10,000 to 8,000 BC
Artistic ~ Cave Paintings
Strength ~ Surviving the Ice Age
Fear and Protective Nature ~ Battling other
Tribes for dominance or defense
Ambition ~ Creating language
What was going on in the world:
1. Peoples in the Mesopotamia region of southwest Asia in 10,000 BC formulated agriculture. This life-saving knowledge slowly extended to migrants into ancient Greece.
2. Atlantis is reputed to have been a large island in the Western Ocean near the Pillars of Hercules. According to Timaeus and Critias, two dialogues by Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis sunk into the ocean as the result of an earthquake. In Timaeus, the island's history is told to an Athenian Statesman named Solon by an Egyptian priest. The priest was convinced that Atlantis was larger than Asia Minor and Libya combined and that a prosperous empire had been integrated on the land about the 10th millennium BC. Supposedly, the peoples of Atlantis had conquered all of the Mediterranean peoples except for the Greeks. In Critias, Plato describes the nation as a utopian commonwealth. Although his vivid imagery and accounts may be fictional, the prospect exists that he had access to intelligence and records that have not survived. Popular theories include: a. Atlantis was once a Greek island in the Aegean Sea named Thíra. This particular island, investigated geologists, encountered a substantial volcanic eruption about 1500 BC. b. The island could be associated with Crete (Kríti), the Canary Islands, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the Americas.
3. The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age began sometime after 13,000 B.C. Better weather patterns resulted in the more game and stronger crops. Paleolithic tools, were adapted for use in the new tropical and temperate forest regions. Raw copper was implemented into tools and ornaments as early as 10,000 BC.
8000 - 6000 BC
Nesting ~ Building homes and communities
Family Life ~ Moving away from Random Beat-Them-Over-The-Head-And-Drag-Them-
Back-To-The-Cave mentality towards finding a mate and having a home and family
Fertility ~ Sculptures of the pregnant body
Note: Many cultures during this era were
Matriarchal (i.e. the female of the human species was superior to the male)
What was going on in the world:
1. In the Neolithic period, or the New Stone Age, the stone tools became highly smooth and diverse. The Middle East and Mesoamerica developed agricultural villages. By 6000 BC pottery and copper appeared in the Middle East. In other regions of the globe, the Neolithic arrived much later. From 7000 BC and 3000 BC, art and architecture became prevalent; later in many other regions. The Neolithic period began when people developed agriculture and settled in permanent enclaves; it ended when the discovery of bronze led to the more advanced Bronze Age. Gigantic Neolithic stone monuments are menhirs (large upright stones, also called megaliths) like the ones in Bretagne, France and the immense stone circles of England, better as known as Stonehenge. In what is now Serbia, discoveries at Rudna Glavna, show that copper was used in 4000 BC, although bronze was not made at that time. Around 3000 BC, Middle Eastern peoples taught migrating Asians how to work with metals and use the wheel for transport.
2. Beer is believed to be over 10,000 years old. Although no one knows its exact origins, some historians think the first beer may have been produced when a stash of grain was soaked by rain and then warmed by the sun. Beer would have been produced if this mixture were spontaneously fermented (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) by wild, airborne yeast that thrives in just these warm, moist conditions.
3. The precise genesis of wine making is unknown, but archaeological data proposes that it was being produced at least 8000 years ago. There are signs that wine was produced in Mesopotamia (the region that is now Iraq and eastern Syria), China and Egypt around 5000 years ago. Egyptian frescoes depict celebratory grape harvesting scenes in vineyards. The purest and best-quality wines were set aside for the Egyptian kings and pharaohs, and wine was established as a customary as payment for taxes.
6000 to 4000 BC
Communication ~ Writing became prolific
Invention ~ The wheel
Trade and Travel ~ Commerce and strengthening
Industry
Intellectual Endeavors ~ Schools, institutions,
Government
What was going on in the world:
1. Scientists in the 1960's insist that the Bronze Age may begun in Ban Chiang, Thailand, as early as 4500 BC. Bronze artifacts found in the Middle East can be dated from 4000 BC, and 3000 BC in Asia Minor. At first, bronze was used in moderation and mainly for decorative purposes, further proof that they have held the alloy in a great regard, perhaps saving its use for the higher castes only and because tin, needed in the manufacture of bronze, was not available in the region. The Asians had to get the tin from Cornwall in Britain, which made it easier for those in the Middle East to aquire it. Eventually, all of these peoples used bronze for tools and weapons. By 3000 BC Greece began using bronze; by 1800 BC China began using bronze; and in 1000 AD the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas made use of it. The Bronze Age in Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece ended in 1200 BC, after the use of iron became common.
2. Mesopotamia is located in a district that integrated parts of what is now eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and most of Iraq, lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Greek word Mesopotamia means “between the rivers.” Several civilizations flourished in the region about the 7th century BC. In the 6th century BC it became part of the Persian Empire, the largest empire in the world up to then. The oldest settlement in Mesopotamia is thought to be Eridu, but the best illustration may be Erech (Uruk) in the south. Temples were constructed mud-brick and adorned with metal and stonework. These ancient communicated through literature with cuniform. Other important Sumerian cities were Adab, Isin, Kish, Larsa, Nippur, and Ur.
4000-2000 BC
Beauty ~ Explosion of all forms of art
Building Permanence ~ The erection of massive
temples and buildings, Strong Architecture
Observation ~ Embalming techniques and burial
method technology advances as well as great
strides in astronomy
What was going on in the world:
1.Historians trace the first use of cosmetics to the 1st Dynasty of Egypt (circa 3100-2907BC). Liniment jars and bottles containing scented materials have been found in Egyptian tombs. Both men and women utilized perfumed oils. The arid, hot air of the desert coupled with a burning sun and rampant skin damage warranted a regime to keep the skin pliant and wrinkle-free. In addition, innovative Egyptian women enhanced their eyelids and lashes with dark green or blue kohl. Kohl, an ointment created from antimony or soot, provided a striking framework for the eyes, albeit a raccoon-esque one.
2. Astrology makes its debut…The Chaldeans, who lived in Babylonia (now Iraq), developed one of the original forms of astrology as early as 3000 BC. By 2000 BC the Chinese were practicing astrology. By the 500's BC, astrology had stretched to Greece, where such philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato integrated it into their study of religion and astronomy. Astrology was widely practiced in Europe in the Middle Ages, despite the disapproval by Christian leaders. Many scholars viewed astrology and astronomy as complementary sciences until about the 1500s, when discoveries made by such astronomers as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei undermined some of its foundations. Originally, there were an additional 2 signs, one inbetween Scorpio and Sagittarius, and the other between Sagittarius and Capricorn. Thanks to the American 1960's, there has been a rebirth of the study of Astrology and the Spriritual world. Many well-known Astrologers are no longer looked at with disdain and pity…in fact many of them are well respected professionals. The signs are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Ancient people drew the constellations on decorative household items such as vases, plates, candlesticks, and gaming boards. Artifacts of this nature were found as early as 4000 BC. The Sumerians named Aquarius after An, their god of heaven who empties the waters of immortality upon the earth. The Babylonians were the first to split the zodiac into 12 equal signs around 450 BC. The northern constellations of modern astrology are different than those known by the Chaldeans and the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The writer Homer spoke of constellations, while around 315 to 245 BC, the Greek poet Aratus of Soli addressed 44 constellations in his Phaenomena.
The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 30,000 light years away. The Milky Way can sometimes be seen on a cloudless summer evening, when the moon's light is absent from the sky. The Milky Way appears as a glowing, oddly shaped band that circles the horizon from the northeast to the southeast. It stretches across the constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. The Northern Cross divides it into two courses: the western stream grows fainter near the thick dust vapors of Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer (the thirteenth ancient astrological sign), and then become visable again in Scorpio; The eastern stream grows more vivid as it passes southward through Scutum to Scorpio, and then through Sagittarius. Sagittarius, loosely considered to be the center, is about 23,000 light-years from the sun.
2. Hesi-Re, the earliest Egyptian “doctor of the tooth” begins to practice dentistry. Gum swelling and disease was remedied with a mixture of cumin, incense, and onion. The Chinese treated toothaches with acupuncture as early as 2700 BC, and by 659 AD they were filling cavities with a blend of mercury, silver, and tin, almost 1000 years before amalgam was used in Western countries. The Mayans ignored tooth disease, opting to decorate their teeth with stone and metal inlays. Around 450 BC Romans doctored toothaches, filled cavities, and created bridges to substitute for extracted or lost teeth. By the 3rd century BC, Greek physician Diocles prescribed toothpaste of milled mint to eliminate grains of food. In the 2nd century AD, the innovative Greek physician Galen promoted the use of a rasp to get rid of rotting sections of a tooth.
3. Canaanites, the earliest acknowledged populace of Palestine, dwelled in large city-state communities such as Jericho. Their alphabet spawned many other writing systems and their religious beliefs had a prominant impact on the ethics, morals and customs of Judaism, eventually Christianity and later Islam.
Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument made of solid stone, situated on Salisbury Plain, north of Salisbury, England, was built between the late Stone and early Bronze ages. Once believed to be a temple for Druids or Romans, Stonehenge is now often thought to have been either a temple for sun worshippers or a type of astronomical clock or calendar. The sheer determination by ancient peoples to plan and build such a magnificent structure proves they were focused and logical. Archeologists believe it took many years to complete the project, good engineers and plenty of manpower. Stonehenge has weathered many storms that have threatened to destroy it, but after two millennium, it still stands as an edifice that was of the utmost importance to the peoples of the day as well to the peoples of the present. Stonehenge is not a time clock, homing device, or spy satellite built by aliens from outer space.
The ancient Egyptians built more than 90 royal pyramids. The first pyramid, the Step Pyramid at ªaqqârah, was constructed during the reign of King Djoser (2630 BC-2611 BC). The pyramids were tombs for kings and queens, but also places of continuous religious activity. After the death of a ruler, his or her body (along with any live pets or servents) was mummified. In ancient Egyptian belief, the pyramid provided a one-way ticket for the monarch to pass into the afterlife. In nearby temples, priests executed ceremonies to foster the dead monarch’s spirit (unlike the soul that passes to the afterlife), which was believed to linger with the body after death. In addition, the ancient Egyptians would place curses upon the tombs of their buried, believing that if the resting places were disturbed or the artifacts looted or destroyed, their souls would forever be in limbo, with no place to rest. Many mummy movies have portrayed this particular folklore in a horrific light, further lending credence to the idea that after death, an individual's soul may be stuck between worlds and vengeful toward the thieves who dared disturb their sleep.
2000 BC to Year 0
Aggression ~ Wars and struggles for power
Physical Stamina ~ Sport and Game becomes
the hobby of most in Greece and Rome and
elsewhere
Laws and Justice ~ Democratic government
and a more fair punishment for crimes
What was going on in the world:
1. The first known cases of Tuberculosis appear. Autopsies of mummies have shown that they were indeed infected at time of death.
2. Egyptians started tattooing themselves with ink around this time, although the reasons are unclear. Many historians believe it could have been for pure decoration; a way to recognize members of families or castes; indicate social status, wealth, or rank; or as a sign of mourning for a lost loved one.
3. The Hebrews, a group of Semitic tribes, migrated from Mesopotamia to Palestine during the 2nd millennium BC. Some trace their origins to Sinai rather than to Mesopotamia. When the Hebrews settled in Egypt, they were almost immediately enslaved. In fact, it was this slave labor that built many pyramids for the pagan Pharaohs.
4. Ice Cream originates in China.
5. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Babylonian story, is written on 12 cuneiform tablets. The story references the great flood of the Bible and revolves around Gilgamesh, a powerful ruler. After his best friend dies an unexplained death, Gilgamesh hunts for a wise man named Utnapishtim who survived the great flood and may know the secret of immortality. Biblical scholars believe this story lends further proof to the later biblical version of a great flood.
6. Babylon (Babylonian Bâb-ilim or Babil, “gate of God”) becomes an independent city-state after the Amorite (an ancient tribe of Canaanites) ruler Sumu-abum founds a dynasty there. This dynasty reached its apex under King Hammurabi (1792-1750BC.).
7. King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, a kingdom of Mesopotamia, for 42 glorious years. He spread his empire northward from the Persian Gulf through the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys and westward to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Not only was he well versed in the art of innovating fair new social programs and community, Hammerabi was a victorious military leader and commissioner. He codified the laws overseeing Babylonian life by instituting the Codes of Hammurabi.
8. Hinduism appears in India and spreads throughout Asia. The canon of Hinduism is basically defined by what people do rather than what they think. Of all the gods, one is the most popular: Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus.
9. 1400 - 300 BC Ancient Greece was a civilization that thrived around the Mediterranean Sea at this time. Greece was known for its great advances in philosophy, architecture, drama, government, and science. The most famous period of ancient Greek civilization is called the Classical Age, which lasted from about 500 to 323 BC. During this period, ancient Greeks reached their highest prosperity and produced amazing cultural accomplishments. Unlike most other peoples of the time, kings did not always rule the Greeks of the Classical Age. Greek communities cherished the sovereignty to rule themselves, although they argued about the best way to do that and often warred against each other. What Greek communities shared were their traditions of language, religion, customs, and international festivals, such as the Olympian Games.
10. 1300's BC The Exodus of Moses. After Moses parted the Red Sea and did away with the pursuing Egyptians, he led the Hebrews to Mount Sinai. Moses excused himself and went to talk to Yahweh on the mountain. He spent 40 days and nights with God. While on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.
11. King Tut (real name Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen (1343-1325 BC), rules Egypt.
12. The Old Testament Book of Psalms is written between 1300BC and 538BC.
13. The Trojan War is said to have been fought in 1184 BC.
14. Between 1000 to 750 BC the Mycenaean wars cause Greece’s economy to collapse. It's population severely decreased creating poverty and political uncertainty. This age lasted for over 200 years. Historians traditionally call this era the Greek Dark Age
15. Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey around 800 BC.
16. The country of Gaul (Latin Gallia), the ancient Roman portion of western Europe which is practically identical to France, is formed around 600 BC.
17. In 586 BC the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar I's army destroys Jerusalem, sending the Jews to Babylonia.
18. Buddha is believed to be born in 563 BC. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was born in Kapilavastu near the present Indian-Nepal border, the son of the ruler of a petty kingdom.
19. Confucious (KONGFUZI or K'UNG FU-TZU ) (551?-479? BC) is born in China. The religion, or philosophy, depending on how one looks at it, of Confucianism, developed from the teachings of Confucius and his disciples, and taught the principles of good conduct, practical wisdom, and proper social relationships.
20. Anaximander (circa 611-547 BC), Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, dies. He was born in Miletus in what is now Turkey. He discovered the obliquity of the ecliptic, or the angle at which the plane of the ecliptic is inclined to the celestial equator. He invented the sundial and cartography. He wrote manuscripts documenting his findings regarding the cosmos and the manifestation of life on earth. He believed the universe included several concentric cylinders, of which the remotest is the sun, the center is the moon, and the closest is the stars. Inside the cylinders is earth, which thrives on its own. He also rendered his hypothesis on the derivation of the universe and that all living things are restored to the component from which they were created.
21. Socrates is born in 469 BC. The Greek philosopher taught Plato and a host of other young thinkers the classics and philosophy.
22. Greek philosopher Plato is born around 428 BC. He was one of the most ingenious and significant thinkers in Western philosophy.
23. The science of botany began in the 4th century BC with the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, whose treatises on the classification, morphology, and reproduction of plants heavily influenced the discipline until the 17th century.
24. The disease Malaria dates back to the Greek physician Hippocrates when he described it in his writings during the 400s BC.
25. In 399 B.C., Socrates is criminally charged with neglecting the gods of the state by adopting new spirituality. He was accused of representing and advocating the daemonion, or supernatural voice, to which Socrates often referred. Much like Joan d'Arc, critics believe he was suffering from a form of Schizophrenia, not recognized as a mental disease in that day and age. He was also charged with corrupting the morals of the young, giving them doubts about the validity of democracy. He was wrongly identified with the Sophists (”expert, master craftsman, men of wisdom”) probably because the comic poet Aristophanes made fun of Socrates' beliefs. In fact, Aristophanes play, The Clouds, makes fun of Socrates' demeanor, beliefs, and arguments while playing master of a “thinking-shop” where young men were taught to make the worse reason appear the better reason.
26. Aristarchus of Sámos (310?-250? B.C.), was a Greek astronomer who was the first to assert that the earth revolves around the sun. His belief that the earth revolves around the sun is known only through the writings of Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes; none of the works written by Aristarchus on the subject have survived. In his only surviving work, On the Dimensions and Distances of the Sun and Moon, Aristarchus described a method for estimating the relative distances of the sun and moon from the earth. Although his method was essentially correct, his estimates were wrong because of his inadequate knowledge of mathematics and his lack of accurate instruments. This theory, known as the geocentric system, remained virtually unchallenged for about 2,000 years.
27. In 44 BC Julius Caesar changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July), after himself. The month Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August) in honor of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, who succeeded Julius Caesar.
Jesus Christ (between 8 and 4 BC-AD 28 OR 29?), the central figure of Christianity, was born in Bethlehem in Judea. The chronology of the Christian era is reckoned from a 6th-century dating of the year of his birth, which is now recognized as being from four to eight years in error.
Year 0 to 2015
Charity and Forgiveness ~ The teachings of Christ and the use of the fish as hyperbole in the religion
as well as the remarkable connection to the Sign of the Fish (Pisces' symbol) ushered in a more
stable, kind environment. Regardless of the seeded in struggle for religious rule, this age
focused on human rights and enlightenment.
Sacrifice ~ During this age, many chose death over persecution due to their own faith system
Modesty ~ The Christian ideals deemed sex wassupposed to be intimate and caring, and
monogamy was almost forced upon the population - well, the women at least.
What was going on in the world:
1. Jesus Christ (between 8 and 4 BC-AD 28 OR 29?), the central figure of Christianity, was born in Bethlehem in Judea. The chronology of the Christian era is reckoned from a 6th-century dating of the year of his birth, which is now recognized as being from four to eight years in error.
2. 100 AD - Alchemy, the ancient science of chemistry was first studied in the Hellenistic period in Alexandria, Egypt. At the same time, China was also developing a school of Alchemy. Early Greek philosophers configured the original chemical theories and Empedocles furthered the science in the 5th century. He believed that all things are composed of the elements air, earth, fire, and water.
3. 300 AD - St, Valentine's Day derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (Feb. 15). The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (Feb. 14) of two Roman martyrs, both named St. Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. St. Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers.
4. The Middle Ages, a period in the history of Europe that lasted from about AD 350 to about 1450. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, sometimes refered to as the Dark Ages, the western half of the Roman Empire began to fragment into smaller, weaker kingdoms. By the end of the Middle Ages, many modern European states had taken shape. During this time, the precursors of many modern institutions, such as universities and bodies of representative government, were created. Historians have broken down the Middle Ages into segments: The Early Middle Ages, lasting from about 350 to about 1050; the High Middle Ages, lasting from about 1050 to about 1300; and the Late Middle Ages, lasting from about 1300 to about 1450. Very little progress was made in the areas of technology, government, agriculture, and art. The peoples of this age were superstitious and suspicious about the world around them.
5. 400 AD - Christmas probably originated in the 4th century, but historians cannot agree on the exact dates. The holiday was a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. The "pagan" Romans had been celebrating Saturn, the god of agriculture on December 17, in the ancient festival of Saturnalia. The festival ended on December 25, but for seven days, the Romans suspended any wars they were involved in, temporarily halted slavery, and exchanged gifts. In order to make the Romans feel more comfortable about converting to Christianity, The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For instance, the Church supplanted festivities honoring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church wanted to suck pagans into its religion by permiting them to maintain their celebrations while concurrently honoring the birthday of Jesus. While the Eastern Orthodox Church began to recognize December 25 as Jesus’ birthday, Constantinople believed it was more important to highlight the observance of Christ’s baptism on January 6. As Christianity flourished, many other pagan rituals began to assimilate into the new religion. Kissing under the mistletoe is one pagan custom that took a stronghold in the Christmas celebration. Ancient Europeans thought the mistletoe plant held supernatural powers that could bestow life and fertility, bring about peace, and defend against disease. Europeans from the north connected mistletoe with Freya, the Norse goddess of love, and utilized the tradition of kissing underneath mistletoe branches. Kissing under a mistletoe branch became a part of secular Christmas tradition.
6. 500 AD - The heavy wheeled plow was developed.
7. 675 AD - The first coffee was cultivated in Arabia, near the Red Sea.
8. All Saints’ Day (Halloween Eve), October 31, was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century to honor Christian saints. All Souls’ Day, a holy day established by the Catholic Church in the 10th century, is also closely linked to Halloween. All Souls’ Day, on November 2, is observed to help purify the spirits of the dead.
9. The Mayan culture mysteriously disappears.
10. All Soul's Day is a festival celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church each year on November 2. Its purpose is to say prayers and almsgivings to assist souls in purgatory. It was first recognized in the monasteries of Cluny, France, in 998.
11. Circa 1065 - According to legend, Lady Godiva's (1040? - 1080?) husband offered to give a discount on the disproportionate taxes charged to the townspeople of Coventry, England if she consented to ride naked through the settlement on a white horse. She agreed to do it on one condition: all of the townsfolk had to remain indoors with the curtains drawn during her ride. Only one person violated her instructions to linger indoors; this man, a tailor known as Peeping Tom, peeked through a window and was instantly rendered blind. The oldest form of the legend is in the 13th-century Flores Historiarum (Flowers of the Historians). A festival in Lady Godiva's honor was instituted as part of Coventry Fair in 1678.
12. The Crusades, a series of wars by Western European Christians to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Crusades began in 1095 and ended in the mid- or late 13th century. The term Crusade was originally applied solely to European efforts to retake from the Muslims the city of Jerusalem, which was sacred to Christians as the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
13. 1347 - The Black Death, an epidemic of plague in Europe, resulted in the deaths of almost one-quarter of Europe’s population. The Black Death was the first in a cycle of plagues in Europe that continued into the 18th century.
14. 1400's - The Clavichord, the oldest form of stringed keyboard instrument is a predecessor of the piano. It was popular from the 1400s to the early 1800s and underwent a revival in the 20th century.
15. 1412 - The birth year of Saint Joan of Arc (in French, Jeanne d'Arc) also called the Maid of Orléans, who was a national heroine and patron saint of France, who united the nation at a critical hour and decisively turned the Hundred Years' War in France's favor.
16. 1470 - The first billiard table was built for King Louis XI of France. So popular did the game become in royal circles that Mary, Queen of Scots, while awaiting execution in 1587, complained of being deprived of her billiard table.
17. 1478 - From the onset of Spanish Inquistion, leaders tried and executed thousands of alleged witches for their supposed heretical practices and beliefs. Some of these alleged witches were thought to hold rituals called Sabbath or Sabbat, which satired the holy Christian mass. A perfect example was painting, The Witches’ Sabbath (1797-1798) by reknowned artist Francisco de Goya. After the deaths of tens of thousands of "enemies" of the church, the Inquisition was finally ended in Spain by the French reformer John Calvin 1834.
18. 1496 - Michelangelo produced his first large-scale sculpture in Rome, a larger-than-life-size figure of a drunken Bacchus (1496-1498, Museo Nazionale, Bargello, Florence), the Roman god of wine.
19. 1507 - 1515 - Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), a Polish astronomer, is best known for his astronomical theory that the sun is at rest near the center of the universe, and that the earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually around the sun. This is called the heliocentric, or sun-centered, system.
20. 1555 - Nostradamus, (1503-1566), was a French physician and astrologer who wrote Centuries, a famous collection of prophecies published in 1555. The prophecies in Centuries appear in four-line rhyming verses called quatrains. In vague language, they describe events from the mid-1500s through the end of the world, which is predicted to come in 3797. Many people have interpreted the prophecies in Centuries, connecting certain ones with events that have taken place since Nostradamus's time. The name “Nostradamus” is a Latin name he used in place of his original name, Michel de Nostredame. Nostradamus predicted the assassination of JFK, the Lunar Landing, and the rise and fall of Hitler to startling accuracy. In addition, he predicted World War I, Vietnam, Anwar Sadat, and the Twin Towers terrorist bombing.
21. 1600 - 1620 - Johannes Kepler created three laws of physics that are widely accepted and used today in modern science, known as Kepler's Laws.
22. 1637 - Rene Descartes, one of the great philosophers, wrote his first major work, Essais philosophiques (Philosophical Essays). He expressed the famous words Cogito, ergo sum,”I think, therefore I am.” He believed a clear consciousness of his thinking proved his own existence, therefore, he argued the existence of God. God, according to Descartes's philosophy, created two classes of substance that make up the whole of reality. One class was thinking substances, or minds, and the other was extended substances, or bodies.
23. 1682 - British astronomer Edmond Halley discovers "Haley's Comet."
24. 1687 - Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), an English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, is considered to be one of the most important scientists of all time. Newton formulated laws of universal gravitation and motion—laws that explain how objects move on Earth as well as through the heavens. He established the modern study of optics—or the behavior of light—and built the first reflecting telescope. His mathematical insights led him to invent the area of mathematics called calculus (which German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also developed independently). Newton stated his ideas in several published works, two of which, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687) and Opticks (1704), are considered among the greatest scientific works ever produced.
25. 1692 - 20 innocent people are executed in the Salem Witch Trials. In the years of the witch-hunting mania, people were encouraged to inform against one another. Professional witch finders identified and tested suspects for evidence of witchcraft and were paid a fee for each conviction. The most common test was pricking: All witches were supposed to have somewhere on their bodies a mark, made by the Devil, that was insensitive to pain; if such a spot was found, it was regarded as proof of witchcraft. Other proofs included additional breasts (supposedly used to suckle familiars), the inability to weep, and failure in the water test. In the latter, a woman was thrown into a body of water; if she sank, she was considered innocent, but if she stayed afloat, she was found guilty.
26. The American Flag - The colors red, white, and blue, which symbolized colonial unity, were first used in a flag in New England in 1737. The flag was blue with a white canton quartered by a red cross. In one upper quarter of the canton was a globe symbolizing the New World.
27. 1773 - The name denoting Santa Claus appeared in the American press as “St. A Claus,” but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas.
28. 1798 - The Alien and Sedition Laws are acts authorizing the President to deport undesirable, criminal, and illegal aliens, and made it a crime to criticize the government or its officials, especially during a time of war. These acts were brought upon by a need to stop persons from conspiring with the enemy, trading military secrets, or sabotage. These laws are undoubtedly unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court through the years had refused to hear the case against it. In 2002, the Patriot Act was enacted by George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 unprovoked attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In addition, the National Database on Illegal Aliens reports that there are least five thousand terrorist sleeper cells operating in the United States; cells that are almost identical to the ones that pulled off the Twin Towers horror. (2004)
29. 1862 - The IRS is established.
30. 1865 - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated on Good Friday, April 14. As Lincoln sat in a box seat at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C., John Wilkes Booth calmly walked up to him and fired a shot to Lincoln's head. Booth leaped to the stage, breaking his leg, but narrowly escaped the theater. 12 days later he was found in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia. He was either shot there or he may have committed suicide.
31. 2001 - September 11 - Muslim terrorists belonging to the Islam o-facist terrorist group AL-Qaeda, hijack four American commercial airliners. Two planes, one American Airlines Boeing 767 and the other a United Airlines Boeing 767, both en route from Boston to Los Angeles, slam into the two The World Trade Center buildings in New York City. Another hijacked plane, an American Airlines Boeing 757, en route from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles hits the Pentagon Building in Arlington, Virginia, killing over a hundred people. The last plane, a United owned aircraft headed from Newark to San Francisco falls from the sky and lands in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board. 2,752 people are killed in New York City, 184 are killed at the Pentagon, and 40 are killed in Pennsylvania, bringing the death toll to 2,976.
32. The murderous tyrant and leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is captured by coalition forces on December 13. 2003.
Copyright 2015, Brazen Brunhilda All Rights Reserved
Artistic ~ Cave Paintings
Strength ~ Surviving the Ice Age
Fear and Protective Nature ~ Battling other
Tribes for dominance or defense
Ambition ~ Creating language
What was going on in the world:
1. Peoples in the Mesopotamia region of southwest Asia in 10,000 BC formulated agriculture. This life-saving knowledge slowly extended to migrants into ancient Greece.
2. Atlantis is reputed to have been a large island in the Western Ocean near the Pillars of Hercules. According to Timaeus and Critias, two dialogues by Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis sunk into the ocean as the result of an earthquake. In Timaeus, the island's history is told to an Athenian Statesman named Solon by an Egyptian priest. The priest was convinced that Atlantis was larger than Asia Minor and Libya combined and that a prosperous empire had been integrated on the land about the 10th millennium BC. Supposedly, the peoples of Atlantis had conquered all of the Mediterranean peoples except for the Greeks. In Critias, Plato describes the nation as a utopian commonwealth. Although his vivid imagery and accounts may be fictional, the prospect exists that he had access to intelligence and records that have not survived. Popular theories include: a. Atlantis was once a Greek island in the Aegean Sea named Thíra. This particular island, investigated geologists, encountered a substantial volcanic eruption about 1500 BC. b. The island could be associated with Crete (Kríti), the Canary Islands, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the Americas.
3. The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age began sometime after 13,000 B.C. Better weather patterns resulted in the more game and stronger crops. Paleolithic tools, were adapted for use in the new tropical and temperate forest regions. Raw copper was implemented into tools and ornaments as early as 10,000 BC.
8000 - 6000 BC
Nesting ~ Building homes and communities
Family Life ~ Moving away from Random Beat-Them-Over-The-Head-And-Drag-Them-
Back-To-The-Cave mentality towards finding a mate and having a home and family
Fertility ~ Sculptures of the pregnant body
Note: Many cultures during this era were
Matriarchal (i.e. the female of the human species was superior to the male)
What was going on in the world:
1. In the Neolithic period, or the New Stone Age, the stone tools became highly smooth and diverse. The Middle East and Mesoamerica developed agricultural villages. By 6000 BC pottery and copper appeared in the Middle East. In other regions of the globe, the Neolithic arrived much later. From 7000 BC and 3000 BC, art and architecture became prevalent; later in many other regions. The Neolithic period began when people developed agriculture and settled in permanent enclaves; it ended when the discovery of bronze led to the more advanced Bronze Age. Gigantic Neolithic stone monuments are menhirs (large upright stones, also called megaliths) like the ones in Bretagne, France and the immense stone circles of England, better as known as Stonehenge. In what is now Serbia, discoveries at Rudna Glavna, show that copper was used in 4000 BC, although bronze was not made at that time. Around 3000 BC, Middle Eastern peoples taught migrating Asians how to work with metals and use the wheel for transport.
2. Beer is believed to be over 10,000 years old. Although no one knows its exact origins, some historians think the first beer may have been produced when a stash of grain was soaked by rain and then warmed by the sun. Beer would have been produced if this mixture were spontaneously fermented (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) by wild, airborne yeast that thrives in just these warm, moist conditions.
3. The precise genesis of wine making is unknown, but archaeological data proposes that it was being produced at least 8000 years ago. There are signs that wine was produced in Mesopotamia (the region that is now Iraq and eastern Syria), China and Egypt around 5000 years ago. Egyptian frescoes depict celebratory grape harvesting scenes in vineyards. The purest and best-quality wines were set aside for the Egyptian kings and pharaohs, and wine was established as a customary as payment for taxes.
6000 to 4000 BC
Communication ~ Writing became prolific
Invention ~ The wheel
Trade and Travel ~ Commerce and strengthening
Industry
Intellectual Endeavors ~ Schools, institutions,
Government
What was going on in the world:
1. Scientists in the 1960's insist that the Bronze Age may begun in Ban Chiang, Thailand, as early as 4500 BC. Bronze artifacts found in the Middle East can be dated from 4000 BC, and 3000 BC in Asia Minor. At first, bronze was used in moderation and mainly for decorative purposes, further proof that they have held the alloy in a great regard, perhaps saving its use for the higher castes only and because tin, needed in the manufacture of bronze, was not available in the region. The Asians had to get the tin from Cornwall in Britain, which made it easier for those in the Middle East to aquire it. Eventually, all of these peoples used bronze for tools and weapons. By 3000 BC Greece began using bronze; by 1800 BC China began using bronze; and in 1000 AD the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas made use of it. The Bronze Age in Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece ended in 1200 BC, after the use of iron became common.
2. Mesopotamia is located in a district that integrated parts of what is now eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and most of Iraq, lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Greek word Mesopotamia means “between the rivers.” Several civilizations flourished in the region about the 7th century BC. In the 6th century BC it became part of the Persian Empire, the largest empire in the world up to then. The oldest settlement in Mesopotamia is thought to be Eridu, but the best illustration may be Erech (Uruk) in the south. Temples were constructed mud-brick and adorned with metal and stonework. These ancient communicated through literature with cuniform. Other important Sumerian cities were Adab, Isin, Kish, Larsa, Nippur, and Ur.
4000-2000 BC
Beauty ~ Explosion of all forms of art
Building Permanence ~ The erection of massive
temples and buildings, Strong Architecture
Observation ~ Embalming techniques and burial
method technology advances as well as great
strides in astronomy
What was going on in the world:
1.Historians trace the first use of cosmetics to the 1st Dynasty of Egypt (circa 3100-2907BC). Liniment jars and bottles containing scented materials have been found in Egyptian tombs. Both men and women utilized perfumed oils. The arid, hot air of the desert coupled with a burning sun and rampant skin damage warranted a regime to keep the skin pliant and wrinkle-free. In addition, innovative Egyptian women enhanced their eyelids and lashes with dark green or blue kohl. Kohl, an ointment created from antimony or soot, provided a striking framework for the eyes, albeit a raccoon-esque one.
2. Astrology makes its debut…The Chaldeans, who lived in Babylonia (now Iraq), developed one of the original forms of astrology as early as 3000 BC. By 2000 BC the Chinese were practicing astrology. By the 500's BC, astrology had stretched to Greece, where such philosophers as Pythagoras and Plato integrated it into their study of religion and astronomy. Astrology was widely practiced in Europe in the Middle Ages, despite the disapproval by Christian leaders. Many scholars viewed astrology and astronomy as complementary sciences until about the 1500s, when discoveries made by such astronomers as Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei undermined some of its foundations. Originally, there were an additional 2 signs, one inbetween Scorpio and Sagittarius, and the other between Sagittarius and Capricorn. Thanks to the American 1960's, there has been a rebirth of the study of Astrology and the Spriritual world. Many well-known Astrologers are no longer looked at with disdain and pity…in fact many of them are well respected professionals. The signs are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Ancient people drew the constellations on decorative household items such as vases, plates, candlesticks, and gaming boards. Artifacts of this nature were found as early as 4000 BC. The Sumerians named Aquarius after An, their god of heaven who empties the waters of immortality upon the earth. The Babylonians were the first to split the zodiac into 12 equal signs around 450 BC. The northern constellations of modern astrology are different than those known by the Chaldeans and the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The writer Homer spoke of constellations, while around 315 to 245 BC, the Greek poet Aratus of Soli addressed 44 constellations in his Phaenomena.
The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 30,000 light years away. The Milky Way can sometimes be seen on a cloudless summer evening, when the moon's light is absent from the sky. The Milky Way appears as a glowing, oddly shaped band that circles the horizon from the northeast to the southeast. It stretches across the constellations of Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Cepheus. The Northern Cross divides it into two courses: the western stream grows fainter near the thick dust vapors of Ophiuchus, or the Serpent Bearer (the thirteenth ancient astrological sign), and then become visable again in Scorpio; The eastern stream grows more vivid as it passes southward through Scutum to Scorpio, and then through Sagittarius. Sagittarius, loosely considered to be the center, is about 23,000 light-years from the sun.
2. Hesi-Re, the earliest Egyptian “doctor of the tooth” begins to practice dentistry. Gum swelling and disease was remedied with a mixture of cumin, incense, and onion. The Chinese treated toothaches with acupuncture as early as 2700 BC, and by 659 AD they were filling cavities with a blend of mercury, silver, and tin, almost 1000 years before amalgam was used in Western countries. The Mayans ignored tooth disease, opting to decorate their teeth with stone and metal inlays. Around 450 BC Romans doctored toothaches, filled cavities, and created bridges to substitute for extracted or lost teeth. By the 3rd century BC, Greek physician Diocles prescribed toothpaste of milled mint to eliminate grains of food. In the 2nd century AD, the innovative Greek physician Galen promoted the use of a rasp to get rid of rotting sections of a tooth.
3. Canaanites, the earliest acknowledged populace of Palestine, dwelled in large city-state communities such as Jericho. Their alphabet spawned many other writing systems and their religious beliefs had a prominant impact on the ethics, morals and customs of Judaism, eventually Christianity and later Islam.
Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument made of solid stone, situated on Salisbury Plain, north of Salisbury, England, was built between the late Stone and early Bronze ages. Once believed to be a temple for Druids or Romans, Stonehenge is now often thought to have been either a temple for sun worshippers or a type of astronomical clock or calendar. The sheer determination by ancient peoples to plan and build such a magnificent structure proves they were focused and logical. Archeologists believe it took many years to complete the project, good engineers and plenty of manpower. Stonehenge has weathered many storms that have threatened to destroy it, but after two millennium, it still stands as an edifice that was of the utmost importance to the peoples of the day as well to the peoples of the present. Stonehenge is not a time clock, homing device, or spy satellite built by aliens from outer space.
The ancient Egyptians built more than 90 royal pyramids. The first pyramid, the Step Pyramid at ªaqqârah, was constructed during the reign of King Djoser (2630 BC-2611 BC). The pyramids were tombs for kings and queens, but also places of continuous religious activity. After the death of a ruler, his or her body (along with any live pets or servents) was mummified. In ancient Egyptian belief, the pyramid provided a one-way ticket for the monarch to pass into the afterlife. In nearby temples, priests executed ceremonies to foster the dead monarch’s spirit (unlike the soul that passes to the afterlife), which was believed to linger with the body after death. In addition, the ancient Egyptians would place curses upon the tombs of their buried, believing that if the resting places were disturbed or the artifacts looted or destroyed, their souls would forever be in limbo, with no place to rest. Many mummy movies have portrayed this particular folklore in a horrific light, further lending credence to the idea that after death, an individual's soul may be stuck between worlds and vengeful toward the thieves who dared disturb their sleep.
2000 BC to Year 0
Aggression ~ Wars and struggles for power
Physical Stamina ~ Sport and Game becomes
the hobby of most in Greece and Rome and
elsewhere
Laws and Justice ~ Democratic government
and a more fair punishment for crimes
What was going on in the world:
1. The first known cases of Tuberculosis appear. Autopsies of mummies have shown that they were indeed infected at time of death.
2. Egyptians started tattooing themselves with ink around this time, although the reasons are unclear. Many historians believe it could have been for pure decoration; a way to recognize members of families or castes; indicate social status, wealth, or rank; or as a sign of mourning for a lost loved one.
3. The Hebrews, a group of Semitic tribes, migrated from Mesopotamia to Palestine during the 2nd millennium BC. Some trace their origins to Sinai rather than to Mesopotamia. When the Hebrews settled in Egypt, they were almost immediately enslaved. In fact, it was this slave labor that built many pyramids for the pagan Pharaohs.
4. Ice Cream originates in China.
5. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Babylonian story, is written on 12 cuneiform tablets. The story references the great flood of the Bible and revolves around Gilgamesh, a powerful ruler. After his best friend dies an unexplained death, Gilgamesh hunts for a wise man named Utnapishtim who survived the great flood and may know the secret of immortality. Biblical scholars believe this story lends further proof to the later biblical version of a great flood.
6. Babylon (Babylonian Bâb-ilim or Babil, “gate of God”) becomes an independent city-state after the Amorite (an ancient tribe of Canaanites) ruler Sumu-abum founds a dynasty there. This dynasty reached its apex under King Hammurabi (1792-1750BC.).
7. King Hammurabi ruled Babylon, a kingdom of Mesopotamia, for 42 glorious years. He spread his empire northward from the Persian Gulf through the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys and westward to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Not only was he well versed in the art of innovating fair new social programs and community, Hammerabi was a victorious military leader and commissioner. He codified the laws overseeing Babylonian life by instituting the Codes of Hammurabi.
8. Hinduism appears in India and spreads throughout Asia. The canon of Hinduism is basically defined by what people do rather than what they think. Of all the gods, one is the most popular: Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus.
9. 1400 - 300 BC Ancient Greece was a civilization that thrived around the Mediterranean Sea at this time. Greece was known for its great advances in philosophy, architecture, drama, government, and science. The most famous period of ancient Greek civilization is called the Classical Age, which lasted from about 500 to 323 BC. During this period, ancient Greeks reached their highest prosperity and produced amazing cultural accomplishments. Unlike most other peoples of the time, kings did not always rule the Greeks of the Classical Age. Greek communities cherished the sovereignty to rule themselves, although they argued about the best way to do that and often warred against each other. What Greek communities shared were their traditions of language, religion, customs, and international festivals, such as the Olympian Games.
10. 1300's BC The Exodus of Moses. After Moses parted the Red Sea and did away with the pursuing Egyptians, he led the Hebrews to Mount Sinai. Moses excused himself and went to talk to Yahweh on the mountain. He spent 40 days and nights with God. While on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses two tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.
11. King Tut (real name Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen (1343-1325 BC), rules Egypt.
12. The Old Testament Book of Psalms is written between 1300BC and 538BC.
13. The Trojan War is said to have been fought in 1184 BC.
14. Between 1000 to 750 BC the Mycenaean wars cause Greece’s economy to collapse. It's population severely decreased creating poverty and political uncertainty. This age lasted for over 200 years. Historians traditionally call this era the Greek Dark Age
15. Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey around 800 BC.
16. The country of Gaul (Latin Gallia), the ancient Roman portion of western Europe which is practically identical to France, is formed around 600 BC.
17. In 586 BC the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar I's army destroys Jerusalem, sending the Jews to Babylonia.
18. Buddha is believed to be born in 563 BC. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was born in Kapilavastu near the present Indian-Nepal border, the son of the ruler of a petty kingdom.
19. Confucious (KONGFUZI or K'UNG FU-TZU ) (551?-479? BC) is born in China. The religion, or philosophy, depending on how one looks at it, of Confucianism, developed from the teachings of Confucius and his disciples, and taught the principles of good conduct, practical wisdom, and proper social relationships.
20. Anaximander (circa 611-547 BC), Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, dies. He was born in Miletus in what is now Turkey. He discovered the obliquity of the ecliptic, or the angle at which the plane of the ecliptic is inclined to the celestial equator. He invented the sundial and cartography. He wrote manuscripts documenting his findings regarding the cosmos and the manifestation of life on earth. He believed the universe included several concentric cylinders, of which the remotest is the sun, the center is the moon, and the closest is the stars. Inside the cylinders is earth, which thrives on its own. He also rendered his hypothesis on the derivation of the universe and that all living things are restored to the component from which they were created.
21. Socrates is born in 469 BC. The Greek philosopher taught Plato and a host of other young thinkers the classics and philosophy.
22. Greek philosopher Plato is born around 428 BC. He was one of the most ingenious and significant thinkers in Western philosophy.
23. The science of botany began in the 4th century BC with the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, whose treatises on the classification, morphology, and reproduction of plants heavily influenced the discipline until the 17th century.
24. The disease Malaria dates back to the Greek physician Hippocrates when he described it in his writings during the 400s BC.
25. In 399 B.C., Socrates is criminally charged with neglecting the gods of the state by adopting new spirituality. He was accused of representing and advocating the daemonion, or supernatural voice, to which Socrates often referred. Much like Joan d'Arc, critics believe he was suffering from a form of Schizophrenia, not recognized as a mental disease in that day and age. He was also charged with corrupting the morals of the young, giving them doubts about the validity of democracy. He was wrongly identified with the Sophists (”expert, master craftsman, men of wisdom”) probably because the comic poet Aristophanes made fun of Socrates' beliefs. In fact, Aristophanes play, The Clouds, makes fun of Socrates' demeanor, beliefs, and arguments while playing master of a “thinking-shop” where young men were taught to make the worse reason appear the better reason.
26. Aristarchus of Sámos (310?-250? B.C.), was a Greek astronomer who was the first to assert that the earth revolves around the sun. His belief that the earth revolves around the sun is known only through the writings of Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes; none of the works written by Aristarchus on the subject have survived. In his only surviving work, On the Dimensions and Distances of the Sun and Moon, Aristarchus described a method for estimating the relative distances of the sun and moon from the earth. Although his method was essentially correct, his estimates were wrong because of his inadequate knowledge of mathematics and his lack of accurate instruments. This theory, known as the geocentric system, remained virtually unchallenged for about 2,000 years.
27. In 44 BC Julius Caesar changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July), after himself. The month Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August) in honor of the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, who succeeded Julius Caesar.
Jesus Christ (between 8 and 4 BC-AD 28 OR 29?), the central figure of Christianity, was born in Bethlehem in Judea. The chronology of the Christian era is reckoned from a 6th-century dating of the year of his birth, which is now recognized as being from four to eight years in error.
Year 0 to 2015
Charity and Forgiveness ~ The teachings of Christ and the use of the fish as hyperbole in the religion
as well as the remarkable connection to the Sign of the Fish (Pisces' symbol) ushered in a more
stable, kind environment. Regardless of the seeded in struggle for religious rule, this age
focused on human rights and enlightenment.
Sacrifice ~ During this age, many chose death over persecution due to their own faith system
Modesty ~ The Christian ideals deemed sex wassupposed to be intimate and caring, and
monogamy was almost forced upon the population - well, the women at least.
What was going on in the world:
1. Jesus Christ (between 8 and 4 BC-AD 28 OR 29?), the central figure of Christianity, was born in Bethlehem in Judea. The chronology of the Christian era is reckoned from a 6th-century dating of the year of his birth, which is now recognized as being from four to eight years in error.
2. 100 AD - Alchemy, the ancient science of chemistry was first studied in the Hellenistic period in Alexandria, Egypt. At the same time, China was also developing a school of Alchemy. Early Greek philosophers configured the original chemical theories and Empedocles furthered the science in the 5th century. He believed that all things are composed of the elements air, earth, fire, and water.
3. 300 AD - St, Valentine's Day derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (Feb. 15). The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (Feb. 14) of two Roman martyrs, both named St. Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. St. Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers.
4. The Middle Ages, a period in the history of Europe that lasted from about AD 350 to about 1450. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, sometimes refered to as the Dark Ages, the western half of the Roman Empire began to fragment into smaller, weaker kingdoms. By the end of the Middle Ages, many modern European states had taken shape. During this time, the precursors of many modern institutions, such as universities and bodies of representative government, were created. Historians have broken down the Middle Ages into segments: The Early Middle Ages, lasting from about 350 to about 1050; the High Middle Ages, lasting from about 1050 to about 1300; and the Late Middle Ages, lasting from about 1300 to about 1450. Very little progress was made in the areas of technology, government, agriculture, and art. The peoples of this age were superstitious and suspicious about the world around them.
5. 400 AD - Christmas probably originated in the 4th century, but historians cannot agree on the exact dates. The holiday was a Christian substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. The "pagan" Romans had been celebrating Saturn, the god of agriculture on December 17, in the ancient festival of Saturnalia. The festival ended on December 25, but for seven days, the Romans suspended any wars they were involved in, temporarily halted slavery, and exchanged gifts. In order to make the Romans feel more comfortable about converting to Christianity, The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For instance, the Church supplanted festivities honoring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church wanted to suck pagans into its religion by permiting them to maintain their celebrations while concurrently honoring the birthday of Jesus. While the Eastern Orthodox Church began to recognize December 25 as Jesus’ birthday, Constantinople believed it was more important to highlight the observance of Christ’s baptism on January 6. As Christianity flourished, many other pagan rituals began to assimilate into the new religion. Kissing under the mistletoe is one pagan custom that took a stronghold in the Christmas celebration. Ancient Europeans thought the mistletoe plant held supernatural powers that could bestow life and fertility, bring about peace, and defend against disease. Europeans from the north connected mistletoe with Freya, the Norse goddess of love, and utilized the tradition of kissing underneath mistletoe branches. Kissing under a mistletoe branch became a part of secular Christmas tradition.
6. 500 AD - The heavy wheeled plow was developed.
7. 675 AD - The first coffee was cultivated in Arabia, near the Red Sea.
8. All Saints’ Day (Halloween Eve), October 31, was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century to honor Christian saints. All Souls’ Day, a holy day established by the Catholic Church in the 10th century, is also closely linked to Halloween. All Souls’ Day, on November 2, is observed to help purify the spirits of the dead.
9. The Mayan culture mysteriously disappears.
10. All Soul's Day is a festival celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church each year on November 2. Its purpose is to say prayers and almsgivings to assist souls in purgatory. It was first recognized in the monasteries of Cluny, France, in 998.
11. Circa 1065 - According to legend, Lady Godiva's (1040? - 1080?) husband offered to give a discount on the disproportionate taxes charged to the townspeople of Coventry, England if she consented to ride naked through the settlement on a white horse. She agreed to do it on one condition: all of the townsfolk had to remain indoors with the curtains drawn during her ride. Only one person violated her instructions to linger indoors; this man, a tailor known as Peeping Tom, peeked through a window and was instantly rendered blind. The oldest form of the legend is in the 13th-century Flores Historiarum (Flowers of the Historians). A festival in Lady Godiva's honor was instituted as part of Coventry Fair in 1678.
12. The Crusades, a series of wars by Western European Christians to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Crusades began in 1095 and ended in the mid- or late 13th century. The term Crusade was originally applied solely to European efforts to retake from the Muslims the city of Jerusalem, which was sacred to Christians as the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
13. 1347 - The Black Death, an epidemic of plague in Europe, resulted in the deaths of almost one-quarter of Europe’s population. The Black Death was the first in a cycle of plagues in Europe that continued into the 18th century.
14. 1400's - The Clavichord, the oldest form of stringed keyboard instrument is a predecessor of the piano. It was popular from the 1400s to the early 1800s and underwent a revival in the 20th century.
15. 1412 - The birth year of Saint Joan of Arc (in French, Jeanne d'Arc) also called the Maid of Orléans, who was a national heroine and patron saint of France, who united the nation at a critical hour and decisively turned the Hundred Years' War in France's favor.
16. 1470 - The first billiard table was built for King Louis XI of France. So popular did the game become in royal circles that Mary, Queen of Scots, while awaiting execution in 1587, complained of being deprived of her billiard table.
17. 1478 - From the onset of Spanish Inquistion, leaders tried and executed thousands of alleged witches for their supposed heretical practices and beliefs. Some of these alleged witches were thought to hold rituals called Sabbath or Sabbat, which satired the holy Christian mass. A perfect example was painting, The Witches’ Sabbath (1797-1798) by reknowned artist Francisco de Goya. After the deaths of tens of thousands of "enemies" of the church, the Inquisition was finally ended in Spain by the French reformer John Calvin 1834.
18. 1496 - Michelangelo produced his first large-scale sculpture in Rome, a larger-than-life-size figure of a drunken Bacchus (1496-1498, Museo Nazionale, Bargello, Florence), the Roman god of wine.
19. 1507 - 1515 - Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), a Polish astronomer, is best known for his astronomical theory that the sun is at rest near the center of the universe, and that the earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually around the sun. This is called the heliocentric, or sun-centered, system.
20. 1555 - Nostradamus, (1503-1566), was a French physician and astrologer who wrote Centuries, a famous collection of prophecies published in 1555. The prophecies in Centuries appear in four-line rhyming verses called quatrains. In vague language, they describe events from the mid-1500s through the end of the world, which is predicted to come in 3797. Many people have interpreted the prophecies in Centuries, connecting certain ones with events that have taken place since Nostradamus's time. The name “Nostradamus” is a Latin name he used in place of his original name, Michel de Nostredame. Nostradamus predicted the assassination of JFK, the Lunar Landing, and the rise and fall of Hitler to startling accuracy. In addition, he predicted World War I, Vietnam, Anwar Sadat, and the Twin Towers terrorist bombing.
21. 1600 - 1620 - Johannes Kepler created three laws of physics that are widely accepted and used today in modern science, known as Kepler's Laws.
22. 1637 - Rene Descartes, one of the great philosophers, wrote his first major work, Essais philosophiques (Philosophical Essays). He expressed the famous words Cogito, ergo sum,”I think, therefore I am.” He believed a clear consciousness of his thinking proved his own existence, therefore, he argued the existence of God. God, according to Descartes's philosophy, created two classes of substance that make up the whole of reality. One class was thinking substances, or minds, and the other was extended substances, or bodies.
23. 1682 - British astronomer Edmond Halley discovers "Haley's Comet."
24. 1687 - Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), an English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, is considered to be one of the most important scientists of all time. Newton formulated laws of universal gravitation and motion—laws that explain how objects move on Earth as well as through the heavens. He established the modern study of optics—or the behavior of light—and built the first reflecting telescope. His mathematical insights led him to invent the area of mathematics called calculus (which German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also developed independently). Newton stated his ideas in several published works, two of which, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687) and Opticks (1704), are considered among the greatest scientific works ever produced.
25. 1692 - 20 innocent people are executed in the Salem Witch Trials. In the years of the witch-hunting mania, people were encouraged to inform against one another. Professional witch finders identified and tested suspects for evidence of witchcraft and were paid a fee for each conviction. The most common test was pricking: All witches were supposed to have somewhere on their bodies a mark, made by the Devil, that was insensitive to pain; if such a spot was found, it was regarded as proof of witchcraft. Other proofs included additional breasts (supposedly used to suckle familiars), the inability to weep, and failure in the water test. In the latter, a woman was thrown into a body of water; if she sank, she was considered innocent, but if she stayed afloat, she was found guilty.
26. The American Flag - The colors red, white, and blue, which symbolized colonial unity, were first used in a flag in New England in 1737. The flag was blue with a white canton quartered by a red cross. In one upper quarter of the canton was a globe symbolizing the New World.
27. 1773 - The name denoting Santa Claus appeared in the American press as “St. A Claus,” but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas.
28. 1798 - The Alien and Sedition Laws are acts authorizing the President to deport undesirable, criminal, and illegal aliens, and made it a crime to criticize the government or its officials, especially during a time of war. These acts were brought upon by a need to stop persons from conspiring with the enemy, trading military secrets, or sabotage. These laws are undoubtedly unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court through the years had refused to hear the case against it. In 2002, the Patriot Act was enacted by George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 unprovoked attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In addition, the National Database on Illegal Aliens reports that there are least five thousand terrorist sleeper cells operating in the United States; cells that are almost identical to the ones that pulled off the Twin Towers horror. (2004)
29. 1862 - The IRS is established.
30. 1865 - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated on Good Friday, April 14. As Lincoln sat in a box seat at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C., John Wilkes Booth calmly walked up to him and fired a shot to Lincoln's head. Booth leaped to the stage, breaking his leg, but narrowly escaped the theater. 12 days later he was found in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia. He was either shot there or he may have committed suicide.
31. 2001 - September 11 - Muslim terrorists belonging to the Islam o-facist terrorist group AL-Qaeda, hijack four American commercial airliners. Two planes, one American Airlines Boeing 767 and the other a United Airlines Boeing 767, both en route from Boston to Los Angeles, slam into the two The World Trade Center buildings in New York City. Another hijacked plane, an American Airlines Boeing 757, en route from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles hits the Pentagon Building in Arlington, Virginia, killing over a hundred people. The last plane, a United owned aircraft headed from Newark to San Francisco falls from the sky and lands in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board. 2,752 people are killed in New York City, 184 are killed at the Pentagon, and 40 are killed in Pennsylvania, bringing the death toll to 2,976.
32. The murderous tyrant and leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is captured by coalition forces on December 13. 2003.
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