General Knowledge for SSC Exams (World History: Important Dates)

B.C.

10000-4000 - Development of settlement into cities and development of skills, such as wheel and pottery making and improved methods of cultivation.
5500-3000 - Earliest recorded date of Egyptian calender; first phonetic writing appears; Sumerians develop a city-state civilization.
3000-2000 - Pharaonic rule begins in Egypt; completion of the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
3000-1500 - The most ancient civilization on the Indian subcontinent, the sophisticated and extensive Indus Valley Civilization, flourishes in what is today Pakistan.
900-800 - Phoenicians establish Carthage : The I liad and Odyssey was composed by the Greek poet Homer.
400-300 - Pentateuch-first five Books of the Old Testament evolve in final form.
300-251 - Invention of Mayan calendar in Yucatan-more exact than older calenders.
101-51 - Juleus Caesar (100-44 BC) invades Britain (55 BC) and conquers Gaul, France.
776 - First Olympiad in Greece.
753 - Rome founded.
490 - Battle of Marathon, the Greeks defeated the Iranians/Persians.
327-26 - Invasion of India by Alexander, Battle of Hydaspes.
221 - Chin-Hung Ti ‘Universal Emperor’ in China, Great Wall of China completed.
55 - Invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar, the Great Roman General.
44 - Assassination of Julius Caesar by Brutus.
4 - Birth of Jesus Christ.

A.D.

29 - Crucifixation of Jesus Christ.
43 - Roman conquest of Britain.
570 - Birth of Prophet Muhammad at Mecca.
622 - Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (“hijira”), Beginning of Hijira Era (Muhammadan calender) on July 15.
800 - Charlemagne crowned Roman Emperor at St. Peter’s.
871 - Accession of Alfred the Great to the throne of Britain.
901 - Death of King Alfred the Great.
1066 - Battle of Hastings; Norman invasion of England. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandly, defeated the English king Harold II at Hastings.
1215 - Magna Carta or the Great Charter signed by King John II at Runnymede in England on June 15.
1280 - Gunpowder invented by Roger Bacon.
1338 - The Hundred Years War broke out; it lasted upto 1453.
1431 - Joan of Arc, a brave French peasant girl, obtained victory over the English at Orleans. She was burnt alive at the stakes.
1443 - The Black death i.e., plague broke out in England.
1453 - The capture of Constantinople (the home of classical learning) by the Ottoman Turks compelled the Greek scholars to flee to Italy and other West European countries, where they spread the knowledge of Greek philosophy and literature. This was the beginning of Renaissance in Europe.
1486 - Bartholomew Diaz rounded the cope of Good Hope.
1492 - Columbus sailed on his first expedition to the West Indies which later led to the discovery of America (the New World).
1498 - Vasco di Gama, a Portuguese, discovered the seat route to India via the Cape of Good Hope.
1517 - Beginning of reformation.
1529-36 - Reformation in England under Henry VIII.
1564 - Birth of Shakespeare.
1571 - Battle of Lapanto; Turks defeated by the Christian League.
1577 - Drake, the famous English Admiral; started his voyage round the world for the first time and phindered Spanish ships and ports in South America.
1588 - Admiral Drake defeated the Spanish ‘Armada’; England became the ‘Mistress of the Seas’.
1600 - Establishment of the British East India Company in India (31st December).
1605 - Gunpowder plot in England to blow up the English parliament.
1616 - Shakespeare passes away.
1649 - Trial and execution of Charles I, beginning of Commonwealth.
1649-60 - The Commonwealth and the Protectorate in England.
1660 - Restoration of monarchy in England.
1665 - The great plague in London.
1679 - Habeas Corpus Act.
1688 - The Glorious or Bloodless Revolution in England. Despotic rule of the Stuarts ended, and the Parliamentary rule began. Establishment of parliamentary supremacy and abolition of the Divine Rights of Kings.
1704 - Battle of Blenheim; Marlborough and Eugene inflicted a crushing defeat on the French army.
1707 - Union of England and Scotland.
763 - Treaty of Paris; It ended the Seven Years War (1756–63); weakened France, made England a great colonial power.
1776 - Declaration of American Independence and formation of a Federal Republic of
13 - states called the Union States of America (July 4).
1783 - Treaty of Versailles; England recognised the independence of the United States of America.1789 George Washington elected First President of USA. Beginning of French Revolution; Fall of the Bastille Fort (July 14).
1798 - Battle of the Nile. The English under Nelson gained victory over the French.
1805 - Battle of Trafalgar; Death of Nelson.Battle of Austerliz – Napolean Bonaparte rounted a combined army of the Russians and the Austrians.
1815 - Battle of Waterloo – Napolean was defeated and exiled to St. Helena. Congress of Vienna, it aimed at rearranging the map of Europe; The Vienna settlement proved unsatisfactory, because it disregarded national claims.
1821 - Death of Napolean at St. Helena (May 5).
1827 - Battle of Navatino; the allied fleets of England, Russia and France destroyed the Turkish fleet; This victory practically secured the independence of Greece.
1833 - Emancipation Act of 1833; It abolished slavery in the British dominions.
1837 - Accession of Queen Victoria to the throne of England.
1839 - Introduction of Penny Postage system in England by Sir Rowland Hill: Aden annexed by England.
1854 - The Crimean War began, Russia attacked Turkey; England and France came to the rescue of Turkey.
1861 - American Civil War started, Abraham Lincon elected 16th President of USA.
1863 - Slavery abolished in America.
1869 - Suez Canal opened for traffic.
1885 - General Gordon captured and slain at Khartoum.
1899 - Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war.
1905 - Battle of the sea of Japan; Japan inflicted a crushing naval defeat on Russia; a wave of nationalism spread in Asia.
1911 - Chinese Republican Revolution; Amundsen reached South Pole (December 14)
1914 - Outbreak of World War-I (August 4)
1916 - Battle of Jutland (Naval Battle). The British Grand Fleet under Admiral Jellico defeated the German Fleet under Admiral Scheer.
1917 - (March/February) Revolution in Russia; the Czar abdicated and later assassinated; reformist Mensheviks came into power (Prince Lvov, Kerensky). (November/October) Revolution in Russia: Revolutionary Bolsheviks came into power (Lenin).
1918 - End of World War-I (November. 11)
1919 - The Paris Conference; the Treaty of Versailles.
1920 - Foundation of the League of Nations (January. 10)
1921 - The Irish Free State established with the status of a Dominion like Canada (December. 6).\
1923 - Turkish Republic proclaimed with Kemal Ataturk as its First President.
1924 - Lenin died, and power passed into the hands of Stalin in Russia.
1925 - Treaty of Locarno (between Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium).
1928 - Kellogg Pact (signed in Paris by the principal powers of the world for the prevention of war; it had no effect).
1933 - Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany.
1935 - War between Italy and Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Italy annexed Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Plebiscite in Saar.
1939 - Germany invaded Poland: Outbreak of World War II (September. 1).
1940 - Fall of France after German invasion (June 5); Italy entered World War II (June 11).
1941 - Hitler invades Russia (June 22): Framing of the Atlantic Charter (August 14); Japan attacked Pearl Harbour (Hawaii Islands) (December. 7); USA entered World War II (December. 8); China entered World War II (December. 10) Air raids by Japan on Rangoon (December. 22).
1942 - Capture of Singapore by Japanese forces (February. 15); Battle of Coral Sea, Japanese fleet suffered heavy losses at the hands of the American fleet (May 3); Battle of Stalingrad (September. 19).
1943 - Defeat of Germany at Stalingrad (February. 8); Battle of the Bismarck Sea, America defeated Japan in a naval battle (March 4); Invasion of Italy by the Allies, Armistice between Italy and the Allies (September 3).
1944 - Allied forces landed in Normandy under the supreme command of General Ike (Eisenhower); (D-Day) (June 6); Liberation of Paris (August. 25).
1945 - Execution of Mussolini (Apr. 22); Unconditional surrender of Germany to the Allies (May 7); USA dropped atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan (August 6 and August 9); Unconditional surrender of Japan (August 14); World War II ended (Aug. 14); Foundation of UNO (October. 24).