Society and Culture
Introduction
As early as 4000 BC with philosophies such as Feng Shuii humans have struggled with their place in the natural world. States emerged around 730 BC in today’s Greece. People like Marco Polo have travelled to help integrate cultures as early as 1217. In 1609 Hugo Grotius introduced Mare Liberum leading to the concept of international waters. Societies experienced key tipping points, such as London’s great plague and fire of 1666. Initiatives such as the establishment of Greenwich Mean Time (1884) also have played an important role in establishing and nurturing different cultures and societal norms.
4,000 BCE
Feng Shui philosophy of harmony between environment and physical landscape.
~ 650 BCE
First large scale use of currency (coins) in Lydia (now Turkey) – use of coins also developed separately in China, India and cities around the Aegean Sea.
600 ~ 400 BCE
Birth of Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha, in Lumbini, Nepal.
c. 500 BCE
End of compilation of the Jewish Torah.
200 BCE
Golden Age of Hinduism begins.
350
First complete copy of Bible with New Testament
632
Death of Prophet Muhammad.
Leads to schism between Sunni and Shia denominations.
650
Quran first compiled by Uthman, the third Caliph.
1271
Marco Polo, aged 17, sets off to Asia with his father and uncle.
c. 1350
Middle Ages end and the Renaissance begins in Europe (ends ~ 1550).
1440
Gutenberg’s printing press established (the Bible first book printed).
c. 1450
Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois League) resolves disputes among member nations in Great Lakes region.
1453
Fall of Constantinople (Istanbul).
1517
Martin Luther begins the Protestant Reformation.
1609
Hugo Grotius publishes Mare Liberum proposing international waters, leading to UK and France declaring territorial waters of five km (effective cannon range).
1665-1666
‘Great fire’ begins 2 Sept. 1666 in Pudding Lane, burns for four days leaving some 200,000 homeless.
1762
Jean-Jacque Rousseau argues in The Social Contract for city-states and personal freedoms.
Voltaire’s writings (1731-1764) critique European policies (esp. French).
1779
Ned Ludd allegedly destroys textile machinery giving rise to Luddite movement.
1789
French Revolution begins (ends 1794).
1791
France becomes first country to decriminalize homosexuality.
1807
Britain bans African slave trade.
1842
Edwin Chadwick’s report Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain – supports his 1834 ‘Poor Act’.
1848
Wave of democratic revolutions starting in Italy and France (more than 50 countries affected).
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.
1850
First submarine cable (English Channel), Atlantic Ocean bridged eight years later (Newfoundland to Ireland).
1853
First international meteorological conference (Brussels).
1884
Greenwich Mean Time established.
1893
New Zealand becomes first country to give women the right to vote.
1917
October (Bolshevik) Revolution in Russia.
1927
Development of the television.
1930
Sigmund Freud publishes Civilization and Its Discontents.
1939
World’s Fair, New York, General Motors promotes ‘Futurama’, the ‘new and attractive’ (car-dependent) suburbs.
1955
Bandung Conference launches Non-Aligned Movement.
1956
Hubbert’s peak oil theory (and curve) introduced in Nuclear Energy and the Fossil Fuels to American Petroleum Institute.
1960
OPEC founded by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
1969
Stonewall Inn patrons riot upon police raid – credited as catalyst for America’s LGBT rights movement.
1970
First Earth Day(s) (coins the term ‘sustainable society’ – some 20 million people participate peacefully in US).
1972
First ‘blue marble’ photograph of earth from Apollo 17.
1977
Sullivan Principles created to help US companies apply pressure to South Africa to end apartheid.
1982
North Carolina PCB protests, which are largely attributed as the start of environmental justice movement.
1983
Grameen Bank established, Bangladesh.
1988
Chico Mendez, assassinated in Brazil.
1989
Berlin Wall falls.
Tianamen Square.
1991
Soviet Union collapses.
1993
First text message.
1999
Seattle anti-globalization protests.
Colonialism officially ends when Portugal transfers Macau to China.
2000
First episode of reality TV show Survivor.
2001
Start of Wikipedia.
9/11 terrorist attacks.
2005
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf becomes Africa’s first female head of state (Liberia).
2011
Arab Spring starts in Tunisia.
Occupy Movement starts in New York City.
2020
Black Lives Matter protests widespread (George Floyd killed).
2022
US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
2024
CEO of UnitedHealthCare shot and killed
2025
Donald Trump inaugurated 47th US President, introduces broad and shifting tariffs, significant reduction in federal government services
Israel and US military strikes on Iran
Gaza ceasefire
UN SDG Goals Report prioritizes food systems, energy access, digital transformation, education and skills, jobs and social protection, climate action and biodiversity (most targets likely unmet by 2030)