Brief Timeline (Bible/History)
Aprox. 5 Million - 10,000 BC Paleolithic Era Ice Age/Stone Age
Glaciers covered most of the earth. Paleolithic people were hunters and gatherers. The environment was so cold it was difficult for plants to germinate unless near the equator.
Paleolithic Age - Stone Age
Aprox. 10,000 - 4,000 BC Neolithic Era Late Stone Age
As temperatures rose and the glaciers receded small villages were created and agriculture began to take hold.
Neolithic Age
Bible - Aprox. 4,000 BC Adam & Eve The Garden of Eden
Adam & Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.
Bible - Aprox. 4,000 BC Giants were making war.
Iniquity was rampant. God was sad that his creation was so wicked.
The City of Enoch repented and was translated. It might have actually rose from the earth into the firmament (the sky - heaven).
Giants in North America
Giants in World History
Bible - Aprox. 3,800 BC The Flood The Ark
Noah was instructed by God to build an ark and that the ensuing flood would cover the earth and kill all mankind and animals unless they repented and followed His commandments. After preaching over 100 years of the warnings of God the flood came and only 8 souls were saved along with the animals that loaded the Ark.
After approximately a year the water receded and the Ark landed on Mount Ararat. Noah was told by God how the land and islands of the sea were to be divided for his posterity.
Noah and the Flood
The Mesopotamian earliest text. The story of Gilgamesh
The Flood Stories around the world
Aprox. 3,300 BC The Beginning of Civilization The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent was the primary development of modern complex civilization. Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and Egypt were the primary early civilizations. The three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, & Japheth developed these areas to become mighty nations.
The Fertile Crescent
Aprox. 3,200 BC Abraham from Ur The Fertile Crescent
Abraham was a great prophet and leader of the Hebrews. He was the epitome of the Hebrew word "hesed" which means loving kindness.
He Fathered two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael's posterity are what we now know as the Arabs. Isaac's posterity if what we now know as the Hebrews. Abraham was the father of both the Arabs and the Hebrews. He was blessed by God that his seed would be numerous and would be blessed because of his great faith.
Some say that there were two locations of UR, Ur of the North and Ur of the South. Local traditions set the location of Abraham in the Northern UR. This explains why the influence of Egypt was so prevalent in the life of young Abraham in Mesopotamia.
Abraham
Aprox. 3,300 BC Isaac, Jacob & Joseph The 12 Tribes
From the posterity of Abraham
The 12 tribes (Israelites) |
Joseph - Egypt
Aprox. 1,450 - 1,208 BC Moses
The Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt
Moses |
Egypt 18th Dynasty (1550-1292 BC) |
Egypt 19th Dynasty (1292-1190 BC)
Moses & Akhenaten |
Akhenaten
Aprox. 1,025 - 985 BC Kings of the United Kingdom of Israel
Saul, Ishbosheth, David, & Solomon
The Israelites wanted a King instead of a Judge and forced Samuel to choose a King with the help of God. Saul was chosen and his reign began in aprox. 1,225 BC.
After Solomon's reign the Israelites were divided in two with Judah in the South and Israel in the North about 985 BC.
A Listing of the Kings of the Jews
Aprox. 1000 BC Migration of Aryans to India
The Aryans came from the north and invaded India.
Aprox. 975BC 10 Tribes revolt
The War between Israel and Judea begins. Israel is eventually scattered and considered the lost 10 tribes of Israel.
Aprox. 878 BC Israel defeated by the Syrians
The Syrians destroy Israel and disperse them from their lands.
Aprox. 873/851 BC Elijah/Elisha
Elijah is a magnificent Prophet. Elisha is a follower of Elijah and takes over his duties as Elijah is taken into heaven on a chariot.
773 BC First Olympiad Greece
758 BC Isaiah Prophesies
628 BC Jeremiah Prophesies
609 BC Daniel Captive
600 BC Lehi left Jerusalem
598 BC Ezekiel the Prophet
559 BC Cyrus of Persia
500 BC Darius of Persia
492 BC Battle of Marathon (Greece)
480 BC Xerxes of Persia
Battle of Thermopile in Greece
470 - 322 BC Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle
These three Greek Philosophers have been very influential through the ages.
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
336 BC Phillip II/Alexander the Great
332 BC Alexander Dies
73 BC Julius Caesar/Mark Anthony/Cleopatra
25 BC Augustus Caesar (Octavius)
0 BC/AD Birth of Christ
35 BC Paul
45 AD Paul's First Mission
62 AD Burning of Rome
70 AD Capture of Jerusalem
312 AD Constantine - Ruler of Rome
When Constantine attacked Rome to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire he had a vision of the Cross and felt that this was an omen for his success in battle. He made Christianity an authorized religion in the pagan Roman state. Christians were no longer hunted down and killed for exhibition in public events. Constantine eventually moved his head of state from Rome to Byzantium which he renamed Constantinople.
In 325 AD Constantine attempted to unify the Christian Church by the meeting at Nicea. The Nicene Creed was voted on by the Bishops and those that decented were put in prison. Even though Constantine and the Bishops voted on this creed some continued to follow Arius and believed that the nature of Diety was different than the creed described. They felt that 3 individual Diety could not be made into 1. This controversy continued for many years. The Germanic tribes were primarily Arian Christians (followers of Arius). Leaders in the Christian Church went back and forth thoughout the years. It was common for leaders to chose one of the two systems and then being exhiled. Later the same leader was brought out of exhile and put back in charge.
450 AD Clovis King of the Franks
Clovis is the King of the Franks French & Germans and changes his religion from an Arian German Christianity to a Catholic Trinitarian Christianity.
800 AD Charlemagne
Charlemagne was a major player in protecting the Catholic (Trinitarian) Christian Church in Rome and unifying the West from his expansion of the Frank possessions with a strong army. He was crowned in 800 AD on Christmas Day by the Pope in Rome as the Holy Roman Emperor. A strange title since the Roman Empire had fallen over 400 years earlier.
1,000 AD Justinian and Theodora
Justinian and Theodora were the King and Queen of Constantinople and were in charge of what was the Orthodox Christian Church. The Christian church had many areas with Bishops and differences in beliefs. Rome had seceded from the Orthodox Church and the Bishop of Rome (The Pope) declared himself this primary bishop of Christendom. The Eastern Orthodox bishop declared that he held the lineage from Constantine's rule.
Both Bishops excommunicated each other and Christendom was divided by the East and West.
The Orthodox Christian Church was eventually called the "Greek Orthodox Church". The Bishop in Rome who seceded from the original church called himself the "Pope" of the "Catholic Church".
The other divide:
1. Constantine's & Bishops Nicene Creed (The Trinitarians) description of Deity (3 Deity as 1)
2. Arius (the Arians) description of Deity (3 Individual Deities).
Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy.
Arius was a Christian leader from Alexandria, Egypt.
1200sAD Marco Polo went with his father & uncle.
Marco Polo was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he called Cathay, after the Khitan). He visited Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. Marco's father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo began their quest North East from Venice, Italy before Marco was born. At age 15 Marco went with his father and uncle to Asia and became famous from his writings of their journeys and the information of trade policies and practices of the Asian people.
1300s AD The Black Death
Almost 1/2 of Europe died from the Black Death. The epidemics were ravaging and people became very depressed. Disease in its many forms spread to the known world, from Asia to the West. As trade grew disease spread through the "silk road". Many people left the cities and protected themselves from disease by moving to the country life. In many cases this saved lives.
1400s AD The Renaissance
The late 1300s and early 1400s disease subsided considerably and there was a more positive outlook on life. People began to move back into the cities. The silk road was very important economically with merchants becoming very wealthy.
Venice became an important hub for trade and many merchants became rich. As merchants became wealthy it created a new class in society. The wealthy merchants and businessmen were becoming politically savvy and were a major influence in the world. They were now influencing society in politics too.
Banker became some of the richest businessmen in the world. The Medici bank was established throughout all of the major cities in Europe and they were also the bank of the Papacy (Church/Pope). The Medici family, in Florence Italy, was a major "patron" of the arts and building projects. Florence Italy was a major contributor to the development of the Renaissance.
The interest of intellectual thinking from Greek and Roman times spread throughout europe. This was a dawning of the common man, and the ideas of freedom began to develop to a modern era while at the same time lifting up "classical" ideas of the past.
1600s AD Locke, Voltaire, & Rousseau.
The writings of these "Enlightenment" philosophers were important in the development of a new era.
John Locke's writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries. This influence is reflected in the American Declaration of Independence.
The defense of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade were a big part of Voltaire's writings
1775 AD Adam Smith
A Scottish intellectual that was the inventor of economics. He wrote about open trade (free trade) and how tariffs and duties create a problem with capital. He was the first "capitalist". He felt that economics was driven by "greed".
England began over taxing the New World to help defray their expenses in defending the people. The more the English taxed and set up difficult rules and tariffs things got worse instead of better.
Adam Smith was the founder of economics in 1776 AD when he wrote the book "The Wealth of Nations". He was one of the first to explain how important "free markets" are in economics. His concepts created what we today call capitalism.
Adam Smith
1776 AD The Declaration of Independence in the US
"We the people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
In 1763, few would have predicted that by 1776 a revolution would be unfolding in British America.
The ingredients of discontent seemed lacking — at least on the surface. The colonies were not in a state of economic crisis; on the contrary, they were relatively prosperous. Unlike the Irish, no groups of American citizens were clamoring for freedom from England based on national identity. KING GEORGE III was not particularly despotic — surely not to the degree his predecessors of the previous century had been.
Furthermore, the colonies were not unified. Benjamin Franklin discovered this quite clearly when he devised the ALBANY PLAN OF UNION in 1754. This plan, under the slogan "Join, or Die," would have brought the colonial rivals together to meet the common threat of the French and Indians. Much to Franklin's chagrin, this plan was soundly defeated.
Ben Franklin sketched this cartoon to illustrate the urgency of his 1754 Albany Plan of Union. He unsuccessfully tried to bring the colonies together to defend themselves against Indian and French threats.
How, then, in a few short years did everything change? What happened to make the American colonists, most of whom thought of themselves as English subjects, want to break the ties that bound them to their forebears? What forces led the men and women in the 13 different colonies to set aside their differences and unanimously declare their independence?
Much happened between the years of 1763 and 1776. The colonists felt unfairly taxed, watched over like children, and ignored in their attempts to address grievances. Religious issues rose to the surface, political ideals crystallized, and, as always, economics were the essence of many debates.
For their part, the British found the colonists unwilling to pay their fair share for the administration of the Empire. After all, citizens residing in England paid more in taxes than was asked of any American during the entire time of crisis.
The 1770 Boston Massacre was only one in a series of events that led American colonists to revolt against Britain.
This was not the first time American colonists found themselves in dispute with Great Britain. But this time the cooler heads did not prevail. Every action by one side brought an equally strong response from the other. The events during these important years created sharp divisions among the English people, among the colonists themselves, and between the English and the Colonists.
Over time, the geographic distance between England and the colonies became more and more noticeable. It took England time to respond to Colonial provocations and to administer the settled areas of America. Further, some now questioned how it could be that a tiny island nation could contain and rule the American continent.
Before long, the point of no return was reached.
US History.org
1789 AD The Declarations of the Rights and of the Citizen in France
The French Revolution was inevitable due to the intellectual philosophies of the day and the terrible economic stability of France. The ideas of Locke, Voltaire, Reuseau and many other philosophers created a wave of sentiment to do what was done earlier in America, and revolt against the government and create their own "constitution".
France was never the same after the overthrow of the government. The "people" ruled in such a harsh fashion it looked hopeless for the new government to survive until the famous general, Napoleon led France to victory over Europe. He even conquered Egypt.
Napoleon took down the royalty and the church in Europe and declared the people "free" to rule within the guidelines of liberty outlined in the French Constitution.
When Napoleon's reign ended Europe was much different. The people in each country had a taste of being part of their future, without the elite, Lords and Kings ruling them. Each country eventually modified their governments to include the rights of the people.
1812 - 1814 AD The War of 1812 (The Unknown War)
Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in the Chesapeake Bay. It was during this bombardment of the fort that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," the poem that would eventually be turned into the national anthem of the United States, set to the tune of a British song "To Anacreon in Heaven".
1861 - 1865 AD The American Civil War
The American Civil War was a clash of two different philosophies and economic interests.
Battles were won and lost on both sides. Brother fighting brother was common. Robert E Lee was trained in the north but fought in the South. Abraham Lincoln was instrumental in leading the north to victory.
The American Civil War
1890 AD A time of alliances
1914 AD World War I
The industrial revolution drove countries into a quest for more and more resources, especially the resources of the countries on the other side of their borders. Alliances became standard and big nations were protecting small nations.
As machines became more and more developed society had an understanding that war would be quick and easy. World War I proved just the opposite. It was devastating and demoralizing. Germany and their alliances were hoping for a reason to "open fire" on the world.
Their plan for European domination was thwarted within weeks. A stalemate ensured from 1914 to 1918 in trench warfare.
After the war Germany was taunted by France to rebuild their country and demanded enormous amounts of money, even though Germany was nearly "broke". Germany began to "overprint" money to repay France with their mark. Hyperinflation created a devastating devaluation of the mark. On 1st November 1923 1 pound of bread cost 3 billion marks and 1 pound of meat: 36 billion marks. The instability of Germany and the consequences after World War I caused many serious economics problems throughout the world.
The First World War
1939 - 1945 AD World War II
Germany grew it's military might to enormous levels, even thought the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden it. Germany began to take over many countries through diplomacy and threats. As they attacked Poland in 1939 World War II had begun.
Hitler made alliances with many countries that he broke later in his plan to overtake Europe with brute force.
A majority of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The war involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their complete economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Over 70 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
World War II
1950 - 1953 AD Korean War
1959 - 1975 AD The Vietnam War
2001AD The Twin Towers - The Pentagon Attack of the US by terrorists