Top 25 Most Influential Events in World History

History is a vast tangle of interconnected events. One of the historian’s chief tasks is to bring order and clarity to it. I’ve already written several articles to try to assist with this effort, such as “The Four Key Dates of Human History” and “The History of the World by Century”. This article summarizes world history in terms of landmark moments. If the student of history becomes familiar with the following twenty-five events—while recognizing that the exact dates are of secondary importance—he will gain a solid grasp of the overall flow of Western civilization.

1. The Flood (c. 3298 BC) – This event is often considered the starting point of recorded history beyond the biblical narrative. Stories and traditions of it appear in cultures around the world.
2. The Call of Abraham (2091 BC) – History has a storyline, and the call of Abraham from the pagan city of Ur marks the beginning of God’s plan to redeem a particular people—Israel—for himself.
3. The Division of Israel (931 BC) – After King Solomon’s death, the chosen nation split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
4. The Founding of Rome (753 BC) – Although Rome remained a minor city-state for several centuries, its legendary founding by Romulus marks the beginning of a civilization that would become monumental.
5. The Fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) – The hopes of the southern Kingdom of Judah seemed dashed when Nebuchadnezzar II of the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem.
6. Cyrus Takes Babylon (539 BC) – The Babylonian Empire was defeated by Cyrus, giving rise to the Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire.
7. The Battle of Salamis (480 BC) – The decisive defeat of the Persians in the Greco-Persian Wars ensured that Greek civilization would remain independent, with far-reaching consequences for world history.
8. The Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) – Before Gaugamela, the historical center of gravity lay in the Near East. Alexander the Great’s victory over Persia at Gaugamela ushered in the era of Western dominance, a trend that continues to the present day.
9. The Battle of Zama (202 BC) – The Carthaginian army, led by Hannibal, was decisively defeated at the Battle of Zama, securing Rome’s position as the preeminent world power.
10. The Crucifixion of Christ (33 AD) – History itself pivots around the story of Jesus of Nazareth, and his crucifixion is the most significant event in human history.
11. Emperor Diocletian Creates the Tetrarchy (293 AD) – Facing an unmanageable empire, the Roman emperor Diocletian divided Rome into a tetrarchy, with power centered in the East and West.
12. The Edict of Milan (313) – Constantine’s Edict of Milan granted religious freedom to Christians in the Western Roman Empire, marking the rise of Christianity in the western world.
13. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD) – While historians debate the exact date of Rome’s fall, this is the most widely recognized marker for the end of the Roman period in the western world.
14. The Prophet Muhammad Takes Mecca (630 AD) – Muhammad’s rise to power in Arabia sent shockwaves throughout the western world, removing the Near East from the orbit of Christendom.
15. The Battle of Tours (732 AD) – When Charles Martel defeated the Muslim armies at Tours in what is now France, his victory halted Islamic expansion into Europe and secured the survival of the western tradition.
16. The Great Schism (1054 AD) – Centuries of tension between the eastern and western branches of Christianity culminated when the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch in Constantinople mutually excommunicated each other, creating the division between Catholicism and Orthodoxy that persists to this day.
17. The Magna Carta (1215 AD) – King John of England reluctantly agreed to the Magna Carta, which placed limits on his authority. This document laid the foundation for modern democratic systems, later developed further in England and America.
18. The Fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) – Constantinople (modern Istanbul) represented the final vestige of the Eastern Roman Empire but ultimately fell to Muslim conquerors. The dispersal of Greek scholars across Europe in its aftermath helped pave the way for the Reformation.
19. Columbus Discovers America (1492) – Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World launched Europe into the early modern period and the era of European dominance over much of the world.
20. Luther Publishes the 95 Theses (1517) – Luther’s controversial theses ignited Europe, sparked the Reformation, and fostered a fractious environment that shaped the development of Protestant, Catholic, and Enlightenment thought.
21. The Glorious Revolution (1688) – England carried the torch of democratic thought, but this system was threatened under James II. William of Orange’s invasion created a fertile environment for the expansion of liberty.
22. The American Revolution (1776) – The ideals of classical liberalism, nurtured over centuries by both Protestant and Enlightenment thought, had been developing long before the Revolution. America’s independence produced the first nation in history explicitly founded on these principles, establishing a Novus Ordo Seclorum—a “new order of the ages.”
23. The French Revolution (1789) – France quickly followed suit, embracing liberal ideals as well. While America’s Revolution was grounded in a Christian/theistic foundation, France’s Revolution drew on a humanistic atheistic framework, marking the beginning of a new approach to the world.
24. Marx Writes the Communist Manifesto (1848) – Essentially following the example of the French Revolution, Marx codified a new approach to social relations, advocating the revolt of the working class and the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. His work set in motion communist and Marxist movements that remain active in the world today.
25. The Bombing of Hiroshima (1945) – America ushered in the atomic age with the bombing of Hiroshima. This era has been characterized by American dominance and represents a profound shift from the imperialism of the pre-Second World War period to the democratic values now spread across the globe.

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