Top 20 Most Influential Events of World History

Top 20 Most Influential Events in World History

1. Neolithic Revolution

8,000–5,000 BC: The first agricultural revolution. It was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to an agricultural lifestyle. Effects of it were that people could settle down in one place and could own more things.

2.Development of Islam

Started in 570. Greatly impacted the political, economic, and military history of the Eastern Hemisphere, especially the Middle East, where lies its roots. Following its origin in Mecca and Medina, the Islamic world expanded to include people of the Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization. Effects of it were that the Islamic religion unified the people of the Middle East, this allowed them to conquer other people and convert them.

3. The Crusades

From 1095 and 1291. It was a series of religious expeditionary wars blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. The Crusades were originally launched in response to a call from the leaders of the Byzantine Empire for help to fight the expansion into Anatolia of Muslim Seljuk Turks who had cut off Christian access to Jerusalem, and were also sparked by the destruction of many Christian sacred sites. Effects of it were long-term hatred between Christians and Muslims.

4. Bubonic Plague

Took place in the 14th century. Swept through Europe and killed an estimated 25 million people, or 30–60% of the European population. Because the plague killed so many of the working population, wages rose.

5. The Renaissance

Took place from the 14th to the 17th century. It was a cultural movement beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Effects include Humanism, and people grew attached to material things.

6. Protestant Reformation

16th-century. The schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. It was sparked by the 1517 posting of Luther's Ninety-five theses. Effects include the division of Christianity into many different branches and the authority of the pope was challenged for the first time.

7. American Revolution

April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783. Was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. Effects: This created an example for other revolutions and showed that it is possible to be free.

8. French Revolution

1789–1799. Was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault. Effects: created the first republic and was an example to other revolutions.

9. Storming of the Bastille

14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. Effects: It started the French revolution.

10. Reign of Terror

5 September 1793 – 28 July 1794. It was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution." The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine. Effects: Many people were killed by the guillotine and at the end France became the first republic.

11. Opium Wars

1839 to 1842, 1856 to 1860. the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire. After the inauguration of the Canton System in 1756, which restricted trade to one port and did not allow foreign entrance to China, the British East India Company faced a trade imbalance in favor of China and invested heavily in opium production to redress the balance. Effects: China lost, giving more power to Britain over China and they were forced to continue to trade with Britain.

12. Emancipation of Serfs in Russia

1861.Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates and of the domestic (household) serfs. By this edict more than twenty-three million people received their liberty. Serfs were granted the full rights of free citizens, gaining the rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a business. Effects: allowed for Russia to industrialize because the serfs worked in the factories.

13. Emancipation of slaves in the United States

January 1, 1863. An executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It was not a law passed by Congress. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten states then in rebellion, thus applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the U.S. at that time. Effects: slaves were freed and led to America's goal of being a equal country.

14. Boxer Rebellion

1898 and 1901. Proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" in China, opposing foreign imperialism and Christianity. The uprising took place in response to foreign "spheres of influence" in China, with grievances ranging from opium traders, political invasion, economic manipulation, to missionary evangelism. Effects: Britain had to step in to stop the rebellion, this advanced Britain's control on China.

15. World War I

28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918. Or the Great War; was a major war centered in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers,[5] which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centered around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Effects: Germany was broken and in debt; the Ottoman empire collapsed.

16. World War II

September 1939 – 2 September 1945. Was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Effects: USA and Russia came out as superpowers after the war ended.

17. Cold War

1947–1991. was a sustained state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, its satellite states and allies. This began after the success of their temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. Effects: Many nuclear weapons were made and the USA emerged as the sole superpower after the end of the war.

18. Jews Establishing Palestine

as their Homeland

1948. an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation, with many competing proposals considered. In the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the United Kingdom became the first world power to endorse the establishment in Palestine of a "national home for the Jewish people." The British government confirmed this commitment by accepting the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922. In 1948, the State of Israel was established as a Jewish state. Effects: long-term hatred and wars between the Jews and Israelis'.

19. Cuban Missile Crisis

October 14–28, 1962. a thirteen-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other; the crisis occurred in October 1962, during the Cold War. In August 1962, after some unsuccessful operations by the US to overthrow the Cuban regime (Bay of Pigs, Operation Mongoose), the Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba for a number of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to strike most of the continental United States. Effects: was the closest that there has been a nuclear war.

20. 9/11

September 11, 2001. Were a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the United States on September 11, 2001, coordinated to strike the areas of New York City and Washington, D.C. Effects: The US tightened its security between things getting in and out of the country.

Thanks for being an amazing teacher this year, Mrs. Weaver!! It's been fun!! :) Love Erica and Komal!!