| c. 34000 BC | Europe | Homo sapiens sapiens, the ancestors of modern humans, are established in Britain. Their emergence has been attributed to their ability to develop tools to cope with the increasingly cold climate. |
| c. 11000 BC | Europe | Hunters in Somerset, England, develop a rudimentary calendar. The passage of lunar months is etched onto a hare's shinbone. |
| c. 8000 BC | Middle East | After a very brief Mesolithic Age, the Neolithic or New Stone Age begins in the Middle East. This is a settled, food-producing way of life, dependent on the cultivation of crops and the domestication of animals, with people moving from struggling against nature to exploiting it for their own benefit. |
| c. 4200 BC | Sumeria | The Sumerian civilization begins in southern Mesopotamia, although the Sumerian language may have come with later immigrants. Townships begin to form, such as that at Eridu, traditionally the first in the area.The first move is made to occupy the marshland of the twin rivers Tigris–Euphrates, probably from the Iranian plateau to the east. |
| c. 4000 BC | Europe | Villages are built over, or on the edge of, lakes in the district of modern Zürich, Switzerland, presumably for protection against attack by people and animals. They house an elaborate and successful culture that lasts into the Bronze Age. |
| c. 4000 BC | Europe | The ‘Windmill Hill People’, named after a site near Avebury in Wiltshire, appear in Britain. Their settlements, known as ‘causewayed camps’, show them to be herdsmen rather than agriculturists, and their ‘camps’ may have been used only for seasonal gatherings. |
| c. 3000 BC | Egypt | The Egyptians develop a civil calendar of 365 days divided into twelve 30-day months, plus five intercalated days added at the end. It is based on the lunar cycle and regulated by the appearance of Sirius (the Dog Star) above the horizon, and the flooding of the Nile. |
| c. 2900 BC | India | The Indus Valley civilization (known as the Harappan) is formed. Considerable Sumerian influence is apparent. Its two chief cities are Mohenjo Daro, in modern Sind, about 400 km/250 mi up the River Indus, and Harappa, 560 km/350 mi further upstream on the River Ravi in the Punjab. |
| c. 1800 BC | India | The Indus valley Harappan civilization, with its magnificently planned cities, is coming to an end due to invaders who, with little doubt, must be the peoples of Indo-European stock who later write the Vedas (Hindu scriptures). |
| c. 1600 BC | Egypt | The cat is domesticated in Egypt. (Although it has been proclaimed sacred since c. 2500 BC it is unlikely to have been domesticated at this time.) |
| c. 1500 BC | Europe | The Urnfield cultures flourish in this and the following century in England (in Wessex), southern Germany, and Denmark. The Urnfield people are pastoral rather than agricultural, use bronze extensively, and are ruled by a warrior class of aristocracy. They cremate chiefs and their families and place the remains in urns which are then interred in cemeteries. The culture continues into the Iron Age (c. 700 BC). |
| c. 1500 BC | Central America, North America, South America | Neolithic skills similar to those in Europe – weaving, basketmaking, pottery, the building of houses, and the formation of villages – develop in the Americas, as well as a priest class. The use of iron, the wheel, the plough, and money will not develop until the coming of European colonialists. |
| c. 1300 BC | China | The people of the Chinese Shang dynasty demonstrate skill in architecture (with rammed earth buildings) and ceramics (with near-porcelain) at their capital, Anyang. The dynasty sees the start of the Bronze Age, with the development of bronze-casting techniques which enable the manufacture of a variety of urns or chalices, probably for use in religious services, each type having a different function. A sophisticated range of skills, including writing, chariot construction, and specialized forms of divination are to be found at this time. |
| c. 1200 BC | Central America | The Olmec civilization begins at San Lorenzo on the Gulf Coast plain of Mexico, near modern Vera Cruz. This is the first civilization of Mesoamerica (the area of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations). San Lorenzo is the predominant centre until 900 BC. Maize is almost certainly the staple crop. The Olmecs are skilled stone workers and also carve small jade objects. |
| c. 1200 BC | Europe | The Hallstatt culture appears in southern Germany, named after a later cemetery found at Hallstatt, Austria. This culture originates in the Late Bronze Age in southern Germany and Austria and later, in the Iron Age, spreads throughout most of Europe. Burial is by inhumation below a tumulus (grave mound or barrow), with bronze (or later iron) swords, brooches, and pottery. |
| c. 1140 BC | China | Chinese emperor Wen Wang establishes the first zoo. It covers 1,500 acres and is named the Ling-Yo/Garden of Intelligence. |
| c. 1000 BC | Europe | A Bronze-Age settlement is established at Hallstatt, Austria. The presence of salt is the primary attraction. The salt mines are worked using techniques developed in the Alps for the extraction of copper. At this time the Hallstatt culture is still confined to the area around southern Germany and Austria. |
| c. 900 BC–c. 500 BC | Central America | La Venta becomes the major centre of the second phase of Olmec civilization in Mexico. The site of San Lorenzo is abandoned, possibly in a violent overthrow of the local elite, or possibly for religious reasons. La Venta is a ceremonial or elite centre, supported by a large agricultural population. It has a large main pyramid in addition to smaller ones. |
| c. 900 BC–c. 740 BC | Italy | The Iron Age Villanovan culture is spreading in Italy, named after a typical site at Villanova near Bologna. There is greater skill in metallurgy and a gradual increase in the use of iron. Cremation is practised, with ashes being placed in an urn in a round hole in the ground. One of the main areas of Villanovan culture is Etruria. |
| c. 700 BC | Europe | The Iron Age starts in much of Europe. (In Greece it began much earlier, about 1050 BC, and in Italy about 900 BC. In Britain it is later, about 650 BC.) |
| c. 500 BC–c. 400 BC | Europe | The Celts begin to make an impression on European history. They are divided into a number of different tribes, sharing a distinctive decorative style of art, characterized by curving designs and mythical animals. These can be seen on their jewellery (gold and bronze torques), their weapons (decorated shields and sword scabbards), and their pottery and other vessels. The Celts probably originate in northwest and central Europe, France (particularly the area of Champagne), Switzerland, Lower Austria, and western Slovakia. The area of the western Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is also associated with the Celts. |
| c. 500 BC | Central America | The town of Monte Albán is founded in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. It becomes the capital of the Zapotec culture. The town is sited on a steep, high bluff in the centre of a valley, and dominates the surrounding area for the next 12 centuries. |
| c. 400 BC | Central America | The Zapotec culture develops in Mexico; it lasts more than 1,100 years, centred on the town of Monte Albán in Oaxaca. The Zapotecs use a basic writing system (possibly borrowed from the Olmecs) and a calendar. Over the course of the next 11 centuries, Monte Albán grows to be an enormous ceremonial centre and elite residence. |
| c. 400 BC–AD c. 250 | Central America | The Late Formative (or pre-Classic) period of Mayan culture takes place in Mexico. By 400 BC, large structures have been built at several sites in the tropical lowland jungle. In the highlands, people begin to put up large clay platforms, some the basis for temples and others for elite houses, flanking open plazas. |
| c. 350 BC | Greece | Hot air from underground fires is directed into clay pipes beneath the floors of houses in the Greek city of Lacedaemon, Sparta – the first central heating. |
| c. 300 BC | Central America | There is rapid population growth and the development of a two-tiered settlement hierarchy – large ceremonial centres where the elite live, surrounded by smaller villages, in the Mayan jungle lowlands of Mexico. The site of El Mirador in Guatemala is probably the main lowland centre of the Mayan Late Formative period. |
| c. 100 | Roman Empire | Boys in Rome are preferred over girls, who are often left in the open to die or abandoned. Some orphaned girls are raised by brothel owners to be prostitutes. |
| c. 100 | Greece-Roman | Women in Greece are allowed to participate in public athletic contests such as foot and chariot races. |
| c. 200 | Africa | The Nok culture of west Africa (modern Nigeria) disappears. From c. 900 BC, the Nok had created a remarkable range of terracotta heads and figures, the earliest surviving sculptures of sub-Saharan Africa. |
| 401 | Scythia | The Slavs first appear in European history as a confederation of tribes living between the Dnieper and Dniester rivers, known as the Antae. |
| 768 | Frankish Kingdom | The accession of Charlemagne as king of the Franks marks the beginnings of medieval civilization as the king gathers to his court artists and scholars from across the world. Contemporaries call the period a renovatio, the renewal of a surviving tradition of Christian art and learning. |
| 799 | Central America | The last monuments are erected at the Mayan city of Palenque in Mesoamerica (the area of the Mexican and Mayan civilizations): it is abandoned soon afterwards, marking the beginning of the decline of the Classic Maya civilization. The causes of the decline are unknown but the most likely explanation is that soil exhaustion caused by overcultivation leads to the collapse of agriculture. |
| 1707 | UK | English grocers William Fortnum and Hugh Mason open Fortnum and Mason's, a high-quality grocery shop, in Piccadilly, London, England. |
| 1721 | France | There are 300 cafés in Paris, France. By 1789, there will be 2,000. |
| 1728 | North America | Heavy drinking is common in the North American colonies. In this year alone 2,124,500 gallons of rum is imported. |
| c. 1730 | UK | The popularity of coffee drinking declines in England, as it is replaced by a vogue for tea. |
| 1743 | France | Claude Moët sets up his champagne production company in France, which, as Moët et Chandon, will become France's largest producer of champagne. |
| 1781 | AMERICA | The population of America is around 3.5 million. The majority live on the east coast and there is very little settlement of the rest of the country. |
| 22 September 1792 | France | The National Convention in Paris proclaims France a republic, and the revolutionary calendar (although not established until 5 October 1793) comes into force. It comprises 12 months of 30 days, plus 5 days (6 in a leap year); each month has 3 decades of 10 days. The extra days are added at the end of the year. |
| 10 June 1793 | France | The world's first public zoo opens in Paris, France. |
| 1794 | France | The tricolor is adopted as the national flag of France. |
| 25 December 1800 | UK | King George III's wife, Queen Charlotte, introduces the Christmas tree to the British court. |
| 1801 | UK | The Act of Union, formally uniting Britain and Ireland, is marked with the incorporation of the cross of St Patrick into the design of the British flag. |
| 1821 | USA | The world's first natural gas well is sunk at Fredonia, New York. Lead pipes distribute the gas to consumers for lighting and cooking. |
| 1827 | USA | The first Mardi Gras celebrations take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, introduced by French students. |
| 16 October 1834 | UK | The Houses of Parliament in London, England, are destroyed by fire. |
| 1 May 1840 | UK | The world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black, is issued in Britain, the first adhesive stamp to be used commercially. |
| 1861 | UK | Isabella Beeton writes her Book of Household Management, a comprehensive domestic manual for housewives and mothers in Britain based on her articles in the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. |
| 1880 | UK | Greenwich Mean Time is established as the legal time in the British Isles. |
| 23 December 1905 | United Kingdom | The first British beauty contest, the ‘Blond and Brunette Beauty Show’, takes place in Newcastle upon Tyne. |
| 1906 | United Kingdom | J Fletcher Dodd opens Dodd's Socialist Holiday Camp, the first holiday camp for families, at Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk, England. |
| 6 June 1907 | Germany | British chemical company Lever Bros launches Persil, the first ever household detergent, in Germany. |
| 10 March 1911 | France, Algeria | Clocks are put back by 9 minutes and 21 seconds at midnight in France and Algeria, making Greenwich time the standard. |
| 1918 | USA | Daylight Saving time is introduced in the USA. |
| 1920 | Germany | Frei-Sonnenland, the first nudist camp, opens at Motzener See in Germany. |
| 7 September 1920 | USA | The first ‘Miss America’ beauty competition is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey; the winner is Miss Margaret Gorman. |
| 5 November 1921 | USA | The US president Warren G Harding declares Armistice Day (November 11, the date of the end of World War I in 1918) a national holiday. |
| 28 November 1935 | United Kingdom | The Miles quads of St Neots, England, are the first quads to survive infancy. |
| 1936 | UK | At Skegness in England, Billy Butlin opens the first of his successful Butlin's holiday camps. |
| 1936 | USA | Earl Haas patents tampons and commercial production begins at Tampax, Inc. in New Brunswick, New Jersey. |
| 1936 | USA | The self-help book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is published. It will sell more copies than any other non-fiction title apart from the Bible. |
| 1936 | USA | The American Optical Society produces Polarized sunglasses, developed by Edwin Land of Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 1938 | UK | In the UK, the Amulree Committee report recommends the extension to most workers of a week's paid annual holiday, on grounds of social justice and industrial efficiency. |
| 1939 | USA | For the first time Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth rather than the last Thursday in November in the USA, in order to guarantee a longer Christmas shopping period. |
| February 1939 | UK | The British government begins to build air-raid shelters in areas likely to be bombed in wartime. |
| 3 September 1939 | UK | The Citizens' Advice Bureaux scheme is launched in the UK with the opening of 200 offices. |
| 1940–1944 | USA | A large-scale migration of people from rural areas of the USA to the cities creates major urban problems. |
| 1941 | UK | The UK government introduces ‘double summer time’, with clocks running two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. |
| 3 October 1941 | USA | The US chemists Lyle D Goodhue and W N Sullivan patent the aerosol container. |
| 9 December 1941 | UK | The National Service Bill in the UK lowers the age of call-up to 18½ and renders single women aged 20–30 liable to military service. |
| 1945 | USA | The US chemist Earl W Tupper invents a range of sealable plastic bowls and containers – Tupperware – that will be sold through Tupperware parties in the home. |
| 1946 | USA | The Estée Lauder beauty products empire is launched with Estée Lauder's first sales to Saks, New York City. |
| 1946 | USA | The US paediatrician Benjamin Spock publishes The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. The book becomes an unexpected best-seller and a generation of children is raised according to its permissive guidelines of parental understanding and flexibility. |
| 1946 | world | Populations (in millions): China, 455; India, 311; USSR, 194; USA, 140; Japan, 73; West Germany, 48; Italy, 47; Britain, 46; Brazil, 45; France, 40; Spain, 27; Poland, 24; Korea, 24; Mexico, 22; East Germany, 18; Egypt, 17. |
| 1946 | UK | The report produced by the Reith Committee in the UK leads to the founding of New Towns as growth points in Britain, with Stevenage the first New Town to be built. |
| 1946 | Italy | Achille Gaggia invents the espresso coffee machine in Italy. |
| 5 July 1946 | France | French designer Louis Réard launches the bikini, naming it after the nuclear-test site Bikini Atoll. |
| 1947 | USA | The first microwave ovens go on sale, in the USA, but the public are slow to buy them. |
| 1947 | USA | The first recorded sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) is made in the sky over Kansas, by Kenneth Arnold. |
| 1947 | England | Kenneth Wood designs the Kenwood Chef, the first food processor, in Woking, England. |
| 1947 | USA | Reynolds Metals introduces an aluminium foil for use in the kitchen, in Louisville, Kentucky. |
| 1948 | UK | Bread rationing in Britain comes to an end. |
| 12 January 1948 | England | The London Cooperative Society opens the first supermarket in Britain, at Manor Park in London, England. |
| 18–24 April 1948 | UK | The Scout Movement in the UK has its first ‘bob-a-job’ week. |
| 15 July 1948 | UK | Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in the USA, sets up in the UK. |
| 1949 | USA | Ballpoint pens become established in the USA, with sales exceeding those of fountain pens for the first time. |
| 9 May 1949 | England | The first self-service launderette in Britain opens in London, England, with Bendix Home Appliances Ltd supplying the fully automatic washing machines. |
| 1950 | world | The population of the world is estimated at 2,516 million. |
| 1950 | India, USA | Life expectancy for men and women in India is 32 compared to 66 and 71 in the USA. |
| 1950 | UK | Population figures for the United Kingdom (in millions): England 41.1; Wales 2.5; Scotland 5.2; Ireland/Northern Ireland 1.4. |
| 1950–1959 | USA | The number of people in the USA who live in the suburbs increases by 44% in the 1950s. |
| 31 July 1950 | England | J Sainsbury's, the British supermarket chain, opens its first self-service shop in Croydon, South London, England. |
| 4 July 1960 | USA | The 50-star US flag, recognizing Hawaii's statehood of August 1959, becomes the official flag. |
| 11 January 1963 | USA | The first discotheque opens, the Whisky-A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, California, with the emphasis on youth and contemporary rock 'n' roll dance music. |
| 4 March 1964 | UK | The British government changes the August Bank Holiday to the last Monday in the month, with effect from 1965. |
| 15 March 1964 | Canada, USA, UK | The actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are married in Montreal, Canada. |
| 1965 | UK | Britain decides to adopt metric measurements. |
| 1965 | USA | The lava lamp is launched in the USA. |
| 1969 | world | The mini dress fashion is followed by the ankle-length maxi. |
| 13 June 1971 | Australia | Geraldine Boodrick gives birth to the world's first set of nonuplets, five boys and four girls, in Sydney, Australia. Only six of the babies survive. |
| 31 October 1971 | UK | Britain reverts to Greenwich Mean Time after three years of British Standard Time. |
| 31 December 1972 | UK, USA | British inventor Clive Sinclair launches his pocket calculator, the first to be widely available. The ‘Sinclair Executive’ weighs 70 g/12.5 oz and goes on sale for £79 in Britain and $195 in the USA. |
| 14 November 1973 | UK | Princess Anne, the queen's only daughter, marries Mark Phillips in Westminster Abbey, London, England. |
| 1974 | UK | For the first time, New Year's Day is a public holiday in England and Wales. |
| 11 January 1974 | South Africa | Sue Rosenkowitz becomes the first woman to give birth to surviving sextuplets, three boys and three girls, in Cape Town, South Africa. |
| 5 October 1974 | world | David Kunst successfully completes the first verified around-the-world walk: it has taken him 4 years, 3 months, and 15 days. |
| 1975 | UK | Adopted children in Britain over the age of 18 are granted the right to have information about their natural parents. |
| 15 March 1975 | UK | Military troops are used to clear 70,000 tonnes of rubbish caused by the nine-week strike by refuse collectors in Britain. |
| 1978 | UK | The queen's sister Princess Margaret obtains a divorce from her husband, the Earl of Snowdon, in the UK. |
| 9 August 1979 | UK | Brighton, in southern England, is the first British seaside resort to provide an area designated for nudists. |
| 1981 | Spain | Divorce becomes legal in Spain. |
| 1985 | USA | Pictures of missing children first begin to be shown on milk cartons in the USA. |
| 1987 | USA | The average monthly income spent on childcare in the USA is 6.6%. Those living in poverty spend 25% of their income on childcare. |
| July 1988 | UK | The first EC passports in Britain are issued by the Glasgow Passport Office in Scotland. |
| 1992 | UK, USA | The use of the drug ecstasy becomes increasingly popular at clubs and raves in the UK and the USA. |
| 19 March 1992 | UK | The British royal family announces the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York, who were married in 1986. |
| 12 April 1992 | France | The theme park EuroDisney (later Disneyland Paris) opens at Marne-la-Vallée, just outside Paris, France. Development has cost $4.5 billion. |
| 23 April 1992 | UK | Princess Anne, the Princess Royal of Britain, is granted a divorce from Captain Mark Phillips. |
| 1993 | UK | In Britain, the government attempts to counter the growth of raves and house parties by placing restrictions on freedom of movement and gatherings in the form of curfews. |
| 6 August 1993 | UK | The royal family opens Buckingham Palace, London, England, to the general public. Vistors pay £8 a head. |
| 19 June 1999 | UK | Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones at St George's Chapel, Windsor, England. The Queen gives them the titles Earl and Countess of Wessex. |
| 1 January 2000 | | The new millennium is celebrated across the world, with fireworks, street parties, ceremonies, and speeches. The millennium bug does not appear to make a large impact, and despite fears of acts of extremism and terrorism, the global celebration passes peacefully. |
