Prehistoric Era (c.
315,000 – 3000 BCE)
Origins of Homo sapiens
Anatomically modern humans first emerged in Africa more than 315,000 years ago, as evidenced
by fossil remains from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco Encyclopedia Britannica.
Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherers
From roughly 2.5 million to 10,000 BCE, humans lived in small, mobile bands, crafting basic
stone and bone tools and harnessing fire for cooking, protection, and social gatherings
HISTORY.
These groups developed intricate ecological knowledge—tracking game migrations, foraging
wild plants, and creating early art such as cave paintings—laying the cognitive foundations for
later cultural complexity HISTORY.
Neolithic Revolution
Beginning around 10,000 BCE, agriculture arose independently in multiple regions: the Fertile
Crescent, China’s Yellow River valley, and Mesoamerica, among others Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Domestication of plants (wheat, barley) and animals (sheep, goats) enabled sedentary villages
like Çatalhöyük (Turkey) and Abu Hureyra (Syria), fostering pottery, weaving, social
stratification, and population growth Encyclopedia Britannica.
Ancient Civilizations (c. 3200 – 500 BCE)
Mesopotamia: Cradle of Writing
By 3200 BCE the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia had developed cuneiform script to record
transactions, laws, and myths, first at Uruk and soon at Kish and other city-states Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Sumerian innovations—the wheel, plow, irrigation, and the Code of Ur-Nammu—laid the
groundwork for Babylonian and Assyrian empires that would dominate the region for millennia
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Egyptian Civilization
Around 3100 BCE, King Menes (also called Narmer) united Upper and Lower Egypt, founding
the First Dynasty and establishing Memphis as the capital Encyclopedia Britannica.
Egyptians perfected hieroglyphic writing, monumental pyramid and temple architecture, and
complex religious beliefs centered on the afterlife and the pharaoh’s divine role Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Indus Valley
From about 2600–1900 BCE, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in present-day Pakistan thrived as
well-planned urban centers with grid streets, advanced drainage, and standardized bricks—
indicative of centralized governance and long-distance trade Encyclopedia Britannica.
Early China
The Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) used oracle bones (jiaguwen) for divination and record-
keeping, signaling the earliest known Chinese writing system Encyclopedia Britannica.
Bronze-casting technology, ancestor worship, and the Mandate of Heaven concept underpinned
dynastic rule that would evolve through Zhou, Qin, and Han periods Encyclopedia Britannica.
Classical Civilizations (500 BCE – 500 CE)
Ancient Greece
Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, city-states like Athens and Sparta experimented with
governance, culminating in Athenian democracy under Cleisthenes in 508 BCE Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Greek thinkers—Socrates, Plato, Aristotle—laid intellectual foundations in philosophy, science,
and political theory that resonate to this day.
Roman Republic and Empire
Founded in 509 BCE after overthrowing its last king, the Roman Republic developed a mixed
constitution, codified laws (Twelve Tables), and expansive road networks Encyclopedia
Britannica.
By 27 BCE Augustus had established the Roman Empire, which at its height spanned Europe,
North Africa, and West Asia, unifying the Mediterranean under Pax Romana Encyclopedia
Britannica.
Maurya and Gupta India
Under Ashoka (reign c. 265–238 BCE), the Mauryan Empire embraced Buddhism and
nonviolence after the bloody Kalinga war, spreading Buddhist teachings across Asia
Encyclopedia Britannica.
The Gupta “Golden Age” (c. 320–550 CE) saw breakthroughs in mathematics (the concept of
zero), astronomy, medicine, and Sanskrit literature Encyclopedia Britannica.
Han Dynasty China
From 206 BCE to 220 CE, Han emperors institutionalized Confucian bureaucracy, expanded the
Silk Road, and promoted paper invention and cartography, cementing China’s imperial structure
for centuries Encyclopedia Britannica.
Post-Classical Era (500 – 1500 CE)
Islamic Golden Age
Between the 8th and 13th centuries, Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad founded the House of Wisdom,
translating Greek, Persian, and Indian texts and advancing algebra, astronomy, and medicine
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Caliph al-Ma’mūn patronized scholars, built observatories, and systematized knowledge that
would later flow into Europe and spark the Renaissance Encyclopedia Britannica.
Medieval Europe and Byzantium
Feudalism, the manorial system, and the Catholic Church defined Western Europe after Rome’s
fall; by the 12th century, universities and Gothic cathedrals signified new intellectual and artistic
energy.
Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire preserved Roman law (Justinian Code) and Orthodox
Christianity, acting as a bridge between Europe and the Islamic world.
African Kingdoms
West African empires of Ghana (c. 300–1200 CE), Mali (c. 1230–1600 CE), and Songhai (c.
1430–1591 CE) thrived on trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, and ivory, with Timbuktu emerging
as a renowned center of Islamic scholarship.
East Asia
The Tang (618–907 CE) and Song (960–1279 CE) dynasties ushered in printing, gunpowder, and
a cosmopolitan culture that spread along Silk Road routes and maritime networks.
Mesoamerica and Andes
The Maya (c. 2000 BCE–900 CE), Aztec (c. 1345–1521 CE), and Inca (c. 1438–1533 CE) built
stepped pyramids, developed complex calendars, and organized large empires despite lacking
metal tools or wheeled vehicles.
Early Modern Era (1500 – 1800 CE)
Renaissance and Reformation
Beginning in 14th-century Italy, humanist scholars revived Classical learning, fueling
innovations in art (da Vinci, Michelangelo), science (Galileo), and literature; by the 16th century,
Martin Luther’s 95 Theses sparked the Protestant Reformation Encyclopedia Britannica.
Age of Discovery
From Columbus’s 1492 voyage to Magellan’s circumnavigation (1519–22), European powers
established global maritime empires, initiating the Columbian Exchange that reshaped
ecosystems and diets worldwide .
Scientific Revolution
The 16th–17th centuries saw Copernicus’s heliocentric model, Galileo’s telescopic observations,
and Newton’s laws of motion, transforming views of the cosmos and laying the groundwork for
modern physics .
Modern Era (1800 CE – Present)
Industrial Revolution
From Watt’s 1769 patent on the separate condenser steam engine through 19th-century
mechanization, factories, railroads, and urbanization reconfigured economies, social structures,
and environments Encyclopedia Britannica.
Political Revolutions and Nation-States
The late 18th and 19th centuries witnessed the American, French, and Latin American
revolutions, whose ideals of liberty and nationalism reshaped governance worldwide.
World Wars and Decolonization
WWI (1914–18) and WWII (1939–45) redrew borders and precipitated decolonization, leading
to new nations in Africa and Asia. The Cold War (1947–1991) divided the globe ideologically
and sparked a space race.
Contemporary Globalization
Since the 1990s, the Internet, global supply chains, and multinational institutions have
intertwined economies and cultures, even as climate change and technological ethics pose urgent
challenges for our shared future.
Timeline Highlights
Period Date (BCE/CE) Milestone
Oldest modern human fossils in Morocco
First Homo sapiens c. 315,000 BCE
Encyclopedia Britannica
c. 2.5 M – 10 k
Paleolithic tools Early stone and bone tools, control of fire HISTORY
BCE
Domestication of plants/animals; sites like Abu
Neolithic villages 10,000 BCE
Hureyra Encyclopedia Britannica
Sumerian writing c. 3200 BCE Cuneiform at Uruk and Kish Encyclopedia Britannica
Menes unites Upper & Lower Egypt Encyclopedia
Egyptian unification c. 3100 BCE
Britannica
Athenian democracy 508 BCE Reforms of Cleisthenes Encyclopedia Britannica
Fall of Western Rome 476 CE Romulus Augustulus deposed
Gutenberg’s printing
1440 CE Movable type in Europe
press
Columbus reaches
1492 CE Initiates global Columbian Exchange
Americas
Watt’s steam engine
1769 CE Separate condenser engine Encyclopedia Britannica
patent
First programmable 1940 CE Turing’s prototype
Period Date (BCE/CE) Milestone
computer
Internet becomes public 1991 CE World Wide Web launched
