15,000 BC — Homo sapiens migrate across the Bering Strait into the Americas
4500 BC — Earliest known urban civilization arises in Sumer, in present-day Iraq
AD 1534 — Jacques Cartier sails up the Saint Lawrence River
1543 — Nicolaus Copernicus publishes his theory that the Earth revolves around the sun
1642 — English Civil War begins
1800 — Napoleon becomes first consul of France
1836 — Mexican army defeats Texan defenders and takes control of the Alamo
1869 — Suez Canal opens in Egypt
1892 — Diesel engine patented
1908 — Model T automobile produced by Ford Motor Company
1912 — Ocean liner Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
1927 — Charles A. Lindbergh flies first successful solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris
1969 — American astronaut Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon
1974 — Richard M. Nixon becomes the first US president to resign from office
2006 — The International Astronomical Union reclassifies Pluto as a dwarf planet