First inhabitants migrated from Siberia to North America 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in 16th century with Spanish and French settlements. Thirteen British colonies established along East Coast. Native Americans were often conquered and displaced during colonization
Western culture emerged from classical Greco-Roman era and Mediterranean history. Roman Empire divided into Greek East and Latin West after 395. Christianity became dominant force in Western culture after Roman Empire's fall. Medieval Renaissance revived Greek and Roman knowledge through Christian scholars
Century lasted from 1701 to 1800. Enlightenment thinking culminated in Atlantic Revolutions. Industrial Revolution began mid-century. European colonization intensified worldwide
People first occupied Scotland 12,000BC as hunter-gatherers. Neolithic period (4000BC) saw land cultivation and permanent settlements. Bronze Age (2500BC) introduced metalworking and social hierarchies. Iron Age (700BC) saw better tools and defensive forts
Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1436, but earlier Chinese and Korean methods existed. By 1490s, printed books cost only a month's salary for a school teacher
The Enlightenment was a 18th-century European and North American thought revolution. Renaissance humanism and Protestant Reformation shaped the movement. Enlightened thinkers challenged traditional beliefs and promoted religious freedom