World History Timeline

Timeline

331 events

17th century

  1. September 12, 1683★★★★★

    Battle of Vienna

    A coalition army led by King John III Sobieski of Poland relieves the siege of Vienna, defeating the Ottomans and halting their advance into Central Europe.

    War· Austria, Poland, Turkey, Germany
  2. July 5, 1687★★★★★

    Newton publishes the Principia

    Isaac Newton publishes "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica", setting out the laws of motion and universal gravitation.

    Science· United Kingdom
  3. 1688 – 1689★★★★★

    Glorious Revolution

    James II is deposed and William III and Mary II take the throne; the Bill of Rights of 1689 limits royal power and strengthens Parliament.

    RevolutionPolitics· United Kingdom, Netherlands

18th century

  1. 1701 – 1714★★★★★

    War of the Spanish Succession

    European powers fight over the succession to the Spanish throne after the death of Charles II; the war ends with the treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt.

    WarDynasty· Spain, France, United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands
  2. May 27, 1703★★★★★

    Peter the Great founds Saint Petersburg

    Tsar Peter I lays the foundations of Saint Petersburg at the mouth of the Neva; the city becomes Russia's capital in 1712.

    Politics· Russia
  4. July 8, 1709★★★★★

    Battle of Poltava

    Peter the Great's Russian army crushes the Swedish army of Charles XII, ending Sweden's great-power status and raising Russia's standing in Eastern Europe.

    War· Ukraine, Russia, Sweden
  5. 1721★★★★★

    Russian Empire proclaimed

    After victory in the Great Northern War, confirmed by the Treaty of Nystad, Peter I takes the title of Emperor and Russia becomes the Russian Empire.

    PoliticsTreaty· Russia, Sweden
  6. 1735★★★★★

    Linnaeus publishes Systema Naturae

    Carl Linnaeus publishes his system for classifying living things, the basis of modern binomial nomenclature.

    Science· Netherlands, Sweden
  8. 1751★★★★★

    First volume of the Encyclopédie

    Diderot and d'Alembert publish the first volume of the Encyclopédie, a defining work of the Enlightenment.

    CultureScience· France
  9. November 1, 1755★★★★★

    1755 Lisbon earthquake

    A massive earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, devastates Lisbon, killing tens of thousands and deeply influencing Enlightenment thought.

    Disaster· Portugal, Spain, Morocco
  10. 1756 – 1763★★★★★

    Seven Years' War

    A global conflict among the European powers fought in Europe, North America and India; Britain gains colonial supremacy and Prussia confirms its great-power status.

    War· United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Spain, United States, Canada, India
  12. January 5, 1769★★★★★

    James Watt patents his steam engine

    James Watt's patent for a separate condenser makes steam engines far more efficient, driving the Industrial Revolution.

    TechnologyEconomy· United Kingdom
  13. August 15, 1769★★★★★

    Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte

    Napoleon Bonaparte is born in Ajaccio, Corsica; he will later become Emperor of the French.

    Birth· France
  14. 1772 – 1795★★★★★

    Partitions of Poland

    Russia, Prussia and Austria carve up the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in three partitions, erasing it from the map of Europe by 1795.

    PoliticsTreaty· Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Germany, Austria
  15. September 3, 1783★★★★★

    Treaty of Paris (1783) recognizes US independence

    Britain signs a treaty with the United States in Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing American independence.

    Treaty· United States, United Kingdom
  16. July 14, 1789★★★★★

    Storming of the Bastille

    Parisians storm the Bastille fortress-prison, an iconic moment of the French Revolution.

    Revolution· France
  17. August 26, 1789★★★★★

    Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

    France's National Constituent Assembly adopts a declaration of liberty, equality and national sovereignty, a founding document of the French Revolution.

    RevolutionPolitics· France
  18. 1793 – 1794★★★★★

    Reign of Terror

    The revolutionary government dominated by the Committee of Public Safety carries out mass repression, with tens of thousands executed; it ends with the fall of Robespierre.

    RevolutionPolitics· France
  19. January 21, 1793★★★★★

    Execution of Louis XVI

    Condemned by the National Convention, the former king Louis XVI is guillotined at the Place de la Révolution in Paris.

    RevolutionDeathPolitics· France
  20. May 14, 1796★★★★★

    Jenner's smallpox vaccination

    Edward Jenner inoculates the boy James Phipps with cowpox material, pioneering vaccination against smallpox.

    ScienceDisease· United Kingdom
  21. November 9, 1799★★★★★

    Coup of 18 Brumaire

    Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows the Directory and establishes the Consulate, holding supreme power as First Consul.

    PoliticsRevolution· France
  22. 1800★★★★★

    Volta invents the electric battery

    Alessandro Volta announces the voltaic pile, the first source of continuous electric current.

    ScienceTechnology· Italy

19th century

  2. October 21, 1805★★★★★

    Battle of Trafalgar

    The British fleet under Admiral Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleets, securing British naval supremacy; Nelson is killed in the battle.

    War· United Kingdom, France, Spain
  3. December 2, 1805★★★★★

    Battle of Austerlitz

    Napoleon defeats a combined Russian and Austrian army in the "Battle of the Three Emperors", one of his most celebrated victories.

    War· Czechia, France, Austria, Russia
  4. August 6, 1806★★★★★

    Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire

    Under pressure from Napoleon, Emperor Francis II abdicates and dissolves the Holy Roman Empire after roughly a thousand years.

    PoliticsDynasty· Germany, Austria
  5. June 24, 1812 – December 1812★★★★★

    French invasion of Russia

    Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman into Russia and takes Moscow, but is forced into a winter retreat with catastrophic losses.

    War· Russia, France, Lithuania, Belarus
  6. September 7, 1812★★★★★

    Battle of Borodino

    The bloodiest battle of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is fought near Moscow; the Russians withdraw, allowing the French to enter Moscow a week later.

    War· Russia, France
  7. 1814 – June 9, 1815★★★★★

    Congress of Vienna

    The European powers meet in Vienna to reorder the continent after the Napoleonic Wars, redrawing the map of Europe and establishing a balance of power.

    TreatyPolitics· Austria, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France
  8. June 18, 1815★★★★★

    Battle of Waterloo

    British and Prussian forces defeat Napoleon Bonaparte, ending the Hundred Days and the Napoleonic Wars.

    War· Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Germany
  9. May 5, 1818★★★★★

    Birth of Karl Marx

    Karl Marx, the influential philosopher and economic and political theorist, is born in Trier, Prussia.

    Birth· Germany
  10. 1821 – 1829★★★★★

    Greek War of Independence

    Greeks rise against the Ottoman Empire; with intervention by Britain, France and Russia, Greece wins its independence.

    WarRevolution· Greece, Turkey
  13. 1824★★★★★

    Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824

    Britain and the Netherlands divide their spheres in the Malay world, roughly creating today's Malaysia–Indonesia divide.

    Treaty· Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Netherlands
  17. July 27, 1830 – July 29, 1830★★★★★

    July Revolution in France

    Three days of uprising in Paris overthrow King Charles X; Louis-Philippe takes the throne, beginning the July Monarchy.

    Revolution· France
  18. 1831★★★★★

    Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction

    Michael Faraday discovers that a changing magnetic field induces an electric current, the principle behind generators and transformers.

    Science· United Kingdom
  19. June 20, 1837★★★★★

    Accession of Queen Victoria

    Victoria succeeds to the British throne; her reign of more than 63 years coincides with the height of the British Empire.

    DynastyPolitics· United Kingdom
  20. 1839★★★★★

    The daguerreotype is announced

    Louis Daguerre's photographic process is made public in France, the first commercially successful form of photography.

    TechnologyArt· France
  21. 1845 – 1852★★★★★

    Great Famine in Ireland

    Potato blight triggers a famine that kills about a million people and drives more than a million to emigrate from Ireland.

    Disaster· Ireland, United Kingdom
  22. 1848 – 1849★★★★★

    Revolutions of 1848

    A wave of revolutions sweeps Europe, from France to the German states, Austria, Italy and Hungary, demanding democratic reform and national self-determination.

    Revolution· France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Czechia
  23. February 1848★★★★★

    The Communist Manifesto is published

    Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish in London a pamphlet setting out the theory of class struggle, one of the most influential political texts ever written.

    PoliticsCulture· United Kingdom, Germany
  24. 1853 – 1856★★★★★

    Crimean War

    An alliance of the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France and Sardinia defeats Russia, with fighting centred on the siege of Sevastopol in Crimea.

    War· Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Ukraine
Timeline · World History Timeline