Black Death
1348-1351
Council of Constance burns Hus and ends Great Schism
1415-1417
Fall of Constantinople; end of Hundred Years' War
1453
Invention of printing press
1455
Columbus encounters America; completion of reconquista in Spain
1492
Luther posts 95 theses
1517
Cortez conquers Aztecs
1519
Act of Supremacy in England creates Anglican Church
1534
Calvin established reformed faith in Geneva
1536
Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory
1543
Council of Trent opens
1545
Peace of Augsburg ends religious war in Germany; Charles V abdicates
1555
Defeat of Spanish Armada
1588
Edict of Nantes ends French religious wars
1598
Dutch East India Company founded
1600
Stuart monarchy begins in England
1603
Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years' War
1648
Charles I executed in England
1649
Newton publishes Principia Mathematica
1687
Glorious Revolution; Peter the Great's reign begins in Russia
1688-1689
Bank of England founded
1694
Peace of Utrecht; death of Louis XIV
1713-1715
War of Austrian Succession begins
1740
Treaty of Paris ends Seven Years' War
1763
American Revolution; Smith publishes Wealth of Nations
1776
French Revolution begins
1789
Wollstonecraft begins feminist movement with Vindication of Rights of Women
1792
Napoleon comes to power in France
1799
Abdication of Napoleon; Congress of Vienna
1815
Revolution in France; Belgian and Greek independence
1830-1831
Revolutions of 1848; Marx and Engels publish Communist Manifesto
1848
Crystal Palace Exhibition in Britain
1851
Britain establishes direct rule of India
1857
Darwin publishes Origin of the Species
1859
Italy unified; Russian serfs emancipated
1861
Unification of Germany; Paris Commune and Third Republic in France
1871
Berlin Conference over imperialism in Africa
1884-1885
Freud publishes Interpretation of Dreams
1900
Einstein publishes relativity theory; Revolution of 1905
1905
World War I begins
1914
Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
1917
Treaty of Versailles ends World War I
1919
Fascists and Mussolini come to power in Italy
1922
Great Depression begins
1929
Hitler comes to power in Germany
1933
Munich Conference - height appeasement
1938
World War II begins
1939
World War II ends; United Nations founded
1945
NATO formed
1949
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) formed
1951
Stalin dies
1953
Khrushchev's de-Stalinization speech; Hungary revolt
1956
Treaty of Rome creates European Economic Community (EEC); Sputnik launched
1957
Fifth Republic in France under DeGaulle
1958
Berlin Wall erected
1961
Cuban Missile Crisis; Second Vatican Council begins
1962
Student revolts; Czech "Prague Spring" revolt
1968
Helsinki Accords - height of d�tente
1975
John Paul II elected pope
1978
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan; Thatcher elected prime minister in Britain
1979
Solidarity founded in Poland
1980
Gorbachev comes to power in Soviet Union
1985
Berlin wall falls and collapse of communism
1989
Break-up of Soviet Union; Balkan conflicts begin in former Yugoslavia
1991
Maastricht Treaty creates European Union (EU)
1992
Euro currency introduced
1999
Terrorist attacks on United States
2001