| Event | Year | Key facts |
|---|
| Renaissance | 14th–16th c. | Began in Florence, Italy; Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo; printing press (Gutenberg, c. 1440) |
| Reformation | 1517 | Martin Luther's 95 Theses |
| Glorious Revolution | 1688 | England; Bill of Rights 1689 |
| Industrial Revolution | c. 1760 | Began in England; James Watt's steam engine |
| American Revolution | 1776 | Declaration of Independence, 4 July; George Washington |
| French Revolution | 1789 | Storming of the Bastille, 14 July; liberty, equality, fraternity; Rousseau's Social Contract |
| Unification of Italy / Germany | 1871 | Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour / Bismarck ("blood and iron") |
| World War I | 1914–18 | Trigger: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo; Treaty of Versailles 1919; League of Nations 1920 |
| Russian Revolution | 1917 | Bolsheviks under Lenin; USSR formed 1922 |
| Chinese Revolution | 1911 / 1949 | Sun Yat-sen / Mao Zedong — People's Republic 1 Oct 1949 |
| World War II | 1939–45 | Germany invaded Poland; Pearl Harbor 1941; atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 Aug) and Nagasaki (9 Aug) 1945 |
| United Nations | 24 Oct 1945 | San Francisco Charter; HQ New York |
| Cold War | 1947–91 | NATO 1949; Berlin Wall 1961–89; USSR dissolved 1991 |