In which year did Columbus reach America?
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1492
It is seen as the start of the modern era.
💡 Did you know? He landed on a Bahamas island.
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In which year did the French Revolution begin with the storming of the Bastille?
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1789
July 14 is still France's national day.
💡 Did you know? It toppled the monarchy.
In which year did World War I begin?
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1914
The assassination in Sarajevo was the trigger.
💡 Did you know? It lasted four years.
In which year did World War II end?
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1945
In Europe Germany surrendered on 8 May.
💡 Did you know? The post-war era followed.
In which year did the Berlin Wall fall?
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1989
The borders opened on 9 November.
💡 Did you know? Reunification followed a year later.
In which year did humans first walk on the Moon?
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1969
The mission was Apollo 11.
💡 Did you know? Millions watched it live on TV.
In which year did Martin Luther publish his 95 theses?
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1517
It is seen as the start of the Reformation.
💡 Did you know? He supposedly nailed them to the church door.
In which year did the Western Roman Empire fall?
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476
It is seen as the end of antiquity.
💡 Did you know? The Middle Ages then began.
In which year did West and East Germany reunite?
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1990
October 3 has since marked German Unity Day.
💡 Did you know? The division had lasted 45 years.
In which year did the Titanic sink?
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1912
It struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage.
💡 Did you know? Over 1,500 people died.
In which year was Charlemagne crowned emperor?
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800
The Pope crowned him in Rome.
💡 Did you know? It was Christmas of the year 800.
In which year was American independence declared?
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1776
The declaration was signed on 4 July.
💡 Did you know? 13 colonies broke from Britain.
When did the USA declare independence?
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1776
On 4 July 1776 the 13 British colonies declared their independence. The phrase 'all men are created equal' became world-famous.
💡 Did you know? 4 July is still the US national holiday ('Independence Day').
In which year did East Germany join the Federal Republic?
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1990
On 3 October 1990 East Germany joined the Federal Republic: after 41 years Germany was one state again. The day is still the national holiday.
💡 Did you know? 3 October replaced 17 June as the 'Day of German Unity'.
In which year did the Romans lose the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest?
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AD 9
Three Roman legions under Varus were wiped out. Rome largely abandoned the conquest of Germania east of the Rhine afterwards.
💡 Did you know? Suetonius records that Emperor Augustus went about for months calling: Varus, give me back my legions!
In which year did the Black Death reach Europe?
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1347
Estimates put the death toll at a third to a half of Europe's population within a few years.
💡 Did you know? The plague arrived at Messina on trading ships from the Black Sea. Quarantine begins here: Venice made ships wait quaranta giorni (forty days) outside the city.
In which year did the Thirty Years' War end?
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1648
It had begun in 1618 with the Defenestration of Prague. The peace of Münster and Osnabrück reordered central Europe.
💡 Did you know? The Peace of Westphalia is seen as the birth of modern international law: for the first time states negotiated as equals, regardless of their rulers' religion.
In which year were the Federal Republic and the GDR founded?
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1949
The Federal Republic in May with its Basic Law, the GDR in October with its constitution.
💡 Did you know? The Basic Law was deliberately not called a constitution: the name was meant to signal a stopgap until reunification. It has stayed all the same.
In which year did the World Wide Web become publicly available?
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1991
Tim Berners-Lee had proposed it at CERN in 1989; in 1991 the first website outside the lab went online.
💡 Did you know? In 1993 CERN released the technology into the public domain, royalty-free. That decision is counted among the most consequential in the history of technology.
In which year did the Ottomans capture Constantinople?
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1453
The conquest ended the Byzantine Empire, the last remnant of the Roman Empire. The city is now Istanbul.
💡 Did you know? Many historians treat the year as the end of the Middle Ages. Scholars fled to Italy with their manuscripts: one spark for the Renaissance.
In which year did Vercingetorix surrender to Caesar after the siege of Alesia?
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52 BC
Caesar enclosed the Gallic stronghold with a double ring of siege works and at the same time beat off a large relief army.
💡 Did you know? It all but completed the conquest of Gaul; Vercingetorix was executed in Rome years later.
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