The Most Important Events in Human History

             The most important and pivotal events in the universally accepted human history, arranged chronologically. Each of these events still have repercussions in today’s modern world. Events related to Christianity are highlighted in bold text. Everything is connected. Read up on each of these events to see why they are of such importance to the modern world.

These are just a few of the major events. I’m sure you could probably add many more.

The use of the BC/BCE and AD/CE temporal designations are just to keep everybody happy.

ca 10,000 BC/BCE: The invention of agriculture. Obviously.

ca 3200 BC/BCE: The invention of writing. Obviously.

6^th or 5^th Century BC/BCE: The life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. The exact dates

of his life are disputed.

ca 4 BC/BCE – 30 AD/CE: The life of Jesus of Nazareth.

ca 49 AD/CE: At the Council of Jerusalem, the leaders of the young Church decided to

accept Gentiles into the Church without requiring them to undergo circumcision.

70 AD/CE: The Roman military destroys the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

217 AD/CE: The Jian’an Plague kills about 2,000,000 people in China.

313 Ad/CE: The Edict of Milan in which Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.

325 AD/CE: The Council of Nicea is held in what is now Iznik, Turkiye. The council

condemned Arianism and clarified the church’s christology.

476 AD/CE: The fall of the Western Empire.

541 – 549 AD/CE: The Plague of Justinian kills up to 100,000,000 people in Europe and

West Asia.

            Ca 570 – 632 AD/CE: The Prophet Muhammad and the birth of Islam.

735 – 737 AD/CE: A smallpox epidemic kills about 2,000,000 people in Japan.

800 AD/CE: Charlemagne is crowned as Emperor, uniting church and state.

1054 AD/CE: The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

Churches.

            1066 -1071 Ad/CE: The Norman Conquest of England. The strong central state

government which developed persists until this day. 

            1095 -1300 AD/CE: The Crusades. Cultural and religious resentments and hatreds caused 

by this series of wars persist until today.

1346 – 1353 AD/CE: The Black Plague (bubonic plague) kills about 25,000,000 to

30,000,000 in Eurasia and North Africa.

            1378 – 1417 AD/CE: During the Great Western Schism, the Roman Catholic Church split

into political factions over who legitimately held the office of the papacy, resulting in multiple

competing popes in Rome and Avignon, France.  

ca 1440 - 1456 AD/CE: Invention of the printing press. Printing of the Gutenberg Bible.

1492 AD/CE: Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus) discovers America.

1492 – 1614 AD/CE: The Reconquitsa, in which Muslim rulers were driven from Spain.

1517 AD/CE: The start of the Protestant Reformation.

1611 AD/CE: The production of the King James Version of the Bible.  This Bible, written in the English which was spoken at the time, made the Bible available to any English speaker who could read. 

ca 1760 – 1840 AD/CE: The industrial revolution.

1789 – 1799 AD/CE: The French Revolution.

1914 – 1918 AD/CE: World War I caused between 15,000,000 to 22,000,000 deaths.

1918 - 1920 AD/CE: The Spanish Flu pandemic kills between 17,000,000 to 50,000,000

people worldwide. Some extreme estimates say as many as 100,000,000.

1939 – 1945 AD/CE: World War II. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs caused up

to 246,000 deaths. About 6,000,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust. World War II caused

between 7,000,000 to 85,000,000 deaths.

            1960 to 1990 Ad/CE: The development of the internet.

2019 AD/CE: The COVID- 19 pandemic kill up to an estimated 36,000,000 people.

Off Topic, But Important

This post is off topic for this blog, but it is about some things which everyone should realize if they are serious about staying healthy during this COVID - 19 (actually SARS-2 (COV)) pandemic.

Most people in the United States are now wearing face masks. What I have noticed is that many are covering their mouths with the masks but leaving their noses uncovered. I suppose that they find the masks to be hot and confining, but if the nose is not covered the mask is totally worthless. The mucous membranes in the nostrils are prime virus territory.

I have also noticed that people who are wearing latex gloves will whip out their cell phones and text as soon as they have a free moment. There is a reason that they are wearing the gloves; to keep viral contamination off their skin. If the cell phone is touched with the possibly dirty gloves, then whatever was on the gloves is also on the cell phone.

The viral precautions appropriate for the COVID - 19 virus may also reduce the chance of you catching the flu, infectious mononucleosis, strep throat, stomach viruses, and many other nasty things.

Church during Social Distancing

A pastor in the State of Louisiana (USA) is defying his state's Coronavirus social distancing guidelines and holding Sunday church services attended by as many as a thousand people. The church is even bussing in people from other parishes. He says asking churches to close down while essential businesses like grocery stores may remain open is offensive.  I think he is offended to be told that church services are not essential gatherings. I think he is totally missing the point. This is not persecution of the church, it is a major health crisis and he is probably endangering members of his flock by having them gather together in such large groups.

I am not going to trash the man because I believe he is sincere. I just think he is wrong. Knowing what Jesus and Paul said on the subject I believe that the proper understanding is this: we are to respect and cooperate with the government even if we do not personally approve of the government. All leaders are in place only by the permission of God. Their duties are two-fold: to protect the people and to punish the evildoers. I believe that in the current pandemic situation the world's leaders are being forced to perform the first function.

There are ways for us to get around the forced separation under which we are currently living. This Sunday morning, the Sunday School class I attend met and discussed Acts 9 even though we were all in our own homes. We used the Zoom app.

Let me say that I have no connection to the Zoom company and receive no financial compensation from them.What we used was the basic (and free) software which allows up to 100 people to become a video group for 40 minute session. Everyone can see everyone else and everyone can hear each other talk. The company has other software for sale which can accommodate longer sessions and up to 1000 people. The software only costs about $20.00 per month, which most churches should be able to afford. Where the Church is gathered, the Spirit is there. The Bible does not say the Church must be gathered in the same room or even the same building.

This situation may even be an opportunity once the pandemic is resolved. If a member, or several members of a class,are physically unable to attend class meetings, they may still be included by using the application.

Zoom is just one of the companies offering services like this.