers led by Ivan Moskvitin became the first Russians to reach the Pacific Ocean and to discover the Sea of Okhotsk 173.1640 England’s East India Company establishes a base at Madras (Chennai) 174.1641 Dutch capture Malacca from Portuguese, underlining dominance throughout East Indies 175.1642 English Civil War, execution of Charles I. Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth till Restoration of Charles II, 1660 176.1643 France’s ‘Sun King’, Louis XIV, ascends the throne 177.1644 Ming Emperor invites Manchu raiders (see Korea, 1104) to help put down unrest in Shaanxi province. Their leader, Dorgon, decides to make himself China’s first Qing (Manchu) ruler. 178.1644– Qing Dynasty in China. Imperial workshops, arts and crafts. 179.1645 Export of slaves from Mozambique to Brazil begins 180.1662 Gobelins Manufactory 181.1663 English trading post established at Sierra Leone 182.1665–6 Great Plague, London 183.1666 The Great Fire of London ravages the City for three days 184.1668 England’s East India Company granted land for colony at Bombay (Mumbai), India 185.1682 Peter the Great Tsar of Russia. Builds institutions/infrastructure. Founds St Petersburg (1703) 186.1686 Isaac Newton writes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy which shows the laws of the heavens are the same as the laws of earth. 187.1688 ‘Glorious Revolution’ in England. Constitutional monarchy. 188.17–19C Ukiyo culture in Japan. Theatre, art (Hokusai, Hiroshige, etc). 189.1701–14 The War of Spanish Succession 190.1705 The Greatest Emperor. The declining Ming fell to the Manchus, who became China’s last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911), and doubled the size of China. 191.1707 Act of Union. Scotland (all but bankrupt after disastrous Darien Scheme, 1698–1700) accepts political union with England. 192.1720 The South Sea Bubble. 193.1720s– J.S. Bach at Leipzig 194.1722 Afghans conquered Iran, ending the Safavid dynasty. 195.1722 Kangxi Emperor of China died. 1755 The Lisbon earthquake 196.1756 ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’ 1756–63 Seven Years' War fought among European powers in various theatres around the world. 1757 Battle of Plassey. Clive’s victory over French Compagnie des Indes and its local allies, followed up with capture of French HQ at Pondichéry (1761) signals the beginning of British rule in India. Age of Revolution, 1750–1914 1762–96 Reign of Catherine the Great of Russia. 197.1767– early 19C Edinburgh’s New Town built. Georgian architecture. 198.1768 James Cook explores the Pacific 199.1776 American War of Independence; Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man; Washington crosses the Delaware; battles at Saratoga, Yorktown 200.1780 Tupac Amaru’s Inca uprising in Peru put down 201.1781 Kant, Critique of Pure Reason. 202.1780s Peak of North Atlantic slave trade. 203.1780s Arts of the Ancien Regime. Palace of Versailles, Marie-Antoinette’s Hameau de la Reine, Fragonard, The Swing. 204.1780s Mozart’s heyday. 205.1788 First Fleet reaches Botany Bay and establishes British colony in Australia 206.1789 Storming of the Bastille. Start of French Revolution 207.1791 Toussaint L’Ouverture’s slave-rising in Saint-Domingue (Haiti). 208.1792 French Republic proclaimed 209.1792– (till 1802) French Revolutionary Wars 210.1793– Reign of Terror in France. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and many more executed. Revolution ‘eats its own’: Danton, Robespierre go to guillotine. 211.1795 5-man ‘Directory’ takes charge in France 212.1796 Edward Jenner – Smallpox vaccination 213.1799 Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows Directory to seize power 1792–1815 Napoleonic Wars 214.1803 Simón Bolívar, on one of hills of Rome, dramatically pledges to dedicate his life to the Americas’ freedom-struggle 215.1803 Louisiana Purchase. Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804–) 216.1804 Napoleon crowns himself Emperor 217.1805 Beethoven Eroica Symphony (originally “Bonaparte”) premiered. 218.1805 Austerlitz 219.1805 Trafalgar 220.1805 Scots explorer Mungo Park dies during exploration of Niger River 221.1806 Jena 222.1807– (till 1814) Peninsular War. 223.1810–20 Goya Goes to War: Painting The Third of May 1808 (1814), perhaps, but maybe more importantly the etchings from The Disasters of War. New unsparing view of conflict. 224.1807 Britain bans slave trade (though owning and working slaves still permitted). 225.1808–33 Spanish American wars of independence; Simon Bolívar 226.1810 Hidalgo’s ‘Cry of Dolores’ – Mexican Independence. (As, for now at any rate, ‘Mexican Empire’ – constitutional monarchy with Spanish military officer for Emperor.) 227.1812 Byron’s Childe Harold. Romanticism. 228.1812 Napoleon invades Russia. Beaten at Borodino, forced into Retreat from Moscow. 229.1814 After defeat at Leipzig, Napoleon’s enemies invade France and overthrow him. He’s exiled to Italian island of Elba. 230.1815 Napoleon escapes and tries again, but defeated at Waterloo and exiled to St Helena in the South Atlantic. French monarchy restored. 231.1815 Bolívar sets out his vision for Central and South America in ‘Jamaica Letter’ 232.1817 San Martín leads Argentinian troops across the Andes as part of liberation struggle 233.1821 Michael Faraday’s electric motor 234.1823 Pres. Monroe proclaims his Doctrine. Promptly forgotten-about – at least for time being 235.1823– (till 1900) First of a long series of ‘Ashanti Wars’ between Britain and Asante people over control of coastal strip of Gold Coast (Ghana). 236.1827 Photography: Niépce Heliograph. 237.1829 Stephenson’s Rocket makes its first journey; L’pool–Manchester Rlwy opens following year. 238.1831 Hokusai paints ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ 239.1832 Samuel Morse’s Telegraph. (Code follows 1838) 240.1834– (till 1854) Zollverein – sort of trade/customs union ultimately including all the main German states 241.1835 ‘Great Trek’ of SA’s Boers into the interior, Transvaal 1837– (till 1901) Reign of Queen Victoria 242.1838– (till 1857) ‘Chartists’ in England campaign for a people’s charter, calling for universal (male) suffrage, 243.1840s Charles Babbage’s ‘Difference Engine’ (1820s) developed into early computer by Ada Lovelace. 244.1841 The British & the Opium War. The British dominated in the First Opium War and China entered its ‘century of humiliation’. ‘Unequal Treaties’ 245.1841 David Livingstone’s first expedition. Opens up what Cecil Rhodes calls a ‘Suez Canal’ into Central Africa. 246.1846 First operation under anaesthesia by W.T.G. Morton 247.1847 James Y. Simpson uses chloroform as anaesthetic on humans. 248.1848 Revolutions in Europe 249.1848– (till 1871) Italian Unification. Garibaldi. 250.1850 Underwater telegraph cable links Dover and Calais 251.1852–6 Crimean War 252.1853 ‘Perry Expedition’ arrives off coast of Japan 253.1857 ‘Indian Mutiny’ (or ‘Rebellion’) 254.1858 John Hanning Speke and Sir Richard Burton find Lake Tanganyika. 255.1859 Darwin publishes Origin of Species; evolutionary theory; Alfred Russell; voyage of the Beagle. 256.1861–5 American Civil War – Southern succession, Bull Run, Gettysburg, assassination of Lincoln; abolition of slavery. 257.1862 John Hanning Speke identifies Lake Victoria as source of the Nile 258.1863 Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation 259.1864– (till 1867) Emperor Maximilian rules Mexico 260.1865 (19 June, hence modern celebration as ‘Juneteenth’) Final enforcement of 1863 Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. 261.1867 Marx’s Das Kapital published, 262.1867 First major diamond-find in SA’s Cape Colony at Hopetown. 263.1868 ‘Glorious Revolution’ establishes constitutional monarchy in Spain. 264.1868– (till 1878) First Cuban War of Independence. Rebels don’t succeed but do abolish slavery on island. 265.1868 Meiji Restoration in Japan Imperial rule reintroduced. 266.1868 French establish protectorate on Ivory Coast. 267.1869 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony found National Women’s Suffrage Association in US. 268.1869 Dmitri Mendeleev’s Periodic Table. 269.1869 Ferdinand de Lesseps’ Suez Canal opened 270.1869 Builders of Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads meet up at Promontory Point, Utah. 271.1870s– Miasma idea giving way to ‘germ theory’. Louis Pasteur’s work in this, and (from 1877) on vaccination. (NB earlier contributions of e.g. Lady Mary Wortley Montague and Edward Jenner.) 272.1870 Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil check Paraguayan expansionism with victory in ‘War of the Triple Alliance’ 273.1870 Italian Unification just about complete with annexation of extensive Papal States. (Only Vatican now under Church rule.) 274.1870 Tianjin Massacre. French diplomats and missionaries attacked by angry Chinese mobs 275.1870–1 Franco Prussian War. Germany wins, and secures Alsace-Lorraine 276.1871 (March–May) Paris Commune 277.1871 ‘Dr Livingstone, I presume ...) Henry Morton Stanley meets missing Scottish missionary/explorer in East African bush 278.1871 Bismarck proclaims ‘Second Reich’ in Germany. Wilhelm I of Prussia now ‘Emperor’. 279.1872 Monet’s Impression, Sunrise. Impressionism (Degas, Renoir, etc) 280.1873 Amadeo I of Spain abdicates. ‘First Republic’ proclaimed 281.1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, climax of Great Sioux War 282.1876 Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone. (Much improved by addition of Edison’s vibrating diagram the following year.) 283.1876 Belgium’s Leopold II establishes International African Association with view to undertaking colonial projects 284.1876 Fourteenth Amendment to US constitution grants citizenship to freed slaves 285.1876 Famine in India’s Deccan kills 5 million 286.1877 Queen Victoria given title of ‘Empress of India’ 287.1877 Otto Niklaus produces what’s generally held to be the world’s first internal combustion engine 288.1877 Satsuma Rebellion (rising by embattled Samurai) in Japan. 289.1878 Thomas Edison’s light bulb 290.1879 French expanding inland into Niger Valley from coastal settlements in Senegal 291.1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps founds another company to build a Panama Canal. 292.1880–1 First Boer War. 293.1883 Krakatau erupts 294.1884–5 Berlin Conference sets off ‘Scramble for Africa’ 295.1884–5 Mahdi; Siege of Khartoum; General Gordon killed 296.1885 Germany annexes East Africa (modern Tanzania) 297.1885 Home Insurance Building, Chicago. Built around steel frame (so arguably (though there are other claimants) first ‘skyscraper’. 298.1886 Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler just about dead-heat with a ‘vehicle powered by a gas engine’ – a car. 299.1888 John Boyd Dunlop’s pneumatic tyre. 300.1890s– Sigmund Freud developing his theories of the unconscious/psychoanalysis. 301.1890 Zanzibar becomes British protectorate 302.1893 Women in New Zealand get the vote 303.1894 Leaders of America’s Hopi people imprisoned on Alcatraz by US authorities 304.1895 Booker T. Washington’s ‘Atlanta Compromise’ speech 305.1895 Cecil Rhodes founds Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) 306.1895 José Martí leads Cubans in Second War of Independence (later subsumed in Spanish–American War) 307.1895– Armenian Genocide – up to 200,000 killed over next few years 308.1896 Discovery of X-rays by William Roentgen 309.1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case – US supreme court rules racial segregation constitutional 310.1896 First modern Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece 311.1897 Kitchener retakes Kharthoum; defeats Mahdi in virtual massacreat Omdurman, following year 312.1897 Klondike Gold Rush along Alaska’s Yukon River begins 313.1897 Theodor Herzl and Zionist Congress choose Palestine 314.as preferred site for Jewish homeland 315.1898 Rudolf Diesel’s first engine 316.1898 USS Maine and Spanish–American War; ‘Treaty of Paris’. Spain’s ‘Disaster’ works out well for US, which acquires Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines. Cuba independent. (Though under US domination.) 317.1899–1901 Second Boer War. 318.1900 Women allowed to compete in the Olympics 319.1900 Exposition Universelle, Paris. Art Nouveau. 320.1903, 1911 Marie Curie’s Nobel Prizes 321.1903 Women’s Social and Political Union founded to fight for women’s suffrage in UK 322.1905 Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity 323.1905 ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre precipitates First Russian Revolution. 324.1907 Picasso, Les Démoiselles d’Avignon, leading into idea of Cubism in art. 325.1909 Wright Brothers airplane 326.1910– (till 1920) Mexican Revolution. Madero, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, etc 327.1912 Revolution in China. ‘Republic of China’. Sun Yat-Sen. 328.1913 Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. 20th–21st Century 329.1914–18 World War I – the Somme, Verdun, Passchendaele, air warfare; armistice. 330.1914–18 The War Artists (official position and output): John, Paul Nash; C.R.W. Nevinson, Stanley Spencer, Anna Airy ... 331.1915 US occupies Haiti to check (what it saw as) undue influence of German business interests. 332.1916 Easter Rising in Dublin 333.1917 Balfour Declaration. British Foreign Secretary voices UK support for establishment of Jewish ‘National Homeland’ in Palestine. 334.1917 Russian Revolution (February, October); Lenin’s return from exile; Storming of the Winter Palace; foundation of USSR. 335.1918 British women over 30, and meeting property qualifications, get the vote 336.1919–21Irish War of Independence 337.1922–3 Irish Civil War (over limited ‘Free State’ vs all-island ‘Republic’ question) 338.1919 US sends Marines into Costa Rica; invades Honduras to help install Gen. Rafael López Gutierrez’ dictatorship. 339.1919–20 Paris Peace Conference, Treaty of Versailles – end of Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman Empires. 340.1920s Art Industrialized. Russian Constructivism. 341.1920 Prohibition – gangsterism; Jazz Age (New Orleans, Josephine Baker’s Paris). 342.1920 US women get the vote 343.1922 Mussolini’s March on Rome 344.1922 Stalin General Secretary of Soviet Communist Party 345.1923 Munich Putsch. 346.1924 André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto. Surrealism. 347.1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, Paris. Art Deco. 348.1927 First full-length Hollywood film, The Jazz Singer, released. 349.1927– (till 1949) Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang under attack by Mao’s Communists 350.1928 British women over 21 get vote 351.1930– (till 1961) Rafael Trujillo in power in Dominican Republic. US-backed military dictator. 352.1930s Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals 353.1930 First football World Cup 354.1933 Hitler becomes German Chancellor. Makes himself Führer, 1934 355.1929 Wall Street Crash, followed by Great Depression through 1930s 356.1936 ‘Axis’ agreement Hitler and Mussolini; Japan joins ‘Anti-Comintern’ Pact. 357.1936 Berlin Olympics 358.1936 Stalin organizes first ‘Moscow Trials’ of supposed subversives 359.1936–9 Spanish Civil War 360.1937 Chinese Civil War interrupted by Japanese invasion; mass-rape and massacre at Nanjing 361.1937 Stalin’s collectivization drive, with war against kulaks and accompanying famine, especially in Ukraine 362.1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 363.1939 German invasion of Poland; World War II breaks out. Blitzkrieg. 364.1940 Invasions Denmark, Norway, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium 365.1940–1 German ‘Blitz’ of London, Liverpool etc 366.1941 German invasion of USSR 367.1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor 368.1942 Wannsee Conference and Holocaust 369.1943 German defeat at Stalingrad 370.1943 Tehran Conference 371.1943–5 ‘Colossus’ computer built at Bletchley Park. Alan Turing 372.1944 Germans building first jet fighters/bombers 373.1944 D-Day 374.1945 Yalta Conference 375.1945 Liberation of Auschwitz 376.1945 Americans land on Iwo Jima 377.1945 Americans land on Okinawa 378.1945 Tokyo Firestorm 379.1945 Dresden bombing 380.1945 ‘Race to the Rhine’ 381.1945 Soviets take Berlin; Germans sign unconditional surrender; Hitler commits suicide 382.1945 VE Day celebrations 383.1945 Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings 384.1947 Indian Independence, Partition. General movement towards Decolonization. 385.1947– (till 1991) Cold War. ‘Iron Curtain’ 386.1948– (till 1960) Britain tries to deal with ‘Malayan Emergency’ 387.1948– (till 1994) Apartheid rule in South Africa 388.1949 389.1949 390.1951 391.1953 392.1953 393.1954 394.1955 395.1956 396.1956 397.1956 398.1957 People’s Republic of China proclaimed. ‘Bamboo Curtain’ Soviet Bomb. Nuclear Arms Race. China annexes Tibet Stalin dies. Rule will be denounced by Nikita Khrushchev three years later Crick & Watson publish paper on DNA US interventions Iran, Guatemala Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycott Elvis Presley has first hit with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ Suez Crisis Soviet invasion of Hungary Treaty of Rome brings European Economic Community (later European Union) into being 399.1957 (till 1971) ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier seizes power in Haiti; son ‘Baby Doc’ succeeds him, in power till 1986. 400.1957 Sputnik 401.1959 Communist takeover in Cuba (Castro’s campaign from 1953) 402.1958: China’s Great Leap Forward – famine causes >40m deaths. 403.1958–63 The Naked City (‘There are eight million stories ..’) following on from 1948 movie, TV police procedural. 404.1960 JFK ‘New Frontier’ speech. Space Race 405.1960 Sharpeville Massacre, SA 406.1960 Republic of Congo wins its independence from Belgium, but PM Patrice Lumumba assassinated. Mobutu’s dictatorship begins. 407.1961 Yuri Gagarin first man in space 408.1961 Berlin Wall built 409.1961 US involvement in Vietnam 410.1963 JFK assassinated. 411.1963 Rivonia Trial. Nelson Mandela imprisoned for life, for sabotage 412.1963 March on Washington. MLK ‘Dream’ speech 413.1963 ‘She Loves You’. Beatlemania 414.1964 Generals’ coup in Brazil begins wave of military takeovers in Latin America; aspect of overarching Cold War conflict 415.1966– (till Mao’s death in 1976) Chinese ‘Cultural Revolution’ 416.1967 (till 1974) Colonels’ coup in Greece 417.1967 ‘Respect’ by Aretha Franklin – do as more general piece on Soul/Motown 418.1967 Sukarno’s democratic administration overthrown by Suharto in Indonesia 419.1967 Six-Day War in Middle East. 420.1967 After refusing to serve in Vietnam, World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali convicted of draft evasion and stripped of titles. Avoided prison pending appeal (1971) which found in his favour. 421.1967 Che Guevara killed, Bolivia. 422.1968 Prague Spring; Soviet invasion 423.1968 My Lai Massacre, Vietnam 424.1968 MLK assassinated 425.1968 Événements, Paris 426.1968 Civil Rights marches (for equal treatment for Catholics) in Northern Ireland 427.1968 Tet Offensive, Vietnam 428.1969 British troops sent in to Northern Ireland after order breaks down 429.1969 Neil Armstrong walks on moon 430.1972 Bloody Sunday, Derry 431.1973 Overthrow of Allende, takeover by Pinochet, in Chile 432.1973 Military takeover in Uruguay. 433.1973 Yom Kippur War in Middle East 434.1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor 435.1975 Khmer Rouge in power in Cambodia. Killing Fields. 436.1975 Fall of Saigon. US officials hastily evacuated 437.1976 Colombian gangleader Pablo Escobar founds the ‘Medellín Cartel’, running cocaine to US and beyond. By early 1980s he’s among the wealthiest men in the world. 438.1970s– Rise of Hip Hop culture. (Rap, Graffiti art, DJing, Breakdancing, Beatboxing etc etc.) 439.1976 Death of Mao 440.1976 Generals’ Junta take charge in Argentina. Mass repression. 441.1978–9 Iranian Revolution; rise of radical Islam. (‘Iran Hostage Crisis’ not resolved till 1981) 442.1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin. Brokered by US President Jimmy Carter 443.1978– (till 1995) Mail-bomb campaign by Ted Kaczynski (‘Unabomber’) in US 444.1979 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 445.1980– (till 1988) Iran–Iraq War. Ends in exhausted stalemate. 446.1980 Lenin Shipyard strike, Gdansk. Solidarnosc in Poland 447.1981 IBM Personal Computer released. (Kenbak-1, held to be first personal computer in the world, appeared a decade earlier, but didn’t have anything like the same impact) 448.1981 Ronald Reagan becomes US President. Promises programme of tax- and regulation-cutting ‘Reaganomics’ 449.1982 Limited private enterprise allowed in China. Deng Xiaoping sets up Special Economic Zones 450.1984 Appearance of Apple Macintosh personal computer 451.1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet Premier. Perestroika, Glasnost. 452.1985 Live Aid concert. 453.1986 Chernobyl Disaster 454.1988 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan 455.1988 Gorbachev says won’t interfere further in Eastern Bloc countries 456.1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, China 457.1990 Fall of Berlin Wall; leads to German reunification by 1991 458.1990 Nelson Mandela freed 459.1990–1 Gulf War. Iraq invades Kuwait. Western alliance responds with ‘Desert Storm’ 460.1990 Boris Yeltsin President of Russia Digital Age 461.1991 ‘August Coup’ (unsuccessful but scary) in Russia 462.1991 Gorbachev stands down. Soviet Union wound up. George W. Bush announces a ‘New World Order’ 463.1991 Yugoslav Wars begin as Tito’s state (d. 1980) breaks up in aftermath of communism’s collapse. Slovenes, Croats, Bosnian Muslims etc, want freedom from Serbian domination 464.1993 Battle of Mogadishu; US intervenes in support of Somali government against Islamist rebels. ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident 465.1993 ‘First’ World Trade Center bombing 466.1994 South African general election, with universal suffrage. Nelson Mandela’s ANC wins decisively and he becomes President 467.1994 Rwanda Genocide. Hutu attack (mainly) Tutsi, causing >1/2 million deaths 468.1995 Oklahoma City Bombing. Threat from White ‘survivalists’ etc. 469.1995 Srebrenica Massacre. 8,000 Bosnian Muslims killed by Serbs 470.1997 China resumes control over Hong Kong 471.1998 President Bill Clinton impeached in wake of Monica Lewinsky Scandal 472.1999 Columbine School Shooting 473.2000– (till 2008) Vladimir Putin President of Russia 474.2001 9/11 attacks; Al Qaeda; US response including ‘Patriot Act’ and ‘War on Terror’ 475.2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Taliban regime there harbouring Al-Qaeda fugitives 476.2001 Same-sex marriage legalized in Netherlands. UK followed in 2004 (except Northern Ireland, which would have to wait till 2020); Spain 2005; Iceland 2010; France 2013; Germany 2014 ... 477.2003– (till 2011) Iraq War. US-led coalition invades to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein. But ensuing insurgency rumbles on for years 478.2004 NASA Rover lands on Mars 479.2004 Same-sex marriage legalized in UK 480.2005 Hurricane Katrina 481.2008 First African–American President elected in Barrack Obama 482.2008 Global Financial Crisis. Collapse of Lehman Brothers underlines extent of a crisis that’s already been deepening for a year or more. 483.2011 Revolution in Tunisia starts off ‘Arab Spring’. Protests follow in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria etc 484.2011 9/11 organizer Osama bin Laden killed by US SEALs in Pakistan 485.2012– Vladimir Putin resumes presidential rule in Russia 486.2014 Though founded in 1999, ISIS (Islamic State) comes to international attention when it takes over part of northwestern Iraq; Jihadi brides etc Russia annexes Crimea Paris Agreement on climate change Same-sex marriage legal in United States. Putin’s Russia intervenes in Syrian Civil War in support of incumbent President Bashar al-Assad 491.2016 Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum 492.2016 Donald Trump elected President of the United States 493.2019–20 Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong 494.2019 COVID-2019 virus identified in Wuhan, China. Spreads worldwide, causing anything up to 30m deaths (and counting) over months and years that followed. Unprecedented public-health response 495.2022 Putin’s Russia mounts ‘special military operation’ (invasion) in Ukraine 2023: Gaza Crisis 496.2024: Taylor Swift tour, 70 million gross – highest ever amount for live music tour