World TL: All > Prehistory > Ancient History > Medieval > Post-Medieval
World history minus descriptions.From the earliest hominin artifact through post-medieval to our time. These insights are the backbone to Mike‘s articles and his longer effort books. These history snippets I write provide context for the various topics I write about. My view or story-telling style for each.
The World History Timeline: Prehistory
Early Wood tools
3.4 Million Years Ago
Early Stone Tools
3.3 Million BCE
Hominins
Collective Learning Emerges
3.3 Million Years Ago
Human Thumb Evolves
3 Million Years Ago (+/- 400,000 years)
Genus: Australopithecus
2.9 Million BCI
Hominin, Us, From 4.2 to 2 MYA
Homo habilis: Our Intelligence Settles.
2.3 Million BCE
First Proto-Containers
2 Million Years Ago
Olduvai Gorge Site: A Glimpse into Early Organizational Behavior
2 Million Years Ago (Up to about 15,000 years ago)
Homo erectus: A True Omnivore
1.9 Million BCE
Emergence of Early Hominin Shelters
1.8 Million Years Ago (+/- 500,000 years)
Earliest Known Toothpicks
1.8 million years ago
Hand Axe
1.76 Million BCE
Oldest Modern Human-like Footprints
1.52 Million BCE
1.53 to 1.51 Million BCE
Chimpanzee-Bonobo Split
1.5 Million Years Ago (+/- 500,000 years)
Less Body Hair Emerges in Homo erectus
1.2 Million BCE
Supported by DNA evidence.
Homo antecessor: Earlier Modern Looks
1.2 Million BCE
Rapid Brain Growth
800,000 BCE
800,000 to 200,000 BCE
Fire-Altered Stone Tools
790,000 BCE
Genus Homo
Seasonal Settlements at Zhoukoudian site
770,000 BCE
from circa 770,000 BCE to circa 5700 BCE
Full Emotional Intelligence Emerges
700,000 Years Ago
Hyoid Bone: Speach Emerges
700,000 BCE
Homo heidelbergensis
Circa 640,000 Years Ago
Homo heidelbergensis on Earth from about 640,000 to 200,000 BCE.
First Clothes: Proto-Clothing and the Advent of Garments
600,000 Years Age
Transcendental Intelligence Emerges
475,000 Years Ago
Neanderthal-Sapien LCA
440,000 Years Ago
Homo neanderthalensis: Verified True Symbolic Thought
430,000 BCE
On Earth from 430,000 to 29,000 BCE
Terra Amata Site, France
circa 400,000 Years Ago
Nice, France
Oldest Surviving Spear
350,000 BCE
400,000 to 300,000 BCE
Homo naledi: A Likely Hybrid
335,000 BCE
Human, but probably not our human branch.
Homo Sapiens: Advanced Transcendental Intelligence
315,000 BCE
Neanderthal-Denisovan Split
300,000 BCE
500 to 30 Thousand BCE
Hominin World Population: 2 Million (maybe)
300,000 BCE
Very speculative.
Homo rhodesiensis: A Hybrid Lesson
300,000 Years Ago
Survived from about 300,000 to 125,000 years ago.
Venus of Tan-Tan
300,000 BCE
Africa; 300,000 to 500,000 years ago
Bhimbetka Petroglyphs, Cupules
Before 290,000 BCE
Hominins; 290,000 to 700,000 years ago
Adam: Haplogroup A
275,000 BCE
Extinction: Homo naledi
236,000 Years Ago
Extinction: Homo heidelbergensis
200,000 Years Ago
Eve: Haplogroup L
175,000 BCE
200,000 to 150,000 BCE
Modern Human Looks and Brains
150,000 BCE
200,000 to 150,000 BCE
Homo longi: Rewriting Human Migration Narratives
146,000 Years Ago
Seasonal Settlements at Klasies River Caves
125,000 BCE
125,000 to 60,000 BCE
Extinction: Homo rhodesiensis
125,000 Years Ago
Many Early Out of Africa Migrations
120,000 BCE
130,000 to 100,000 BCE
Earliest Known Prepared Burial, “Mtoto”
76,000 BCE
Blombos Cave Engravings
75,000 BCE
The Sentinelese people on North Sentinel Island
70,000 BCE
circa 60 to 70 thousand BCE
Oldest Known Bracelet
70,000 BCE
2,880 Generations Ago
Extinction: Homo luzonensis
65,000 BCE
The Settlement of Australia
65,000 BCE
Homo sapiens or an earlier Homo species
Neanderthal Art: Symbolic Thought
Before 64000 BCE
Upper Paleolithic
Divje Babe Flute
50 to 60 Thousand BCE
“The” Human DNA
60,000 BCE
2,400 Generations Ago
Successful Out of Africa Migration
55,000 BCE
70,000 to 55,000 BCE
Extinction: Homo Erectus
50,000 BCE
Cuban Underwater City: More Research Needed
50,000 BCE
Speculative: 20 to more than 50 thousand years ago.
World Population: 1.5 Million
50,000 BCE
Estimates range from 500,000 to 2.5 million
Extinction: Homo floresiensis
48,000 BCE
58,000 to 48,000 BCE
Lebombo bone: First Lunar Phase Counter
42,200 BCE
44,200 to 43,000 years old according to 24 radiocarbon tests
Sulawesi Cave Art
circa 41,900 BCE
Phenotype Variation: Eye Shape and the Epicanthic Fold
circa 40,000 BCE
Upper Paleolithic Cave Art with Symbols
circa 40,000 BCE
Spain & France
Extinction: Denisovans
40,000
Venus of Hohle Fels
38,000 BCE
38,000 to 33,000 BCE
Bone Flute
38,000 BCE
38,000 to 33,000 BCE
Extinction: Neanderthals
38,000 BCE
Extinction range: 38,000 BCE to 22,000 BCE
Czeck: Dolní Věstonice Community
30,000 BCE
29 to 32 thousand years ago.
Sunghir Burial Site
30,000 BCE
32,000 Years Ago
Chauvet Cave Paintings
30,000 BCE
Advanced Sewing Needles
28,000 BCE
28,000 to 21,000 BCE
Modern Skin Color Variety Emerges
By 25,000 Years Ago (+/- 10,000 years)
Earliest Known Domesticated Animal: Dogs
By 20,000 BCE
Seasonal Settlements at Franchthi Cave
20,000 BCE
From circa 20,000 to 3,000 BCE
Ukraine: Mezhyrich Community
18,000 BCE
15 to 20 Thousand Years Agao
Seasonal Settlements at Monte Verde
circa 14,800 BCE
The Clovis Culture
circa 13000 BCE
The Invention of Bread
Before 14,400 BCE
Middle East
Tell Abu Hureyra
circa 11,500 BCE
Evidence of farming: rye seeds
World Population: 4 Million
10,000 BCE
Estimates range from 2 to 5 million
Neolithic Revolution
9,700 BCE
Start of "our" Holocene geological epoch
Göbekli Tepe Culture (11000 BCE to 8000 BCE)
Start of heyday: circa 9600 BCE
Initial construction circa 11,000 BCE (13,000 years ago)
Corn
Before 9000 BCE
Mexico
Plaster Invented
before 9000 BCE
Jericho Founded
9000 BCE
Phenotype Variation: Blue Eyes
8000 BCE
Genetic Mutation from the Neolithic Era
Mexico: Guilá Naquitz (Agrarian)
circa 8000 BCE
Americas Agrarian Society
The Domestication of Rice
circa 8000 BCE
China
Under Investigation: Yonaguni Monument
circa 8000 BCE (speculative)
Egypt: Nabta Playa (Agrarian)
circa 7500 BCE
Middle East Agrarian Society
Greece: Sesklo Culture (Agrarian)
circa 7500 BCE
Europe/Mediterranean Agrarian Society
Phenotype Variation: Lactose Tollerance
7500 BCE
Nüwa (女娲)
Circa 8000-7000 BCE
Fuxi (伏羲)
Circa 8000-7000 BCE
Ain Ghazal Statues: Early Plaster Art
circa 7200 BCE
Jordan
City of Catalhoyuk
7,100 BCE
7,100 to 5,700 BCE
Zoroastrian Universe Creation Date
circa 7000 BCE
12,000 to 9,000 BCE (representing the start of 12,000 years)
Neolithic Symbols: China
7000 BCE
7000-6001 BCE
China: Jiahu Settlement (Agrarian)
circa 7000 BCE
Asia Agrarian Society
New Guinea: Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Agrarian)
circa 7000 BCE
Oceana-Australasia Agrarian Society
Beer, Ale, Wine
circa 7000 BCE
9,000 Years Ago
Atlit Yam Neolithic Village
6900 to 6300 BCE
Origins over 9,000 Years Ago
Early Sumer Civilization
6500 BCE
6500 through 1900 BCE
Oldest Known Flute in China
6,000 BCE
Cheese
Before 5500 BCE
Poland
Dispilio Tablet: European Proto-Writing
circa 5,260 BCE
7,260 Years Ago
Vinor Circular Building: a roundel
4900 BCE
Up to 7,900 Years Ago (Neolithic)
Proto-Inca People
circa 4500 BCE
6,500 Years Ago
4004 BCE, The Bible’s Earth Creation Date
4,004 BCE
Sunday, October 23, 4004 BCE
Proto-Olmec People
4000 BCE
6,000 Years Ago
3761 BCE, Judaic Earth Creation Date
3761 BCE
Proto-Maya People
circa 3500 BCE
5,500 Years Ago
Man Made Glass
3500 BCE
Cuneiform Writing
3400 BCE
3400 BCE to 100 CE (end of use for scholarly work)
Skara Brae Scottish Village
3180 BCE
3180 to 2500 BCE
3114 BCE: Mayan Earth Creation Date
3114 BCE
August 11, 3114 BCE
Oldest Known Dice: Skara Brae
3100 BCE
By 5,100 Years Ago
World Population: 15 Million
3000 BCE
Estimates range from 9 to 16 million
Fuente Magna Bowl: Forgery or Real?
3000 BCE
South America: 5,000 Years Ago
Shennong (神农)
circa 2800 BCE
The Divine Farmer
Gilgamesh, circa 2700 BCE
King of Uruk
Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BCE)
2700 BCE
188 Generations Ago
The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi)
circa 2650 BCE (+/- 50 years)
The Rise of the Maya Civilization
By 2600 BCE
King Shuruppak (circa 2600 BCE)
Sumerian Tradition
The Wise King
Indus Valley Script: Northwest India
circa 2600 BCE
First Mail, First Postal System
2400 BCE
Egypt
Oldest Known Library: Ebla
2350 BCE
2500 BCE to 2250 BCE
Noah’s Flood Myth
2348 BCE
Mayans Emerge
Around 2000 BCE
4,000 Years Ago
Chocolate
Before 1900 BCE
Mesoamerica
Proto-Sinaitic script
1900 BCE
1900-1500 BCE
Code of Hammurabi
1755 BCE
Rigveda Samhita, Veda Book 1 of 4
1,700 BCE
148 Generations Ago
Olmec Society Emerges
Around 1600 BCE
3,600 Year Ago
Dragons: Early Dinosaur Fossils
By 1600 BCE
The Lapita Culture
1500 BCE
1500 BCE to 500 BCE
Minoan Frescoes at Knossos
1400 BCE
circa 1700–1400 BCE
Frescoes of the Tomb of Nebamun
circa 1350 BCE
Oldest Known Monotheistic Religion: Atenism
1344 BCE
circa 1340 to 1320 BCE
Phoenician Alphabet
1300 BCE
1500-1100 BCE
Oracle Bone Script: China
1250 BCE
Major Religion: Hinduism
1100 BCE (+/- 300 years)
125 Generations Ago
Gargi Vachaknavi (circa 800 BCE)
Vedic Tradition
The "woman" Vedic sage
Thales of Miletus (624 – 546 BCE)
Early or "First" Science
The Grandfather of Western Philosophy
The Birth of Logic
624 BCE
Circa 624-546 BCE
Library of Ashurbanipal
Built circa 700 BCE, destroyed 612 BCE.
Laozi (604-517 BCE)
Daoism
Old Master
Spherical Earth
600 BCE
New Look: The Flood Stories
600 BCE
New Look
Pythagoras (570-495 BCE)
Pythagoreanism
Father of Mathematics
Confucius (551-479 BCE, died age 72)
Confucianism
The "Great Sage" or the "First Teacher."
Gautama Buddha (circa 563-486 BCE)
Buddhism
The "Buddha"
Heraclitus (circa 535-475 BCE)
Pre-Socratic Philosophy
Weeping or "Dark" Philosopher
Democritus (460 BCE – circa 370 BCE)
Atomist
The Laughing Philosopher
Law of the Twelve Tables
451 BCE
Plato (428-347 BCE)
Platonism
Father of Idealism
Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE)
Aristotelianism
Father of Western Philosophy
Chuang Tzu (369-286 BCE)
Daoism
Pyrrho (360-270 BCE)
Skepticism
Father of Skepticism
Epicurus (341-270 BCE)
Epicureanism
The Garden Philosopher
Zeno of Citium (334-262 BCE)
Stoicism
Father of Stoicism
The Foundation of the Maurya Empire
322 BCE
Wake of Alexander the Great
Cicero (106-43 BCE)
106 BCE
84 Generations Ago
Philo of Alexandria (circa 20 BCE to circa 55 CE)
Hellenistic Judaism
Seneca the Younger (4 BCE – 65 CE)
Stoic Tradition
Roman Stoic Statesman
Earliest Known Magnification
65 CE
Epictetus (50-135 CE)
circa 100 CE
78 Generations Ago
Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 CE)
Stoic Tradition
The Philosopher King
RCW 86 Supernova
185 CE
Verified. Historically documented and empirically validated.
Badarayana, circa 200 CE (+/- 300 years)
Vedanta / Hinduism
Author of the Brahma Sutras
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE)
Christian Neoplatonism
Saint Augustine
Al-Farabi (872-950)
Islamic Neoplatonism
Second Teacher
Alhazen (965-1040)
Islamic Polymath
Father of Optics
Word-Spacing
1000 CE
The Five Senses of Humans
Circa 1020
New Look
Bernard of Chartres (circa 1070 – 1130)
Neoplatonist
French Philosopher
Peter Abelard (1079-1141)
Scholasticism
Angkor Wat
1150
Inca Society Emerges
Around 1200 CE
Magna Carta
1215
Upper and Lowercase Starts
1300 CE
The Māori Settlement of New Zealand: Earliest Known
1300
Hourglass
1400
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
28 Feb 1533
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Scientific Method
Father of Empiricism
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Observational Empiricism
Father of Modern Physics
Microscope Invented = Microworld Discovered!
1590 to 1640 CE
Rene Descartes (1596-1649)
Cartesian Dualism
Father of Modern Philosophy
The Birth of Baroque Art
circa 1600 CE
Late 16th to Early 18th Century
Separation of Church and State
No government church.
Liberalism
Everyone is equal.
Roger Williams (1602ish-1683)
Liberalism
Grandfather of Liberalism
Gunpowder Treason Plot
5 Nov 1605
King James I Orders New British Flag
1606
King James Bible Published
1611
Bartholomew Legate Burned at the Stake
18 Mar 1612
Mayflower Compact
11 Nov 1620
John Locke (1632-1704)
Natural Rights
Father of Liberalism
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677, aged 44)
Monism
Radical Dutch Thinker
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World TL: All > Prehistory > Ancient History > Medieval > Post-Medieval
