| Fifth millennium: European megalithic culture |
| Fifth-fourth millennium: passage graves |
| Fourth-third millennium: gallery graves |
| Late fourth century: henges |
| 3200 Newgrange (Ireland) and Maeshowe (Orkney) |
| 3100 Stonehenge (Wiltshire) |
| 3000 Egyptian lunar calendar |
| 2900 Egyptian solar calendar |
| 2700 Mesopotamian lunar calendar |
| 2296 Chinese recorded sighting of a comet |
| 2nd millennium: Vedas (India) |
| 1361 Chinese recorded an eclipse of the Moon |
| 1300 Shang Dynasty established the solar year at 365¼ days |
| 1217 Chinese recorded an eclipse of the Sun |
| 900 Babylonian Enuma began to take definitive form |
| 763.06.15 Assyrians recorded a solar eclipse |
| 747 Mesopotamians began to record solar and lunar eclipses |
| 624-547 Thales of Miletus said to have predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BC |
| 610-540 Anaximander of Miletus held that the origin of all things was the |
| uncreated, unlimited infinite; he believed Earth to be a cylinder at rest at the |
| centre of the infinite |
| 585-525 Anaximenes of Miletus, like Anaximander, composed a |
| world system based on an unlimited principle, which he identified as air |
| 585.05.28 Solar eclipse in Asia Minor (Thales) |
| 569-475 Pythagoras of Samos believed that all things were numbers |
| 535-475 Heraclitus of Ephesus conceived the world to be a conflict of opposites |
| regulated by a natural law (logos), which he equated with his primary cosmic |
| constituent, fire |
| 515-440 Parmenides of Elea concluded what exists must be single, indivisible and |
| unchanging and that appearances to the contrary are delusions of the senses |
| 500-428 Anaxagoras of Clazomenae believed the Sun was a hot and glowing stone |
| 5th century Babylonians used 19-year intercalation (Metonic Cycle) |
| 492-432 Empedocles of Acragas postulated four elements – earth, air, fire |
| and water |
| 490-430 Zeno of Elea defended Parmenides’ arguments |
| 480-385 Philolaus argued that all celestial objects orbit a hypothetical Central Fire |
| 432.06.27 Meton of Athens observed the summer solstice, he also mentioned the |
| nineteen-year intercalation |
| 427-347 Plato believed Earth to be stationary at the centre of the Universe |
| 408-355 Eudoxus of Cnidus developed a geometric model of the geocentric |
| universe |
| 387-312 Heraclides of Pontus is credited as being the first to suggest that the |
| apparent rotation of the sky is caused by the axial rotation of Earth |
| 384-322 Aristotle defended the doctrine that Earth is spherical: On the Heavens |
| 370-310 Callippus of Cyzicus proposed a year length of 365¼ days |
| 352 Chinese recorded a supernova (exploding star) |
| 350 Aristotle: On the Heavens |
| 325-265 Euclid: The Elements |
| 320 Chinese recorded the positions of 1464 stars in 284 constellations |
| 320-250 Aristarchus of Samos: On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon |
| He was the first to suggest the heliocentric universe |
| 275-195 Eratosthenes of Cyrene calculated circumference of Earth |
| 262-190 Apollonius of Perge studied circular motion |
| 240 Chinese recorded sighting of Halley’s Comet |
| 200 Greeks invented the astrolabe |
| 190-126 Hipparchus created the first known star catalogue |
| 165 Chinese began a continuous record of sunspots |
| 045 Julian Calendar introduced |
| 005-00-33 Jesus of Nazareth |
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