istoryworld
All Events
Sparta demands withdrawal of the Athenian ships from the Peloponnesian coast, but Pericles will offer only independent arbitration
A sudden attack on Plataea (an ally of Athens) by Thebes (an ally of Sparta) begins the Second Peloponnesian War
The renewal of the Peloponnesian War prompts Thucydides to begin a great work of contemporary history
Siddartha Gautama, a prince in Nepal, leaves home to become a wandering ascetic
Phidias creates a massive statue of Zeus, covered in gold and ivory, to stand in the temple at Olympia
A plague strikes Athens in the second year of the Peloponnesian War
Pericles dies in Athens of the plague
Athenians vote to kill all the men on the captured island of Mytilene, but the next day change their mind - almost too late
Aristophanes wins first prize in Athens for his comedy The Acharnians
Gautama Buddha preaches his first sermon, at Sarnath, setting out the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
Gautama, after a night of meditation under a pipal tree at Buddh Gaya, is 'enlightened' and becomes the Buddha
Socrates is now sufficiently prominent to be satirized in Clouds, a comedy by Aristophanes
The Greek philosopher Democritus declares that matter is composed of indivisible and indestructible atoms
Buddha introduces a vigorous tradition of monasticism, in the order of Buddhist monks known as Sangha
The Athenians, capturing Melos, kill all the males of the island and sell the women and children into slavery
The Persians, renewing their interest in the Aegean, fund the Spartans in the building of a fleet to match that of Athens
The Greeks develop the three classical styles of column, the Doric, the Ionic and the Corinthian
A Carthaginian army lands near Marsala to begin the long involvement of Carthage in Sicily
The last remaining Athenian fleet is surprised and destroyed by the Spartans in the Hellespont
The famous Long Walls of Athens, her impregnable defence, are dismantled by the Spartans in the final act of the Peloponnesian War
Hippocrates, on the Greek island of Kos, founds an influential school of medicine
The Zapotecs create a great city at Monte Alban, continuing the Olmec culture
Daodejing ('The Way and the Power') is the book of Daoism
The kingdom of Magadha, with its capital at Rajgir (near modern Patna), emerges as the dominant power in north India
