| ~30-36 |
Jesus crucified |
| 79 |
eruption of Mount Vesuvius / destruction of Pompeii |
| 105 |
papermaking invented in China[^fourgreat] |
| 434-453 |
Attila the Hun rules the Huns |
| 476 |
fall of the Western Roman Empire |
| 593 |
earliest reference to printing, in China[^fourgreat] |
| 610 |
first revelation of Islam |
| ~800 |
gunpowder invented in China[^fourgreat] |
| 897 |
the Catholic church tries a dead pope |
| ~975-1025 |
Beowulf manuscript written |
| 1044 |
record of first bombs, in China |
| 1095-1272 |
the Crusades |
| 1185-1868 |
Samurai era |
| 1206-1227 |
Genghis Khan rules the Mongol Empire |
| ~1400 |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms[^sixnovels] |
| ~1400 |
Water Margin[^sixnovels] |
| ~1400 |
gunpowder use spreads to Eurasia |
| 1450 |
invention of the Gutenberg printing press |
| 1450-1572 |
Machu Picchu founded and inhabited |
| 1492 |
Christopher Columbus "discovers" the Americas |
| ~1500 |
Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase)[^sixnovels] |
| 1517 |
Martin Luther writes the Ninety-five Theses |
| 1535 |
the Coverdale Bible, the first English Bible |
| 1582 |
Pope Gregory XIII starts the Gregorian calendar |
| 1592 |
Journey to the West[^sixnovels] |
| 1611 |
the King James Bible is published, using already archaic language from 75-85 years earlier |
| 1620 |
the Mayflower lands in New England |
| 1662 |
last sightings of the dodo |
| 1692-1693 |
Salem witch trials |
| 1760-1840 |
the Industrial Revolution |
| 1750 |
The Scholars[^sixnovels] |
| 1775-1783 |
US Revolution |
| 1776 |
USA is founded |
| 1789-1799 |
the French Revolution |
| 1791 |
Dream of the Red Chamber[^sixnovels] |
| 1813 |
Pride and Prejudice published |
| 1816 |
Year Without a Summer, aka Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death |
| 1818 |
Frankenstein published |
| 1829 |
Joseph Smith completes the Book of Mormon |
| ~1833 |
John Nelson Darby invents the rapture |
| 1838 |
Samuel Morse invents clicky telegraphs and Morse Code |
| 1843 |
Ada Lovelace writes the first computer algorithm |
| 1844 |
Joseph Smith shot and killed |
| 1861-1865 |
US Civil War |
| 1863 |
the Emancipation Proclamation frees enslaved African Americans |
| 1865 |
Juneteenth, the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation |
| 1870 |
Leon Gambetta escapes the Siege of Paris in a hot air balloon |
| 1885 |
setting of Back to the Future III |
| 1885 |
AT&T founded |
| 1886 |
Carl Benz makes the first gasoline powered modern car |
| 1889 |
Nintendo founded |
| 1897 |
Dracula published |
| 1898 |
Puerto Rico and Guam acquired by US after Spanish-American War |
| 1903 |
the first airplane flight, by the Wright brothers |
| 1905 |
Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity published |
| 1906-1915 |
Azusa Street revival begins Pentecostalism and modern Christian speaking in tongues |
| 1912 |
China adopts the Gregorian calendar |
| 1914-1918 |
WWI |
| 1918–1920 |
the Great Influenza epidemic, aka the "Spanish flu" |
| 1922-1991 |
the USSR |
| 1928 |
discovery of penicillin |
| 1929–1939 |
the Great Depression |
| 1937 |
Amelia Earhart disappears |
| 1939-1945 |
WWII |
| 1945 |
flu vaccine becomes widely available |
| 1947-1991 |
the Cold War |
| 1951 |
Henrietta Lacks' cells begin the HeLa cell line |
| 1953 |
UK/US orchestrates the Iranian coup, precursor to the Islamic revolution |
| 1955 |
setting of Back to the Future I |
| 1961 |
Yuri Gagarin conducts the first human space flight |
| 1962 |
the Cuban Missile Crisis |
| 1963 |
JFK assassinated |
| 1965 |
Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov conducts the first space walk |
| 1965 |
Malcolm X is assassinated |
| 1954-1968 |
American civil rights movement |
| 1966-1969 |
Star Trek: TOS |
| 1968 |
Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated |
| 1968 |
RFK is assassinated |
| 1969 |
the first message over Arpanet, the early internet |
| 1969 |
Apollo 11, the first human moon landing |
| 1971 |
release of Computer Space, the first arcade game |
| 1974 |
Nixon resigns following the Watergate scandal |
| 1975 |
US women can get credit without a male cosigner |
| 1979 |
completion of the Iranian Islamic Revolution |
| 1979-1989 |
Jerry Falwell's "Moral Majority" |
| 1980-2000 |
Satanic Panic |
| 1980 |
scientists including Walter Alvarez propose that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs |
| 1985 |
Alexey Pajitnov creates Tetris |
| 1989 |
Berlin Wall falls |
| 1990 |
discovery of Chicxulub crater |
| 1991 |
Rodney King is beaten by police in Los Angeles, CA |
| 1992-1996 |
Star Trek: Khan Noonien Singh rules a quarter of Earth |
| 1993 |
marital rape outlawed in all 50 US states |
| 1993 |
creation of the European Union |
| 1999 |
the Euro is introduced |
| 1999 |
Columbine High School shooting |
| 2001 |
destruction of the World Trade Center |
| 2001 |
the iPod is released |
| 2001 |
Wikipedia launches |
| 2005 |
YouTube is founded |
| 2006 |
Pluto loses planet status |
| 2007 |
the iPhone is released |
| 2008 |
Lehman Brothers declares bankruptcy, triggering the 2008 recession |
| 2008 |
the first Android phone (the HTC Dream) is released |
| 2014 |
Michael Brown is shot by police in Ferguson, MO |
| 2015 |
setting of Back to the Future II |
| 2020 |
COVID-19 pandemic, est 18M deaths in 4.5 years |
| 2020 |
George Floyd is murdered by police in Minneapolis, MN |
| 2024 |
1st commercial moon landing |
| 2024 |
Star Trek: Irish reunification |