| World History Timeline |
| Year(s) |
Event |
| 4.5-3.9 billion years ago |
Earth forms. (Hadean Eon) |
| 3.9-2.5 billion years ago |
The earth's permanent crust is formed. Earliest life in the seas. (Archean Eon). |
| 2.5 billion years ago-540 million years ago |
Formation of large mountain chains. The start of photosynthesis. (Proterozoic Eon) |
| 540-490 million years ago |
Formation of large continent Gondwana. Sedimentary rocks. Trilobites are dominant creature. (Cambrian Period) |
| 490-443 million years ago |
Early vertebrates appear. Large seas cover North America. (Ordovician Period) |
| 443-417 million years ago |
Fish evolve jaws and first sharks appear. (Silurian Period) |
| 417-354 million years ago |
Ozone layer forms and amphibians appear. (Devonian Period) |
| 354-290 million years ago |
Long period of glaciers. Reptiles appear. (Carboniferous Period) |
| 290-248 million years ago |
Earth now has one continent, Pangaea. Trilobites become extinct (Permian Period) |
| 248-206 million years ago |
Evolution of first dinosaurs. Ferns and conifers common. (Triassic Period) |
| 206-144 million years ago |
Dinosaurs are dominant lifeform. First birds and frogs appear. (Jurassic Period) |
| 144-65 million years ago |
Dinosaurs become extinct. Sea levels rise. (Cretaceous Period) |
| 65-55 million years ago |
Placental animals become dominant. (Paleocene Epoch) |
| 55-34 million years ago |
Alps and Himalayas form. Whales and dolphins evolve. (Eocene Epoch) |
| 34-24 million years ago |
Early primates appear. (Oligocene Epoch) |
| 24-5 million years ago |
Antarctica permanently freezes. Mediterranean Sea dries up. Modern birds and whales appear.(Miocene Epoch) |
| 5-1.8 million years ago |
Arctic ice cap.(Pliocene Epoch) |
| 1.8 million-10,000 years ago |
Ice age occurs and about 30% of earth becomes covered by glaciers. Great Lakes are formed during this period. (Pleistocene Epoch) |
| 10,000 years ago to present |
Human civilization starts. Glaciers retreat. (Holocene Epoch) |
| 7500 BCE |
Sheep domesticated. |
| 6500 BCE |
Sumerians successfully invent the wheel. |
| 4000 BCE |
Horse domesticated. |
| 3100 BCE |
Stonehenge begun. |
| 2700 BCE |
First pyramids in Egypt. |
| 2500 BCE |
First civilization of Troy. |
| 1800 BCE |
Hammurabi's legal code. |
| 1334-1325 BCE |
King Tut rules Egypt. |
| 1300 BCE |
Jews leave Egypt. |
| 1200 BCE |
Greeks defeat Troy. |
| 1005 BCE |
King David unites Israel. |
| 776 BCE |
First Olympic Games held. |
| 563 BCE |
Buddha is born. |
| 432 BCE |
Peloponnesian Wars begin. |
| 398 BCE |
Socrates condemned to death. |
| 336-323 BCE |
Reign of Alexander the Great. |
| 264 BCE |
First Punic War begins. |
| 214 BCE |
Construction of Great Wall of China begins. |
| 44 BCE |
Julius Caesar assassinated. |
| 6-4 BCE |
Jesus Christ is born. |
| 79 CE |
Pompeii is destroyed by Mount Vesuvius volcano. |
| 105 CE |
Chinese perfect papermaking. |
| 363 |
Rome divides into Eastern and Western Empires. |
| 391 |
Library of Alexandria destroyed by fire. |
| 410 |
Goths sack Rome. |
| 508 |
Clovis establishes the city of Paris. |
| 570 |
Mohammed born in Mecca. |
| 768-814 |
Rule of Charlemagne. |
| 1066 |
Battle of Hastings. |
| 1211 |
Invasion of China by Genghis Khan. |
| 1215 |
King John I of England signs the Magna Carta. |
| 1337-1443 |
Hundred Years War |
| 1346-1349 |
Black Death in Europe. |
| 1431 |
Convicted of being a witch, Joan of Arc is burned at the stake. |
| 1492 |
Columbus makes first voyage to America. |
| 1517 |
Martin Luther nails 95 Theses to church door. |
| April 23, 1564 |
William Shakespeare is born. |
| 1588 |
England defeats the Spanish Armada. |
| 1607 |
Jamestown settlement founded. |
| 1611 |
King James Bible published. |
| 1775-1783 |
American Revolution |
| July 4, 1776 |
Declaration of Independence |
| 1789-1799 |
French Revolution |
| 1803-1815 |
Napoleonic Wars |
| 1805 |
Battle of Trafalgar. |
| 1848 |
Communist Manifesto published by Marx and Engels. |
| 1861-1865 |
American Civil War |
| 1870-1871 |
Franco-Prussian War |
| December 17, 1903 |
Wright Brothers make first successful flight. |
| 1914-1918 |
World War I |
| 1932-1939 |
Great Depression |
| 1939-1945 |
World War II |
| 1945-1991 |
Cold War |
| 1950-1953 |
Korean War |
| 1960-1975 |
Vietnam War |
| November 22, 1963 |
John F. Kennedy Assassinated |
| 1991 |
Gulf War |
| 1991 |
Apartheid repealed in South Africa. |
| September 11, 2001 |
Terrorists attack and destroy World Trade Center in New York and attack the Pentagon with passenger airplanes. |
| March 19, 2003 |
US led invasion of Iraq begins. |
