2100 BCE
Code of Ur-Nammu
Sumer’s Ur-Nammu issues the oldest known written law code. Source — Wikipedia:
Chronological Storyline (11 Milestones)
1754 BCE
Code of Hammurabi
Babylon’s Hammurabi inscribes a comprehensive public law code on a stone stele. Source — Wikipedia:
450 BCE
Roman Twelve Tables
Rome publishes the Twelve Tables, making law public and the basis of Western jurisprudence. Source — Wikipedia:
221 BCE
Qin standardisation
Qin Shi Huang unifies China’s weights, measures, currency and script, enabling centralised administration. Source — Wikipedia:
529 CE
Justinian’s legal code
The Corpus Juris Civilis systematises Roman law, shaping civil-law systems worldwide. Source — Wikipedia:
605 CE
Chinese imperial examinations
Sui/Tang China institutes merit examinations (keju) to staff its bureaucracy. Source — Wikipedia:
1215 CE
Magna Carta
Magna Carta limits royal power and seeds constitutional and parliamentary government. Source — Wikipedia:
1799 CE
The metric system
Revolutionary France adopts the metric system, a universal standard of weights and measures. Source — Wikipedia:
1804 CE
Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Code modernises civil law and is exported across the world. Source — Wikipedia:
2014 CE
Digital identity (e-Residency)
Estonia launches e-Residency and digital ID, pioneering paperless e-government. Source — Wikipedia:
2015 CE
Smart contracts (Ethereum)
Ethereum enables self-executing smart contracts, programmable law on a blockchain. Source — Wikipedia: