Events Archive — HISTORIA

The First Stone Tools at Olduvai

Early humans shape cutting flakes from lava cobbles.

Source: ,

c. 40,000 BCE

Mungo Man Burial

One of the oldest known human burials outside Africa, evidence of Aboriginal ritual life tens of thousands of years ago.

Source: ,

c. 30,000 BCE

Murujuga Petroglyphs

The Burrup Peninsula holds perhaps a million engravings, among the largest rock art collections on Earth.

Source: ,

c. 17,000 BCE

The Painting of Lascaux

Ice Age artists cover a cave with some 600 painted animals.

Source: ,

c. 6000 BCE

Rock Art of Tassili n'Ajjer

Thousands of paintings record a green Sahara of cattle herders, hunters and swimmers before the desert came.

Source: ,

c. 4600 BCE

Budj Bim Eel Traps

The Gunditjmara built stone channels to farm eels, one of the oldest aquaculture systems in the world.

Source: ,

3100 BCE

Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

Tradition credits King Menes with joining the two lands and founding the first dynasty at Memphis.

Source: Toby Wilkinson, 2010

c. 3000 BCE

The Rock Art of Uluru

Anangu artists paint the caves of Uluru, part of a living tradition of songlines and law.

Source: ,

c. 2600 BCE

The Royal Tombs of Ur

Sumerian rulers are buried with gold, lyres and attendants.

Source: ,

2560 BCE

Construction of the Great Pyramid

Khufu's tomb at Giza rose to 146 metres and stayed the tallest structure on earth for 3,800 years.

Source: Mark Lehner, 1997

c. 2500 BCE

Stonehenge Raised

Sarsen stones weighing 25 tonnes are set in a ring.

Source: ,

c. 2500 BCE

The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro

A planned city with drains, granaries and a public bath.

Source: ,

c. 2400 BCE

The Deffufa of Kerma

The kingdom of Kush raised vast mud-brick temples at Kerma, one of Africa's earliest urban centres.

Source: ,

c. 2000 BCE

The Fortified Circles of Arkaim

A Bronze Age people of the southern Urals build a ring-shaped fortified settlement, part of the Sintashta culture.

Source: ,

c. 1900 BCE

The Palaces of Knossos

Knossos became a major center of Minoan civilization, with a palace linking ceremonial life, storage and administration on Crete.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

1754 BCE

The Code of Hammurabi

282 laws cut into a two-metre basalt stele, published where any literate subject could read them.

Source: Martha T. Roth, 1995

c. 1600 BCE

Akrotiri Buried by the Theran Eruption

Volcanic ash preserved a Bronze Age town on Santorini, including multistory houses and vivid wall paintings.

Source: Wikipedia contributors, 2026

c. 1264 BCE

Abu Simbel Temples Carved

Ramesses II cut two colossal temples into a Nubian cliff, aligned so sunlight reaches the inner sanctuary twice a year.

Source: ,

c. 1250 BCE

The Lion Gate of Mycenae

A monumental gateway guarded one of the most powerful citadels of Bronze Age Greece.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

c. 1250 BCE

Shang Oracle Bones at Anyang

Shang kings carved questions to their ancestors on bones and shells — the earliest Chinese writing.

Source: ,

776 BCE

The First Olympic Games

A single foot race at the sanctuary of Zeus becomes the Greek world's shared calendar.

Source: Nigel Spivey, 2004

c. 700 BCE

Delphi and the Oracle of Apollo

A sanctuary on Mount Parnassus became a meeting place for pilgrims, city-states and questions about the future.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

575 BCE

Babylon's Ishtar Gate

Nebuchadnezzar II builds a gate of blue glazed brick.

Source: ,

518 BCE

Darius Founds Persepolis

The Achaemenid king begins a terrace palace for Nowruz.

Source: ,

508 BCE

Athenian Democracy Established

Cleisthenes reorganises Attica into ten tribes and hands sovereignty to the assembly of citizens.

Source: Josiah Ober, 1996

c. 500 BCE

Confucius Teaches in Qufu

The teacher of Lu gathered disciples whose recorded sayings shaped Chinese ethics for two millennia.

Source: ,

490 BCE

The Battle of Marathon

Athenians and Plataeans defeated a Persian expedition on the coastal plain of Marathon.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

480 BCE

The Battle of Salamis

Greek warships fought the Persian fleet in the narrow waters beside Salamis.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

480 BCE

The Stand at Thermopylae

A Greek coalition defended a narrow pass against Xerxes’ invading army.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

432 BCE

The Parthenon Completed

Fifteen years of work on the Acropolis end with a temple whose columns are deliberately imperfect.

Source: Mary Beard, 2003

399 BCE

The Trial of Socrates

A jury of 501 Athenians condemns a philosopher for impiety; he drinks hemlock rather than flee.

Source: Plato, -399

c. 340 BCE

The Theatre of Epidaurus

A theatre took shape beside a sanctuary where pilgrims sought healing from Asclepius.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

336 BCE

The Royal Tombs of Aigai

Macedonia’s royal burial ground preserves remarkable evidence of court life in the age of Philip II.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

315 BCE

The Foundation of Thessaloniki

Cassander founded a new Macedonian city that would become a crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

c. 300 BCE

Pyramids of Meroë

Kushite rulers were buried under more than two hundred steep pyramids near the Nile, in a kingdom famed for iron working.

Source: ,

283 BCE

Founding of the Library of Alexandria

The Ptolemies attempt to collect every book in the world in one harbour city.

Source: Roy MacLeod, 2000

256 BCE

Dujiangyan Irrigation

Li Bing split the Min River without a dam, an irrigation system still watering the Chengdu plain.

Source: ,

c. 214 BCE

Qin Joins the Great Wall

The first emperor linked older border walls into a defence against the northern steppe.

Source: ,

210 BCE

The Terracotta Army

China's first emperor is buried with 8,000 clay soldiers.

Source: ,

167 BCE

Delos Becomes a Free Port

A sacred island became an international trading hub after Rome changed its political and commercial status.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

146 BCE

Rome Destroys Corinth

The defeat of the Achaean League brought destruction to a major Greek city.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

146 BCE

The Destruction of Carthage

Rome ends the Third Punic War by razing its rival.

Source: ,

130 BCE

The Silk Road Opens

Han envoys reach Central Asia and stitch together a 6,400 km commercial and cultural corridor.

Source: Peter Frankopan, 2015

c. 100 BCE

The Nazca Lines

Desert people scratch giant animals into the plain.

Source: ,

44 BCE

The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Sixty senators stab the dictator perpetuo at the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March.

Source: Suetonius, 121

30 BCE

Actium and the End of Ptolemaic Egypt

After defeat at Actium, Cleopatra VII dies and Egypt becomes a Roman province.

Source: Duane W. Roller, 2010

1st century CE

The Treasury of Petra Carved

Nabataeans carve a tomb façade into rose-red sandstone.

Source: ,

c. 30 CE

Crucifixion of Jesus

A Galilean preacher is executed under Pontius Pilate.

Source: ,

79 CE

The Eruption of Vesuvius

Ash buries Pompeii and Herculaneum in a single day.

Source: ,

c. 200 CE

The Pyramid of the Sun

A 65-metre pyramid rises over the Avenue of the Dead.

Source: ,

203 CE

Leptis Magna Rebuilt

Emperor Septimius Severus lavished his home city with a forum, basilica and harbour that made it a jewel of Roman Africa.

Source: ,

330 CE

The Founding of Constantinople

Constantine dedicates a new Rome on the Bosphorus, at the hinge of Europe and Asia.

Source: Judith Herrin, 2007

c. 330 CE

The Stelae of Aksum

King Ezana adopts Christianity and raises granite obelisks.

Source: ,

366 CE

Mogao Caves of Dunhuang

Monks began carving Buddhist cave shrines on the Silk Road; they grew into a thousand-year gallery of art.

Source: ,

476 CE

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus and sends the imperial regalia east.

Source: Peter Heather, 2005

c. 560

Fortress of Derbent

Sasanian Persians built walls across the Caspian pass, guarding one of the oldest cities in Russia.

Source: ,

609

Grand Canal Completed

The Sui dynasty linked the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, the longest canal in the world.

Source: ,

644 CE

The Kumbh Mela Enters the Record

The pilgrim Xuanzang describes the great gathering at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna.

Source: ,

670

Great Mosque of Kairouan

Founded by Uqba ibn Nafi, the mosque became a centre of Islamic learning across North Africa.

Source: ,

785

The Great Mosque of Córdoba

Abd al-Rahman I begins a forest of red-and-white arches.

Source: ,

793

The Viking Raid on Lindisfarne

Norse raiders sack a monastery, opening the Viking Age.

Source: ,

803

Leshan Giant Buddha

A 71-metre Buddha was carved from a cliff where three rivers meet, meant to calm the waters.

Source: ,

c. 825

Borobudur Completed

Sailendra kings build a mountain of stone stupas.

Source: ,

c. 830

The House of Wisdom

Abbasid scholars translate Greek, Persian and Indian science.

Source: ,

859 CE

Fatima al-Fihri Founds al-Qarawiyyin

A merchant's daughter endows a mosque and school that becomes the oldest continuously operating university.

Source: ,

862

Rurik Comes to Novgorod

According to the Primary Chronicle, the Varangian Rurik is invited to rule Novgorod, founding the dynasty that would rule Rus' for seven centuries.

Source: ,

c. 900

El Castillo of Chichén Itzá

A step pyramid casts a serpent shadow at the equinox.

Source: ,

988

The Baptism of Rus'

Grand Prince Vladimir of Kyiv adopts Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium, reshaping the culture of the eastern Slavs.

Source: ,

c. 1010

The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu writes the world's first great novel.

Source: ,

1066

The Battle of Hastings

William of Normandy defeats Harold II.

Source: ,

c. 1077

The Bayeux Tapestry Is Completed

A seventy-metre embroidered cloth telling the Norman conquest of England is finished, likely for Bayeux Cathedral.

Source: ,

c. 1100

Kaifeng, Capital of the Song

With perhaps a million people, paper money and printing, Kaifeng was among the world's great cities.

Source: ,

c. 1100

Monks Mound at Cahokia

Mississippian builders raise a 30-metre earthen mound.

Source: ,

c. 1150

Angkor Wat Built

Suryavarman II builds the largest religious monument.

Source: ,

1158

The White Stone Churches of Vladimir

Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky builds the Dormition Cathedral of Vladimir, crown of a new northern capital.

Source: ,

The Carnival of Venice Is First Recorded

1162

The Carnival of Venice Is First Recorded

Venetians celebrate a victory over the Patriarch of Aquileia with festivities in St Mark's Square.

Source: ,

c. 1200

The Churches of Lalibela

Eleven churches are carved downward into solid rock.

Source: ,

1215

Magna Carta Sealed

Barons force King John to accept limits on royal power.

Source: ,

c. 1220

Kingdom of Mapungubwe

An early southern African kingdom traded ivory and gold to the coast; its golden rhinoceros is a national treasure.

Source: ,

1235

Karakorum, Capital of the Khans

Ögedei Khan walls the Mongol capital.

Source: ,

Mystras: From Fortress to Byzantine Capital

1249

Mystras: From Fortress to Byzantine Capital

A fortress above Sparta grew into a major center of late Byzantine government and culture.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

c. 1250–1500

The Moai of Rapa Nui

Islanders carve nearly 1,000 stone figures.

Source: ,

1273

The Mevlevi Order Is Founded

After Rumi's death, his followers in Konya formalize the Mevlevi order and its turning prayer, the sema.

Source: ,

c. 1300

The Great Enclosure

Shona builders raise mortarless granite walls.

Source: ,

1324

Mansa Musa and Timbuktu

Mali's ruler returns from Mecca and builds Djinguereber.

Source: ,

1331

Golden Age of Kilwa

Ibn Battuta praised Kilwa as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a Swahili hub of the Indian Ocean gold trade.

Source: ,

1348

Pskov Republic

Pskov broke from Novgorod to become a city republic ruled by its veche assembly behind a mighty kremlin.

Source: ,

c. 1350

Monasteries Above the Clouds at Meteora

Monastic communities established houses of prayer on the towering rock pillars of Thessaly.

Source: UNESCO, 2026

1370

Timur's Samarkand

Timur makes Samarkand capital of a vast empire.

Source: ,

1380

The Battle of Kulikovo

Prince Dmitry of Moscow defeats the Golden Horde's army under Mamai on the upper Don.

Source: ,

1405

Zheng He's Treasure Fleet

Admiral Zheng He led giant junks across the Indian Ocean as far as East Africa.

Source: ,

c. 1411

Andrei Rublev Paints the Trinity

The monk Andrei Rublev paints the Trinity icon, the masterpiece of Russian religious art.

Source: ,

1420

The Forbidden City Completed

The Yongle Emperor moves the capital to Beijing.

Source: ,

1436

Solovetsky Monastery

Monks founded a fortress-monastery on White Sea islands; centuries later it became the first Gulag camp.

Source: ,

c. 1450

Machu Picchu Built

Pachacuti builds a mountain retreat.

Source: ,

1453

The Fall of Constantinople

After a 53-day siege, Ottoman forces breach the Theodosian Walls and the Roman Empire ends.

Source: Steven Runciman, 1965

1455

Gutenberg Prints the Bible

Movable metal type turns the reproduction of text from a craft into an industry.

Source: Elizabeth Eisenstein, 1983

c. 1455

Gutenberg Prints the Bible

Johannes Gutenberg completes the first major book printed with movable metal type in Europe.

Source: ,

1492

The Fall of Granada

The Catholic Monarchs take the last Nasrid kingdom.

Source: ,

1497

Vasco da Gama Sails to India

A Portuguese fleet rounds Africa to reach Calicut.

Source: ,

1503

Leonardo Begins the Mona Lisa

A portrait of a Florentine merchant's wife, carried unfinished across the Alps and never delivered.

Source: Walter Isaacson, 2017

1512

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo finishes four years of fresco over 500 square metres of Vatican ceiling.

Source: Ross King, 2003

1517

Luther's Ninety-Five Theses

An academic objection to indulgences becomes, via the printing press, a continental schism.

Source: Diarmaid MacCulloch, 2003

1521

The Fall of Tenochtitlan

A siege, an epidemic, and tens of thousands of indigenous allies end the Mexica empire.

Source: Camilla Townsend, 2019

1545

The Silver of Potosí

A silver mountain is found in the Andes.

Source: ,

16th century

The Benin Bronzes

Guild casters record the Oba's court in brass.

Source: ,

1552

The Conquest of Kazan

Ivan IV's army storms Kazan, ending the khanate and opening the Volga to Russian expansion.

Source: ,

1561

St Basil's Cathedral Is Built

Ivan the Terrible completes a cathedral on Red Square to celebrate the conquest of Kazan.

Source: ,

1582

Yermak Crosses into Siberia

The Cossack Yermak defeated the Khanate of Sibir, opening the conquest of Siberia.

Source: ,

1599

Shakespeare's Globe Opens

The Lord Chamberlain's Men open the Globe on Bankside, built from the timbers of their old theatre.

Source: ,

1603

The Birth of Kabuki

Izumo no Okuni performs a bold new dance-drama on a dry riverbed in Kyoto.

Source: ,

1605

Don Quixote Is Published

Miguel de Cervantes publishes the first part of Don Quixote, often called the first modern novel.

Source: ,

1632

The Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan begins a tomb for Mumtaz Mahal.

Source: ,

1645

Potala Palace Rebuilt

The Fifth Dalai Lama raised the vast palace above Lhasa, seat of Tibetan rule for three centuries.

Source: ,

1703

St Petersburg Founded

Peter the Great builds a capital on the Neva marshes.

Source: ,

1714

The Church of the Transfiguration at Kizhi

Carpenters on an island in Lake Onega raise a church with twenty-two wooden domes — built, legend says, without a single nail.

Source: ,

1728

Bering's Kamchatka Expedition

Vitus Bering sailed from Kamchatka through the strait between Asia and America that bears his name.

Source: ,

1760–1840

The Industrial Revolution

Coal, steam and the factory system reorganise work, cities and population in eighty years.

Source: Emma Griffin, 2010

1764

The Hermitage Collection

Catherine the Great bought her first paintings, founding one of the world's greatest museums.

Source: ,

1770

Cook Lands at Botany Bay

James Cook's Endeavour anchored at Kamay, a first encounter with the Gweagal people that foreshadowed colonisation.

Source: ,

1772

Baikal's Ancient Lake

Scientific expeditions described the world's deepest and oldest lake, home to unique seals and fish.

Source: ,

1776

Declaration of Independence

Thirteen colonies declare independence from Britain.

Source: ,

1778

Teatro alla Scala Opens

Milan's opera house opens with Salieri's Europa riconosciuta, becoming the world's most famous stage for opera.

Source: ,

1788

The First Fleet Arrives

British convicts land at Sydney Cove.

Source: ,

1789

The Storming of the Bastille

Parisians seize a royal fortress.

Source: ,

1789

The French Revolution Begins

The storming of the Bastille turns a fiscal crisis into the founding event of modern politics.

Source: William Doyle, 1989

1793

The Louvre Opens to the Public

Revolutionary France opens the royal palace as a museum for all citizens.

Source: ,

1810

The First Oktoberfest

Munich celebrates a royal wedding with horse races on the meadow before the city gates.

Source: ,

1812

The Battle of Borodino

Napoleon's Grande Armée and Kutuzov's Russians fight the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars.

Source: ,

1824

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony Premieres

Completely deaf, Beethoven shares the podium for the premiere of his Ninth, ending with the Ode to Joy.

Source: ,

1825

Decembrist Revolt

Officers demanded a constitution in St Petersburg; their defeat inspired generations of reformers.

Source: ,

1826

The Exodus of Missolonghi

Besieged defenders and civilians attempted a desperate breakout during the Greek War of Independence.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

1827

The Battle of Navarino

British, French and Russian squadrons destroyed much of the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet in Navarino Bay.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

1829

Nafplio, Capital of the New Greek State

A fortified port became the seat of government as an independent Greek state took shape.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026

1830

Port Arthur Penal Settlement

A notorious convict prison in Tasmania, now one of the best-preserved relics of the transportation era.

Source: ,

c. 1830

Stone Town of Zanzibar

Omani sultans made Zanzibar the capital of a spice and trade empire, leaving carved doors and coral-stone streets.

Source: ,

1839

First Opium War

Britain went to war to force the opium trade on China, beginning a century of humiliation.

Source: ,

1851

The Great Exhibition

Britain displays industry in the Crystal Palace.

Source: ,

1854

Eureka Stockade

Gold miners rebelled against licence fees; though crushed, the revolt became a founding story of Australian democracy.

Source: ,

1861

Emancipation of the Serfs

Alexander II freed some 23 million serfs, the greatest reform of imperial Russia.

Source: ,

1866

The Tragedy of Arkadi Monastery

A monastery sheltering insurgents and civilians became a symbol of the Cretan revolt against Ottoman rule.

Source: Wikipedia contributors, 2026

c. 1869

Flamenco's Golden Age Begins

The café cantante era moves flamenco from private gatherings onto public stages.

Source: ,

1869

Tolstoy Completes War and Peace

At his estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy finishes one of the greatest novels ever written.

Source: ,

1869

Suez Canal Opens

A 164-kilometre canal joined the Mediterranean and Red Sea, reshaping world trade routes overnight.

Source: ,

1869

Mendeleev's Periodic Table

Dmitri Mendeleev arranged the elements by weight and predicted ones not yet discovered.

Source: ,

1877

Swan Lake Premieres

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake debuts at the Bolshoi — a modest start for the world's most famous ballet.

Source: ,

1879

Battle of Isandlwana

The Zulu army inflicted a stunning defeat on British forces, the opening of the Anglo-Zulu War.

Source: ,

c. 1880

The Tango Emerges

In the port districts of Buenos Aires, immigrant and Afro-Argentine rhythms fuse into the tango.

Source: ,

1883

The Metropolitan Opera Opens

Shut out of the old Academy of Music, New York's industrialists found their own opera house.

Source: ,

1888

The Golden Law

Brazil becomes the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery.

Source: ,

1896

The First Modern Olympic Games

Athens hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern revival in a restored ancient stadium.

Source: International Olympic Committee, 2026

1896

Battle of Adwa

Ethiopian forces under Menelik II defeated an Italian army, securing Ethiopia's independence through the scramble for Africa.

Source: ,

1901

Federation of Australia

Six colonies united as the Commonwealth of Australia, with the first parliament opening in Melbourne.

Source: ,

1903

The First Powered Flight

The Wright brothers fly for 12 seconds.

Source: ,

1907

Great Mosque of Djenné

The world's largest mud-brick building was rebuilt on medieval foundations and is replastered by the whole town every year.

Source: ,

1908

The Tunguska Event

A colossal explosion over the Siberian taiga flattens some 80 million trees across 2,000 square kilometres.

Source: ,

c. 1910

Jazz Is Born

Ragtime, blues, brass bands and Caribbean rhythm combine in New Orleans into a new music.

Source: ,

1913

India's First Feature Film

Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra premieres in Bombay, seeding the world's largest film industry.

Source: ,

1916

Anzac Legend Returns Home

The first Anzac Day marked the Gallipoli landings, creating a national rite of remembrance.

Source: ,

1916

The Trans-Siberian Railway Is Completed

The world's longest railway, 9,289 km from Moscow to Vladivostok, is completed with the Amur bridge.

Source: ,

1917

October Revolution

Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and seized power, founding the Soviet state.

Source: ,

1918

The Execution of the Romanovs

Tsar Nicholas II and his family are shot by Bolsheviks in the cellar of the Ipatiev House.

Source: ,

1919

May Fourth Movement

Students protested in Beijing, sparking a movement for science, democracy and a new literature.

Source: ,

1920

The Salzburg Festival Is Founded

Hofmannsthal, Reinhardt and Strauss found a festival in Mozart's city to reunite post-war Europe through art.

Source: ,

1929

Diego Rivera Paints the National Palace

Rivera begins his mural cycle, turning Mexico's history into public art on the walls of the state.

Source: ,

1930

The First FIFA World Cup

Uruguay hosts and wins the first World Cup at the newly built Estadio Centenario.

Source: ,

1935

The Long March

Communist forces retreated 10,000 kilometres to Yan'an, a journey that made Mao Zedong their leader.

Source: ,

1941

Siege of Leningrad

For 872 days the city endured blockade and famine; the ice 'Road of Life' kept it alive.

Source: ,

1942–43

The Battle of Stalingrad

Soviet forces encircle and destroy the German Sixth Army in the turning point of the war in Europe.

Source: ,

1945

The Bombing of Hiroshima

An atomic bomb destroys a Japanese city.

Source: ,

1946

The First Cannes Film Festival

Conceived as an answer to fascist-influenced Venice, the Cannes festival finally opens after the war.

Source: ,

1947

Indian Independence

India becomes independent at midnight.

Source: ,

1947

The Edinburgh Fringe Is Born

Eight uninvited theatre companies perform anyway on the margins of the new Edinburgh Festival.

Source: ,

1957

Sputnik Launched

The first artificial satellite beeped around the Earth, opening the space age.

Source: ,

1957

Ghana's Independence

Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana free, the first sub-Saharan colony to win independence and a beacon for the continent.

Source: ,

1961

The Berlin Wall Rises

East Germany seals off West Berlin overnight.

Source: ,

1961

Yuri Gagarin Becomes the First Human in Space

Vostok 1 lifts off from Baikonur, carrying Yuri Gagarin once around the Earth in 108 minutes.

Source: ,

1969

The Woodstock Festival

Nearly half a million people gather on a dairy farm for three days of music that define a generation.

Source: ,

1969

Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon

Eight years after the commitment, two people walk on another world and come back.

Source: Andrew Chaikin, 1994

1969

Apollo 11 Launches

A Saturn V carries three astronauts toward the Moon.

Source: ,

1973

Sydney Opera House Opens

Jørn Utzon's shell-roofed opera house opened on Bennelong Point and became a symbol of a nation.

Source: ,

1990

Mandela Walks Free

Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years.

Source: ,

1992

The Mabo Decision

The High Court recognised native title, overturning the doctrine that Australia had been nobody's land.

Source: ,

1992

Dak'Art Is Founded

Senegal's capital launches the continent's most important biennial of contemporary African art.

Source: ,

1997

Hong Kong Handover

Britain returned Hong Kong to China under the promise of 'one country, two systems'.

Source: ,

1997

Buena Vista Social Club

Veteran Cuban musicians record an album in Havana that brings son cubano to the world.

Source: ,

1997