Ancient History (part 1 of 2): Before Christ(B.C.)or Before the Common Era(B.C.E.) 4.5 billion – 1B.C.World History Some Ancient Civilizations Ra, Egyptian Sun God (3000–2000B.C.) See also Egyptian Mythology The Great Pyramid at Giza (c. 2680B.C.) Kim Storm Stonehenge (c. 3000–1500B.C.) Peter F. Harrington Pythagoras (582?–507?B.C.) Buddha (563?–483?B.C.) Confucius(551–479B.C.) Parthenon(447–432B.C.) See also Greek and Roman Mythology Tina Diodati Plato (427?–348 or 347B.C.) Augustus Caesar (63B.C.–A.D.14) Mayan Hieroglyphics (c. 200B.C.) Pantheon in Rome(27B.C.; c.A.D.118–128) See also Greek and Roman Mythology Elaine Ouellette 4.5 billionB.C. Planet Earth formed. 3 billionB.C. First signs of primeval life (bacteria and blue-green algae) appear in oceans. 600 millionB.C. Earliest date to which fossils can be traced. 4.4 millionB.C. Earliest known hominid fossils (Ardipithecus ramidus) found in Aramis, Ethiopia, 1994. 4.2 millionB.C. Australopithecus anamensisfound in Lake Turkana, Kenya, 1995. 3.2 millionB.C. Australopithecus afarenis(nicknamed “Lucy”) found in Ethiopia, 1974. 2.5 millionB.C. Homo habilis(“Skillful Man”). First brain expansion; is believed to have used stone tools. 1.8 millionB.C. Homo erectus(“Upright Man”). Brain size twice that ofAustralopithecinespecies. 1.7 millionB.C. Homo erectusleaves Africa. 100,000B.C. First modernHomo sapiensin South Africa. 70,000B.C. Neanderthal man (use of fire and advanced tools). 35,000B.C. Neanderthal man replaced by later groups ofHomo sapiens(i.e., Cro-Magnon man, etc.). 18,000B.C. Cro-Magnons replaced by later cultures. 15,000B.C. Migrations across Bering Straits into the Americas. 10,000B.C. Semi-permanent agricultural settlements in Old World. 10,000–4,000B.C. Development of settlements into cities and development of skills such as the wheel, pottery, and improved methods of cultivation in Mesopotamia and elsewhere. 5500–3000B.C. Predynastic Egyptian cultures develop(5500–3100B.C.);begin using agriculture(c. 5000B.C.). Earliest known civilization arises in Sumer(4500–4000B.C.).Earliest recorded date in Egyptian calendar(4241B.C.).First year of Jewish calendar(3760B.C.).First phonetic writing appears(c. 3500B.C.).Sumerians develop a city-state civilization(c. 3000B.C.).Copper used by Egyptians and Sumerians. Western Europe is neolithic, without metals or written records. 3000–2000B.C. Pharaonic rule begins in Egypt. King Khufu (Cheops), 4th dynasty(2700–2675B.C.),completes construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza (c. 2680B.C.). The Great Sphinx of Giza (c. 2540B.C.) is built by King Khafre. Earliest Egyptian mummies. Papyrus. Phoenician settlements on coast of what is now Syria and Lebanon. Semitic tribes settle in Assyria. Sargon, first Akkadian king, builds Mesopotamian empire. The Gilgamesh epic(c. 3000B.C.).Systematic astronomy in Egypt, Babylon, India, China. 3000–1500B.C. The most ancient civilization on the Indian subcontinent, the sophisticated and extensive Indus Valley civilization, flourishes in what is today Pakistan. In Britain, Stonehenge erected according to some unknown astronomical rationale. Its three main phases of construction are thought to span c. 3000–1500B.C. 2000–1500B.C. Hyksos invaders drive Egyptians from Lower Egypt(17th centuryB.C.).Amosis I frees Egypt from Hyksos(c. 1600B.C.).Assyrians rise to power—cities of Ashur and Nineveh. Twenty-four-character alphabet in Egypt. Cuneiform inscriptions used by Hittites. Peak of Minoan culture on Isle of Crete—earliest form of written Greek. Hammurabi, king of Babylon, develops oldest existing code of laws(18th centuryB.C.). 1500–1000B.C. Ikhnaton develops monotheistic religion in Egypt(c. 1375B.C.).His successor, Tutankhamen, returns to earlier gods. Greeks destroy Troy(c. 1193B.C.).End of Greek civilization in Mycenae with invasion of Dorians. Chinese civilization develops under Shang Dynasty. Olmec civilization in Mexico—stone monuments; picture writing. 1000–900B.C. Solomon succeeds King David, builds Jerusalem temple. After Solomon's death, kingdom divided into Israel and Judah. Hebrew elders begin to write Old Testament books of Bible. Phoenicians colonize Spain with settlement at Cadiz. 900–800B.C. Phoenicians establish Carthage(c. 810B.C.).TheIliadand theOdyssey,perhaps composed by Greek poet Homer. 800–700B.C. Prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah. First recorded Olympic games(776B.C.).Legendary founding of Rome by Romulus(753B.C.).Assyrian king Sargon II conquers Hittites, Chaldeans, Samaria (end of Kingdom of Israel). Earliest written music. Chariots introduced into Italy by Etruscans.

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: US GOVERNMENT—A SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES Native peoples lived throughout the Americas for centuries—arriving from Asia by a land bridge—and they developed complex, diverse cultures. The arrival of Europeans completely changed their way of life. Soon after Columbus landed in North America, other European explorers followed. Within a century, European countries were planning permanent colonies in North America. c. AD 1000Leif Eriksson is the first European to set foot in North America c. 1400Native tribes move into the southwest 1492Christopher Columbus sails west from Spain for Asia and lands in the West Indies 1513Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain 1519–21Hernán Cortés conquers the Aztec Empire 1532Francisco Pizarro conquers the Inca Empire 1585–87Two unsuccessful attempts are made to colonize Roanoke Island 1607Jamestown founded 1620Mayflower compact; Pilgrims found Plymouth 1621First Thanksgiving 1660King Charles II of England assigns land to be sold to colonists 1692Salem witch trials 1754Outbreak of French and Indian War 1763Treaty of Paris ends French claims in North America 1779Boston Massacre 1773Tea Act; Rebellious colonists stage the Boston Tea Party 1774The 13 colonies form First Continental Congress 1775–83American Revolution begins at Lexington and Concord; ends after British surrender at Yorktown July 4, 1776Declaration of Independence signed 1781Articles of Confederation ratified 1787Constitution signed 1789George Washington elected first US president 1791Bill of Rights ratified 1803Louisiana Purchase doubles land area of US 1812–14US at war with Great Britain; British burn Washington, D.C.; “Star-Spangled Banner” written 1820Missouri Compromise signed in attempt to avoid crisis over slavery 1823Monroe Doctrine 1830Indian Removal Act creates “Indian territories” 1840Telegraph first used 1841Oregon trail opens 1846US war against Mexico; US borders extended to Pacific Ocean 1849California Gold Rush 1861Civil War erupts when southern states secede from Union, forming Confederate States of America 1863Battle of Gettysburg; Gettysburg Address; Emancipation Proclamation 186513th Amendment abolishes slavery 1865Lee surrenders to Grant; President Lincoln assassinated 1867Reconstruction Act 186814th Amendment grants citizenship to African Americans 1869Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads meet at Promontory Point 187015th Amendment gives African Americans the right to vote 1876Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone 1879Thomas Edison makes the electric light bulb 1882Chinese Exclusion Act 1886Haymarket riot; American Federation of Labor organized 1890Frontier closes; massacre of American Indians at Wounded Knee 1898Spanish-American War; US acquires the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii 1903First flight by Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk 191316th Amendment places federal tax on income 1914Panama Canal opens 1915German U-boat sinks theLusitania 1916Child Labor Act 1917US enters World War I; end of Progressivism 1918End of World War I 191918th Amendment begins Prohibition 192019th Amendment gives women the vote 1927Charles Lindbergh makes flight across Atlantic; first “talkie” released 1929Stock market crashes; Great Depression 1933Great Plains become the “Dust Bowl”; President Roosevelt launches the New Deal 1939Germany invades Czechoslovakia and Poland; Great Britain and France declare war on Germany Dec. 7, 1941Pearl Harbor attacked; US enters war 1942Relocation of Japanese-Americans begins; Bataan Death March; Battles of Coral Sea and Midway June 6, 1944D-Day May 8, 1945Germany surrenders Aug. 6, 1945US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima Aug. 9, 1945US drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki Aug. 15, 1945Japan surrenders 1948Marshall Plan implemented; Berlin airlift 1950McCarthy hearings begin; start of Korean War 1954Supreme Court ruling onBrown v. Board of Education 1955Montgomery bus boycott 1957Sputnik Ilaunched 1958First American satellite goes into orbit 1961Bay of Pigs fiasco 1962Cuban Missile Crisis 1963March on Washington, D.C.; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” speech Nov. 22, 1963President Kennedy assassinated 1965American troops sent to Vietnam 1968My Lai massacre Apr. 4, 1968Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated; violence erupts in 125 cities 1969Apollo 11crew lands on the Moon 1972Watergate break-in 1974President Nixon resigns 1975US personnel evacuated from Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders 1979Global oil shortage; gas rationing 1979Iranian rebels seize US Embassy 1981Scientists identify Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Jan. 28, 1986Space shuttleChallengerexplodes 1986Iran-Contra scandal 1989Berlin Wall torn down; fall of communism in eastern Europe begins 1991US leads coalition in Operation Desert Storm 1992US troops join UN mission in Somalia 1995Oklahoma City bombing 1998President Clinton impeached, later acquitted

HISTORY OF CANADA (part 1 of 2): CANADA’S PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES FIND OUT MORE The first people in Canada came from Asia 70,000 to 12,000 years ago, via a land bridge now covered by the Bering Sea. The “First Nations” spread across Canada, obtaining food by hunting, gathering, and farming. Around 6000 BC, the Inuit settled in the north. By the time Europeans reached Canada, the native peoples had well-developed trading patterns, societies, and cultures. 70,000–10,000 BCNomadic hunters arrive in Canada c. 6000 BCInuit arrive in Canada c. AD 1000Leif Eriksson and other Vikings visit Labrador and L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland 1003Vikings establish a colony in Labrador (Vinland), but it is abandoned two years later 1497John Cabot’s first voyage to North America; Cape Breton Island claimed for Henry VII of England 1534Jacques Cartier visits the Strait of Belle Isle (Newfoundland) and charts the Gulf of St. Lawrence 1608Samuel de Champlain, “Father of New France,” founds Quebec City, the first permanent European settlement in Canada 1610Henry Hudson explores Hudson Bay 1642Montreal is founded 1670The Hudson Bay Company is founded by royal charter and granted trade rights over all territory draining into Hudson Bay 1713The Treaty of Utrecht confirms British possession of Newfoundland, Hudson Bay, and Acadia (except Cape Breton Island) 1754Start of French and Indian War in America. Marks the final phase in the struggle between France and Britain in North America 1755Britain expels the Acadians from Nova Scotia, scattering them throughout her North American colonies 1759General Wolfe defeats the French on the Plains of Abraham and takes the city of Quebec for the British 1763France cedes its North American possessions to Britain in the Treaty of Paris 1774The Quebec Act provides for British criminal law but restores French civil law and guarantees religious freedom for Roman Catholics 1775–76American revolutionary forces capture Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point; Quebec City withstands a five-month American siege until the appearance of a British fleet 1791The Constitutional Act divides Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada 1792George Vancouver begins his explorations of the Pacific Coast 1818Canada’s border with the United States is defined as the 49th Parallel from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains 1841Act of Union unites Upper and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada 184790,000 immigrants, mostly from Ireland, arrive in Canada. 5,000 die of cholera while in quarantine; 15,000 die after moving to Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, and Kingston 1849The boundary of the 49th Parallel is extended to the Pacific Ocean 1867Britain’s North American colonies are united to become the Dominion of Canada and Sir John A. Macdonald becomes Canada’s first prime minister 1870The Red River Rebellion, in which the Métis (led by Louis Riel) resist Canadian authority in the northwest of the country, is put down 1885Riel leads the Northwest Rebellion. The Métis are defeated at Batoche, and Riel is hanged for treason. The last spike of the transcontinental railway is put in place 1895Gold is discovered in the Klondike River, prompting the biggest gold rush in history. Nearly 2.4 million settlers arrive in the country in several waves of immigration 1899The first Canadian troops ever sent overseas are dispatched to the Boer War 1903Canada loses the Alaska boundary dispute with the US 1914Britain declares war on Germany, automatically drawing Canada into the conflict in Europe. The War Measures Act orders all German and Austro-Hungarian Canadians to carry identity cards 1916The government of Manitoba grants women the right to vote and hold office 1917Munitions ship explodes in Halifax harbor, killing 2,000 and injuring 9,000. Income tax is introduced as a temporary wartime measure 1918Canadians break through the German trenches at Amiens beginning “Canada’s Hundred Days.” Armistice ends World War I 1922Canadians Charles Best, Frederick Banting, and John MacLeod win the Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin 1929Great Depression

HISTORY OF CANADA (part 2 of 2): 1931The Statute of Westminster grants Canada full legislative authority 1935Ten percent of Canadians rely on welfare or “relief.” The “On to Ottawa Trek” by young men from government work camps ends in a riot at Regina 1939Canada declares war on Germany 1942Canadians of Japanese descent are moved inland from the coast of British Columbia as “security risks”; their property is confiscated 1944Canadian troops push farther inland than any other Allied units on D-Day 1945World War II ends. One million Canadians fought in World War II; 42,042 were killed. Canada joins the UN. Canada’s first nuclear reactor goes online in Chalk River, Ontario 1950Canadian troops participate in the Korean War as part of a UN force 1952Canada’s first television station begins broadcasting in Montreal and Toronto 1960The separation crisis begins in Quebec. Supporters of the Parti Québécois call for independence from a federal Canada 1965Canada’s new flag is inaugurated after a bitter political debate 1967Montreal plays host to Expo ’67 1976The Olympic games are held in Montreal 1980Quebec votes “no” to separatism in a referendum 1982Canada gains a new Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The charter entrenches English/French bilingualism within federal institutions and provides for minority language education across the country 1988Calgary hosts the XV Winter Olympics 1989The Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the US goes into effect 1991Canadian forces join the battle to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Yukon First Nations members sign an agreement on land claims and self-government 1995People of Quebec vote by a narrow majority to remain part of Canada 1999The Inuit territory of Nunavut, which covers one-fifth of Canada’s landmass, is established 2000At the largest state funeral in the country’s history, Canada bids farewell to ex-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau 2003The Parti Québécois is ousted by Quebec’s Liberal party in the provincial elections CANADA’S PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES Table 60. CANADA’S PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES 1867New Brunswick 1867Nova Scotia 1867Ontario 1867Quebec 1870Manitoba 1871British Columbia 1873Prince Edward Island 1898Yukon Territory 1905Alberta 1905Northwest Territories 1905Saskatchewan 1949Newfoundland 1999Nunavut Territory

MIDDLE EAST: WHY HAS THERE BEEN FIGHTING IN ISRAEL? WHO CAME TO POWER IN IRAQ? The Middle East saw much conflict during the last century. Its deserts contain the world’s biggest oil fields, which have brought wealth to the area’s rulers but also colonial interference and wars. Other flashpoints were the creation of Israel and disputes over the role of Islam in government. WHY HAS THERE BEEN FIGHTING IN ISRAEL? In 1948, the UN made part of Palestine the Jewish nation of Israel. Jewish people returned to their traditional homeland, but many displaced Palestinian Arabs became refugees. The struggle between Israelis and Palestinians for this land continues. WHO CAME TO POWER IN IRAQ? In 1963, the Ba’ath party seized power in Iraq with US support. In 1979, Saddam Hussein became president. Iraq fought against Iran, and invaded oil-rich Kuwait, which was liberated by a US-led coalition in 1991. In 2003, the US and Great Britain claimed that Hussein remained an international threat and invaded Iraq.