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300 BC

300 BC

in

Euclid’s “Elements” remained for a long time an unsurpassed example of deductive scientific theory; probably the most successful text in history after the Bible; The Elements is composed of 13 books that summarize all the mathematical knowledge of the time.

4th – 5th century BC

4th – 5th century BC

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The Gallic tribes, a warlike and proud people, raiders and shepherds, are masters of the Po Valley: the Insubres in Milan, the Cenomani in Brescia, the Boii in Bologna, the Senones in Senigallia. Bologna was previously called Velzna and the Boii renamed it Boionia.

326 BC

326 BC

in

Alexander the Great arrives in Punjab, crossing the Indus River; Battle of the Hydaspes River between 75,000 of Alexander’s soldiers (of which only 15,000 were Macedonians) and 50,000 Indian soldiers commanded by the mighty Porus; the Indian army also made use of numerous elephants: Alexander

334 BC

334 BC

in

Battle of the Granicus River in Anatolia (Persian Empire): Alexander the Great, at the beginning of the campaign that will make him Great, risks death: on his horse Bucephalus (bull’s head), he receives an axe blow to the head from Spithridates, a Persian nobleman; only

356 BC

356 BC

in

Alexander the Great is born, son of King Philip II of Macedon and Olympias of Epirus (present-day Albania).

373 BC

373 BC

in

The passage of a bright comet, also observed by Aristotle at the age of just 11. In the treatise that Aristotle would write as an adult, “+H966” describes comets as vapor exhalations from the Earth, which we see shining due to friction with the upper

400 BC – 300 AD

400 BC – 300 AD

in

The Hindu text Bhagavad Gita (भगवद्गीता), part of the Mahabharata (महाभारतम्), is written in Sanskrit. Here are some quotes: “Every day countless people die, yet those who remain live as if immortal.” “The earth has lost its youth, which has passed like a happy dream.

428 BC

428 BC

in

Greece. Anaxagoras hypothesized that the Sun and Moon were two enormous spheres of rock, one shining and the other merely reflecting the light of the other.

5th century BC

5th century BC

in

Anaxagoras devises a theory about the physical nature of the Sun: upon encountering a newly landed meteorite and finding it smoking and red-hot, he has an epiphany. He believes it came directly from the Sun. The Sun is therefore composed of incandescent iron. This theory

430 BC

430 BC

in

Hippocrates takes the famous written oath: “I swear by Apollo the Physician and Asclepius and Panacea and by all the gods and goddesses, calling them as witnesses, that I will perform […] this oath and this written commitment […] I will regulate the way of

431 – 404 BC

431 – 404 BC

in

The Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens. It is recounted by the historian Thucydides and is known as the “Thucydides Trap.” Thucydides’ work is not just a list of battles but an attempt to identify the causes and dynamics of a devastating, and perhaps avoidable,

460 BC

460 BC

in

Democritus of Abdera: atoms as indivisible units: “Only atoms and energy exist; everything else is opinion.”

490 BC

490 BC

in

Battle of Marathon between Persians and Greeks: The Persians land in Attica but are defeated by the Athenians in the Battle of Marathon, led by Militiades, who deploys his largest troops on the flanks, leaving a small group in the center as a target for

490 – 479 BC

490 – 479 BC

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The Persians have the last chance to nip in the bud the Hellenistic culture, the embryo of Western culture, before the Greek program, made of constitutional government, private property, broad-based militias, civilian control over the military, free scientific research, rationalism, separation between religion and politics,

4th – 5th century BC

4th – 5th century BC

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The Persians built the city of Bukhara in Central Asia, not far from Samarkand. Then came the Greeks led by Alexander the Great, who remained until the 1st century AD. Then came the Turks, the Arabs, the Mongols, the Cossacks, and finally the Bolsheviks.

4th – 5th century BC

4th – 5th century BC

in

Modena. The Etruscans were forced to abandon the fertile valleys they had partially reclaimed, due to an Indo-European population descending from the Western Alps: the Boii Gauls, who settled where Campo Galliano now stands. They also changed the name of the Etruscan settlement from Mutuna

510 BC

510 BC

in

During the 60th Olympiad, a revolt broke out in the city of Sybaris; Tellis, the victorious leader, began a barbaric persecution of the defeated, who fled to Croton, where Milo and Pythagoras (who was married to Milo’s daughter) persuaded them to oppose the tyrant. Tellis

600 BC

600 BC

in

The invention and use of a complete writing system by Native Americans in Mesoamerica (present-day Mexico). This is one of only two confirmed instances of independent invention of writing. The other is by the Sumerians. The earliest evidence from Mexico is a Zapotec script from

600 BC

600 BC

in

Beginning of the Persian Empire (which will be ended by the Empire of Alexander the Great of Macedon)

605 BC

605 BC

in

In 605 BC, the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians, the last power that could stop them, at Carchemish in northern Syria. But the Egyptians refused to give up and incited the local populations to revolt. A few years earlier, in 612 BC, the Babylonians, aided by

609 BC

609 BC

in

In 609 BC, the last Assyrian king was defeated at Harran. Three years earlier, in 609 BC, the Babylonians, aided by the Medes, had conquered Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. Finally, in 605 BC, the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians, the last power that could stop them,

663 BC

663 BC

in

“Miyake event,” a very strong solar storm that directly impacts Earth, occurs. The event is recorded in the rings of ancient trees, which will be analyzed in 2022 in a paper published in Royal Society Publishing. Annually resolved measurements of the radiocarbon content of tree

700 BC

700 BC

in

Babylon: the seven-day week was born by uniting with a 7-pointed star the planets of the Solar System as it was known at the time: Moon (Mon-day), Mercury (Wednesday), Venus (Friday), Sun (Sun-day), Mars (Mars-day), Jupiter (Giove-day), Saturn (Satur-day) and Earth in the center.

Around 700 BC

Around 700 BC

in

Nineveh, near Mosul, Iraq. A clay tablet (Flood Tablet) is carved, with a story of a gigantic flood that closely resembles the Great Flood: it tells of the construction of a large boat made from wood from the demolished house, onto which pairs of each

721 BC

721 BC

in

Assyrian ruler Sargon II conquers Samaria and the Kingdom of Israel (i.e., the northern part of Palestine, not the Kingdom of Judah to the south). As per Assyrian policy, the population is forced to mix with other conquered peoples. Hezekiah remains in his post in

8th-7th-6th-5th-4th century BC

8th-7th-6th-5th-4th century BC

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Axial Age (according to philosopher Karl Jasper). Different cultures, completely geographically separated, witness the flourishing of philosophical-religious movements that promote introspection and promise spiritual transcendence: Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and classical Greek philosophy. During the Axial Age (8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, and

754-509 BC

754-509 BC

in

Rome: Monarchic Period Legend (with some truth) has it that the Kings of Rome in this period were seven: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Ancus Marcius, Tullus Hostilius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, Tarquinius Superbus

April 21, 753 BC

April 21, 753 BC

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Founding of Rome. According to legend, on April 21, 753 BC, twins Romulus and Remus founded Rome on the site where they had been suckled by a she-wolf after being abandoned as infants. The two soon became divided by disagreements, and when Remus climbed over

753 BC

753 BC

in

Romulus’s Roman Calendar: 10 lunar months: 304 days. The months of Martis, Aprilis, Maius, and Junius are born. New Roman calendar reference: the founding of Rome.