
Arched Harp
-5999

Trumpet
-2999

Temple of Jerusalem
-1199

Lyre
-3000

Vedic chant
-1999

Terpander, lyric poet of Lesbos
-899

Pythagoras
-579

Plato
-497

Eratosthenes
-334

Transverse flute
-249

Second Temple of Jerusalem
-164

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
-956

Alcaeus, poet of Lesbos
-646

Pindar, poet from Thebes
-524

Aristotle
-377

Roman Music
-254

Greek Philosopher Philodemus
-199

Porphyry of Tyre
151

Byzantine Empire
314

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
365

The Consolation of Philosophy
388

Benedict of Nursia
521

The Widsith
591

Call to prayer
601

Monastery of St. Gall
683

Modified Gregorian chant
741

Notker the Stammerer
851

The Book of Songs
901

Cathedral schools
989

Ptolemy
71

Constantine the Great
281

Ephrem the Syrian
331

Augustine of Hippo
380

Early Drums
500

Gregorian chant
530

The kettledrum
600

Monastery of Jarrow
623

Octoechos (Book of Eight Tones)
721

Muslim philosopher al-Kindi
769

Hebrew cantillation
861

Vladimir the Great
951

Guido of Arezzo
1005

Clairvaux Abbey
1101

Cathedral of Notre-Dame
1153

Pérotin
1200

Cantigas de Santa Maria
1256

Ars nova
1301

Johannes Ockeghem
1431

The Constance Gradual
1451

Jakob Obrecht
1481

Monastery of Grottaferrata
1001

Minstrels
1031

Symphonia harmoniae
1116

Lute
1183

Vincent Ferrer
1201

The Madrigal
1281

Gilles Binchois
1321

The Accademia Platonica
1447

Double Bass
1474

Chamber music
1490

Pipe organ
1500

The Reformation
1501

The Guitar
1519

First volume of Chorales published
1522

Louis Bourgeois
1537
Jacob Clemens
1550

The Council of Trent concludes
1559
Elias Ammerbach develops Tablature
1568

William Byrd
1572
Marc' Antonio Ingegneri publishes Motets for Five Voices
1575

Ruckers family begin harpsichord manufacture
1580

Luca Marenzio publishes the first madrigals
1580

Hans Leo Hassler is appointed organist to Octavian II Fugger
1585

Seth Calvisius writes Melopoeia
1588

Invention of the Viol musical instrument
1500

Johann Reuchlin
1518

Josquin des Prez dies
1521

Removal of organs from churches in of Geneva
1525
John Merbecke
1546

Istitutioni harmoniche published
1551

Orlande de Lassus publishes Magnificat
1564

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina returns to Rome
1571

Francisco Guerrero becomes maestro de capilla of the Cathedral of Seville
1573

The Violin invented
1577

The Cello is invented
1580

Giovanni Gabrieli becomes organist at St. Mark's Basilica
1581

Tomás Luis de Victoria composes Missae Liber secundus
1586

John Dowland publishes First Book of Songes
1593

Worshipful Company of Musicians is chartered
1598

Kievan Academy is founded in Ukraine
1612

Syntagma Musicum published
1618

Ancient Society of College Youths is formed
1622

Giacomo Carissimi writes Jephtha
1641

Nikolay Diletsky introduces Western music to Russian choral singing
1670

John Blow is organist to St. Paul's Cathedral
1685

Henry Purcell debuts opera Dido and Aeneas
1689

Bass drum used by European musicians
1699

Mikołaj Zieleński publishes Offertoria
1605

Heinrich Schütz appointed Kapellmeister to the court of Saxony
1616

Thomas Tomkins becomes organist of Chapel Royal
1621

Bay Psalm Book is printed
1638

Opéra de Paris is founded
1651

Antonio Stradivari produces violins
1676

Dietrich Buxtehude is organist of St. Mary's Church
1688

Marc-Antoine Charpentier named music master at Sainte-Chapelle
1690

Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the Piano
1701

Three Choirs Festival founded
1711

Johann Sebastian Bach appointed director of church music in Leipzig
1722

John Gay's The Beggar's Opera first performed
1728

Hippolyte et Aricie is first performed
1732

William Boyce publishes Twelve Sonatas for Two Violins
1743

The string quartet popularized
1749

St. Cecilia Society founded
1762

William Billings publishes The New-England Psalm-Singer
1770

Mozart moves to Vienna
1777

Invention of the Balalaika
1700

Domenico Alberti creates Alberti bass
1710

Georg Philipp Telemann becomes musical director of Hamburg's five main churches
1716

First performance of St. Matthew Passion
1724

First secular concert is performed
1729

Frideric Handel's Messiah is first performed
1734

Harp songs of Irish bard Turlough O'Carolan are published
1748

Composer Joseph Haydn begins service to Prince Esterházy
1751

Junípero Serra establishes California missions
1763

La Scala is built in Milan
1771

John Isaac Hawkins invents Upright Piano
1782

First performance of Beethoven's Symphony #1
1801

Tune book 'Kentucky Harmony' published
1814

Friedrich Buschmann invents the Harmonica
1819

Mendelssohn conducts first modern performance of St. Matthew Passion
1826

Hector Berlioz completes Symphonie fantastique
1830

Chopin first performs Piano Concerto in F Minor
1832

Music first published in Braille notation
1838

Sulzer publishes Shir Tziyyon
1840

Stephen Foster publishes first song
1842

Theatre Regulations Act of 1843 published
1843

Giuseppe Verdi writes classic opera 'La traviata'
1847

E.T.A. Hoffmann influences Romantic Movement
1802

Silent Night is written
1817

Carl Almenräder develops modern Bassoon
1822

The Can-Can dance becomes popular
1830

The opera Norma first performed
1831

The monastery of Solesmes refounded
1833

Modern Clarinet instrument developed
1839

Felix Mendelssohn becomes director of Leipzig Conservatory
1841

New York Philharmonic Orchestra founded
1842

Adolphe Sax invents Saxophone
1844

First opera house opens in New Orleans
1857

Charles Gounod's Faust opera first performed
1863

The Brighton Festival founded in England
1870

Philipp Spitta publishes study of J.S. Bach
1871

Gilbert and Sullivan become popular
1875

Thomas Edison patents the phonograph
1877

Gabriel Fauré's Requiem first performed
1877

Composer Richard Wagner completes Parsifal
1882

The Metropolitan Opera Association opens in New York City
1883

Anton Bruckner's Te Deum first performed
1886

The Moulin Rouge opens in Paris
1888

Blues music develops in American Deep South
1890

Song 'And the Band Played On' produced
1892

Scott Joplin publishes Maple Leaf Rag
1898

Henry Steinway produces first Steinway grand piano
1854

Julia Ward Howe writes Battle Hymn of the Republic
1860

Aleksandr Borodin writes opera Prince Igor
1869

Hawaiians name Ukulele instrument
1870

Georges Bizet's opera Carmen first performed
1874

Edvard Grieg's music first performed
1876

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake first performed
1877

Johannes Brahms music first performed
1878

Music encyclopedia Musiklexikon first published
1882

Guido Adler becomes professor at German University of Prague
1884

Zigeunerlieder by Brahms first sung
1887

Jean Sibelius writes 'Finlandia'
1890

Carnegie Hall opens in New York
1891

Gustav Mahler becomes artistic director of Vienna Art Opera
1896

Enrico Caruso debuts in Covent Garden
1901

Bartók and Kodály publish Hungarian Folk Songs
1904

Igor Stravinsky's ballet opens in Paris
1910

Rachmaninoff's All-Night Service first performed
1915

Serialism composition developed by Arnold Schoenberg
1919

Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca premieres in Rome
1900

Pope Pius X restores Gregorian chant
1903

Arnold Schoenberg composes works
1907

Victor Herbert founds ASCAP
1914

Latvian National Opera founded
1916

Schoenberg composes 'Suite for Piano'
1921

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue first performed
1923

Wozzeck by Alban Berg first performed
1925

Broadway season record of 280 productions
1927

Maurice Ravel's orchestral piece Boléro debuts
1928

Honegger's Le Roi David first performed in Paris
1920

BBC founded
1922

Grand Ole Opry founded in Nashville
1925

Jazz musician Benny Goodman records first solo album
1926

The Threepenny Opera opens in Berlin
1928

Gospel music musician Thomas Dorsey becomes popular
1929

Billie Holiday begins singing in Harlem nightclubs
1930

The Berkshire Music Festival begins in Lenox, Massachusetts.
1932

American composer Irving Berlin releases his first film musical score
1935

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is first performed
1936

Jazz musician Charlie Parker moves to New York
1939

Hoagy Carmichael records hit song "Stardust"
1931

Cole Porter's musical 'Anything Goes' opens in New York
1934

Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald debuts
1935

Nat King Cole forms jazz trio
1939

Frank Sinatra rises to prominence
1940

Bing Crosby's White Christmas becomes a hit song
1942

Oklahoma! musical opens on Broadway
1943

Opera 'Peter Grimes' is first performed
1945

Louis Armstrong forms All Stars jazz ensemble
1947

Bebop style of jazz developed
1948

Mahalia Jackson wins French Academy's Grand Prix du Disc
1949

Composer Randall Thompson's first performance of Alleluia
1940

A Ceremony of Carols is first performed
1941

Ballet 'Appalachian Spring' first performed
1943

Jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie founds bop orchestra
1944

Opera 'The Mother of Us All' developed
1947

Bluegrass music invented by Bill Monroe
1948

Miles Davis releases Birth of the Cool
1949

Opera 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' debuts on NBC
1951

Opera Dialogues of the Carmelites opens in Paris
1953

Ralph Vaughan Williams 'Hodie' debuts in London
1954

RCA invents the electronic synthesizer
1955

James Brown releases first single
1956

Johnny Cash becomes hugely popular
1957

Record label Motown formed
1959

Elliot Carter first performs String Quartet #1
1950

John Cage composes Landscape No. 5
1952

Karlheinz Stockhausen releases 'Studie I' musical composition
1953

Rock music is born in the USA
1955

Elvis Presley releases first single 'Heartbreak Hotel'
1956

Musical West Side Story debuts in New York
1957

Chamber ensemble 'Academy of St Martin in the Fields' formed
1958

Second Vatican Council convened in Rome
1962

Barbra Streisand releases her first album
1963

Bob Dylan releases Highway 61 Revisited
1965

The Beatles tour the USA
1965

Jimi Hendrix releases debut album
1967

Tammy Wynette releases hit song 'Stand by Your Man'
1968

Woodstock festival takes place
1969

Milton Babbitt releases the first completely synthesized work
1960

The Beatles release their first album
1962

John Coltrane records his masterpiece A Love Supreme
1964

National Endowment for the Arts established
1965

Aretha Franklin releases "Respect"
1966

Composer György Ligeti becomes well known
1968

Opera singer Jessye Norman debuts
1969

Singer Plácido Domingo debut in Milan
1969

Conductor Arthur Fiedler retires
1970

Duke Ellington elected to Royal Music Academy of Stockholm
1971

The Rolling Stones release first album
1972

Jean Langlais 'Five Meditations on the Apocalypse' first performed
1974

Einstein on the Beach opera debuts
1976

Audio Compact Disc first appears
1978

Steve Reich composes Four Organs
1970

Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa becomes famous
1971

Bob Marley releases album Catch a Fire
1973

Beverly Sills makes her debut in New York
1975

Herbert von Karajan returns to Vienna State Opera
1977

Pearl Jam release first album
1983

Michael Jackson releases Thriller
1981

Henryk Gorecki's 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' becomes surprise best-seller
1993

50th anniversary of the end of WWII celebrated with music
1995

Spice Girls debut in UK
1996

Lilith Fair concert tour founded
1997

Lauryn Hill wins 5 Grammys for debut solo album
1999

Andrea Bocelli tops US pop charts
1999

Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' tops charts for 14 weeks
1992

Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia dies
1994

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens
1995

World Music genre is established
1997

A Streetcar Named Desire opera premieres
1998

Latin pop music popularity explodes
1999

Teen pop music dominates airwaves
2000

Apple launches iTunes
2001

Steely Dan wins 3 Grammys for Two Against Nature
2001

YouTube is founded
2005

Apple iPhone released
2007

Michael Jackson passes away
2009

Carlos Santana wins 8 Grammys for Supernatural
2000

The Experience Music Project opens in Seattle
2000

La Scala Opersa House closes for renovation
2001

Former Beatle George Harrison dies
2001

Spotify is founded in Sweden
2006

Spotify launches music streaming service
2008

Adele's album "21" achieves global success
2011

Taylor Swift removes her music from Spotify
2014

Prince passes away
2016

Despacito becomes a global hit
2017

Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" blends country and hip-hop
2019

K-pop gains significant international attention
2010

'Gangnam Style' by Psy becomes the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views
2012

Apple Music launches
2015

David Bowie passes away
2016

BTS becomes the first K-pop group to top Billboard 200 chart
2018

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) emerge in the music industry
2021

AI-generated music gains traction
2023

The music industry sees a resurgence of vinyl records
2025

COVID-19 pandemic impacts music industry
2020

Beyoncé releases Renaissance
2022

Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' becomes a cultural phenomenon
2024

Roberta Flack passes away
2025