# Historical eras

These are the eras of society according to historians, chronologically sorted and grouped by whether the revolution is [technological](technology.md), [economic](economics.md), [political](politics-systems.md), [religious](religion-answers.md), [wars](people-conflicts-war.md), [cultural](culture.md), or [generational](people-family.md).

This is, by no means, exhaustive. Grouping historical eras is a [human-made value of the mind](values.md), and can be [endlessly divided](logic.md) all the way down to daily or hourly activities if someone were obsessive enough. But, it's a fun way to observe [social trends](trends.md), especially when you impose the trends on top of each other.

## Ancient history

- ? - ~2000 BC: Stone/Neolithic Age (technological)
- ~5000 BC - ~300 BC: Copper Age (technological), transition to Bronze Age
- ~3300 BC - ~1200 BC: Bronze Age (technological)
- ~1200 BC - 550 BC: Iron Age (technological)
- 753 BC - 476 AD: Roman Empire (political)
- ~600 BC - ~600 AD: Greek Empire (political)
- ~550 BC - ~330 BC: Persian Empire (political)
- 285 AD - 1453: Byzantine Empire (political)

## Post-classical history

- 476 AD - 1450: Middle Ages (political)
  - 476 AD - ~1000: Late Antiquity / Early Middle Ages
  - ~1000 - ~1250: High Middle Ages
  - ~1250 - ~1450: Late Middle Ages
- 1336 - 1700: Age of Discovery/Exploration (economic)
- ~1400 - ~1600: Renaissance (religious/cultural)
  - ~1400 - ~1500: Renaissance Humanism (religious)
  - ~1450 - ~1600: European Renaissance (cultural)
- 1433 - 1460: Arthurian Generation (generational)
- 1460 - 1482: Humanist Generation (generational)
- 1483 - 1511: Reformation Generation (generational)
- 1512 - 1540: Reprisal Generation (generational)
- 1517 - 1648: Protestant Reformation (religious)
- 1541 - 1565: Elizabethan Generation (generational)
- 1545 - 1563: Catholic Reformation / Counter-Reformation (religious)
- 1566 - 1587: Parliamentary Generation (generational)
- 1588 - 1617: Puritan Generation (generational)
- 1618 - 1647: Cavalier Generation (generational)
- 1648 - 1673: Glorious Generation (generational)
- 1650 - 1800: Enlightenment / Age of Reason (religious/cultural)
- 1674 - 1700: Enlightenment Generation (generational)
- 1701 - 1723: Awakening Generation (generational)
- 1724 - 1741: Liberty Generation (generational)
- 1742 - 1766: Republican Generation (generational)
- ~1760 - ~1840: First Industrial Revolution (technological)
- 1764 - 1848: Revolutionary Period (political/wars)
  - 1765 - 1791: American Revolution
  - 1791 - 1804: Haitan Revolution
  - 1804 - 1835: Serbian Revolution
  - 1808 - 1833: Spanish-American War
  - 1821 - 1832: Greek War of Independence
  - 1822 - 1825: Brazilian War of Independence
  - 1789 - 1799: French Revolution
- 1767 - 1791: Compromise Generation (generational)
- 1788 - 1868: Convict Era (political/cultural)
- 1792 - 1821: Transcendental Generation (generational)
- ~1800 - 1914: Age of Imperialism (political/wars)
  - 1799 - 1815: Napoleonic Era (political/wars)
  - 1837 - 1901: Victorian Era (political/cultural/wars)
  - 1901 - 1914: Edwardian Era (political/cultural/wars)
- 1822 - 1842: Gilded Generation (generational)
- 1843 - 1859: Progressive Generation (generational)
- 1846 - present: Oil Age (technological)
- 1857 - 1858: Indian Rebellion (political/wars)
- 1850 - 1864: Taiping Revolution (political/wars)
- 1860 - 1882: Missionary Generation (generational)
- 1861 - 1865: American Civil War (political/wars/cultural)
- 1870 - 1914: Second Industrial Revolution (technological)
- 1880 - 1945: Machine Age (technological)
- 1883 - 1900: Lost Generation (generational)
- 1896 - 1917: Progressive Era (religious/cultural)
- 1901 - 1927: Greatest/G.I. Generation (generational)
- 1914 - 1918: World War I (war)
- 1920 - 1929: Roaring Twenties (cultural)
- 1928 - 1945: Silent Generation (generational)
- 1929 - 1939: Great Depression / Dirty Thirties (economic/cultural)
- 1939 - 1945: World War II (war/cultural)

## Modern history

- 1944 - 1976: Jet Age (technological)
- 1946 - 1964: Baby Boomers (generational)
- 1945 - 1991: Atomic Age (cultural/technological)
- 1947 - present: Digital/Third Industrial Revolution (cultural/technological)
- 1957 - 2011: Space Age (cultural/technological)
- 1965 - 1980: Generation X (generational)
- 1970 - present: Information Age (cultural/technological)
  - 1996 - present: Social Age
  - 2000 - present: Mobile Phone Age
- 1981 - 1996: Generation Y/Millennials (generational)
- 1997 - 2010: Generation Z/Zoomers (generational)
- 2010 - ~2025: Generation Alpha (generational)

## Conceptual

Only history can indicate whether these will be valid, but they're here for completeness.

- 1993 - present: Imagination Age (cultural)
- 2015 - present: Fourth Industrial Revolution (cultural/technological)
- 2015 - present: Over-Information Age (cultural/technological)
- 2021 - present: Holographic Age (cultural/technological)
- 2022 - present: Age of AI (cultural/technological)