Asher Sisneros

Having finished Tom Woods’ first history course on Western civilization, I decided to turn my notes into a timeline. This is hardly a comprehensive timeline. Much more happened during the thousands of years between the creation of the Earth and when Columbus discovered America. That being said, these were memorable events for me. Most of these dates were taken from Tom Woods’ history class, but some of the biblical dates were taken from other sources. ¹ Also, this was not a school assignment. I did this for fun.

4004 BC – Creation.

2348 BC – Noah builds the ark during the worldwide flood.

2246 BC – God destroys the Tower of Babel and creates various languages.

1996 BC – Abraham makes a covenant with God: His seed (Christians) will be as numerous as the stars.

1745 BC – Joseph rules alongside Pharoah.

1491 BC – Moses leads the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt, cursing the Egyptians with ten plagues.

1020 BC – David kills Goliath, and God promises his offspring (Jesus) will always be on the throne.

975 BC – Israel undergoes civil war and divides into two kingdoms: Samaria and Judah.

800 BC – Homer writes The Iliad and The Odyssey 

740 BC – Isaiah warns Samaria to repent.

722 BC – The Assyrian Empire conquers Samaria.

586 BC – Nebuchadnezzar leads the Babylonian Empire to conquer Judah.

499-449 BC – Persian Wars: Greek city-states successfully defend against Persia.

470-399 BC – Socrates.

431-405 BC – Peloponnesian War: Sparta and its allies defeat Athens.

380 BC – Plato writes the cave allegory.

350 BC – Aristotle writes Ethics.

334 BC – Alexander the Great’s Macedonian Empire conquered the Persian Empire and the tattered Greek city-states.

100-44 BC – Julius Caesar lives.

27 BC – Octavian Augustus becomes the first Roman emperor.

4 BC – Jesus is born.

33 AD – Jesus is crucified.

70 AD – The Second Jewish Temple is destroyed by Emperor Titus.

80 AD – Titus finishes building the Colosseum.

155 AD – Polycarp is martyred in the Colosseum.

161-180 AD – Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius rules and writes Meditations.

284-305 AD – Diocletian saves the Roman Empire from collapse and establishes the tetrarchy (rule of four) 

306-337 AD – Constantine the Great abolishes the tetrarchy and becomes sole emperor, legalizes

Christianity, and builds Constantinople. 

380 AD – Emperor Theodosius makes Christianity the national religion in Rome.

397-400 AD – Saint Augustine writes Confessions, the first autobiography in the West.

410 AD – The barbarian general Alaric turns on Rome and burns the city.

426 AD – Saint Augustine writes The City of God to deal with Rome’s collapse.

480 AD – Saint Benedict establishes The Rule of St. Benedict, which guides monasteries on pious living.

529 AD – Byzantine Emperor Justinian writes the Code of Justinian, the first comprehensive encyclopedia of Roman law.

613 AD – Muhammad starts the religion of Islam.

793 AD – Viking raids begin, giving rise to feudalism.

800 AD – Charlemagne is crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III.

1059 AD – Pope Leo III establishes the College of Cardinals to prevent imperial influence on the papal election.

1050-1080 AD – Gregorian Reforms to separate Church and State power.

1054 AD – Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Church separate in the Great Schism.

1066 AD – The Norman Duke, William the Conqueror, invades England.

1096-1099 AD – First Crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims.

1202-1204 AD – Christians sack Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade.

1215 AD – The Magna Carta is written, establishing that monarchs are not above the law.

1225-1274 AD – Thomas Aquinas synthesizes logic and faith.

1337 AD – England’s Edward III refuses homage to Phillip the Fair of France, starting the Hundred Years’ War.

1303 AD – King Philip the Fair kidnaps Pope Boniface VIII, discrediting papal power. 

1320 AD – Dante writes The Divine Comedy.

1347-1350 AD – The Black Death kills 30% of Europeans.

1384 AD – John Wycliffe is martyred by the Catholic Church

1420 AD – The Italian Renaissance starts, popularizing secular literature, clerical criticisms, and perspective in art.

1440 AD – Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press to print Bibles

1429 AD – Joan of Arc changes the tide of the Hundred Years’ War, giving the French a morale boost.

1469 AD – Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon marry, centralizing the Spanish kingdoms.

1478 AD – The Pope gives Isabella and Ferdinand II authority to appoint inquisitors, starting the Spanish Inquisition.

1492 AD – Columbus discovers America.

1499 AD – Michelangelo finished The Pieta.

1501 AD – Amerigo Vespucci discovers America (named after him) is a new continent, not Asia.

1513 AD – Machiavelli writes The Prince, ending medieval chivalry.  

1519 AD – Leonardo da Vinci paints the Monta Lisa.

1532 AD – Francisco Pizarro and 180 Spanish conquer the Inca Empire in Peru

1. Answers in Genesis, Biblical timeline: https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwps-zBhAiEiwALwsVYWKnepSDj1ki4unolYEAaA5Nlhl3mhzv34PTjgTdc5d-UnRevb1D_hoCt_MQAvD_BwE ↩︎