• 3500 - 2600 BC Minoan people settled the island of Crete, became an important maritime power trading with Egypt and Asia Minor

• 3000 BC Aegeans and Minoans developed bronze tools and trade networks

• 3100 - 2400 BC Construction of Stonehenge completed in England in multiple phases

• 2500 - 2000 BC Use of bronze tools spread across mainland Europe

• 1900 - 1600 BC Mycenaean Age began, Mycenaean people spread across the Greek mainland

• 1627 BC Thera Volcano erupted, decimated nearby Minoan settlements, changed the climate of the entire region

• 1420 BC Mycenaeans occupied the Minoan cities on Crete

• 1104 BC Phoenicians founded the city of Cadiz in present day Spain

• 1085 BC Madrid founded

• 900 - 800 BC Greek city states founded. Greeks modified the Phoenician alphabet to create the Greek alphabet

• 776 BC First Olympic games held in Delphi

• 753 BC Rome founded

• 600 BC The Forum built in Rome

• 550 BC World wonder, the Temple of Artemis completed in Ephesus

• 546 BC Cyrus the Great proclaimed "King of the Persian Empire"

500 - 400 BC

• 509 BC Romans converted to a republic form of government

• 470 - 399 BC The Greek philosopher, Socrates, developed the Socratic method of inquiry and the beginnings of ethics. He also contributed to philosophical thought.

• 466 - 456 BC World wonder, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia is completed

• 428 - 348 BC Plato, a student of Socrates, founded one of the earliest organized schools in western civilization, influenced studies of mathematics and philosophy throughout the known world.

400 - 100 BC

• 384 - 322 BC Aristotle, a student of Plato, developed formal logic, the camera obscura, the beginnings of the scientific method, and zoology

• 353 - 350 BC World wonder, the Mausoleum at Harlicarnassus was completed in modern day Turkey

• 331 - 334 BC Alexander the Great conquered the entire Persian Empire

• 312 BC The first Roman aqueduct, Aqua Appia, was constructed

• 292 - 280 BC World wonder, the Colossus of Rhodes is completed. Stood over 30 m (107 ft) high.

100 - 0 BC

• 70 - 1 BC The poet Virgil wrote the Aenid

• 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar assassinated on the Ides of March

• 30 BC Egypt became a Roman province. Roman general, Mark Anthony and Egyptian pharaoh, Cleopatra committed suicide

• 27 BC Rome's republic ended and the empire began. Augustus Caesar was sole ruler of the Roman Empire

• 7 BC - 4 CE Rome conquered Judea in modern day Israel. Jesus of Nazareth was born in this Judean province.

0 - 400 CE

• 50 -43 Romans conquered Britain, founded the city of London

• 80 The Colosseum was built in Rome

• 122 Hadrian's Wall was built in northern England

• 200 - 300 Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths began to organize

• 306 - 322 Constantine declared emperor of the Roman empire. He ended persecution of Christians and converts to Christianity

• 325 Ecumenical Council of Nicea convened to develop Nicene Creed, set the date for Easter, and homogenized Christian beliefs

• 400 - 600 Decline of the Roman Empire :: Beginning of the Dark Ages  (Medieval Period)

400 - 900 CE (Beowulf was written between 700-1000 CE)

• 710 - 730 Muslim forces crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, conquered Spain

• 741 - 813 Charlemagne expanded the Frankish empire to include modern day Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, northern Italy, and northern Spain.

• 793 - 802 Viking settlers expanded from Scandinavia outwards to northern England, Ireland, and northern France.

• 825 Vikings arrived at Iceland

• 843 Viking settlers founded Dublin

• 859 Russian city of Novogrod founded

• 872 Harold I unified all of Norway

• 886 - 911 Viking leader Rollo sacked Paris and in a treaty, was given the region of Normandy in France

900 - 1100

• 962 The Saxon leader Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope

• 982 - 985 Viking explorer Erik the Red banished from Iceland and subsequently discovered Greenland

• 1025 Poland declared independence from the Holy Roman Empire, emerged as major European power

• 1057 William the Conqueror conquered all of England for France

• 1066 Tower of London constructed

• 1096 - 1300 The Crusades began causing many Muslim and Christian deaths. Crusaders battled across the Middle East and Spain.

1100 - 1400

• 1144 Gothic architecture gained prominence

• 1237 Mongols crossed the Ural mountains and ruled Russia

• 1252 The Inquisition began, torture approved in cases of religious disobedience

• 1347 - 1350 The Black Death struck Europe killing an estimated 30 - 60% of Europe's population

• 1350 - 1500 The Renaissance began in Italy, ENDING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

1400 - 1700

• 1430 Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for leading French troops

• 1434 The Medici family rose to power in Italy, Cosimio de Medici became ruler of Florence

• 1440 Gutenburg invents the Printing Press

• 1492 Columbus began his exploration of the New World

• 1492 Gutenberg Bible printed using moveable type

• 1500 - 1600 English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch colonies were founded throughout the New World and Africa

• 1503 Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa

• 1517 The Protestant reformation began

• 1588 England defeated the Spanish Armada and gained control of the seas

• 1600 Galileo challenged geocentric view of the universe

• 1687 Isaac Newton founded Newtonian physics

1700 - 1900

• 1750 - 1850 English Industrial Revolution began

• 1789 French revolution stormed the Bastille

• 1792 - 1821 Napoleon conquered much of Europe for the French

• 1802 Ludwig van Beethoven performed Moonlight Sonata

• 1804 Napolean proclaimed Emperor of France

• 1845 - 1849 Irish potato famine killed approximately 1 million Irish

• 1848 Karl Marx argued for socialism, revolutions occurred in Europe; issued Communist Manifesto

• 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species

• 1860 - 1869 Italy and Germany unified into modern countries

1900 - 2000

• 1914 - 1918 World War I occurred throughout Europe

• 1930's Great Depression weakened European economies

• 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor Germany

• 1939 Winston Churchill became prime minister of Britain

• 1939 - 1945 World War II occurred throughout the world. Hitler created concentration camps for Jews. Russia expanded their country. Mussolini overthrown in Italy.

• 1944 D-Day landing in Normandy by allies

• 1945 Hitler committed suicide; Germany surrendered

• 1946 - 1990 Cold War took place between USSR and the United States

• 1957 USSR launched Sputnik into space

• 1978 World's first successful &test-tube& baby born in Great Britain

• 1989 Poland overthrew communism. Tim Berners-Lee of Great Britain, created the World Wide Web. Berlin Wall demolished

• 1991 USSR collapsed, Cold War ended

• 1992 Maasricht treaty created European Union

• 1995 CERN in Switzerland created antihydrogen atoms

• 2002 The European Union released the Euro as a new form of currency

• 2003 Ten thousand people died in heat wave in France

• 2005 French protestors rioted in the streets. Pope John Paul II died. Bomb attack on three of London's underground trains killed 56, injured over 700

• 2007 - 2009 Russia attacked Georgia

• 2008 Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic arrested on charges of genocide

• 2010 Polish President, Lech Kaczynski and 96 other passengers and crew, killed in airplane crash

• 2011 Greeks rioted in the streets over government and economic troubles