The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.

30 min . 1989-01-01

While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.

30 min . 1989-01-01

From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Barbarian kingdoms took possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Charlemagne revived hopes for a new empire in Western Europe.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Amid invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominated the kingdoms of Europe.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Bishop, knight, and peasant exemplified some of the social divisions of the year 1000 A.D.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Famine, disease, and short life expectancies were the conditions that shaped medieval beliefs.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The great churches embodied the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Two hundred years of war and plague debilitated Europe.

30 min . 1989-01-01

A new urban middle class emerged, while dynastic marriages established centralized monarchies.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Renaissance humanists made man "the measure of all things." Europe was possessed by a new passion for knowledge.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The discovery of America challenged Europe.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Voiced by Martin Luther, Protestantism shattered the unity of the Catholic Church.

30 min . 1989-01-01

As the cities grew, new middle-class mores had an impact on religious life.

30 min . 1989-01-01

For more than a century, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tore Europe apart.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Amid religious wars, a few cities learned that tolerance increased their prosperity.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans exchanged earlier liberties and anarchies for greater peace.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Arguments about the legitimate source of political power centered on divine right versus natural law.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Monarchs considered reforms in order to create more efficient societies, but not at the expense of their own power.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Intellectual theories about the nature of man and his potential came to the fore.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Scientists and social reformers battled for universal human rights during a peaceful and prosperous period.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Freedom of thought and expression opened new vistas explored by French, English, and American thinkers.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The British colonists created a society that tested Enlightenment ideas and resisted restrictions imposed by England.

30 min . 1989-01-01

A new republic, the compromise of radicals and conservatives, was founded on universal freedoms.

30 min . 1989-01-01

In France the old order collapsed under revolutionaries' attacks and the monarchy's own weakness.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Liberty, equality, and fraternity skidded into a reign of Terror.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Technology and mass production reduced famine and ushered in higher standards of living.

30 min . 1989-01-01

A consumer revolution was fueled by coal, public transportation, and new city services.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Leaders in the arts, literature, and political theory argued for social justice and national liberation.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The great powers cooperated to quell internal revolts, yet competed to acquire colonies.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Public education and mass communications created a new political life and leisure time.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Everyday life of the working class was transformed by leisure, prompting the birth of an elite avant-garde movement.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Old empires crumbled during World War I to be replaced by right-wing dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany.

30 min . 1989-01-01

World War II was a war of new tactics and strategies. Civilian populations became targets as the Nazi holocaust exterminated millions of people.

30 min . 1989-01-01

The U.S. and Soviet Union dominated Europe and confronted each other in Korea.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Burdened with the legacy of colonial imperialism, the Third World rushed development to catch up with its Western counterparts.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Keeping up with the ever-increasing pace of change became the standard of the day.

30 min . 1989-01-01

Modern medicine, atomic energy, computers, and new concepts of time, energy, and matter all have an important effect on life in the 20th century.

30 min . 1989-01-01