1469 – The founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev Ji – the word “Guru” meaning an enlightened Master who is able to take others from spiritual darkness to light – was born in Punjab, South Asia. Guru Nanak Dev Ji passed on the leadership of this new religion to nine successive Gurus in human form.

1492 – Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

1600 – William Shakespeare, the most prolific playwright of the Renaissance, compiled Hamlet.

1601 – The Harmander Sahib, historically one of the most significant Sikh places of worship in the world, was completed near the town of Amritsar, Punjab, South Asia. The Harmander Sahib (literally “House of God”) was constructed with a door on each of the four sides of the building, symbolizing acceptance of people from all faiths, classes, communities and creeds.

1604 – Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the fifth Sikh Guru, compiled the Adi Granth – a collection of hymns from the first five Gurus and the saints from other faiths. The Adi Granth was installed by him at Harmander Sahib.

1620 – Pilgrims landed in the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock in the American colonies after escaping religious persecution in Europe.

1640 – Western philosopher Descartes coined the phrase Cogito, Ergo Sum [I think, Therefore I Am], and wrote about the mind as the human connection with God.

1675 – Guru Teg Bahadur Ji, the ninth Sikh Guru, protested the forced conversion of Hindus to Islam by the Mughal Empire in South Asia and was beheaded in New Delhi, sacrificing his life for religious freedom.

1690 – Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts where people were wrongly accused and unjustly put to death.

1699 – Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, established the Khalsa Panth, creating a “Fellowship of Saint-Soldiers” who commit to living life with honesty, compassion, respect for all of God’s creation, and working to fight tyranny and injustice in the world.

1708 – Guru Gobind Singh Ji passed away and ended the line of human Gurus.  He passed guruship to Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and the Khalsa Panth.

1710 – Banda Singh Bahadur established the first Sikh republic in Punjab, South Asia. Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah issued a decree, putting a price on every Sikh’s head.

1712 – Banda Singh Bahadur and his compatriots were publicly executed by the colonial Mughal Empire. Sikhs spent the next 50 years fighting against oppression.

1776 – The United States of America was established. The opening of the Constitution reads, “We the people…ensure blessings of liberty.”

1789 – The French Revolution brought the ideology of liberty through the self, unity and brotherhood to the forefront of Western society.

1799 – Maharaja Ranjit Singh entered Lahore marking the ascendancy of Sikh rule in Punjab and beyond.

1842 – The Khalsa Jio signed a treaty with the Dalai Lama, extending the Sikh Kingdom from Afghanistan to Nepal and from Little Tibet to the Sutlej River.

1845 – 1849  – The Anglo-Sikh Wars took place in Punjab and ended with the colonization of the Sikh Kingdom into British India.

1861 – 1865  – The Civil War took place in the United States and ended with the freedom of slaves throughout the country.