World Event Timeline
From the First Homo sapiens to YOU
Turn to your partner and discuss:
What is a primary source?
What is a secondary source?
Primary vs. Secondary
• What is a primary source?
-an original source
What is a secondary source?
-works that explain, interpret or analyze the
“original” document, event, or work
How is time measured?
• YA= Years Ago
• B.C.E. or B.C.= Before Common Era or Before Christ
• C.E. or A.D.= Common Era or “In the year of the Lord.”
Turn to your partner and discuss:
When was the universe created?
When did man first appear?
You are going to learn how you are a part of the
continuum of time. You will need to create a
timeline with the following events. Put a star next
the events that interest you. You will do something
special with these for your timeline. Also, jot down
any questions, etc. you might have about the event.
20 billion YA
• Universe was created
4.5 billion YA
• Solar system formed
225 million YA
• First Dinosaurs
200,000 YA
• First homo sapiens in Africa
15,000 YA
• descendants of Native Americans crossed
Bering Strait and came to present day North
America.
3,500 B.C.E
• First written language appeared in Sumer;
cuneiform alphabet (mostly business
transactions)
• Written language marked the beginning of
“History”
3,000 B.C.
• China- oldest civilization to date began
1740 B.C.
• Code of Hammurabi-first legal code
1350 B.C.
• Moses at Mount Sinai- received 10
commandments
• Judaism- first monotheistic religion began
1200 B.C.E
• Phoenicians- first maritime trading power
750 B.C.E.
• Rome: lasted 1000 years (first Olympic games
in 776 B.C.E.)
500 B.C.E
• Buddhism began
450 B.C.E.
• The Golden Age of Greece
206 B.C.E
• China- Silk Road began under the Han Dynasty
50 B.C.E.
• Julius Cesar ruled Rome
0
• Jesus Christ: born Dec 25 4 B.C.E. and died 3034 CE
• Christianity
476 C.E.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire: began
the Dark Ages in Europe
632 C.E.
• Islam: Muhammad born 570 C.E. and died 632
C.E.
1021 C.E.
• Tale of Genji: called world’s first novel
1096 C.E.
• The Crusades: fight for the Holy Land, lasted
until 1270
1200
• Aztec and Inca Civilization in South America
was at its height
1215 C.E.
• Magna Carta: King John of England signed;
first time a ruler was forced to accept limits of
power
1347 C.E.
• Black Death: bubonic plaque killed 1/3 of
Europe
1439 C.E.
• Gutenberg invented the printing press; literacy
rate increased rapidly
1492 C.E.
• Columbus sailed to New World; beginning
Age of Exploration
-Balboa, Cartier, Coronado, Cortes, Drake,
Vasco de Gama, Ponce de Leon, Magellan,
Pizarro, de Soto, Hudson
1500 C.E.
• Renaissance firmly established in Europe
-Raphael, Shakespeare, Michelangelo,
Da Vinci
1502 C.E.
• First African slaves brought to the New World
1517 C.E.
• Reformation: Martin Luther began to protest
the “wrongs” of the Catholic church
1600 C.E.
• Colonial powers take over the New World:
England, France, Spain and Netherlands claim
land present day U.S.A.
1607 C.E.
• Jamestown: first permanent English colony in
North America
1680 C.E.
• Age of Enlightenment: time period where
philosophers used reason and logic to explain
government
- Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire
1775 C.E.
• April 19; Battle of Lexington and Concord;
began American Revolution (lasted until
1783)
1776 C.E.
• Declaration of Independence: declared
independence from Great Britain- began
“America,” adopted U.S flag
1787 C.E.
• Constitution of U.S.A.- ratified, formed basis
of new national government
1803 C.E.
• Louisiana Purchase: Thomas Jefferson
purchased western land from France to
expand the territory of the U.S.A.
1830 C.E.
• Indian Removal Act: Andrew Jackson approved
of the removal of Native Americans from the
East Coast to land west of the Mississippi
1860 C.E.
• Civil War in U.S.A.- lasted until 1865 between
North and South
1865 C.E.
• Period of Reconstruction in U.S.A. began:
repair and rebuild damage of Civil War
1914 C.E.
• World War I began, lasted until 1918
1920 C.E.
• Women in U.S.A. got the right to vote in
government elections
1930 C.E.
• Great Depression in U.S.A.- began after the
1929 Stock Market Crash, lasted until start of
WWII
1939 C.E.
• World War II: U.S.A. came into the war in 1941
with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7
1954 C.E.
• Brown vs. Board of Education: put an end to
segration in public schools
1960
• Civil Rights movement: Martin Luther King,
Vietnam War, John F. Kennedy- assassinated
(1963), Nixon: Watergate
1970 C.E.
• Ford administration, Carter administration,
Roe vs. Wade: Supreme Court granted women
right to choose to carry a child to term
1980 C.E.
• Regan administration: Strategic Defense
Initiative, Iran-Contra Affair
1990
• George H. Bush administration: Persian Gulf
War; North American Free Trade Agreement
• Clinton administration: Brady Bill, Janet Reno
appointed first woman Attorney General
2001 C.E.
• 9-11: bombing of World Trade Centre in New
York
• George W. Bush administration: invasion of
Iraq; Nancy Pelosi first woman Speaker of the
House of Representatives
• Obama administration: first African American
President; Universal Healthcare,
200?
• YOU….
You are a part of a continuum of time and history.
How are YOU a part of History?
-Choose 5 significant events from your life.
-2 must have primary sources
-create a Timeline
-explain how you are part of the continuum of time
and history.