- 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.
- c. 45–48 A.D. Paul the Apostle undertakes his first missionary journey with Barnabas; the exact chronology of Paul’s travels is debated.
- c. 47–50 A.D. The Romans found Londinium, the settlement that develops into modern London, a few years after the Roman invasion of Britain.
- 59 A.D. Agrippina is murdered by her son, Nero.
- 64 A.D. Great fire destroys much of Rome.
- c. 65–75 A.D. The Gospel of Mark, generally regarded by modern scholars as the earliest canonical gospel, is composed around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
- 68 A.D. Death of Roman Emperor Nero.
- 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum beneath volcanic material and preserving extraordinary evidence of Roman life.
- 80 A.D. The Colosseum is inaugurated under Emperor Titus; construction had begun under his father Vespasian.
- c. 80–90 A.D. The Gospel of Matthew is composed after the destruction of Jerusalem; many scholars place it at least a decade after 70 A.D.
- c. 80–90 A.D. The Gospel of Luke is composed; many scholars date it to this period after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
- c. 90–100 A.D. The Gospel of John reaches its final form, while the Book of Revelation is generally dated near the end of Emperor Domitian’s reign (81–96 A.D.).
- 105 A.D. Chinese court official Cai Lun is traditionally credited with reporting major improvements to papermaking; archaeological evidence shows paper existed in China before his lifetime.
- 126 A.D. The Roman Pantheon is built in Rome.
- 130 A.D. Roman emperor Hadrian founds Antinoöpolis in Middle Egypt in memory of Antinous. It later became an important regional administrative center, but it was not Egypt’s capital.
- 161 A.D. Marcus Aurelius becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
- 166 A.D. Chinese records describe a group claiming to represent the Roman ruler “Andun” arriving at the court of Emperor Huan of Han. The visitors may have been merchants rather than an official embassy, and “Andun” may refer to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus or his predecessor Antoninus Pius.
- 217 A.D. Macrinus becomes the new Emperor of Rome.
- 220 A.D. The Han dynasty ends, and China enters the Three Kingdoms period, conventionally dated from 220 to 280.
- 222 A.D. Alexander Severus becomes Roman emperor.
- 224 A.D. Ardashir I defeats the Parthian king Artabanus IV, establishing the Sasanian Empire as the dominant power in Iran.
- c. 3rd–4th century A.D. Emperor Sujin appears in Japan’s later traditional chronicles as an early ruler. His historicity and dates are uncertain, so he should not be treated as a securely documented ruler in 230 A.D.
- 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 Roman emperor and begins major administrative and military reforms.
- 286 A.D. Diocletian elevates Maximian as co-emperor, creating separate imperial courts for the eastern and western parts of the empire while the Roman Empire remains legally one state.
- 293 A.D. Diocletian formalizes the Tetrarchy, with two senior emperors (Augusti) and two junior emperors (Caesares) sharing imperial rule.
- 303 A.D. Diocletian and his colleagues begin the Great Persecution, the Roman Empire’s last major state-sponsored persecution of Christians.
- 306 A.D. After the death of Constantius Chlorus at York, his troops proclaim Constantine emperor; he initially controls part of the western empire.
- 306 A.D. Maxentius seizes power in Rome and becomes Constantine’s principal western rival until 312.
- 312 A.D. Constantine defeats Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Later Christian accounts associate the victory with Constantine’s vision of the cross and his growing support for Christianity.
- 313 A.D. Constantine and Licinius issue the Edict of Milan, granting religious toleration in the Roman Empire and restoring confiscated Christian property.
- 324 A.D. Constantine defeats Licinius and becomes sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
- 330 A.D. Constantine dedicates Constantinople as a new imperial capital of the Roman Empire.
- 337 A.D. Constantine dies, is baptized on deathbed.
- 380 A.D. The Edict of Thessalonica, issued under Emperor Theodosius I, establishes Nicene Christianity as the Roman Empire’s official imperial faith.
- 410 A.D. The Visigoths under Alaric I sack Rome, the city’s first capture by a foreign enemy in nearly eight centuries.
- c. 5th century A.D. Patrick conducts Christian missionary work in Ireland; the traditional chronology of his life is uncertain and debated.
- 440 A.D. Leo I (Leo the Great) becomes bishop of Rome.
- 475 A.D. Romulus Augustulus becomes emperor in the western Roman Empire.
- 476 A.D. The Germanic commander Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, an event conventionally used to mark the end of the Western Roman Empire; the Eastern Roman Empire continues for nearly another thousand years.
- 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. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad receives the first revelations of the Qur’an near Mecca.
- 622 A.D. Muhammad and his followers undertake the Hijra from Mecca to Medina; this migration becomes the epoch of the Islamic calendar.
- 624 A.D. Muhammad and his followers defeat a larger Meccan force at the Battle of Badr, an important turning point for the early Muslim community.
- 632 A.D. Death of Muhammad.
- 639 A.D. Muslim conquest of Egypt begins.
- 762 A.D. Baghdad is founded as the new Abbasid capital and grows into a major center of political, commercial, and intellectual life.
- 800 A.D. Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne emperor in Rome on Christmas Day, a major milestone in the political development of medieval western Europe.
- c. 825 A.D. The mathematician al-Khwarizmi writes a treatise on calculation with Hindu numerals, helping transmit the Hindu-Arabic decimal numeral system through the Islamic world and later to Europe.
- 843 A.D. The Treaty of Verdun divides the Carolingian Empire among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious.
- c. 843 A.D. Kenneth MacAlpin emerges as king in Pictland; later tradition treats him as a foundational ruler of the kingdom that develops into Alba (Scotland), although the process was gradual rather than a single conquest.
- c. 850 A.D. Persian scholar Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari composes Firdaws al-Hikma (Paradise of Wisdom), an influential medical encyclopedia drawing on multiple traditions.
- c. 870 A.D. Norse settlement of Iceland begins. Later tradition names Ingólfur Arnarson among the earliest permanent settlers; evidence and written sources place the main settlement period in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.
- 1054 A.D. The East–West Schism becomes a symbolic turning point in the growing separation between the churches centered on Rome and Constantinople.
- 1066 A.D. William, Duke of Normandy, defeats King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, leading to the Norman conquest of England.
- 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. The Qara Khitai defeat the Seljuk army of Sultan Ahmad Sanjar at the Battle of Qatwan near Samarkand, sharply reducing Seljuk power in Central Asia.
- 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.
- 1215 A.D. King John agrees to Magna Carta at Runnymede, placing important limits on royal power and affirming that the king is subject to the law.
- 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.
- 1347–1351 A.D. The Black Death spreads through Europe, killing tens of millions of people and causing profound demographic and social disruption.
- 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 Ottoman Empire captures Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire. The Hundred Years’ War also effectively ends as France expels nearly all remaining English forces from its territory.
- c. 1455 A.D. Johannes Gutenberg completes the Gutenberg Bible, a landmark of European printing with movable metal type.
- 1458 A.D. Athens is taken over by the Ottomans.
- 1492 A.D. Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean on his first Atlantic voyage and encounters Indigenous peoples who had inhabited the Americas for thousands of years.
- 1517 A.D. Martin Luther circulates his Ninety-Five Theses, a landmark event in the Protestant Reformation.
- 1596 A.D. Sir John Harington describes an early flush-toilet design and installs one at his home in England.
- 1607 A.D. Jamestown, Virginia colony in North America is founded.
- 1608 A.D. Hans Lippershey tries to obtain a patent for the telescope. This marks this first official documentation of the telescope as an invention.
- 1609 A.D. Galileo Galilei begins telescopic observations of the Moon, stars, and planets.
- 1610 A.D. Galileo discovers four moons orbiting Jupiter, providing powerful evidence that not everything in the heavens revolves around Earth.
- 1614 A.D. The Tokugawa shogunate bans Christianity in Japan and orders missionaries expelled.
- 1618 A.D. Start of the Thirty Years’ War initiated by the Defenestrations of Prague.
- 1619 A.D. An English privateer brings the first documented group of enslaved Africans to colonial Virginia at Point Comfort. They had been seized from a Portuguese slave ship; their immediate legal status in Virginia was uncertain, while racialized hereditary slavery became more firmly codified later in the 17th century.
- 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).
- 1632 A.D. Construction begins on the Taj Mahal in Agra.
- 1642 A.D. French settlers led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance found Ville-Marie (present-day Montreal). The English Civil War begins.
- 1648 A.D. The main mausoleum of the Taj Mahal is completed. The Peace of Westphalia ends 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.
- 1672 A.D. Peter the Great, later tsar and emperor of Russia, is born in Moscow.
- 1676 A.D. The Polish–Ottoman War of 1672–1676 ends.
- 1683 A.D. Great Turkish War begins.
- 1687 A.D. Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, setting out his laws of motion and universal gravitation and providing a mathematical framework for classical mechanics.
- 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. The British East India Company defeats the Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey, greatly expanding Company influence in Bengal.
- 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 meets in Philadelphia.
- 1775 A.D. The American Revolutionary War begins.
- 1776 A.D. The Declaration of Independence is adopted on July 4.
- 1783 A.D. The Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War and recognizes U.S. independence.
- 1787 A.D. The U.S. Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.
- 1788 A.D. London’s Daily Universal Register is renamed The Times.
- 1789 A.D. George Washington becomes the first U.S. president.
- 1791 A.D. Thomas Paine publishes Rights of Man. The U.S. Bill of Rights is ratified.
- 1797 A.D. André-Jacques Garnerin makes a successful parachute descent from a balloon.
- 1803 A.D. Britain and France resume war, beginning the Napoleonic Wars. The United States completes 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. The first permanent Christian mission in New Zealand is established at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands, with the support of Ngāpuhi leader Ruatara.
- 1815 A.D. Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. The Congress of Vienna reshapes Europe.
- 1820 A.D. The Missouri Compromise admits Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, while barring slavery in most of the Louisiana Purchase north of latitude 36°30′.
- 1830 A.D. The Book of Mormon is published by Joseph Smith.
- 1832 A.D. Britain passes the Reform Act of 1832, redistributing parliamentary seats and expanding the electorate.
- 1835 A.D. The Texas Revolution begins as armed conflict breaks out between Texian settlers and the Mexican government.
- 1836 A.D. Texas declares independence from Mexico on March 2. Mexican forces capture the Alamo on March 6; on April 21, Texian forces defeat Santa Anna’s army at the Battle of San Jacinto.
- 1837 A.D. The United States formally recognizes the Republic of Texas.
- 1843 A.D. Nearly 1,000 emigrants travel west in the Great Migration on the Oregon Trail, helping establish the route as a major path for overland migration to Oregon Country.
- 1844 A.D. Samuel Morse sends the famous first telegraphic message over the experimental Washington-to-Baltimore line, demonstrating a practical long-distance electric telegraph system.
- 1845 A.D. The United States annexes Texas.
- 1848 A.D. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish the “Communist Manifesto”.
- 1849 A.D. The California Gold Rush accelerates as tens of thousands of migrants arrive after the 1848 discovery of gold.
- 1850 A.D. The United States passes the Fugitive Slave Act, strengthening federal enforcement for the capture and return of people who escaped slavery.
- 1853 A.D. The Crimean War begins.
- 1854 A.D. The Kansas-Nebraska Act creates the two territories and intensifies conflict over the expansion of slavery.
- 1856 A.D. The Crimean War ends.
- 1858 A.D. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown takes direct control from the East India Company, beginning the British Raj.
- 1859 A.D. Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, presenting evidence for evolution by natural selection.
- 1861 A.D. The American Civil War begins. Gatling gun is invented.
- 1863 A.D. Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring enslaved people in areas still in rebellion to be free. The Battle of Gettysburg is fought.
- 1865 A.D. The United States abolishes slavery with the thirteenth amendment to the US Constitution.
- 1867 A.D. The United States completes the Alaska Purchase. Congress passes the Reconstruction Acts. Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.
- 1868 A.D. The Meiji Restoration establishes a new imperial government in Japan and begins a period of rapid political, economic, and social transformation.
- 1869 A.D. Friedrich Miescher first isolates DNA. The Suez Canal opens. The U.S. First Transcontinental Railroad is completed.
- 1870 A.D. The 15th Amendment is ratified, prohibiting denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
- 1871 A.D. The German Empire is proclaimed, completing German unification. The Great Chicago Fire devastates the city.
- 1876 A.D. Alexander Graham Bell patents the first practical telephone.
- 1879 A.D. Thomas Edison and his Menlo Park team demonstrate a practical incandescent electric lamp, building on earlier light-bulb experiments and helping make electric lighting commercially viable.
- 1890 A.D. On December 29, U.S. Army troops kill at least 150 Lakota men, women, and children in the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota.
- 1901 A.D. Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era. The Commonwealth of Australia is formed.
- 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. Paul Cornu makes an early piloted 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 Russian Revolution brings the Bolsheviks to power. The United States enters World War I.
- 1918 A.D. World War I ends. The 1918 influenza pandemic spreads worldwide.
- 1919 A.D. The 18th Amendment is ratified, setting nationwide Prohibition in motion; its ban on the manufacture, sale, transportation, import, and export of intoxicating beverages takes effect one year later in 1920.
- 1920 A.D. Commercial radio broadcasting begins in the United States as KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcasts presidential election returns on November 2. The 19th Amendment is ratified, prohibiting denial of the vote on account of sex.
- 1927 A.D. Charles Lindbergh flies solo nonstop across the Atlantic. Georges Lemaître proposes an expanding universe. World population reaches about 2 billion.
- 1928 A.D. Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
- 1929 A.D. The Wall Street Crash helps deepen an economic crisis that becomes the Great Depression.
- 1933 A.D. Adolf Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches the New Deal.
- 1936 A.D. Start of the Spanish Civil War.
- 1939 A.D. Germany invades Poland, beginning World War II in Europe. The Spanish Civil War ends.
- 1941 A.D. On December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and other U.S. military targets in Hawaii. The United States declares war on Japan the following day and enters World War II.
- 1945 A.D. Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. World War II ends. The United Nations is established.
- 1947 A.D. India and Pakistan gain independence amid Partition. Bell Labs demonstrates the first working transistor.
- 1948 A.D. Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated. The State of Israel is established. The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- 1949 A.D. The People’s Republic of China is proclaimed. The North Atlantic Treaty establishes NATO.
- 1953 A.D. Watson and Crick publish the double-helix model of DNA. The Korean Armistice halts major fighting in the Korean War.
- 1955 A.D. The Salk polio vaccine is announced as safe and effective. The Bandung Conference brings together 29 Asian and African governments.
- 1957 A.D. The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Six European countries sign the Treaty of Rome.
- 1960 A.D. World population reaches about 3 billion. The first oral contraceptive pill is approved in the U.S. The first working laser is demonstrated.
- 1961 A.D. Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. East Germany begins building the Berlin Wall.
- 1962 A.D. The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the U.S. and Soviet Union close to nuclear conflict. Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring.