History reference data
Major historical events, civilizations, eras, and turning points that shaped the modern world.
Topic guide
What History covers
History reference data gives dated anchors rather than narratives: the ancient civilizations and empires that built the first states, the inventions of the Industrial Revolution, the milestones of the two World Wars and the Cold War, and the turning points that shaped the modern world. Dates and names are the checkable part, so entries lead with them; interpretation and causes are where historians disagree, so descriptions stay short and neutral. Many ancient dates are approximate or follow conventions such as BCE and CE, and several figures are known mainly through later sources.
Key ideas
- BCE and CE
- Before the Common Era and Common Era: the neutral labels for the years before and after year 1, equivalent to BC and AD.
- Primary vs secondary source
- A primary source comes from the time studied (a letter, a treaty); a secondary source interprets it later. Claims should be traced to the first.
- Periodization
- Dividing the past into eras such as antiquity, medieval and early modern. The boundaries are conventions and vary by region.
- Causation
- Events usually have many causes. 'The spark' of World War I, the assassination in Sarajevo, sits inside a longer chain of alliances and rivalries.
- Empire
- A state ruling diverse peoples and territories under a central authority, usually by conquest.
- Industrialization
- The shift from hand production to machine production powered by steam, then electricity, with large changes in cities, labor and trade.
- Cold War
- The rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from about 1947 to 1991, fought through alliances, proxy wars and arms races rather than direct war.
Common pitfalls
- Giving a precise date for an approximate event, such as the start of a civilization or a long process like the Industrial Revolution.
- Repeating a single-cause explanation for a complex event.
- Attributing an invention to one person when development was incremental or parallel; credit often depends on patents and publicity.
- Presenting contested interpretations (the causes of a war, the role of an individual) as settled facts.
Using it from an agent
- Give the year or range and say 'about' or 'c.' when the source does; avoid false precision.
- Name the region as well as the date, since eras do not align across the world.
- When asked to judge a historical figure or decision, describe the main interpretations and the evidence instead of a single verdict.
Start with: World Wars Timeline · Ancient Empires
Datasets in History
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Ancient Civilizations: Foundations of Human Society
Major ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, Greece, and Rome — their innovations, governance, culture, and lasting contributions.
6 entries -
Ancient Empires
Major empires of the ancient world.
16 entries -
Cold War Events
Key events of the Cold War.
17 entries -
Industrial Revolution
Major inventions and developments of the Industrial Revolution.
14 entries -
Modern History: Turning Points That Shaped the World
Pivotal events from 1500 to present: Age of Exploration, Industrial Revolution, World Wars, decolonization, Cold War, and the digital age.
7 entries -
World Wars Timeline
Key events of the First and Second World Wars.
21 entries
Fetch this category
One request returns the category with all of its dataset summaries. Append
?format=yaml or ?format=toon for the other encodings.
GET https://yjtoon.com/api/category/history?format=json