HISTORY OF THE WORLD – SO FAR
c. 200,000 BCE : people live in east Africa
c. 50,000 – 70,000 BCE : people migrate outwards
– south and west in Africa
– north to Middle East
– north east along the coast to India and southeast Asia
– southeast from Indonesia to Australia along a land bridge
c. 40,000 BCE : people continue migrating
– northwest from the Middle East into southern Europe
– northeast from India into China
c. 35,000 BCE : people increase in number
– about 3 million people in the world
c. 13,000 – 17,000 BCE : people continue migrating, hunting and gathering food
– north, east and south from Asia over a land bridge
– dogs domesticated
c. 12,000Â BCE : people continue migrating
– south from North America to the tip of South America
c. 10,000 – 6,000 BCE : people start settling down
– agriculture begins in the Middle East: grains
– tools are made of stone (Neolithic Age)
– about 15 million people in the world
– goats, sheep, and cats domesticated in Asia
– pigs and chickens domesticated in Asia
– cattle domesticated in Africa
c. 3000s BCE : people develop civilizations
– cities begin to grow in Sumer (Iraq)
– earliest evidence of written language (cuneiform in Sumer)
– Egypt is united into one kingdom
– tools made of copper in the Middle East (Copper Age)
– horses domesticated in Asia
2000s BCE : people develop civilizations
– Indus Valley civilization (Pakistan)
– Mesopotamia develops into the first world empire (Iraq)
– tools made of tin+copper in Europe and the Middle East (Bronze Age)
– ducks domesticated in Asia
1700s BCE : people continue to develop civilizations
– King Hammurabi establishes written law code in Babylonia (Iraq)
– the Shang dynasty grows in the Huang He Valley (China)
1600s BCE: people tell stories
– the Sumerians write about Gilgamesh and a great flood
1500s BCE : people continue migrating and developing civilizations
– southeast from China to New Guinea
– Aryans from central Asia move into India
– Abraham moves from southern Mesopotamia, the beginning of the Jewish people
1200s BCE : people continue migrating and developing civilizations
– the Jewish people escape slavery in Egypt & settle in what is now Israel
– they develop a religion based on a belief in one God (Judaism)
c. 1200 – 550 BCE : tools are made of iron in Europe and Middle East
c. 800 BCE : people continue to develop civilizations
– democratic states are established in Greek cities including Athens
– the first Olympic Games are held in Greece
500s BCE : people continue migrating, developing civilizations, and telling stories
– east from New Guinea to Fiji and other Pacific islands
– Buddism founded in India
– Confucianism founded in China
– short fables by Aesop in Greece
400s BCE: people continue developing civilizations
– Taoism founded in China
c. 300 BCE : people migrate and develop civilizations
– Alexander the Great of Macedonia builds an empire stretching from Greece to
 the Indus River and south to Egypt
c. 33 CE : civilizations change
– Jesus, a Jew, begins a new religion (Christianity)
c. 100 CE : people continue to develop civilizations and migrate
– Britons and Picts flee from invading Romans
– Roman Empire is at the height of its power, from Britain to sw. Asia and n. Africa
– Christianity grows in Europe
– trade routes grow from China to the Mediterranean Sea: the Silk Route
200s CE : people continue to develop civilizations
– Mayans build a civilization in Mexico
300s CE: civilizations change
– India’s Golden Age
– Romans retreat from Britain to defend Rome
400s CE : civilizations fall and people migrate
– end of Roman Empire
– the Huns of central Asia invade eastern Europe
– the Goths & Vandals are driven out and invade western Europe
c. 500 CE : people continue migrating and telling stories
– Angles and Saxons move from Germany to Britain
– legendary King Arthur tries to fight off the Saxons to defend Britain
– ‘Beowulf’, an epic poem, tells of a Saxon hero who travels to Denmark
– beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe
600s CE : civilizations grow
– Islam begins in the Arabian peninsula and spreads to Africa and Asia
– Chinese Golden Age
800s CE : people continue to migrate and civilizations grow
– Vikings attack Britain and mainland Europe
– Charlemagne unites much of western Europe
900s CE: civilizations continue to grow
– Arab Golden Age
1066 CE : people continue migrating and civilizations change
– William the Conqueror conquers Britain and institutes Norman feudalism
1200s CE : people migrate and discover new ideas
– Genghis Khan, a Mongol, invades China, Russia and western Asia
– Marco Polo travels from Italy to the Mongol Empire
– European Crusaders travel to the Middle East
1215 CE: civilizations change
– King John of England is forced to sign the Magna Carta
1348 CE : people continue migrating and civilizations are affected
– Black Death arrives in Europe
– about 370 million people in the world afterwards
1350 – 1650 : civilizations change
– Renaissance starts in Italy (Michelangelo,
– Renaissance spreads through Europe (Shakespeare)
1400s CE : people continue migrating and developing civilizations
– slave trade between Portugal and West Africa
– Aztecs in Mexico
– Incas in Peru
– Sikhism founded in India
1500 CE : people increase in number
– about 450 million people in the world
1500s CE : people continue migrating (The Age of Exploration)
– Christopher Columbus travels from Portugal to to the Bahamas
– John Cabot travels from England to Canada
– Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal travels from Portugal around south Africa
– Vasco de Gama, travels from Portugal to India
– Ferdinand Magellan, from Portugal, circumnavigates the earth
– Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sponsors exploration
– Amerigo Vespucci, Italian, realizes the Americas are new continents
– Hernan Cortes of Spain overthrows the Aztec civilization in Mexico
– the Silk Route becomes less important as sea routes become more efficient
1500 – 1870 CE : people continue migrating
– over 12 million African slaves shipped to the Americas
– Pilgrims leave England and sail to America
– Samuel de Champlain, French, starts a settlement in Quebec
– Henry Hudson, English, explores eastern Canada and the Arctic
– James Cook, British, explores & seeks the NW Passage
1650 – 1800 CE : people change civilizations (The Age of Enlightenment)
– Americans declare independence from Britain (1776)
– French begin a revolution (1789)
1760 – 1840 CE: people change civilizations (Scientific Revolution)
1800s CE : people continue migrating and increasing in population
– Simon Fraser discovers the Fraser River
– British convicts sent to Australia
– Chinese labourers go to California
– world population at 1 billion
1867 CE : people change civilizations
– Canada becomes independent from Britain
1900s CE: people continue migrating
– Mennonites flee the revolution in Russia (1920s)
– Hindus move to India and Muslims move to newly created Pakistan (1940s)
– Israel is declared a nation after the Holocaust (1940s)
– Afghans flee when Russia invades Afghanistan (1980s)
2000s CE: people continue migrating
– Mexicans flee poverty and move to the U.S.
– Sudanese flee war and live in refugee camps
– Syrians flee war and try to get to Europe
– world population over 7 billion people
This page may be copied for use with students if the following credit is given: ©2016 Sophie Rosen.
See a PDF version:Â History of the World
Do more research:Â A history overview assignment