1651–1800
Enlightenment
Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
706 events across 150 years
Turning points
1652AfricaPolitics
Dutch Settle the Cape
April 6, 1652Enlightenment
1653South AsiaCulture
Taj Mahal Completed
1653Enlightenment
1656EuropeTechnology
Huygens Builds Pendulum Clock
1656Enlightenment
1657East AsiaDisaster
Great Fire of Meireki Destroys Edo
1657Enlightenment
1657EuropeTechnology
Huygens Builds the First Pendulum Clock
1657Enlightenment
1658South AsiaPolitics
Aurangzeb Takes the Mughal Throne
June 3, 1658Enlightenment
1665EuropeScience
Newton's Annus Mirabilis Begins
1665Enlightenment
1682EuropePolitics
Peter the Great Becomes Tsar
April 27, 1682Enlightenment
1685EuropeReligion
Revocation of Edict of Nantes
October 18, 1685Enlightenment
1687EuropeScience
Newton Publishes Principia
July 5, 1687Enlightenment
1699Middle EastPolitics
Treaty of Karlowitz
January 26, 1699Enlightenment
1699South AsiaReligion
Guru Gobind Singh Founds the Khalsa
March 29, 1699Enlightenment
1722Middle EastWar
Fall of Isfahan to the Ghilzai Afghans
March 8, 1722Enlightenment
1722East AsiaPolitics
Death of the Kangxi Emperor
December 20, 1722Enlightenment
1727EuropeScience
Death of Isaac Newton
March 31, 1727Enlightenment
1732North AmericaCulture
George Washington Born
February 22, 1732Enlightenment
1739South AsiaWar
Nader Shah Sacks Delhi
February 24, 1739Enlightenment
1751EuropeCulture
First Volume of Diderot's Encyclopédie
June 28, 1751Enlightenment
1755EuropeDisaster
Lisbon Earthquake
November 1, 1755Enlightenment
1755Central AsiaWar
Qing Forces Destroy the Dzungar Khanate
1755Enlightenment
1757South AsiaWar
Clive Wins the Battle of Plassey
June 23, 1757Enlightenment
1768OceaniaExploration
Cook's Endeavour Sails from Plymouth
August 26, 1768Enlightenment
1770OceaniaExploration
Cook Sights Eastern Australia
April 19, 1770Enlightenment
1775North AmericaWar
Lexington and Concord
April 19, 1775Enlightenment
1776EuropeCulture
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations
March 9, 1776Enlightenment
1777North AmericaWar
British Surrender at Saratoga
October 17, 1777Enlightenment
1781North AmericaWar
Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown
October 19, 1781Enlightenment
1783North AmericaPolitics
Treaty of Paris Recognizes American Independence
September 3, 1783Enlightenment
1788OceaniaPolitics
First Fleet Arrives at Botany Bay
January 26, 1788Enlightenment
1788OceaniaPolitics
First Fleet Arrives at Sydney Cove
January 26, 1788Enlightenment
Every year
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Print the Enlightenment as a one-sheet timeline chart - the whole era as a single printed chronology.
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