Timeline of World History
The History of the World (or world history) describes the history of humanity (or human history) as determined by the study of archaeological and written records. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing. However, the roots of civilization reach back to the earliest introduction of primitive technology and culture.
Formation of the Universe
This is a timeline of the formation and subsequent evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago to the present day. Times are measured from the moment of the Big Bang.
Evolutionary History of Life
This timeline of evolution of life represents the current scientific theory outlining the major events during the development of life on planet Earth. In biology, evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations.
Timeline of Human Prehistory 200,000 years - 5,500 years ago
This timeline of human prehistory comprises the time from the first appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa 200,000 years ago to the invention of writing and the beginning of history approximately 5,500 years ago. View Timeline of Human Prehistory »
Ancient History (c. 3200 BC to c. 500 AD)
Timeline of Ancient history is the historical events in time of the documented ancient past from the beginning of recorded history until the Early Middle Ages. View Timeline of Ancient History »
Middle Ages (c. 500 to 1499)
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. View Timeline of the Middle Ages »
Early Modern History (1500 to 1900)
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages of the post-classical era and and ending around the French Revolution in 1789. View Timeline of Early Modern History »
16th century
It is regarded by historians as the century in which the rise of the West occurred. During the 16th century, Spain and Portugal explored the world's seas and opened world-wide oceanic trade routes. For a timeline of events from 1500 to 1600, view: 16th century »
17th century
The 17th century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and in that continent was characterized by the Dutch Golden Age, the Baroque cultural movement, the French Grand Siècle dominated by Louis XIV, the Scientific Revolution, and The General Crisis. For a timeline of events from 1600 to 1700, view: 17th century »
18th century
During the 18th century, the Enlightenment culminated in the French and American revolutions. Philosophy and science increased in prominence. Philosophers dreamed of a brighter age. For a timeline of events from 1700 to 1800, view: 18th century »
19th century
The 19th century (1 January 1801 – 31 December 1900) was the century marked by the collapse of the Spanish, First and Second French, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires. This paved the way for the growing influence of the British Empire, the Russian Empire, the United States, the German Empire, the Second French Colonial Empire and the Empire of Japan, with the British boasting unchallenged dominance after 1815. After the defeat of the French Empire and its allies in the Napoleonic Wars, the British and Russian empires expanded greatly, becoming the world's leading powers. For a timeline of events from 1800 to 1900, view: 19th century »
Modern History (1901-)
At the turn of the 20th century, the world saw a series of great conflagrations, World War I and World War II. In between the great wars, the 1920s saw a great rise in prosperity where progress and new technology took hold of the world, but this was soon ended by the Great Depression. During this time, the League of Nations was formed to deal with global issues, but failed to garner enough support by the leading powers, and a series of crises once again led the world into another epoch of violence. View Timeline of Modern History »
Future
While scientific predictions of the future can never be absolutely certain, present understanding in various fields allows for the prediction of far future events, if only in the broadest strokes. These fields include astrophysics, which has revealed how planets and stars form, interact, and die; particle physics, which has revealed how matter behaves at the smallest scales; evolutionary biology, which predicts how life will evolve over time; and plate tectonics, which shows how continents shift over millennia.
The History of the World (or world history) describes the history of humanity (or human history) as determined by the study of archaeological and written records. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing. However, the roots of civilization reach back to the earliest introduction of primitive technology and culture. Prehistory begins in the Paleolithic Era, or "Early Stone Age," which is followed by the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, and the Agricultural Revolution (between 8000 and 5000 BCE) in the Fertile Crescent. The latter period marked a change in human history, as humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals. Agriculture advanced, and most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. Nomadism continued in some locations, especially in isolated regions with few domesticable plant species; but the relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed human communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation.
As farming developed, grain agriculture became more sophisticated and prompted a division of labor to store food between growing seasons. Labor divisions then led to the rise of a leisured upper class and the development of cities. The growing complexity of human societies necessitated systems of writing and accounting. Many cities developed on the banks of lakes and rivers; as early as 3000 BCE some of the first prominent, well-developed settlements had arisen in Mesopotamia, on the banks of Egypt's River Nile, Indus River valley, and major rivers in China.
The history of the Old World (particularly Europe and the Mediterranean) is commonly divided into Ancient history (or "Antiquity"), up to 476 CE; the Postclassical Era (or "Middle Ages"), from the 5th through 15th centuries, including the Islamic Golden Age (c. 750 CE – c. 1258 CE) and the early Italian Renaissance (beginning around 1300 CE); the Early Modern period, from the 15th century to the late 18th, including the Age of Enlightenment; and the Late Modern period, from the Industrial Revolution to the present, including Contemporary History. In the history of Western Europe, the Fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE is commonly taken as signaling the end of Antiquity and the start of the Middle Ages. By contrast, Eastern Europe saw a transition from the Roman Empire to the Byzantine Empire, which did not decline until much later.
In the mid-15th century, the invention of modern printing, employing movable type, revolutionized communication, helping end the Middle Ages and ushering in the Scientific Revolution. By the 18th century, the accumulation of knowledge and technology, especially in Europe, had reached a critical mass that brought about the Industrial Revolution. Outside the Old World, including ancient China and ancient India, historical timelines unfolded differently. However, by the 18th century, due to extensive world trade and colonization, the histories of most civilizations had become substantially intertwined. In the last quarter-millennium, the rates of growth of population, knowledge, technology, commerce, weapons destructiveness, and environmental degradation have greatly accelerated, creating opportunities and perils that now confront the planet's human communities.
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This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Timelines of world history" and "History of the World", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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