This chapter places East Asian and European events side by side so you can see how the two regions moved through the same eras. To find a name, place, or date quickly, use the search box at the top of the page.
Dates given as "about" are widely accepted estimates rather than firm records. The book uses BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).
When Event
about 1600 BCE Shang dynasty rules in the Yellow River region of China about 1046 BCE Zhou dynasty replaces the Shang about 800 BCE Greek city-states (poleis) begin to form about 776 BCE Traditional date of the first ancient Olympic Games about 551 BCE Confucius (Kong Fuzi) is born in the state of Lu 509 BCE Roman Republic founded, by tradition 490 to 479 BCE Persian Wars between Greek city-states and Persia about 460 to 430 BCE Age of Pericles in Athens 431 to 404 BCE Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta 336 to 323 BCE Reign and conquests of Alexander the Great 221 BCE Qin unifies China under its first emperor, Qin Shi Huang 206 BCE Han dynasty begins, lasting (with a break) to 220 CE 27 BCE Augustus becomes first Roman emperor; the Roman Empire begins about 30 CE Jesus of Nazareth is crucified; Christianity begins to spread 220 CE Han dynasty falls; China enters a long period of division 313 CE Edict of Milan ends official persecution of Christians in Rome 476 CE Last emperor of the Western Roman Empire is deposed
When Event
527 to 565 Reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian 581 to 618 Sui dynasty briefly reunifies China 618 to 907 Tang dynasty, a high point of Chinese culture and power about 794 to 1185 Heian period in Japan, centered on the Kyoto court 800 Charlemagne is crowned emperor in the West 960 to 1279 Song dynasty; printing, gunpowder, and the compass spread 1054 Great Schism splits the Christian church into East and West 1066 Norman conquest of England 1095 to 1291 The Crusades to the eastern Mediterranean about 1192 Minamoto no Yoritomo becomes shogun; rule by shoguns begins in Japan 1206 to 1227 Genghis Khan builds the Mongol Empire 1271 to 1368 Mongol Yuan dynasty rules China; Kublai Khan as emperor 1337 to 1453 Hundred Years' War between England and France 1347 to 1351 The Black Death sweeps across Europe 1368 Ming dynasty founded, ending Mongol rule in China 1405 to 1433 Voyages of the Ming admiral Zheng He 1453 Ottoman Turks take Constantinople; the Byzantine Empire ends
When Event
about 1400 to 1600 Renaissance reshapes art and learning in Europe 1492 Columbus reaches the Caribbean, opening the Age of Exploration 1517 Martin Luther's protest begins the Protestant Reformation 1543 Copernicus publishes his sun-centered model, a step in the Scientific Revolution 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun; the Edo period begins in Japan about 1624 to 1662 Dutch period in Taiwan, centered on Fort Zeelandia 1618 to 1648 Thirty Years' War in central Europe about 1633 to 1639 Tokugawa Japan closes itself to most foreign contact (sakoku) 1644 Qing dynasty founded as the Manchus take Beijing 1662 Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) drives out the Dutch and rules Taiwan 1683 Qing forces take Taiwan, bringing it under the empire 1687 Newton publishes his laws of motion and gravity about 1685 to 1815 The Enlightenment spreads new ideas about reason and government
When Event
1789 French Revolution begins 1799 to 1815 Napoleon rises, builds an empire, and is finally defeated at Waterloo about 1760 to 1840 Industrial Revolution transforms Britain and then Europe 1839 to 1842 First Opium War between Britain and Qing China 1850 to 1864 Taiping Rebellion, one of the deadliest conflicts in history 1848 Revolutions sweep across many European states 1856 to 1860 Second Opium War 1861 Unification of Italy 1868 Meiji Restoration begins Japan's rapid modernization 1871 Unification of Germany under Prussian leadership 1894 to 1895 First Sino-Japanese War 1895 Qing cedes Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki
When Event
1911 Xinhai Revolution ends the Qing dynasty 1912 Republic of China is founded 1914 to 1918 First World War 1917 Russian Revolution brings the Bolsheviks to power about 1922 to 1939 Rise of fascism in Italy, Germany, and elsewhere 1931 Japan invades Manchuria 1937 to 1945 Second Sino-Japanese War 1939 to 1945 Second World War about 1941 to 1945 The Holocaust, the Nazi genocide of European Jews and others 1945 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders
When Event
1947 Marshall Plan and the start of the Cold War in Europe 1949 Communist victory in China; the People's Republic of China is founded 1949 The Kuomintang government retreats to Taiwan 1949 NATO is formed 1955 Warsaw Pact is formed about 1949 to 1976 Mao era in China, including the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution about 1955 to 1991 Japan's postwar economic miracle 1957 Treaty of Rome begins European economic integration 1961 The Berlin Wall is built 1978 Deng Xiaoping launches market reforms in China 1989 The Berlin Wall falls
When Event
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown in Beijing 1991 The Soviet Union collapses 1992 Maastricht Treaty creates the European Union 1995 Srebrenica massacre during the Yugoslav wars 1996 Taiwan holds its first direct presidential election 1999 The euro is introduced as a currency about 2004 to 2013 Major waves of EU enlargement into central and eastern Europe about 2000s to 2020s China's rapid economic rise to become a leading global power 2016 United Kingdom votes to leave the EU (Brexit) about 2020s Rising cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan 2022 Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine
The entries for recent years are a snapshot as of early 2026 and will continue to develop.
For short definitions of terms used in this book, see the Glossary (Glossary ). 👉