:: The Vikings and Celts in History: a Selected Timeline ::

ca. 3100 BC First phase of Stonehenge construction begins on Salisbury Plain in England
ca. 2606 BC Pharaoh Khufu orders construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza
ca. 1200 BC Celtic Hallstatt (Austria) culture begins
ca. 750 BC Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey
ca. 500 BC Celtic La Tène (Switzerland) culture begins
  390 BC Gauls sack Rome
  335 BC Celts send ambassadors to Alexander the Great
  279 BC Celts sack Delphi
  221 BC Shih huang-ti unifies China, connects and extends existing defenses into the Great Wall
  58 BC - 50 BC Julius Caesar divides and conquers the Gauls
  55 BC Julius Caesar attempts invasion of Britain with 10,000 troops and 80 ships; fails
  48 BC - 44 BC Reign of Julius Caesar
  27 BC - 14 AD Reign of Augustus Caesar
  9 Arminius and a confederation of North German tribes slaughter Quinctilius Varus and three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest. The defeat puts an end to Roman expansion east of the Rhine.
  43 Roman legions under Claudius successfully invade and occupy Britain
  60 Boudicca, Queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe, leads an unsuccessful revolt against Roman rule in Britain
ca. 115 Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent under Trajan
  410 Last Roman legions leave Britain
  455 St. Patrick returns to Ireland
  476 Alaric the Hun sacks Rome; traditional date for the fall of the western Roman Empire
  500 Battle of Mount Badon halts Saxons (German) advance in Britain. Legends associate the victory with King Arthur.
  771 - 800 Charlemagne sole ruler of Frankish Empire (includes modern France)
  793 Norsemen plunder the monastery at Lindesfarne in northeastern England. The Viking Age begins.
  810 Danish Vikings attack the Frisian coast of the Frankish empire
ca. 830-850 Norwegians establish themselves in Ireland, founding the town of Dublin
  844 Vikings take Seville, Spain, and are quickly driven out by the Moors
  845 Vikings destroy Hamburg, Germany
  858 Swedish Vikings found the city of Kiev
  860 Vikings attack Byzantium (Constantinople), without success
ca. 860 Vikings discover Iceland
  871 Alfred the Great comes to power in Wessex, England and spends most of his reign fighting Norse invaders
ca. 874 Vikings establish a settlement in Iceland
  885-886 40,000 Danish Vikings with 700 ships lay siege to Paris for 11 months
  900 Rolf the Ganger raids and then settles in northern France; now known as Normandy (Northman land)
  907 Swedish Vikings, called Rus, attack Constantinople
ca. 900-935 Erik I Bloodaxe becomes king of Norway, later becomes king of Northumberland, England
  902 Irish force Norse Vikings out of Dublin
  930 Icelanders convene the first Althing, a democratic assembly
  934-961 Haakon I (the Good) King of Norway, only surviving brother to Erik Bloodaxe; introduces Christianity
ca. 982 - 986 Erik the Red discovers and explores Greenland; 400 Icelanders colonize
  985 Bjarni Herjolfsson fails to make landfall in Greenland and reaches North America instead
ca. 1000 Erik's son Leif explores North America, wintering in a place he calls Vinland
ca. 1000 Vikings establish a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada - the only authenticated Viking site in North America
  1014 Irish defeat Vikings at Clontarf
  1016-1035 Cnut the Great of Denmark, son of Svein Forkbeard, reigns as King of England
  1066 Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, attacks England from the north and is defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinsson at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Duke William of Normandy invades England from the south-east, 190 miles away, and defeats King Harold at Hastings on 14 October. French-speaking Normans rule England for 300 years. The Viking Age ends.
  1085 Last Viking raid on England fails
  1215 King John of England signs the Magna Carta, a milestone toward government by the governed
  1492 Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the West Indies

For information contact Jack Garrett at garrett@pacbell.net