TIMELINE

c. 13,000–3000 B.C.

  • Asian migrants reach North America

c. 6000 B.C.

  • Domestication of maize begins in Mesoamerica

312

  • Roman emperor Constantine converts to Christianity

c. 600

  • Pueblo cultures emerge

632

  • Death of Muhammad

632–1100

  • Arab people adopt Islam and spread its influence

c. 800

  • Ghana Empire emerges

c. 1000

  • Irrigation developed by Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi peoples

c. 1000–1350

  • Development of Mississippian culture

c. 1050

  • The founding of Cahokia

1096–1291

  • Crusades link Europe with Arab trade routes

c. 1150

  • Chaco Canyon abandoned

c. 1200

  • Mali Empire emerges

1300–1450

  • The Renaissance in Italy

c. 1325

  • Aztecs establish capital at Tenochtitlán

1326

  • Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca

c. 1350

  • The Black Death sweeps Europe; Cahokia goes into rapid decline

c. 1400

  • Songhai Empire emerges

1435

  • Portuguese trade begins along West and Central African coasts

1492

  • Christopher Columbus makes first voyage to America

1497–1498

  • Portugal’s Vasco da Gama reaches East Africa and India

1500

  • Pedro Alvares Cabral encounters Brazil

c. 1500

  • Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy

1513

  • Juan Ponce de León explores Florida

1517

  • Martin Luther sparks Protestant Reformation

1519–1521

  • Hernán Cortés conquers Aztec Empire

1532–1535

  • Francisco Pizarro vanquishes Incas

1536

  • John Calvin publishes Institutes of the Christian Religion

1540

  • De Soto meets the Lady of Cofachiqui; founding of the Jesuit order

1578

  • Duarte Lopez visits the Kongo capital