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.

Ismailis in Najran, Saudi Arabia Honor Their History

Najran is a booming city in Saudi Arabia.  From a population of only 47,500 in 1974, it has erupted to an official population of 246,880 in the 2004 census (some believe the actual count may be 500,000).  Most of the inhabitants are of the Banu Yam tribe and are Ismaili Shiites.  This means that they accept Ismail ibn Jafar ( the Ismailis) as the successor to Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, rather than Ismail's brother, Musa al-Kazim (the Twelvers).  The Ismailis are more metaphysical and mystical than the Twelvers.

About 524 AD/CE, the Jewish king of Himyar (South Arabia), Yusuf As'ar Dhu Nuwas (aka Yusuf As'ar Yathar) invaded the area and demanded that the Christian inhabitants become Jews.  When they refused, as many as 20,000 were martyred by being thrown into fiery ditches and burned to death.  Charred bones have been found during excavations of what locals call "al ukhdood," "the trenches."

The modern Ismailis of Najran are outsiders, considered to be heretics by Sunni Muslims.  They consider the Christian martyrs to have been heroes and one modern Najrani clearly stated how they feel. "This story means so much to us.  Our life and our struggle today comes from those martyrs who gave their lives for their beliefs."

Prophecies About Muhammad in the Bible?

Islamic scholars say that the following verses are biblical prophecies about Muhammad.
Deuteronomy 18:18, 33:1-2.
Song of Solomon 5:16
John 1:19-25
Matthew 21:42-44

The "prophecies" are tenuous at best (I would say non-existent) but the Hebrew word "mahamaddim" occurs in the Song of Solomon quotation. Read a Muslim's comments on "mahamaddim" at http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/truth/david_mohamadi_prophecy.htm. David Mohammadi and Brian Lucero carry on a long mutually respectful conversation.

Lailat al Miraj

19 July 2009:  Lailat al Miraj is a Muslim holiday also known as Lailat al Isra and Miraj (Arabic: Night of the Journey and Ascension).  On the Muslim calendar the date is the 27th day of Rajab.  The holiday celebrates the following event: Muhammad was carried to heaven where he discussed with God the number of daily prayers required of observant Muslims.  God wanted fifty but Muhammad was able to convince him to accept five properly performed prayers which, in the eyes of God, would count as fifty.