Year
|
Description
|
Answer
|
404 BC
|
This city-state defeats Athens in the Peloponnesian War
|
Sparta
|
c. 430 BC
|
This Greek historian writes "Histories"
|
Herodotus
|
432 BC
|
This temple is completed on the Acropolis of Athens
|
The Parthenon
|
c. 470 BC
|
Departing from this Mediterranean city-state, Hanno the Navigator explores the African coast as far south as Cameroon
|
Carthage
|
481 BC
|
This period of Chinese history comes to an end
|
|
490 BC
|
Phidippides runs 25 miles to announce the Greek victory over Persia at this battle
|
|
c. 500 BC
|
The Persian empire reaches its peak under this ruler. About 40% of the world's population is under his reign.
|
Darius the Great
|
5th century BC
|
This Mesoamerican civilization, known for its "colossal head" sculptures, comes to an end
|
Olmecs
|
5th century BC
|
The general Sun Tzu supposedly writes this famous text
|
The Art of War
|
509 BC
|
This city overthrows its last king, becoming a republic
|
Rome
|
528 BC
|
This man, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, attains Enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi tree
|
Buddha
|
527 BC
|
Mahavira, the 24th supreme preacher of this Indian religion, attains nirvana
|
Jainism
|
543 BC
|
Prince Vijaya founds the first Sinhalese kingdom on this island
|
Sri Lanka
|
550 BC
|
This conqueror founds the First Persian Empire
|
Cyrus the Great
|
c. 551 BC
|
This great Chinese philosopher is born
|
Confucius
|
c. 586 BC
|
This city is conquered by the Babylonians, ending the kingdom of Judah and forcing its people into exile
|
Jerusalem
|
6th century BC
|
This civilization in modern-day Tuscany reaches its apex
|
Etruscan
|
Nominated
At the risk of being nitpicking, the Marathon run is likely to be legendary. The version given by Herodotus - that it was the bulk of the army that returned to Athens immediately after the battle - is actually far more impressive!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon#Marathon_run