This fascinated the crap out of me. There are 9 periods. this is the first:
Antiquity: 10,000 BC to AD 500
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10,000 to 5,000 BCE
In several regions, women, who are the traditional gatherers of foodstuffs, initiate the profound cultural phenomenon of agriculture.
c. 3500 BC
Egyptian women begin brewing beer.
c. 3000 BC
According to legend, the Chinese empress Leizu (original name Xilingshi) invents sericulture (the production of raw silk by using domesticated silkworms).
c. 2300 BC
The Akkadian theologian and writer Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon, is made chief priestess of the gods at Ur and Erech.
c. 1850 BC
Egyptian texts describe contraceptive suppositories made from a mixture of honey and crocodile dung. This is the first known reference to contraceptives.
c. 1750 BC
The Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian law code, protects a woman's right to hold and inherit property.
c. 1500 BC
Female students attend the Egyptian medical school at Heliopolis. 1472 BC
Hatshepsut begins her rule over Egypt, first as a regent for Thutmose III and later in her own right, with the full titles and regalia of a pharaoh. During her reign she expands commerce on the Red Sea and undertakes an extensive building program.
c. 1450 BC
By law and by custom, Mesopotamian women are controlled first by their fathers, then by their husbands and fathers-in-law, and finally by their sons.
843 BC
Athaliah becomes queen of Judah. Her seven-year reign is bloody, as she tries to murder everyone who might oppose her.
776 BC
Women are barred as both competitors and spectators at the first recorded Olympic Games.
c. 600 BC
On the island of Lesbos, Sappho writes poetry and teaches young women poetry, music, and the social graces.
c. 600 BC
In Sparta, girls are trained in athletics, including running, javelin, and discus, so that they will become strong and healthy mothers.
c. 600 BC
Ambapali, a wealthy Indian courtesan, gives her mango groves to the Buddha. She becomes his disciple and reaches the status of arhat (a perfected person).
480 BC
Artemisia I commands five ships in the Battle of Salamis.
c. 450 BC
In Athens, Aspasia opens a salon for upper-class women. There she teaches rhetoric and philosophy.
380 BC
Greek women have no independent status in society; although they may own slaves, they may not make transactions worth more than one medimnos of barley.
c. 351 BC
Artemisia II completes construction of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, a great tomb for her husband, Mausolus. It becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
c. 300 BC
Athenian philosopher Hipparchia studies with the Cynic Crates of Thebes. She forces her parents to let her marry him and boasts of spending her life on education rather than weaving.
c. 195 BC
Gaohou seizes power from her son to become the first woman ruler of China.
195 BC
Roman women successfully insist on the repeal of the Oppian law, a sumptuary tax passed in 215 that forbids them to wear multicoloured garments or more than half an ounce of gold.
51 BC
Cleopatra becomes queen of Egypt.
47 BC
In Sri Lanka, Queen Anula takes the throne. Her reign ends in 42 BC with her resignation.
AD 39
Two sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, lead the first Vietnamese revolt against Chinese rule. Despite early successes, the revolt eventually fails.
53
In the Korean kingdom of Koguryo, the queen mother serves as successful regent for her son King T'aejo.
60
Queen Boudicca of the Iceni rallies British tribes in an unsuccessful but hard-fought and bloody revolt against Roman annexation.
c. 65
Ethiopian women and men fight in Rome as gladiators. Under the emperors Nero and Domitian, women captives—especially German ones—frequently fight in the arena.
107
Dowager empress Deng holds the real power in China behind the boy-emperor An'di.
c. 115
Chinese poet and historian Ban Zhao dies after a long and renowned career. 239
Queen Himiko of Yamatai, the first known ruler of Japan, establishes diplomatic relations with China.
248
Vietnamese patriot Trieu Au, with an army of 1,000, leads a revolt against the Chinese. She commits suicide after the revolt fails.
269
Zenobia of Palmyra challenges Roman rule by conquering Egypt and much of Asia Minor. She and her son are captured three years later by the Roman emperor Aurelian.
326
According to legend, Helena, mother of Roman Emperor Constantine I, claims to have found the sites of the Ascension and the Holy Sepulchre and establishes churches on those sites. Later legend says she also found the Holy Cross.
350
Chinese calligrapher Wei Shuo dies. She was the teacher of Wang Xizhi, the most celebrated of Chinese calligraphers.
c. 385
Roman St. Paula founds monasteries for men and women in Bethlehem. Her daughter Eustochium becomes head of the women's community upon Paula's death in 404.
c. 399
St. Fabiola, founder of the first public hospital in the Latin West in Rome, dies.
415
Egyptian scholar and teacher Hypatia, the most prominent Alexandrian pagan, is murdered by a fanatical mob of Christians.
431
The Council of Ephesus recognizes Mary as the “Mother of God,” resulting in the spread westward from Byzantium of the cult of the Virgin.
493
Princess Clotilda of Burgundy marries Clovis I, king of the Franks. She converts him to Christianity.
http://www.britannica.com/women/time...section=249211
Tomorrow....medieval times 501-1500