1520 BC Pharaoh pushes far up Nile
Thutmose I extends Egyptian control as far up the Nile as Abu Hamad

1345 BC Amarna tablets reveal links between Egypt and Phoenicia
The Amarna tablets contain extensive correspondence between the Akhenaten government in Egypt and subject princes in Phoenicia

1300 BC Mycenae dominant
Mycenae prevails as the dominant power throughout the Peloponnese and the entire Aegean

850 BC Phoenician colony in Cyprus
Citium, in Cyprus, is the first of many Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean

814 BC Carthage founded
The traditional date of the founding of Carthage (supposedly by the mythical queen Dido, but in practice by Phoenicians)

722 BC Ten tribes lost
The Assyrians overwhelm the north of Israel and the ten northern tribes vanish from history - the majority of them probably dispersed or sold into slavery

700 BC Phoenician and Greek Sicily
The island of Sicily is colonized from the eastern Mediterranean by both Phoenicians and Greeks

689 BC Assyrians destroy Babylon
The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, destroys with great brutality the city of Babylon

667 BC Byzantium founded
Byzantium (the future Constantinople) is founded as a colony of Megara, a Greek city-state

663 BC Assyrians invade Egypt
The Egyptian city of Memphis falls to an Assyrian army, soon to be followed by Thebes

612 BC Babylonians destroy Nineveh
The Medes and the Babylonians destroy Nineveh and bring to an end the power of Assyria

586 BC Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem
After a long siege Jerusalem is taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the city, including Solomon's Temple, is destroyed

550 BC Carthaginian colony on Atlantic coast
Larache is founded as a Carthaginian colony on the Atlantic coast of Africa

546 BC Sardis taken by Persians
Sardis, the capital city of the Lydian ruler Croesus, is taken by the Persians

539 BC Persia absorbs Babylon
A Persian army captures Babylon and brings it into the empire of Cyrus the Great

525 BC Persians invade Egypt
The Persians defeat an Egyptian army at Pelusium and then capture Memphis

416 BC Athenians kill the men of Melos
The Athenians, capturing Melos, kill all the males of the island and sell the women and children into slavery

409 BC Carthaginians invade Sicily
A Carthaginian army lands near Marsala to begin the long involvement of Carthage in Sicily

396 BC Rome takes first step towards empire
The Romans capture the nearby Etruscan town of Veii, beginning a long process of territorial expansion

335 BC Alexander destroys Thebes
Before departing for the east, Alexander destroys Thebes and enslaves the Thebans for rebelling against the League of Corinth

332 BC Alexander founds Alexandria
While in Egypt, Alexander founds Alexandria – the best known of the many towns he establishes to spread Greek culture

331 BC Alexander defeats Darius at Gaugamela
Moving northeast into Mesopotamia, Alexander again defeats Darius III (at Gaugamela), leaving Persia open to his advances

327 BC Alexander invades India
Alexander takes a major new step, leaving Persian territory and moving through the mountain passes into India

320 BC Ptolemy founds museum
Ptolemy begins to transform Alexandria into a centre of Greek culture, founding his famous 'museum' and library

301 BC Ptolemy wins control of Jerusalem
Some 20 years after the death of Alexander the Great one of his generals, Ptolemy, extends his rule from Egypt to include Jerusalem

281 BC Pyrrhus lands in Italy
Pyrrhus lands in Italy, with 25,000 men and 20 elephants, to fight for the Greek colony of Tarentum against the Romans

241 BC Sicily is Rome's first province
At the end of the First Punic War, Sicily becomes Rome's first overseas province

240 BC Spanish metals worth fighting for
Spain, with its mines of gold, silver and copper, is a hotly disputed region between Carthage and Rome

227 BC Sardinia and Corsica form a province
Sardinia and Corsica are annexed by Rome, becoming the second Roman overseas province

201 BC Spain ceded to Rome
Carthaginian Spain is handed over to Rome to become two new provinces, at the end of the Second Punic War

196 BC Rome 'liberates' Greece
The Romans, after defeating Macedon, announce at the Isthmian Games that all Greek states are now free under Roman protection

121 BC Romans in Provence
The Romans establish a province in the south of France, still acknowledged in the name Provence

86 BC Athens looted by Romans
Sulla, campaigning to the east, besieges Athens and then allows his army to loot the city

80 BC Pompey is Great
The 26-year-old Pompey conducts such a successful campaign in Africa that his soldiers hail him as Pompey the Great

64 BC Pompey annexes Syria
Pompey takes Antioch and brings Syria under control as a Roman province

63 BC Pompey takes Jerusalem
Pompey captures Jerusalem, bringing Judaea under Roman control

58 BC Caesar in Gaul
At the end of his year as consul, Caesar travels north to become governor of northern Italy and southern France

55 BC Britain invaded by Caesar
Julius Caesar makes the first of his two invasions of Celtic Britain

54 BC Caesar invades Britain again
Julius Caesar returns to Britain for a second visit, this time reaching north of the Thames into the kingdom of Cassivellaunus

52 BC Vercingetorix defeats Caesar
The Celtic leader Vercingetorix inflicts an unaccustomed defeat on Julius Caesar, at Gergovia, but is captured later in the year

52 BC Caesar writes Gallic War
In his winter quarters Julius Caesar writes The Gallic War, an account of his own achievements in suppressing the Gauls

47 BC Veni, vidi, vici
Julius Caesar concludes a campaign in Asia Minor so speedily that he declares, succinctly, Veni, vidi, vici ('I came, I saw, I conquered')

46 BC Caesar founds town at Carthage
A town is founded by Julius Caesar on the ruined site of Carthage, and eventually flourishes as Colonia Julia Carthago

30 BC Rome controls Mediterranean
With the annexation of Egypt, the entire Mediterranean falls under Roman control

20 BC Roman province of Germania Inferior
The Netherlands, or 'low countries' around the Rhine delta, enter history as the Roman province of Germania Inferior

9 Arminius defeats Romans
The defeat of three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest by Arminius, establishes the Rhine as a natural boundary of the Roman empire

40 Cymbeline dies
The death of Cymbeline is a prelude to the renewed Roman invasion of Celtic Britain

43 Romans invade Britain and stay
The Romans invade Britain and the tribal leader Caractacus fails to hold them in an encounter near the Medway

43 Claudius arrives in London
The emperor Claudius catches up with the Roman army, waiting at the Thames for him to lead the final victory over the English tribes

60 Boudicca attacks Romans
Boudicca launches a devastating attack on Roman soldiers and settlers, destroying their headquarters at Colchester

66 Zealots rise against Rome
The Zealots play a prominent part in the uprising which expels the Romans from Jerusalem

70 Titus takes Jerusalem
Titus recovers Jerusalem for Rome, after four years of Jewish rule

70 Temple in Jerusalem destroyed
The complete destruction of the Jewish Temple follows the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans

77 Agricola subdues Wales
Agricola, appointed Roman governor of Britain in AD 77, establishes Chester as a stronghold from which to control the Welsh tribes

83 Agricola defeats the Scottish tribes
Agricola defeats the tribes of Scotland at an unidentified place called Mons Graupius, probably almost as far north as Aberdeen

106 Dacia within Roman empire
After two campaigns by Trajan the rich region of Dacia (today's Romania) is brought under Rome's control

122 Hadrian's Wall
The emperor Hadrian, visiting Britain, orders the construction of a great wall from coast to coast to keep out the Caledonian tribes

135 Romans expel Jews from Jerusalem
After the Roman recovery of Jerusalem from Simon Bar-Cochba, all Jews are expelled from the city

142 Antonine Wall
The emperor Antoninus Pius gives orders for the construction of a defensive earthwork, to the north of Hadrian's Wall

165 Doura-Europus a frontier town
The Romans annexe Doura-Europus, giving it its most prosperious period as a frontier town between the Roman and Persian empires

380 Roman presence in Britain reduced
Roman legions begin to be withdrawn from Britain, leaving the Celtic population increasingly vulnerable

406 Vandals move through Gaul into Spain
The Vandals cross the Rhine into Gaul and move into Spain, from which the Visigoths soon push them on into Africa

450 Angles and Saxons enter England
Angles, Saxons and other Germanic groups invade southern England and steadily push the Celts westwards

500 Tiwanaku powerful in Andes
The city of Tiwanaku develops to the south of Lake Titicaca, and soon dominates the surrounding region

533 Belisarius wins back Carthage
The Byzantine general Belisarius recovers Carthage from the Vandals

535 Belisarius lands in Sicily
Belisarius lands in Sicily at the start of a five-year campaign to recover Ravenna for the Byzantine emperor

550 Visigoths rule in Spain
Most of Spain is by now in the hands of the Visigoths, though for a while the Byzantines win back territories in the south

614 Jerusalem falls to Persians
Jerusalem falls to the Persian emperor Khosrau II after a siege of a month, and it is said that 60,000 Christians are massacred

637 Muslims capture Ctesiphon
The Arabs defeat a Persian army at Kadisiya and then sack the city of Ctesiphon, effectively bringing to an end the Sassanian dynasty

638 Muslims capture Jerusalem
The Arab capture of Jerusalem brings Palestine and Syria under Muslim control

642 Muslims capture Alexandria
The unopposed capture of Alexandria by the Arabs completes the Muslim conquest of Egypt

643 Coptic Christians isolated
The Coptic Christians of Egypt become isolated after the Muslim conquest

650 Vikings maraud in longships
The Vikings develop the fast and narrow longships with which they raid across the North Sea

670 Muslim garrison at Kairouan
The Arabs establish a garrison town at Kairouan, as a base for the conquest of northwest Africa

698 Carthage destroyed by Muslims
Carthage is captured from the Byzantines by the Arabs and is finally destroyed, though Tunis will later rise nearby

700 Non-Arabs may be Muslims
Shortage of manpower in the Muslim armies causes a change of policy, with non-Arabs now allowed to convert to Islam

711 Muslims cross into Spain
Muslim Arabs cross from north Africa into Spain and drive the Visigoths from Toledo

712 Muslims win foothold in India
Muslims, arriving from Persia through Baluchistan, occupy the region of Sind in western India

718 Visigoths cling on in Asturias
Retreating from the Arab onslaught, the Visigoths establish a kingdom of last resort in the extreme north of Spain, in Asturias

732 Charles Martel stops Muslim advance
The Muslim advance into France is halted when Charles Martel defeats the Arabs between Poitiers and Tours

751 Arab victory at Talas river
A battle at the Talas river, between the Chinese and the Arabs, is a decisive victory for the Arabs

756 Pepin helps Rome
Pepin III, after recovering Byzantine territories in Italy from the Lombards, hands control of the region to the pope in Rome

772 Charlemagne demolishes Saxon shrine
Charlemagne destroys a great Saxon shrine, the Irminsul - the start of a 30-year campaign against his pagan neighbours in what is now Germany

774 Charlemagne rules Lombardy
After two campaigns in Lombardy, Charlemagne establishes himself as king of the Lombards in northern Italy

793 Vikings raid Lindisfarne
The monks of Lindisfarne become the first known overseas victims of a Viking raid

827 Muslims in Sicily
The Arabs get a foothold in Sicily and begin a slow process, not complete till AD 965, of squeezing the Byzantines out of the island

838 Vikings capture Dublin
Vikings from Norway capture Dublin and establish a Norse kingdom in Ireland

850 Vikings have northern Scotland
Vikings are by now securely established in the Orkneys, Shetlands and Hebrides, and in much of the Scottish mainlaid down to Loch Ness

866 Danes capture York
A great army of Danes captures York - the first step in the establishment of Danelaw in eastern England

874 Vikings reach Iceland
Vikings arrive in Iceland and form a settlement on the site of modern Rejkjavik

886 Alfred drives Danes from London
Alfred captures London from the Danes, pressing them back into the region of Danelaw where their rule is, for the moment, tolerated

895 Magyars in Hungary
The Magyars, under the leadership of Arpad, establish themselves in Hungary

920 Vikings capture Limerick
After years of raiding up the Shannon, the Vikings capture Limerick

950 Toltecs at Tula
Toltecs move into the valley of Mexico from the north and establish a capital city at Tula

987 Chichén Itzá taken by Toltecs
The Mayan city of Chichén Itzá is captured by the Toltecs

1000 Islam reaches Niger
A Muslim dynasty is established at Gao, on the Niger

1000 Muslim Turks raid India
Turks from Ghazni, raiding into northwest India, renew the pressure of Islam on the subcontinent

1050 Islam reaches Lake Chad
Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

1050 Islam reaches Kilwa
A Muslim dynasty is established at Kilwa, on the east African coast

1062 Almoravids in Marrakech
Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain

1066 Normans invade England in longships
The Normans, as seen in the Bayeux tapestry, invade England in Viking longships with fortified platforms for archers

1080 Marcher lords threaten the Welsh
Norman earls are given territories on the marches of Wales, with the specific task of raiding their neighbours

1094 El Cid wins a kingdom
Rodrigo Diaz, known as El Cid, drives out the Muslims and wins Valencia

1095 Pope preaches first crusade
Pope Urban II preaches the first crusade, urging the Christians of Europe to march east to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims

1096 Peter the Hermit
Peter the Hermit, an old monk on a donkey, leads the largest of the popular groups from Germany on the first crusade

1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem
Crusaders capture the holy city of Jerusalem and massacre the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants

1100 Assassins in Persia
The Assassins, a sect of Nizari Ismailis, begin to acquire strongholds in Persia

1109 Latin kingdom of Jerusalem
The crusaders now rule the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, the principality of Antioch and the counties of Tripoli and Edessa

1144 Crusaders lose Edessa
The city of Edessa is captured by Zangi, a Mameluke general, in the first setback for the crusaders in the Middle East

1147 Almohads capture Marrakech
Rival Berber tribesmen, the Almohads, evict the Almoravids from Marrakech and soon conquer the whole north African coast

1147 Portuguese capture Lisbon
Alfonso I takes Lisbon from the Muslims, with the unexpected help of some passing English crusaders

1147 Second crusade
The second crusade is led east by two kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany

1147 Almohads capture Seville
Seville falls to the Almohads, from north Africa, who make it their Spanish capital

1148 Two bedraggled kings reach Holy Land
By the time Louis VII and Conrad III reach the Holy Land they have lost more than half their joint armies to Muslim attacks

1148 Disastrous attack on Damascus
Louis VII and Conrad III do grave harm to the Latin Kingdom by a feeble attack that merely alienates the previously friendly city of Damascus

1150 Tamils in Sri Lanka
After centuries of raiding the northern part of Sri Lanka, the Tamils establish a settled Hindu presence in the island

1154 Damascus surrenders to Nur ed-Din
The inhabitants of Damascus surrender their city to Nur ed-Din, helping him greatly in his campaign against the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem

1169 Normans invade Ireland
Normans land in Ireland, seize Wexford, and in the following year capture Waterford and Dublin

1171 English king holds court in Dublin
Henry II, the king of England, summons the Irish and Norman lords to do homage to him in Dublin

1187 Saladin wins at Horns of Hattin
Saladin destroys the Christian army of the Latin kingdom in a battle below the Horns of Hattin

1187 Saladin captures Acre
Saladin captures various Crusader fortresses and walled cities, including Acre

1187 Saladin takes Jerusalem
Saladin takes Jerusalem and treats the Christian inhabitants with a consideration unusual for the time

1190 Richard I goes on crusade
A year after succeeding to the throne of England, Richard I sets off east as one of the leaders of the third crusade

1190 Frederick Barbarossa dies on crusade
The third crusade suffers an early disaster when its first leader, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, is drowned crossing the Calycadnus river

1191 Richard I takes Acre
The Muslim garrison of Acre surrenders to Richard I, who orders the massacre of 2700 of its members

1192 Richard I recognized in Austrian inn
Richard I, returning from the Holy Land in disguise, is recognized in an inn near Vienna and is imprisoned until England pays a massive ransom

1202 Fourth crusade sails from Venice
The fleet of the fourth crusade departs from Venice - only to be diverted from its purposes by Venetian guile

1202 German knights of the sword
A German order, the Knights of the Sword, begins the forcible conversion of Latvia and Estonia to Christianity

1204 Normandy taken by French king
The French king, Philip II, takes Normandy from the English, and follows this success by taking Anjou a year later

1204 Crusaders destroy Constantinople
The crusaders of the fourth crusade besiege, take and destroy the Christian city of Constantinople

1204 Venice takes Corfu and Crete
Venice takes the useful islands of Corfu and Crete as part of the spoils of the fourth crusade

1205 Loot for Venice
Many of the treasures adorning the church of San Marco in Venice are loot taken from Constantinople during the fourth crusade

1220 Mongols cut a swathe through Asia
Within a span of less than ten years, from 1215, Genghis Khan and the Mongols plunder from China to eastern Europe

1225 Teutonic knights tackle Prussians
The Teutonic knights undertake a new form of crusade, attempting to subdue the pagan Prussians who occupy part of the Baltic coast

1228 Frederick II bargains for Jerusalem
Frederick II, leader of the sixth crusade, briefly recovers Jerusalem for the Christians by negotiating with the Muslims

1231 Mongols in Korea
The Mongols conquer the Korean peninsula, subsequently using it as a base for two expeditions against Japan

1237 Golden Horde in Russia
Batu Khan and his Mongols sweep into Russia, where they and their descendants become known as the Golden Horde

1241 Mongols ravage Cracow
Mongols of the Golden Horde defeat the Poles at Legnica and ravage the city of Cracow

1241 Golden Horde in Hungary
Mongols of the Golden Horde reach Hungary, where they graze their horses for the summer before withdrawing to the Volga

1256 Mongols invade Persia
Hulagu and his horde of Mongols cross the Amu Darya river and move against Muslim Persia

1258 Mongols sack Baghdad
When Hulagu and his Mongol army reach Baghdad, in 1258, it is said that 800,000 of the inhabitants are killed - and the caliph is kicked to death

1262 Norway annexes Iceland
The Norwegian king, Haakon IV, annexes Iceland as his personal fief, bringing to an end the commonwealth established in AD 930

1269 Marinids take Marrakech
The Marinids, a Berber tribe, take Marrakech and bring to an end Almohad rule in Morocco

1282 Uprising by prince of Wales
An uprising by Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, the prince of Wales, ends with his own death and the subjugation of Wales by the king of England, Edward I

1283 New castles to subdue the Welsh
Edward I begins a series of powerful castles - Harlech, Caernarfon and Conwy in this year alone - to subdue the Welsh

1303 Templars last to leave Palestine
The Knights Templars withdraw from the island of Arwad, the last foothold of the crusaders in the Middle East

1308 Teutonic knights seize Gdansk
The Teutonic knights seize the coastal area round Gdansk, cutting off Poland's access to the sea

1354 Turks make their way into Europe
Gallipoli is taken by the Ottoman Turks, giving them their first foothold in Europe

1377 Jogaila inherits Lithuania
Jogaila inherits a pagan Lithuanian kingdom which has been extended as far south as Kiev

1383 Timur destroys Herat
Timur begins twenty years of almost continuous conquest with the capture and destruction of Herat

1389 Turks win at Kosovo
Victory at Kosovo gives the Ottoman Turks control over Serbia, which becomes a vassal state

1393 Ottoman Turks occupy Bulgaria
The Ottoman sultan Bayazid I brings the Slav kingdom of Bulgaria under his control

1406 Pisa taken by Florence
Pisa is captured by Florence, to be followed a few years later by the purchase of the seaport of Livorno

1410 Poles crush Teutonic knights
The Poles defeat the Teutonic knights between Tannenberg and Grunwald, bringing the coastal strip around Gdansk into the Polish kingdom

1410 Last ship leaves Greenland
The Viking settlement in Greenland ends, after 400 years, when the last ship leaves the colony and sails for Norway

1420 Portuguese colony on Madeira
The Portuguese, discovering the lush and uninhabited island of Madeira, send colonists to settle it

1443 Skanderbeg defies Turks in Albania
Skanderbeg, Albania's national hero, begins his long campaign of successes against the Turks

1443 Hunyadi liberates Balkans from Turks
The Hungarian general Janos Hunyadi takes Sofia from the Turks and in the next few months liberates most of Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania

1444 Turks begin comeback at Varna
A Turkish army routs the Hungarians at Varna on the Black Sea, beginning a process which brings the Turks to the gates of Belgrade by 1456

1445 Muslim dynasty in Malay archipelago
A Muslim ruler is established in Malacca, forming the first of many Muslim dynasties in the Malay archipelago

1446 Portugal claims Guinea
Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast

1456 Peasant army defeats Turks at Belgrade
The Turks, besieging Belgrade, are dispersed by a peasant army inspired by the preaching of a Franciscan friar, St John of Capistrano

1460 Turks occupy Greece
The Turks complete the occupation of Greece, which remains within the Ottoman empire until the nineteenth century

1463 Incas conquer Chimu
The Chimu empire in Peru is conquered by the Incas under the leadership of Pachacuti's son Topa

1464 Turks conquer Bosnia
Mehmed II and the Ottoman Turks conquer Bosnia, where a large number of noble families convert to Islam

1468 Albania falls to Turks
Skanderbeg dies and Albania becomes fully absorbed into the Ottoman empire

1478 Novgorod subdued by Russia
Ivan III subdues proudly independent Novgorod, removing the city's famous bell

1483 Portuguese in Angola
The Portuguese establish a further presence on the west coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Congo river

1487 Second Inca capital at Quito
The Inca empire is extended to the north and a second capital is established at Quito

1489 Venice acquires Cyprus
Venice's annexation of Cyprus completes a useful chain of islands stretching to the eastern Mediterranean

1490 Habsburgs recover Vienna
On the death of Matthias Corvinus, in 1490, the Habsburgs recover Vienna from the Hungarians

1492 Christians take Granada
The army of Ferdinand and Isabella besieges and takes the city of Granada, completing the long reconquest of Spain from the Muslims

1496 Santo Domingo first Spanish colony
Diego Columbus, brother of the explorer, establishes the first secure Spanish colony at Santo Domingo

1500 Portuguese in Mozambique
The Portuguese establish trading posts in east Africa, on the coast of Mozambique

1500 New diseases ravage America
European diseases bring death on a massive scale to an American population that has no immunity

1502 Da Gama imposes trade agreement
Vasco da Gama wins a trading treaty for Portuguese merchants after bombarding the Indian port of Calicut into submission

1503 Portuguese trade from Zanzibar
The Portuguese set up a trading post on the east African island of Zanzibar

1505 Portuguese in Sri Lanka
The Portuguese establish a presence in Sri Lanka, trading in the island's crop of cinammon

1510 Portuguese in Goa
The Portuguese seize Goa and make it their colonial capital in India

1511 Portuguese seize Malacca
The Portuguese take control of Malacca, in the Malay peninsula, as a base for trade further east

1512 Portuguese in Moluccas
The Portuguese make treaties in the Moluccas (or Spice Islands), to trade in cloves and nutmeg

1513 Balboa sees Pacific
Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches the Pacific coast and claims the ocean for the king of Spain

1514 Portuguese garrison on Hormuz
The Portuguese capture Hormuz and establish a garrison to control the Gulf of Oman

1515 Spaniards conquer Cuba
The Spanish complete the conquest of Cuba and establish the town of Havana

1519 Cortes seeks fortune in Mexico
The Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes lands on the coast of Mexico with 600 men, 16 horses and about 20 guns

1519 Cortes captures Aztec emperor
Cortes and his tiny force capture Montezuma, ruler of the mighty Aztec empire, in his palace at Tenochtitlan

1520 Cortes loses Tenochtitlan
Cortes loses control of Tenochtitlan and has to escape in haste with his men during 'the Sorrowful Night'

1521 Turks take Belgrade
The Turkish sultan, Suleiman I, marches into the kingdom of Hungary and captures Belgrade

1521 Cortes recaptures Tenochtitlan
After a little more than a year Cortes recaptures Tenochtitlan and finally establishes Spanish control over Mexico

1525 Conquistadors first European Americans
The conquistadors, settling on land granted to them after the conquest, begin the long process of European emigration to America

1530 Muslim holy war against Ethiopia
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim leads Muslim Somalis in a holy war against Christian Ethiopia, destroying churches and shrines

1530 Pizarro sails to conquer Peru
Francisco Pizarro sails from Panama to attempt the conquest of Peru

1531 Aztec Virgin seen at Guadalupe
The Aztec Virgin of Guadalupe appears to an Indian near Mexico City and tells him she is 'one of his kind'

1531 Pizarro invades Inca territory
Francisco Pizarro leads 168 men, with about 30 horses, into the territory of the Inca empire

1532 Pizarro captures Inca
Pizarro and his tiny force ambush and massacre the Inca court in Cajamarca, capturing Atahualpa himself alive

1532 Room full of gold
Atahualpa agrees to buy his freedom from the Spaniards with a room full of gold and another of silver

1533 Ransom paid but Inca executed
Although the ransom has been paid, Atahualpa is executed by the Spaniards — who ensure that he dies a Christian

1533 Spaniards sack Cuzco
The Spanish conquistadors capture and sack the Inca capital of Cuzco, high in the Andes

1534 Portuguese acquire Bombay
The Portuguese force the local ruler to cede to them the island of Bombay

1536 Manco Inca besieges Cuzco
Manco Inca begins a siege of the Spaniards in Cuzco that lasts for a year

1537 Siege of Cuzco ends
With the end of the siege of Cuzco, and the flight of Manco Inca, the Spanish have full control of Peru

1541 Turks take Buda
Suleiman I takes Buda (now Budapest), and by 1547 the Turks occupy almost the whole of Hungary

1542 Spanish laws to protect Indians
New Laws are passed in Spain, in an attempt to protect the Indians on the encomiendas of Spanish America

1545 Silver found in Bolivia
Rich seams of silver are discovered at Potosi, in modern Bolivia

1548 La Paz on silver route
La Paz is founded on the trade route between Lima and the newly discovered silver mines at Potosi

1549 Bahia is capital of Brazil
The first Portuguese governor general of Brazil selects Bahia (now Salvador) as his capital

1557 Portuguese trade from Macao
The Portuguese establish a trading post on Macao, a small peninsula off the south coast of China

1571 Philippines a Spanish colony
The Spanish governor general, Legazpi, makes his capital at Manila,and names the surrounding islands the Philippines after Philip II

1573 Venice cedes Cyprus to Turks
Venice cedes the island of Cyprus to the Turks, in spite of the Christian victory at Lepanto two years earlier

1583 Newfoundland for England
Humphrey Gilbert claims Newfoundland on behalf of England's queen Elizabeth

1585 Settlers on Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina, is settled by the first English colonists in America – with disastrous results

1585 White depicts American Indians
The English artist John White paints the everyday life of the Secotan Indians of America

1587 Raleigh sends settlers to Virginia
A new group of English settlers arrives at Roanoke Island and makes a second attempt at a settlement

1587 English girl born in America
Virginia Dare becomes the first English child to be born in America, on Roanoke Island

1607 Flight of the Earls
The earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel sail from Ireland with their families, in the event known as the Flight of the Earls

1607 British settlers in Jamestown
Colonists establish the first lasting British settlement in the new world, at Jamestown

1608 Smith saved by Pocahontas?
John Smith claims (many years later) that when captured by Indians he was saved from execution by Pocahontas, daughter of the chief

1609 British castaways on Bermuda
Castaways from an English vessel reach Bermuda, which becomes the first British island in the new world

1613 Pocahontas seized by Jamestown colonists
The American Indian princess Pocahontas is taken hostage by Jamestown colonists in the first Anglo-Powhatan war

1614 Pocahontas marries
Pocahontas is baptized a Christian and marries John Rolfe, one of the Jamestown colonists

1616 John Smith describes New England
John Smith publishes A Description of New England, an account of his exploration of the region in 1614

1619 Dutch establish Batavia
Jan Pieterszoon Coen destroys the town of Jakarta, on the coast of Java, and rebuilds it as a Dutch trading centre under the name Batavia

1620 September 16 Pilgrims sail west
The Pilgrims (or Pilgrim Fathers), a group of 102 English settlers, sail in the Mayflower to the new world

1620 November 11 Pilgrims sign Mayflower Compact
Ten days after their first landfall, at Cape Cod, the adult males on the Mayflower agree a form of government for their new colony

1620 December 26 Settlers found a new Plymouth
The Pilgrims on the Mayflower select a place for their settlement, and give it the name of Plymouth, their port of departure in England

1620 History of Plimmoth Plantation
William Bradford begins a journal of the Pilgrims' experience in New England, subsequently published (in 1856) as History of Plymouth Plantation

1621 autumn Turkeys in Mayflower thanksgiving
The Mayflower settlers in Plymouth offer thanksgiving for their first harvest, eating turkeys in a celebration shared by local Indians