istoryworld
All Events
The 500,000 scrolls in the library at Alexandria are listed in a catalogue, which itself runs to 120 scrolls
A Carthaginian quinquereme, captured by the Romans, is used as the model for the first Roman fleet - constructed in two months
The new Roman fleet wins a decisive victory over the Carthaginians at Mylae, thanks largely to the 'raven' (corvus in Latin)
Archimedes (it is said) leaps out of his bath shouting eureka ('I have found it') when he perceives how to test for relative density
Asoka, extending his rule over much of India, proclaims his Buddhist faith on pillars and in rock inscriptions
The Chinese develop the crossbow, many centuries before its use in Europe
The first alchemists, working in Alexandria, are also the world's first experimental chemists
The digits known now as Arabic numerals make their first tentative appearance in India
The Romans evolve a system of numerals which, until the end of the Middle Ages, is a handicap to western arithmetic
Buddhism reaches Sri Lanka as a result of the missionary efforts of the Indian ruler, Asoka
To help the king of Syracuse extract water from the hold of a ship (so the story goes), Archimedes invents the screw now known by his name
A Roman naval victory at Trapani, off the northwest tip of Sicily, completes the blockade of the Carthaginians and ends the First Punic War
At the end of the First Punic War, Sicily becomes Rome's first overseas province
Spain, with its mines of gold, silver and copper, is a hotly disputed region between Carthage and Rome
Ptolemy III issues the Decree of Canopus, the earliest known in the Ptolemaic series of public decrees inscribed in stone in two languages and three scripts
Hamilcar Barca dies fighting in Spain, after establishing a strong Carthaginian presence in the peninusula
Sardinia and Corsica are annexed by Rome, becoming the second Roman overseas province
A treaty defines the Ebro river as the Spanish boundary between Carthage and Rome
After 800 years the Zhou dynasty is brought to an end by the ruler of the Qin kingdom
The ruthless Qin dynasty establishes control over the whole of central China
Hannibal succeeds to the command of the Carthaginian forces in Spain, on the death of his brother-in-law Hasdrubal
The Greek mathematician Eratosthenes calculates the circumference of the world with the help of shadows and camels
Hannibal crosses the Alps with his elephants, beginning the Second Punic War
Hannibal surprises and traps a Roman army on a narrow plain beside Lake Trasimene
