A.D. Time Period

14 A.D. Death of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire.
18 A.D. Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid), poet of Heroides, Amores, and Metamorphoses dies.
27 A.D. Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist.
30 A.D. John the Baptist executed.
30 A.D. Crucifixion of Jesus ordered by Pilate.
34 A.D. The disciple Paul makes his first visit to Jerusalem.
41 A.D. Caligula is assassinated as a result of his extravagance and quest for unconstrained personal power.
43 A.D. London (Latin: Londinium) is established by the Romans.
45 A.D. Disciple (apostle) Paul begins his missionary works.
59 A.D. Agrippina is murdered by her son, Nero.
64 A.D. Great fire destroys much of Rome.
70 A.D. The Gospel Matthew portion of the bible is written.
75 A.D. The Gospel Luke portion of the bible is written.
79 A.D. The volcano Vesuvius erupts, spewing lava so quickly that it preserved the city of Pompeii. Titus is the current emperor of Rome.
80 A.D. The Roman Colosseum and the Baths of Titus are completed.
95 A.D. The Gospel John and The Book of Revelations is written.
105 A.D. Cai Lun creates the paper-making process in China.
126 A.D. The Roman Pantheon is built in Rome.
130 A.D. Egypt’s new capital city Antinopolis is created.
161 A.D. Marcus Aurelius becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
166 A.D. Marcus Aurelius sends gifts to Emperor Huan Ti.
217 A.D. Macrinus becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
220 A.D. The period of “Three Kingdoms” in China begins (an last’s until 265 a.d.)
222 A.D. Alexander Severus becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
227 A.D. A new Persian empire is founded by Ardashir.
230 A.D. The first known ruler of Japan, Emperor Sujin, is documented.
235 A.D. Maximinus Thrax becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
238 A.D. Gordian III becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
249 A.D. Decius becomes the Emperor of Rome.
250 A.D. Decius persecutes Christians.
251 A.D. Gallus becomes Emperor of Rome, Decius dies in battle with Goths.
253 A.D. Valerian becomes Emperor of Rome, shares throne with his son, Gallienus.
268 A.D. Claudius II becomes Emperor of Rome.
270 A.D. Aurelian becomes Emperor of Rome.
275 A.D. Tacitus becomes Emperor of Rome, killed by his own military troops one year later.
276 A.D. Probus becomes Emperor of Rome.
282 A.D. Carus becomes Emperor of Rome, killed by his own military troops one year later.
284 A.D. Diocletian becomes Emperor of Rome.
286 A.D. The Roman Empire is divided by Diocletian, he rules the East, Maximiam rules the West.
303 A.D. Christians are persecuted by Diocletian.
306 A.D. Constantine I (known as Constantine the Great) becomes Emperor of Rome in the East kingdom.
308 A.D. Maxentius becomes Emperor of Rome in the West kingdom.
312 A.D. Maxentius is killed in the battle of Milvian Bride. Constantine converts to Christianity.
313 A.D. Constantine unites all of Rome and issues the Edict of Milan. The “Edict of Toleration” is proclaimed and Constantine allows Christianity in his kingdom.
324 A.D. The East and West kingdoms of Rome are re-united by Constantine.
330 A.D. Constantinople is formed by Constantine and is the new capital of the Roman Kingdom.
337 A.D. Constantine dies, is baptized on deathbed.
391 A.D. Roman empire makes Christianity the official religion.
410 A.D. Rome is sacked by the Goths.
428 A.D. St. Patrick begins his missionary work in Ireland.
440 A.D. Leo, known as Leo the Great, becomes Pope.
475 A.D. Romulus Augustus becomes Emperor.
590 A.D. Gregory I, known as Gregory the Great becomes Pope.
593 A.D. Suiko becomes the new Empress of Japan.
604 A.D. Construction of the Grand Canal begins in China.
610 A.D. Vision of Muhammad.
624 A.D. Aisha and Muhammad are married.
625 A.D. Muhammad starts his dictation of the Koran.
632 A.D. Death of Muhammad.
639 A.D. Muslim conquest of Egypt begins.
814 A.D. Arabs start using the Indian numerals 0 through 9.
832 A.D. The city of Baghdad is established and rises as a city of learning.
843 A.D. Treaty of Verdun is signed and divides the current Frankish Empire into 3 (east of Rhine, France and then Italy, Provence, Burgundy and Lorraine.)
844 A.D. The Picts are defeated by Kenneth MacAlpine (King of the Scots) and a new unified Scotland is established.
850 A.D. The Muslim scholars of Tabari compile the medical writings of Greece, Rome, Persia and India.
861 A.D. Iceland is discovered by exploring Vikings.
1082 A.D. King Henry IV’s troops storm Rome.
1085 A.D. The Moors lose Toledo to Alfonso Vi.
1086 A.D. Canute IV of Denmark is assassinated.
1088 A.D. Urban II becomes the new Pope.
1096 A.D. The First Crusade begins at the urging of Pope Urban.
1098 A.D. Crusaders defeat the Saracens at Antioch.
1099 A.D. Crusaders take Jerusalem.
1108 A.D. Louis VI becomes the new king of France.
1111 A.D. Henry V becomes the Holy Roman Emperor.
1139 A.D. Alfonso becomes the first king of Portugal.
1141 A.D. Chinese defeat Muslim ruler of Persia.
1145 A.D. The Second Crusade begins.
1156 A.D. Military class struggle begins in Japan.
1174 A.D. Syria is conquered by Saladin.
1177 A.D. Saladin is defeated by Baldwin IV at Montgisard.
1180 A.D. A truce is formed between Saladin and Baldwin IV.
1182 A.D. Jews are banished from France by Philip II.
1211 A.D. Mongols invade China.
1219 A.D. Mongols invade Persia.
1258 A.D. Mongols destroy Baghdad.
1297 A.D. William Wallace, a Scottish man defeats the English army in the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
1300 A.D. Wenceslas II becomes the new king of Poland.
1304 A.D. Petrarch, the well known Italian poet is born.
1328 A.D. Philip VI becomes the current king of France.
1368 A.D. The Ming dynasty is formed in China.
1412 A.D. Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) is born.
1413 A.D. Henry V becomes the King of England.
1421 A.D. China names Beijing as it’s capital city.
1422 A.D. Death of Henry V (England) and Charles VI (France).
1453 A.D. The Hundred Years War comes to an end.
1458 A.D. Athens is taken over by the Ottomans.
1492 A.D. The Americas are discovered by Christopher Columbus while in search of a shorter route to India.
1590 A.D. First flushing toilet is invented by John Harrington.
1606 A.D. Japan outlaws Christianity.
1607 A.D. Jamestown, Virginia colony in North America is founded.
1609 A.D. Galileo Galilee makes his first observations of stars with a telescope.
1610 A.D. The theory of relative motion is put forward by Galileo Galilee.
1618 A.D. Start of the Thirty Years’ War initiated by the Defenestrations of Prague.
1619 A.D. The first shipment of African slaves arrive in Virginia to work the tobacco plantations.
1620 A.D. Pilgrims from England sailing on the Mayflower ship arrive in America and found the colony of Plymouth.
1621 A.D. Philip IV becomes the next King of Spain. In America, Pilgrims celebrate the First Thanksgiving after a bountiful harvest.
1624 A.D. Dutch found New Amsterdam (New York).
1631 A.D. Construction on the Taj Mahal begins.
1642 A.D. Montreal is founded by Dutch. Civil War of England.
1648 A.D. Taj Mahal is completed, used as tomb for wife of Emperor Shah Jahan. The Treaty of Westphalia is signed, ending the Thirty Years’ War.
1652 A.D. Cape Town is founded by Dutch. Anglo-Dutch War.
1665 A.D. There is a massive plague that sweeps over London.
1666 A.D. Great fire of London.
1676 A.D. Polish-Ottoman War ends.
1682 A.D. Peter the Great is born.
1683 A.D. Great Turkish War begins.
1686 A.D. Issac Newton publishes his laws of motion and gravity.
1687 A.D. Sir Isaac Newton tells about his theory of gravity and the three laws of motion.
1689 A.D. Treaty of Nerchinsk between Russia and China.
1696 A.D. Peter is the sole ruler of Russia.
1701 A.D. The seed-drill is invented by Jethro Tull.
1703 A.D. Peter the Great founds St Petersburg.
1725 A.D. Peter the Great dies.
1744 A.D. King George War begins.
1747 A.D. Nader Shah assassinated.
1754 A.D. French and Indian War begins.
1755 A.D. Lisbon earthquake kills between 10,000-100,000.
1757 A.D. British rule established in India.
1763 A.D. French and Indian War ends.
1765 A.D. Stamp Act on American colonies.
1770 A.D. Boston Massacre.
1773 A.D. Boston Tea Party.
1774 A.D. The First Continental Congress is formed in opposition to the British rule in America.
1775 A.D. The American Revolutionary War begins.
1776 A.D. On July 4, the Declaration of Independence is signed.
1783 A.D. The American Revolutionary War ends.
1787 A.D. The Constitution of the United States is signed into place at the Federal Convention.
1788 A.D. The Times is created and published for the first time in London.
1789 A.D. George Washington is elected the first president of the United States.
1791 A.D. “The Rights of Man“, written by Thomas Paine is published. The Bill of Rights, which are 10 amendments to the US Constitution, is approved.
1797 A.D. The parachute is invented.
1803 A.D. Britain and France start warring. France sells vast area of land west of the Mississippi to the United States in whats known as The Louisiana Purchase.
1804 A.D. World population reaches 1 billion.
1807 A.D. The slave trade is abolished in Britain via the Slave Trade Act.
1812 A.D. United States and Britain start warring.
1814 A.D. Missionaries colonize New Zealand.
1815 A.D. Battle of Waterloo. The Treaty of Vienna is signed.
1820 A.D. The Missouri Compromise is passed – prohibiting slavery to the north and west of the state.
1830 A.D. The Book of Mormon is published by Joseph Smith.
1835 A.D. Texas makes independence claim away from Mexico, known as the Texas Revolution.
1841 A.D. The 2,000-mile long Oregon Trail in America opens.
1844 A.D. The telegraph is invented.
1849 A.D. Gold discovered in California leads to a “gold rush”.
1853 A.D. The Crimean War begins.
1856 A.D. The Crimean War ends.
1861 A.D. The American Civil War begins.
1863 A.D. Abraham Lincoln issues the emancipation proclamation – changing the status of many people in the southern United States from slave to free. Battle of Gettysburg occurs.
1865 A.D. The United States abolishes slavery with the thirteenth amendment to the US Constitution.
1867 A.D. Alaska is purchased from Russia by the United States. Reconstruction Act allows the Southern US states to re-enter the Union.
1868 A.D. DNA is discovered.
1869 A.D. Suez Canal opens. First Transcontinental Railroad is completed in the United States.
1870 A.D. The 15th US Constitutional Amendment is enacted – giving African-Americans the right to vote.
1871 A.D. Huge fire burns most of the city of Chicago.
1876 A.D. Alexander Graham Bell patents the first practical telephone.
1879 A.D. Thomas Edison invents the first successful light bulb.
1890 A.D. Native Americans are massacred as the battle at Wounded Knee.
1901 A.D. Queen Victoria of England dies.
1903 A.D. The Wright Brothers make their first powered flights.
1905 A.D. Albert Einstein publishes his theory of special relativity.
1907 A.D. First manned helicopter flight in France.
1914 A.D. Start of World War I (WWI)
1916 A.D. Albert Einstein publishes his theory of general relativity.
1917 A.D. The scientific principles of the laser are defined by Albert Einstein. The United States enters WWI.
1918 A.D. WWI ends.
1919 A.D. Sale of alcohol is banned with the 18th US Constitutional Amendment.
1920 A.D. The first public broadcasting station is opened in Britain. The 19th US Constitutional Amendment gives women the right to vote.
1927 A.D. Charles Lindbergh is first man to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean. The idea that the universe began in a Big Bang is developed by Abbe George Lemaitre. World population reaches 2 billion.
1928 A.D. Penicillin is discovered on accident by Alexander Flemming.
1929 A.D. NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) crashes after a panic induced sell-off of shares.
1933 A.D. The “New Deal” is launched by US President Roosevelt.
1936 A.D. Start of the Spanish Civil War.
1939 A.D. Start of World War II (WWII). The Spanish Civil War ends.
1941 A.D. Pearl Harbor in Hawaii is attacked by the Japanese. The United Sates to enters WWII.
1945 A.D. Atomic bomb is dropped and WWII ends when Japan surrenders. The United Nations (UN) is established after WWII.
1947 A.D. India and Pakistan are founded (gained independence).
1948 A.D. Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule, was assassinated.
1949 A.D. The Communist party lead by Mao Zedong comes to power in China.
1953 A.D. The Cuban Revolution lead by Fidel Castro begins.
1955 A.D. Start of the Vietnam War.
1959 A.D. World population reaches 3 billion.
1961 A.D. The Berlin Wall is built, divides Germany.
1963 A.D. John F. Kennedy (JFK) is assassinated.
1965 A.D. Britain abolishes the death penalty for murder.
1967 A.D. United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union sign a treaty banning the use of nuclear weapons in space.
1968 A.D. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King (MLK) is assassinated. Robert F. Kennedy is also assassinated.
1969 A.D. Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the Moon.
1974 A.D. President Nixon (U.S.) is forced to resign after Watergate scandal. World population reaches 4 billion.
1975 A.D. End of Vietnam war
1978 A.D. John Paul II is elected as the first non-Italian Pope in over 450 years. Iranian Revolution begins.
1979 A.D. Margaret Thatcher is elected the first woman prime minister of England. Shah of Iran leaves and exiled religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns.
1980 A.D. Iran-Iraq war begins (until 1988).
1981 A.D. President Sadat of Egypt is assassinated.
1985 A.D. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader.
1986 A.D. The US Space Shuttle, Challenger, blows up after launch – killing all 7 on board.
1987 A.D. Portugal agrees to return Macao to China in 1999. World population reaches 5 billion.
1988 A.D. Iran-Iraq war ends.
1989 A.D. Berlin Wall is torn down and communist rule ends in East Germany.
1990 A.D. Hubble Space Telescope is launched.
1991 A.D. The Soviet Union collapses. NATO gets involved in Yugoslavia.
1992 A.D. Bill Clinton is elected as the 42nd President of the United States.
1994 A.D. Free elections in South Africa, Nelson Mandela is elected President.
1995 A.D. Oklahoma City Bombing leaves 168 dead.
1997 A.D. Hong Kong is returned to China from the UK.
1999 A.D. World population reaches 6 billion.
2000 A.D. George W. Bush is elected as the 43rd President of the United States. The Millennium Bug (Year 2000 Problem, Y2k) arises.
2001 A.D. Al-Qaeda attacks the United States by flying planes into New York’s World Trade Center. The online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, Wikipedia, is launched.
2002 A.D. The Euro currency is introduced – seventeen countries jointly adopted the new currency. The U.S. opens Guantanamo Bay – a detention camp for unlawful combats.
2003 A.D. The United States invades Iraq. Saddam Hussein is captured by U.S. forces.
2004 A.D. A large 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean creates a huge tsunami that kills over 230,000 people. Social networking site Facebook is founded.
2005 A.D. Hurricane Katrina devastates the U.S. city of New Orleans.
2006 A.D. Saddam Hussein is executed for his convictions of crimes against humanity.
2007 A.D. Apple releases the iPhone touchscreen smartphone changing the way we interact and use our phones. Global financial crisis (2008 financial crisis) begins.
2008 A.D. Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of the United States, and is the first African-American President. The Large Hadron Collider, a machine to re-create the elements of a Big Bang, is completed on the France-Switzerland border.
2010 A.D The largest accidental marine oil spill in the world occurs when the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig explodes.
2011 A.D. Osama bin Laden, founder of Al-Qaeda, is killed in Pakistan by U.S. Navy Seals (SEAL Team Six). The Occupy Wall Street movement begins. Massive earthquake and tsunami kill 15,000+ and destroys Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Arab Spring revolutionary uprisings occur in North Africa and the Middle East. World population reaches 7 billion.
2012 A.D. Over 1 billion people actively use the social networking site Facebook. Barack Obama is re-elected president of the United States.
2013 A.D. Former CIA employee Edward Snowden releases unauthorized classified information on how the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on U.S. and other citizens around the world.
2016 A.D. Donald J. Trump is elected as the 45th President of the United States.
2017 A.D. Over 2 billion people actively use the social networking site Facebook.
2019 A.D. COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic begins in Wuhan, China.