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| | | | World History timeline |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Isthmian games at Corinth are by now a regular event, as are the Pythian games and the Nemean games | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Chinese I Jing, or 'Classic of Changes', is compiled as a book of divination | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Greeks observe the strange effect of electricity, seen when amber (known to them as electron) is rubbed | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | Darius I adopts Zoroastrianism as the religion of the Persian empire | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Magi, possibly converting from an earlier Iranian religion, become the priests of Zoroastrianism | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The new and more sophisticated fashion in Greek vases is the red-figure style | |
|  | Greek vase, red-figure style
Fotofile CG
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Lapps, hunters of reindeer, have Scandinavia to themselves before the arrival of Germanic tribes | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | Parmenides is the first pure philosopher, using logic as a philosophical tool in his poem Nature | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Celts, moving west from central Europe, settle in France and northern Spain | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Chinese philosophy of alternating opposites is expressed as yin and yang | |
|  | Yin and Yang
Fotofile CG
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | Nok terracotta figures, found in modern Nigeria, stand at the beginning of the rich tradition of African sculpture | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The followers of Pythagoras discover the mathematical basis of the octave | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | Hockey, like polo, is a team game in the Persian empire | |
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| c. 500 BC |
| | | The Greeks add a third bank of oars to their war galleys, turning the bireme into a trireme | |
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| 499 BC |
| | | The Greek cities of Ionia rebel against Persian rule, with the partial support of Athens | |
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| 493 BC |
| | | After six years the Persians recover control of Ionia, but Athens is now identified as a target for invasion | |
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| 490 BC |
| | | Darius sends a fleet across the Aegean, carrying a large army of infantry and cavalry for an attack on Athens | |
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| 490 BC |
| | | The Persian fleet secures the Greek island of Euboea before making the short crossing to Marathon on the mainland – where they await the Greeks | |
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| 490 BC |
| | | Pheidippides, given the task of running from Athens to Sparta to request help at Marathon against the Persians, completes the journey in two days | |
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| 490 BC |
| | | At Marathon the Athenian hoplites, heavily outnumbered, win a spectacular victory against the Persians – of whom the survivors escape in their ships | |
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| 490 BC |
| | | The Persian fleet moves south towards Athens, but then heads home across the Aegean without attempting an assault on the city | |
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| 487 BC |
| | | Ostracism is introduced in Athens as a way of getting rid of unpopular politicians | |
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| 484 BC |
| | | Aeschylus wins the prize for tragedy at the City Dionysia in Athens | |
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| 483 BC |
| | | Themistocles persuades the Athenians to build up their fleet against the expected renewal of the threat from Persia | |
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| 481 BC |
| | | Xerxes I, renewing the campaign of his father Darius against the Greeks, leads a large army round the Aegean and through Thrace | |
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| 481 BC |
| | | The Greek city-states meet in Corinth to devise a joint strategy against the Persians | |
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| c. 480 BC |
| | | Kritios sculpts a naturalistic male nude, now the earliest surviving masterpiece in a central tradition of Greek art | |
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| 480 BC |
| | | 300 Spartans, led by Leonidas, die attempting to hold the pass of Thermopylae against the advancing Persian army | |
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| 480 BC |
| | | Athens, abandoned to the advancing Persians, is looted and destroyed | |
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| 480 BC |
| | | The Athenian fleet defeats a considerably larger Persian force in the narrow strait between Salamis and the mainland | |
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| 479 BC |
| | | A Spartan army, led by Pausanias, wins a victory at Plataea, completing the rout of the Persians on the Greek mainland | |
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| 479 BC |
| | | An Athenian force destroys at Mykale the remainder of the Persian fleet, ending the threat from them at sea | |
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| 478 BC |
| | | In the last joint campaign by Sparta and Athens the strategically important city of Byzantium is liberated from Persian rule | |
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| 478 BC |
| | | Representatives of Athens and other Aegean city-states meet in Delos to form a coalition, later known as the Delian League | |
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| 478 BC |
| | | The Delian League is formed for mutual defence, but also to liberate the Greek cities of Ionia from Persian rule | |
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| 477 BC |
| | | A life-size bronze of a racing chariot, with its driver and horses, is presented to Delphi to commemorate a victory in the games | |
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