To fully aprreciate what history has to offer, sometimes we need to take a couple of steps back to view its' bigger picture. Perhaps, if we looked across the broad spectrum, we would realize that nothing happens in isolation. No one gets ups one morning and says, "... hmm, think I'll invent pottery or maybe even a religion today". History is an evolutionary development that happens over time.

Anno Domini (AD) The Common Era (CE)

High Middle Ages  1000 —1350
1000		Iceland officially converts to Christianity, although heathen practice is still permitted in private. Olafr Tryggvasson dies. Date of the Beowulf manuscript
1000	1005	Leifr Eiriksson makes his voyage to Vinland (America) attempts to settle there and fails because of the opposition from the Skraelings (Native Americans)
1016		Ard-Righ Brian Boru defeats Norse in Ireland at the battle of Clontarf, both Brian and Jarl Sigurdhr of Orkney are slain.
1016	1042	Three Danish kings reign in England: Cnut, followed by his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut.
1030		King Olaf the Saint is killed at Stiklestad. Haraldr Hardrada, King of Norway, is killed during an attempted invasion of England fighting against Harold Godwinsson, the English King.
1042	1066	The old Wessex line of kings is restored with Edward the Confessor.
1051	1052	Edward the Confessor may have met William of Normandy over the succession in England, according to one source and William may have received assurances from Edward that he would succeed to the throne, given that Edward himself had no heir.
1064		Harold of England appears in the Bayeaux Tapestry to have traveled to Normandy at the bidding of Edward and there made an oath to William and received arms from him (thus suggesting that Harold at first recognized William's right to succession and then reneged, thereby provoking the Norman Invasion)
1066		January 6: After considerable conflict over the succession Harold Godwinsson is crowned and reigns as Harold of England. The Bayeaux Tapestry depicts Halley's Comet making an appearance, which many took as a sign of marvelous events to come. September 25: Harold defeats a large force at Stamford Bridge led by Harold Hardrada (along with Harold of England's brother Tostig) September 27: William of Normandy sails for England October 1: Harold probably begins his 250 mile march south to meet William October 14: Harold Godwinsson is killed at Hastings by forces of Duke Williams (the Bastard) of Normandy. The Norman Conquest of England takes place The practice of "going Viking" ends.
Post Heathen Period for Western Europe  1066
1075		Adam of Bremen writes Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
1117	1118	Grágás the Icelandic law code first written down.
1122		Ari Thorgilsson writes Islendingabok
1175		The first written version of the Nibelungenlied is created in Germany
1180		Theodoricus Monachus writes Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium
1185	1223	Saxo Grammaticus writes Gesta Danorum.
1200	1450	The Icelandic sagas are written.
1200		Ibn-Dihya writes his account of Al-Ghazal's embassy to the king of the Vikings in Ireland. Orkneyinga saga written by unknow Icelandic author Zen Buddhism (Ch'an) introduced - Japan
1220		Snorri Sturluson writes the Prose Edda
1225		Snorri Sturluson writes Heimskringla.
1226		Tristams saga produced by translating the Tristan of Thomas Brittany per request of King Hakon Hakonarsson
1230		Egils saga Skallagrimssonar written probably by Snorri Sturluson. Egill died some 240 year before this written work.
1233		First Papal ordinance directly dealing with witchcraft - Bull by Pope Gregory IX (Ugolino, Count of Segni),to Conrad of Marburg, bidding him to proceed against the Luciferians. July 30th of that year, Conrad of Marburg murdered will attending to his duties.
1245		Laxdaela Saga written by unknown author
1250	1300	Most of the poems of the Poetic Edda which had previously been circulating orally since the Migration Age or before, are collected and written down in the Codex Regius, the oldest surviving manuscripts containing the Eddic poems.
1258		Bull by Pope Alexander IV (Rinaldo Conti) to Franciscan Inquisitors, bidding them refrain from judging any cases of witchcraft unless there was some very strong reason to suppose that heretical practice could also be amply proved.
1280		Brenu-Njals Saga written by unknown author: this is written 269 years after the death of Njal.
1300		Sturlunga saga a collection of historical sagas written by various Icelanders during the 1200's is compiled.
Late Middle Ages 1350 —1500
1350	1500	Pre-reformers
1400		Rosicrucianism (Master Kelpius, Johann Andrea)
1400	1650	Voyages of Discovery.
1431		Joan of Arc burned at the stake for being a heretic at Rouen
1435	1698	Witch Burnings and Hangings
1453		Constantinople is captured by the Ottoman Turks; Byzantine Empire Ends.
1459		The horrors of Vlad the Impaler.
1484		December 9 The Bull of Innocent VIII, decreeing Inquisitors Sprenger and Kramer, authors of the Malleus Maleficarum, rights "to be empowered to proceed to the just correction, imprisonment, and punishment of any persons, without let or hindrance, in every way as if the provinces, townships, dioceses, districts, territories, yea even the persons and their crimes in this kind were named and particularly designated in Our letters''
1485		Inquistor of Como
1486		Maximilian I, Emperor of Germany and King of the Romans signs papers in Brussels giving permission to Sprenger and Kramer to carry out their duties, and commanding cooperation with them.
1493	1541	Paracclsus. Physician who claimed that everything he learned came froman old witch.
1497		John Cabot lands in North America.
1500	1800	The Age of Chinese Dominion
1500	1900	Unification of the Hemispheres
1500	1700	The First Period of European Imperialism
1500	1555	The Lutheran Reformation
1500	1565	The Catholic Reformation Protestanism (Martin Luther,Calvin) circa 1515
1515	1588	Johan Weyer, born in Brabant (Belgium). A German physician who believed that most witches were melancholy mentally disturbed old women, incapable of harm. Believed that the belief in witchcraft was caused by the devil. In 1563 he wrote De Praestigiis Daemonum. Was forced out of Netherlands by the Catholic Governor, Duke of Alba. His book was denounced by Jean Bodin.
1519	1598	The Wars of Religion
1520	1560	The Reformed Church
1520	1550	The Radical Reformation
1521		Ignatius Loyola writes his "Spiritual Exercises " publishes in 1548.
1530	1560	The English Reformation
1530	1590	Jean Bodin, a French judge. In 1580 writes De la Demonomanie des Sorciers. Claims that those who denied the existance of witches were themselves witches.
1530	1616	Nicholas Remy a French lawyer fighting against witches. In 1595 writes Demonaltry and sites 128 cases.
1534		Ignatius Loyola founds the Jesuit Order.
1536		John Calvin publishes the first edition of the "Institutes of the Christian Religion."
1541		John Calvin returns to Geneva.
1541		John Knox begins Calvinist reform movement in Scotland.
1543		Pope Paul III issues the index of prohibited books.
1543		First Protestants are burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition.
1545	1564	The Council of Trent.
1554		The Catholic Church is res-red in England. Mary I Queen of England.
1558		John Knox publishes his "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Montrous Regiment of Women" attacking
1560		Church of Scotland is founded.
1566		The Chelmesford witches:
1566	1625	King James VI of Scotland aka James I of England reigns
1584		publication of The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginal Scot, suggesting that maybe witches don't really exist.
1590	1591	The North Berwick Witches.
1604	1611	The blood secret of Countess Elizabeth Bathori of Transylvania
1607		British establish a colony at Jamestown.
1608		Publication of Compendium Maleficarum
1611		The Basque Trials - an inquisitor named Antonio Salazar de Frias said that the men and women charged of the crime were under a form of mass hysteria and declared witches not harmful merely delusional
1650		Tibetan Buddhism - Dalai Lama
1663	1728	Cotton Mather defends the trials and execution in New England and in 1689 writes Memorable Providence Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions
1692		The Salem Witchcraft Trials : 5 were hung on July 19 ; 5 more hung on September 22 and another 8 were executed plus one dog.
1700		Freemansony (Albert Mackey and Albert Pike)
1712	1830	The First Industrial Revolution
1760		Swedenborgism (Emmanuel Swedenborg)
1763		Proclamation of 1763 restricts settlement west of the Appalachians.
1770		The Boston Massacre.
1776		The Declaration of Independence .
1781		Cornwalis surrenders at Yorktown.
1782		Supposedly the last witch burned in Western Europe.
1784		Shakers (Mother Ann Lee)
1789	1815	French Revolution
1791		The Bill of Rights is ratified.
1798	1815	Napoleon Bonaparte
Victorian Age
1803		The Louisiana Purchase.
1808		The African slave trade is ended.
1815	1848	Revolutions of Liberal Nationalism
1823		The Monroe Doctrine is proclaimed.
1830		Mormons founder Joseph Smith Cambellites (Barton Stone, Thomas and Alexander Cambell)
1831		Indians of the Southern states begin the Trail of Tears.
1838		Tenrikyo (?)
1840	1845	Millerites Second Day Adventist (William Miller)
1844		Bahai founder Baha'u'llah also known as Abul Baha Christadelphianism founded by John Thomas
1845	1870	Seventh Day Adventist (E.G. White)
1846	1848	Mexican-American War.
1848		Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. Women's Rights Convention is held in Seneca Falls NY Spiritualism (Kate and Margaret Fox)
1850	1920	The New Imperialism
1861		The Civil War begins
1870		Jehovah's Witnesses (Charles T. Russel)
1875		Theosophical Society (H.P. Blavatsky and Henry Olcott)
1879		Thomas Edison invents the electric light. Christian Science (Mary Baker Eddy)
1886		The American Federation of Labor is founded.
1889	1924	Unity School of Christianity (Myrtle Fillmore)
1890		The Sherman Antitrust Act is passed. Anthroposophical Society (H.P. Blavatsky)
1900		Rosicrucian Fellowship (Rudolf Steiner) Anthroposophical Society (Rudolf Stiener) different from Blavatsky's
1901		Queen Victoria dies at the age of 81
1906		Pentecostal Assembly of the World
1914		Iglesia ni Cristo (Felix Manalo) Oneness Pentecostalism founders are Frank Ewart, G. Haywood, and Glenn Cook.
1917		The United States enters World War One
1920		Nineteenth Amendment grants women suffrage. Joan of Arc declared a saint
1927		Mind Scienc (Ernest Holmes)
1929		The Great Depression begins.
1930		Black Muslims - Nation of Islam (Wallace D. Fard)
1934		World Wide Church of God (Herbert W. Armstrong)
1935		Self Realization Fellowship (Paramahansa Yogananda)
1941		The Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor.
1944		Silva Mind control (Jose Silva)
1945		United Pentecostal International based on the original 1914 church. (Howard Goss and W.T. Witherspoon) The Way (Victor P. Wierwille)
1948		Latter Rain (Franklin Hall and George Warnock)
1950		The Korean War begins.
1954		Last of the anti-witch laws repealed in Britain Gerald Gardner publicly announces he is a witch and starts the new-Wiccan movement Atherius Society - a society about UFO's founded by Dr. George King. Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon)
1955		Urantia Book (Dr. Bill Sadler) Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard
1956		Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1958		United Arab Republic is formed From 1958-1970 the Church Universal and Triumphant Institute of Divine Metaphysical Research (Henry Kinley)
1959		Unitariarian Universalist
1960		Enkankar founded by Paul Twitchell Transcendental Meditation founded by Maharishi mahesh Yogi
1964		The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.
1964		Civil Rights Act.
1965		President Johnson begins escalation of US role in Vietnamese Civil War. Medicare Act. Clean Air Act. Assembly of Yahweh founded by Jacob Meyer
1965	1967	Riots in black ghettos
1966		National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded. Church of Satan founded by Anton La Vey
1968		Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Hare Krishna U.S. Division (Swami Prabhupada) Children of God (David Berg)
1969		Humans land on the Moon.
1970		The Internet was formed although at the time it was a military network called ARPA net Findhorn founded by Mr.& Mrs. Caddy and David Spangler Divine Light Mission founded by Guru Maharaj Ji
1971		First Microprocessor the 4004
1972		US withdraws from Vietnam.
1972		Covenant of the Goddess is formed
1973		The Roe vs. Wade Case in the U.S.
1974		Assemblies of Yahweh founded by Sam Suratt
1976		Voyager space craft lands on Mars
1979		Church of Christ International founded by K. McKean
1980		The House of Yahweh religion founded by Jacob Hawkins The Tara Center founded by Benjamin Creme
1982		The TCP/IP Protocol established and the "Internet" is formed as a connected set of networks using TCP/IP.
1984		DNS (Domain Name Server) introduced to the Internet which then consisted of about 1000 hosts.
1985		Wicca recognized as a legal religion by the United States and the military. Dettmer v.Landon 617 F. Supposition 592
1989		World Wide Web invented
1989		The Fall of the Berlin Wall; and the Cold War ends
1993		Commercial providers are allowed to sell internet connections to individuals. Pagan web-sites skyrocket
2000		Goddess 2000 project; January 1 2000

 

Notes:
All dates are approximations and you may find a source with contradicting information and as such I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the dates. This is intended to be used as a guideline.

European Paganism —Ken Dowden
Encyclopedia Britannica 1991
The Perennial Dictionary of World Religions —edited by Keith Crim
Media History Timeline (article)— Irving Fang and Kristina Ross
Paganculture.com