"Europe" is named after "Europa", a princess in Greek Mythology. Zeus kidnapped Europa and took her to Crete, where she became the mother of king Minos: This is the origin of Europe's first civilization, the Minoans. "Europa" was later used to describe Greece, and slowly and gradually this term encompassed all of the areas West of the Ural mountains.
Language: Latin as the Lingua franca in Western Europe, Greek in Eastern Europe.
Secondary Language: French in Western Europe, German in Central and Eastern Europe.
Religion: Mainly Christianity in Europe
Secondary Religions: Islam
Ancient era
700 BC - (c.) Antiquity period in Europe: Minoan civilisation, Myceneans, Homer's "Illiad".
509 BC - Roman Republic established.
100 BC - (c.) Octavian founds the Roman Empire at its peak.
320-550 - (c.) Rule of the Gupta dynasty in India. It included Central India and the area east of the current-day Bangladesh. The Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs.
400 - (c.) Christian religion adopted in Rome.
Medieval era
476 - Fall of the Roman Empire marks the beginning of the Middle Ages(Early Middle Ages). A large decline will follow up to about 800(including that of Western Europe generally), with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church. European villages would often be destroyed and looted by barbarians such as the Vikings.
500 - (c.) Emperor Justinian I organises the Christian religion within the Roman Empire. At this time, its five most important cities were Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. The Byzantine Empire would survive in the East.
500-700 - (c.) Chola kings of South India rule Tamil Nadu, Chera kings rule Kerala. They had trading relationships with the Roman Empire and Southeast Asia. In North India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms.
618-907 - Rule of the Tang Dynasty in *CHINA. Its capital was at Chang'an(today's Xi'an), and was the biggest city in the world at that time. It was the high point of the Chinese civilization and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.
632 - Muhammad founds Islam in *ARABIA. His followers rapidly conquer territories in Syria and Egypt. Early Islamic Calliphate era lasts all the way to the crusades.
700-900 - (c.) *BYZANTIUM in danger of rapid Islamic expansion and fights back. They reconquer some lost territories.
794-1185 - Heian period in *JAPAN. The Kana writing system is developed.
1000 - (c.) *BYZANTIUM at the height of its power. Basileios II conquers Bulgaria and Armenia. Culture and trade flourishes.
1000-1299 - The High Middle Ages. Important works of literature were made in Europe then and cathedrals were built. This was also the age of the Crusades, who saught to rescue the Holy Land from Muslim invasion.
1054 - Schism within the church's authority, continuing a division that persisted since 451.
1071 ⚔ - The Battle of Manzikert throws *BYZANTIUM into a dramatic decline. It is now an era of civil wars and Turkic invasions. The Muslim Caliphate has a golden age under the Abbasids.
1095 - Alexius I Comnenus of *BYZANTIUM calls for help against the Muslims, thus starting the Crusades era.
1163 - NOTRE DAME BEGINS CONSTRUCTION IN *FRANCE.
1185-1853 - Feudal period of *JAPAN. Samurai and Daimyos are the leading figures and the Shogun is the real monarch, while the Tennou only had role as the religious head.
1200 - (c.) Manco Capac founds the first Inca state, around Cusco, the capitol.
1204 ⚔ - The Sack of Constantinople in *BYZANTIUM during the 4th Crusade. All that was left of the Empire breaks into successor states. Nicaea wins the dispute of the states, and Constantinople was rebuilt again, although it is now tinier than ever before: A little Greek state on the Aegean coast.
1209 - Genghis Khan brings the *MONGOL tribes together and finds the Mongol Empire. It's one of the largest land empires in history. Kublai Khan later expands the empire and founds the Yuan Dynasty of China. This empire later broke into several empires, all of which were later destroyed.
1272-1281 - *MONGOLS tried to invade Japan but were driven out.
1300-1492 - The Late Middle Ages. Also the time of the Black Death. Because of it, Feudal society would start to break down. Also the time of the Late Islamic Caliphate, from the Crusades all the way to the fall of Muslim Spain.
1336 - Two brothers named Harihara I and Bukka found the Vijayanagara Empire(today the Karnataka state of India). The most famous king of theirs was Krishnadevaraya.
1368-1644 - Rule of the Ming Dynasty in *CHINA. They had a vast army and navy.
1400 - (c.) Also the time of the RENAISSANCE(french, "Rebirth") IN *ITALY in the 15th century, where people learned from ancient Greek and Roman cultures that were long forgotten. These texts were preserved by Muslims and captured by Christians. The Western chuch had earlier rejected much of classical learning as pagantry. Artists learned from classical paintings and sculptures. They reinvented perspective, and free-standing realistic sculptures. Famous Renaissance artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. Gutenberg invents the printing press in this time. The Renaissance was also a time of great achievements in science(Galileo Gallilei, Francis Bacon), philosophy(Thomas More), and literature(Dante, Shakespeare). It was followed by the Protestant Reformation as priest Martin Luther attacks Papal authority. The Thirty Years War, the Treaty of Westphalia and the Glorious Revolution would prepare its expansion and enlightenment.
1400 - (c.) Pachacuti, Incan ruler, begins absorbing other peoples in the Andes. The Inca Empire is expanding, and becomes the biggest empire in the Americas.
1400-1600 - (c.) The *OTTOMAN Empire is the most powerful empire in the Middle East.
1453 ⚔ - (29 May) The Siege of Constantinople in *BYZANTIUM. Mehmed II conquers it, and now rules the southern and eastern coast of the Mediterranean. It demonstrated the military weakness of the Christians in Eastern Europe. Western Christians would later complete the Reconquista.
1482 - Portuguese explorers were exploring Africa. At the Guinea coast they built their first fort, and started the slave trade later on to provide the Americas with labour force. Later on in Africa, the *SPANISH, ENGLISH, DUTCH, FRENCH AND DANISH merchants would all build forts, although their influence inland was relatively minor compared to what would come in the 19th century.
1492 - Columbus discovers the Americas. This is the beginning of the European colonisation of the Americas, led chiefly by the *SPANISH and *BRITISH Empires, but also *FRANCE. They fought the Native Americans and take over their land. It also led to the Columbian Exchange of foods, ideas and diseases between the Old and the New World.
1521 - *SPANISH conquistador Hernán Cortés defeats the Aztecs and takes their empire. The Aztec Empire was in today's Mexico, and was founded in the 14th century. They spoke the Nahuatl language, and their capitol was Tenochtitlan, on a lake island. At that time it was one of the greatest cities in the world. The Aztecs were polytheistic, and believed in major gods such as Quetzalcoatl(feathered snake), Huitzilopochtli(hummingbird of the south), and Tezcatlipoca(smoking mirror).Some Aztecs did not want to fight against Cortes cos they perceived his group as gods. Many Mexicans today are decendants of the Aztecs, and the Mexican flag still holds Aztec iconography. The Aztecs ate maize and squash.
1526-1857 - The Mughal Empire in India. It took over most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of today's Afghanistan. This empire was founded by Babur, who ruled until 1530.
1532 - An Incan civil war is happening between the brothers Huascar and Atahualpa, over who would succeed their father. The *SPANISH conquer the Incan Empire(Tawantinsuyo, Que. "four regions"), led by Francisco Pizarro. After they were suppressing variosu Incan rebellions.
1542 - A Portuguese ship reaches *JAPAN, after which they learn about firearms.
1542 - The *SPANISH establish the Viceroyalty of Perú.
1545-1563 - The Council of Trent is an element of the Counter-Reformation movement. New religious orders such as the Jesuits are founded and missionaries are sent around the world.
1550-1780 - (c.) Baroque era of culture. Also the time of the Ottoman-Austro-Hungarian conflicts and the rise of the Qing Dynasty in China
1556-1605 - Rule of Akbar, most important ruler of Mughal Empire.
1565 - The rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire are defeated in battle. The empire continued for about the next 100 years. Northern India is now ruled by Islamic sultans.
1572 - Incan civilization ends for good, but many cultural traditions remain in the Quechua and Ayamara people.
1600-1868 - Edo period in *JAPAN. Japan has many small rulers, called the Daimyo, about 200 of them. The Tokugawa clan was the most powerful of them, ruling from Edo, modern Tokyo. For 15 generations they were the most powerful clan in Japan. Beginning here, the rulers(the Shogunate), started a policy of seclusion known as "Sakoku", where they cancelled all relations with foreigners except the Dutch and the Chinese. Even in this era they still continued to gain knowledge about other parts of the world.
1604 - *FRENCH settlers land on Port Royal. In the scramble for America, the fur trade becomes the primary business on the continent and it transformed the lives of Native Americans. Plantation slavery of the West Indies lead to the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
1607 - *BRITISH settlers found Jamestown in Virginia.
1608 - *FRENCH settlers found Quebec City.
1609 - *BRITISH settlers land in Bermuda.
1620 - *BRITISH settlers found Plymouth in Massachusetts.
1644-1912 - Qing/Manchu Dynasty rules *CHINA. They were founded by the Manchu clan from northeast China in Manchuria. They expanded into China proper and establish the Empire of the Great Qing.
1697 - The last Mayan state has been subdued, but the Maya people did not completely disappear.
1707 - Aurangjeb dies, and the Mughal Empire becomes weak. India would come under the *BRITISH Raj.
1775-1783 - The American Revolutionary War, where it secedes from *BRITAIN.
1789 - The *FRENCH Revolution. Massive political change in Europe, leading to the Enlightenment and the development of human rights with the slogan "liberté, egalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity). This led to the Declaration of the RIghts of Man and of the Citizen, and to the reign of terror and the execution of King Louis XVI. Bonaparte would take power and change Europe through war.
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Modern era
1800 - (c.) Start of the Industrial Revolution in Great *BRITAIN, bringing a surplus of goods and many advances.
The Denarius was the (bronze?) coin inherited from the Roman Empire. The Solidus was gold.
Organisation
The Feudal system permeated all of Europe. The King would be at the top of the social pyramid. The King gave land to the Lords in exchange for loyalty, and the Lords gave fiefs to Knights. Peasants were not part of the system because they did not give or receive land. They worked on a Lord's manor in exchange for protection.