World History Timeline
Approx.
Time
Events & People
1 AD
9 AD
~30
70
Unfortunately, since the scholars designing the new calendar didn't have the concept of zero, the new Gregorian calendar is calculated to start at year 1.
Battle of Teutoberg Forest - 20,000 Roman soldiers under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus in Germany are ambushed while in a long convoy line through the Teutoberg Forest. Many years later Emperor Augustus, desperately needing those legions, went around the palace late at night muttering, "Varus, give me back my legions."
Jesus is crucified.
The Romans under Titus destroy Jerusalem, after a long siege; 1.5 million Jews die. The gold taken from the temple finances the
Colosseum in Rome.
250s
313
361
85-165
120s
Claudius Ptolemy devises a framework of Astronomy which will last for 1400 years. He also calculates pi as 3+8/60+30/602 which in decimals is "3.1416666...", not too bad an estimate for the time.
96-180 Rome has several consecutive "Good Emperors": Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius .
Roman Emperor Hadrian begins the impressive 73 mile long defensive wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts and other warring tribes.
Beginning of the Classic period for the Maya.
Edict of Milan is issued. Christians are now tolerated in the Roman Empire.
Emperor Julian, "The Apostate," tries to return the Empire back to the Pagan religions.
378.
August 9
The Battle of Adrianople (Hadrianopolis) - the beginning of the end of Roman military power. Not waiting for reinforcements becasue he wanted all the glory for himself, Emperor Valens gives the order to his weary men to attack the circled wagons of the Goths. In a surprise to all, the absent Gothic Cavalry happens to return just as the battle is about to begin. The heavy Cavalry routes the light horsemen of the Romans and is victorious over the Roman infantry. Some scholars think this was a historic turning point in the tactics of warfare when the Cavalry gained supremacy over infantry. Others counter that the Roman infantry could have withstood the
Cavalry if they had been properly rested, trained, and had a better commander. In either case, the Battle of Adrianople shook the confidence of the Roman Empire. From this point onward the Romans will deal in a defensive manner with the Goths. The Goths were originally glad to be allowed to enter the Empire, but were treated very badly and abused by corrupt Roman administrators.
This treatment angered the Goths and they turned against the Romans.
410 Rome sacked by Visigoths under Alaric
476,
September
4
Odovacar, a Germanic chieftain, removes the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus. His name is ironic since Romulus founded Rome and Augustus was its first emperor.
496 Clovis converts to orthodox Christianity

World History Timeline
541
550
570
632
637
650
Justinian's Plague starts and kills 40% of Constantinople by 544 and 25% of Europe south of the Alps. By the Eighth century this bubonic plague disappears mysteriously not to return to Europe until the Fourteenth century.
Persians use windmills to power irrigation pumps.
Mohammad born. Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Persia, & N. Africa fall to Muslim armies many decades later.
Muhammad dies.
A vastly superior army of Iranian Sassanians is defeated by determined Arab Muslims in the battle of Qadisiyya.
The beginning of the Mississipian Cahokia culture in America, the most advanced of the plains people. The Cahokia people will build the largest earthen mound structure in North America, Monk's Mound and create an astronomic observatory now known as
Woodhenge, and trade from the Great Lakes to the Gulf coast. They decline in 1400, a century before the Europeans arrive.
657-680 The earliest poem written in English, Caedmon's Hymn, is composed.
732 Battle of Tours, Charles Martel stops a Muslim army and the Muslim advance into Western Europe.
793
800
900s
Vikings start raiding Ireland.
The "Medieval Warming Period" starts and lasts until 1315 or 1350. The Vikings settle Greenland. English farmers grow grapes for wine. Temperatures rise in Europe and farming does well. The population on Europe swells.
Fall of the Mayan Classic period. Cities deserted all over Mesoamerica.
999
1009
1095
Gerbert (940-1003) becomes Pope Sylvester II and writes about "Arabic" numerals. Unfortunately the new numbering system doesn't really take hold in Europe until the 14th century. From Paul Gans "It should be noted that the Arabic numerals were neither invented by nor used by the Arabs. They were developed in India by the Hindus around 600 AD." (I dimly remember reading about "counting boards" being used with roman numerals in US Colonial times. Does anyone else remember hearing that?)
An army led by Caliph al-Hakim destroys the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This desecration will be a rallying point for the Crusades to come.
Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade to protect the Christian pilgrims from attack. In 1099 they succeed.
1024
1066
1086
The Chinese issue the first paper money.
Harold Godwinson wins the Battle of Stamford Bridge and a second battle at Fulford against the Viking invaders of England lead by
Harold Hardraada. Harold then marched his weary army to Hastings to meet yet another invader, Duke William of Normandy. Harold
Godwinson was defeated, and the period of Norman domination began. William brought with him the French practice of building stone castles. Few stone castles had been in England before, but by only 1100 England had 84.
The Doomsday Book is written for William the Conqueror to detail the wealth and property of England.

World History Timeline
1099
1140
The first crusade captures Jerusalem.
Angkor Wat, a huge temple complex, is built in Cambodia.
1144
1149
1175
1187
Second Crusade started by Bernard of Clairveaux after the Christian kingdom of Edessa falls to Muslims.
Oxford University is founded in Oxford England.
The Toltec civilization collapses in Mexico.
The magnetic compass becomes common for ocean going ships.
1200
1202
The Mayan culture revives after it's collapse in 900ad and survives until the 1450s when it falls shortly before the Europeans arrive.
Leonardo Fibonacci publishes "The Book of the Abacus" and revolutionizes mathematics in Europe.
1206
Genghis Khan leads the Mongol armies. 30 to 60 million people are killed in their campaigns building the largest known land empire.
It stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea.
On the way to the holy land for the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders get a little confused and take over Constantinople instead. 1204
1215, June
15
King John of England and his nobles sign the Magna Carta .
1223 Genghis Kahn invades Russia.
1241 April
9
The Battle of Liegnitz is fought between Prince Henry and the Mongols commanded by Batu Khan for control of Poland. The Mongols successfully defeated another European army.
1242
Florence Italy mints the florin, the first gold coin in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. It is a sign that stability, trade, and wealth are returning to Europe. The florin would remain a popular coin for five centuries.
1250
1275
European sailors now begin to use the magnetic compass.
Marco Polo starts on his alleged trip to China. He returns in 1295 to Venice.
1281,
August
After conquering most of Asia, Kublai Khan invades Japan with 4,400 ships and 140,000 soldiers, but a Typhoon, a "Divine wind",
(Kamikaze) destroys most of the fleet. 70,000 troops die in the storm - the worst naval disaster in history.
1285
1300
Spectacles for the farsighted are invented in Italy.
Eyeglasses are common in Rome for scholars.

1300
1300
1315
1309
1323
1337
1346
1346
1346
1415
1431
1441
1453
1455
1462
1476
World History Timeline
After 1,500 years, the Anasazi of Arizona abandon their cliff dwellings for unknown reasons.
Gunpowder is being used for warfare in England after being introduced to Europe in 1242.
Great Famine of 1315-1317 Torrential rains and cool weather devastate crops in Europe. Millions die. Criminal activity increases. Acts of cannibalism, infanticide, and child abandonment abounds. The Medieval Warming Period is waning.
Pope Clement V moves papacy to Avignon, starting the 70 year "Babylonian Exile" in France.
The Aztec tribe is forced to flee their homeland to a remote island in a lake because they sacrificed a young Colhua princess from the neighboring tribe to their god instead of marrying her to a prince. In their new island home they see an eagle perched on a cactus which the Aztecs, or Mexica as they are called, take for a divine sign that this is their home.
Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane) a Muslim conqueror of Mongol descent, is born. Through a savage campaign, he wins a huge territory in the middle east and Asia. Some think his feats rival Alexander the Great. 17 million people may have died from his conquests.
The Bubonic plague starts in China and moves westward aided by the ease of travel in the Mongol empire. The Mongols laid siege to the port of Kaffa on the Crimean peninsula and catapulted plague corpses into the beseiged city. The Mongol army withdraws, but has succeeded in bringing the plague to Europe.
The Black Plague (aka Bubonic) enters Sicily. Contemporary accounts place the death toll at one third of inhabitants. Vast social changes result. Workers become a scarce commodity, increasing their bargaining power with employers. Farm land reverts back to forests as the number of farmers decrease.
English defeat the French at battle of Crecy.
Using the Welsh longbow, the English devastate the French at Agincourt.
Joan of Arc burned at the stake. She is credited with leading the French in victory over the English. The English had been dominating
France since Agincourt. The Welsh Longbow was a major reason. Joan of Arc was helped by artillery that could now damage castle walls.
First documented black African slaves imported into Europe.
The Christian kingdom of Constantinople finally falls to the Muslims. Mahomet II using European artillery mercenaries destroys the walls. This is the first use of a forward observer to direct artillery fire whose crews cannot see their targets. In a sense this is the final fall of the Roman Empire.
German inventor Johann Gutenberg revolutionizes knowledge transfer. He improves or invents three items: the printing press, movable metal type, and an oil-based ink. His first work is the 42-line Bible.
Ivan III finally overthrows the mongol overlords and declares Russia the third Rome; which is why the title 'Czar' sounds so much like
'Ceasar'.
The Chimu civilization in Peru is defeated by the rising power of the Inca. The Chimu started around 1100.

World History Timeline
1487
1489
1492,
October
12
Queen Isabella's advisers correctly state that China could be visited by going West since they knew the earth was round, but that a ship would run out of supplies first since it was so far. Chistopher Columbus uses some creative math and Fortunately for Christopher
Columbus the Americas got in the way. He lands in the Bahamas. He dies in 1506 still thinking he had landed in Asia.
1494
Charles VIII invades Italy with new bronze cannons. In only eight hours, the French break through the fortress walls of Monte San
Giovanni, which had previously withstood a siege of seven years. The arrival of the mobile cannon greatly reduces the value of fortresses and had wide political impact - mostly increasing the power of kings over their nobles, since nobles could no longer defy the king and hide behind their castle walls.
1498
1500
Aztec ruler Ahuitzotl sacrifices 20,000 prisoners to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli.
Instead of using abbreviated words to indicate addition and subtraction, German mathematician Johann Widmann starts the practice of using the symbols "+" and "-".
Captain Vasco da Gama becomes the first European to travel to India via sea.
Portuguese trader Cabral swings to far West in his route to India and accidently discovers Brazil. If Columbus had not been successful eight years earlier, this is when the New World would be discovered.
1513
1514
1517
Vasco Nunez de Balboa is the first European to see the Pacific ocean. Jealous of his fame, members of the Spanish court convince the
King that Balboa is guilty of treason. Balboa is beheaded in 1519.
After studying in Italy, Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) returns to Poland convinced that the earth revolves around the sun. He dedicates his work to his friend Pope Paul III.
An Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nails his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg; unknowingly initiating the Protestant revolution.
1519
Ferdinand Magellan starts what will be the first circumnavigation of the globe. He is killed in 1521, but 15 of his sailors will continue back to Europe.
Hernando Cortez conquers the Aztec empire by turning its neighbors against it. 1521
1521, May
The Constable of France, Charles de Bourbon, attacks Rome. He is killed early by a crossbow dart, but his army sacks the treasures of ages from the eternal city.
1532,
November
Inca ruler Atahuallpa mets Francisco Pizarro. Atahuallpa wanted to impress the Spanish and the Inca by coming to the meeting with
4,000 unarmed men showing that he was so powerful he needed no soldiers to protect the royal personage. The Spanish slaughter the Incas and hold Atahuallpa hostage. With 150 men, Pizarro conquers the Inca empire of six million people. Moral to the story:
Don't trust strangers wanting gifts.
1536 John Calvin writes The Institutes of the Christian Religion .
1550-1850
The Little Ice Age strikes Europe. After the Medievel Warming Period, when climate was ideal for raising grains in Europe, temperatures start to fall, and with them the fortunes of many in Europe. Crops fail and many starve and freeze to death.
1556 Earthquake in China kills 830,000.

World History Timeline
1572
1575
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Tens of thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants) are killed in France.
In Japan two armies meet. The side with guns wins for the first time, yet by mutual agreement, guns are outlawed 100 years later.
1585
Thomas Hariot first writes about an amazing herbal remedy introduced to him by the local peoples of America called tobacco. (It's really the revenge of the indigenous peoples of America - its killed more Europeans than they could have imagined).
1582,
October 4
To correct for the drifting of the equinox from March 21, Pope Gregory XIII decrees that the next day would be October 15. Not all countries obey his edict and many disputes arise over interest to be paid, and wages.
1569
1588
Gerardus Mercator publishes his cylindrical projection of the earth.
Philip II's Spanish Armada of 130 ships attack England, but are defeated.
March 20,
1602
United East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie ), or the VOC founded. This was the first multinational joint-stock company, a landmark in economic development. The VOC prospered for centuries, but went bankrupt in 1795 due to corruption and poor management.
1603, Feb
7
Battle at Glenfruin when the MacGregors slaughtered the Colquhouns (my ancestors).
1609 The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico is founded.
1617, Apr
4
John Napier , inventor of logarithms (1614) and Napier's Bones (ivory sticks which foreshadowed the slide rule) dies in Edinburgh.
1619
Johann Kepler finally solves the mystery of the motion of the planets. The early Greeks thought the study of the heavens was the highest calling of mankind and Johann discovered the plan. He stated three laws of planetary motion. His third law states: "The squares of the planets' orbital periods are proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes of their orbits." I personally think he is one of the most underrated scientist in history.
1620
1648
Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth.
1/4 of Polish Jews are massacred, many move to Jerusalem.
1685
1686
The Edict of Nantes revoked by Louis XIV in France. Many Huguenots are killed and many (like my ancestors) flee France.
1653,Dec
16
Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Isaac Newton writes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy which shows the laws of the heavens are the same as the laws of earth.
1707,
October
Four British warships lead by Admiral Shovell run aground on the Scilly Islands off the English coast killing 2000 sailors. This intensifies the search for a solution to "The Longitude Problem". Eventually solved by John Harrison with an accurate clock.

World History Timeline
1712
1714
Thomas Newcomen creates the first successful steam engine used to evacuate water from mines.
Jethro Tull perfects the seed drill, which produces eight times more wheat from the sown seed. For his efforts, he is vilified.
1735
1754
Carolus Linneaus creates a taxonomic system for naming species
Scottish chemist Joseph Black discovers carbon dioxide and later the latent heat of fusion.
1776 The American colonies declare themselves independent of Great Britain.
1776,
September
6
David Bushnell navigates his primitive submarine, the Turtle, toward a British ship. His attempt at sinking the ship fails, but scares the blockading British ship away.
1777,
September
7
A British sharpshooter, Major Patrick Ferguson , has an American officer in his sights, but does not fire, since it would be unprofessional to kill an unsuspecting officer. The officer is later revealed to be George Washington.
1778,
January 18
James Cook is the first European to travel to Hawaii.
1781,
October
19
General Cornwallis surrenders to the colonists in American while the band plays "The World Turned Upside Down". 25,000 Americans died in the war.
1783,
November
21
First manned hot air balloon flight in Paris by Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis D'Arlands.
1786
Sir William Jones, Chief Justice of India, proposes that Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and many European languages were all descended from a common Proto-Indo-European language.
1789, July
14
The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille to free prisoners. Oddly enough the Bastille was empty of any real prisoners.
1791,
November
4
Miami Chief 'Little Turtle' inflicts the worst defeat by Native Americans on the US Army under the command of Arthur St. Clair, ninth
President of the Continental Congress in the Battle of Wabash. Six hundred soldiers are killed, one-quarter of the US Army.
1790
1795
1798
Based on traveling thouands of miles in England, John McAdam invents a new way to create roads by using crushed stones and gravel to remove water quickly from the roadbed. His improvement allows for faster travel and more trade in England.
The Metric system of measurement was introduced into France.
Thomas Malthus publishes An Essay on the Principle of Population claiming starvation was inevitable for the human race. Oddly enough, 200 years later the world is better feed than ever, but many still believe him.

World History Timeline
1801
1804
1805
Joseph-Marie Jacquard invents a loom that uses punched cards to create designs in fabric. Workers fearful for their jobs threw their sabots, or shoes, into the machines to destroy them; giving rise to our word 'sabotage'.
Napoleon is crowned Emperor of France.
Napoleon's navy defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar by Nelson.
1805, April
27
William Eaton leads the first American overseas miltary action on land. Against enormous odds, the Marines and mercenaries take the city of Derna, Tripoli.
1812, June
24
Napoleon takes Moscow, but its a hallow victory. The city is burned to the ground and the Tsar does not surrender. Napoleon and whats left of the Grand Armee retreat.
1814
1814
The Battle of Trafalgar. The British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson defeats a combined Spanish-French Fleet.
AGAMEMNON was the name of one of his ships (see Babylon5).
During the War of 1812, the British under the command of General Robert Ross attack Washington DC and burned the White House, but not before enjoying a lovely dinner prepared by Dolly Madison before she fled.
1815, June
18
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
1816
The Year Without a Summer. Mount Tambora erupts and throws so much dust in the air that it causes 10 inches of snow to fall in
June in New England (US). Crops fail and famine is common. Many blame Benjamin Franklin and his experiments with electricity for the freak weather. Mary Shelley is forced inside and writes Frankenstein .
1822
1833
Jakob Grimm, of Grimm Fairy Tales fame, proposes 'Grimm's Law' - that many consonants have shifted in a consistent way from Non-
Germanic languages (like Latin and Greek) to Germanic languages (like English). For example, 'p's become 'f's, as in Latin 'pater' becoming English 'father'; Latin 'pisces' becomes English 'fish'.
Charles Babbage designs the Difference Machine - a forerunner of the modern computer. Traditionally it was thought to fail because metallurgy was not yet advanced enough. Recent views blame his machinist for wasting the money and being lazy.
England outlaws slavery and frees 780,993 slaves in its possessions. 1833
1838
January 24
Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph in public.
1840,
March 28
The ironclad gunboat, the Nemesis, built by a Scottish shipbuilder John Laird, leaves England bound for China becoming the first ironclad to round the Cape of Good Hope. In China, she destroys nine war-junks, five forts, two military stations and a shore battery in a single day. The technological gap in warfare is widdening between Europe and the rest of the world.
1845-1848
The Great Hunger (aka Potato Famine). Blight causes potato crop to fail. 1.5 million die of starvation and disease. Ireland still exports grain to England to pay rents. Help from England was too little too late.
1847, Sept
14
United States troops enter Mexico City under the command of General Winfield Scott. A treaty ending the Mexican American war was signed in February.

World History Timeline
1848,
February
26
Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels publish a little pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto.
1854 Admiral Perry visits Japan with his Black Ships and opens trade with the West.
1854,
October
25
During the Crimean War, Lord Cardigan led the British cavalry against the Russians in what would become known as "The Charge of the Light Brigade".
1856 Louis Pasteur shows that disease is spread from tiny, little organisms, instead of bad vapors. Germ theory is born.
1859
1859
Charles Darwin publishes Origin of Species.
George Bissel sees prices for whale oil skyrocketing as the spermicitti whales are overhunted and gambles on hiring Edwin Drake to drill an oil well in Titusville, PA. Progress is very slow and Bissel mails Drake to shut down the well. Fortunately the letter arrives late.
Edwin Drake had just stuck the first oil well the day before. Whale oil was selling for 5 dollars a gallon, and kerosene soon sold for 10-
25 cents a gallon.
1860
1860
James Clerk Maxwell completes his four equations of electromagnetism.
Herman Hollerith invents an electronic tabulator for the US Census. He starts a company that eventually becomes IBM.
1864,
February
17
The Confederate H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink an enemy ship, the Union Housatonic. The Hunley sinks shortly afterwords killing all nine men on board.
1864, April
19
The CSS Albemarle , a Confederate ironclad designed by an 19 year old, and built in a corn field, sinks a Union ship and wins the Battle of Plymouth for the South.
1865 Augustinian monk Gregor Mendel lays the foundation for modern genetics
1862, May
4
A scout in the Civil War became the first person to be killed by a pressure activated land mine. This novel instrument of war was developed by Southern Gabriel J. Rains . and has been a scourge of the earth ever since. Land mines caused a third of the American injuries in Vietnam War.
1866
Prussia invades Austria. Prussia had smartly sent observers to the American Civil War. They learned of railroads, telegraphs, and new firearms. The Prussians used this newfound knowledge in a war with Austria. They slaughtered the Austrians using their new Needle guns which used a cartridge instead of muzzle loading, and could be reloaded in a prone position. With the railroads they brought fresh troops quickly to battle areas.
The United States and Europe are connected by a 2,500 mile long telegraph cable. 1866
1867,
August 2
Using their new .50 caliber Springfield breech loading rifles, 26 soldiers from Fort Kearny, Wyoming fend off 1,500 Lakota Indians led by Red Cloud in "The Wagon Box Fight" . The Lakota attacked in waves. The second wave expected to kill the reloading soldiers, but instead were greeted by a round of bullets from the new repeating rifles. Three soldiers and approximately 50 Indians were killed.

World History Timeline
1876
1876
Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.
Michelson and Morley fail to verify the existence of the ether.
1876
At the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow Indians defeated General George Custer's troops. Many have speculated that if Custer had not split his troops, and kept the cannon, he could have won easily. 25% of the Indians are estimated to have had superior weapons than the US Cavalry. The Indians had Spencers, Winchesters, and Henry repeating rifles. Custer's men were armed primarily with the Springfield single shot rifles.
August
26,1883
The island volcano of Krakatoa in Indonesia brilliantly explodes. 36,000 people are killed. The tide is influenced in England and fine volcanic dust settles in New York. The sound of the explosion is heard 3,000 miles away.
April 20,
1898
The Spanish-American War starts. Newspaper reports of alleged atrocities by the Spaniards against Cubans fanned the flames for the
US to intervene to free the Cubans from their Colonial overlords. Ironically after the war, The US was in possession of its own colonies of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
1899-1902 Boer War. The descendants of the Dutch fight for independence from Britain.
1901 Guglielmo Marconi sends the first wireless transatlantic radio signal from England to Newfoundland.
1903
1904
1905
Orville and Wilbur Wright fly the first heavier than air craft.
Japanese sink half the Russian fleet in the opening move of the Russo-Japanese war. The Russians badly underestimate the modern
Japanese fleet which a year later destroys most of the remaining navy. The Japanese used the new Marconi radios to scout for the oncoming Russian Navy.
While working as a patent clerk, Albert Einstein, publishes his theory of relativity and also states energy equals matter (E = mc2). This is his 'miracle year'. He publishes four vastly different papers. Three of them are Nobel prize winning material in their own right.
1906
1911
1911
HMS Dreadnought starts new era in warships. It was unique in some of the following ways: more armor (11 inch plate), larger than predecessors (18,000 tons), used steam turbine engine for smoother, faster, more reliable power, used single caliber guns instead of a mix of large and small guns. The Dreadnought battleship design started a very expensive arms race.
Rutherford proposes the 'Solar System' model of the atom.
Instead of each state's legislature selecting them, United States senators are to be elected by popular vote.
1912
The unsinkable Titanic goes down with over 1,500 souls. A steward from the White Star Line is reported as having said, "Not even
God Himself can sink this ship". "Hubris" is what the Greeks called it.
1914,
August 3
Germany declares war on France starting the "war to end all wars".
1916, April
Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, and four others begin a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing from Antarctica to South Georgia
Island in what will be, according to many, the greatest sailing journey of all time. Their original ship, the Endurance was crushed in the ice so six of the men set sail in one of the life boats, the James Caird, to get help for the others trapped back in Antarctica.

World History Timeline
1916 Einstein publishes his 'General Relativity' paper.
1916, 31
May
The Battle of Jutland. The first and last great battle of the Dreadnought class ships. Britain and Germany spent untold fortunes to build and man these ship, but battle was inconclusive.
1916
The First Battle of the Somme began. It lasted five months and the death toll of over one million was for the sake of an Allied advance of 125 square miles.
1917, Apr
6
The United States enters World War I against Germany. The tide of the war is already against the Germans. Ten million people will die from the war.
1917,
December
17
The first true aircraft carrier, the British HMS Argus is launched.
1918,
November
11
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month World War I is officially over. The treaty was signed at 5am with hostilities to cease at 11am. During those 6 hours, 2,738 soldiers died, 320 of those were American. American commanders who knew the war was to be over in hours still sent soldiers into battle to "punish" the Germans.
1940,
November
Proving the worth of aircraft carriers, the HMS Illustrious launches an attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto with 21 out-dated Fairey
Swordfish biplanes. Three of the six battleships are severely damaged. Some naval officers take note, many still dismiss aircraft carriers as just novelties.
1918
June 4,
1942
1923
1923
Influenza virus kills 20 million people. About a quarter of the US population catches it and 2 to 3% die from it.
The battle of Midway starts in the Pacific. Japan loses four carriers and more importantly 200 highly trained pilots. This is the turning point in the Pacific war and cements the role of the aircraft carrier as the dominant naval vessel.
DeBroglie proposes the matter-wave theory.
Heisenberg probably stated his uncertainty principle.
1928
First Soviet 5-year Plan. 5 million Ukrainian peasants are deliberately starved to death. Visiting journalists ignore famine and praise
Stalin's success.
1928 Sept
15
Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming notices penicillin mold killing a staphylococcus culture. The revolution of antibiotics is started.
The "planet" Pluto discovered 1930
1932
1935
Sir James Chadwick discovers the neutron
Scottish engineer Robert Watson-Watt shows his new invention, Radar, to the British Military. 19 Radar stations are active on the eve of WWII saving countless British lives.
1937, May
The German airship Hindenburg explodes in New Jersey. Amazingly 61 of the 97 persons aboard survive.

World History Timeline
6
1938,
November
10
Kristallnacht, a night of terror visited upon the Jews of Germany by the Nazis. Hundreds of Jews are killed and the glass from synagogues and businesses are shattered onto the streets.
1939,
November
30
The Soviet Union invades Finland and starts the Russo-Finish War. The Soviets do so poorly against such a weaker opponent that
Hitler is confirmed in his belief that the political purge eviscerated the Red Army. The Soviets do win the war on March 12, 1940.
1940
Alan Turing with help from Polish sources and Cambridge mathematician, W. G. Welchman breaks the German Enigma code saving countless Allied lives.
1941, June
22
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, is launched 129 years to the day after Napoleon crossed the Niemen into Russia. Stalin did not believe the numerous intelligence reports detailing the German buildup. It was the largest military operation ever mounted.
1941,
December
8
Japanese attack Wake island. The defenders of the tiny island fight against overwhelming odds and hold the island, providing the first victory for the US in the Pacific. Reinforcements are sent from Hawaii, but later, in a very controversial decision, recalled back to
Hawaii. The Wake island defenders push back advancing Japanese soldiers, but the American officers surrender the island on
Decmeber 23, in another controversial decision.
1942,
December
2
At the University of Chicago Enrico Fermi and friends generate the first self-sustained nuclear reaction.
1942,
February
23
A Japanese submarine shells an oil refinery near Santa Barbara California
1942, May
7
Carrier groups of Japanese and Americans fight the Battle of the Coral Sea. This is the first time that the ships fighting never had sight of each other; airplanes did the damage. Although the battle is a draw, one carrier loss for both sides, the Japanese invasion plans in the south are thwarted.
1943, July
12
The largest tank engagement, the Battle of Kursk, is fought between the Germans and the Russians.
1943,
September
9
The battleship Roma is attacked by two German Fritz X bombs, becoming the first vessel sunk by a guided weapon.
1944, June
6
The largest amphibious landing in history, the invasion of Normandy, starts. This begins the end for the Third Reich (well, unless you talk with the Russians about the Eastern Front).
1945,
March 9-
10
First fire-bombing of Tokyo.
1945,
August 6
At 08:16, the B-29 Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, dropped an atomic bomb containing 60 kg of uranium-235 on
Hiroshima Japan, killing an estimated 80,000 civilians outright and perhaps over 200,000 total.

World History Timeline
1945,
August 9
The B-29 named "Bocks Car" dropped a the bomb, "Fat Man", containing 8 kg of plutonium-239 on Nagasaki Japan. (The B-29 program cost 3 million dollars, while the atomic bomb cost less, 2 million).
1945,
August 14
VJ Day - Japan surrenders in WWII eight days after the second atom bomb is dropped. His subjects hear Emperor Hirohito voice the next day for the first time on the radio as he announces the surrender.
1949 Half of all the gold mined in history, 22,000 tons, is in the United States.
1952,
November
1
Ushering in the thermonuclear age, the first hydrogen bomb named 'Mike' is detonated by the US. 'Mike' was not a practical weapon since it weighed 70 tons and was a big as a house.
1954,
January 21
Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine, is launched.
1957 Sputnik I becomes the first man-made satellite.
1959
December
Launching the SSBN George Washington, the world's first nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine, the US moves unknowingly ahead in the cold war.
1960,
January 23
Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh travel to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the lowest point on earth, in the Bathyscaphe Trieste.
Oddly, no one has ever gone back a second time.
1961,
January 3
An experimental nuclear power plant in Idaho, the SL-1 , goes "prompt critcal" during maintence and kills three Army specialists. The reactor is buried on site.
1961, April
11
Yuri A. Gargarin becomes the first human in space and to orbit the earth
1963
Norman Borlaug launches the "Green Revolution" by breeding a strain of wheat that yields three to five times than ordinary wheat.
Borlaug saves millions of lives in India, which after much bureaucratic red tape, finally allows the grain to be imported.
Quarks are proposed to be the basic building blocks of most matter. 1964
1969, July
20
Neil Armstrong walks on the surface of the moon.
1982,
March 19
A group of Argentine scrap-metal merchants raise their flag over the island of South Georgia in the opening scene of what will become the Falklands War with Great Britain.
1984
Largest bio-terrorist attack in the United States modern history occurs in The Dalles, Oregon. 751 people become ill with the salmonella bacteria spread by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
Hutus massacre 800,000 Tutsis in a few weeks using Machetes and clubs (Why can't we all just get along?) 1994