5 500 BC
Development of writing.

4 500 BC
The Pyramids are built, a landmark in the development of systematical and mathematical thinking.

24 000 BC
I Ching used as a means of divining.

600 years BC
Greek interest in science and philosophy: they consider evolution, the size and position of the earth and the nature of matter.

399 BC
Socrates sentenced to death for refusing to stop telling the truth.

330BC
Aristotle systematises the world of knowledge and ends up being the final authority for nearly two millennia.