Curated category
G20 members
- JapanThe name Japan appears in English for the first time in a book published in 1577, where it was spelled Giapan. This spelling came from a translation of a…
- Saudi ArabiaHuman habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago. A 2011 study found that the first modern humans to spread east across Asia…
- United KingdomStonehenge in Wiltshire stands as a ring of stones, each about 13 feet high and weighing 25 tonnes. These massive structures were erected between 2400 BC and…
- ÍndiaModern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent no later than 55,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest places outside Africa where Homo sapiens…
- AustraliaThe Madjedbebe rock shelter in Arnhem Land holds evidence of human presence dating back 50,000 to 65,000 years. This site marks one of the earliest known…
- ItalyIn 753 BC, a settlement named Rome emerged on the banks of the Tiber River in central Italy. This small community would eventually conquer the entire…
- CanadaIn 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier planted a cross on the shores of Gaspé Bay and declared possession of New France in the name of King Francis I.
- ArgentinaA Venetian map from 1536 bears the word Argentina, marking one of the earliest written uses of the name for this South American region.
- FranceThe name France comes from the Latin word Francia, meaning realm of the Franks. This tribal identity emerged as a Late Latin borrowing of the reconstructed…
- GermanyAncient humans were present in the territory of modern Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil known as the Neanderthal was…
- IndonesiaThe name Indonesia derives from the Greek words indos and nesos, meaning Indian islands. This term dates back to 1850 when English ethnologist George Windsor…
- United StatesPaleo-Indians first migrated from North Asia to North America at least 15,000 years ago. They crossed the Bering land bridge or followed submerged Ice Age…
- ChinaIn 221 BCE, King Zheng of Qin conquered six rival states to unify China under the first emperor. This ruler enacted legalist reforms that standardized…
- European UnionOn the 9th of May 1950, Robert Schuman stood before the French press to announce a radical new plan for Europe. He proposed placing French and German coal…
- South KoreaIn the early seventh century BC, Chinese records noted Gojoseon as the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. This ancient polity expanded to control much of…
- South AfricaArchaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area, known as the Cradle of Humankind, is a UNESCO…
- MexicoHuman presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. The earliest stone tools found in the Valley of Mexico are chips dated to circa 10,000 years ago.
- RussiaAbout 2 million years ago, representatives of Homo erectus migrated to the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia. Flint tools discovered in the North Caucasus…
- TurkeyGöbekli Tepe stands as a stone monument older than Stonehenge, with some henges erected around 9600 BC. This site in southeastern Turkey predates the…
- IndiaModern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, predominantly in isolation as…