World History Timeline

Timeline

331 events

19th century

  2. March 3, 1861★★★★★

    Emancipation of the serfs in Russia

    Tsar Alexander II issues the emancipation manifesto, freeing more than 20 million serfs across the Russian Empire.

    PoliticsEconomy· Russia
  4. June 5, 1862★★★★★

    Treaty of Saigon

    The Nguyễn court cedes three eastern provinces of Cochinchina to France.

    Treaty· Vietnam, France
  5. 1865★★★★★

    Maxwell's electromagnetic theory

    James Clerk Maxwell publishes "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field", unifying electricity, magnetism and light.

    Science· United Kingdom
  7. 1867★★★★★

    France annexes western Cochinchina

    France seizes Vĩnh Long, An Giang and Hà Tiên, completing the colony of French Cochinchina.

    WarPolitics· Vietnam, France
  8. November 7, 1867★★★★★

    Birth of Marie Curie

    Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences, is born in Warsaw.

    BirthScience· Poland
  9. 1869★★★★★

    Mendeleev's periodic table

    Dmitri Mendeleev arranges the chemical elements by atomic weight and properties, predicting elements not yet discovered.

    Science· Russia
  10. April 22, 1870★★★★★

    Birth of Vladimir Lenin

    Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, later known as Lenin, leader of the October Revolution, is born in Simbirsk.

    Birth· Russia
  11. July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871★★★★★

    Franco-Prussian War

    Prussia and its German allies defeat France, bringing down the Second French Empire and paving the way for German unification.

    War· France, Germany
  12. September 20, 1870★★★★★

    Capture of Rome

    Troops of the Kingdom of Italy enter Rome, ending the Papal States; Rome then becomes the capital of unified Italy.

    WarPolitics· Italy, Vatican City
  13. January 18, 1871★★★★★

    Proclamation of the German Empire

    King Wilhelm I of Prussia is proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, completing the unification of Germany led by Bismarck.

    Politics· Germany, France
  14. March 18, 1871 – May 28, 1871★★★★★

    Paris Commune

    A revolutionary government holds power in Paris for over two months before being bloodily suppressed by government troops during the "Bloody Week".

    Revolution· France
  15. November 30, 1874★★★★★

    Birth of Winston Churchill

    Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during the Second World War, is born at Blenheim Palace.

    Birth· United Kingdom
  16. June 1878 – July 1878★★★★★

    Congress of Berlin

    The European powers reorganise the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War, recognising the independence of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania.

    TreatyPolitics· Germany, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Austria, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Bulgaria
  17. December 18, 1878★★★★★

    Birth of Joseph Stalin

    Ioseb Jughashvili, later known as Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, is born in Gori, Georgia.

    Birth· Georgia
  18. March 14, 1879★★★★★

    Birth of Albert Einstein

    The physicist Albert Einstein, author of the theory of relativity, is born in Ulm, Germany.

    BirthScience· Germany
  19. March 13, 1881★★★★★

    Assassination of Tsar Alexander II

    Tsar Alexander II is killed by a bomb thrown by members of the revolutionary group Narodnaya Volya in Saint Petersburg.

    PoliticsDeath· Russia
  21. March 14, 1883★★★★★

    Death of Karl Marx

    Karl Marx dies in London, where he had lived in exile and written Das Kapital.

    Death· United Kingdom, Germany
  22. June 6, 1884★★★★★

    Treaty of Huế (1884)

    The treaty places Tonkin and Annam under French protectorate.

    Treaty· Vietnam, France
  23. November 15, 1884 – February 26, 1885★★★★★

    Berlin Conference on Africa

    European powers met in Berlin to set rules for colonial claims in Africa, accelerating the "Scramble for Africa" without any African representation.

    PoliticsTreaty· Germany, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Belgium
  25. January 29, 1886★★★★★

    Karl Benz patents the motor car

    Karl Benz receives a patent for the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, widely regarded as the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine.

    Technology· Germany
  26. October 1887★★★★★

    Formation of French Indochina

    France creates the Indochinese Union of Cochinchina, Annam, Tonkin and Cambodia; Laos is added in 1893.

    Politics· Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, France
  27. April 20, 1889★★★★★

    Birth of Adolf Hitler

    Adolf Hitler, later dictator of Nazi Germany, is born in Braunau am Inn, Austria.

    Birth· Austria
  28. July 29, 1890★★★★★

    Death of Vincent van Gogh

    The Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh dies at Auvers-sur-Oise, France, little recognised in his lifetime.

    DeathArt· France, Netherlands
  29. November 8, 1895★★★★★

    Röntgen discovers X-rays

    Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays at Würzburg, opening the era of medical imaging.

    Science· Germany
  30. December 28, 1895★★★★★

    Lumière brothers' first public film screening

    The Lumière brothers hold a paid public film screening at the Grand Café in Paris, often regarded as the birth of cinema.

    CultureTechnologyArt· France
  31. April 6, 1896 – April 15, 1896★★★★★

    First modern Olympic Games

    The first Summer Olympics of the modern era are held in Athens, organised by the International Olympic Committee.

    Culture· Greece
  33. December 14, 1900★★★★★

    Planck's quantum hypothesis

    Max Planck presents the hypothesis that energy is emitted in discrete quanta, marking the birth of quantum physics.

    Science· Germany

20th century

  1. December 10, 1901★★★★★

    First Nobel Prizes awarded

    The first Nobel Prizes are awarded on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death; Wilhelm Röntgen receives the first Nobel Prize in Physics.

    ScienceCulture· Sweden, Norway
  2. December 12, 1901★★★★★

    Marconi's transatlantic radio signal

    Guglielmo Marconi reports receiving a radio signal in Newfoundland transmitted from Cornwall across the Atlantic.

    Technology· United Kingdom, Canada
  3. 1905★★★★★

    Einstein's miracle year

    Albert Einstein publishes four papers on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity and mass–energy equivalence.

    Science· Switzerland
  4. January 22, 1905★★★★★

    Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg

    Soldiers fire on peaceful workers marching to the Winter Palace, sparking the Russian Revolution of 1905.

    RevolutionPolitics· Russia
  5. 1911★★★★★

    Rutherford's model of the atomic nucleus

    From alpha-particle scattering experiments, Ernest Rutherford proposes that the atom has a small, dense, positively charged nucleus.

    Science· United Kingdom
  6. June 5, 1911★★★★★

    Nguyễn Tất Thành leaves Vietnam

    Nguyễn Tất Thành (later Hồ Chí Minh) leaves Saigon as a kitchen hand aboard the Amiral Latouche-Tréville, bound for France.

    Politics· Vietnam, France
  7. April 15, 1912★★★★★

    Sinking of the Titanic

    RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg; more than 1,500 people die.

    DisasterTechnology· United Kingdom
  8. May 29, 1913★★★★★

    Premiere of The Rite of Spring

    Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring premieres in Paris amid uproar in the audience, becoming a landmark of modernist music.

    Art· France
  9. June 28, 1914★★★★★

    Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

    Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife are shot dead by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, triggering the crisis that leads to the First World War.

    PoliticsDeath· Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Serbia
  10. July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918★★★★★

    World War I

    Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, drawing Europe's powers into a global war that lasts until the armistice of 11 November 1918.

    War· Austria, Serbia, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia
  11. November 25, 1915★★★★★

    Einstein presents general relativity

    Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences, describing gravity as the curvature of spacetime.

    Science· Germany
  12. April 24, 1916 – April 29, 1916★★★★★

    Easter Rising in Ireland

    Irish republicans rise in Dublin and proclaim an Irish Republic; the rebellion is put down by British forces after six days.

    Revolution· Ireland, United Kingdom
  13. May 16, 1916★★★★★

    Sykes–Picot Agreement

    Britain and France secretly agree to divide the Ottoman Empire's Arab lands into post-war spheres of influence.

    TreatyPolitics· Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine
  14. 1917 – 1922★★★★★

    Russian Civil War

    The Bolshevik Red Army fights the White movement and other forces after the October Revolution; the Bolsheviks emerge victorious.

    WarRevolution· Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan
  16. April 6, 1917★★★★★

    United States enters World War I

    The US Congress declares war on the German Empire, bringing the United States into World War I on the Allied side.

    War· United States, Germany
  17. November 2, 1917★★★★★

    Balfour Declaration

    The British government declares support for a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, while stating that the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities should not be prejudiced.

    Politics· Israel, Palestine, United Kingdom
Timeline · World History Timeline