History’s Greatest Hits
From the pyramids to the fall of the Berlin Wall: the dates everyone is expected to know.
The timeline
c. 2560 BCE
The Great Pyramid
Built in Giza, Egypt. It was the tallest human-made structure on Earth for nearly 4,000 years.
476 CE
The Western Roman Empire falls
Rome had ruled much of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Its laws, roads and alphabet are still everywhere.
c. 1440
The printing press
Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press makes books cheap. Ideas start spreading faster than ever.
1492
Columbus reaches the Americas
Begins centuries of European colonization, with devastating effects on Indigenous peoples.
1776
American independence
The Declaration of Independence. The US is born.
1789
The French Revolution
The French overthrow their monarchy. "Liberty, equality, fraternity."
1760s–1800s
The Industrial Revolution
Starting in Britain, factories, steam engines and railways change how people live and work.
1865
Slavery abolished in the US
The Civil War ends and the 13th Amendment abolishes slavery.
1914–1918
World War I
About 20 million people die. Old empires collapse.
1939–1945
World War II
The deadliest war in history, including the Holocaust, ends with atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
1947
India’s independence
India and Pakistan become independent from Britain.
1969
The Moon landing
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon.
1989–1991
The Cold War ends
The Berlin Wall falls in 1989, and the Soviet Union breaks up in 1991.
1994
Apartheid ends
Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa’s first Black president.
Pop quiz
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