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315,000 Years Ago
The earliest known humans emerge and live on the African continent.
All human beings today belong to the Homo sapiens species, and it is widely accepted amongst researchers, historians, and scientists, that all of human history began on the continent of Africa. The exact location in Africa is a topic of constant debate as remains have been found in various locations throughout the continent, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, and Morocco, though researchers suggest it was most likely in the Horn of Africa. The oldest known remains of our species to date has been found in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and dated about 315,000 years ago.
250,000 Years Ago
Modern humans begin to disperse and migrate out of Africa.
Early modern humans expanded to Western Eurasia and Central, Western and Southern Africa from the time of their emergence. Evidence of migration out of Africa, via a partial skull, was discovered in the Apidima Cave in southern Greece and is dated more than 210,000 years old. There were several waves of migrations, many via northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula about 130,000 YA (Years Ago), though most of these early waves appear to have mostly died out or retreated by 80,000 YA.
c. 200,000 - 130,000 Years Ago
Mitochondrial Eve, the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend, lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Mitochondrial Eve (the name alludes to the biblical Eve) is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman. In 1987, geneticists compared the mitochondrial DNA (genetic information passed from mothers to their offspring) of people from different populations around the world and find that they all link in an unbroken line to Mitochondrial Eve. This does not mean that she was the first woman, nor the only living female of her time, nor the first member of a "new species." It only means that she is the most recent female ancestor to which all living humans are linked. She was believed to have lived in either East Africa or Botswana.
c. 10,000 BC - 6,000 BC
Due to a tilt in the Earth’s axis, the Sahara transforms from a humid region rich with grasslands and water, to an arid desert, prompting Saharan Africans to migrate to the Nile Valley.
The earliest Egyptians were indigenous Africans who were drawn to the Sahara when it was a humid region rich in grasslands and with plentiful water. There was a widespread Saharan Neolithic culture. However, during this same period (c. 10,000 - c. 6,000 BC), the Earth's axis tilted, causing the Saharan climate to slowly transform from humid to arid, prompting Saharan Africans to migrate to the Nile Valley to take advantage of its fertile floodplains.
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Home / Full timeline / Black king Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time, takes over the great Mali empire.

Black king Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time, takes over the great Mali empire.; ?> Black king Mansa Musa, known for being the wealthiest person of all time, takes over the great Mali empire.

1312 AD

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From 1312 CE to 1337 CE, Mansa Musa (also known as Musa I of Mali) presided over the Mali kingdom. Mansa Musa was among the wealthiest people in the world and Mali was one of the wealthiest countries in Africa during his rule. A portion of what is now Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso once belonged to the ancient Mali kingdom. Mansa Musa transformed towns like Gao and Timbuktu into significant cultural hubs. In order to create new structures for his settlements, he also imported architects from the Middle East and other parts of Africa. Mali's kingdom was transformed by Mansa Musa into an advanced Islamic hub of study. Following the disappearance of the previous monarch, Abu Bakr II, at sea in 1312 CE, Mansa Musa assumed the throne. In order to explore the Atlantic Ocean, Mansa Abu Bakr II had left on a big fleet of ships, but he never came back. Mali became the richest kingdom in Africa during Mansa Musa's leadership despite inheriting an already prosperous kingdom. His wealth stemmed from the Mali kingdom's large salt and gold reserves. Another significant source of wealth was ivory from elephants.

References:

  •  • MALI, F. O. (2015). Mansa Musa (Kankan Musa). Lifelines in World History: The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Early Modern World, The Modern World, 182.
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