List of Classical Conversations and Veritas Timeline Cards

Last spring I did a review of Classical Conversations history. I mentioned that I’d provide a list of the Classical Conversations history timeline events and people as well as the Veritas history timeline events and people (read my review of Veritas history here), since I pick and choose and mix the two together. You can see how I do that in my post which includes my timeline song, but here are the events that both publishers chose as the most important events from Creation to the present. I’d still encourage you to purchase at least one set of cards if you can (look for sales and coupons online, such as at Mardel, or on craigslist) in order to give your children a visual memory peg to go along with the event or person. (The actual cards for both Classical Conversations and Veritas, in addition to providing a classic piece of art or photograph on the front of the cards, also include all kinds of helpful information on the back of the cards.) In this list, I will include dates if they are given on the card, and I will give the cards in the order that the publisher intended (not as I have rearranged them, which is quite a bit!). In other words, many of the dates given below, especially the early dates prior to 800 BC, or even just the order of the cards do not correspond with the Answers in Genesis/Ussher Young Earth timeline. (See my timeline song to see the young earth arrangement.)

By looking at these two sets together, you should be able to see that Classical Conversations includes many more world events, rather than just narrowing in on one culture, whereas Veritas includes many more biblical and church history events and focuses more on Western history. I see value in both, which is why I pick and choose from both and why I made my own song! (I also think both have superfluous cards–at least for a timeline song–and both are missing some key events. That, of course, is entirely my own opinion. Hopefully seeing both sets will let you decide for yourself which list, if either, works best for your family.)

For the Veritas timeline, I’ve separated them by year (how they’re packaged), since, unlike the Classical Conversations timeline which is learned all together, they’re designed to be learned separately. (This, as you’ll notice, makes them not quite chronological either, since they’re designed around cultures that are to be studied each year.)

Classical Conversations Timeline

Age of Ancient Empires  Creation-c. AD 450
Creation and the Fall
The Flood and the Tower of Babel
Mesopotamia and Sumer  c. 3500-1595 BC, c. 2800-1800 BC
Egyptians c. 3100-1070 BC
Indus River Valley Civilization  c. 3000-1750 BC
Minoans and Mycenaeans  c. 3000-c. 1450 BC, c. 2000-c. 1200 BC
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World  c. 2550-c. 200 BC
Patriarchs of Israel  c. 2166-c. 1859 BC
Hittites and Caananites  c. 2000-c. 1200 BC
Kush  c. 2000 BC-AD 350
Assyrians  c. 1900-612 BC
Babylonians  c. 1900-539 BC
China’s Shang Dynasty  c. 1766-1122 BC
Hinduism in India  c. 1500 BC
Phoenicians and the Alphabet  c. 1500-c. 500 BC
Olmecs of Mesoamerica  c. 1500-c. 350 BC
Israelite Exodus and Desert Wandering  c. 1446-1406 BC
Israelite Conquest and Judges  c. 1406-c. 1051 BC
Greek Dark Ages  c. 1100-c. 600 BC
Israel’s United Kingdom  c. 1051-931 BC
Early Native Americans  c. 1000 BC-AD 1450
Israel Divides into Two Kingdoms  c. 931-586 BC
Homer and Hesiod  c. 800-c. 700 BC
Rome Founded by Romulus and Remus  753 BC
Israel Falls to Assyria  722 BC
Assyria Falls to Babylon  612 BC
Lao-Tzu, Confucius, Buddha  c. 604-479 BC
Judah Falls to Babylon, Temple Destroyed  597-586 BC
Babylon Falls to Persia  539 BC
Jews Return and Rebuild the Temple  538 BC
Roman Republic  509 BC
Golden Age of Greece  497-431 BC
Peloponnesian Wars  431-404 BC
Persia Falls to Alexander the Great  331 BC
India’s Mauryan Empire  321-233 BC
Mayans of Mesoamerica  c. 300 BC-AD 900
Punic Wars  264-146 BC
Rome Conquers Greece  146 BC
Roman Dictator Julius Caesar  100-44 BC
Caesar Augustus and the Pax Romana  27 BC-AD 180
John the Baptist  c. 5 BC-c. AD 30
Jesus the Messiah  c. 4 BC-c. AD 30
Pentecost and the Early Church  AD 30-66
Persecution Spreads the Gospel  AD 64-313
Herod’s Temple Destroyed by Titus  AD 70
Diocletian Divides the Roman Empire  AD 286
Constantine Legalizes Christianity  AD 313
India’s Gupta Dynasty  AD 320-510
Council of Nicea (Divinity of Christ)  AD 325
Augustine of Hippo  AD 354-430
Jerome Completes the Vulgate  AD 405
Visigoths Sack Rome  AD 410
The Middle Ages  c. 450-1500
Council of Chalcedon (Two Natures of Christ)  451
Western Roman Empire Falls to Barbarians  476
Byzantine Emperor Justinian  ruled 527-565
Benedict and Monasticism  529-c. 647
Muhammad Founds Islam  622
Zanj and Early Ghana in Africa  700-1500
Franks Defeat Muslims at the Battle of Tours  732
Golden Age of Islam  750-1350
Vikings Raid and Trade  793-1000
Japan’s Heian Period  794-1185
Charlemagne Crowned Emperor of Europe  800
Alfred the Great of England  ruled 871-899
Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, Norse Explorers  c. 900-c.1100
Vladimir I of Kiev  958-1015
Byzantine Emperor Basil II  ruled 976-1025
East-West Schism of the Church  1054
Norman Conquest and Feudalism in Europe  1066-1450
The Crusades  1095-1291
Zimbabwe and Early Mali in Africa  1100-1500
Aztecs of Mesoamerica  1100-1520
Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas  1181, 1225
Japan’s Shoguns  1192-c. 1500
Incas of South America  c. 1200-1533
Genghis Khan Rules the Mongols  1206-1227
England’s Magna Carta  1215
Ottoman Empire  1250-1923
Marco Polo’s Journey to China  1271-1295
The Hundred Years’ War and Black Death  1337-1453
The Renaissance  c. 1350-c. 1600
China’s Ming Dynasty  1368-1644
Age of Exploration  c. 1400-c. 1600
Prince Henry Founds School of Navigation  c. 1419
Slave Trade in Africa  c. 1440-c. 1890
Gutenberg’s Printing Press  c. 1455
Songhai in Africa  1460-1603
Czar Ivan the Great of Russia  ruled 1462-1505
The Spanish Inquisition  1478-1834
Columbus Sails to the Caribbean  1492
Age of Absolute Monarchs  c. 1500-c. 1800
Protestant Reformation  1517-1618
Spanish Conquistadors in the Americas  1519-1550
Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion  1536
Council of Trent (Counter-Reformation)  1545-1563
Baroque Period of the Arts  c. 1600-c. 1750
Japan’s Isolation  1603-1716
Jamestown and Plymouth Colony Founded  1607, 1620
Age of Enlightenment  c. 1650-c. 1800
Hudson’s Bay Company  1670
First Great Awakening  1734-1750
Classical Period of the Arts  c. 1750-c. 1825
The Seven Years’ War  1756-1763
Age of Industry  c. 1760-c. 1825
James Cook Sails to Australia and Antarctica  1769-1779
American Revolution and General George Washington  1775-1783
Madison’s Constitution and the Bill of Rights  1787-1791
French Revolution  1789-1799
Second Great Awakening  c. 1790-c. 1840
Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expedition  1803-1806
Napoleon Crowned Emperor of France  1804
Liberation of South America  1808-1830
The War of 1812  1812-1814
The Missouri Compromise  1820
Immigrants Flock to America  c. 1820-c. 1930
The Monroe Doctrine  1823
Romantic Period of the Arts  c. 1825-c. 1920
Cherokee Trail of Tears  1838
US Westward Expansion  1843-1869
Marx Publishes The Communist Manifesto  1848
The Compromise of 1850 and the Dred Scott Decision  1850, 1857
US Restores Trade with Japan  1853-1854
British Queen Victoria’s Rule Over India  1858-1947
Darwin Publishes The Origin of Species  1859
Lincoln’s War Between the States  1861-1865
Reconstruction of the Southern States  1865-1877
Dominion of Canada  1867
Otto von Bismarck Unifies Germany  1871
Boer Wars in Africa  1881-1902
The Spanish-American War  1898
The Progressive Era c. 1900-c. 1920
Australia Becomes a Commonwealth  1901
Mexican Revolution  1910-c. 1920
World War I and President Wilson  1914-1918
Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia  1917
US Evangelist Billy Graham  1918-
Modern Period of the Arts  c. 1920-present
The Great Depression and the New Deal  1929-1939
World War II and President Franklin D. Roosevelt  1939-1945
Stalin of the USSR and the Katyn Massacre  1940
The United Nations Formed  1945
The Cold War  1945-1991
Gandhi and India’s Independence  1947
Jewish State Established  1948
Mao and the Communist Victory in China  1949
North Atlantic Treaty Organization  1949-present
The Korean War  1950-1953
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement  1950-1968
Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, Missionaries to Ecuador  1956
The Antarctic Treaty  1959
The Vietnam War 1965-1975
US Astronauts Walk on the Moon  1969
Age of Information and Globalization  c. 1970-present
Watergate, President Nixon Resigns  1972-1974
Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe  1989
European Union Formed  1993
Apartheid Abolished in South Africa  1994
September 11, 2001
Rising Tide of Freedom  2003-present

Eleven President Cards are also included with the last pack of Classical Conversations cards.

Veritas Press Timeline
Year 1

Creation  The Beginning
The Fall in the Garden
Cain and Abel
The Flood
Tower of Babel
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Pharaoh Menes
The Old Kingdom in Egypt
First Intermediate Period in Egypt  c. 2200-2050 BC
Call of Abram  c. 2091
God’s Covenant with Abraham  c. 2082 BC
Hagar and Ishmael  c. 2080 BC
Sodom and Gomorrah  c. 2080 BC
Birth and Sacrifice of Isaac  c. 2066 BC
The Middle Kingdom in Egypt  c. 2050-1800 BC
Joseph as a Slave  c. 1898 BC
Famine in Egypt  c. 1878-1871 BC
The Twelve Tribes of Israel  c. 1860 BC
Second Intermediate Period in Egypt  c. 1800-1570 BC
Code of Hammurabi  c. 1792-1750 BC
Hyksos Invasion of Egypt  c. 1730-1570 BC
Early New Kingdom in Egypt  c. 1570-1300 BC
Moses’ Birth  c. 1525 BC
Plagues in Egypt  c. 1446 BC
The Exodus  c. 1446 BC
Ten Commandments  c. 1445 BC
Amenhotep IV and Monotheism  c. 1361-1344 BC
Reign of Tutankhamon  c. 1333-1323 BC
Later New Kingdom in Egypt  c. 1300-1090 BC
Davidic Kingdom  c. 1011-971 BC
Solomon’s Reign  c. 971-931 BC
Alexander the Great Conquers Egypt  c. 332 BC
Egypt Falls to Rome  c. 30 BC

Year 2

Minoan Culture  c. 2200 BC-1450 BC
Mycenaen Culture  c. 1450 BC-1200 BC
Trojan War  c. 1250 BC
Phoenician Civilization and the Alphabet  c. 1200 BC-1000 BC
Israel Divides into Two Kingdoms  c. 931 BC
Homer and Greek Mythology  c. 900 BC
The Olympics  c. 776 BC
Founding of Rome  c. 753 BC
Greece Colonized, Democracy Begins  c. 750 BC-508 BC
Israel and Judah Fall  c. 722 BC/586 BC
Prophets of God  c. 740 BC-433 BC
Roman Republic Developed  c. 509 BC-366 BC
Persian Wars  c. 500 BC-480 BC
Pericles and the Peloponnesian War  461 BC-404 BC
Greek Philosophers  c. 450 BC-322 BC
Nehemiah and the Jewish Return  c. 444 BC
Alexander the Great  356 BC-323 BC
Architectural Advances in Rome  c. 250 BC
Rome Rises to World Power  by 146 BC
Reign of Julius Caesar  59 BC-44 BC
Reign of Caesar Augustus  27 BC-14 AD
Birth of Christ  c. 3 BC
Ministry of John the Baptist  c. 27 AD
Ministry of Christ  c. 27 AD-c. 30 AD
Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ  c. 30 AD
Rome Burns, Nero Persecutes Christians  64 AD
Destruction of Jerusalem  70 AD
Pompeii Burns  79 AD
Split of the Roman Empire  286 AD
Constantine and the Edict of Milan  313 AD
The First Council of Nicea  325 AD
End of the Western Roman Empire  476 AD

Year 3

St. Augustine Converts to Christianity  386
Barbarian Invasion and Vikings  c. 400-1000
St. Jerome Completes the Vulgate  405
The Council of Chalcedon  451
St. Benedict and Monasticism  c. 450
Justinian the Great  527-565
Mohammed and Islam  570-632
Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne  714-814
Alfred the Great  871-901
Otto I and the Holy Roman Empire  962-973
The East-West Schism  1054
The Feudal System  c. 1000-1400
William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings  1066
Cathedrals in Europe  beginning c. 1100
The Crusades  1095-c. 1250
St. Francis of Assisi  1182-1224
The Magna Carta  1215
St. Thomas Aquinas  1225-1274
Marco Polo  1254-1324
The Hundred Years War, The Black Death, & Joan of Arc  1337-1453
The Great Papal Schism  1376-1417
John Wycliffe and John Huss  c. 1380
Fall of Constantinople to Mohammed II  1453
Gutenberg Prints the Bible  1456
The Renaissance  c. 1300-1517
The Inquisition  1478
Martin Luther Begins the Reformation  1517
Ulrich Zwingli and the Anabaptists  1525
The Act of Supremacy  1534
John Calvin and the Institutes  1536
The Council of Trent  1545-1563
John Knox, the Scottish Reformer  1560

Year 4

Prince Henry the Navigator  1394-1460
Columbus Sails to the New World  1492
Magellan Circumnavigates the Earth  1519-1522
Cortes, de Soto, de Leon and Coronado: Spanish Explorers  1513-1538
Explorers of the Northeast: Cartier, Champlain, & Cabot  1497-1603
Raleigh Settles Roanoke  1585
Jamestown is Founded in Virginia  1607
The Mayflower Lands at Plymouth  1620
Pilgrims Build Plymouth Colony  1621
Massachusetts Bay Colony, Home of the Puritans  1630
Roger Williams, Founder of Rhode Island  1636
Salem Witch Trials  1692
13 Colonies Formed  1607-1733
The First Great Awakening  1740-1742
Colonial Trading with England  c. 1750
The French and Indian Wars  1754-1763
Parliament Acts Unjustly  1764-1774
The First Continental Congress Seeks Peace with Britain  1774
The War for Independence Begins  1775
British Lose at Bunker Hill  1775
America Declares Its Independence  1776
Washington Commands the Continental Army  1775-1781
Winter at Valley Forge  1777-1778
Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris  1781, 1783
The Constitutional Convention  1787
America’s Founding Fathers  c. 1788
Washington, Our First President  1789
The Louisiana Purchase from France  1803
The Lewis & Clark Expedition  1805
The Second Great Awakening  1799-1830
The War of 1812  1812-1814
The Missouri Compromise  1820

Year 5

The Monroe Doctrine  1823
Traveling the Erie Canal  c. 1825
Jacksonian Democracy  1829-1837
The Cotton Gin Establishes the South  c. 1830
Slavery in the South  c. 1780-1865
The Cherokee Trail of Tears  c. 1830
Remember the Alamo  1835-1836
Westward Expansion  c. 1841
War with Mexico  1846-1848
‘49ers and the California Gold Rush  1849
Opening the Oregon Territory  c. 1850
Lincoln, the 16th President  1861-1865
War Between the States  1861-1865
The Battle of Gettysburg  1863
Great Generals of the War Between the States  1861-1865
Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad  1869
Reconstructing the South  c. 1865-1870
Black Leadership Emerges in the South  c. 1870
The Age of Industry  c. 1870-1900
The Battle of Little Big Horn  1876
Cowboys and the West  c. 1870-1890
The Spanish-American War  1898
A President Named Teddy  1901-1909
Immigration to America  c. 1900
Wright Brothers and Other Inventors  1903
The Great World War  1914-1918
Roaring Twenties  1920-1929
The Great Depression  1933-1945
World War II, the Biggest War  1939-1945
The Cold War, Korea and Vietnam  1945-1989
The Space Race  1957-1969
Modern America Today