A thematic collection

Culture & Ideas

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged culture and ideas — art, language, science and learning. 267 of them, drawn from 130 nations, running from 1,800,000 BCE to 2026. Indexed below by period; each period opens the full text, with the sources every entry was verified against and a link back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
267
Nations
130
Earliest
1,800,000 BCE
Latest
2026
Densest period
The 16th century20 events
Asia
85
Europe
73
Africa
62
North America
19
South America
17
Oceania
11

Each period below opens a page holding those events in full — summary, era and citations. Every entry is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

3 events · 3 nations

Deep prehistory

Every theme in deep prehistory →

  1. c. 1.8 million years ago

    Homo habilis and Oldowan tools at Olduvai · Tanzania

  2. c. 40,000 years ago

    The rock art of Gobustan · Azerbaijan

  3. c. 24,000 BP

    Rock art at Tsodilo Hills · Botswana

All 3 events in deep prehistory →

1 event · 1 nation

The 8th millennium BCE

Every theme in the 8th millennium BCE →

  1. for millennia

    San rock art of the Maloti-Drakensberg · Lesotho

All 1 events in the 8th millennium BCE →

6 events · 5 nations

The 4th millennium BCE

Every theme in the 4th millennium BCE →

  1. Holocene

    Rock art of a green Sahara · Niger

  2. c. 3600 BCE

    The temples of Ggantija raised on Gozo · Malta

  3. c. 3600–2500 BCE

    The Maltese temple culture flourishes · Malta

  4. c. 3500–2700 BCE

    The megaliths of Bouar are raised · Central African Republic

  5. c. 3500 BCE

    The Valdivia ceramic culture · Ecuador

  6. c. 3200 BCE

    The Sumerians invent cuneiform writing · Iraq

All 6 events in the 4th millennium BCE →

7 events · 5 nations

The 3rd millennium BCE

Every theme in the 3rd millennium BCE →

  1. 3rd millennium BCE

    Beehive tombs and towers at Bat · Oman

  2. c. 3rd millennium BCE

    Hafit-period tombs near Jebel Hafit · United Arab Emirates

  3. c. 2630 BCE

    Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara · Egypt

  4. c. 2600 BCE

    Mohenjo-daro flourishes · India

  5. c. 2600 BCE

    Mohenjo-daro flourishes · Pakistan

  6. c. 2560 BCE

    Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza · Egypt

  7. c. 2500 BCE

    The Umm an-Nar culture flourishes · United Arab Emirates

All 7 events in the 3rd millennium BCE →

6 events · 6 nations

The 2nd millennium BCE

Every theme in the 2nd millennium BCE →

  1. c. 2000 years ago

    The engravings of Twyfelfontein · Namibia

  2. before European contact

    Hundreds of nations and languages · Australia

  3. c. 1450 BCE

    Linear B and Mycenaean control of Crete · Greece

  4. c. 1400 BCE

    The Ugaritic alphabet · Syria

  5. c. 13th century BCE

    Troy of the Iliad · Türkiye

  6. c. 1200 BCE

    Oracle-bone divination records · China

All 6 events in the 2nd millennium BCE →

4 events · 4 nations

The 10th century BCE

Every theme in the 10th century BCE →

  1. c. 1000 BCE

    Olorgesailie tool traditions and the Stone Age · Kenya

  2. early 1st millennium BCE

    The Phoenician alphabet at Byblos · Lebanon

  3. before European contact

    More than 800 languages emerge · Papua New Guinea

  4. c. 1000 BCE

    The Teouma cemetery on Efate · Vanuatu

All 4 events in the 10th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 9th century BCE

Every theme in the 9th century BCE →

  1. c. 9th century BCE

    The Mesha Stele of Moab · Jordan

All 1 events in the 9th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 8th century BCE

Every theme in the 8th century BCE →

  1. 776 BCE (traditional)

    Traditional first Olympic Games · Greece

All 1 events in the 8th century BCE →

3 events · 3 nations

The 6th century BCE

Every theme in the 6th century BCE →

  1. c. 575 BCE

    Babylon at its height under Nebuchadnezzar II · Iraq

  2. 551 BCE

    Lifetime of Confucius · China

  3. c. 518 BCE

    Darius I builds Persepolis · Iran

All 3 events in the 6th century BCE →

1 event · 1 nation

The 5th century BCE

Every theme in the 5th century BCE →

  1. c. 490 BCE

    Darius I calls himself 'a Persian, an Aryan' at Naqsh-e Rostam · Iran

All 1 events in the 5th century BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 4th century BCE

Every theme in the 4th century BCE →

  1. 4th–3rd c. BCE

    Thracian royal tombs of Kazanlak and Sveshtari · Bulgaria

  2. c. 4th century BCE

    The Saka 'Golden Man' of Issyk · Kazakhstan

All 2 events in the 4th century BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 3rd century BCE

Every theme in the 3rd century BCE →

  1. c. 3rd century BCE

    Megalith-building begins along the river · Gambia

  2. 210 BCE

    Death of the First Emperor and the terracotta army · China

All 2 events in the 3rd century BCE →

2 events · 2 nations

The 2nd century BCE

Every theme in the 2nd century BCE →

  1. from c. 2nd century BCE

    Hydraulic civilisation and South Indian invasions · Sri Lanka

  2. 2nd century BCE

    Royal city of Nisa · Turkmenistan

All 2 events in the 2nd century BCE →

3 events · 3 nations

The 1st century BCE

Every theme in the 1st century BCE →

  1. c. 1st century BCE

    Petra reaches its golden age · Jordan

  2. c. 1st century BCE

    The Nabataeans make Hegra their southern capital · Saudi Arabia

  3. 1st-8th c. CE

    San Agustin megaliths · Colombia

All 3 events in the 1st century BCE →

4 events · 4 nations

The 1st century

Every theme in the 1st century →

  1. Diaguita and Guarani societies · Argentina

  2. Settlement and iron-working at Lopé-Okanda · Gabon

  3. Baalbek becomes Roman Heliopolis · Lebanon

  4. Completion of the Colosseum · Italy

All 4 events in the 1st century →

9 events · 9 nations

The 2nd century

Every theme in the 2nd century →

  1. Trajan founds Timgad · Algeria

  2. Hatra, capital of an Arab kingdom · Iraq

  3. Jerash flourishes as a Roman city · Jordan

  4. Teotihuacan, city of the gods · Mexico

  5. Moche and Nazca cultures · Peru

  6. Trajan's Column commemorates the conquest · Romania

  7. The Kushan empire and Gandhara art · Afghanistan

  8. Kanishka and the Gandhara golden age · Pakistan

All 9 events in the 2nd century →1 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 3rd century

Every theme in the 3rd century →

  1. Volubilis flourishes as a Roman city · Morocco

  2. Sasanian kings style themselves rulers of Ērān, the Iranians · Iran

  3. Amphitheatre of El Djem · Tunisia

  4. Classic Maya civilisation · Mexico

All 4 events in the 3rd century →

2 events · 2 nations

The 4th century

Every theme in the 4th century →

  1. Diocletian's Palace at Split · Croatia

  2. Gupta golden age · India

All 2 events in the 4th century →

2 events · 2 nations

The 5th century

Every theme in the 5th century →

  1. Mesrop Mashtots creates the Armenian alphabet · Armenia

  2. Kassapa I builds Sigiriya · Sri Lanka

All 2 events in the 5th century →

3 events · 3 nations

The 6th century

Every theme in the 6th century →

  1. Diquis chiefdoms and the stone spheres · Costa Rica

  2. Licchavi stone inscriptions · Nepal

  3. Sogdian merchants dominate the Silk Road · Tajikistan

All 3 events in the 6th century →

4 events · 4 nations

The 7th century

Every theme in the 7th century →

  1. Tierradentro tombs · Colombia

  2. Tikal at its height · Guatemala

  3. The monastic golden age · Ireland

  4. Tang dynasty and a cosmopolitan golden age · China

All 4 events in the 7th century →

4 events · 4 nations

The 8th century

Every theme in the 8th century →

  1. Height of the Classic Maya cities · Belize

  2. Quseir Amra is built · Jordan

  3. Bulguksa and Seokguram built · South Korea

  4. Hieroglyphic Stairway completed · Honduras

All 4 events in the 8th century →

9 events · 8 nations

The 9th century

Every theme in the 9th century →

  1. Somapura Mahavihara built at Paharpur · Bangladesh

  2. The House of Wisdom and the Golden Age · Iraq

  3. Rise of the Swahili coast · Kenya

  4. Rise of the Swahili coast · Tanzania

  5. Samarra becomes the Abbasid capital · Iraq

  6. The bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu · Nigeria

  7. Samanid Bukhara, a centre of the Islamic Golden Age · Uzbekistan

  8. Cyrillic and the Preslav and Ohrid schools · Bulgaria

All 9 events in the 9th century →1 more not shown here

5 events · 5 nations

The 10th century

Every theme in the 10th century →

  1. A sacred landscape of more than a thousand monuments · Gambia

  2. Transmission of the epic of Manas · Kyrgyzstan

  3. Birth of the Maltese language · Malta

  4. Rudaki and the rebirth of Persian poetry · Tajikistan

  5. Ani becomes the Bagratid capital · Armenia

All 5 events in the 10th century →

6 events · 5 nations

The 11th century

Every theme in the 11th century →

  1. Complex Amazonian societies · Brazil

  2. The moai of Rapa Nui · Chile

  3. Persia at the heart of the Islamic golden age · Iran

  4. The Chewa rock-painting tradition at Chongoni · Malawi

  5. Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh · Iran

  6. The Tale of Genji · Japan

All 6 events in the 11th century →

7 events · 7 nations

The 12th century

Every theme in the 12th century →

  1. Height of the Sao city-states · Cameroon

  2. The painted churches of the Troödos · Cyprus

  3. Foundation of the caravan ksour · Mauritania

  4. Cahokia at its height · United States

  5. Golden age under Parakramabahu I · Sri Lanka

  6. Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar · Turkmenistan

  7. Snorri Sturluson and the sagas · Iceland

All 7 events in the 12th century →

3 events · 3 nations

The 13th century

Every theme in the 13th century →

  1. Rustaveli's national epic · Georgia

  2. The frescoes of the Boyana Church · Bulgaria

  3. Creation of the Thai script · Thailand

All 3 events in the 13th century →

9 events · 8 nations

The 14th century

Every theme in the 14th century →

  1. The Durbar squares and Newar art · Nepal

  2. Compilation of the Kebra Nagast · Ethiopia

  3. Timbuktu and Djenné flourish · Mali

  4. Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu · Somalia

  5. Foundation of Charles University · Czechia

  6. The Māori world takes shape · New Zealand

  7. Building of Charles Bridge and Gothic Prague · Czechia

  8. Timur makes Samarkand his capital · Tajikistan

All 9 events in the 14th century →1 more not shown here

13 events · 13 nations

The 15th century

Every theme in the 15th century →

  1. Northern peoples and the Batammariba · Togo

  2. Competition for the Florence Baptistery doors · Italy

  3. Herat, capital of the Timurid renaissance · Afghanistan

  4. The Palace of the Shirvanshahs · Azerbaijan

  5. Ulugh Beg builds his observatory · Uzbekistan

  6. Creation of hangul · South Korea

  7. The stećci tombstones · Bosnia and Herzegovina

  8. Building of Machu Picchu · Peru

All 13 events in the 15th century →5 more not shown here

20 events · 14 nations

The 16th century

Every theme in the 16th century →

  1. Some thousand nations at contact · Brazil

  2. The Dalmatian towns under Venice · Croatia

  3. First stone of the new Saint Peter's · Vatican City

  4. Origins of the Vatican Museums · Vatican City

  5. Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling · Italy

  6. Michelangelo paints the Sistine ceiling · Vatican City

  7. Skaryna prints the first East Slavic book · Belarus

  8. Mir Castle and the Radziwiłł magnates · Belarus

All 20 events in the 16th century →12 more not shown here

10 events · 10 nations

The 17th century

Every theme in the 17th century →

  1. The Quito school of art · Ecuador

  2. Gaspar Bocarro crosses the region · Malawi

  3. Islamic monuments of Bukhara and Khiva · Uzbekistan

  4. The Royal Palaces of Abomey · Benin

  5. Founding of the University of Tartu · Estonia

  6. Punakha Dzong founded · Bhutan

  7. Rembrandt paints The Night Watch · Netherlands

  8. Reign of King Narai and the French embassies · Thailand

All 10 events in the 17th century →2 more not shown here

6 events · 6 nations

The 18th century

Every theme in the 18th century →

  1. First written record of the women warriors · Benin

  2. Magtymguly Pyragy and Turkmen poetry · Turkmenistan

  3. Paisius of Hilendar and the National Revival · Bulgaria

  4. House of Slaves built on Gorée · Senegal

  5. Bernolák's first written Slovak · Slovakia

  6. Espejo founds Quito's first newspaper · Ecuador

All 6 events in the 18th century →

3 events · 3 nations

The 1810s

Every theme in the 1810s →

  1. Ottoman towns of Berat and Gjirokastra · Albania

  2. The Struve Geodetic Arc · Belarus

  3. The London Missionary Society arrives · Madagascar

All 3 events in the 1810s →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1820s

Every theme in the 1820s →

  1. Fourah Bay College founded · Sierra Leone

All 1 events in the 1820s →

5 events · 5 nations

The 1830s

Every theme in the 1830s →

  1. Rule of Petar II Petrovic-Njegos · Montenegro

  2. Invention of the Vai script · Liberia

  3. The Illyrian movement and national revival · Croatia

  4. Darwin reaches the Galapagos · Ecuador

  5. Elias Lonnrot publishes the Kalevala · Finland

All 5 events in the 1830s →

10 events · 10 nations

The 1840s

Every theme in the 1840s →

  1. The Krio community takes shape · Sierra Leone

  2. Shevchenko publishes 'Kobzar' · Ukraine

  3. Štúr codifies literary Slovak · Slovakia

  4. The Rilindja national awakening · Albania

  5. Preseren writes Zdravljica · Slovenia

  6. The Danish Golden Age · Denmark

  7. Croatian made the official language · Croatia

  8. The national flag is adopted · Liberia

All 10 events in the 1840s →2 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 1850s

Every theme in the 1850s →

  1. The First National Awakening · Latvia

  2. Livingstone reaches Victoria Falls · Zambia

  3. Livingstone reaches Lake Nyasa · Malawi

  4. Dunant at the Battle of Solferino · Switzerland

All 4 events in the 1850s →

4 events · 4 nations

The 1860s

Every theme in the 1860s →

  1. Founding of the Red Cross (ICRC) · Switzerland

  2. The Lithuanian press ban · Lithuania

  3. Romantic nationalism and a national culture · Norway

  4. The first Estonian Song Festival · Estonia

All 4 events in the 1860s →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1870s

Every theme in the 1870s →

  1. The founding of Budapest · Hungary

  2. Jakobson and the national press · Estonia

All 2 events in the 1870s →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1890s

Every theme in the 1890s →

  1. The book smugglers (knygnesiai) · Lithuania

  2. King Njoya devises the Bamum script · Cameroon

All 2 events in the 1890s →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1900s

Every theme in the 1900s →

  1. Nasha Niva and the national awakening · Belarus

All 1 events in the 1900s →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1920s

Every theme in the 1920s →

  1. Nok terracottas first recognised · Nigeria

  2. The alphabet and language reforms · Türkiye

All 2 events in the 1920s →

1 event · 1 nation

The 1930s

Every theme in the 1930s →

  1. The morna and Creole letters · Cape Verde

All 1 events in the 1930s →

2 events · 2 nations

The 1940s

Every theme in the 1940s →

  1. Birth of the steelpan · Trinidad and Tobago

  2. Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the codified language · North Macedonia

All 2 events in the 1940s →

6 events · 6 nations

The 1950s

Every theme in the 1950s →

  1. The Bengali Language Movement · Bangladesh

  2. Rainier III marries Grace Kelly · Monaco

  3. Code of Personal Status · Tunisia

  4. Garcia Marquez and Macondo · Colombia

  5. Galapagos National Park · Ecuador

  6. Mary Leakey finds the Zinjanthropus skull · Tanzania

All 6 events in the 1950s →

6 events · 6 nations

The 1960s

Every theme in the 1960s →

  1. Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space · Russia

  2. Chingiz Aitmatov wins the Lenin Prize · Kyrgyzstan

  3. Guiana Space Centre · France

  4. A new national flag and a maturing identity · Canada

  5. National Palace Museum opens in Taipei · Taiwan

  6. Apollo 11 Moon landing · United States

All 6 events in the 1960s →

6 events · 6 nations

The 1970s

Every theme in the 1970s →

  1. A Greek inscription confirms Ikaros · Kuwait

  2. Neruda wins the Nobel Prize · Chile

  3. Somali written in Latin script · Somalia

  4. Reggae goes global · Jamaica

  5. Discovery of the Laetoli footprints · Tanzania

  6. Plitvice Lakes inscribed by UNESCO · Croatia

All 6 events in the 1970s →

11 events · 9 nations

The 1980s

Every theme in the 1980s →

  1. Aldabra Atoll inscribed by UNESCO · Seychelles

  2. Shibam, the 'Manhattan of the desert', is listed · Yemen

  3. Vallée de Mai inscribed by UNESCO · Seychelles

  4. Sarajevo Winter Olympics · Bosnia and Herzegovina

  5. Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso · Burkina Faso

  6. Vatican City inscribed as a World Heritage Site · Vatican City

  7. Petra inscribed as a World Heritage Site · Jordan

  8. Old City of Sanaa joins the World Heritage List · Yemen

All 11 events in the 1980s →3 more not shown here

11 events · 11 nations

The 1990s

Every theme in the 1990s →

  1. Joya de Ceren named World Heritage · El Salvador

  2. UNESCO World Heritage recognition · New Zealand

  3. Cultural kingdoms restored · Uganda

  4. Zabid recognised as a centre of Islamic learning · Yemen

  5. Luang Prabang inscribed by UNESCO · Laos

  6. Colonia listed by UNESCO · Uruguay

  7. Barrier Reef made a World Heritage site · Belize

  8. Al Jazeera launched · Qatar

All 11 events in the 1990s →3 more not shown here

14 events · 13 nations

The 2000s

Every theme in the 2000s →

  1. Discovery of Toumaï · Chad

  2. Paramaribo named World Heritage · Suriname

  3. Kunta Kinteh Island recognised · Gambia

  4. Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley inscribed by UNESCO · Andorra

  5. Cesária Évora and morna go global · Cape Verde

  6. Rainforests of the Atsinanana inscribed · Madagascar

  7. Nisa inscribed by UNESCO · Turkmenistan

  8. Bolt's sprinting dynasty · Jamaica

All 14 events in the 2000s →6 more not shown here

10 events · 9 nations

The 2010s

Every theme in the 2010s →

  1. The Burj Khalifa opens in Dubai · United Arab Emirates

  2. Fort Jesus inscribed by UNESCO · Kenya

  3. Manas trilogy recognized by UNESCO · Kyrgyzstan

  4. Agadez inscribed by UNESCO · Niger

  5. Tajik National Park inscribed by UNESCO · Tajikistan

  6. UNESCO World Heritage inscription · Costa Rica

  7. Diquis spheres named World Heritage · Costa Rica

  8. World Heritage inscription · Jamaica

All 10 events in the 2010s →2 more not shown here

4 events · 4 nations

The 2020s

Every theme in the 2020s →

  1. France returns the Abomey treasures · Benin

  2. The Hope probe reaches Mars · United Arab Emirates

  3. Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup · Qatar

  4. The medinas of the sultanates inscribed · Comoros

All 4 events in the 2020s →