Xi'an, China, in one of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history. Before the Ming Dynasty the city was known as Chang'an.
Today, Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province. Its metro population in 2010 was 6,501,200.
Xi'an is the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home to the
Terracotta Army. During its history, Xi'an was the capital of China during several of the
most important Dynasties in Chinese history and is one of the
Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Beginning in the 1990s,
Xi'an has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational center of the central-northwest region of China.
[1]
Between between the late 11th century BCE and 770 BCE: The area west of Xi'an becomes a cultural and political centre of China with the founding of the Zhou Dynasty.
1133 BCE: King Wen of Zhou (a population that originated in Central Asia) founds the Zhou Dynasty and builds the capital of Hao (near Xi'an).[4]
210 BCE: Qin Shi Huang is buried in a colossal tomb near Xi'an, surrounded by thousands of terracotta soldiers, while Li Ssu chooses a new successor who is incompetent.
202 BCE: Emperor Gaozu of Han, (Liu Bang) the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, established Chang'an province as his capital; his first palace Changle Palace was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an and Xi'an.
194 BCE: Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began, which did not finished until 190 BCE. The wall measured 15 miles (25.7 km) in length, 39.4 to 52.5 feet (12-16 m )in thickness at the base. The area within the wall was 19.9 Miles 2 (36 km2).
312 to 316: Chang'an is the capital during the Jin Dynasty.
652: Construction of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda begins. It measured 210 feet (64 m) in height.
707: Construction of Small Wild Goose Pagoda began. It measured 147.6 feet (45 m) in height. After the earthquake of 1556, its height was reduced to 142.4 feet (43.4 m).
725: Xi'an is probably the largest city in the world.
904: The end of the Tang dynasty brings destruction to Chang'an. Residents were forced to move to Luoyang, the new capital. Only a small area continued to be occupied after the destruction.
1130: Peasant uprising by Zhong Xi'an in the lower Yangtze.
1135: Song general Yue Fei puts down Zhong Xi'an's rebellion.
2200 BC: Great Flood: Yu the Great completed a drainage system which ended the periodic and destructive flooding of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. (Reliable Archaeological discoveries depict that it happened around 1920BC:.[5])
2200 BC: The Nine Tripod Cauldrons were forged from metal given in tribute to Yu by the Nine Provinces.
2117 BC: Tai Kang became king of the Xia dynasty.
2075 BC: Xiang of Xia became king of the Xia dynasty.
2047 BC: Xiang was murdered and displaced as king on the orders of the warlord Han Zhuo. His pregnant wife fled the capital Shangqiu.
2047 BC: Xiang's wife gave birth to a son, Shao Kang.
2007 BC: The people of Shangqiu welcomed an army loyal to Shao into the city. Han committed suicide.
1985 BC: Zhu of Xia became king of the Xia dynasty.
1968 BC: Zhu died. He was succeeded by his son Huai of Xia.
1924 BC: Huai died. He was succeeded by his son Mang of Xia.
1906 BC: Mang was succeeded by his son Xie of Xia.
1900 BC: The Erlitou culture appeared.
1890 BC: Xie was succeeded by his son Bu Jiang.
1831 BC: Bu abdicated in favor of his younger brother Jiong of Xia.
1831 BC: Mount Tai earthquake: An earthquake occurred at Mount Tai.
1810 BC: Jiong was succeeded by his son Jin of Xia.
1789 BC: Jin was succeeded by his cousin, Bu's son Kong Jia.
1758 BC: Kong was succeeded by his son Gao of Xia.
1747 BC: Gao was succeeded by his son Fa of Xia.
1728 BC: Fa was succeeded by his son Jie of Xia.
1675 BC: Jie was succeeded by Tang of Shang, marking the beginning of the Shang dynasty.
1600 BC: Battle of Mingtiao: the Shang clan (later Shang dynasty) overthrow the corrupt and last emperor of the Xia dynasty
1500 BC: The Erligang culture appeared.
1290 BC: Pan Geng became king of the Shang dynasty.
1290 BC: The capital of the Shang dynasty was moved from Yan to Yin.
1250 BC: Wu Ding became king of the Shang dynasty.
1250 BC: Oracle bones were first used for divination; evidence of oracle bone script first appears.
1200 BC: Wu's wife, the general and high priestess Fu Hao, died and was buried at the tomb of Fu Hao in Yinxu.
1192 BC: Wu died. He was succeeded by his son Zu Geng of Shang.
1170 BC: Geng Ding became king of the Shang dynasty.
1147 BC: Geng was succeeded by his son Wu Yi of Shang.
1112 BC: Wu was killed by lightning while out hunting. He was succeeded by his son Wen Ding.
1101 BC: Wen was succeeded by his son Di Yi.
1076 BC: Di died.
1075 BC: Di was succeeded as king of the Shang dynasty by his son King Zhou of Shang.
1050 BC: King Wen of Zhou died.
1047 BC: Zhou took Daji as his concubine.
1046 BC: Battle of Muye: The forces of the predynastic Zhou, led by King Wu of Zhou and aided by Shang dynasty defectors, dealt a bloody defeat to Shang forces at Muye, near Yinxu.
1046 BC: Zhou committed suicide by burning himself with his jewels on the Deer Terrace Pavilion.
1043 BC: Wu died.
1042 BC: Wu was succeeded by his son King Cheng of Zhou.
1034 BC: Chinese bronze inscriptions came into use.
1021 BC: Cheng died.
1020 BC: Cheng was succeeded by his son King Kang of Zhou.
1902, January 30: Japan signs the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
The alliance was renewed and extended in scope in 1905 and 1911, before its demise in 1921. It was officially terminated in 1923.
Allied (Entente) Powers
France, British Empire, Russia (1914–17), Italy (1915–18), United States (1917–18), Romania (1916–18), Japan, Serbia, Belgium, Greece (1917–18) and others
Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria (1915–18)
1918, March 3: Russia and Germany sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk.
1918, November 11: Armistice Day. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Germany
signs an armistice with the Allies. The war is officially over. More than 8.5 million have been killed and over twice as many wounded from across the globe. New technology has
been created, America has risen to prominence as an economic power and new countries are forming in Europe and the Middle East.
1935, October 3; The Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Italian armed forces from Eritrea invaded Ethiopia without a declaration of war. In response Ethiopia declares war on Italy. On October 7, the League of Nations declared Italy to be the aggressor, and started the slow process of imposing limited sanctions on Italy.
1937-1945: The Second Sino-Japanese War
- Tensions started with the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria but exploded in 1937.
After the Japanese captured
Shanghai
and
Nanjing
, a stalemate ensued until World War II and American support reframed the conflict into a theater in
the larger war. (See World War II 1939-1945)[Ref]
The estimated number of people that perished during World War II is 70 to 85 million. This was about 3 % of the world’s population in 1940. (Estimated to be 2.3 billion).
This makes World War II the deadliest military conflict in history.
[Ref 1][Ref 2]
1949: The murder of Kim Gu. Kim Gu was a Korean Nationalist who believed in, and fought for, a unified Korea. He strongly objected to the formation of a separate South Korean state. He was shot in his home by a South Korean Army lieutenant.
1949, March 23: President Harry S. Truman approves the withdrawal of all US Forces in South Korea except for 500 military advisors.[7]
1950, October 19: UN Troop capture Pyongyang city, the capital of North Korean.[9]
1950, October 25: Two hundred thousand Chinese troops of the People's Volunteer Army enter North Korea. Chairman Mao Zedong appointed Zhou Enlai as the overall commander and coordinator of the war effort, with Peng Dehuai as field commander. [10]
1950, October 25: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) 13th Army Group launched the First Phase Offensive, attacking the advancing U.N. forces near the Sino-Korean border. Twelve days later, Stalin allowed the Soviet Air Force to provide air cover, and provides more aid to China.[11]
1950, November 27: The Chinese 9th Army launched multiple attacks and ambushes along the road between the Chosin Reservoir and Koto-ri. At Yudam-ni, the 5th, 7th and 11th Marines were surrounded. The UN forces breakout on December 6 and conduct a fighting withdrawal to the port city of Hungnam. Approximately 105,000 soldiers, 98,000 civilians, 17,500 vehicles, and 350,000 tons of supplies are evacuated from Hungnam.[12]
Monthly average highs and low temperatures and the average amount of precipitation for Xi'an, China. Data from Information from Wikipedia, China Meteorological Administration. The location of the reporting station is unknown.
Month
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
July
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Annual
Avg. High
41.2 °
48 °
57.9 °
70.7 °
79.9 °
88.5 °
90.3 °
86.5 °
78.1 °
66.7 °
54.3 °
43.3 °
67.12 °
Avg. Low
26.13 °
31.3 °
39.4 °
50.5 °
59.2 °
67.8 °
72.1 °
69.8 °
61.7 °
50.4 °
37.8 °
28 °
49.51 °
Mean
33.66 °
39.65 °
48.65 °
60.6 °
69.55 °
78.15 °
81.2 °
78.15 °
69.9 °
58.55 °
46.05 °
35.65 °
58.31 °
Avg. Prec.
0.26 in
0.385 in
1.07 in
1.48 in
2.16 in
2.54 in
3.84 in
3.09 in
3.70 in
4.43 in
0.85 in
0.29 in
22.09 in
The warmest month of the year is July with an average maximum temperature of 90.3° Fahrenheit, while the coldest month of the year is January with an average
minimum temperature of 26.13° Fahrenheit. The highest recorded temperature was 107.2° Fahrenheit in June, while the lowest reported was -5.1° Fahrenheit in
January.
Temperature variations between night and day tend to be moderate with an average difference of 17.6° Fahrenheit.
The wettest month of the year is July with an average rainfall of 3.84 inches, the driest month of the year is January with an average rainfall of 0.26 inches and
December has an average rainfall of 0.29 inches. The total annual precipitation in Xi´an is 22.09 inches.
Cold semi-arid climates (type "BSk") tend to be located in elevated portions of temperate zones, typically bordering a humid continental climate or a Mediterranean climate. They are typically found in continental interiors some distance from large bodies of water. Cold semi-arid climates usually feature warm to hot dry summers, though their summers are typically not quite as hot as those of hot semi-arid climates. Unlike hot semi-arid climates, areas with cold semi-arid climates tend to have cold winters. These areas usually see some snowfall during the winter, though snowfall is much lower than at locations at similar latitudes with more humid climates. Areas featuring cold semi-arid climates tend to have higher elevations than areas with hot semi-arid climates, and tend to feature major temperature swings between day and night, sometimes by as much as 20 °C (36 °F) or more in that time frame. These large diurnal temperature variations are seldom seen in hot semi-arid climates. Cold semi-arid climates at higher latitudes tend to have dry winters and wetter summers, while cold semi-arid climates at lower latitudes tend to have precipitation patterns more akin to subtropical climates, with dry summers, relatively wet winters, and even wetter springs and autumns. Cold semi-arid climates are most commonly found in Asia and North America. However, they can also be found in Northern Africa, South Africa, Europe, sections of South America and sections of interior southern Australia and New Zealand. [Ref]
