Chronology
Five thousand years, end to end
64 records shown
- 1760–1840Discovery
The Industrial Revolution
Manchester
Coal, steam and the factory system reorganise work, cities and population in eighty years.
↓ next - 1789Political
The Storming of the Bastille
Paris
Parisians seize a royal fortress.
↓ next - 1789Political
The French Revolution Begins
Paris
The storming of the Bastille turns a fiscal crisis into the founding event of modern politics.
↓ next - 1793Cultural
The Louvre Opens to the Public
Paris
Revolutionary France opens the royal palace as a museum for all citizens.
↓ next - 1810Cultural
The First Oktoberfest
Munich
Munich celebrates a royal wedding with horse races on the meadow before the city gates.
↓ next - 1812Battle
The Battle of Borodino
Borodino
Napoleon's Grande Armée and Kutuzov's Russians fight the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars.
↓ next - 1824Cultural
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony Premieres
Vienna
Completely deaf, Beethoven shares the podium for the premiere of his Ninth, ending with the Ode to Joy.
↓ next - 1825Political
Decembrist Revolt
Senate Square
Officers demanded a constitution in St Petersburg; their defeat inspired generations of reformers.
↓ next - 1826Military
The Exodus of Missolonghi
Missolonghi
Besieged defenders and civilians attempted a desperate breakout during the Greek War of Independence.
↓ next - 1827Military
The Battle of Navarino
Navarino Bay — Pylos
British, French and Russian squadrons destroyed much of the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet in Navarino Bay.
↓ next - 1829Political
Nafplio, Capital of the New Greek State
Nafplio
A fortified port became the seat of government as an independent Greek state took shape.
↓ next - 1830Monument
Port Arthur Penal Settlement
Port Arthur
A notorious convict prison in Tasmania, now one of the best-preserved relics of the transportation era.
↓ next - c. 1830Civilization
Stone Town of Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Omani sultans made Zanzibar the capital of a spice and trade empire, leaving carved doors and coral-stone streets.
↓ next - 1839Battle
First Opium War
Guangzhou
Britain went to war to force the opium trade on China, beginning a century of humiliation.
↓ next - 1851Cultural
The Great Exhibition
London
Britain displays industry in the Crystal Palace.
↓ next - 1854Political
Eureka Stockade
Ballarat
Gold miners rebelled against licence fees; though crushed, the revolt became a founding story of Australian democracy.
↓ next - 1861Political
Emancipation of the Serfs
Moscow
Alexander II freed some 23 million serfs, the greatest reform of imperial Russia.
↓ next - 1866Military
The Tragedy of Arkadi Monastery
Arkadi Monastery
A monastery sheltering insurgents and civilians became a symbol of the Cretan revolt against Ottoman rule.
↓ next - c. 1869Cultural
Flamenco's Golden Age Begins
Seville
The café cantante era moves flamenco from private gatherings onto public stages.
↓ next - 1869Cultural
Tolstoy Completes War and Peace
Yasnaya Polyana
At his estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy finishes one of the greatest novels ever written.
↓ next - 1869Discovery
Suez Canal Opens
Suez
A 164-kilometre canal joined the Mediterranean and Red Sea, reshaping world trade routes overnight.
↓ next - 1869Discovery
Mendeleev's Periodic Table
St Petersburg
Dmitri Mendeleev arranged the elements by weight and predicted ones not yet discovered.
↓ next - 1877Cultural
Swan Lake Premieres
Moscow
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake debuts at the Bolshoi — a modest start for the world's most famous ballet.
↓ next - 1879Battle
Battle of Isandlwana
Isandlwana
The Zulu army inflicted a stunning defeat on British forces, the opening of the Anglo-Zulu War.
↓ next - c. 1880Cultural
The Tango Emerges
Buenos Aires
In the port districts of Buenos Aires, immigrant and Afro-Argentine rhythms fuse into the tango.
↓ next - 1883Cultural
The Metropolitan Opera Opens
New York
Shut out of the old Academy of Music, New York's industrialists found their own opera house.
↓ next - 1888Political
The Golden Law
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil becomes the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery.
↓ next - 1896Cultural
The First Modern Olympic Games
Athens
Athens hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern revival in a restored ancient stadium.
↓ next - 1896Battle
Battle of Adwa
Adwa
Ethiopian forces under Menelik II defeated an Italian army, securing Ethiopia's independence through the scramble for Africa.
↓ next - 1901Political
Federation of Australia
Melbourne
Six colonies united as the Commonwealth of Australia, with the first parliament opening in Melbourne.
↓ next - 1903Discovery
The First Powered Flight
Kitty Hawk
The Wright brothers fly for 12 seconds.
↓ next - 1907Monument
Great Mosque of Djenné
Djenné
The world's largest mud-brick building was rebuilt on medieval foundations and is replastered by the whole town every year.
↓ next - 1908Discovery
The Tunguska Event
Tunguska
A colossal explosion over the Siberian taiga flattens some 80 million trees across 2,000 square kilometres.
↓ next - c. 1910Cultural
Jazz Is Born
New Orleans
Ragtime, blues, brass bands and Caribbean rhythm combine in New Orleans into a new music.
↓ next - 1913Cultural
India's First Feature Film
Mumbai
Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra premieres in Bombay, seeding the world's largest film industry.
↓ next - 1916Cultural
Anzac Legend Returns Home
Canberra
The first Anzac Day marked the Gallipoli landings, creating a national rite of remembrance.
↓ next - 1916Discovery
The Trans-Siberian Railway Is Completed
Vladivostok
The world's longest railway, 9,289 km from Moscow to Vladivostok, is completed with the Amur bridge.
↓ next - 1917Political
October Revolution
Winter Palace
Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and seized power, founding the Soviet state.
↓ next - 1918Political
The Execution of the Romanovs
Yekaterinburg
Tsar Nicholas II and his family are shot by Bolsheviks in the cellar of the Ipatiev House.
↓ next - 1919Political
May Fourth Movement
Tiananmen
Students protested in Beijing, sparking a movement for science, democracy and a new literature.
↓ next - 1920Cultural
The Salzburg Festival Is Founded
Salzburg
Hofmannsthal, Reinhardt and Strauss found a festival in Mozart's city to reunite post-war Europe through art.
↓ next - 1929Cultural
Diego Rivera Paints the National Palace
Mexico City
Rivera begins his mural cycle, turning Mexico's history into public art on the walls of the state.
↓ next - 1930Cultural
The First FIFA World Cup
Montevideo
Uruguay hosts and wins the first World Cup at the newly built Estadio Centenario.
↓ next - 1935Political
The Long March
Yan'an
Communist forces retreated 10,000 kilometres to Yan'an, a journey that made Mao Zedong their leader.
↓ next - 1941Battle
Siege of Leningrad
Leningrad
For 872 days the city endured blockade and famine; the ice 'Road of Life' kept it alive.
↓ next - 1942–43Battle
The Battle of Stalingrad
Stalingrad
Soviet forces encircle and destroy the German Sixth Army in the turning point of the war in Europe.
↓ next - 1945Battle
The Bombing of Hiroshima
Hiroshima
An atomic bomb destroys a Japanese city.
↓ next - 1946Cultural
The First Cannes Film Festival
Cannes
Conceived as an answer to fascist-influenced Venice, the Cannes festival finally opens after the war.
↓ next - 1947Political
Indian Independence
Delhi
India becomes independent at midnight.
↓ next - 1947Cultural
The Edinburgh Fringe Is Born
Edinburgh
Eight uninvited theatre companies perform anyway on the margins of the new Edinburgh Festival.
↓ next - 1957Discovery
Sputnik Launched
Baikonur
The first artificial satellite beeped around the Earth, opening the space age.
↓ next - 1957Political
Ghana's Independence
Accra
Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana free, the first sub-Saharan colony to win independence and a beacon for the continent.
↓ next - 1961Political
The Berlin Wall Rises
Berlin
East Germany seals off West Berlin overnight.
↓ next - 1961Discovery
Yuri Gagarin Becomes the First Human in Space
Baikonur
Vostok 1 lifts off from Baikonur, carrying Yuri Gagarin once around the Earth in 108 minutes.
↓ next - 1969Cultural
The Woodstock Festival
Bethel
Nearly half a million people gather on a dairy farm for three days of music that define a generation.
↓ next - 1969Discovery
Apollo 11 Lands on the Moon
Cape Canaveral
Eight years after the commitment, two people walk on another world and come back.
↓ next - 1969Discovery
Apollo 11 Launches
Cape Canaveral
A Saturn V carries three astronauts toward the Moon.
↓ next - 1973Cultural
Sydney Opera House Opens
Sydney
Jørn Utzon's shell-roofed opera house opened on Bennelong Point and became a symbol of a nation.
↓ next - 1990Political
Mandela Walks Free
Cape Town
Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years.
↓ next - 1992Political
The Mabo Decision
Mer (Murray Island)
The High Court recognised native title, overturning the doctrine that Australia had been nobody's land.
↓ next - 1992Cultural
Dak'Art Is Founded
Dakar
Senegal's capital launches the continent's most important biennial of contemporary African art.
↓ next - 1997Political
Hong Kong Handover
Hong Kong
Britain returned Hong Kong to China under the promise of 'one country, two systems'.
↓ next - 1997Cultural
Buena Vista Social Club
Havana
Veteran Cuban musicians record an album in Havana that brings son cubano to the world.
↓ next - 1997Cultural
Guggenheim Bilbao Opens
Bilbao
Frank Gehry's titanium museum transforms a declining industrial port — the 'Bilbao effect'.
Range shown: 1760 CE — 1997 CE