Timeline of Contemporary history

Timeline
This is a timeline of the .


 * First s awarded. The Australian colonies federated. ends.  becomes King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India upon the death of .  limits the autonomy of  in exchange for withdrawal of American troops. .  reports on the terrible conditions in the 45  for  women and children in .  receives the first trans-  signal.
 * ends. ends.  gains independence from the United States.  invents the first modern electrical  unit.  begins., in which ,  and  sustain a naval blockade on  in order to enforce collection of outstanding financial claims.
 * First controlled heavier-than-air flight of the ., the first genocide of the 20th century, begins in . In the  and the  form from the breakup of the .  becomes Pope. The  is invented. The first  is held. Independence of , the  is signed by the United States and . The  and the  sign an agreement to build the.
 * signed between Britain and France. A surprise attack on  starts the .  is completed. Construction of the  begins.  publishes his account of Belgian atrocities in the . End of.
 * ends. in Russia.  begins.  opened. 's formulation of .  proposed. The British Indian,  the , . . The Norwegian  declares the union with Sweden , and Norway achieves full independence.
 * Earthquakes in (death toll: 3000) and  (death toll: 20,000) occur.  ends.  in Russia creates a new class of affluent . Brazilian inventor  takes off and flies his  to a crowd in . The  is formed by  of . The US began the.
 * ends. A  in  kills roughly 11,000. The  splits into two factions at its  session, presided by .  ends with the establishment of a parliament. . The  bring a pause in  in .  to the new  are the first in the world with woman candidates, as well as the first elections in Europe where  is applied.
 * First commercial radio transmissions. The invents the . First commercial ern oilfield established, at  in southwest . The  devastates thousands of square kilometres of Siberia.  in the Ottoman Empire. Independence of .  annexes, triggering the . , the last , assumes the throne.  kills over 70,000 people. Start of publication of 's  in London.
 * United States troops leave Cuba. ends with Austro-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  claims to have reached the  though the claim is subsequently heavily contested. .  fails in the Ottoman Empire. A  forces,  of the  to abdicate in favor of his son .  and  sign the


 * Beginning of the . becomes King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India.  created.  in  and proclamation of the .  annexes .  is founded.  returns.  is proclaimed an independent ..
 * in China overthrows the . first reaches the .  results in the deaths of 146 workers and leads to sweeping workplace safety reforms.  becomes the capital of .  identifies the .  The  leads to the capture of  by .  lands on the deck of  the  stationed in  harbor, marking the first time an aircraft lands on a ship..
 * End of the ; established. The  is founded.  becomes a  of .  of the .  begins.  is elected 28th .  becomes the last state to be admitted to the continental Union.  begins. The, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.
 * formulates the first cohesive model of the atomic nucleus, and in the process paves the way to . In the, comes to power.  introduces the first moving .  in .  uses military force to dissolve 's parliament and rules as a dictator. 's  infamously premiers in Paris. .  and . The  is created.
 * in, triggering the start of . . The leaves Germany and the Allies entrenched along the . The United Kingdom establishes the  as a protectorate.  opens.  becomes Pope. . , last known , dies.
 * The  is sunk. The  begins.  in the Ottoman Empire. 's  is released. First use of  at the  and . The  brings  into the war.
 * in Ireland. The implementation of . . begins in China.  becomes the . The  fails. First use of s at the . . Grigory  is assassinated by H.H. Prince . The  is agreed upon by both the  and the  at the  city of . Sinking of the . . The  begins
 * ends the ; beginning of . . USA joins the Allies for the last 17 months of World War I. . Independence of and  recognised. The  ends in British victory. The first s are awarded.  in .  begins. Apparations of  in Fatima,Portugal.
 * . . The sends  into defeat.  ends .  begins. Abdication of . . Assassination of  and his family.,  and  are among a number of states to declare independence from Russia. .  becomes last  of the  and last .  begins. The  and The  are established. The British occupy .  is founded.  is declared.  begins.  begins.
 * redraws European borders. ends with the collapse of the  and the establishment of the . Victory for  in the .  founded in Paris.  begins. The Italian  is established by .  established. .   begins. End of . The  is established.  discovers the . First experimental evidence for the  obtained by.


 * ends. restores its monarchy after a .  established.  and Armenia ends the  and concludes with their incorporation into the Soviet Union.  launches .  enforced.
 * becomes of the  as  begins.    and incorporates it into the Soviet Union. End of,  and . Coup brings the  to power in Iran.  becomes 29th
 * abolished by the ; Sultan is deposed.  is established, while the Province of  is created within The .  The  begins. The Italian reconquest of  begins. The union of, ,  and  is dissolved. , though British forces still occupy the .  brings  to power in Italy.  discovers . , President of  is assassinated. The  (USSR), the world's first officially  state, is formed.  becomes .  publishes . The  is signed.  calls off.
 * ends with the introduction of the . is first published.  ends. The, an attempt to overthrow the , ends in failure and brief imprisonment for  but brings the  to national attention. A  ousts and kills Bulgarian Prime Minister . The  kills at least 105,000 people in .  ends;  becomes the first President of the newly established ;  replaces  as its capital. The  is founded. Death of ;  takes presidency in the United States.
 * Death of triggers power struggle between  and . The  is abolished by Kemal Atatürk. The U.S.  founded under . The  in Georgia against Soviet rule. George Gershwin composes . U.S.  significantly restricts immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and Southern Europe.
 * gains dictatorial powers in .  is published. First televisual image created by . are signed..
 * becomes . Coups in, and  install new dictatorships.
 * , the first "talkie", is released. becomes leader of the .  begins. .  convenes in  for the first time. The  officially becomes the .  gains independence. The  is granted a  in the United Kingdom.  reaches 2 billion. 's flight to.
 * Discovery of by .  ends in China.  becomes a .  is invented. King  is crowned in Albania. The  is signed in Paris. The  is established.  is created at the .  founds the.
 * and the beginning of the . is exiled. First people sent to the  in the  as Stalin assumes effective control.  signs the  with Italian leader .  is recognised as a sovereign state. . The first  are presented.


 * Aided by the Great Depression, the Nazi Party from 2.6% to 18.3%.  discovers .  by  and the official start of  in .  Military coups replace governments in  and .  becomes king of .  hosted.
 * kill up to 2.5 million people. Independence of . Construction of the . "" is adopted as the 's . The is declared. The  is proclaimed by .  creates the ., China and occupies it until the end of World War II.
 * is elected . becomes  (prime minister) of the . The Nazi party becomes the largest single party in the German parliament. Military coup in .  establishes a .  starts broadcasting. The  is discovered..
 * becomes Chancellor of Germany. begins in America.   and  announce they are going to leave the .  ends.  is abolished.
 * Dictatorships begin in and .  results in Fascist victory.  begins the .  ends.  grants more autonomy to the .  instigates the, which cements his power over both the Nazi Party and Germany. With the death of , Hitler declares himself  of Germany.  are shot to death in a police ambush.  is gunned down by the  outside the.
 * concludes with the exile of and the conquest of  by .   becomes .  is elected . Enactment of the.
 * Beginning of the . begins under Stalin.  becomes King of the  and, before  and handing the throne to his brother, .  and  build the first modern .  is completed. Arab Revolt in  against the British begins to oppose Jewish immigration.  annexes . "Benjamin", the last known , dies in.
 * , and the beginning of in the . .  becomes . The  attempts to assassinate King .  is the first feature-length animated movie released. German zeppelin   in.
 * unifies Germany and . hands  to Nazi Germany.  ends after nearly 700,000 executions.  in Germany, while  declares  as Man of the Year.  hero  has its first appearance.
 * End of ; becomes dictator of Spain.  between Germany and the Soviet Union.  triggers the beginning of  in .  begins 16 days later. Palestinian revolt against the British ends.  becomes.


 * Nazis invade, , . of Polish soldiers in USSR and the Soviet .  between  and .  Soviet Union  the .  becomes . , the first entirely aerial military campaign, becomes the first significant defeat for the Axis powers.  begins.  is assassinated.  begins in Soviet Union.  is synthesized.
 * commences the main phase of ., which leads to the USA joining . Hitler commences . between Finland and the Soviet Union begins.  in North Africa is the first major defeat for Hitler's land forces.  begins.
 * . . and  Battles of El Alamein.  and  begin.  in the US begins.  begins.
 * ends with over two million casualties and the retreat of the German Army. The failed becomes the last Nazi offensive on the .  fails.  between,  and  agrees to launch .  begins.
 * in Normandy. . The ends with Soviet victory after over a million deaths. Chechen insurgency ends with .  ends. First operational electronic computer,, comes online.
 * . . . . ends after ~12 million deaths, including 6 million Jews. . Creation of the, and the .  and beginning of the .  divides Europe into Western and Soviet blocs.  founded. Independence of . Independence of .  begin.
 * Italy . established. Independence of .   end.  begins. First images of the  taken from space.  becomes .  founds the .  declares Philippines independent.
 * Independence of and  and beginning of . Invention of the first practical . Breaking of the .  establishes the  of containment of Communism. Creation of the U.S..
 * United Nations establishes and the formation of the official State of Israel. . Independence of  .  begins. ; founding of the  and the . Assassination of . The independence of . Beginning of  in . Division of  and . First Indo-Pakistani War ends. The Soviet Sever-2 expedition become the first party to indisputably set foot on the.
 * Creation of . ends. Partition of  into the   and the -backed .  founded by USSR and the .  Partition of . Establishment of the  under ; The  relocates to . Soviet Union tests.


 * Communist victory in the and  end the . Beginning of the . Lhamo Dondrub becomes the  of.
 * comes into effect. ends the  and formally concludes hostilities between Japan and the US.
 * formed. under  overthrows  and ends British occupation. Queen  becomes Monarch of the .  end allied occupation of West Germany.  in Czechoslovakia. Detonation of the . First scheduled flight by commercial jet. Development of the first effective  by .  begins in.
 * Independence of . Discovery of the three-dimensional structure of . of .  deposed in . End of the .  leads to the arrest and execution of ; power struggle begins between  and . 's musical career is launched.
 * Paris Treaty establishes, decides ', ordering an end to  in s. ' by , brings  to the American mainstream. The  generates first electricity by .  ends.  begins.   begins.
 * assumes control of the . Signing of the . begins.  ends.  first produced. Formation of the .  and.
 * and and full independence of .  The  crushed by Soviet troops. Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal triggers the .  constructed.
 * Launch of  and the beginning of the . Independence of ., which would eventually lead to the . become British Prime Minister.  First prescription of the . Independence of the.
 * established. begins in ., the U.S.  and  (CND) founded. CND's symbol, the , is first used. Invention of the   and the ..
 * . Independence of . Admission of and  into the .  leads to the exile of the . First documented  cases. Beginning of the . First images of the .,  and  . By this time, the  has been effectively disbanded, after over a million recorded deaths.  reaches 3 billion.


 * formed.  sparks deterioration in relations between superpowers. : Independence of 17 African nations. Assassination of  begins the . Khrushchev withdraws Soviet cooperation with China, initiating the . The  becomes commercially available.  in South Africa.  marks the first televised debates between presidential candidates.   ends. First manned descent to the deepest point on Earth, the . Construction of the first .  form in .  wins gold in.
 * ends in China after the deaths of roughly 20 million people. Construction of the . First . : Assassination of Prime Minister .  dies in a plane crash.
 * . ends with the independence of . ' first record and the beginnings of the . .  begins. A coup ends the  and establishes the .  begins. .  is opened by Pope John XXIII.
 * Independence of and  and creation of . .  delivers "" at the . . Launch of the first .  becomes Pope. Upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became U.S. president.
 * ousts Khrushchev and assumes power in the Soviet Union. Independence of and .  overthrows Arab ruling class;  merges with  to form .  abolishes segregation in the USA.  begins. The  led to the escalation of U.S. military involvement in the . .  begins. First close-up images of
 * Deaths of and .  ends;  becomes dictator of the Congo. Anti-Communist  kills up to 500,000 people. .  is closed by Pope Paul VI.  gains independence.
 * ends. China's begins. Independence of,  and .  release.
 * . . Attempted secession of the from  triggers the .  founded.  release their landmark album . Australian   disappears while swimming at,.
 * Assassinations of and  during the .  crushed by the Eastern Bloc .  in .  begin in .  occurs in.
 * The to the Moon. . . . Creation of, the earliest incarnation of the .  overthrows  of Libya in a  and establishes the .  in the US instigate the  movement.


 * ends with the reintegration of the with  after ~3 million deaths.  becomes . .  begins.  leaves four students dead and nine injured.  ends. Ratification of the .  adopted globally, massively boosting global trade. Maiden flight of the .  kills 500,000 people in .  begins.  becomes President of . .  , causing Prime Minister  of Canada to issue the
 * removes gold back-up for the US Dollar triggering export of inflation from rich to poor nations. ends.  occurred, independence of  from  and precipitates .  begins in Northern Ireland. Invention of the . The death of .  seizes power in . Completion of the  (North tower).  renames  .  founded.  officially ends.
 * 's . ends.  declared in the  by President .  occurs at the  in .  returned to Bangladesh from imprisonment in Pakistan.
 * ., Beginning of the . First , , is launched. 's album ' is released in the UK. The decides '. First close-up images of . The  is completed.
 * The led to the creation of the .  in  begins transition to democracy. Emperor  of  is overthrown in a military coup. First close-up images of . Discovery of "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) in Tanzania's  Olduvai Gorge.  reaches 4 billion. Resignation of.
 * The ends the .  becomes .  ends with victory for the .  murders begin.  hosted.
 * First outbreak of the . End of . invented the  and  then convinced Wozniak to sell the system, giving birth to ..
 * Introduction of the first mass-produced s. Launch of the  spacecrafts, currently the most distant man-made objects in the universe. of  is killed in helicopter crash.  marks the deadliest accident in aviation history.  conflict involves.
 * Invention of artificial . Discovery of 's moon . Independence of . 's The  ends in the organized mass killing and suicide of 920 people. Birth of the first .  begins.  begins.  begins.  commences the .  is completed.  and then  become Pope. 918 people die at.
 * eradicated. begins.  ends.  and .  forced into exile. Arrival of  in, eventually sparking the . First close-up images of .  becomes . Implementation of China's . .  ends with defeat for Uganda and the exile of .  ends with the overthrow of Cambodia's  regime. 1.7 million people known to have been murdered in . . .  dissolved.


 * Independence of, which becomes . Independence of . is elected . . Launch of .  becomes monarch of the . Beginning of the ,  and . Assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop . .  forms at Poland's  under , and begins agitation for greater personal freedoms..
 * First orbital flight of the . . Assassination of . Launch of . Iran releases the 52 U.S. hostages held in Tehran after 444 days. President Reagan and three others were injured after an assassination attempt. The officially begins.
 * ; becomes leader of the Soviet Union. First Israeli . .  in Syria leads to more than 10,000 deaths. First execution by  takes place in Texas.  releases the world's first commercially sold, the .  dies following a car accident. ’s album  is released.
 * development declassified following the downing of . Independence of . End of dictatorship in . begins.  by the United States. . The  results in the deaths of 307 people, hastening the removal of international  forces in.
 * The (HIV) is recognized as the cause of, and research on  and other treatments gets underway.  becomes Premier of the Soviet Union. Beginning of the  and the .  agrees to hand  back to China by 1997. ..
 * End of . . becomes Premier of the Soviet Union. First use of .  End of military leadership in.
 * and s. . Launch of the space station . First close-up images of the planet . Return of . End of dictatorship of in the .  becomes public..
 * of 1987. between  and  begins.  reaches 5 billion. The  drug  becomes commercially available.
 * begins. End of the . End of dictatorship of in .  falls over, Scotland.  launch a military coup. Construction of the  begins.  is elected.
 * Fall of the ; and collapse of the  in Europe.  in China. End of the . End of dictatorship in  and the  in  since 1960.  becomes . Fatwa issued against . . First close up pictures of .  begins.


 * invents the . becomes . . Launch of the .  begins.  ends.  place  under house arrest.  and   to form the . The  releases its, linking increases in  in the Earth's atmosphere, and resultant rise in global temperature, to human activities.
 * , ends in US withdrawal and .  and independence of 15 former Soviet republics.  becomes the first  of the .  in  begins the . Beginning of the,  and s. The first  is put online and made available to the public. Final end of the  in .  erupts with a  of 6 and reduces global temperatures.
 * creates the . is elected . End of dictatorship in  and . End of .  begins.  over the acquittal of those involved in the beating of . Discovery of the  and the first .  kills 65 and causes $26.5 billion in damages in the Bahamas and the United States.
 * between and . Independence of .  end  between  and . . The  ends after a 51-day standoff, leaving 86 people dead.
 * Independence. End of in  and election of . Establishment of . .  begins. .  triggers the . Opening of the .  becomes  of . ..
 * Establishment of the . American terrorist bombs the  in . .   in Bosnia end the ;  signed. .  begins.  begins.,  and  join the ..
 * begins. ends. First Chechen War ends. First Liberian Civil War ends. End of dictatorship in .  the sheep becomes the first successful cloned mammal. The  government takes control of Afghanistan.  leaves 35 people dead, leading to tighter gun regulations in Australia.  begins..
 * becomes . from UK to China.  in .  ousts Mobutu; Zaire becomes the .  in a car accident in Paris.  broken on land. . Lewinsky Scandal begins between U.S. president Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
 * publishes a fatwa against the West. . is founded by  and .  begins.  brings an end to  in Northern Ireland.  kills an estimated 2.5 million people by this point.  leaves more than 19,325 dead in Central America as a result of catastrophic flooding and mudslides. Murder of.
 * is introduced. ends the .  begins.  becomes .  and  begin. .  leads to 1400 deaths.  in Colorado, United States.  reaches 6 billion. Vicente Fox becomes Mexican President, ending 71 years of single-party rule in the nation.


 * The start of the and  was celebrated worldwide on  2000. End of Israeli occupation of .  begins.  is elected .  becomes the first opposition President of .  becomes . British Army launch  which effectively ends the .  begins operations. First .  suicide bombs the USS Cole (DDG-67). 3rd Millennium begins.