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800 BCE
The Songhai Empire was established in Africa.
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570 BCE
Mohammad founded the Islamic religion.
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220 BCE
Paper was invented by the Chinese.
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114 BCE
Silk routes emerged connecting trade between the Mediterranean Basin and Asia.
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30 BCE
Jesus was the founder of the Christian religion.
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1338
John Wycliffe argued the Bible was the highest religious authority – not the Pope.
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1350
The Renaissance began in the Italian city-states and spread to Northern Europe.
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1400
The Inquisition was used to reinforce Catholic doctrine.
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1415
Jan Huss was burned at the stake for being a heretic.
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1440
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.
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1481
The Ottoman Empire spread to Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe.
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1492
Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.
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1495
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Last Supper.
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1498
Vaso da Gama sailed around the southern tip of Africa en route to India.
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1498
Michelangelo sculpted the Pieta.
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1500
Erasmus spread the idea of “humanism.”
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1503
Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
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1508
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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1517
Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to a church door.
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1519
Ferdinand Magellan’s crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe.
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1521
Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther.
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1521
Hernan Cortez defeated the Aztecs.
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1526
The Mughal Empire began in Northern India.
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1532
Francisco Pizarro defeated the Incas.
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1533
Henry VIII broke from the Church in Rome and divorced his wife.
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1534
The Jesuit Order spread the Catholic faith.
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1534
Jacques Cartier sailed the St. Lawrence River and discovered Montreal.
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1534
Henry VIII became the head of the Anglican Church.
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1539
John Calvin developed the idea of predestination.
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1545
Catholic leaders met at the Council of Trent.
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1577
Elizabeth I sponsored Sir Francis Drake’s exploration to the New World.
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1577
Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.
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Queen Elizabeth I defeated Philip II’s Spanish Armada.
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Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes.
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The Hapsburg family was the most powerful family in Europe.
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Cardinal Richelieu got France involved in the Thirty Years’ War.