Where were you when....?

[Warph]

Where were you when:

1000 BC Iron Age begins. David is King of Israel.

990 BC David conquers Jerusalem.

970 BC Solomon is King of Israel.

950 BC Solomon builds the Temple.

930 BC King Solomon dies – Hebrew kingdom divided in Israel and Judah.

900 BC Homer writes Iliad and Odyssey perhaps at around this time.

810 BC Phoenicians establish Carthage. Homer composes Iliad and Odyssey around this time.

800 BC Time of the prophets Amos, Hosea and Isaiah. Traders who visited the mysterious far East empires of Cathay and T'chin speak of carriages which moved with the aid of fire (instead of horses).

776 BC First Olympiad in Greece.

753 BC Rome founded by Romulus.

721 BC Sargon, king of Assyria, takes Samaria and moves large numbers of Israelites to Media and Mesopotamia: the northern kingdom of Israel never revives.

691 BC The aqueduct introduced to bring water from distant sources to a large urban population. One of the first known aqueducts is ordered by the Assyrian King Sennacherib for Nineveh – it is about 90 km (50 miles) long.

660 BC Byzantium founded by Greeks.

621 BC Draco writes the first code of law for Athens and Greece. The penalty for many offenses were so severe that the word "draconian" comes from his name. (Citizens adored Draco and upon entering an auditorium one day to attend a reception in his honor, they showered him with hats and cloaks as was their custom. By the time they dug him out from under the clothing, he was smothered to death.)

606 BC Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxares of Media destroy Nineveh; end of Assyrian Empire.

604 BC Nebuchadnezzar rules Babylon.

598 BC Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem.

586 BC Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem.

585 BC Aesop's fables thought to be written about this time.  (They include "The Hare and the Tortoise" and "The Fox and the Grapes."  Aesop's moral lessons usually are summarized in one-sentence parables at the end of his fables, such as "don't count your chickens before they hatch.")  Very little is known about the author; some scholars believe Aesop was a slave, some believe he was legendary.

563 BC Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama) born in India.

551 BC Confucius born in China.

550 BC Cyrus conquers Media and founds Persian Empire.

538 BC Cyrus conquers Babylon.

536 BC The Book of Punishments written in in China.  Punishment for offenses include tattooing as a way to mark criminals, cutting off of the nose, castration, feet amputation and death.

535 BC The first Roman calendar introduced: it had 10 months, with 304 days in a year that began in March.

532 BC? Pythagoras of Crotona describes the relations between sides of right-angled triangle, and tone vibrations.

525 BC Tragedy and comedy theater performed.  Celebratory songs and dances held in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and merrymaking, evolved into the earliest plays.

515 BC Second Temple built in Jerusalem.

500 BC End of monarchy in Rome, Republic founded.  Completion of original Hebrew manuscripts which make up the 39 Books of the Old Testament. Thales (624 BC?-548 BC?) of Miletus calculates the geometry of the circle.  (He also discovered electricity.)

490 BC Greeks defeat Persians at Battle of Marathon

486 BC Spurius Cassius of Rome passes First Agrarian Law (land reform).

483 BC Buddha dies.

471 BC Lex Publilia passed at Rome; tribunes to be chosen by Comitia Tributa (popular assembly).

470 BC Socrates born near Athens. (He introduced the great tradition of Western philosophy.  He was executed in 399 BC)

458 BC Ezra leads Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem.

450 BC The Twelve Tables ordered to be written by 10 Romans to establish the legal system of the Rome.  Written on bronze and wood and tablets, the laws protected the lower class (plebes) from legal abuse by the ruling class (patricians); judges alone did not have the right the interpret the law; the organization of public prosecution was promoted; injured parties were allowed compensation by guilty parties.  The Twelve Tables are considered the foundation of all modern law.  (The tablets were destroyed by invading Gauls in 390.)

445 BC Nehemiah begins rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem.

440 BC Greek philosopher Leucippus and his student Democritus puts forward the notion that all matter consists of fundamental particles called atoms; they taught that everything is composed of infinitely tiny indivisible particles called atoms.  (The word atom comes from the Greek word meaning"indivisible.")

438 BC Construction of the Parthenon.

400 BC – 300 BC The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament evolve.  Hippocrates of Cos (430 BC?-377 BC?), the father of medicine, records medical cases.  Eudoxus of Cnidus (388 BC?-355 BC) theorize planetary motions.

399 BC – Socrates is required to drink hemlock to end his life after being found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens.

350 BC Aristotle writes Meteorologica, the first book on weather.

347 BC – 322 BC Aristotle identifies and classifies living forms.  Plato establishes a philosophy academy.

336 BC Alexander the Great becomes King of Macedon and supreme general of Greeks.

330 BC Darius II dies – end of Persian empire.

325 BC Theophrastus, philosopher and student of Aristotle, takes over leadership of Aristotle's school, the Lyceum.  His writing include Inquiry into Plants and Growth of Plants (The works survived. Theophrastus is considered the founder of botany.)

300 BC Great Wall of China constructed in parts.  Euclid, a Greek from Alexandria, writes Elements, introducing geometry (which means "land measurement").

264 BC First Roman gladiatorial games.

240 BC Livius Andronicus is the first Roman poet.

221 BC China unites when the king of Ch'in, Ying Zheng, defeat the kings of other 6 kingdoms – Zheng becomes Qin Shi Huang, first emperor of a unified China.

214 BC Great Wall of China being made continuous by Emperor Shih Huang Ti.

212 BC? Archimedes explains the area of circle, principles of lever, the screw, and buoyancy.

200 BC Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books. The first documented food fight takes place between Greek Mathematician Archimedes, who invented the catapult, and Egyptian King Ptolemy III.  (At a dinner the king insisted that he found the geometry and physics of Archimedes's design lacking in principle. Archimedes, so the story goes, says he'll demonstrate the shortest distance between two points and starts pelting the king with olives.  Ptolemy's guards respond with fresh fruit, forcing Archimedes to surrender.)

194 BC? Eratosthenes determines the size of Earth and put forward theories of the climate.

166 BC Maccabaean rebellion against Seleucid rule begins in Judah.

167 BC Antiochus IV dedicates the temple in Jerusalem as a shrine to Zeus.

150 BC Chinese make paper from macerated hemp fibers, plant bark, molded over old fishnets.

141 BC Wu of Han becomes emperor of China.

120 BC? Hipparchus of Rhodes (161 BC?-122 BC?) explains the pattern of the cosmos in latitude and longitude; and makes triangular measurement of celestial navigation.

100 BC The trip hammer and the use of paper developed in China.

77 BC The Book of Esther, the last book of the Old Testament, is translated into Greek.

74 BC Xuan of Han becomes emperor of China at age 17.

63 BC The Romans take control of Judah, which they call Judea.

55 BC The Romans invade Britain.

51 BC Rule of Cleopatra in Egypt (until 30 BC).  [There were seven Cleopatras in history, one became legendary.]

50 BC Julius Caesar crosses Rubicon to battle Pompey. Heron of Greece invented steam power in 50 BC but the leaders of the day thought that it would cause unemployment which may lead to unrest and the invention, well, ran out of steam.

48 BC Yuan of Han becomes emperor of China.  The library of Alexandria destroyed by fire during a battle between Julius Caesar and Ptolemy XIII.

45 BC Rome bans all vehicles from within the city – and in other cities vehicles, including horses, were allowed only at night – because of traffic jams.  The Julian calendar introduced.

44 BC Julius Caesar assassinated.

37 BC Herod appointed as king of Judea. Marc Antony marries Cleopatra.

33 BC Cheng of Han becomes emperor of China – he is known as a womanizer but did not leave an heir, dying in 7 BC of an aphrodisiac overdose.

30 BC Suicide of Antony and Cleopatra.  Horace of Rome completes his Book of Epodes.

20 BC King Herod Agrippa begins reconstruction of the Great Temple in Jerusalem.

19 BC Roman poet Virgil completes the Aeneid.

7 BC Ai of Han is made emperor of China.

6 BC Probable year that Jesus Christ was born, perhaps in March.

4 BC The earliest known reference to the Scots was made by the Greek Pretanoi, who refers to their practice of painting faces or tattooing associated with the bluish dye known as woad.

1 BC Nine-year-old Ping of Han is made emperor of China – he is poisoned six years later.  The revised Julian calendar introduced (on March 1).

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The year 0 was not recorded.  AD stands for "Anno Domini," a Latin phrase meaning "in the year of the Lord" and referring to the years after that.

YR./ History

04 Death of Herod.

06 Judea becomes a Roman province. Candidates for political office in China must take civil service exams. Emperor Cheng is succeeded by Emperor Ngai.

09 Battle of Teutoburger Wald, the Rhine River is established as the boundary between Latin- and German-speaking worlds.

14 Augustus Caesar, first Emperor of the Roman Empire, dies, succeeded by his stepson, Tiberius.

15 Livy, the Roman historian, publishes the story of Romulus and Remus, the first who becomes a god and declares that it is the will of heaven that Rome be the capital of the world.

23 Greek geographer Strabo publishes Geography, a work covering the world known to the Romans and Greeks at the time of Emperor Augustus – it is the only such book to survive from the ancient world.

26 Pontius Pilate becomes Roman procurator of Judea.

27 Probable the year that Jesus Christ was crucified. (The exact year of the crucifixion is disputed; often quoted as 33AD.)

34 Apostle Paul begins missionary journeys.

37 Emperor Tiberius dies, succeeded by his nephew, Caligula.

41 ? Dioscorides writes about medicinal herbs. Emperor Caligula is murdered, succeeded by Claudius, a lame man with a speech impediment.

43 The first London bridge is a temporary pontoon bridge built by the Romans.

50 Heron of Greece invents steam power and the first vending machine. St Paul begins missionary work in Europe. Pedanius Dioscorides writes the first pharmacology text, De Materia Medica (it became the primary source on pharmacology for the next 16 centuries).

53 The Parthians annihilate an army of 40,000 Romans.

54 Nero becomes last Caesar (of Caesar family) of Rome.

63 ? Death of St Paul in Rome (some sources quote St Paul's execution in 67AD)

64 Great fire in Rome. Persecution of Christians begin.

65 First persecution of Christians in Rome. The Gospel according to St. Mark, the earliest of the four Gospels, is written.

68 Nero commits suicide.

70 Jerusalem destroyed by Titus. The third Temple is burnt and destroyed

71 Colosseum building starts in Rome (finished in 79). Spartacus and other slaves crucified on the Appian road to Rome.

73 Siege of Massada.

74 Chinese Emperor Zhao dies at age 22, succeeded by another child, Emperor Xuan.

77 Around this year, the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Esther, is translated into Greek.

79 Emperor Titus dedicates the Roman Colosseum; the amphitheater has 160-foot walls and 50,000 marble seats. Mount Vesuvius erupts, killing thousands in Herculaneum and Pompeii.

82 According to Suetonius, the Emperor Domitian made women gladiators fight by torchlight at night.

95 Renewed persecution of Christians.

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Second Century History:

100 Jewish Christians forced to leave the Jewish fold.

105 Chinese government servant named Ts'ai Lun invents paper, made from hemp waste, mulberry fibers, rags, and other materials. (It would take many centuries for this invention to travel west, reaching Samarkand, Central Asia, in 751 and Baghdad in 793, arriving in Europe in the 12th century.)

107 Persecution of Christians.

117 Hadrian rules Rome (till 138), establishes a postal system and codifies Roman law.

122 Emperor Hadrian begins construction on a 117 km (73 mile) long wall between England and Scotland. (Parts of the Hadrian wall still stands.)

125 Christians persecuted.

127 Alexandrian astronomer, cartographer, and mathematician Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) publishes Almagest, in which he catalogued 1,022 stars – the previous known number of stars being 850. His work influenced astronomy studies for 14 centuries.

132 First seismoscope developed in China; it detected an earthquake 400 miles away.

136 Jewish revolt, led by Simeon ben Kosiba, suppressed – dispersion of Jewish race.

140 Han Jing-di's son becomes Emperor Wu of China.

149 Chinese dictionary of 10,000 characters produced by Hu Shin. Rome begins third war against Carthage, a war that Carthaginians do not seek.

155 Iberian Lusitani nation rebels against Rome, who offer peace and land, trap them, killl 9,000 and enslave 20,000. To allow a longer campaign, the Roman Senate moves New Year from March 15 to January 1.

158 Claudius Galen writes that arteries carry blood, and explains the action of muscles and nerves.

161 Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor of Rome.

168 Rome divides Macedonia into four republics and forbids contact between the four.

171 Rome declares war against Perseus of Macedonia.

180 Greek physician Galen publishes Methodus Medendo, a system of medicine that will influence medical thinking for over a thousand years. Commodus, son of Marcus Aurelius, becomes emperor of Rome.

183 Hannibal commits suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.

184 Zhang Jue leads the Yellow Turban rebellion in China.

193 Emperor Commodus assisinated in Rome.

197 Lucius Septimus Severus, a Syrian, become Rome's first non-Roman emperor.

[Catwoman]

This is truly interesting...Bring on the Third Century!

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Third Century History


200 Palestinian scholar Judah ha-Nasi compiles tracts of the Mishnah, beginning the creation of Jewish Talmudic law. Rome boasts 1.5 million inhabitants, most living in 3- to 8-story-high insulae, apartment blocks made of brick, wood or rubble.

203 Origen, aged 22, succeeds Clement as leader of the Christian school in Alexandria.

213 Completion of the Baths of Caracalla, which contain reading rooms, running tracks, and public gardens covering 20 acres. Gunpowder invented by Chinese alchemists mixing saltpeter with sulfur at the right temperature.

219 Founding of the Sura Academy in Babylon.

226 Ardashir begins Sassanid Dynasty, rulers of Persia until the seventh century.

238 In this year there were 6 Roman Emperors: Maximin, Gordian I, Gordian II, Balbinus, Pupienus Maximus & Gordian III.

250 Greek mathematician from Alexandria, Diophantus, publishes Arithmetica, the first known algebra text, a treatise in 13 parts of which 6 survive. About 5% of Romans have become Christian.

258 Emperor Valerian beheads Cyprian in front of thousands; those near him throw pieces of cloth to catch his blood.

271 First form of compass used in China.

272 Three Christians beheaded near a hill outside of Paris. The hill will later be called Montmartre, the Mountain of the Martyrs.

276 Mani, a sage from Persia who calls himself a apostle of Jesus Christ, is executed for preaching Zoroastrian dualism with Christian theology, angering followers of both religions.

284 Diocletian becomes Emperor of Rome and proclaims himself the earthly representative of Rome's supreme god, Jupiter.

299 Christians across Roman empire now about 10% of the population.

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Fourth Century History


300 The church council of Elvira, Spain, prohibits intermarriage between Jews and Christians, also forbidding them to eat together.

301 The Kingdom of Armenia is the first nation to make Christianity its official religion.

303 Emperor Diocletian orders the persecution of Christians.

312 Constantine defeats Maxentius at Battle of Milvian Bridge and becomes the ruler of the western Roman Empire. He believes the Christian God has guided him to victory.

313 Edict of Milan issues by Constantine I (Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor – he converted on his death bed in 337), allowing Christians to practice their faith in the Roman Empire.

325 Constantine the Great summons the Council of Nicaea, which establishes that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ) are of the same essence. Constantine introduces Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week. He also introduced movable (Easter) and immovable feasts (Christmas).

326 Constantine the Great and his mother Helena start a perdio of building churches in Palestine to mark the places considered holy to Christianity, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

330 Founding of Constantinople (which became Istanbul in 1900), built above the ancient site of Byzantium, which became the centre of Christianity.

333 Constantine decrees that Christians of Jewish heritage break all ties with Judaism or be executed.

335 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated on the site of what is believed to be Christ's tomb.

337 Constantine the Great converts to Christianity on his deathbed, according to Bishop Eusebius.

341 Ethiopians introduced to Coptic Christianity

350 Christianity reaches Ireland.

359 Under the leader of the Sanhedrin, Nasi Hillel II fix the calendar according to a standardized system of calculations (as used today). Previously, the calendar was based on eye witness of sightings of the new moon.

363 Constantine's grandson becomes emperor, becoming known as Julian the Apostate. H rescinds the law that forbids marriage between Christians and Jews and rescinds the law that bans Jews from entering Jerusalem; he also abolishes privileges that have been bestowed upon the Christian clergy.

367 Emperor Julian killed while fighting the Sassanid Empire.

372 Mahayana Buddhism introduced to Koguryo (northern Korea).

378 Valens, the Christian emperor of the eastern half of the Roman empire, is defeated by Christian Germans, Goths, at Adrianople.

380 Co-emperors Gratian and Theodosius decress that the doctrine of the Trinity is the official state religion.

383 Shapur III becomes king of the Sassanid empire.

384 Buddhism introduced to the royal families of Paekche (southern Korea) and Silla (central Korea).

388 Shapur III, the Sassanid king, lifts the persecutions of Christians.

390 Jerome's Latin Vulgate manuscripts published, containg all 80 books of the Scriptures (39 Old Testestament, 27 New Testament, 14 Apocrypha).

391 One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the library of Alexandria, is destroyed by fire.

395 Division of the Roman Empire, when Emperor Theodosius I dies. (His two sons appointed successors: 17-year-old Arcadius given rule over the east; 10-year-old Honorius ruling the west, but ruling from Milan instead Rome.) Augustine is named bishop of Hippo (in North Africa).

399 St. Augustine of Hippo writes his Confessions.

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Fifth Century History
401 Visigoths begin to attack the northern Italy.

406 Gunderic, King of the Germanic Vandals, attack towns and cities in Gaul.

407 Roman legions withdrawn from Britain; Picts, Scots and Saxons invade. The Saxons become rulers of the British Isles.

410 Goths attack Rome. Alaric lead the Asiatic Huns to attack the Roman Empire, sacking Rome in August. They introduce pants to the Roman Empire, which replace traditional togas.

414 Changra Gupta II dies.

421 Bahram V, Sassanid king, begins persecution of Christians. City of Venice is founded by Romans fleeing from Germans.

430 St. Augustine of Hippo dies as the Vandals besiege his city.

432 St Patrick returns to Ireland and confronts King Laoghaire who allows him to spread Christianity.

440 December 25th was not celebrated as the birth date of Christ until this year. See Christmas history

441 Anglo-Saxons, fleeing Huns advancing on northern Europe, invade Britain.

446 Vortigern leads Anglo-Saxon mercenaries and Britons against the Picts (from Scotland) and Scots (from Wales).

449 Angles and Saxons conquer Britain.

450 Conversion of Ireland to Christianity. (Missionary work started under Bishop Palladius 431, but most Irish people credit St Patrick with their conversion to Christianity.)

451 Attila the Hun (Hephthalite) crosses the Rhine into Gaul.

455 Vandals sack Rome with such ferocity that the word vandal will come to mean wanton destroyer.

466 Buddhists in China are persecuted by adherents of Confucianism

475 Emperor Ming is succeeded by his ten-year-old son, Emperor Shun.

476 The western Roman Empire ends when its last Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, is forced into retirement by German commander, Odoacer, who seizer power. (The eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, centered in Constantinople, will continue until 1453.)

480 The Visigoths, whose capital is in Toulouse, extend their rule from the Loire River to Gibraltar.

481 Clovis I becomes king of the Salian Franks.

488 Zeno, emperor of the eastern half of the Roman Empire, sends Theodoric with an army of Germans across the Alps against Odoacer.

493 Odoacer is defeated by Theodoric, who becomes King of Italy.

496 Clovis baptized as Christian by St. Remy, bishop of Reims.



Sixth Century History


500 Scriptures have now been translated into more than 500 languages.

507 Clovis, King of the Franks, defeats the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouille.

508 Paris (now called Lutetia) established by Clovis as the capital of the Kingdom of the Franks

511 Clovis, King of the Franks, dies. The Merovingian Dynasty is continued by his sons.

521 Boëthius introduces Greek musical letter notation to the West.

525 Dionysius Exiguus (Dionysis the Little), a Roman monk and astronomer, records in his Easter Tables Jesus of Nazareth's birthday as December 25, 753 years after Rome was founded. The error, an incorrect year and date, is repeated in all Christian calendars. Dionysius also left out counting the year 0. See When was Jesus born?

529 Codification of Roman Law, Justinian's Code, in a series of books called Corpus Juris Civilis, by the Emperor of Byzantine. Many legal maxims would be based on this code, which included the clause, "The things which are common to all (and not capable of being owned) are: the air, running water, the sea and the seashores." The spelling of the word justice originates from Justinian's Code.

531 Khosru I, of the Sassanian dynasty, comes to power in Persia.

533 Believing that he is getting the world ready for the Second Coming of Christ, Emperor Justinian reconquers parts of the Roman Empire.

534 Queen Hu of China is assassinated. Northern China divides between western and eastern halves of the Wei dynasty.

537 Saint Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, outlines the step for leading a devout life in what is known as the Rule of St Benedict. The Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) is dedicated in Constantinople.

542 The plague of Europe, known as the Great Plague of Justinian (a bubonic plague) ravages Europe. It would last until 593, killing half the population of Europe.

543 Byzantine general Belisarius defeat the Vandals in North Africa.

547 The famous church of St. Vitale in Ravenna, known for its octagonal shape and mosaics of the Byzantine Emperor and empress, Justinian and Theodora, is completed.

552 Emperor Justinian initiates Europe's silk industry by sending missionaries to smuggle silkworms out of China and Ceylon. Historian Procopius writes Anecdota, littered with scandalous gossip about Justinian and Theodora and their commander, Belisarius.

556 First written account of the Loch Ness monster.

560 The Hephthalites of Samarkand are defeated by a Persian-Turkish alliance and vanish as an identifiable people.

563 Irish missionary Columba establishes a center of learning on the island of Iona.

565 Emperor Justinian dies.

568 The Lombards invade Italy, reaching Milan.

587 First Japanese Buddhist monastery established.

589 Emperor Wen of northern China gains control of the sound ending 271 years of division.

590 Pope Gregory I (the Great) begins the papacy which will reform Europe. He sends monk Augustine to the British Isles. Augustine will lead the conversion of England and found a monastery in Kent town (later known as Canterbury), one of the oldest Anglo-Saxon settlements, dating from the mid-400′s.

592 Emperor Sujun of Japan is murdered by Umako who places his daughter, Suiko, on the throne and makes her nephew, Shotoku, regent.

594 Shotoku converts Empress Suiko to Buddhism, which becomes the state religion of Japan.

597 St Augustine of Canterbury introduces Christianity to Britain.