World history in timelines: The basics of human history every person should know

By: Joël van der Reijden | Date: August 14, 2014 | Last update: Aug. 16, 2024

Ancient_civilizations_timeline

Contents

1.	The origins of creation and evolution
	Big bang, solar system, the sun, the earth, plants, dinosaurs, mammals, primates, hominids.
2.	Dinosaurs
	Jurasssic, Cretaceous, Plesiosaurs, Sauropods, Kronosaurus, Utahraptors, Tyrannosaurus.
3.	Prehistory timeline
	Homo Sapiens, Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, hunter-gatherers, the first farmers, dolmen.
4.	The first major civilizations B.C.
	Sumer, Babylon, Indus, Egypt, Phoenicia, Jews, Persians, Minoans, Greeks, Rome, China.
5.	Ancient Egypt
	3,000 years of Pharaoh rulers.
6.	Latin America
	Olmec, Maya, Veracruz, Toltec, Aztec, Nazca, Inca, Chavin, Caral civilizations.
7.	The Jews
	Epic of Atrahasis, King David, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Jesus, Roman & Nazi holocausts.
8.	World history A.D.
	Holy Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Franks, Russian Empire, Mongols, China, Japan.
9.	Important asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis within human timespan
	Toba, Rio Cuarto impact, Burckle crater, Minoan eruption, Mahuika crater, 535 haze, 1816.
10.	History of high technology
	Steam machine, AC/DC, car, airplanes, electrical appliances, CPUs, 3D cards, VR glasses.

Note beforehand

One would think these timelines were largely copy-pasted from some place on the internet. That has not been the case - and that should be considered strange. It took a few weeks to put these timelines together. In many instances it was necessary to study complex events for quite some time, filter out the key dates and events, and summarize them accurately here in no more than a few lines - which is all most people would need.

My personal opinion is that these timelines should be repeatedly studied by elementary and high school students, so that everyone has a basic global timeline of human history and all its major civilizations in their head. From here it's possible to study any civilization more in-depth. It's not particularly practical to have to learn everything about a certain time period - most of which you forget anyway - without having a good idea of what came before or after, or what was going on in other parts of the world in the same period. I remember back in high school being forced to have to learn everything about the Industrial Revolution in Lancashire in West-England and a certain portion of the Crusades. I was never able to properly put these events into context in relation to the overall history of Europe, because there wasn't much focus on overall timelines. I was just sailing blind.

It also would have been nice if teachers would have put all these individual wars in medieval Europe and the few centuries beyond into a Vatican/Catholicism battle versus Protestantism - because so many of these wars revolved around this. Even today, these permanent, supranational structures influencing the affairs of individual nation states are not nearly given enough attention. This aspect is only partially related to these timelines though.

What is extremely relevant though is that the lack of knowledge about global timelines has resulted in "alternative history" authors as Graham Hancock becoming so popular. If anyone would have these global timelines in their heads, they'd instantly be aware that authors as Graham Hancock are total con artists.

The origins of creation and evolution

14 billion B.P.	Big Bang. Our universe comes into existence. It continues to expand until this day, with the expectation that at some future point everything will start to contract again: the "Big Crunch". What is beyond the Big Bang nobody knows.
13 billion B.P.	Formation of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It is roughly 100,000 light-years in diameter and contains between 100 and 400 billion stars. Our sun is one of these stars. There are many other galaxies.
4.6 billion B.P.	Formation of our planetary system, the Solar System with the sun at its center, within the Milky Way galaxy. Over 99 percent of the matter that formed our Solar System was pulled towards the center where it ignited into a self-sustaining process of thermonuclear fusion, forming our sun.
4.54 billion B.P.	Creation of Earth.
4.4 billion B.P.	Formation of our Moon, most likely due to an impact between the earth and an object the size of Mars.
3.8 billion B.P.	First evidence of simple prokaryotic cells, the earliest forms of life.
2.4-2.1 bn B.P.	The Huronian glaciation. The first ice age we know of. It might be linked to the first free oxygen appearing in earth's atmosphere through photosynthetic bacteria.
850-625 mn B.P.	Cryogenian glaciation, the second major ice age.
580 million B.P.	The first multi-celled micro-organisms.
542 million B.P.	The Cambrian explosion. The rate of evolution accelerates by an order of magnitude, beginning to resemble modern evolution.
460-430 mn B.P.	Andean-Saharan glaciation, the third major ice age.
450 million B.P.	Land plants have evolved from marine algae.
400 million B.P.	First insects appear.
360-320 mn B.P.	Karoo Ice Age, too minor to generally be labeled a glaciation.
360 million B.P.	First (reptile-like) amphibians come on land.
300 million B.P.	The first reptiles appear.
250 million B.P.	Beginning of the Triassic era, after the largest historical extinction of species in earth's history. At this point all landmasses form one supercontinent: Pangaea, surrounded by one ocean: Panthalassa. The climate is hot and dry with no ice on the poles, with occasional episodes of large amounts of rainfall.
230 million B.P.	Dinosaurs start to appear.
130 million B.P.	The first flowers appear.
66 million B.P.	Dinosaurs are wiped out due to an asteroid impact of at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide. Dust from the impact blocked out the earth's atmosphere for several years, killing off plant and animal life.
60 million B.P.	The first primates appear.
20 million B.P.	The first hominids (great apes) appear. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and humans still exist from this line of evolution.
5.7 million B.P.	Man-like creature walks the Earth in Crete, still attached to Greece's mainland at this point. It has very human-like feet and, first reported on in 2017, overthrows earlier theories about Ardi.
4.4 million B.P.	Ardipithecus Ramidus, or "Ardi", roams the earth in Africa. In many ways Ardi has more in common with modern humans than with apes. It still has ape-like feet though.
3.9 million B.P.	Human-like apes of the Australopithecus Afarensis ("Lucy") species begin to roam the earth in Africa. It is not necessarily more human-like than "Ardi".
2.5 million B.P.	Beginning of the Quaternary glaciation, or Pleistocene glaciation, the current ongoing glaciation. The last last glacial period lasted from 110,000 to 12,000 years ago. Since 11,700 B.C. we have been in an interglacial period, the Holocene, but we are not completely out of a glacial period.
2.4 million B.P.	Homo, a human-like form of hominids (or apes), starts to appear.
1.5 million B.P.	Homo Erectus, meaning "upright man", and a likely ancestor of Homo Sapiens, appears. Originates in Africa and spreads to Asia.

Note: B.P. stands for "Before Present".

Dinosaurs

360 million B.P.	First (reptile-like) amphibians come on land.
300 million B.P.	The first reptiles appear, along with the giant dragonfly Meganeuropsis (estimated wingspan of up to 70 cm (28 in), the largest insect to have ever existed) and Arthropleura, a giant centipede that reaches up to 2.5 meter (8 ft) in length. In contrast, larger spiders than some of those in existence today have never existed.
230 million B.P.	Dinosaurs start to appear.
205 million B.P.	Plesiosaurs first appear. These are long-necked reptilian sea creatures with a size between 1.5 (5 ft) and 15 meters (50 ft).
200 million B.P.	The first mammals appear. Beginning of the Jurassic period. The climate continues to be warm with no evidence of glaciation at the poles. Pangaea splits into two continents: Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south.
165 million B.P.	Megalosaurus lives in Europe, comparable to the later Allosaurus, a type of small Tyrannosaurus. It a length of about 7 meter with an estimated weight of 1.5 tons. Pseudopulex Jurassicus, a giant parasitic flee that feeds on dinosaurs, appears. It is 10 times larger with much sharper teeth than today's flees.
160 million B.P.	Liopleurodon, a short-necked Plesiosaurs with a crocodile-like jaws, starts swimming in European waters, becoming the sea's apex predator.
155 million B.P.	The first Allosaurus dinosaurs appear. They look like a lot like Megalosaurus. They hunt even the largest Sauropod dinosaurs. This type of species will last to until 93 million years ago.
150 million B.P.	Era of the long-necked Sauropod dinosaurs. The Supersaurus, discovered in the U.S., was up to 35 m (115 ft) long with a weight of 35 to 40 tons. The Brontosaurus, also found in the U.S., was up to 23 m (75 ft) long with a weight of 25 tons. The Brachiosaurus (26 m or 85 ft long) lived worldwide. The smaller Stegosaurus, comparable to elephant, has been found in North America and Portugal.
145 million B.P.	Jurassic period goes over into the Cretaceous period. A warm climate leads to high sea levels and a lot of warm, shallow seas, leading to increased chalk deposits worldwide. This is what separates the geological areas. There is no great cataclysm.
135 million B.P.	The Kronosaurus, a 10 meter (33 ft) version of Liopleurodon begins to swim in waters around Australia.
130 million B.P.	The first flowers appear.
125 million B.P.	Utahraptors, the largest species of Velociraptors, live in the U.S. Estimated maximum length is 7 m (23 ft) and close to half a ton in weight.
110 million B.P.	Deinonychus dinosaurs live in the U.S. It is somewhat similar to a Velociraptor, but has the weight of an average human male.
100 million B.P.	The Spinosaurus lives in North Africa; the Giganotosaurus in Argentina. The Spinosaurus in thought to be the largest meat eating dinosaur in history: up to 18 m (60 ft) in length and a weight of 21 tons. It lived on both land and in water, with a head not unlike a crocodile. The Giganosaurus species was generally about 12 meters (40 ft) long with a 13 ton weight.
90 million B.P.	Achillobators in Mongolia. They look very much like large Velociraptors with a weight up to 350 kg (750 lb).
71 million B.P.	The Velociraptor, much smaller than a human in reality, goes extinct after about 4 million years of life on the planet. Remains have been found in China and Mongolia.
66 million B.P.	Dinosaurs as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Ankylosaurus are wiped out due to an asteroid impact of at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide. Dust from the impact blocked out the earth's atmosphere for several years, killing off plant and animal life. A worldwide Iridium-rich later can be found dating to this period. It marks the end of the Cretaceous.
65 million B.P.	It appears that a few species of dinosaurs survive for another half million years after the impact before going extinct.
60 million B.P.	The first primates appear.

Prehistory timeline

200,000 B.P.	Homo Sapiens, or Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH), appears. It has two subspecies: the extinct Homo Sapiens Idaltu (existed around 160,000 B.P.) and us, Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
180,000 B.P.	The first clear evidence of Homo Neanderthalensis, who differs only 0.3% in DNA with Homo Sapiens Sapiens, appears. They hunt, cook vegetables, have a language and live in social groups. To an extent they also interbreed with us, Homo Sapiens Sapiens. There's some evidence that the Neanderthal species goes back several hundred thousand year further.
143.000 B.P.	Homo Erectus disappears around this time.
75,000 B.P.	Mega-eruption of the Toba volcano on Sumatra with an estimated Dense-Rock Equivalent (DRE) volume of 2,800 km3, the largest in the past 25 million years. It causes an average worldwide global temperature drop of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) for a decade or more and almost wipes out Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) around the world. Only between 1,000 and 10,000 people survive, mainly in Africa and possibly an early small migrating group in India. Volume can be compared to the 24,500 B.C. Oruanui eruption of 530 km3, the 100 km3 1815 Mount Tambora eruption (caused very problematic worldwide temperature drops), the 18 km3 of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, the 1.2 km3 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption, and the 5.5 km3 Mount Pinatubo of 1991.
50,000 B.P.	Modern humans (Cro-Magnon, or, more popular these days, Early Modern Humans (EMH) - first discovered in Europe, but went everywhere) in terms of cognitive skills. Part of Homo Sapiens Sapiens. They begin to leave Africa towards Central Asia in two waves, and from there spread all over the world. One group ends up in the Far East and Australia. Another wave goes to Russia and Europe. They live as hunter-gathering nomads. They eat better than the first agriculturalists and spent about 2,5 days a week looking for food.
47,000 B.C.	Arizona is hit by an asteroid with an impact force of 10 megatons, destroying an area of roughly 30 by 30 miles (48 by 48 km). No modern humans are living in North America at this point.
43,000 B.C.	Early Modern Humans (EMH), or Cro-Magnon, arrives in Europe. Here they express the first works of art in the form of rock paintings of mammoths and bisons. For several thousand years there is a degree of cultural and sexual contact with Homo Neanderthalensis.
38,000 B.C.	Except for maybe a little pocket here and there, Homo Neanderthalensis, which is primarily living in Europe, goes extinct. It seems to have been in decline ever since Early Modern Humans arrived in Europe.
24,500 B.C.	Occurrence of the gigantic Oruanui volcanic eruption in New Zealand of 530 km3. Known to have caused disastrous regional effects, but little evidence at this point that it caused major problems in the northern hemisphere at a global level.
21,000 B.C.	The first evidence of trial plant cultivation in northern Israel.
20,000 B.C.	The coldest part of the Ice Age. Around the equator tropical rainforests continue to exist, but smaller than in the post-Ice Age era. Sea levels are 130 meters (425 feet) lower than today.
15,000 B.C.	A small group of 10-20 Early Modern Humans (EMH) cross the Bering Strait into North America.
14,500 B.C.	The first signs of Early Modern Humans (EMH) in Japan: the hunter-gathering Jomon culture.
13,000 B.C.	Sea level rises 30 meters (100 feet) over the next thousand years. That's 3 cm (over 1 inch) per year.
12,000 B.C.	Early Modern Humans (EMH) has certainly reached South America.
11,700 B.C.	Beginning of the Holocene, an interglacial period within the ongoing 2.6 million years old ice age.
11,000 B.C.	Sea levels start to rise rapidly by 14 meters (46 feet) per 1000 years. That is 1.4 cm / 0.55 inch per year. This continues until the sea is just 10 meters below present in 7000 BC.
10,900 B.C.	Evidence that a comet devastates the whole of North America, including early Indian tribes and many species of large mammals. It is suspected the impact also plays a role in the Younger Dryas, or Big Freeze, a period of 1,300 years following this impact.
10,000 B.C.	Gobekli Tepe, a regional and unusually early megalithic site, is created. Possibly the site goes back even a little further. Mammoths have gone extinct almost everywhere at this point.
8.000 B.C.	Due to increasing temperatures, people in North America and Eurasia begin to switch from hunting reindeers on the tundra to year-round hunting of forest animals. The first farmers appear at the feet of the Zagros mountains in West-Iran, near cities as Susa en Anshan.
7,000 B.C.	Farming communities have established themselves on Crete in Greece, where later on the Minoans thrive.
6,500 B.C.	Farmers appear in South America.
6,200 B.C.	Storegga underwater landslide, the result of retreating ice masses. 30 to 40 meter (100-130 feet) high waves hit Norway and Iceland. Shetland Islands are hit by 20 meter (65 feet) waves. Scotland for the most part with 4-8 (13-26 feet) meter high waves, traveling up to 80 km (50 miles) inland.
5,500 B.C.	First signs of urbanization in Ancient China, Sumer and Egypt.
4,900 B.C.	The Goseck Circle in Germany is build to observe the annual movement of the sun.
4,500 B.C.	At Nabta Playa, Egypt, a stone circle is build that marks the summer solstice and various bright stars, by mainstream scientists suspected to be Alnilam (Orion), Arcturus, Alpha Centauri, and Sirius. Older dates - 6,000 B.C. and further - of Hancock's colleagues Brophy and Bauval are disputed by mainstream analysts of the site.
4,000 B.C.	Many thousands of dolmen are starting to be build in Europe and Asia, including thousands of "hobbit home"-like dolmens in the Caucasus. The vast majority of these have no astronomical significance whatsoever.
3,750 B.C.	The last mammoths die on Saint Paul Island in Alaska, where a very isolated colony has managed to survive.
1,200 A.D. (extra)	Early Modern Humans (EMH) first settle on Easter Island, 3,500 km west of South America, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. People have come here from the Gambier Islands, thousands of kilometers westward. The people of Easter Island soon create the famous Moai statues. Cannibalism and conflict later typify Easter Island due to deforestation and a collapsing eco system. New genetic evidence from 2014 shows that the Rapa Nui, the original Easter Island population, first made contact with American Indians between 1,300 and 1,500 and brought back the potato.

The first major civilizations B.C.

The foundations of the first great societies really began around 3,500 B.C., with the invention of writing, the invention of the wheel, and the formation of small states in Sumer in present-day Iraq and along the Nile in Ancient Egypt.

3,500 B.C.	First writing in Sumer, Iraq. City-states have become quite complex here.
3,400 B.C.	First writing in Ancient Egypt. People have gathered in cities along the Nile.
3,300 B.C.	First writing at Harappa, an emerging city of the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan.
3,150 B.C.	Menes/Narmer merges Upper and Lower Egypt and becomes the first pharaoh.
3,000 B.C.	The groundwork for megalithic structures on Malta and Stonehenge in Great Britain is laid. The wheel is invented.
2,800 B.C.	Suspicions that at this point the Burckle Crater at the bottom of the Indian Ocean is formed due to a 5 km (3.2 miles) wide asteroid, causing a tsunami wave up to 205 meters (670 feet) high on Madagascar that reaches up to 45 km (28 miles) inland. Australia's western coast is also hit hard. Coastal areas around the Indian Ocean are strongly affected, both from the air and the water. The Buckle Crater is 29 km (18 miles) wide and located in 3.8 km (12,500 feet) deep water. A few scientists are trying to prove that this impact caused major problems in Ancient Egypt and Sumer and may have been the source of Babylonian and Biblical flood legends. (Nov. 14, 2006, N.Y. Times, 'Ancient Crash, Epic Wave')
2,800 B.C.	Approximate period that the first walls of the city of Troy, located in western Turkey, are build.
2,700 B.C.	The Minoan civilization is established on the island of Crete in Greece.
2,698 B.C.	Start of the Chinese calendar, based on the legend of the Yellow Emperor who played an important part in uniting China. The first signs of modern Chinese civilization stem from this period.
2,600 B.C.	A mature Indus Valley Civilization is appearing in Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan.
2,600 B.C.	After a few trial and errors, in Egypt's Old Kingdom construction begins on the largest pyramids in history.
2,400 B.C.	Estimated period that the 40 meter (130 feet) high artificial chalk mount Silbury Hill is build in the south of England, located just north of Stonehenge whose foundations have been laid for several hundred years at this point.
2,300 B.C.	Rise of the Akkadian empire in the Near East. It largely absorbs Sumerian culture and conquers territory as far as Israel.
2,050 B.C.	Egypt's Middle Kingdom is established after a period of worldwide droughts.
1,900 B.C.	The Indus Valley Civilization begins to disappear. A 2012 study seems to indicate the population of great cities as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro moved east to India (where the Vedic religion will soon start) when the ceasing of monsoon rains caused important Pakistan-based rivers to dry out.
1,900 B.C.	Old Irish/Gaelic myths place the Nemedians, Fir Bolg and Tuatha De Danann in this period as some of the earliest occupants of Ireland.
1,800 B.C.	The Babylonian empire is part of the Akkadian empire. It spreads from Baghdad to Persian Sea.
1,700 B.C.	The Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis - seemingly an expanded version of the 2,000 B.C. Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, tablet XI - is written down no later than this date. According to the story, An took the heavens, Enlil the earth and Enki the great deep. The ruling Gods are called the Anunnaki. The epic tells the story of the God Enki, who decides to wipe out humanity in a great deluge, but Enki, who created humanity, warns a person in a dream who subsequently builds a highly compartmented ark that he fills with "all the beasts and animals of the field." It seems quite clear that this epic served as an inspiration to the Biblical story of Noah's ark.
1,600 B.C.	Vedic religion arises in the Indus Valley, a precursor to Hinduism, but centered around sacrificial rites to please the gods.
1,600 B.C.	Estimated time of the gigantic Minoan volcanic eruption with a Dense-Rock Equivalent (DRE) volume of 60-100 km3. Several tsunami waves of an estimated height of 20 meters (65 feet) hit the coast of Crete and surrounding islands.
1,570 B.C.	Rise of the Egyptian Empire, the New Kingdom, with conquests in Canaan, Syria, and beyond its southern border, in Nubia.
1,550 B.C.	The Phoenicians, an enterprising maritime trading culture, begin to spread along the Mediterranean, where they exist for over a 1,000 years.
1,500 B.C.	The Olmec and Maya cultures arise in Central America.
1,400 B.C.	The Minoans are conquered by the Mycenaean, a military society of Ancient Greece.
1,200 B.C.	First writing in China appears.
1,184 B.C.	Troy is destroyed around this time. Archeological evidence reveals this to have happened by fire, and quite possibly by war. The archeological evidence corresponds rather well with the date given by the Greek Eratosthenes for the destruction of Troy at the end of the legendary Trojan War with Mycenae (from which Sparta emerged): 1,194–1,184 B.C.
1,000 B.C.	King David of the Jews conquers Jerusalem from the Jebusites. It becomes the Jewish capital. For hundreds of years before this time, the Jews lived in a number of tribes in present-day Israel. At this point there's no evidence that the Jews were ever held hostage by the Egyptians and subsequently saved by Moses.
957 B.C.	King Solomon of the Jews, the son of King David, reportedly constructs the Temple of Jerusalem. Even today all kinds of well-known myths are associated with King Solomon and the temple: the Jinn, Knights Templar, and the Ark of the Covenant.
800-500 B.C.	Archaic Greece, the first part of the Hellenic period. Rise of city-states, colonialist wars, and the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre, and poetry.
753 B.C.	Rome is founded.
656- 610 B.C.	Despite having been partly conquered by the Assyrians, throughout Pharaoh Psamtik I's reign Egypt manages to keep largely independent of Assyrian influence. Egypt grows particularly close to Hellenic Greece in this period.
650 B.C.	Rise of Sparta in Ancient Greece as the dominant military power in the region. This will last until 371 B.C.
650 B.C.	Carthage, located in Tunesia, opposite Italy, gains independence from Phoenician state of Tyre and becomes a major player in the Phoenician empire.
625 B.C.	Rise of the Persian empire in Iran. Zoroastrianism, under the god Ahura Mazda, was its earliest religion, before the much later rise of the Islam. It will soon begin to conquer other empires, including the Egyptians.
605 B.C.	King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroys the combined Assyrian and Egyptian armies. Assyria is annexed and Egypt, which is controlled by Assyria, becomes independent again, despite being severely weakened. Egypt's close association with Hellenic Greece continues.
593 B.C.	Solon (±640-558 B.C.) becomes the political leader of Athens. He limits the power of the oligarchy and introduces the earliest form of democracy.
587 B.C.	The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II conquers and destroys Jerusalem, including Solomon's Temple. Wealthy Jewish families are forced to move to Babylon, where an important center of the Jewish community will reside for the next 1,000 years. It is here where the Jews write the Babylonian Talmud. Other Jews end up in Egypt, where until today a community of Jews exists.
563 B.C.	Estimated birth of Siddharta Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, at the foot of the Himalaya. He comes to advocate a more moderate form of Jainism: no extreme rituals and women can just as easily reach enlightenment as men. The Upanishads, Jainism and Buddhism are all part of the same personal enlightenment movement.
530 B.C.	Cyrus the Great, founder of the Zoroastrian Achaemenid Empire (the First Persian Empire) dies in battle. At this point he has conquered the Babylonians, Sumer, Akkad, Turkey, and the Stan-states.
525 B.C.	Cyrus the Great's son conquers Egypt. At this point the Achaemenid Empire (First Persian Empire) controls almost the entire Middle East.
516 B.C.	The Jews rebuild Solomon's temple in Jerusalem with permission of the Persians, who have conquered Babylon.
510 B.C.	The Classical Greek period (Hellenistic period) begins. It is in this period that now famous Greek philosopher-scientists lived: philosopher-mathematician Pythagoras (d. +- 495 B.C.), the historian Herodotus (d. 425 B.C.), philosopher Socrates (d. 399), his student, Plato (d. 347 B.C.); and philosopher-scientist Aristotle (d. 322 B.C.), who in turn was a student of Plato. This Classical Period will end in 323 B.C, with the death of Alexander the Great, a student of Aristotle. Famous mathematician and scientist Archimedes, the inventor of pi, lived just after time, 287 to 212 B.C.
500 B.C.	Approximate birth of modern day Hinduism. At this point the major gods and goddesses of Hinduism develop their "personalities" through a vast corpus of myths. Innumerable new gods and goddesses emerge, as do a multitude of ritual -- many based on the earlier Vedas -- and forms of veneration. Devotional traditions also emerge, in which the strictly ordered world of sacrifice of the Vedic tradition is supplanted by loving devotion to individual gods and goddesses. Hinduism is more focused on worship than personal ascension as is the case with Jainism and Buddhism.
332 B.C.	Jerusalem and its temple are spared by Alexander the Great as they surrender without a fight. For two centuries Jerusalem is influenced by Hellenistic culture.
323 B.C.	Death of Alexander the Great of Macedon, a Greek kingdom. In recent years he has conquered Thrace, immediately to the north-east of Greece; Phoenicia, Egypt, the Near East and Persia. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle in his youth.
300 B.C.	Now lost Greek texts mention the existence of druids as the wise men among the Celts. They are comparable to the magi of Zoroastrian Persia and the chaldaei of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
218 B.C.	Rome starts to expand its territorial conquests beyond Italy.
201 B.C.	End of the Punic Wars between Rome and the Phoenician city state of Carthage with the defeat of Hannibal the Great's armies.
146 B.C.	The Roman Empire annexes Greece and takes over much of its culture.
63 B.C.	After a brief period of independence from the Greece, Jerusalem is conquered by Rome.
44 B.C.	Assassination of Julius Caesar. He has achieved major conquests for the Roman Empire in his lifetime. He had an affair with Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra.
27 B.C.	Roman emperor Augustus decides to build a giant temple complex at Baalbek, present-day Lebanon. It’s famous for having transported three 800 ton stones. Another stone of 1,170 ton was almost ready at the nearby quarry.
0	It appears that Jesus has gathered quite a following in Jerusalem as a preacher and miracle healer. Seen as a threat by the dominant Jewish religious establishment, he is arrested and handed over to the Romans, who also want to get rid of him. He is crucified.

Ancient Egypt

40,000 B.C.	First signs of tool-making in Ancient Egypt, but no human remains found (yet) dating back to this period.
20,000 B.C.	Clear archaeological evidence of Early Modern Humans (EMH) inhabiting in Egypt.
4,500 B.C.	At Nabta Playa, Egypt, a stone circle is build that marks the summer solstice and various bright stars, by mainstream scientists suspected to be Alnilam (Orion), Arcturus, Alpha Centauri, and Sirius. Older dates - 6,000 B.C. and further - of Hancock's colleagues Brophy and Bauval are disputed by mainstream analysts of the site.
4,000 B.C.	A firm Nile civilization is in place.
3,500 B.C.	First writings in Sumer.
3,500 B.C.	The definite end of the Neolithic Subpluvial, a period of Savannah-like climatic circumstances in Egypt. The major decline in rainfall pushes Egyptians almost exclusively towards the Nile.
3,150 B.C.	Around this time Menes/Narmer, the ruler of Lower Egypt, conquers Upper Egypt and unites the two halves into one country. The Narmer Palette depicts how he decapitated and castrated his enemies in the north after the victory. Menes becomes the first pharaoh. He rules from Abydos and unites the symbols of Lower Egypt, a cobra (the Uraeus), and Upper Egypt, a vulture. They become known as the two ladies and will adorn the crowns of the pharaohs in later dynasties.
2,700 B.C.	The Old Kingdom begins, lasting until 2,200 B.C. This encompasses the 3rd to 6th dynasty.
2,611 B.C.	The oldest pyramid is finished, the Pyramid of Djoser, after about 20 years of construction. It is stepped and 62 meters (203 feet) high.
2,600 B.C.	The Pyramid of Meidum seems to have collapsed around this time due to an angle that is too steep. Construction is stopped at 65 meters (213 feet) high. It appears that it was originally built for Pharaoh Huni, but Pharaoh Sneferu took over construction. Sneferu invades neighboring regions to capture land, resources, cattle and thousands of slaves.
2,600 B.C.	The Bent Pyramid is finished around this time. The original angle appears to have been too steep, which was abruptly changed to a less steep one, possibly after the collapse of the Pyramid of Meidum. It 101 meters (331 feet) high.
2,589 B.C.	The reign of Pharaoh Sneferu ends. He has also built the Red Pyramid, thought to be the first successful smooth-sided pyramid. It is 105 meters (344 feet) high and constructed from solid granite. There's some evidence that it was built over a relatively small, water-weathered structure.
2,560 B.C.	The Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Khufu/Cheops, is finished after about 20 years of construction. It is 146.5 meters (481 feet) high. Today it is 8 meters (26 feet) lower.
2,530 B.C.	The Pyramid of Khafre is finished, located next to the Great Pyramid. It is 136 meters (446 feet) high. The evidence seems to point out that the construction of the Great Sphinx began soon after the completion of the Pyramid of Khafre.
2,500 B.C.	The Pyramid of Menkaure is finished around this time. At 66 meters (216 ft), it is the smallest of the three main pyramids at Giza.
2,465 B.C.	Finishing up of the Pyramid of Neferirkare. It is 72 meters (236 feet), stepped, and constructed from relatively small stones.
2,200 B.C.	A massive worldwide drought. Reportedly rain decreased even more to what it is today, forcing Egyptians to be completely dependent on the Nile. This period coincides with the end of the Old Kingdom.
2,134 B.C.	Beginning of the Middle Kingdom after stability is regained. It becomes a powerful empire with a lot of resources, but the pharaohs have less absolute power with the rise of an influential priesthood, a noble class, and now, with a history of drought and civil unrest, it appears the "God-king" can't recruit large portions of society anymore to build great tombs for himself, at least not of the size of the early pyramids.
1650 B.C.	End of the Middle Kingdom, seemingly again in the midst of a dry period and crop failures.
1,570 B.C.	Beginning of Egypt's New Kingdom. It's also called the period of the Egyptian Empire, because Egypt conquered Canaan, Phoenicia and armies in Syria all the way to the Euphrates River. It also conquered big parts of Nubia towards the south. Pharaohs from this period carry names as Amenhotep, Thutmose and Tutankhamen.
1,155 B.C.	Estimated death of Pharaoh Ramesses III, ending the New Kingdom. Egypt had defeated the Sea People in two major battles, but was economically weakened. Also, with Ramesses III's death, a power struggle ensued. On top of that, once again there's evidence of a period of drought, below-normal flooding levels of the Nile, famine, all leading to civil unrest.
1070-664 B.C.	Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. For the most part a period of decline and political instability, although not much changed in the lives of the ordinary Egyptian.
664 B.C.	Egyptian Late Period. Lower Egypt is conquered by the Assyrians.
656-610 B.C.	Throughout his reign Pharaoh Psamtik I manages to keep Egypt largely independent of Assyrian influence. Egypt grows particularly close to Hellenic Greece.
609 B.C.	Egypt comes to the aid of the Assyrians after consecutive losses against Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar II.
605 B.C.	Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II destroys the Assyrian and Egyptian armies. Assyria ceases to exist as an independent power, with the Egyptians withdrawing to their own territory. It further weakens Egyptian power.
525-402 B.C.	The Zoroastrian Achaemenid Empire, the First Persian Empire, conquers and controls Egypt, after having taken control of the entire Middle East.
402-343 B.C.	Brief independence for Egyptians.
343-332 B.C.	Again the Zoroastrian Persian Empire conquers and controls Egypt.
332 B.C.	Alexander the Great of Macedon (Hellenistic Greece) conquers Egypt from the Persians. He is largely hailed as a liberator. After Alexander's death, one of his closest companions, Ptolemy, becomes the pharaoh of Egypt. His descendants continue to rule Egypt until both are conquered by Rome. Hellenistic culture thrives in Egypt, even after the Muslim conquest.
51 B.C.	Cleopatra, a member of the Ptolemy dynasty, becomes Egypt's last pharaoh. In contrast to previous family members, she speaks Egyptian and presents herself as a reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis. She allies herself with Rome out of necessity to protect Egypt from its other enemies.
48 B.C.	Cleopatra begins her affair with Caesar and bears him a child.
44 B.C.	Caesar is assassinated and Cleopatra allies herself with Caesar's friend, Mark Anthony, in the Civil War against the assassins of Caesars. She also has children with Mark Anthony.
30 B.C.	Mark Anthony and Cleopatra have fallen out of favor in Rome. Both commit suicide after it is certain that Rome will conquer Egypt. Soon after Egypt is officially annexed by Rome.
621 A.D.	The Zoroastrian Iranian Sasanian Empire conquers Egypt from the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).
641 A.D.	Now the Muslims, contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammed, conquer Egypt from the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).

Latin America: Olmec, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, Nazca, Inca

15,000 B.C.	A small group of 10-20 Early Modern Humans (EMH) cross the Bering Strait into North America.
12,000 B.C.	Early Modern Humans (EMH) have certainly reached South America.
10,900 B.C.	Evidence that a comet devastates the whole of North America, including early Indian tribes and many species of large mammals. It is suspected the impact also plays a role in the Younger Dryas, or Big Freeze, a period of 1,300 years. However, research at Hall's Cave in Texas suggests this "Snowball Earth" period was triggered by volcanic activity, considering elements typically found in asteroids - iridium, ruthenium, platinum, palladium and rhenium - were not present in the usual proportions in the soil initiating this cold period. A subsequent cooling of the oceans and increased show cover is thought to have sustained this period for 1,300 years.
6,500 B.C.	Farmers appear in South America.
4,000 B.C.	Oldest estimate of Bruce Masse et al. of the Rio Cuarto impact craters in Argentina with an estimated combined impact force of 1,000 tons, or 50,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Two of the craters are 3.5 km long and 700 meters wide (2.2 miles long and almost half a mile wide). The impacts scorch an area of roughly 100 by 500 km. (60 by 300 miles) and are likely to have killed primitive Indians. The impact happened at the latest around 2,000 B.C.
2,700 B.C.	The Caral civilization begins to flourish on the coast of Peru. It builds roughly two dozen very wide but low pyramids. There's no indication that Caral, which inhabited about 3,000 people, was a violent community. The civilization will last to about 2,000 B.C. with evidence that some of its achievements lasted until the days of the Incas, who arose 3,500 years later.
2,500 B.C.	Campo del Cielo meteorite impact in Argentina of an estimated 2-3 megatons. At least 26 craters are formed, the largest with a diameter of 115 meters (375 feet). The meteorite pieces left behind will serve as an important source of metal for local indians in millennia to come.
2,500 B.C.	A civilization of 10,000 to 100,000 people begins to flourish in the Upano area in central-east Ecuador, next to a volcano that provides arable land. An extensive road network connects settlements, with channels being constructed that can be filled with water to close off certain settlements. The civilization disappears around 1,000 B.C. for reasons unknown.
1,800 B.C.	Slow rise of the Maya culture in Central America. Already signs of an upcoming civilization around 2,600 B.C., as was the case with Chavin culture along the coast of Peru.
1,500 B.C.	Rise of the Olmec culture in Central America. They become cultured earlier than the Mayans and follow a 365 day year. Evidence of human/infant sacrifice in different places. There exists some confusion over the Olmec heads, as most seem to depict Negroes and Asians. However, even today there are still Indians with very thick lips or almond-shaped eyes. These traits are inherited from the Inuit in Alaska. DNA evidence doesn't reveal any African connections.
1,200 B.C.	Building starts at Chavín de Huantar, a ceremonial center of the Chavin people in western Peru at an elevation of 3,000 meter (10,000 ft).
900 B.C.	The influence of the Olmec city San Lorenzo declines after 300 years of prosperity. La Venta takes over as the dominant Olmec city.
500 B.C.	Founding of the city of Monte Alban in Mexico. The early Danzantes stone, at least in part depicting tortured sacrificial victims, have very distinct Olmec traits. However, the city is primarily associated with Zapotec civilization, which existed here until about 750 AD.
400 B.C.	Collapse of the Olmec city of La Venta. Chavin culture in western Peru is also collapsing.
300 B.C.	Rise of the Epi-Olmec culture, a mix of the Olmec and Veracruz cultures. It has more sophisticated calendrics and writing system, but there's a decline in the artisanship, refinement, and detail of sculptures.
200 B.C.	Teotihuacan, a civilization with unknown origins, starts to rise in Mexico. The largest pyramid, the Pyramid of the Sun, is completed only in 200 AD. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcoatl) is build around the same time. It is unknown who these people were exactly. The temple names come from the later Aztecs.
100 B.C.	Nazca culture begins to flourish in Peru. They create the Nazca lines in 400-650 A.D. They are feverish headhunters.
200	Epi-Olmec culture disappears.
250	The Mayans in Central America began to urbanize and over time build many of the now remaining temple-pyramids: Lamanai, Coba, Caracol, Calakmul, Palenque, Uxmal, Tikal and Chichen Itza.
300	Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) culture rises as a center of power in Bolivia, around Lake Titicaca. It precedes the Incas. Puma Punku will be build around 550 and disappear suddenly in 1000 A.D.
800	Rise of Toltec culture in Central America. It is considered a predecessor of the Aztecs.
900	Mayan culture collapses after 7 centuries at its height, seemingly due to extreme drought. Only a few cities keep things together. Chichen Itza (with the Temple of Kulkulkan and its 365 stair steps) flourishes late, from 600 to 1220 AD. Then power shifts to the Mayan city Mayapan until a revolt breaks out in 1450. The Spanish have to subdue almost every single independent city/polity. The Mayans know about the spring equinox.
987	Vikings discover North America via Greenland. Small Viking settlements exist until the mid-1450s. Natives prevent any major expansion of the Vikings.
1200	Rise and quick demise of the Aztecs in Central America. It's a violent, conquering nation which forces its conquered territories to pay tribute. The practice of human sacrifice is widespread. The same is true for cannibalism, with public fattening/butchering houses for humans available in many towns. Quetzalcoatl Ololiuqui (LSA; Morning Glory seeds) and psychedelic mushrooms are used by Montezuma's circle. There exists enough space and jungle between the Aztecs and Incas to avoid warfare until the Spanish come along.
1438	Incas arise as a conqueror nation in South America in Peru, Ecuador and Chile. In 1450 they allegedly build Machu Picchu. They also build the stone walls of Sacsayhuaman, with up to 200 ton rocks (some, if not all of these larger one were already in place, metal was used, and thousands of people were pulling the ropes to transport the stones). The emperor is God. A huge amount of human sacrifice is practiced. Soon they're wiped out by the Spanish.
1492	Columbus arrives in America. During his later reign as governor responsible for up to 3 million deaths.
1519	Cortes arrives in Central America. 30 million indigenous people live in Mexico at this point.
1570	Only 1 million indigenous people are left in Mexico. Many have died from warfare with the Spanish, but even more have died from smallpox and other diseases. Mortality rates of smallpox among indians was up to 80-90 percent.

The Jews

1,800 B.C.	The Babylonian empire is part of the Akkadian empire. It spreads from Baghdad to the Persian Sea.
1,700 B.C.	The Babylonian Epic of Atrahasis is written down no later than this date. According to the story, An took the heavens, Enlil the earth and Enki the great deep. The ruling Gods are called the Anunnaki. The epic tells the story of the God Enki, who decides to wipe out humanity in a great deluge, but Enki, who created humanity, warns a person in a dream who subsequently builds an ark. Clearly this is where the Biblical story of the ark of Noah is based on.
1,000 B.C.	King David of the Jews conquers Jerusalem from the Jebusites. It becomes the Jewish capital. For hundreds of years before this time, the Jews lived in a number of tribes in present-day Israel. At this point there's no evidence that the Jews were ever held hostage by the Egyptians and subsequently saved by Moses.
957 B.C.	King Solomon of the Jews, the son of King David, reportedly constructs the Temple of Jerusalem. Even today all kinds of well-known myths are associated with King Solomon and the temple: the Jinn, Knights Templar, and the Ark of the Covenant.
587 B.C.	The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II conquers and destroys Jerusalem, including Solomon's Temple. Wealthy Jewish families are forced to move to Babylon, where an important center of the Jewish community will reside for the next 1,000 years. It is here where the Jews write the Babylonian Talmud. Other Jews end up in Egypt, where until today a community of Jews exists.
525 B.C.	Cyrus the Great's son conquers Egypt. At this point the Achaemenid Empire (First Persian Empire) controls almost the entire Middle East, including Babylon and Jerusalem.
516 B.C.	The Jews rebuild Solomon's temple in Jerusalem with permission of the Persians.
332 B.C.	Jerusalem and its temple are spared by Alexander the Great as they surrender without a fight. For two centuries Jerusalem is influenced by Hellenistic culture.
63 B.C.	After a brief period of independence from the Greece, Jerusalem is conquered by Rome.
0	It appears that Jesus has gathered quite a following in Jerusalem as a preacher and miracle healer. Seen as a threat by the dominant Jewish religious establishment, he is arrested and handed over to the Romans, who also want to get rid of him. He is crucified. After Jesus' alleged execution (time of death only calculated in a later century and most likely wrong), a Jewish cult, headed by the 12 apostles, spreads out from Jerusalem, telling the story of Jesus. They preach about heaven for followers, hell for disbelievers and sinners, and prophesize an upcoming apocalypse. Local Christian leaders are named Bishops. Non-Jews are accepted into the ranks of the religion and eventually take it over. Headquarters moves to Rome, where Christians are often persecuted by the polytheist Romans.
70	After a revolt, Romans recapture and largely destroy Jerusalem, including Solomon's Temple.
136	After another revolt of the Jews, the Romans destroy Jerusalem, kill half a million people, and remove every Jew from Judea. Whoever is captured is either killed or sold as slaves. The Jews won't have a homeland until 1948.
1120	Creation of the Knights Templar. They do their best to protect pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem and act as storm troopers on the battlefield against Muslim armies. Myths exist that the Templars recovered the Ark of the Covenant while digging in the ruins of Solomon's Temple.
1940-1945	Jewish holocaust by Nazi Germany. Roughly 6 million Jews in Europe are systematically murdered.
1948	Israel is created, giving the Jews a homeland after 2,000 years of living amongst other cultures. Immediately the Arab-Israel War breaks out.

World history A.D.

0 and on	After Jesus' alleged execution (death only calculated in a much later century and most likely wrong), a Jewish cult, headed by the 12 apostles, spreads out from Jerusalem, telling the story of Jesus. They preach about heaven for followers, hell for disbelievers and sinners, and prophesize an upcoming apocalypse. Local Christian leaders are named Bishops. Non-Jews are accepted into the ranks of the religion and eventually take over the religion. Headquarters moves to Rome, where Christians are often persecuted by the polytheist Romans.
64	Nero blames a large fire in Rome on the Christians.
70	After a revolt, Romans recapture and largely destroy Jerusalem, including Solomon's Temple.
117	Greatest expansion of the Roman empire.
136	After another revolt of the Jews, the Romans destroy Jerusalem, kill half a million people, and remove every Jew from Judea. Whoever is captured is either killed or sold as slaves. The Jews won't have a homeland until 1948.
285	The Roman Empire is split in a western and eastern half. The eastern half becomes known as the Byzantine Empire and will last until 1453.
313	Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, ends the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
325	Constantine calls together the First Council of Nicea, in which the Christian religion is officially put on paper and Christianity (Catholicism) becomes the official religion of the Western Roman Empire.
326	Rome starts moving the 320 ton (weight without the base) Lateran Obelisk in the Egyptian City of Karnak to Alexandria. Later on the Obelisk is moved to Rome. A 1,000 ton obelisk is being prepared in the Aswan granite quarries of Egypt, but is never finished.
365	A 30 meter (100 feet) high tsunami strikes Alexandria, Egypt, and surrounding areas in the Mediterranean, killing many thousands.
450-500	Estimated rule of King Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. His prophet was Merlin, later described as a magician.
476	Collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages. The empire is destroyed by incursions of the Huns, an Asiatic tribe headed by Atilla the Hun, and several Germanic tribes, such as the Visigoths. Internally the Roman Empire has been destroyed by corruption, economic mismanagement, and a lack of natural resources.
482	The Merovingian king Clovis I unites the Franks, a diverse group of Germanic tribes, creating the ever expanding Frankish Kingdom.
500-800	The overkingdom of Dal Riata exists on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland.
525	The monk Dionysius Exiguus comes up with the Anno Domini era, based on his estimate of the death of Jesus. It will take many centuries for the new Gregorian Calendar to replace the Julian calendar of the Romans.
535-536	A thick dust cloud hangs over the globe, causing crop failures and famine worldwide. The sun is only visible for about four hours a day and even then the light is so diffuse and weak that it hardly casts any shadows. Weather anomalies are everywhere, resulting in numerous deaths. Climatic after affects will last anywhere from 539 to 550, depending on the region. Evidence (but not yet complete proof) that the cause is a 600 meter (2,000 ft) asteroid impacting the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia. Possibly there is more than one impact or the impact is followed in 541-542 by one or more major volcanic explosions. There is similar evidence that the Ilopango volcano in El Salvador erupts with a DRE value of at least 84 km3 around this time. It's actually considered a little bit more powerful than the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption, which caused a global temperature drop. An area of roughly 80 by 125 km (50 by 78 miles) is blanketed in ash and pumice 1 meter (3 feet) or more deep. People related to the Mayans are living in El Salvador at this point.
541-542	The Plague of Justinian becomes the first documented wave of the Black Plague in Europe. It originated in China. It continues to return on occasion until the 700s, in the process killing roughly half of Europe's population.
555	Justinian, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, controls almost the entire Mediterranean after years of warfare. Procopius of Caesarea, councilor to Justinian and an officially recognized historian, in a work published after his death described Justinian as a "veritable demon", a "vampire", an "evil spirit" and the "King of the Devils". He doesn't seem to be much different from hundreds of other rulers.
610	It is this year that Mohammed, born in Mecca, says he was visited by God's angel Gabriel (in what has become the Ramadan period). As a result he begins to write what would become the Koran. Muslims see Mohammed as the last prophet of God, while Christians and Jews see him as a false prophet. Supposedly Mohammed was able to temporarily split the Moon and was able to provide drinking water for 1,500 followers by letting water stream from his hands. According to Mohammed, infidels and sinners go to hell, including Jews and Christians, while followers will go to heaven. Infidels can be murdered without consequence. Women have less rights than men. Men are allowed to have a maximum of four women, with slaves not counting. Women are only allowed to have one (Muslim) husband. In case of adultery, they can be beaten. The witness testimony of one man equals that of two women.
622	The great Islamic Conquest begins, starting in Saudi Arabia.
628	A plague kills half of the population in the Western Persian Empire.
654	Muslim invasion of the Greek Island Cyprus. The island is only recaptured in 965 by the Byzantine Empire.
711	Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). It takes roughly 8 years for the Muslims to conquer almost all of the Iberian Peninsula up to the Pyrenees Mountains. Muslim rule didn't begin to crumble until 1031 and wasn't entirely forced out until 1492.
793	The Viking Age begins in England with the destruction of the abbey on Lindisfarne in North-East England. It will be the first of many Viking raids on English coast. Other European shorelines, all the way to the Mediterranean, begin to experience these raids as well.
800	The Frankish Kingdom encompasses France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the northern tip of Spain and the northern half of Italy. The Western Roman Empire is recreated at this point when the Frankish Carolingian king Charlemagne is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the pope. It now exists next to the Byzantine Empire in the East.
820	Muslim invasion of the Greek Island Crete. The island is fully conquered in 840 and recaptured by the Byzantine Empire in 965.
827	Muslim invasion of Italy's main island Sicily. Soon Palermo is captured, followed in later decades by much of the rest of the island. Conquests continue until 902. The Muslims are eventually forced out of Italy in 1091.
843	Treaty of Verdun after three years of warfare in the Frankish kingdom. An Eastern, Central, and Western Frankish Kingdom is created.
865	The Great Viking Army invades England, a Roman Catholic land consisting of four kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex and the smaller East Anglia. Viking raids are ongoing throughout Europe. By 878-879 many Vikings forget about trying to conquer Wessex and join the Viking conquest of Normandy, France.
870	The Central Frankish Kingdom ceases to exist. Only the Eastern (German) and Western (French, Belgian and Dutch) kingdoms remain.
962-1806	A more permanent Holy Roman Empire is recreated (in effect as a continuation of the old Western Roman Empire) with the coronation of Eastern Frankish/German king Otto I as the new holy roman emperor.
987	Vikings discover North America via Greenland. Small Viking settlements exist until the mid-1450s. Natives prevent any major expansions of the Vikings.
1066	Beginning of the Norman conquest of England from Norman-controlled Normandy. Despite the fact that these Vikings control Normandy, they have converted to Catholicism. The Normans will gradually intermarry with locals in England and Normandy over the nest several centuries. Their Nordic language will disappear in these places, but their genes and effects on society have been permanent.
1096-1291	Period of the Christian crusades, set up after increased Muslim interference in the free unhindered travel of Christian pilgrims towards Jerusalem. Godfrey de Bouillon was one of the leaders of the first crusade. Richard Lionheart was a key player in the third crusade.
1120	Creation of the Knights Templar. They do their best to protect pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem and act as storm troopers on the battlefield against Muslim armies.
1202	Leonardo Fibonacci introduces his Fibonacci sequence, indicating that there's a mathematical order to various things in nature. He uses an unrealistic example of breeding rabbits, but in the modern era we are finding examples of the Fibonacci sequence in trees, pineapples and at the DNA and atom level.
1241	The Mongols, who are also in the process of invading China, are at the border with Germany, having crushed the Polish army of well-armed knights at Wroclaw, western Poland. The main force of the Mongols is working to conquer various Hungarian castles, but have control of the countryside. In December Ogedei Khan dies, ceasing Mongol military operations, as the leaders all rush back to Mongolia to appoint a successor.
1250	Rise of European cities, with their distinct cultural differences with the countryside.
1254	Marco Polo is born. He becomes the first Westerner to give detailed accounts of his travels to Mongolia and China.
1273-1291	Rudolf I of Habsburg is the holy roman emperor.
1280	The Mongol empire is at its largest, stretching from the Sea of Japan to eastern Europe.
1299	Birth of the Ottoman Empire.
1303	An 8 meter (26 feet) tsunami hits Crete, Rhodes, Alexandria and Acre in Israel.
1337-1453	The 100 Years War between France and England, with many interruptions.
1340	The first documented cannons and rifles are used in Europe by the English. Gunpowder secrets appear to have traveled with the Mongols to the West.
1347-1351	The Black Plague kills about 50 percent of the European population, 75-80 percent in countries as Spain and Italy and about 20 percent in countries further north. The disease originated in China where it kills about 1/3 of the population. The disease will occasionally return locally for centuries.
1429	Under the guidance of Joan of Arc, the supposed recipient of Angelic visions, the French manage to reconquer much of their territory from the English. She is burned at the stake at age 19 by the British.
1438-1802	Almost continuous domination of the Habsburg family of the Holy Roman Empire.
1443	Evidence that an asteroid hit just off the coast of New Zealand, creating the Mahuika Crater of 2 km wide (just over a mile) and over 153 meters (500 feet) deep. Additional evidence shows that the resulting tsunami wave was 220 meters high at nearby Stewart Island and still 130 meters (425 feet) high when it reached Australia's east coast. Native Aboriginal settlements are abandoned in this period.
1450	Johannes Gutenberg invents the first book printing press in the world. Before this time books were written by hand. Now it becomes possible to print 1,000 copies of a page in one or two days before moving to the next page. It's one of the most significant revolutions in history.
1453	Final collapse of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans.
1456	Vlad III Dracula, or Vlad Tepes, regains control of Wallachia and Transylvania. From here he fights the Ottoman influence for the next two decades. Notorious for his practice of widespread impalement and for being the inspiration for the modern day vampire, Count Dracula. His father had gotten the name Dracula by becoming a member of the Order of the Dragon which swore to protect Christianity from the Ottoman Empire.
1462	Ivan III of Russia comes to power. Over the next half century he pushes out the Mongols and conquers what is now western Russia. This is the basis of the later Russian empire and even the Soviet Union.
1492	Columbus discovers America. He will treat the locals miserably. This same year the last Muslim remnants are pushed out of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), Columbus' homeland.
1517	Martin Luther nails his 95 thesis to the door of a castle church in Wittenburg, playing a key role in setting off the Protestant Reformation.
1519	Cortes begins his highly successful war of conquest against the Aztecs and other Latin American cultures.
1543	Nicolaus Copernicus dies, immediately after his work On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres is finished and published. The book brings awareness to the fact that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun - not the other way around.
1568-1648	80 Years War between the Calvinist/Protestant Netherlands and the Catholic Spanish Habsburgs.
1600	The English East India Company is established. As time went on the EEIC received full government powers. Traders became wealthy, leading to a new upper class in England.
1602	The Dutch East India Company is established. It is a monopolist corporation with the power to wage war independently of the the Dutch crown. For seven decades it is more powerful than English, Portuguese and Spanish rivals in the Far East trade. After that, England becomes the dominant player.
1606	Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon is the first westerner to discover Australia. Of course, the Aboriginals are already living here.
1607	Erection of the first successful, permanent colony in the United States by the English: Jamestown, Virginia, just to the south of modern day Washington, D.C. Within two years relations with the local Powhatan Indians will sour and lead to war.
1608	Erection of the first successful, permanent colony of the French in North America at modern-day Quebec.
1609-1667	Beaver Wars / Iroquois Wars in the New World between the Iroquois Indian tribes (such as Mohawk), located in New York State, and an alliance between French colonists and Huron Indians.
1615	The Roman Catholic church concludes that Copernicus' heliocentrism, the idea that the earth revolves around the sun, is false and forbids anyone, astronomer Galileo Galilei in particular, from advocating it. Galileo, who himself made significant contributions to the field of astronomy, is eventually placed under permanent house arrest for his continued support of Copernicus.
1648	Peace of Westphalia, ending the 80 Years War and the 30 Years War. Both were fought primarily between Catholic (Habsburg) interests allied with the Vatican and Protestant interests in northern and western Europe.
17/18th cent.	Various wars in Europe between England, the Dutch Republic, France and Spain over religious interests and trade routes.
1677	The English form an alliance with the Iroquois Indians against the (minority) French and other tribes in the northeast of the United States. While a treaty between the Iroquois and the French is signed in 1701, the two parties remain hostile. The English and Iroquois remain allies until Britain is forced out of the New World with their defeat in the American Revolutionary War in 1783.
1733	The Russian Empire gains control of Alaska.
1755	A 15 meter (49 feet) high tsunami hits Lisbon, Portugal, causing tens of thousands of deaths. England and other West-European countries are hit by a lower wave.
1770-1772	The last major Black Plague epidemic in Europe breaks out in Russia. Various others happened in earlier in the century and the century before.
1771	Opening of the Amis Reunis Lodge in Paris, later said to be allied with the deist and anti-church and anti-monarchist Bavarian Illuminati. The Marquis de Lafayette, Count de Mirabeau, Robespierre and others linked to the later French revolution, and sometimes the Bavarian Illuminati, are members of the lodge. Founding Father and author Thomas Paine is another member.
1776	The U.S. Declaration of Independence. Under the leadership of the Founding Fathers, the United States declares itself independent from England. The American War of Independence follows.
1783	The Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland of 0.4 km3 DRE and the subsequent "Laki haze". Eruptions last for several months. A toxic hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide haze appears over Europe and North America. The cloud itself and extreme weather phenomena is suspected to have killed over 6 million people on Iceland (20-25% of the population; 60% of the livestock), in the United States, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
1788	Great Britain begins the colonization of Australia as a result of losing the United States as a colony.
1789	Beginning of the French Revolution against the monarchy and the church. It lead to the birth of the French Republic in much the same fashion as the American Republic. It's interesting to note that the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, written by the Marquis de Lafayette, features the same All Seeing Eye symbolism as used on the back seal of the U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was U.S. minister to France 1778-1785, Founding Father Thomas Jefferson 1785-1789. Most likely there was a degree of conspiring in the background to get rid of monarchist and catholic interests.
1797	The Proofs of a Conspiracy book is released, influenced by the Catholic Church and its allied royal families as the Habsburgs. It tries to expose the existence of the Bavarian Illuminati and its role in the French Revolution.
1804-1815	Napoleon is emperor of France and conquers much of Europe. He abolishes the Holy Roman Empire. He is eventually defeated by the Russian Tsarist Empire
1804-1918	Austrian empire under continued Habsburg rule. It continues the war against Napoleon and eventually wins. In 1867 Austria and Hungary become separate kingdoms, but continue to be ruled by the Habsburgs.
19th century	Beginning of the Industrial Revolution. People, from young children and up, start to work in often dangerous factories for very little money and up to 16 hours a day.
1812-1815	The War of 1812 between the United States and England.
1815	The gigantic Mount Tambora volcanic eruption, which causes very problematic worldwide temperature drops. 1816 becomes the "Year without summer."
1820	In January a Russian expedition becomes the first to report a sighting of the Antarctic mainland, followed two days later by the British and 10 months later by the Americans. Ever since the ancient Greeks (Aristotle) introduced the idea, there had been the theory of a large continent existing in the south: Terra Australis. Between the 15th and 18th centuries the continent was even drawn on maps, even though no evidence of Antarctica had been found yet. The name Terra Australis had already been given to Australia by the time that Antarctica was found.
1839-1842	First Opium War between England and China breaks out after China tries to stop the British from swamping its country with opium.
1850	Oil drilling starts to become popular.
1853-1856	Crimean War, surrounding the Black Sea, between the Russian Empire and an alliance of France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia, as well as an officially neutral Austria.
1856-1860	Second Opium War between England and China.
1859	Darwin's Origin of Species is published.
1861-1865	American Civil War between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy).
1866	Russian Tsarist Empire at its greatest, spanning from Poland to Alaska and down to the border with Iran and Afghanistan.
1872	The Russian Empire sells Alaska to the Americans, after sea otters, bears, wolves, and foxes have gone almost extinct and no profit is to be made anymore. Alaska is also sold because of regular Indian revolts and competition with the Hudson's Bay Company.
1875	The Texas and Oklahoma-based Comanche Indians, the strongest and most war-like of all tribes, are finally defeated in the Red River War, a defeat that has finally become possible due to the development of multi-shot guns and the virtual annihilation of the Comanche food supply: the bison. The Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians are similarly pushed into reservations as a result of this war. The Apache Indians in neighboring New Mexico and Arizona are also forced into a reservation this same year.
1883	Krakatoa volcanic eruption and tsunami in Indonesia. Tens of thousands die. The eruption doesn't have the global impact Mount Tambora had earlier in the century.
1908	Tunguska asteroid impact of about 15 megatons of TNT in Siberia. The blast levels and area of about 45 by 45 km (28 x 28 miles) of forest. At 65 km (40 miles) people still felt they were getting burned when outside and were blown off their feet.
1908	A 12-meter (39-foot) tsunami hits the coasts of Italy and Sicily, killing tens of thousands.
1914-1918	First World War, notorious for its trench warfare and shell shock. End of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Habsburgs, as well as the Ottoman Empire, which is soon carved up by the British and French.
1917	The Tsar get disposed of in Russia and is replaced by a Bolshevik/communist government.
1920-1933	Prohibition Era in the United States. Under the Volstead Act, wine is allowed for religious purposes and private ownership and consumption of alcohol is also allowed, but some states ban alcohol in its entirety. Opposition grows every year and the lost tax income begins to hurt the government when the Great Depression sets in in 1929. Overall consumption levels drop with a maximum of only 40 percent. In the first year overall crime rises by 24 percent, with organized crime, traditionally only involved in gambling and prostitution, being able to flourish with the added income of bootlegging.
1930s	Unconventional knowledge, but also fact: American, British and other western financial and industrial interests are sponsoring fascism in an attempt to suppress labor unions. FDR's opposition to this policy, British opposition to Chamberlain's (secret) support of this policy (appeasement), and Hitler's persecution of the Jews eventually makes an U.S.-Anglo-German alliance against the communist and socialist Soviet Union impossible. Now Hitler feels he has to first secure the Atlantic coast before attacking the Soviet Union. Everything escalates from here and the Second World War is a fact.
1933	Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany.
1937	Beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, with Japan's invasion of China. Especially notorious for Japan's massacre in Nanking (and other places) and operating Unit 731. The war will end with Japanese defeat at the end of World War II.
1940-1945	Second World War between Japan, Germany and Italy (axis) on the one hand and the United States, England (allies) on the other, with the communist Russians working on the side of the allies. As soon as Nazi Germany is defeated, radical elements in the U.S. government (Patton) want to continue the war, now against Russia, thinking it would be easy to conquer this nation with atomic weapons.
1945-1990	The Cold War with many smaller conflicts spread around the globe. Otto von habsburg plays an important role in the Vatican-CIA alliance through private groups as Le Cercle.
1948	Israel is created, giving the Jews a homeland after 2,000 years of living amongst other cultures. Immediately the Arab-Israel War breaks out.
1950-1953	Korean War.
1963-1975	Vietnam War.
1973	Yom Kippur War between the Arabs and Israel.
1979-1989	Soviet war in Afghanistan.
1980-1988	Iran-Iraq War.
1991	Gulf War I.
1994-1996	First Chechen War.
1999-2000	Second Chechen War.
2001	9/11, leading to an indefinite War on Terror.
2002	U.S.-Afghanistan War.
2003	Gulf War II.

Far East History: B.C. and A.D.

2,698 B.C.	Start of the Chinese calendar, based on the legend of the Yellow Emperor who played an important part in uniting China. The first signs of modern Chinese civilization stem from this period.
2,600 B.C. *	A mature Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan (and parts of Afghanistan and India) begins to flourish with cities as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, respectively with an estimated 23,000 and 40,000 inhabitants at this point. The cities have a well-planned street grid and nearly every house contains a bathing area and drainage system. There are sea links with Sumer. There is no evidence of kings, queens, or temples. This civilization is at the root of the much later Vedic religion, Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The concept of reincarnation and karma are central to all these religions, but emphasized and interpreted differently.
1,200 B.C.	First writing in China appears.
877 B.C. *	Alleged year of birth of Parsva, the first reasonably well-established leader of Jainism, in India. Jainism is focused on individual enlightenment of each person. It rebels against the elitist and priest-centered Vedic religion. The Swastika is among its most famous symbols.
800 B.C. *	The first Indian Upanishads with their knowledge about prana, kundalini and Yoga are either spread orally by this point or are in the process of being written down. Their philosophy is similar to Jainism and later Buddhism.
800 B.C.	South Korea is among the regions lagging behind other civilizations in Eurasia. Urbanization under the rule of strongmen starts to appear in South Korea at this point. Within 100 years the first of thousands of dolmen will be build. This ends around 350 B.C.
500 B.C. *	Approximate life of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha, who studies and becomes enlightened in India's northeastern Bihar region, at the foot of the Himalaya mountains. In the same Bihar region Jainism flourishes. India also has a Carvaka philosophical system at this point that rejects anything supernatural, making it a predecessor of our modern skeptics/atheist/humanist movement. Buddhism, including its most esoteric variations, will slowly travel up India's branch of the Silk Road alongside the Himalaya, through passes in the Karakorum and Hindu Kush mountains, and from there east to the Kucha kingdom in West-China. Around 200 A.D. it will be really established in Kucha. The Silk Road continues east along the Kunlun mountains to Luoyang in East China, where Buddhism will begin to establish itself just after 300 A.D.
300 B.C. *	Rough date that Zhuang Zhou writes the Zhuangzi, possibly the most important foundation text of Taoism.
300 B.C. *	The basis of the Chinese Neijing, with its detailed descriptions of the meridian system, is put on paper somewhere around this time. The details of how this knowledge was acquired go back to legends of the Yellow Emperor around 2,600 B.C., although Jainist and Buddhist influences might be more likely. The Neijing deviates from older shamanic beliefs that sickness is caused by demons. Instead, the book explains that diet, lifestyle, emotions, environment, and age are key reasons why diseases develop.
300 B.C. *	Laozi creates the initial Taoist text Tao Te Ching, which in several centuries time will come to strongly overlap with Buddhism. Working with the meridian system, as written down in the Neijing, becomes especially key in Taoist esoteric teachings.
220 B.C.	Qin Shi Huang becomes China's first emperor after coming out on top of the Warring States period. Possibly he creates the first totalitarian police state. 120,000 wealthy families are moved to the capital, weapons are melted down, all political books are banned, intellectuals are systematically assassinated or forced to work for Huang, torture and cruel forms of capital punishment are widespread, and many hundreds of thousands of people are forced to build roads. They are also forced to build the early walls of the Great Wall of China and Huang's giant 2.5 km by 6.3 km (about 1.5 by 4 miles) Mausoleum, famous for its more than 8,000 terracotta warriors, 520 horses and hundreds of other statues. Workers on the Mausoleum will all be buried with Huang, so they can't reveal its secrets.
142 *	Founding of the first organized Taoist sect, the Way of the Celestial Masters, by Zhang Daoling, in Central China, close to the Tibetan mountains. The sect and its various offshoot are concerned with preserving their sperm, a key component of Taoist Alchemy. This sect teaches celibacy, while others promote the idea of not ejaculating during sex.
186	The sky turns red in China and Rome. The suspicion is that this was caused by the gigantic Hatepe volcanic eruption in New Zealand of an estimated 150 km3 DRE volume.
200	Japan is run by Himiko, a shaman queen who controls an alliance of tribes. At this point China is still united under the Han dynasty, which centuries ago followed up the initial Qin dynasty.
250	Strong military states, centered around powerful clans, begin to arise in Japan. Over time more and more inspiration is taken from China on how to govern society.
300 *	About 1,000 Buddhist temples have been built at this point over the past three centuries in China's western-most kingdom of Kucha. Buddhist monks from this region start to travel eastward into China. Yogic, shamanic and esoteric Buddhism techniques travel with them. Prime among these monks are Po-Srimitra, who travels to South-China in 307-312; and Fotudeng, who studied in India and travels to Luoyang in East China in 310. Apart from Shanghai, Luoyang is the easten-most point of the Silk Road. It seems clear that these men played a role in the development of the many forms of qigong.
386 *	The Buddhist Donglin Temple - which translates as "Eastern Forest Temple" - is build just outside Jiujiang in eastern China at the foot of Mount Lu. Construction has been ordered by Buddhist monk Huiyuan (334-416), a protege of Dao An, in turn a disciple of the traveling Kucha monk Fotudeng (232-348). The Kucha monk Kumarajiva is captured around 386 by a rogue Chinese general, held hostage, and forced to marry the general's daughter. The general had initially been ordered by a Central Chinese king to capture the monk for his apparent supernatural abilities. In this period Chinese Taoism and Indian-Tibetan Buddhism are beginning to strongly mix in China with Chinese Buddhists as Sengzhao, a leading disciple of Kumarajiva, and Tao Sheng, a student of Huiyuan. Yogic, esoteric Buddhist, and shamanic teachings are included in the mix.
477 *	The first Shaolin monastery is build at the top of Mount Song in eastern China. The master it needs to accomodate, as usual, hails from India. The monastery will become the center of Chan Buddhism.
640 *	Buddhism reaches Tibet when Sanskrit Buddhist texts from India are first translated to Tibetan by king Songtsan Gampo (618-649). It will take another full century for Buddhism to become the offical religion of Tibet.
700 *	Monks as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra continue to spread esoteric Buddhist and Yogic teachings in China. In this period En no Gyoja in Japan is seen as the founder of Shugendo, a practice that mixes esoteric Buddhist, Yogic, Taoist, and Shamanic teachings. Shugendo becomes associated with the Yamabushi mountain hermits and the Ninja. There are others who spread these teaching from mainland China to Japan. Regular Buddhism has been spreading in Japan for about two centuries at this point, where it is mixed with Shintoism, Japan's indigenous religion.
946	The huge Baekdu volcanic eruption of about 150 km3 at the border between North Korea and China. Modern research indicates that despite the enormous size of the eruption, effects are mainly regional. China, in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has no clear central authority at this point.
1044	The Chinese of the Song dynasty are the first to describe gunpowder. Within a century the Chinese begin to use early forms of guns.
1185	Japan enters its medieval/feudal era. Powerful family clans (Daimyo) rule Japan, who are only subordinate to the shogun, the military commander. The emperor is a figurehead, often compared to the role of the pope. The Daimyo have samurai soldiers working for them.
1207	The Mongols, under the leadership of Gengis Khan, begin their invasion of China and Central Asia.
1254	Marco Polo is born. He becomes the first Westerner to give detailed accounts of his travels to Mongolia and China.
1279	The Mongols defeat the Song dynasty, uniting China under the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368).
1280	The Mongol empire is at its largest, stretching from the Sea of Japan to eastern Europe.
1281	A second Mongol invasion of Japan fails, once again due to a hurricane destroying most of the Mongol fleet.
1467-1573	Warring States period in Japan, after which it is united under the Shogunate. Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi play key roles in this period. The ninja (shinobi) rise to prominence in this period. They carry out all kinds of covert operations not deemed respectable by the samurai.
1490	A reported meteor shower kills many thousands in China. At this point China is ruled by the Ming dynasty, which arose after the Mongol empire collapsed a century earlier.
1839-1842	First Opium War between England and China breaks out after China tries to stop the British from swamping its country with opium.
1894-1895	First Sino-Japanese War between China and Japan over control of Korea.
1937	Beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, with Japan's invasion of China. Especially notorious for Japan's massacre in Nanking (and other places) and operating Unit 731. The war will end with Japanese defeat at the end of World War II.

Asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis within human timespan

Some of these disasters are regional, but in places one doesn't expect them, primarily the Mediterranean, where many of the greatest civilizations could be found at one point or another.

75,000 B.P.	Mega-eruption of the Toba volcano on Sumatra with an estimated Dense-Rock Equivalent (DRE) volume of 2,800 km3, the largest in the past 25 million years. It causes an average worldwide global temperature drop of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) for a decade or more and almost wipes out Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) around the world. Only between 1,000 and 10,000 people survive, mainly in Africa and possibly an early small migrating group in India. Volume can be compared to the 24,500 B.C. Oruanui eruption of 530 km3, the 100 km3 1815 Mount Tambora eruption (caused very problematic worldwide temperature drops), the 18 km3 of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, the 1.2 km3 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption, the 5.5 km3 Mount Pinatubo of 1991.
47,000 B.C.	Arizona is hit by an asteroid with an impact force of 10 megatons, destroying an area of roughly 30 by 30 miles (48 by 48 km). No modern humans are living in North America at this point.
24,500 B.C.	Occurrence of the gigantic Oruanui volcanic eruption in New Zealand of 530 km3. Known to have caused disastrous regional effects, but little evidence at this point that it caused major problems in the northern hemisphere at a global level.
10,900 B.C.	Evidence that a comet devastates the whole of North America, including early Indian tribes and many species of large mammals. It is suspected the impact also plays a role in the Younger Dryas, or Big Freeze, a period of 1,300 years following this impact. However, research at Hall's Cave in Texas suggests this "Snowball Earth" period was triggered by volcanic activity, considering elements typically found in asteroids - iridium, ruthenium, platinum, palladium and rhenium - were not present in the usual proportions in the soil initiating this cold period. A subsequent cooling of the oceans and increased show cover is thought to have sustained this period for 1,300 years.
6,200 B.C.	Storegga underwater landslide, the result of retreating ice masses. 30 to 40 meter (100-130 feet) high waves hit Iceland and the steep coast of Norway. The Shetland Islands are hit by 20 meter (65 feet) waves. Scotland for the most part with 4-8 (13-26 feet) meter high waves, traveling up to 80 km (50 miles) inland. The wave can't travel well over the shallow North Sea and quickly dies out here.
4,000 B.C.	Oldest estimate of Bruce Masse et al. of the Rio Cuarto impact craters in Argentina with an estimated combined impact force of 1,000 megatons, or 50,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Two of the craters are 3.5 km long and 700 meters wide (2.2 miles long and almost half a mile wide). The impacts scorch an area of roughly 100 by 500 km. (60 by 300 miles) and are likely to have killed primitive Indians. The impact happened at the latest around 2,000 B.C.
2,800 B.C.	Suspicions that at this point the Burckle crater at the bottom of the Indian Ocean is formed due to the impact of a 5 km (3.2 mile) wide asteroid, causing a tsunami wave up to 205 meters (670 feet) high on Madagascar that reaches up to 45 km (28 miles) inland. Australia's western coast is also hit hard. Coastal areas around the Indian Ocean are strongly affected, both from the air and the water. The Buckle Crater is 29 km (18 miles) wide and located in 3.8 km (12,500 feet) deep water. A few scientists are trying to prove that this impact caused major problems in Ancient Egypt and Sumer and may have been the source of Babylonian and Biblical flood legends.
2,700 B.C.	Over a dozen impact craters (Henbury) are formed in the Northern Territory of Australia when a meteorite breaks up and hits the earth. The largest crater is 180 meters (600 feet) wide. The area is inhabited by the Aboriginals, who seem to remember the impact through oral tradition.
2,500 B.C.	Campo del Cielo meteorite impact in Argentina of an estimated 2-3 megatons. At least 26 craters are formed, the largest with a diameter of 115 meters (375 feet). The meteorite pieces left behind will serve as an important source of metal for local indians in millennia to come.
1,600 B.C.	Estimated time of the gigantic Minoan volcanic eruption with a Dense-Rock Equivalent (DRE) volume of 60-100 km3. Several tsunami waves of an estimated height of 20 meters (65 feet) hit the coast of Crete and surrounding islands. Tree rings in Tucson for the year 1627 B.C. are extremely narrow, as well as tree rings in Ireland for the 1620s. It is suspected the Minoan eruption is related to these temporary climate changes.
1,159 B.C.	Estimate eruption of the Hekla on Iceland with a DRE of 7.3 km3. Tree rings in Great Britain for the next decade are extremely narrow and didn't fully recover until 18 years after. There's also evidence of great social upheaval in Britain in this period. It is estimated that the explosion lowered temperatures on the entire northern hemisphere with about one degree Celsius.
479 B.C.	The earliest recorded tsunami happens in Ancient Greece during the siege of sea town Potidaea. When the attacking Persians try to exploit the fact that the sea has withdrawn, they are overcome when all of a sudden the tsunami wave comes rushing back in.
426 B.C.	A tsunami in the Malian Gulf of Greece causes widespread flooding and death. It prevents the Spartans from invading Attica. The Greek historian Thucydides becomes the first to describe an earthquake as the cause of a tsunami.
186	The sky turns red in China and Rome. The suspicion is that this was caused by the gigantic Hatepe volcanic eruption in New Zealand of an estimated 150 km3 DRE volume.
365	A 30 meter (100 feet) high tsunami strikes Alexandria, Egypt, and surrounding coasts in the Mediterranean, killing many thousands and hurling ships up to two miles inland. The tsunami is so devastating that it will be commemorated annually for over 200 years.
535-536	A thick dust cloud hangs over the globe, causing crop failures and famine worldwide. The sun is only visible for about four hours a day and even then the light is so diffuse and weak that it hardly casts any shadows. Weather anomalies are everywhere, resulting in numerous deaths. Climatic after affects will last anywhere from 539 to 550, depending on the region. Evidence (but not yet complete proof) that the cause is a 600 meter (2,000 ft) asteroid impacting the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia. Possibly there is more than one impact or the impact is followed in 541-542 by one or more major volcanic explosions. There is similar evidence that the Ilopango volcano in El Salvador erupts with a DRE value of at least 84 km3 around this time. It's actually considered a little bit more powerful than the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption, which caused a global temperature drop. An area of roughly 80 by 125 km (50 by 78 miles) is blanketed in ash and pumice 1 meter (3 feet) or more deep. People related to the Mayans are living in El Salvador at this point.
946	The huge Baekdu volcanic eruption of about 150 km3 at the border between North Korea and China. Modern research indicates that despite the enormous size of the eruption, effects are mainly regional. China, in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, has no clear central authority at this point.
1014	Likely asteroid impact at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as deposits coming from the seabed here can be found in a ground layer of the Black Rock Forest in New York State. A large tsunami hits the south of England, killing many people. Ice cores reveal an ammonia spike in the atmosphere this year, similar to the Tunguska and Brazilian Tunguska events.
1303	An 8 meter (25 feet) tsunami hits Crete, Rhodes, Alexandria and Acre in Israel.
1443	Evidence that an asteroid hits just off the coast of New Zealand, creating the Mahuika Crater of 2 km (just over a mile) wide and over 153 meters (500 feet) deep. Additional evidence shows that the resulting tsunami wave is 220 meters (720 feet) high at nearby Stewart Island and still 130 meters (425 feet) high when it reaches Australia's east coast. Aboriginal coastal settlements are abandoned in this period.
1490	A reported meteor shower kills many thousands in China. At this point China is ruled by the Ming dynasty, which arose after the Mongol empire collapsed a century earlier.
1755	A 15 meter (50 feet) high tsunami hits Lisbon, Portugal, causing tens of thousands of deaths, largely because people were curious to find out why the sea had withdrawn. England and other West-European countries are hit by a lower wave.
1783	The Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland of 0.4 km3 DRE and the subsequent "Laki haze". Eruptions last for several months. A toxic hydrogen fluoride and sulfur dioxide haze appears over Europe and North America. The cloud itself and extreme weather phenomena is suspected to have killed over 6 million people on Iceland (20-25% of the population; 60% of the livestock), in the United States, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
1815	The gigantic Mount Tambora volcanic eruption of 100 km3 DRE causes very problematic worldwide temperature drops. 1816 becomes the "Year without summer." The extremely destructive 1883 Krakatoa eruption will only be 18 km3 DRE .
1863 or 1891	The Wabar crater is formed in Saudi Arabia due to the impact of an asteroid that has broken up in at least four pieces. The largest piece generates an impact force roughly comparable to Hiroshima.
1908	A 12 meter (40 feet) tsunami hits the coasts of Italy and Sicily, killing tens of thousands.
1908	Tunguska asteroid air explosion of about 15 megatons of TNT in Siberia. The blast levels and area of about 45 by 45 km (28 by 28 miles). At 65 km (40 miles) people still felt they were getting burned when outside and were blown off their feet.
1930	Brazilian Tunguska. Three large pieces of an asteroid come down in the Amazon, causing fires that last for months. It rains ash for half a day.
1947	The Sikhote-Alin meteorite hits the earth in southeastern Siberia. An estimated 23 tons of rock made it to the earth's surface.
1980	The famous Mount St. Helens eruption. However, despite the fact that its ash cloud paralyzes life in much of Washington State, the eruption only has a DRE value of 1.2 km3. To compare: the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991, which is considered absolutely massive, will be about 5.5 km3. The 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull on Iceland, which shuts down air traffic across Europe will have a DRE value of 0.2 km3. The 75,000 B.C. Toba eruption was 2,800 km3 DRE with several eruptions in human history having been between 100 and 150 km3 DRE.
2004	After a 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean, Indonesia and surrounding countries are hit by a tsunami. While generally about 5 meters (16 feet) high, the northern tip of Indonesia is hit by run ups of 24 meters (80 feet) over a larger area (not registered on video). Sri Lanka is hit with run ups between 3 and 12 meters (10-40 feet). Vast areas of land are hit by a waves averaging 3-6 meters (10-20 feet), ultimately killing over 230,000 people.
2011	An up to 9 meter (30 feet) tsunami hits Japan (based on video observation) after a magnitude 9 earthquake. Reported run ups are much higher, but videos tend to show water not rising beyond 3-6 meters (10-20 feet) once on land. The tsunami kills almost 16,000 people and destabilizes the Fukushima nuclear reactor, causing enormous radioactive pollution.

History of high technology

3150 B.C.	First indisputable clear proof that wheels were in usage, based on the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, found in eastern Europe. The Bronocice pot, dated to roughly 3,500 B.C. and found in the same region, is widely suspected to depict a wagon with four wheels.
3000 B.C.	Ancient Egypt develops a 10 base mathematical system, something we still use today. It did use position notation, however. Soon the Egyptians also use a symbol for zero (nfr), but only to specify place position (a certain level).
2000 B.C.	Ancient Egypt develops fractional numbers (1/2, 1/3, 3/4), as revealed by the Reisner Papyrus and various other documents and tablets.
1850 B.C.	It appears at this point an Egyptian document captures the first rough formula for pi, the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter (3.14). The formula is copied onto the surviving Rhind Papyrus of 1650 B.C. The Babylonians write down the first approximations of pi in roughly the same period. The Egyptians estimate it at 3.16; the Babylonians at 3.12. In reality it is 3.14.
1800 B.C.	The Babylonian clay tablet Plimpton 322 is produced, showing what we today call the Pythagorean Theorem (a^2 x b^2 = c^2). The Egyptian symbol nfr, a reference to zero, is in use in accounting texts.
500 B.C.	The secretive cult of Pythagoras discovers the harmonic intervals of music: octave (1:2), perfect fifth (3:2), etc. They rediscover the Pythagorean Theorem, also in use by the Babylonians over 1,000 years before. Members are credited with (reluctantly) discovering irrational numbers, numbers which cannot be represented as terminating or repeating decimals. The Greeks, with their heavy focus on geometry, are confused about what to do with the concept of zero.
300 B.C.	The Babylonians structurally begin using a symbol for zero to indicate a lack of a positional value. Formerly they used a black space, which could be confusing.
250 B.C.	Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BC) is the first to accurately calculate the value of pi (3.14): the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its diameter.
300 A.D.	Rough and quite conservative estimate of the Bakhshali manuscript, found in northern Pakistan. It is the first document to that makes use of positional notation or the place-value notation in which the same symbol is used for the different orders of magnitude. For example, a 1 can represent 1, 10, 100, 1000, or more. The manuscript also represents the value of zero as a dot.
458	The Lokavibhaga, a Jain cosmological text, mentions the 0, along with positional notation.
1450	Johannes Gutenberg invents the first book printing press in the world. Before this time books were written by hand. Now it becomes possible to print 1,000 copies of a page in one or two days before moving to the next page. It's one of the most significant revolutions in history.
1712	The first economically-viable steam engine developed by Thomas Newcomen.
1781	James Watt patents a 10 HP steam engine that is put to use internationally. It is an improved version of the one designed by Thomas Newcomen.
1880s	War of the currents between George Westinghouse (AC, licensed to him by Nikola Tesla) and Thomas Edison (DC). In the same period incandescent light bulbs slowly improve and become more economically viable.
1886	The first car is is produced in Germany. It's basically a self-powered carriage without roof.
1903	The Wright brothers make the first human flight that is controlled, powered and with a heavier-than-air object. Propeller airplanes soon become the norm.
1908	The Ford Model T comes out. It's the first affordable car.
1920s	Electric washing machines slowly start to become common in U.S. households. The first commercially viable dishwashers are also invented. It will take more than half a century before dishwashers become common in middle class households.
1937	World's first turboprop engine.
1938	The first electric drying machine is introduced to the market.
1930s	The first "super"-computers are built in various countries, mainly for military purposes. First they were base on a slow electromechanical process, followed by all-electric vacuum tubes.
1939	Black-and-white TV sets are introduced in the U.S., but production will soon be limited due to the outbreak of WWII.
1940	Mobile walkie-talkie backpacks are introduced on the battlefield. These have a general range of several miles.
1943	The Gloster Meteor is Britain's first operational turbojet fighter.
1944	Germany introduces the Messerschmitt Me 262, its first turbojet fighter.
1945	The first atomic bomb is detonated.
1947	The transistor, the basics of the modern computer, is discovered at Bell Labs.
1952	The first hydrogen bomb is detonated.
1953	Color TV is introduced in the U.S.
1957	First successful Russian ICBM flight that puts the Sputnik in orbit.
1958	First successful U.S. ICBM test. For years the U.S. had neglected this area of research due to overwhelming air superiority and intercontinental bombers.
1958	Development of the first laser at Bell Labs.
1961	Price per GFLOP of computing power: $8.3 trillion, adjusted for inflations. That's roughly a trillion times more than 50 years later.
1961	Nuclear planes programs are canceled by JFK in favor of nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered carriers.
1964	The first flat panel TVs based on plasma technology. It will be almost four decades before flat screens become mainstream.
1964	The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird makes its first flight. It has a service ceiling of 85,000 ft (25,900 m) and can reach speeds of up to 2,200 mph (3,500 km/h).
1969	Rocket/missile technology brings man to the Moon.
1972	Color TV sets surpasses sales of black-and-white sets.
1972	First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.
1972	Nuclear rocket engines, with the 8' Phoebus 2B reactor producing an enormous 4,400 MW, are canceled.
1973	The first hand-held cell phone is demonstrated. It weighs 2.2 lbs (1 kg).
1974	First flight of the General Dynamics/Lockheed F-16 Falcon.
1977	First flight of the Have Blue F-117 prototype. Computers are necessary to keep it stable during flight.
1978	The first Global Position System (GPS) satellite is launched.
1978	8086 processor introduced.
1979	8088 processor introduced.
1982	186 processor introduced.
1982	286 processor introduced.
1983	The first mobile phone becomes commercially available.
1984	Price per GFLOP of computing power: $33 million, adjusted for inflations. That's roughly 30 million more than 30 years later.
1985	386 processor introduced.
1989	486 processor introduced.
1989	First flight of the Northrop Grumman B2-Spirit. Computers are necessary to keep it stable during flight.
1990	The first Pentium processor (Pentium 60) is introduced. It is roughly 90 percent faster than a 486 at the same MHz speed. 200 Intel engineers are working on the CPU in its final stages.
1994	Pentium 100 introduced.
1995	The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator remote-controlled drone is introduced in general service, one year after its first flight.
1996	Pentium 200 introduced. Price of RAM memory drops considerably. Introduction of the first Voodoo 3Dfx card. It's a giant revolution in the quality and speed of 3D graphics rendering, the first person shooter Turok being the greatest example.
1997	First flight of the F-22 Raptor.
1998	Mobile phones start to become mainstream.
2000	Pentium III 500. The first flat panel LCD screens are commercially introduced.
2000	Price per GFLOP of computing power: $840, adjusted for inflations. That's roughly 800 more than 10 years later.
2001	The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper makes its first flight. It will be introduced to the battlefield in 2007.
2005	The first F-22 Raptors reach operational status.
2006	Core2 Duo: 2 cores at 2.5 Ghz.
2008	The first Core i7: 4 cores at 2.66 Ghz.
2010	The Active Denial System is deployed after 8 years of development. It's the first working microwave weapon. Major problems of the system include that it doesn't work under rainy circumstances, that it uses an enormous amount of power, and that it is rather bulky.
2012	The first impressive VR-glasses become available.
2013	Price per GFLOP of computing power: $0.12. In 1961 a GFLOP, adjusted for inflation, cost $8.3 trillion dollars. Graphics cards rival or even surpass CPUs in GFLOP calculations.
2013	Core i7: 6 cores at 4 Ghz. Moore's Law states that computing power doubles every 2 years. That means the fastest CPUs of 2013 are 70,000 times faster than a Pentium 100 of 1994. If we take a conservative number, a doubling of CPU power every 4 years, CPUs of 2013 are 2,000 times faster than the Pentium 100. An in between number, once every 3 years, makes 2013 CPUs 8,000 times faster than a Pentium 100. Update: ChatGPT calculates in 2024 that the difference between these two CPUS is about 2,400 times.
2014	AMD's top-of-the-line graphics card is the Radeon R9 295X2. If we assume that graphics cards on average get about 20 percent faster each year compared to the year before, we're looking at a card over 2,500 times faster than a 3Dfx Voodoo 1 card in 1996, the first true 3D card.
Sep. 2019	TikTok's Chinese sister app, Douyin, releases a feature allowing users to search for videos containing particular faces and items. AI-driven social media face recognition will be extensively used by TikTok by 2023 to promote the "multiculture" by algorithmically prioritizing mixed race interactions.
2020	OpenAI's GPT-III engine causes a bit of a steer when it demonstrates it can generate not only random song tunes and lyrics, but also that its AI can mimick the voices of famous singers.
2020	From September to November the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War is fought between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azerbaijan wins largely due to its heavy use of Israeli and Turkish drones, making it the first conflict in which drones have proved to be decisive.
2020-2021	The years of Tom Cruise "deepfakes", and the concerns surrounding these. Very few people have any clue on how to even make these though, as the programs aren't mainstream yet. Russia immediately followes suit by creating these type of "deepfake" videos for political purpose.
Jan. 2021	OpenAI releases its Dall-E image generation program, based on GPT-III. The generated images still are somewhat basic.
2022	In Feb. 2022 Russia invades Ukraine. Initially Russian armor is beaten by traditional anti-tank missiles as Javelin, but as the war moves on into 2023 and 2024, Ukraine's mass use of cheap drones is able to destroy large amounts of Russian armor. By early 2024 Russia is seen fielding not just anti-drone "cope cages", but also full-blown "turtle tanks" to try to counter the drone menace. By mid 2024 both sides are using large numbers of drones and "cope cages", with soldiers close to frontlines largely having to stay hidden, especially during daylight hours, due to the amount of drones, describing this situation is much worse than even a year ago. While the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict of 2020 set the stage, the Russo-Ukraine War fully changes the world's perspective on battlefield tactics due to the introduction of drones.
Nov. 30, 2022	OpenAI's ChatGPT is released, the first artificial intelligence chatbot and virtual assistant. It is an unbelievable revolution, especially with regard to the generation of texts, song lyrics and programming code. If taken step by step, it's possible to generate quite complex code for which you would previously need paid coders. By mid 2024, for this site, this author had generated sliders, jquery effects, a dynamic page-filing system, a dynamic endnote system, dynamic content menus, and many other things with it, which previously would have been impossible without aid from competent programmers.
2023	Throughout the year, the quality of AI image generation through programs as Midjourney and Leonardo increases 100-fold. By the end of the year many of the generated images appear almost photorealistic. The only issue is the lack of control over the image to be generated.
2023	The new top of the line mobile processor, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, with 16 cores and 32 threads, is calculated by ChatGPT to be 17,280 times faster than a Pentium 100 of the mid 1990s. Meanwhile, ChatGPT calculates the GeForce RTX 4090 to be 45,000 times faster than a 3Dfx Voodoo 1 card. An 8 core Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 mobile CPU is estaimated to be about 2,300 times faster than a Pentium 100.
July 2024	Social media as TikTok and Instagram starts to get flooded with complex AI-generated video manipulations, with endless comments along the lines of "AI is starting to scare me." Videos circulate of apples turning into hamsters and back, people morphing into animals, and animals moving and behaving like humans.