Preceden

1450-1750 APWH

Europe

Niccolo Machiavelli

1469 - 1527

He was a founder of modern political science, and more specifically political ethics.

Nicolaus Copernicus

1473 - 1543

He was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center.

Beginning of Spanish Inquisition

1478

Ferdinand and Isabella chose Catholicism to unite Spain and in 1478 asked permission of the pope to begin the Spanish Inquisition to purify the people of Spain. They began by driving out Jews, Protestants and other non-believers.

Ignatius Loyola

1491 - 1541

Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus). The Jesuits were one of the major spearheads of the Counter-Reformation. The work done by Ignatius Loyola was seen as an important counter to Martin Luther and John Calvin. founded the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus). The Jesuits were one of the major spearheads of the Counter-Reformation. The work done by Ignatius Loyola was seen as an important counter to Martin Luther and John Calvin.

Columbian Exchange Begins

1492

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, and ideas between the Americas, Africa, and Europe following the voyage by Christopher Columbus.

Reconquista of Spain

1492

The Reconquista was an 800 year struggle between the native Spaniards and the invading Muslims.

Gutenberg's Printing Press

1500

By 1500, the printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million copies. The printing press greatly aided the Protestant Reformation.

John Calvin

1509 - 1564

John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism.

Martin Luther 95 Theses/Begin Protestant Reformation

1517

Martin Luther allegedly nailed his 95 Theses doctrine to the door of the Catholic Church. It listed his concerns about the church and the reforms he believed needed to occur. Aided by the printing press, it inadvertently started the Protestant Reformation.

Magellan's Voyage

1519 - 1522

Though Magellan died in the Philippines before the voyage was completed, he is often credited with the first circumnavigation of the earth as he initially led the voyage. He also discovered what is now called the Strait of Magellan, named the Pacific Ocean, and South America's Tierra del Fuego.

Council of Trent/Catholic Counter Reformation

1545 - 1563

A council of the Catholic Church to stop the spread of Protestantism and reform Catholicism.

Galileo Galilei

1564 - 1642

Galileo Galilei, was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. He made improvements to the telescope.

British Defeat of Spanish Armada

1588

Catholic King Phillip II of Spain in sent the Spanish Armada to invade England. Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England defeated the Spanish fleet by setting fire to it.

30 Years War

1618 - 1648

Initially, it was fought as a religious war between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire. But it became about the balance of power and disputes over internal politics.

King Louis XIV

1643 - 1715

Louis was known as the Sun King and was the picture of an absolute monarch.

Enlightenment

1650 - 1800

Its purpose was to reform the way of thinking using reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and advance knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific thoughts, skepticism and intellectual interchange and completely opposed any kind of superstition, intolerance and some abuses of power by the church and the state.

Glorious Revolution/English Bill of Rights

1689

The deposition of James II and the accession of William III and Mary II to the English throne. The bill limited the power of the English sovereign, and was written as an act of Parliament. Religious liberty was limited for non-Protestants.

Voltaire

1694 - 1778

A French Enlightenment satirist, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

Adam Smith

1723 - 1790

Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. He was an advocate for capitalism.

Americas

Columbian Exchange Begins

1492

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, and ideas between the Americas, Africa, and Europe following the voyage by Christopher Columbus.

Columbus Arrives in Americas

1492

During his first voyage, instead of reaching the East Indies as he had intended, Columbus landed in the Bahamas archipelago.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494

The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. Along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands: The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain.

First Slaves to Americas

1502

The first African slaves arrived in the present-day United States as part of the San Miguel de Gualdape colonyfounded by Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón in 1526.

Vasco de Balboa

1513

In 1513 he led the first European expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Saw the Pacific Ocean and claimed it and all of its shores for Spain.

Cortez Conquered the Aztecs (Montezuma)

1521

Following the Spanish arrival in Mexico, a huge battle erupted between the army of Cortez and the Aztec people under the rule of Montezuma.

Pizarro Conquered the Inca (Atahualpa)

1533

169 Spanish soldiers under Francisco Pizarro and their native allies ambushed the Sapa Inca Atahualpa.

Triangle Trade

1570 - 1800

The transatlantic slave trade operated from the late 16th to early 19th centuries, carrying slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, Caribbean or American colonies and the European colonial powers, with the northern colonies of British North America, especially New England, sometimes taking over the role of Europe.

Foundation of Jamestown

1607

Jamestown was the first successful English settlement in the northern colonies in North America.

7 Years War

1756 - 1763

Prussia and Great Britain fought France and Austria in North America for land.

Islamic World

Ottomans Capture Constantinople (Mehmed II)

1453

The Ottomans, led by Mehmed II, captured Constantinople using naval strategies.

Shah Ismail

1501 - 1526

Founder of the Safavid Empire. Shi'ism.

Battle of Chaldiran

1514

A victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans gained immediate control over eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq

Suleyman

1520 - 1566

The Magnificent. Lawgiver. The Golden Age of the Ottomans.

Akbar

1556 - 1605

Greatest of the Mughal emperors of India. He exercised tolerance towards non-Islamic faiths.

Battle of Lepanto

1571

A fleet of the Holy League (European Catholic maritime states) defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Navy.

Unsuccessful Ottoman Siege of Vienna

1683

The Ottomans tried to open a breach on the southern part of the walls near the imperial palace. But on September 10, a Christian army was led by the Polish King John III Sobieski to stop them.

Asia

Forbidden City

1406 - 1420

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Vasco de Gama

1498

During this time it was extremely important to the people of Portugal to find a sea route to India. He arrived in Calicut, India in 1498.

Matteo Ricci

1582 - 1610

Italian Jesuit missionary who introduced Christian teaching to the Chinese empire.

Battle of Sekigahara

1600

This battle brought about the rise of the Tokugawa rule, the demise of the daimyo, and the unification of Japan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

1600 - 1616

The founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616.

Kangxi

1661 - 1722

Ruler of the Qing Dynasty (Manchurian) in China. He suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, forced the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan to submit to Qing rule, blocked Tsarist Russia on the Amur River and expanded the empire in the northwest.

Peter the Great

1682 - 1725

Peter the Great was a Russian ruler known for his policy of Westernization in order to modernize Russia.

Treaty of Nerchinsk

1689

Treaty signed in Nerchinsk regarding the borders between Russia and China.

Qianlong

1735 - 1796

Under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, the Chinese empire grew to a size unprecedented in Chinese history and included Tibet and a great deal of central Asia, including parts of what are today Russia.

Africa

Henry the Navigator

1450

Henry is regarded as the patron of Portuguese exploration. He learnt of the opportunities from the Saharan trade routes and became fascinated with Africa. He never sailed himself.

Sunni Ali

1464 - 1492

Founder of Songhay in Africa.

Dias Rounds Cape of Good Hope

1488

Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, the first European known to have done so.

Columbian Exchange Begins

1492

The Columbian Exchange was a widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), communicable disease, and ideas between the Americas, Africa, and Europe following the voyage by Christopher Columbus.