|c. 9000BC ASIA: Animals are domesticated and cereals cultivated. Jericho is occupied.
|c. 5000BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Agriculture is introduced into the Nile valley.
|c. 4000BC AMERICAS: Settled agriculture begins in Peru.
|c. 3500BC ASIA: The Bronze Age begins in Asia.
|c. 3200 - 2800BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Sumerians settle in Mesopotamia.
|c. 3100BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Upper and Lower Egypt are unified.
|c. 3000BC ASIA: The Yangshao civilization is established in China.
|c. 2700BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The first pyramid is built at Saqqara.
|c. 2613BC - 2494BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The climax of pyramid building at Giza.
|c. 2500BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Assyrians settle on the Upper Tigris River.
|c. 2200BC - 1800BC ASIA: The first Chinese dynasty, the Xia, is founded by Yu the Great.
|c. 2000BC AMERICAS: The settlement at Kotosh in Peru begins where the earliest ceramics are produced.
|c. 1700BC ASIA: China's first large walls are built.
|c. 1567BC - 1320BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The empire of Hammurabi of Babylon. The Egyptian Empire expands to the Euphrates River and the Fourth Cataract.
|c. 1250BC - 850BC AMERICAS: The Chavin culture flourishes in Peru.
|c. 1190BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
The first recorded labor strike in history takes place in Egypt.
|c. 1100BC ASIA: The Assyrian Empire is established.
|c. 1050BC - 945BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The growth of the Kingdom of Israel under King David and Solomon.
|c. 900BC EUROPE: The Etruscans settle in Italy.
|c. 883BC - 859BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Assyrians are the first to use cavalry in warfare.
|776BC EUROPE: The first recorded Olympic Games are held.
|721BC ASIA: The Assyrians conquer Israel.
|c. 671BC - 667BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Assyrians invade Egypt, sacking Thebes and Memphis.
|650BC EUROPE: The Greek city-states are founded.
|c. 625BC - 539BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The New Babylonian Empire flourishes under Nebuchadnezzar.
The creation of the Persian Empire.
|550BC ASIA: The Persian Achaemenid Empire is founded by Cyrus II.
|c. 539BC - 435BC ASIA: The Zhou king of China is defeated and the empire disintegrates into warring principalities. The Great Wall of China is begun.
|510BC EUROPE: The Roman Republic is founded.
|390BC EUROPE: The Gauls capture Rome.
|334BC ASIA: Alexander the Great invades Asia.
|333BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Alexander the Great defeats the Persians at Issus.
|332BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Alexander conquers Egypt.
|325BC ASIA: Foundation of the Indian Mauryan Empire.
|221BC ASIA: China is united by the Qin Dynasty.
|c. 202BC - 220AD ASIA: The Han Dynasty rules China and builds part of the Great Wall, stretching 6,200 miles from Dunhuang in Gansu Province west to Xinjiang.
|146BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The destruction of Carthage by the Romans.
|122BC - 50BC EUROPE: The Roman conquest of Gaul (France).
|c. 100BC EUROPE: The town of Chartres is built on the River Eure in France by the Romans.
|64BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Romans conquer Syria.
|63BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Roman conquest of Jerusalem.
|51BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Cleopatra VII rules Egypt.
|44BC EUROPE: Julius Caesar is assassinated.
|36BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The marriage of Antony and Cleopatra.
|30BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Romans conquer Egypt.
|27BC EUROPE: The Roman Empire is begun.
|6BC AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Jesus Christ is born.
|AD30 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Jesus Christ is crucified.
|AD43 EUROPE: The Romans invade Britain.
|c. AD100 ASIA: The earliest Cambodian kingdom, Funan, is established.
|AD100 - AD700 AMERICAS: The Moche tribe from the Trujillo area and the Nazca tribe from the south coast develop excellent ceramics. The Nazca make huge drawings in the desert (the Nazca lines).
|AD122 - AD126 EUROPE: Hadrian's Wall is built.
|c. AD300 AMERICAS: The rise of the Maya civilization begins in Central America.
EUROPE: Christianity reaches Chartres. St Adventinus is the first recorded bishop of Chartres. The first cathedral is built shortly afterwards.
|AD421 March25 EUROPE: The official date for the foundation of Venice.
|AD476 EUROPE: The last Roman emperor is overthrown by the first barbarian king of Italy, ending the Western Roman Empire.
|AD486 EUROPE: The Frankish kingdom is founded.
|c. AD500 ASIA: Oc-eo is a flourishing port in the Kingdom of Funan.
|AD534 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Byzantine people conquer North Africa.
|AD535 EUROPE: The Byzantines conquer Italy.
|AD568 EUROPE: The Lombard tribe invades Italy causing people in the northern Adriatic to flee to the marshlands on which Venice is later founded.
|c. AD600 AMERICAS: The rise of the Ayamara civilization in Bolivia begins.
|AD639 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Arab armies conquer Egypt.
|AD697 EUROPE: The various island communities of Venice are united for the first time under an elected leader, the 'doge.'
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Carthage is destroyed by Arab conquerors.
|AD711 EUROPE: The Muslim invasion of Spain.
|c. AD800 AMERICAS: The Wari tribe make the petroglyphs (carved boulders) at Toro Muerto in Arequipa district (present-day Peru).
EUROPE: Charlemagne, one of France's greatest early kings, is crowned Emperor of the Franks.
|AD809 EUROPE: Pepin, king of the Franks, attacks Venice.
|AD812 EUROPE: The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle gives Venice more independence from Byzantium, enabling Venice to become more powerful as an independent state.
|AD829 EUROPE: Venetian agents steal the remains of the body of St Mark from Alexandria in Egypt and bring it to Venice.
|AD830 EUROPE: The Basilica of St Mark is built to house the mortal remains of the Evangelist Mark.
|AD850 AMERICAS: The end of the first Maya civilization.
|AD858 EUROPE: The Vikings sack Chartres and burn the cathedral.
|AD871 EUROPE: Alfred the Great becomes king of England.
|c. AD889 - AD900 ASIA: Yasovarman I builds the city of Yasodharapura, the first of the cities of Angkor in Cambodia.
|1000 AMERICAS: The Vikings first arrive in North America.
|c. 1006 - 1050 ASIA: King Suryavarman I is responsible for the planning and foundations of much of the city that can be seen at Angkor today.
|1054 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Kingdom of Ghana in West Africa falls.
|1066 EUROPE: The Normans conquer England.
|c. 1150 ASIA: The temple of Angkor Wat is built by Suryavarman II in Angkor.
|c. 1200 AMERICAS: The Inca people become an established tribe in the Cuzco area.
ASIA: The Khmer Empire is at its height, covering most of Indo-China. A massive building program is underway at Angkor which is ruled by Jayavarman VII.
|1202 EUROPE: The Fourth Crusade is launched. The Venetians agree to ship 35,000 men to Palestine for a fee of 85,000 silver marks.
|1204 EUROPE: The Doge of Venice, Dandolo, leads the crusaders in the sack of Constantinople.
|1220 - 1440 ASIA: The Khmer Empire declines and the Thai Empire to the west of Kambuja becomes the dominant force in southeast Asia.
|1240 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Mali Empire in West Africa is founded.
|c. 1254 EUROPE: Marco Polo, the famous Venetian explorer is born.
|1271 - 1275 EUROPE: Marco Polo accompanies his father and uncle on a journey from Acre along the Silk Road into central Asia and to China.
|c. 1276 - 1368 ASIA: China comes under foreign rule for the first time when Genghis Khan's descendents breach the Great Wall and take control of China.
|1337 - 1350 EUROPE: The Hundred Years War between France and England.
|1345 AMERICAS: The Aztecs found Tenochtitlan in present-day Mexico.
|1347 - 1350 EUROPE: The Black Death devastates Europe.
|c. 1368 - 1644 ASIA: The Ming Dynasty rules China and builds much of the Great Wall.
|1431 ASIA: The Thais besiege Angkor, then take the city and loot it. The Khmers desert Angkor and move the capital to Phnom Penh.
EUROPE: Joan of Arc is burnt at the stake.
|1438 AMERICAS: Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui becomes the ninth Inca emperor and initiates the conquests which create the vast Inca Empire.
|1453 ASIA: The Ottoman Turks take Constantinople.
EUROPE: The end of the Hundred Years War.
|1492 AMERICAS: Christopher Columbus lands in the West Indies.
|1497 AMERICAS: John Cabot arrives on the shores of Newfoundland in Canada.
|1498 EUROPE: Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, sails to India around the Cape of Good Hope.
|1500s EUROPE: Ivan the Terrible retakes southern Russia from the Mongols. His capture of Kazan and Astrakhan opens the way to Siberia.
|1501 AMERICAS: The Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas lands in the area of present-day Panama in search of treasure.
|1513 AMERICAS: Vasco Nunez de Balboa reaches Pacific Ocean.
|1517 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Ottomans conquer Egypt.
|1519 - 1521 AMERICAS: Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztec Empire.
WORLD: First circumnavigation of the globe by the crew of Ferdinand Magellan who is killed in the Philippines.
|1519 EUROPE: The Protestant Reformation spreads from Germany to France and Lutheran works arrive in Paris.
|1532 AMERICAS: Francisco Pizarro arrives in Peru and captures the Inca emperor, Atahuallpa. Peru is rapidly conquered by the Spanish.
|1533 AMERICAS: The last Inca Emperor, Atahuallpa is executed by the Spanish.
|1535 AMERICAS: Pizarro begins building Lima.
|1547 EUROPE: Ivan the Terrible is crowned Tsar of Russia.
|1557 ASIA: The Portuguese found the colony of Macao in China.
|c. 1560 EUROPE: Calvinism, the Protestant religion formulated by the Swiss cleric John Calvin, is well established in France.
|1572 - 1596 AMERICAS: Sir Francis Drake raids Panama and seizes a great deal of treasure from the Spanish.
|1572 EUROPE: 3,000 Huguenots are massacred in Paris on the eve of St Bartholemew's Day.
|1577 - 1580 AMERICAS: Sir Francis Drake sails around the world.
|1582 ASIA: Hideyoshi Toyotomi breaks the power of the Shoguns and reunites Japan.
|1588 EUROPE: Sir Francis Drake and his fleet defeat the Spanish Armada.
|1607 AMERICAS: The first English colony is founded in Virginia.
|1612 ASIA: The British set up a trading post at Surat in Gujarat, establishing a permanent presence in India for the first time.
|1619 ASIA: The beginning of the Dutch Empire in the East Indies.
|1620 AMERICAS: The 'Mayflower' arrives in New England.
|1632 ASIA: Building of the Taj Mahal begins.
|1639 ASIA: Japan is closed to Europeans.
|1642 - 1649 EUROPE: The English Civil War is fought between the Puritans and the Royalists.
|1644 ASIA: The beginning of China's last dynasty, the Qing.
|c. 1646 ASIA: The Marathas begin to emerge as an increasingly powerful influence in India, as the Moguls decline.
|1648 EUROPE: The earliest mention of exile to Siberia in Russian legal documents.
|1652 AMERICAS: New Amsterdam (New York) is founded by the Dutch.
|1654 ASIA: The Taj Mahal is finished.
|1681 AMERICAS: The British found the colony of Pennsylvania.
|1682 EUROPE: Peter the Great becomes Tsar of Russia.
|1707 EUROPE: England and Scotland are united as one country by the Act of Union.
|1710 AMERICAS: Nova Scotia is captured by the British from the French.
|1720 ASIA: The Chinese invade Tibet.
|1739 ASIA: The ailing Mogul Empire is unable to repel an attack from Nadir Shah of Persia, who sacks Delhi.
|c. 1750 EUROPE: The beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
|1758 - 1760 AMERICAS: The British take French Canada.
|1762 EUROPE: Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia.
|1775 AMERICAS: The American War of Independence begins.
|1783 AMERICAS: The US achieve independence from Britain.
|1787 AMERICAS: The British colonize Australia.
|1787 - 1789 AMERICAS: The US constitution is drafted.
|1789 EUROPE: The French Revolution begins.
|1793 EUROPE: Execution of Louis XVI of France by guillotine.
|1798 July 1 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Napoleon invades Egypt.
|1799 EUROPE: Napoleon comes to power with the Coup d'etat of 18 Brumaire.
|1803 ASIA: Delhi and Agra fall to the British under General Lake.
EUROPE: The first steam locomotive is built by Richard Trevithick in England.
ASIA: Russia and Britain attempt to trade with Japan, but are rebuffed by the Japanese.
|1809 AMERICAS: Ecuador becomes independent from Spanish rule.
|1810 AMERICAS: Chile becomes independent from Spanish rule.
|1811 AMERICAS: Paraguay becomes independent from Spain.
|1815 EUROPE: The Battle of Waterloo ends with Napoleon's defeat, marking the end of his power.
|1819 ASIA: The British acquire Singapore.
|1820 AMERICAS: The South American colonies rebel against their Spanish rulers. Jose de San Martin liberates Argentina and Chile.
|1821 AMERICAS: Peru declares independence.
Simon Bolivar liberates Venezuela and Colombia.
Mexico declares independence.
|1822 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Liberia in West Africa is founded.
AMERICAS: Brazil declares independence.
|1825 EUROPE: The first railway is built from Stockton to Darlington in England by George Stephenson.
|1830 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The French begin the conquest of Algeria.
EUROPE: Liberal revolutions in France, Poland, Belgium and Italy.
|1834 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Slavery is ended in the British colonies in Africa.
AMERICAS: Slavery in the British West Indies is ended.
|1835 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The beginning of the Great Trek north by the Boers in southern Africa.
|1836 EUROPE: Tsar Nicholas I's private rail line from St Petersburg to Tsarkoye Selo (Pushkin) is the first railway built in Russia.
|1837 EUROPE: The beginning of Queen Victoria of England's reign.
|1838 AMERICAS: The first steamship crosses the Atlantic.
|1839 - 1842 ASIA: The Chinese attempt to destroy England's illegal opium trade. This sparks off the Opium War between China and Britain. Five Chinese ports are opened to British trade.
|1840 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The independent Republic of Natal in Africa is proclaimed by the Boers.
Matabeleland (present-day Zimbabwe) in Africa is founded by Mzilikazi.
AMERICAS: The Canada Act of Union is passed.
|1841 ASIA: Hong Kong is ceded to the British.
|1845 - 1850 EUROPE: The potato famine in Ireland leaves 1 million dead. Another 2 million emigrate to the United States between 1847 and 1861.
|1848 EUROPE: The 'Communist Manifesto' written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels is published.
Revolutions take place throughout Europe, including France and Venice.
|1851 - 1855 AMERICAS: The Panama Railroad, linking Panama City to the Atlantic side of the isthmus, is built.
|1852 - 1856 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: George Livingstone travels across Africa.
|1857 ASIA: France invades Vietnam, aiming to win the race with England to take control of the Indo-Chinese peninsula.
|1857 - 1858 ASIA: The first Indian Mutiny against the British.
|1859 AMERICAS: The first oil well is drilled in Pennsylvania.
|1859 - 1869 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Construction of the Suez Canal.
|1860 ASIA: Henri Mahout, a French botanist, discovers the Angkor ruins.
|1861 EUROPE: Serfs in Russia are given their freedom.
Victor Emanuel II is the first king of a united Italy.
|1861 - 1865 AMERICAS: The American Civil War is fought.
|1862 ASIA: Cochin-China becomes a French colony.
|1863 AMERICAS: Slaves are emancipated in the United States.
ASIA: Cambodia is established as a French protectorate.
|1864 - 1867 AMERICAS: The French occupy Mexico.
|1866 EUROPE: Austria is defeated by Prussia. The Kingdom of Italy is formed in which Venice is included.
|1867 EUROPE: Marx's most important work, 'Das Kapital' is published.
|1868 EUROPE: The first Trades Union Congress is held in Britain.
|1869 AMERICAS: The first women's suffrage is granted in Wyoming, USA.
|1870 EUROPE: Prussia defeats France in the Franco-Prussian War.
|1874 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The British establish the Gold Coast colony (later Ghana) in West Africa.
|1876 AMERICAS: The first telephones are made in the United States.
|1877 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Transvaal is annexed by the British.
|1880 - 1881 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The First Boer War sees the defeat of the British by the Dutch settlers.
|1881 EUROPE: Alexander II of Russia is assassinated.
|1882 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Egypt is occupied by Britain.
|1884 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Togoland, Cameroons and South-West Africa are taken by Germany.
|1885 ASIA: The Indian National Congress is founded.
|1885 - 1890 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: East Africa is partitioned by Britain and Germany.
|1891 EUROPE: The Trans-Siberian railway is begun.
|1894 EUROPE: Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia.
ASIA: Japan assumes control over Korea.
|1898 AMERICAS: The Americans acquire the Philippines, Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico from the Spanish who are defeated in the Spanish-American War.
|1899 - 1902 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The British defeat the Boers in the Second Boer War through the use of concentration camps.
|1900 ASIA: Peasants in Northern China revolt against the Manchus and foreign influence in the Boxer Rebellion.
Indian opposition to the British increases and the Congress, which advocates some measure of self-rule in India, becomes more vocal.
|1901 ASIA: The Commonwealth of Australia is created.
The United States takes control of the Philippines.
|1901 - 1910 AMERICAS: Nine million people emigrate to the United States.
|1902 AMERICAS: Cuba is proclaimed a republic.
ASIA: Japan forms an alliance with Britain to stem Russian advances into East Asia.
|1903 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The British occupy Sokoto (later Nigeria).
AMERICAS: A treaty is drawn up in Washington giving the US a 99-year-old lease over the Panama Canal Zone.
The Wright brothers make the first powered aircraft flight.
|1904 AMERICAS: The National Panama Canal Corporation sells its holdings to the US and plans for construction of the Panama Canal get underway.
|1904 February 8 EUROPE: The Japanese attack the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, starting the Russo-Japanese War.
|1905 ASIA: The Japanese and Russians agree to an American-mediated peace after the Russian Baltic Fleet is defeated at Tsushima.
|1908 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Belgians take the Congo Free State (later Zaire).
|1909 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Oil is discovered in Iran.
|1910 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Union of South Africa is formed.
ASIA: Japan annexes Korea.
|1911 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Libya is conquered by Italy.
AMERICAS: An American explorer, Hiram Bingham, discovers Machu Picchu.
ASIA: A revolution in China overthrows the Qing Dynasty and a republic is proclaimed by Sun Yat-sen.
|1912 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The African National Congress is founded.
|1913 AMERICAS: The first Ford car rolls off the production line.
|1914 AMERICAS: The Panama Canal opens.
|1914 - 1918 World War I.
|1914 August 1 EUROPE: The Germans declare war on Russia and World War I begins.
|1915 ASIA: Mohandas Gandhi returns to India from South Africa and begins campaigning for Indian independence.
|1916 EUROPE: The Trans-Siberian is completed with the building of the bridge over the Amur River.
|1917 November 6 EUROPE: The Russian Revolution ends the monarchy.
|1918 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The British take Syria.
|1919 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Arab uprising in Egypt.
AMERICAS: Britons John Alcock and Arthur Brown are the first to fly the Atlantic.
ASIA: The British army fires on a crowd of protesters at Amritsar. Gandhi begins his policy of passive resistance against British rule.
|1919 June 28 EUROPE: The Treaty of Versailles ends World War I.
|1920 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Mustafa Kemal leads the Turkish Revolution.
ASIA: Gandhi is dominant in the Indian Congress.
EUROPE: The League of Nations is formed.
|1921 ASIA: The Chinese Communist Party is founded.
|1922 EUROPE: Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is announced.
|1923 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Ottoman Empire ends. France is given Syria and Britain is given Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan as League of Nation mandates.
|1924 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: North Rhodesia is made a British protectorate.
|1924 January 21 EUROPE: Lenin dies and is succeeded by Stalin.
|1926 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Republic of Lebanon is established by France.
|1927 - 1937 ASIA: The Chinese Civil War between the Communist and Nationalist forces.
|1929 October 24, AMERICAS: Wall Street Crash ('Black Thursday') and
|Thursday beginning of the Great Depression.
|1929 - 1933 EUROPE: The Great Depression causes terrible economic hardship all over Europe.
|1930 January 22 AMERICAS: Construction of the Empire State Building in New York begins.
|1932 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Saudi Arabia is formed.
|1932 May 2 AMERICAS: The Empire State Building and its observatories are first opened to the public.
|1933 EUROPE: Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany.
|1934 - 1935 ASIA: The Long March across China by the Communist forces. Mao Zedong emerges as a senior Communist leader.
|1935 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Abyssinia (Ethiopia) is invaded by Italy.
ASIA: The Philippines are granted independence.
|1937 - 1945 ASIA: The Sino-Japanese War.
|1939 - 1945 World War II.
|1939 September 1 EUROPE: Germany and the Soviet Union attack Poland. World War II begins.
|1940 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The British recapture Somalia, Eritrea and Abyssinia from the Italians.
|1940 May EUROPE: The Nazis invade France.
|1941 June 22 EUROPE: Germany invades the Soviet Union.
|1941 December 7 AMERICAS: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and the United States enters World War II.
|1941 December 8 ASIA: The Japanese invade the Philippines and southeast Asia.
|1942 February 15 ASIA: The British lose Singapore to the Japanese.
|1942 May 8 The Japanese southward advance is halted at the Battle of the Coral Sea.
|1943 January The surrender of the German forces at Stalingrad signal the beginning of the end for the Nazis.
|1944 June 6 EUROPE: The liberation of France begins with the Allied invasion of Normandy.
|1945 AMERICAS: The United Nations is created in San Francisco to negotiate and solve international disputes.
ASIA: Muslim-Hindu fighting in India increases.
|1945 May 9 EUROPE: World War II ends in the European theater.
|1945 August 6 EUROPE: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
|1945 August 8 ASIA: The Soviets declare war on Japan and invade Manchuria and Korea; the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin are seized.
|1945 August 9 ASIA: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
|1945 September 2 ASIA: Japan surrenders and World War II is officially ended.
Civil war in China.
|1946 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Jordan receives independence from Britain.
EUROPE:The Italian monarchy is abolished and Italy is proclaimed a republic.
|1947 ASIA: India is divided into India and Pakistan. Britain grants India independence in August.
Laos is granted independence from the French and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the British.
|1948 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The State of Israel is established.
Apartheid legislation in South Africa is passed.
EUROPE: The Cold War between the West and the Soviet Bloc begins with the Berlin Blockade.
|1948 January 30 ASIA: Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.
Burma is granted independence from Britain.
|1949 October ASIA: The People's Republic of China is founded when the Communist Red Army defeats the Nationalists.
Indonesia is granted independence from the Dutch.
|1950 - 1951 ASIA: China conquers Tibet.
|1950 - 1953 ASIA: The Korean War pits the United States, South Korea and the UN against North Korea and China.
|1952 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Egypt proclaims itself a republic.
|1953 AMERICAS: The anti-communist McCarthy era begins in the United States.
ASIA: Cambodia receives full independence from France.
|1954 ASIA: The Geneva Conference on Indo-China is held to try to avert the expansion of communism in the region.
North Vietnam wins independence from France after the French are defeated at Dien Bien Phu.
|1956 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Britain, France and Israel attack Egypt after Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal.
|1957 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Ghana becomes first African country to achieve independence from a colonial power.
ASIA: Civil war begins in Vietnam.
EUROPE: The Soviet Union launches 'Sputnik,' the first satellite in space.
|1959 AMERICAS: The Cuban Revolution brings Fidel Castro to power.
|1960 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: South Africa becomes a republic.
The African National Congress is banned.
|1960 - 1975 ASIA: The North Vietnamese Army infiltrates South Vietnam.
|1961 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) is set up.
ASIA: The United States enters the Vietnam War.
|1961 August EUROPE: The Berlin Wall is built.
|1963 November 22 AMERICAS: John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.
|1964 AMERICAS: The US Civil Rights Act is passed.
AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.
|1966 - 1976 ASIA: The Cultural Revolution in China.
|1967 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War.
EUROPE: The European Economic Community (EEC) is formed.
|1968 April 4 AMERICAS: Martin Luther King Jr is assassinated in Memphis.
|1969 July 20 AMERICAS: Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon.
|1969 - 1973 ASIA: The United States conducts a secret bombing campaign of eastern Cambodia, aiming to wipe out Vietnamese communist camps in the area.
|1970 AMERICAS: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, under construction, surpass the Empire State Building in height.
ASIA: South Vietnamese and US forces invade Cambodia on May 1.
|1971 ASIA: Bangladesh is formed.
|1973 ASIA: US forces withdraw from Vietnam.
|1974 AMERICAS: The Watergate Scandal brings down the Nixon government.
|1975 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Mozambique and Angola become independent.
|1975 April 30 ASIA: Phnom Penh is taken by the revolutionary forces of the Khmer Rouge who set up the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea.
Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese and the Independent Socialist Republic of Vietnam is proclaimed.
|1976 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The October (Yom Kippur) War between the United Arab Republic and Israel.
ASIA: Mao Zedong dies.
|1977 ASIA: Deng Xiaoping takes over the leadership of China.
|1978 ASIA: Vietnam invades Kampuchea.
|1979 AMERICAS: Civil wars in Nicaraguan and El Salvador begin.
ASIA: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
The Khmer Rouge are overthrown by the Vietnamese who replace the government in Phnom Penh.
|1979 March 26 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty is signed.
The Shah of Iran is deposed and militant Iranian students hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
|1980 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The war between Iran and Iraq begins.
EUROPE: The beginning of the Solidarity movement in Poland.
|1981 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: President Sadat of Egypt is assassinated.
|1982 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Lebanon is invaded by Israel and the PLO is forced to withdraw from Beirut.
|1984 ASIA: An agreement is signed whereby Britain will hand Hong Kong back to China in 1997.
Indira Gandhi is assassinated and succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi.
|1985 EUROPE: Gorbachev becomes leader of the USSR and begins a radical reform program.
|1986 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Libya is bombed by the United States in retaliation for apparent support of terrorists.
|1987 December AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: The 'Intifada' begins in the Israeli Occupied Territories.
|1989 December 20 AMERICAS: American troops invade Panama to overthrow General Manuel Noriega. For the first time in the canal's history it is closed for a day to avoid damage to commercial ships.
ASIA: The civil war in Cambodia ends and Vietnamese troops withdraw from Cambodia.
|1989 June 4 ASIA: The Chinese government crushes the student pro-democracy movement by sending tanks into Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
|1989 - 1992 EUROPE: The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the break-up of the Soviet Union.
|1990 August 1 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Iraq invades Kuwait.
|1991 January 17 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: Operation Desert Storm recaptures Kuwait from Iraq, ending the Gulf War.
|1991 October ASIA: A peace accord ends the war between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Prince Sihanouk returns to Cambodia and negotiations are made for a new coalition government.
|1992 AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST: F W De Klerk introduces reforms open the way for majority rule and the abolition of apartheid in South Africa.
