April 16, 1178 BC: a solar eclipse may mark the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca, to his kingdom after the Trojan War. He discovers a numb...

Tags: Ancient greece, Epic Poetry, Mythology, King, Trojan War, Literature

c. 690 BC-664 BC—Sphinx of Taharqa, from Temple T, Kawa, Nubia, is made. Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. It is now kept at The British Museum, London.

Tags: Sculpture, Art History, 25th Dynasty, Pharaoh, Art

Nebuchadnezzar builds the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Tags: Ancient Mesopotamia, Nebuchadnezzar II, Architecture, Art History, Ancient World

Competitions for tragedy are instituted at the City Dionysia festival in Athens.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Theatre, Tragedy, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Performance Arts

Sophocles is born.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Playwright, Classical Literature, Athenian Democracy, Theater, Sophocles

Athenian playwright Aeschylus wins a poetry prize.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Aeschylus, Poetry, Theatre

Greek poet Pindar moves to Thebes.

Tags: Ancient greece, Literature, Poetry, Thebes, Patronage

The tragedy The Persians is produced by Aeschylus.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Aeschylus, Warfare, Persian Wars

Sophocles, Greek playwright, defeats Aeschylus for the Athenian Prize.

Tags: Ancient greece, Tragedy, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Theater, Literature

Greek playwright Aeschylus completes the Oresteia, a trilogy that tells the story of a family blood feud. The plays will have a great influence on fut...

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Playwright, Aeschylus, Theater, Literature, Influence

Euripides presents his first known tragedy, Peliades, in the Athenian festival of Dionysia.

Tags: Ancient greece, Tragedy, Theatre, Performance Arts, Playwright

Herodotus completes his History, which records the events concerning the Persian War.

Tags: Ancient greece, Historiography, Persian Wars, History, Literature, Writing

Phidias finishes a 9 meter high statue of Athena on the Acropolis.

Tags: Ancient greece, Sculpture, Art History, Acropolis, Architecture, Greek Mythology

Athens begins construction of the Parthenon, at the initiative of Pericles.

Tags: Ancient greece, Architecture, Art, Pericles, Acropolis, Temple

Achaeus of Eretria, a Greek playwright, shows his first play.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Playwright, Theater, Literature, Art

Sophocles writes Antigone.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Greek Literature, Sophocles, Theater, Political Philosophy, Human Nature

Ictinus and Callicrates finish construction of the Parthenon, located on Athens' Acropolis.

Tags: Ancient greece, Architecture, Art History, Acropolis, Athenian Democracy

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia by Phidias, one of the seven wonders of the world, is completed.

Tags: Ancient greece, Sculpture, Art History, Architecture

c. 430 BC: First performance of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex.

Tags: Ancient greece, Drama, Tragedy, Sophocles, Classical Literature, Theater, Greek Mythology, Playwright

Construction of the Colossus of Rhodes is completed.

Tags: Ancient greece, Sculpture, Monument, Art History, Rhodes, Architecture

Bion of Smyrna, Greek poet

Tags: Ancient greece, Poetry, Literature, Greek Literature

Sima Xiangru (司馬相如), Chinese musician, poet and writer

Tags: Han Dynasty, Chinese Literature, Poetry, Prose, Classical Chinese, Art

Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman playwright

Tags: Ancient rome, Latin Literature, Comedy, Drama, Playwright, Theater, Classical Antiquity

Sangam literature, corpus of ancient Tamil literature

Tags: Tamil Nadu, Literature, Poetry, South India, Classical Literature

Kaniyan Pungundranar, one of the poets of the Tamil Sangam work Purananuru

Tags: Literature, Poetry, Tamil Nadu, Ancient greece

Nicolaus of Damascus writes the 15-volume History of the World.

Tags: Historiography, Literature, History, Ancient greece, Roman Empire, Biography, World History

Columella, Roman Latin writer (d. AD 70)

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Literature, Agriculture, Latin, Writers, Ancient greece

After completing Metamorphoses, Ovid begins the Fasti (Festivals), 6 books that detail the first 6 months of the year and provide valuable insights in...

Tags: Roman Empire, Latin Literature, Poetry, Ovid, Ancient rome, Calendar, Festivals

Roman poet Ovid is banished from Rome and exiled to the Black Sea near Tomis (modern-day Constanța).

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Exile, Augustus, Literature, Classical Antiquity, Ancient rome, Latin Literature

Ovid completes the curse poem Ibis.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Latin Literature, Poetry, Ovid, Exile, Epic Poetry

Ovid completes Tristia III (the "Sorrows") describing the sadness of banishment.

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Latin Literature, Exile, Ovid, Literature

Ovid stops writing Fasti, because of the lack of resources (being far from the libraries of Rome). He completes 6 books that detail festivals found i...

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Literature, Poetry, Ovid, Exile, Calendar

Ovid publishes books 1-3 of his Epistulae ex Ponto.

Tags: Roman Empire, Latin Literature, Poetry, Ovid, Exile, Ancient rome

Nicolaus of Damascus writes a biography of the Emperor Augustus (Bios Kaisaros).

Tags: Biography, Roman Empire, Augustus, Roman Literature, Ancient rome, Historiography

Ovid's "Epistulae ex Ponto" appears.

Tags: Roman Empire, Latin Literature, Poetry, Exile, Ancient rome, Ovid, Classical Literature

A triumphal arch is built for Germanicus Julius Caesar in Saintes.

Tags: Roman Empire, Architecture, Triumphal Arch, Germanicus, Art, Monument, Public Works

Quintus Pedius, Roman (deaf) painter (approximate date)

Tags: Roman Empire, Art, Painting, Ancient rome, Visual Arts

Ovid, Roman poet (or AD 18)

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Ovid, Latin, Ancient greece, Exile

Crinagoras, Greek epigrammatist (b. 70 BC)

Tags: Ancient greece, Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Classical Antiquity

Greek geographer Strabo publishes Geographica, a work covering the world known to the Romans and Greeks at the time of Emperor Augustus – it is the on...

Tags: Ancient greece, Ancient rome, Geography, Cartography, Strabo, Historiography, Literature, Roman Empire, World History

An Arc of Triumph is erected in Rimini, in honor of the former Emperor Augustus.

Tags: Roman Empire, Architecture, Triumphal Arch, Augustus, Public Works, Ancient rome, Monument, Art History, Roman Art

Petronius, Roman writer and suffect consul (d. AD 66)

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Literature, Authors, Roman Literature, Satire, Classical Antiquity

Silius Italicus, Roman consul and epic poet

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Ancient rome, Ancient greece, Epic Poetry, Biography, Political Figure

Clutorius Priscus, Roman poet (b. c. 20 BC)

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Tiberius, Political Intrigue, Ancient rome, Censorship

Phaedrus translates Aesop's fables, and composes some of his own.

Tags: Roman Empire, Fables, Latin Literature, Translation, Poetry, Classical Antiquity

Velleius Paterculus writes the general history of the countries known in Antiquity.

Tags: Ancient rome, Historiography, Latin Literature, Roman Empire, History Writing, Imperial Era

Phaedrus writes his popular collection of fables.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Fables, Poetry, Latin Literature, Ancient rome

Marcus Valerius Martialis, Roman Latin poet (approximate date)

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Latin Literature, Ancient rome, Satire, Literature, Martial, Ancient greece

November 3 – Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Roman poet (d. AD 65)

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Ancient rome, Latin, Classical Antiquity, Art, Lucan

Pomponius Mela, Roman geographer, writes De situ orbis libri (approximate date).

Tags: Roman Empire, Geography, Literature, Ancient rome, Cartography, Pomponius Mela, Historiography, Classical Antiquity

Pomponius Mela writes De situ orbis, a geography of the Earth.

Tags: Roman Empire, Geography, Literature, Cartography, Ancient rome, Pomponius Mela, Ancient greece

Plutarch, Greek historian and biographer (approximate date)

Tags: Ancient greece, Roman Empire, Biography, Historian, Literature, Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Classical Antiquity

Publius Papinius Statius, Roman poet (approximate date)

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Latin Literature, Classical Antiquity, Literature, Statius, Ancient rome

The San Bartolo pyramid is completed around this time.

Tags: Maya, Mesoamerica, Architecture, Religious Structures, Art, Construction, Ancient Civilizations

Pamphilus of Alexandria writes a poetic lexicon.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient greece, Poetry, Language, Literature

Pliny the Elder writes his account of the German wars.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, History, Ancient rome, Pliny the Elder, Military History

The Yuejue Shu, the first known gazetteer of China, is written during the Han Dynasty.

Tags: Han Dynasty, Literature, Geography, History, Information, Compilation

Seneca writes the tragedy Agamemnon, which he intends to be read as the last chapter of a trilogy including two of his other tragedies, Medea and Edip...

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Tragedy, Drama, Stoicism, Ancient rome, Ancient greece

In the Satyricon, Petronius pokes fun at Roman immorality.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Satire, Ancient rome, Social Commentary, Novel, Latin Literature

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian.

Tags: Roman Empire, History, Ancient rome, Roman Literature, Annals, Ancient greece

Juvenal, Roman poet and writer (approximate date)

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Literature, Poetry, Satire, Ancient greece, Latin Literature

Gaius Julius Phaedrus, Roman fabulist (b. c. 15 BC)

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Fables, Poetry, Latin Literature

Nero completes the Baths of Nero in Rome.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Nero, Architecture, Public Works, Art

The making of Still Life, a detail of a wall painting from Herculaneum, begins (finished in AD 79). It is now kept at Museo Nazionale in Naples.

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Art, Painting, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Classical Antiquity, Art History

Lucan writes a history of the conflict between Julius Caesar and Pompey.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Epic Poetry, Ancient rome, Civil War, Julius Caesar, Lucan

Nero proposes a new urban planning program based on the creation of buildings decorated with ornate porticos, the widening of the streets and the use ...

Tags: Roman Empire, Architecture, Urban Planning, Nero, Art, Ancient rome, City Planning, Public Works

Final year that Tacitus records Annals, a written history of the Roman Empire.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Annals, Tacitus, Historiography, Literature, Political History

Pliny the Younger, Roman author and statesman (d. c. 113)

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Literature, Biography, Ancient greece, Authors, Pliny the Younger

Philo of Byblos, Phoenician historian and writer (d. 141)

Tags: Phoenicia, Literature, Historian, Ancient greece, Cultural Influence

April 30 – Lucan, Roman poet and philosopher (b. AD 39)

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Poetry, Philosophy, Ancient rome, Lucan, Nero, Stoicism

Martial writes a satire on "military cowardice".

Tags: Roman Empire, Satire, Latin Literature, Poetry, Military, Social Commentary, Ancient rome, Martial

Suetonius, Roman historian (approximate date) (d. c. 122)

Tags: Roman Empire, History, Literature, Biography, Ancient rome, Annals, Classical Antiquity

Wang Fu, Chinese historian, poet and philosopher (approximate date)

Tags: Han Dynasty, Philosophy, History, Poetry, Confucianism, Eastern Thought

Ma Rong, Chinese poet and politician (d. 166)

Tags: Han Dynasty, Poetry, Literature, Classical Literature, Biography

Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, Roman writer

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Agriculture, Roman Literature, Writing, Latin

Quintus Asconius Pedianus, Roman historian (b. 9 BC)

Tags: Roman Empire, History, Literature, Historiography, Classical Antiquity, Annals, Biographies, Ancient rome

Martial publishes the Liber Spectaculorum.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Poetry, Ancient rome, Latin, Martial, Entertainment

The Arch of Titus is constructed.

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Architecture, Triumph, Victory, Art, Imperialism, Monument, Titus

Martial publishes Books I and II of the Epigrams.

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Poetry, Martial, Classical Antiquity, Latin Literature, Ancient rome

Ban Gu (Pan Kou) and his sister Ban Zhao (Pan Tchao) compose the History of China.

Tags: Han Dynasty, Historiography, Historical Records, Literature, Imperial China

Two Egyptian obelisks are erected in Benevento in front of the Temple of Isis, in honour of Emperor Domitian.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Architecture, Art, Religion, Imperial Cult, Domitian

Quintilian retires from teaching and from pleading, to compose his great work on the training of the orator (Institutio Oratoria).

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Rhetoric, Education, Oratory, Ancient rome

The Young Flavian Woman is made. It is now kept at Musei Capitolini, Rome (approximate date).

Tags: Roman Empire, Sculpture, Ancient rome, Roman Art

Rome is described by Statius in his poems.

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Statius, Ancient rome, Epic Poetry

The Flavian Palace is completed on the Palatine.

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Architecture, Roman Art

Josephus completes his Jewish Antiquities (or in AD 94).

Tags: Roman Empire, Jewish History, Historiography, Josephus, Literature

The Roman poet Publius Papinius Statius retires to Naples from Rome (approximate date).

Tags: Roman Empire, Literature, Poetry, Statius, Naples, Classical Antiquity, Ancient rome

The Arch of Titus is completed in Rome.

Tags: Roman Empire, Architecture, Triumphal Arch, Ancient rome, Art, Titus, Victory

End of the period covered by Tacitus in his Histories.

Tags: Roman Empire, Ancient rome, Literature, Historiography, Tacitus, History, Annals, Nerva

Tacitus finishes his Germania (approximate date).

Tags: Ancient rome, Roman Empire, Literature, History, Tacitus, Manuscript, Historiography

Wyatt, James C. Y. (2004). China: Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 AD. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-126-1.

Tags: Art History, Cultural Exchange, Visual Arts

Appian of Alexandria, Greek historian and writer (d. 165)

Tags: Greek, Roman Empire, Historian, Biography, Literature, Writing

Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Roman poet (approximate date)

Tags: Roman Empire, Poetry, Literature, Classical Antiquity, Latin, Ancient rome

Pendentive dome (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire

Tags: Byzantine Empire, Architecture, Religious Architecture, Eastern Roman Empire, Justinian I, Art History

The Xumi Pagoda in Zhengding, China is built.

Tags: Architecture, Buddhism, Tang Dynasty, Religious Structures, Chinese History, 600s

Bede completes his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People).

Tags: Anglo-Saxons, Christianity, Historiography, Religious History, Monasticism

Construction on the Leshan Giant Buddha in Tang dynasty China is complete, after 90 years of rock-carving on a massive cliff-side.

Tags: Buddhism, Tang Dynasty, Sculpture, Art, Religious Art, Architecture, Cultural Heritage

Han Yu dies.

Tags: Tang Dynasty, Literature, Poetry, Prose, Classical Chinese, Scholar, Confucianism, Literary Criticism

Borobudur is completed during the reign of Samaratungga.

Tags: Buddhism, Art, Architecture, Temple, Religious Art, Sailendra Dynasty, Cultural Heritage

Dharmawangsa commissioned the translation of the Mahabharata into Old Javanese.

Tags: Literature, Translation, Old Javanese, Hinduism, Ancient greece

1037 – Hayy ibn Yaqdhan is written by Ibn Tufail.

Tags: Islamic Golden Age, Philosophy, Literature

1008: Japanese Lady Murasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji.

Tags: Heian Period, Japanese Literature, Novel

1003 – Book of Lamentations is written by Gregory of Narek, one of the Doctors of the Church.

Tags: Middle Ages, Christianity, Religious Texts, Monasticism, Mysticism, Poetry

– One of the Four Great Books of Song, the Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau compiled by 1013 was the largest of the Song Chinese encyclopedias. Div...

Tags: Song Dynasty, Encyclopedias, Chinese Literature, Imperial China, Knowledge, Compilation

– The Bamberg Apocalypse commissioned by Otto III is completed.

Tags: Religious Art, Christianity, Visual Arts

– Lady Murasaki Shikibu writes her Japanese novel, The Tale of Genji.

Tags: Literature, Japanese Literature, Heian Period, Novel, Fiction, Classical Literature, Cultural Influence

– The Book of Healing is published by Avicenna.

Tags: Middle Ages, Islamic Golden Age, Philosophy, Medicine, Avicenna, Literature, Knowledge, Books

– The Jiyun, a Chinese rime dictionary, is published by Ding Du and expanded by later scholars.

Tags: Song Dynasty, Linguistics, Dictionaries, Education

– Birth of the Chinese poet Su Shi, one of the renowned poets of the Song dynasty, who also penned works of travel literature.

Tags: Song Dynasty, Poetry, Literature, Chinese Literature, Travel Literature, Su Shi

1100 – The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is written by Omar Khayyam sometime after 1048.

Tags: Literature, Poetry, Middle Ages, Islamic Golden Age, Philosophy, Mathematics

– The Record of Tea is written by Chinese official Cai Xiang

Tags: Chinese Literature, Song Dynasty, Writing

– The Uji Dainagon Monogatari, a collection of stories allegedly penned by Minamoto-no-Takakuni, is written sometime between now and 1077.

Tags: Heian Period, Classical Literature, Prose, Storytelling

– The New History of the Five Dynasties by Chinese official Ouyang Xiu is completed.

Tags: Song Dynasty, History Writing, Literature, Ouyang Xiu, Historiography, Confucianism

– The Ostromir Gospels of Novgorod are written.

Tags: Manuscript, Eastern Orthodox Church, Novgorod, Medieval Russia

– the Mugni Gospels of Armenia are written in illuminated manuscript form.

Tags: Gospels, Religious Texts, Christianity, Middle Ages, Art History

– compilation of the New Book of Tang, edited by Chinese official Ouyang Xiu, is complete.

Tags: Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, History, Historiography, Literature, Ouyang Xiu, Compilation

– The Book of Roads and Kingdoms is written by Abū 'Ubayd 'Abd Allāh al-Bakrī.

Tags: Middle Ages, Islamic Golden Age, Geography, Travel Literature, Al-Andalus, Cartography, Historiography

– William I of England commissioned the Norman monk William of Jumièges to extend the Gesta Normannorum Ducum chronicle.

Tags: Middle Ages, Normans, Historiography, William the Conqueror

the enormous Chinese historical work of the Zizhi Tongjian is compiled by scholars under Chancellor Sima Guang, completed in 294 volumes and included ...

Tags: Song Dynasty, Historiography, Compilation, Classical Literature

– The Dream Pool Essays is completed by Shen Kuo of Song China.

Tags: Song Dynasty, Literature, Shen Kuo, Natural Philosophy, History of Science

Suger begins rebuilding the abbey church at St Denis north of Paris, which is regarded as the first major Gothic building.

Tags: Middle Ages, Religious Architecture, Art History

The Liuhe Pagoda of Hangzhou, China, is built.

Tags: Architecture, Buddhism, Song Dynasty, Monument, Construction, Art History, Cultural Heritage

– Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, and other Ancestral Pueblo architectural complexes reach their apex

Tags: Indigenous Peoples, Pre-Columbian America, Architecture, Construction, Cultural Development

The Old Javanese text Nagarakertagama is written.

Tags: Majapahit Empire, Old Javanese, Poetry

Construction of the Chinese Forbidden City is completed in Beijing.

Tags: Architecture, Ming Dynasty, Imperial China, Beijing, Construction, Art

Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter, dies.

Tags: Art History, Renaissance

William Caxton, the first printer of books in English, prints his translation of Aesop's Fables in London.

Tags: Printing Press, Literature, Translation

Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica is made in Rome

Tags: Renaissance, High Renaissance, Sculpture, Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo, Catholicism, Art History, Religious Art, Vatican

Around late 15th century Bujangga Manik manuscript was composed, tell the story of Jaya Pakuan Bujangga Manik, a Sundanese Hindu hermit journeys throu...

Tags: Manuscript, Literature, Hinduism, Middle Ages

Michelangelo returns to his native Florence to begin work on the statue David.

Tags: Renaissance, Michelangelo, Florence, David, Italian Renaissance, Sculpture, Art, Humanism, High Renaissance, Patronage

Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three years later.

Tags: Renaissance, Painting, Art History, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance, High Renaissance, Visual Arts

Leonardo da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa.

Tags: Renaissance, Painting, Art History, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance, High Renaissance, Visual Arts, Humanism

Leonardo da Vinci dies of natural causes on May 2.Europe at the time of the accession of Charles V in 1519

Tags: Renaissance, Death, Charles V, Art, Painting, Sculpture, Leonardo da Vinci, High Renaissance

Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica.

Tags: Renaissance, Architecture, Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance, Art History, Catholicism, Religious Art

The architect Mimar Sinan builds the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul.

Tags: Architecture, Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, Religious Buildings, Art History, Construction

Publication in Venice of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by Giovanni Battista Ramusio, secretary of Council of Ten, with plan La Terra de ...

Tags: Exploration, Cartography, Early America, Renaissance, Voyages of Discovery, Indigenous Peoples, Travel Literature

William Shakespeare baptized 26 April

Tags: Renaissance, English Literature, Playwright, Poetry, Shakespeare, Drama, Elizabethan Era, Cultural Impact

Da le Balle Contrade d'Oriente, composed by Cipriano de Rore.

Tags: Renaissance, Music, Italian Renaissance, Cultural History

First edition of the epic The Lusiads of Luís Vaz de Camões, three years after the author returned from the East.

Tags: Renaissance, Literature, Portuguese Empire, Epic Poetry, Exploration, Age of Discovery, Colonialism, National Identity

Opera in Florence by Jacopo Peri.

Tags: Renaissance, Florence, Opera, Music, Theater, Arts, Performance

Romeo and Juliet is published.

Tags: Shakespeare, Renaissance, English Literature, Drama, Tragedy, Playwright, Theater

In Nagasaki, the Portuguese Jesuit missionary João Rodrigues publishes Nippo Jisho, the first dictionary of Japanese to a European (Portuguese) langua...

Tags: Jesuits, Dictionary, Linguistics, Translation, Language, Cultural Exchange

English poet and playwright William Shakespeare dies.

Tags: Shakespeare, English Literature, Renaissance, Playwright, Poetry, Elizabethan Era, Theatre, Arts

Taj Mahal building work started in Agra, India.

Tags: Mughal Empire, Architecture, Art History, Monument, Cultural Heritage

The first opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice.

Tags: Opera, Music, Theatre, Baroque, Entertainment, Artistic Innovation

Mezzotint engraving introduces grey tones to printed images.

Tags: Art History, Visual Arts, Artistic Innovation

Giacomo Torelli of Venice, Italy invents the first rotating stage.

Tags: Theater, Renaissance, Baroque, Performance Art

Chateau de Versailles becomes the primary royal residence of Louis XIV; Saint-Gobain produced glass for the Hall of Mirrors.

Tags: French Monarchy, Louis XIV, Baroque, Architecture, Art History, Glassmaking, Royal Court, French History

The Love Suicides at Sonezaki by Chikamatsu first performed

Tags: Edo Period, Kabuki, Drama, Literature, Theater

1717: One Thousand and One Nights translated into French by Antoine Galland. The work becomes immensely popular throughout Europe.

Tags: Literature, Translation, French Literature, Cultural Exchange, Folklore, Storytelling

A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift first published

Tags: Satire, Enlightenment, British Literature, Jonathan Swift, Literary Criticism, Prose

George Frideric Handel's first opera, Almira, premieres.

Tags: Opera, Baroque, Music, Handel, Theatre, German Culture, Musical Composition

The first English-language edition of the Arabian Nights is published.

Tags: Literature, Translation, Enlightenment, Folklore, Cultural Exchange, Fiction, Storytelling

Rinaldo, Handel's first opera for the London stage, premiered

Tags: Opera, Music, Baroque, Handel, Theatre, Performance Arts

The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope (publication of first version)

Tags: Literature, Poetry, Satire, English Literature, Social Commentary

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Tags: Novel, English Literature, Colonialism

Brandenburg Concertos by J.S. Bach

Tags: Baroque Music, Classical Music, Composition, Music History, Johann Sebastian Bach, Orchestral Music

The Four Seasons, violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, composed

Tags: Baroque, Music, Classical Music, Composition, Cultural Heritage, Orchestral Music

St John Passion by J.S. Bach

Tags: Baroque Music, Classical Music, Johann Sebastian Bach, Religious Music, Musical Composition, Christianity, Art History

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Tags: Satire, Novel, Jonathan Swift, Literature, Social Commentary, British Literature, Enlightenment

St Matthew Passion composed by J.S. Bach

Tags: Baroque Music, Classical Music, Religious Music, Oratorio, Christianity, Music Composition

Zadok the Priest is composed by Handel for the coronation of George II of Great Britain. It has been performed at every subsequent British coronation.

Tags: Music, Classical Music, Baroque Period, Coronation, Handel

The Dunciad by Alexander Pope (publication of first version)

Tags: Poetry, Satire, English Literature, Literary Criticism, Cultural Impact

Hippolyte et Aricie, first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Tags: Opera, Baroque, Music, Theatre, Performance Arts

Letters Concerning the English Nation by Voltaire published in French.

Tags: Enlightenment, Literature, Philosophy, Voltaire, Satire, Freedom of Speech

Qing dynasty Chinese court painters recreate Zhang Zeduan's classic panoramic painting, Along the River During Qingming Festival.

Tags: Qing Dynasty, Art History, Imperial China, Cultural Heritage

Turlough O'Carolan, famous Irish harper, dies.

Tags: Music, Folk Music

Goldberg Variations for harpsichord published by Bach

Tags: Music, Baroque Period, Classical Music, Johann Sebastian Bach, Composition, Cultural Heritage

Messiah, oratorio by Handel premiered in Dublin

Tags: Baroque, Music, Oratorio, Handel, Dublin, Christianity, Performing Arts, Composition, Cultural Impact

Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), popular Japanese puppet play, composed

Tags: Edo Period, Kabuki, Loyalty, Art

Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson

Tags: Novel, English Literature, Epistolary Novel, Social Commentary

Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach assembled in current form

Tags: Baroque, Music, Classical Music, Composition, Johann Sebastian Bach, Religious Music

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Tags: Novel, Enlightenment, Satire, British Literature, Social Commentary

The Art of Fugue by J.S. Bach

Tags: Music, Baroque, Composition, Classical Music, Art

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray published

Tags: Poetry, English Literature, Romanticism

1785: The French Encyclopédie

Tags: Enlightenment, Knowledge, Scientific Revolution, Philosophy, Intellectual History

A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson

Tags: Literature, Dictionaries, English Language, Literary Criticism, Standardization, Enlightenment

Birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Tags: Music, Classical Music, Composer, Ancient greece, Mozart, Opera

Candide by Voltaire

Tags: Literature, Enlightenment, Satire, French Literature, Voltaire, Social Commentary

1767: Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

Tags: Literature, Novel, Satire, English Literature, Enlightenment, Fiction

Orfeo ed Euridice, first "reform opera" by Gluck, performed in Vienna

Tags: Opera, Classical Music, Music History, Performing Arts

Birth of Ludwig van Beethoven

Tags: Classical Music, Composer, Music History, Romantic Period, Ancient greece, Piano, Symphony, Beethoven

The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe first published

Tags: Literature, Novel, Romanticism, German Literature, Epistolary Novel

Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain) by Ueda Akinari

Tags: Japanese Literature, Edo Period, Fiction, Classical Literature, Literary Influence

1789: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was published by Edward Gibbon

Tags: Enlightenment, Historiography, Roman Empire, British Literature, Decline and Fall, Cultural Impact

1782: Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets by Samuel Johnson

Tags: Literature, Poetry, Biography, Enlightenment, English Literature

The Robbers by Friedrich Schiller first published

Tags: Drama, German Literature, Romanticism, Enlightenment

Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

Tags: Literature, Novel, French Literature, Epistolary Novel, Social Commentary, Enlightenment

1787: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premieres The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Tags: Classical Music, Opera, Performance Arts, Musical Composition, Cultural Impact

Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect by Robert Burns

Tags: Literature, Poetry, Enlightenment, National Identity, Cultural Impact, Romanticism

Don Giovanni, opera by Mozart

Tags: Opera, Classical Music, Mozart, Performance Art, Musical Composition, Enlightenment, Theater

Jupiter Symphony (Symphony No. 41) composed by Mozart

Tags: Classical Music, Symphony, Music Composition, Orchestra

Songs of Innocence by William Blake

Tags: Poetry, Literature, Romanticism, Art, Enlightenment, Symbolism, Social Commentary

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

Tags: Slavery, Transatlantic Slave Trade, Abolitionism, British Empire, African Diaspora, Human Rights

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow by Alexander Radishchev

Tags: Enlightenment, Serfdom, Social Commentary, Russian Literature, Censorship, Autocracy, Imperial Russia, Social Reform

The Magic Flute, opera by Mozart

Tags: Opera, Music, Classical Music, Mozart, Performance Art, Enlightenment, Theater

1795: London symphonies by Haydn

Tags: Classical Music, Symphony, Music History, Musical Composition, Orchestra

Surprise Symphony written by Haydn.

Tags: Classical Music, Symphony, Musical Composition, Ancient greece, Orchestra, Music History

Songs of Experience by William Blake

Tags: Romanticism, Poetry, Literature, Social Commentary, Visual Arts, Symbolism

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe published.

Tags: Literature, Novel, Romanticism

The Pathétique, piano sonata by Beethoven

Tags: Classical Music, Ludwig van Beethoven, Musical Composition, Romanticism, Music History

The Creation, oratorio by Haydn first performed

Tags: Classical Music, Oratorio, Music History, Musical Composition, Performance

Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Tags: Romanticism, Poetry, Literature, English Literature

Ludwig van Beethoven performs his Moonlight Sonata for the first time.

Tags: Music, Classical Music, Romanticism, Piano, Beethoven, Musical Composition, Cultural Impact

Symphony No. 3 by Beethoven, the "Eroica" marks the start of highly creative "middle period."

Tags: Classical Music, Romanticism, Symphony, Musical Composition, Beethoven, Music History, Austrian Empire, German Culture, Artistic Innovation

Beethoven performs his Fifth Symphony.

Tags: Classical Music, Symphony, Romanticism, Music Composition, Performance, Beethoven, Art History, Cultural Impact

Beethoven premieres his 5th Symphony at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

Tags: Classical Music, Symphony, Romantic Period, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music History, Orchestra, Cultural Impact, Arts

Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "The Emperor."

Tags: Classical Music, Music Composition, Ludwig van Beethoven, Romantic Period, Orchestral Music

The trumpet receives valves.

Tags: Music, Musical Instruments, Classical Music

Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice.

Tags: Literature, Novel, Romanticism, British Literature, Social Commentary, Gender Roles

Jane Austen publishes Emma in December.

Tags: Literature, Novel, British Literature, Social Commentary, Fiction, Social Class

The Old Vic is established (under the name of the Royal Coburg).

Tags: Theatre, Performance Arts, Entertainment

Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

Tags: Literature, Novel, Romanticism, Science Fiction

Théodore Géricault paints his masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa, and exhibits it in the French Salon of 1819 at the Louvre.

Tags: French Art, Romanticism, Painting, Realism, French Revolution

John Keats writes his odes of 1819.

Tags: Poetry, Romanticism, British Literature, English Literature, Literature

Premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Tags: Classical Music, Romantic Period, Symphony, Orchestra, Ludwig van Beethoven, Composition, Performance, Arts

Deaths of William Blake and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tags: Art, Music, Literature, Romanticism, Composer, Death

Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Italian opera.

Tags: Opera, Classical Music, Romanticism, Music Composition, Theater

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust premieres.

Tags: Literature, German Literature, Drama, Poetry, Romanticism, Playwright, Philosophy, Cultural Impact

Felix Mendelssohn, "Hebrides" overture

Tags: Romanticism, Music, Classical Music, Composition

Hector Berlioz issues "Symphonie fantastique", an early highlist of Romanticism

Tags: Romanticism, Classical Music, Symphony, Orchestra, Artistic Innovation, Musical Composition

Charles Dickens publishes Oliver Twist.

Tags: Novel, Literature, Social Commentary, Poverty, Childhood, Fiction

Death of Alexander Pushkin.

Tags: Literature, Russian Literature, Poetry, Romanticism, Authors, Cultural Impact, Imperial Russia

Short stories A Christmas Carol and The Tell-Tale Heart published.

Tags: Literature, Fiction, Writing

The Brontë sisters publish Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.

Tags: Novel, Literature, Social Commentary

William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti found the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Tags: Painting, Romanticism

Alfred Tennyson is appointed Poet Laureate after the death of William Wordsworth.

Tags: Poetry, Literature, Arts, Cultural History

Herman Melville publishes Moby-Dick.

Tags: American Literature, Novel, Romanticism, Literature, Global Impact

William Wells Brown (1814–1884) wrote first novel published by an African American, Clotel.

Tags: Literature, African American History, Novel, Slavery, American Literature, Civil Rights

Twelve Years a Slave is a memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson.

Tags: Slavery, American History, Civil War, Literature, Social Commentary, Abolitionism

Walt Whitman publishes Leaves of Grass.

Tags: Poetry, American Literature, Modernism

Victor Hugo publishes Les Misérables.

Tags: French Literature, Novel, Social Commentary, Romanticism, Class Struggle, Humanitarianism, Literary Influence

Édouard Manet exhibits his painting The Luncheon on the Grass, sparking public outrage.

Tags: Modern Art, Painting, Realism, Art History

Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Tags: Literature, Children's Literature, Fantasy, Novel, Storytelling, Cultural Impact

Leo Tolstoy publishes War and Peace.

Tags: Literature, Russian Literature, Novel, Realism, Warfare, Peace, Russian Empire, Social Commentary

Royal Albert Hall opens in London.

Tags: Architecture, Performing Arts, Music, Queen Victoria

The Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, and Graveurs, better known as the Impressionists, organize and present their first ...

Tags: French Art, Modern Art, Painting, Exhibition, Realism

Georges Bizet's opera Carmen premiers in Paris.

Tags: Opera, Music, Romanticism, Performance Arts, Cultural Impact

Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle is first performed in its entirety.

Tags: Opera, Music, Romanticism, German Culture, Drama, Mythology

Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island is published.

Tags: Novel, Children's Literature, Adventure, Piracy, Fiction

Mark Twain publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Tags: Literature, American Literature, Novel, Satire, Slavery, Social Commentary

Construction of the Statue of Liberty (formally Liberty Englightening the World)

Tags: Sculpture, Monument, Symbolism, Immigration, French Third Republic, Gilded Age, Liberty

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is published.

Tags: Novel, British Literature, Human Nature, Popular Culture, Literary Influence

Arthur Conan Doyle publishes his first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet.

Tags: Literature, British Literature, Novel

Vincent van Gogh paints The Starry Night.

Tags: Art, Painting, Modern Art, French Art, Visual Arts

Death of Vincent van Gogh.

Tags: Painting, Art History, Modern Art, Mental Health

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite premières in St Petersburg.

Tags: Classical Music, Performing Arts, Romanticism

First commercial film release by Jean Aimé Le Roy.

Tags: Cinema, Film, Motion Pictures, Early Cinema, Entertainment

Trial of Oscar Wilde and premiere of his play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Tags: Literature, Playwright, Trial, Comedy, Social Commentary

Bram Stoker writes Dracula.

Tags: Literature, Novel, Cultural Impact, Popular Culture

H. G. Wells publishes The War of the Worlds.

Tags: Science Fiction, Literature, Novel

Exposition Universelle held in Paris, prominently featuring the growing art trend Art Nouveau.

Tags: Exhibition, Modern Art, Architecture

L. Frank Baum publishes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Tags: Children's Literature, Fantasy, American Literature, Novel, Cultural Impact, Symbolism

Grant, A. J. and Harold Temperley. Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (1789-1939) (1940) online

Tags: Historiography, European History, World History

Langer, William, ed. An Encyclopedia of World History (5th ed. 1973); highly detailed outline of events online

Tags: Encyclopedias, Historiography, World History, Education, Information Dissemination

Morris, Richard B. and Graham W. Irwin, eds. Harper Encyclopedia of the Modern World: A Concise Reference History from 1760 to the Present (1970) onli...

Tags: Encyclopedia, Information, Research

May 29: Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring infamously premiers in Paris which causes a riot.

Tags: Music, Modernism, Performance Art, Cultural Revolution

November 19: Release date of Feline Follies, the first appearance of Felix the Cat (then known as Master Tom).

Tags: Animation, Cartoon, Early Cinema, Entertainment

January 25: Premiere of the science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), in which the word "robot" was first used.

Tags: Science Fiction, Robotics, Theater, Playwright, Artificial Intelligence, Modernism

November 4: Howard Carter discovers the Tomb of Tutankhamun.

Tags: Archaeology, Pharaoh, Discovery, Art History

February 2: James Joyce publishes Ulysses.

Tags: Literature, Modernism, Novel, Fiction, Cultural Impact

October 16: The Walt Disney Company is founded.

Tags: Animation, Film, Entertainment, Business, Disney, Mass Media, American Culture

February 12: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin premieres in New York City.

Tags: Music, Classical Music, Composition, American Culture, Orchestral Music, New York City

July 18: Hitler's Mein Kampf is published.

Tags: Nazism, Adolf Hitler, Propaganda, Fascism, Anti-Semitism, Political Ideology, World War II, Literature, Ideology

October 4: Mount Rushmore construction begins in South Dakota, U.S.

Tags: Sculpture, Monument, Art, American History

November 18: Steamboat Willie, is the first appearance of Mickey Mouse.

Tags: Animation, Film, Walt Disney, Cartoon, Entertainment Industry, Popular Culture, Early Cinema

May 16: The first Academy Awards are presented.

Tags: Film, Cinema, Awards, Hollywood, Motion Pictures, Entertainment, United States History

April 19: Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the first Looney Tunes short, is released.

Tags: Animation, Cartoon, Film, Entertainment

December 12: Christ the Redeemer completed.

Tags: Sculpture, Monument, Art Deco, Christianity, Brazilian History

May 31: Establishment of 20th Century Fox.

Tags: Film, Cinema, Hollywood, Motion Pictures, Entertainment Industry, Media, Business

December 21: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first feature-length animated movie released.

Tags: Animation, Film, Cinema, Disney, Walt Disney, Hollywood, Entertainment, Motion Pictures

September 21: J. R. R. Tolkien publishes The Hobbit.

Tags: Literature, Fantasy, Novel, Children's Literature, Cultural Impact

April 18: DC Comics hero Superman has its first appearance.

Tags: Fiction, American Culture, Entertainment, Pop Culture

August 25: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases The Wizard of Oz.

Tags: Film, Hollywood, Cinema, Children's Literature, American Culture, Entertainment

Mount Rushmore construction ends.

Tags: Sculpture, Monument, American History

August 13: Release date of Disney's Bambi.

Tags: Animation, Film, Disney, Cinema, Entertainment, Children's Literature

June 8: George Orwell publishes Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Tags: Literature, Novel, Totalitarianism, Propaganda, Social Commentary, Cold War, English Literature

February 15: Release date of Disney's Cinderella.

Tags: Animation, Disney, Film, Cinema, American Culture, Walt Disney

September 18: Release date of the acclaimed science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Tags: Film, Science Fiction, Cinema, Cold War, Post-War, Cultural Impact

November 3: Godzilla is released in Japan.

Tags: Film, Science Fiction, Cinema, Post-War, Cultural Impact

July 29: J. R. R. Tolkien publishes The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of The Lord of the Rings.

Tags: Novel, British Literature, Literary Influence, Popular Culture

January 1: Premiere of the Astro Boy anime, the first to be broadcast overseas.

Tags: Animation, Television, Children's Entertainment

March 22: The Beatles' first record, "Please Please Me", and the beginnings of the British Invasion.

Tags: Music, Popular Culture, British Invasion, Rock and Roll, The Beatles, Cultural Exchange, Entertainment Industry, Youth Culture

May 27: Bob Dylan releases The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

Tags: Music, Folk Music, Cultural Impact, American Culture, Album Release

August 30: Bob Dylan releases Highway 61 Revisited.

Tags: Music, Folk Music, Rock and Roll, Album Release, Cultural Impact, American Culture

December 15: Death of Walt Disney.

Tags: Animation, Film, Entertainment, Media, Entrepreneurship, Disney, Popular Culture, American Culture

July 17: Death of John Coltrane, American jazz saxophonist, clarinettist and composer.

Tags: Music, American Culture, Composer

May 26: The Beatles release their landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Tags: Music, Rock and Roll, Pop Culture, The Beatles, Album, British Invasion, Cultural Revolution, Artistic Innovation

Release of A Computer Animated Hand, one of the first ever computer animations.

Tags: Early Computing, Animation, Visual Arts, Art History

March 1: Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon is released in the UK.

Tags: Music, Album Release, Cultural Impact, Music Industry

May 25: Star Wars is released and quickly becomes the highest-grossing film of all-time.

Tags: Film, Cinema, Science Fiction, Entertainment, Popular Culture, Hollywood

June 19: Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication.

Tags: Popular Culture, Entertainment

November 30: Michael Jackson releases his landmark album Thriller, the best-selling album of all time.

Tags: Music, Album, Entertainment, Cultural Impact

November 30: Release date of Schindler's List.

Tags: Film, Holocaust, World War II, Cinema, Jewish History, Memory

June 15: Release date of Disney's The Lion King.

Tags: Animation, Film, Entertainment, Disney, Cinema, Cultural Impact

June 23: Release date of Forrest Gump.

Tags: Film, Cinema, American Culture, Popular Culture, Hollywood

November 22: Premiere of Toy Story, the first computer-animated feature film and the first Pixar Animation Studios film.

Tags: Animation, Film, Cinema, Entertainment

June 25: J. K. Rowling publishes Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Tags: Literature, Fantasy, Children's Literature, Novel, Cultural Impact

December 18: Avatar is released in cinemas and becomes the highest-grossing film of all time.

Tags: Film, Cinema, Hollywood, Popular Culture, Entertainment

September 17: Rockstar Games release Grand Theft Auto V.

Tags: Video Games, Entertainment, Pop Culture, Gaming Industry

February 9: Bong Joon-ho's Parasite becomes the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award recognitions at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Tags: Film, Cultural Exchange, Entertainment