WORLD HISTORY

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. 12,000  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: History of the World

Do more research: A history overview assignment

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