The history of globalization has been variously traced by scholars to the early years of modernity, to the birth of the modern capitalist system, to the rise and spread of European colonialism and imperialism, and to the birth of the Internet.
1492 |
Transition from the inter-regional system (A.D. 762-1258) to the modern world-system, according to scholar Enrique Dussel |
1492 |
Beginnings of European colonialism |
1513 |
Start of the trans-Atlantic slave trade |
1588 |
Defeat of the Spanish Armada; opens the way for British colonization of the Americas |
1600 |
East India Company lands in Calcutta, India |
1770s |
Start of the first Industrial Revolution |
1814-15 |
Congress of Vienna, first international agreement to establish a balance of power in Europe and end wars devastating the continent |
1844 |
Invention of the telegraph |
1865 |
International Telegraph Union was established, later known as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) |
1870 |
Reuters, Wolff and Havas (now Agence France Presse) formed a news agency cartel |
1874 |
General Postal Union was established, an international body, later known as the Universal Postal Union |
1870s |
Start of the second Industrial Revolution |
1893 |
United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property was set up; it became the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1970; in 1974, WIPO became an agency of the UN |
1919 |
League of Nations was formed |
1945 |
United Nations founded |
1947 |
Formation of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade); replaced in 1995 by the World Trade Organization (WTO) |
1964 |
Olympic Games in Tokyo telecast live globally by satellite |
1964 |
Intelsat, international satellite organization, is formed |
1968 |
Intelsat completes global communication satellite loop |
1970s-80s |
New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) debates in UNESCO drew attention to Western "media imperialism" |
1970s-90s |
Rise and spread of the Information Technology Revolution |
1979 |
First cellular phone network in Japan |
1990s |
Growth, especially commercial growth, of the Internet |
1992 |
Rio conference on Environment and Development |
1995 |
Fourth World conference on Women in Beijing |
2002 |
The number of World Wide websites reaches 36 million |
2004 |
Internet penetration in Sweden is 74.6 %, followed by the U.S. at 69 %, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, South Korea, the U.K., Germany, Japan, Taiwan |