1. This year our study of history will begin in the year 1500 C.E.

2. But what significant human events took place worldwide before 1500 C.E.?

3. Although the earth is about 4.55 billion years old, it was just over three million years ago, that historians believe an ape (given the name LUCY) in Africa began to walk on two legs and took the first step on the long road to civilization. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/mother_of_man1.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/mother_of_man1.shtml

4. Her fossil remains were unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974. This is what Lucy may have looked like.

5. Based on the carbon dating of fossils and artifacts, archaeologists believe that from about 2 million B.C.E to 10,000 B.C.E, humans lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers. For more information on carbon dating go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/radiocarbon.html

6. Then, around 10,000 B.C.E humans stopped migrating and began to settle in farming communities.

7. It was in these farming communities that humans began to see the need for specialized jobs, organized writing systems, religion, and government. Over a period of 7,000 years, farming communities became more organized.

8. Finally around 3200 B.C.E, the oldest known civilization in the world, the Sumerian emerged. The Sumerians developed along the fertile banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern day Iraq.

9. The Sumerians claim the oldest known writing system in the world, Cuneiform. Cuneiform is a writing system that involves wedge-shaped symbols carved onto clay tablets.

10. The Egyptian civilization followed around 2700 B.C.E. They practiced mummification, buried their pharaohs in pyramids and created picture-writing known as hieroglyphics. What else were the Egyptians known for? http://www.thebangles.com/extras/extras. asp

11. The Egyptians settled along the fertile land along the Nile River in Northeastern Africa.

12. It was around 2500 B.C.E that civilizations emerged along the Indus River in modern day Pakistan. Can you think of any new ideas that developed in this part of the world?

13. Then around 1650 B.C.E. civilizations developed in China along the Huang He (Yellow) River. What inventions are the early Chinese known for?

14. Each of these four early civilizations had their own writing system, form of government, religion, job specialization, major city, arts and architecture and inventions.

15. As the Chinese were prospering along the Yellow River, the earliest known Greek civilization, the Minoans, lived and prospered on the island of Crete south of the Greek mainland.

16. The Greeks would become famous in history for their people, their art and architecture, their advancements in math and science, their poetry and drama, the first Olympics, and of course for being the first in the world to embrace a democratic (although limited) form of government.

17. Around 800 B.C.E, the ancestors of the Romans, the Latins settled along the Tiber River in present-day Italy. The Latins would set the stage for one of the most powerful empires in world history, the Romans. The Roman civilization would last for approximately 1,000 years.

18. Who were some of the famous people of Rome? What is Roman civilization most famous for?

19. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 C.E., most of Europe was in a state of chaos. Invasions were frequent and people feared for their lives. Historians call this time period in history the Dark Ages, or Middle Ages.

20. The Middle Ages last about 1,000 years. What were some of the famous people and events of the Middle Ages?

21. Around 1400 C.E., Europe emerges from the “darkness” of the Middle Ages. Historians have named this time period in history the Renaissance. It is during the 1400’s that Europe sees a rebirth of art and architecture and kings and queens in Europe become even more powerful then they were during the Middle Ages.

22. Who were some of the famous people of the Renaissance?

23. So, after a very brief world-wind look at some of the major events of world history prior to 1500 C.E., we are now ready to look at history from 1500 C.E to present.