Encyclopedia/3. History, Societies & Civilizations/10. World Civilizations & Modern History • Curated by Admin Timeline.sg
Exploration · Colonialism · the Industrial Revolution · the World Wars · the Cold War · Globalization · the Digital Era · Pandemics · the 21st Century
Chronological Storyline (32 Milestones)
Jul 11, 1405 CE
Zheng He's first voyage launches
Chinese Admiral Zheng He began the first of seven massive maritime expeditions across the Indian Ocean, projecting Ming power and facilitating trade as far as East Africa decades before European exploration. Source — Wikipedia:
This is a photo of a monument in Malaysia, identified by ID By Marcin Konsek - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51927875
Oct 12, 1492 CE
Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus's expedition, funded by Spain, made landfall in the Bahamas, initiating sustained European contact with the Americas and beginning centuries of colonization and demographic collapse. Source — Wikipedia:
Columbus reaches the Americas By Sebastiano del Piombo - This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27554267Columbus - Into the New World Documentary
Sep 20, 1519 CE
Magellan's expedition circumnavigates the globe
Ferdinand Magellan's Spanish-funded expedition became the first to circumnavigate the Earth, fundamentally transforming global trade networks and European geographical understanding. Source — Wikipedia:
Half-length portrait of a bearded Ferdinand Magellan (circa 1480-1521) facing front. By Unknown author - The Mariner's Museum Collection, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44265
Aug 1, 1619 CE
First enslaved Africans arrive in Virginia
A Dutch ship brought approximately twenty enslaved Africans to the English colony of Virginia, marking the beginning of chattel slavery in British North America. Source — Wikipedia:
Map of the 13 colonies; numbers = numbers of slaves (1770), colors = percentage of population enslaved. Data Sources: http://merrill.olm.net/mdocs/pop/colonies/colonies.htm (dead link) Ira Berlin: Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves (2003) [page needed, a search for the oddly-specific number "75,178" yields no result[1] By Stilfehler - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4889971
Jun 23, 1757 CE
Battle of Plassey establishes British rule in India
The British East India Company defeated the Nawab of Bengal, laying the foundation for British colonial dominance over the Indian subcontinent. Source — Wikipedia:
Battle of Plassey establishes British rule in India By Francis Hayman - http://www.sterlingtimes.org/memorable_images56.htm (http://www.sterlingtimes.org/clive_of_india.jpg) NPG link: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw01347/Robert-Clive-and-Mir-Jafar-after-the-Battle-of-Plassey-1757 Current image source [1], Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=565912
1760 CE
Industrial Revolution begins in Britain
Britain experienced a transition to mechanized production and new manufacturing processes, transforming the economy and society with innovations like the steam engine and mechanized textile production. Source — Wikipedia:
Illustration of power loom weaving. By Illustrator T. Allom, Engraver J. Tingle - History of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain by Sir Edward Baines,, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9430141
Jul 4, 1776 CE
United States Declaration of Independence
The thirteen American colonies declared independence from Britain, inspiring anti-colonial movements worldwide with Enlightenment principles of self-government. Source — Wikipedia:
This is a high-resolution image of the United States Declaration of Independence (article - text). This image is a version of the 1823 William Stone facsimile — Stone may well have used a wet pressing process (that removed ink from the original document onto a contact sheet for the purpose of making the engraving). By original: w:Second Continental Congress; reproduction: William Stone - numerous, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=621811
Aug 22, 1791 CE
Haitian Revolution begins
Enslaved people in Saint-Domingue rose in revolt, launching the only successful slave rebellion in history that led to the founding of Haiti as the first free Black republic. Source — Wikipedia:
Burning of the Plaine du Cap. Massacre of whites by the blacks. On August 22 1791, slaves revolted against their white masters, set fire to plantations and torched cities. By Aaron Martinet / Alphonse-Charles Masson, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145854632
1839 CE
First Opium War erupts
Britain went to war against Qing China to force the continuation of the opium trade, resulting in a humiliating Chinese defeat and the ceding of Hong Kong. Source — Wikipedia:
The East India Company iron steam ship Nemesis, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Hall, with boats from the Sulphur, Calliope, Larne and Starling, destroying the Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, on 7 January 1841. An engagement in the First Opium War (1839-42), showing the ‘Nemesis’ (right background, in starboard broadside view) attacking a fleet of Chinese war junks in the middle ground. The war junk third from the left is shown being destroyed with splinters flying up into the air. Two rowing boats with Chinese passengers ew from the left foreground. Various men can be seen overboard and clinging on to debris throughout the scene. The lettering below includes lists of dimensions. PAH8193 and PAH8893 are additional copies, both hand-coloured, and the print is from an oil painting by Duncan presented to the Williamson Art Gallery at Birkenhead in 1925, with another showing Prince Albert visiting iron ships off Woolwich Dockyard. They were a gift from Alderman J.W.P. Laird, one of the Birkenhead shipbuilding family who built the 'Nemesis' and others of the vessels shown in them. On 7 January 1841, the 'Nemesis' of the Bombay Marine (the East India Company's naval service), commanded by William Hutcheon Hall, with boats from the ‘Sulphur’, ‘Calliope’, ‘Larne’ and ‘Starling’, destroyed Chinese war junks in Anson's Bay, Chuenpee, near the Bocca Tigris forts guarding the mouth of the Pearl River up to Canton. British forces then captured the forts themselves. Hall was a Royal Naval master at the time. He had steam experience and had been privately engaged by John Laird to command the 'Nemesis', which the latter had built experimentally as the first fully iron warship, and was so successful in it in China that in 1841 he was specially commissioned as a Naval lieutenant. He went on to later Royal Naval service as a captain in the Crimean War and was a retired admiral at his death in 1875. His portrait (BHC2733) and papers are also in the Museum collection. By Edward Duncan - http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/opium_wars_01/ow1_gallery/pages/1841_0792_nemesis_jm_nmm.htm, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5520025
Nov 15, 1884 CE
Berlin Conference partitions Africa
European powers convened to establish rules for the colonization of Africa, leading to the rapid carving up of the continent without African representation. Source — Wikipedia:
Drawing of the participants in the Berlin conference in 1884. By Adalbert von Roessler - Über Land und Meer. Allgemeine Illustrierte Zeitung, Jg. 27 (Oktober 1884-1885), Bd. 53, Nr. 14, 308)., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4259336
Jul 28, 1914 CE
World War I begins
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered a global conflict that killed millions and dismantled four empires, reshaping the political map of Europe and the Middle East. Source — Wikipedia:
French soldiers moving into attack from their trench during the Battle of Verdun, 1916. By Collection DocAnciens/docpix.fr - www.docpix.fr, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45603415World War One: rare archive footage from the start of war in 1914
Nov 7, 1917 CE
Russian Revolution overthrows the Tsar
The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, establishing the world's first communist state and creating an ideological divide that would define much of the 20th century. Source — Wikipedia:
After the capture of the Winter Palace. Petrograd. 26 October (7 Nov.) 1917. Photo by P. Novitsky By Pyotr Novitsky - https://russiainphoto.ru/search/years_1860-1999/?author_ids=222, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59250498
1918 CE
Spanish Flu pandemic kills millions worldwide
An influenza pandemic infected roughly a third of the world's population and killed an estimated 50 million people, profoundly impacting post-WWI global society. Source — Wikipedia:
Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas. Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic (NCP 1603), National Museum of Health and Medicine. Description: Beds with patients in an emergency hospital in Camp Funston, Kansas, in the midst of the influenza epidemic. The flu struck while America was at war, and was transported across the Atlantic on troop ships. Date: circa 1918 Photo ID: NCP 1603 Source Collection: OHA 250: New Contributed Photographs Collection, Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine. Rights: No known restrictions upon publication, physical copy retained by the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Publication and high resolution requests should be directed to NMHM (www.medicalmuseum.mil). This is our most-requested flu photograph. It may be on another or our Flickr pages. By Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine - Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic (NCP 1603), National Museum of Health and Medicine. https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20190923/mxfctter-museum-to-mark-historic-influenza-pandemic/1, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25513204
Oct 24, 1929 CE
Great Depression begins with Wall Street Crash
The collapse of the U.S. stock market triggered a worldwide economic depression that devastated global trade and destabilized political systems across multiple continents. Source — Wikipedia:
A solemn crowd gathers outside the Stock Exchange after the crash. 1929. By US-gov - From an SSA poster: http://www.ssa.gov/history/wallst.html (dead link) Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20001214081300/http://www.ssa.gov/history/wallst.html, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=374410
Sep 1, 1939 CE
World War II begins
Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland triggered a global war that killed an estimated 70-85 million people and ended with the use of atomic weapons, reshaping global power structures. Source — Wikipedia:
For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. German Stuka dive bombers over the Eastern Front, World War II. A destroyed city is seen in the foreground (below the Junkers Ju 87s) By Richard Opitz - This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5477308German Invasion of Poland in 1939 | Captured German Film | World War 2 Documentary
Oct 24, 1945 CE
United Nations founded
The UN was established to maintain international peace and security after WWII, becoming the primary forum for global diplomacy and decolonization. Source — Wikipedia:
Flag of the United Nations By See File history below for details. Denelson83, Zscout370 ve Madden - Flag of the United Nations from the Open Clip Art website. Modifications by Denelson83, Zscout370 and Madden. Official construction sheet here.(1946-present United Nations) The United Nations flag code and regulations, as amended November 11, 1952, New York. Archived from the original on 13 September 2001. Retrieved on 2 December 2023. OCLC: 7548838., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=437460
Aug 15, 1947 CE
India gains independence and partition
Britain's withdrawal from the subcontinent created the independent nations of India and Pakistan, displacing roughly 15 million people in one of history's largest migrations. Source — Wikipedia:
Map "Prevailing Religions of the British Indian Empire, 1909" Key: Pink Hindu Green Muslim Diagonal lines Sikh (small area in Punjab) Yellow Buddhist (Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts) Blue Christian (Goa) Purple Animist (several inland hilly areas) The Andaman islands are not mapped. By John George Bartholomew - The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Oxford University Press, 1909. Scanned from personal copy and annotated by me (Fowler&fowler«Talk» 04:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC)), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2786767
Oct 1, 1949 CE
People's Republic of China established
The Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, proclaimed the founding of the PRC, bringing a quarter of humanity under communist rule and reshaping Cold War geopolitics. Source — Wikipedia:
Obtained the original monochromatic photograph of Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, proclaiming the People's Republic of China on 1 October, 1949 By Orihara1 - Own work, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36210407
Apr 18, 1955 CE
Bandung Conference launches Non-Aligned Movement
Twenty-nine Asian and African nations met in Indonesia to promote cooperation and oppose colonialism, laying the groundwork for the Non-Aligned Movement. Source — Wikipedia:
Plenary session during the Bandung Conference. By Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Indonesia - Bandung bulletin, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89192468
Mar 6, 1957 CE
Ghana becomes first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence
Under Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's independence from Britain sparked a wave of decolonization across Africa, transforming the continent's political landscape. Source — Wikipedia: )
Flag of Ghana By Theodosia Okoh - Republic of Ghana, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=343073
Aug 13, 1961 CE
Berlin Wall constructed
East Germany erected the Berlin Wall, physically dividing the city and becoming the most potent symbol of the Cold War's Iron Curtain for nearly three decades. Source — Wikipedia:
This image of the Berlin Wall was taken in 1986 by Thierry Noir at Bethaniendamm in Berlin-Kreuzberg. By Noir - Own work, https://thierrynoir.com/biography/essays/berlin-wall/, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1402275
Dec 18, 1978 CE
China launches economic reforms
The Chinese Communist Party initiated market-oriented reforms under Deng Xiaoping, transforming China from a command economy into a global economic powerhouse. Source — Wikipedia:
2011 深圳 莲花山顶－邓小平头像 By 张元柏 - https://web.archive.org/web/20161020135057/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/55033171, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53649922
1982 CE
Latin American debt crisis erupts
Mexico's default on its debt triggered a continent-wide financial crisis, ending the era of import-substitution industrialization and leading to structural adjustment programs across Latin America. Source — Wikipedia:
Crude oil prices from 1861 to 2011 (1861-1944 WTI, 1945-1983 Arabian Light, 1984-2011 Brent) (yearly average in US dollars per barrel) By Jashuah - Own work by uploader, data from BP workbook of historical data, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20745151
Nov 9, 1989 CE
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The opening of the Berlin Wall signaled the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe and the impending end of the Cold War. Source — Wikipedia:
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989. The photo shows a part of a public photo documentation wall at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. The photo documentation is permanently placed in the public. By Unknown photographer, Reproduction by Lear 21 at English Wikipedia. - Original photo by unknown author. Reproduction from public documentation/memorial by Lear 21 at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3692038The Fall of the Berlin Wall – Rare and Unseen Footage (1989)
1990 CE
World Wide Web invented
Tim Berners-Lee at CERN invented the World Wide Web, creating the foundational technology for the digital era and the global information revolution. Source — Wikipedia:
Chrome on Linux By Liamd967 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136836404
Apr 7, 1994 CE
Rwandan genocide begins
An estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in 100 days, exposing the failures of the international community to prevent mass atrocities. Source — Wikipedia:
Nyamata Memorial Site, skulls. Nyamata, Rwanda. By Fanny Schertzer - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2529242
Jan 1, 1995 CE
World Trade Organization established
The WTO was created to regulate international trade, accelerating globalization and economic integration among member nations. Source — Wikipedia:
Map of World Trade Organization members and observers. Members Members, dually represented by the European Union Observers Non-members By BlankMap-World6.svg: Happenstance et al / derivative work: Danlaycock - This file was derived from: BlankMap-World6.svg: original upload date: 2013-02-14 07:31 (UTC), Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24643991
Dec 11, 2001 CE
China joins the World Trade Organization
China's WTO accession integrated the world's most populous nation into the global trading system, dramatically reshaping global manufacturing and supply chains. Source — Wikipedia:
Jan 9, 2007 CE
iPhone launches the smartphone era
Apple's introduction of the iPhone popularized the smartphone, accelerating mobile internet access and fundamentally changing global communication and commerce. Source — Wikipedia: )
A vector render of the 1st generation iPhone. By Rafael Fernandez - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63395591
Sep 15, 2008 CE
Global financial crisis triggers recession
The collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the most severe global economic crisis since the Great Depression, exposing deep vulnerabilities in the globalized financial system. Source — Wikipedia:
Lehman Brothers Rockefeller centre. The Manhattan headquarters of Lehman Brothers before their bankruptcy in 2008. By David Shankbone - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2559779
Mar 11, 2020 CE
COVID-19 declared a global pandemic
The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic; the disease caused millions of deaths worldwide and triggered the deepest global recession since WWII, profoundly disrupting life and economies. Source — Wikipedia:
A team of doctors, nurses and physiotherapists care for critically ill COVID-19 patients in the ICU of the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha hospital, in the north of São Paulo. By Gustavo Basso - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gustavocb/49913440386, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112916636The coronavirus pandemic and its consequences | DW Documentary
Jan 1, 2023 CE
India surpasses China as most populous nation
India officially became the world's most populous country, reflecting shifting global demographics and its rising economic and geopolitical influence in the 21st century. Source — Wikipedia:
India population pyramid 2026 By Mishomp - img socurce: https://ingldata.com/in/ data source: https://population.un.org/dataportal/data/indicators/22/locations/840/start/1950/end/2026/table/pivotbylocation?df=956df3db-393d-4acb-ac12-9795e5bd3585, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=185676601
![Map of the 13 colonies; numbers = numbers of slaves (1770), colors = percentage of population enslaved. Data Sources: http://merrill.olm.net/mdocs/pop/colonies/colonies.htm (dead link) Ira Berlin: Generations of Captivity: A History of African-American Slaves (2003) [page needed, a search for the oddly-specific number "75,178" yields no result[1]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Slavery_in_the_13_colonies.jpg/500px-Slavery_in_the_13_colonies.jpg)
