The content of this Timeline is for general information only. Its primary value is in showing the chronological relationship between various individuals and events.
The dating of many historical persons and events, particularly those earlier than 1000 BC, is subject to ongoing debate and research.
Most items on this Timeline are directly related to the content of The Seventh Day television series. Key events are in bold type. Some events in light type are included as points of reference.
The dating of many historical persons and events, particularly those earlier than 1000 BC, is subject to ongoing debate and research.
Most items on this Timeline are directly related to the content of The Seventh Day television series. Key events are in bold type. Some events in light type are included as points of reference.
| ? | God establishes Sabbath at end of Creation Week |
| 2450 | The Flood |
| 2000 | Seven-day week in Sumerian civilization prior to this date |
| 1950-1775 | Abraham keeps God's commandments |
| 1450 | The Exodus |
| 1450 | Israelites get manna six days a week; none on Sabbath |
| 1450 | God writes the Ten Commandments on stone tablets |
| 1011-971 | King David rules Israel |
| 1011-971 | King David rules Israel |
| 626-586 | Jeremiah the prophet (years of ministry) |
| 620-530 | Lifetime of Daniel the prophet |
| 605-536 | Jewish nation in exile |
| 500 | Birth of Buddhism |
| 445 | Nehemiah to Jerusalem to rebuild city, reform Sabbathkeeping |
| 331 | Alexander the Great overthrows Persian Empire |
| 170 | Antiochus IV tries to eradicate Jewish practices - including Sabbath observance |
| 30 | Roman Emperor Octavian dedicates captured Egyptian obelisk to the sun god |
| 4 | Birth of Jesus |
| 31 | Crucifixion of Jesus |
| 64 | Nero burns Rome(?), persecutes Christians |
| 70 | Jerusalem destroyed by Roman army under Titus |
| 79 | Vesuvius erupts |
| 90-99 | Synagogue prayer devised to help identify Sabbath-keeping Christians who worshipped in synagogues with Jews |
| 115-140 | Epistle of Barnabas written in Alexandria; first anti-Sabbath literature |
| 115-140 | Christians in Alexandria replace Sabbath with Sunday |
| 135 | Jerusalem destroyed again; Jewish religion banned |
| 144 | Marcion, first great "Christian" heretic, promotes Sabbath fast |
| 150 | Justin Martyr reports Sunday observance by Roman Christians |
| 218-222 | Emperor Elagabalus brings Syrian sun worship to Rome |
| 270-275 | Emperor Aurelian establishes sun worship as state religion of Rome |
| 284-305 | Emperor Diocletian worships the sun and persecutes Christians |
| 284-305 | Emperor Diocletian worships the sun and persecutes Christians |
| 306-337 | Constantine - first Roman emperor to adopt Christian religion |
| 313 | Constantine legalizes Christian religion |
| 314-335 | Pope Sylvester I promotes anti-Jewish Sabbath fast |
| 320 | According to Ethiopian church tradition two Syrian youth, Frumentius and Edesius are taken as slaves to the imperial court at about this time; they eventually plant the Christian faith there; Frumentius becomes first patriarch of Ethiopia |
| 321 | Edict of Constantine: first law concerning Sunday observance |
| 343-381 | Council of Laodicea authorizes reading of Gospels at Sabbath services; condemns Jewish form of Sabbath observance |
| 364 | Ambrose, bishop of Milan, prefers not to fast on Sabbath |
| 389-461 | Life of Patrick, Celtic Christian missionary to Ireland |
| 389-461 | Life of Patrick, Celtic Christian missionary to Ireland |
| 521-597 | Life of Columba, Celtic Christian missionary to Scotland |
| 570-632 | Life of Muhammed, founder of Islam |
| 590-604 | Pope Gregory I identifies Sabbath keepers with anti-christ |
| 590-604 | Pope Gregory I identifies Sabbath keepers with anti-christ |
| 692 | Council in Trullo (Quinisext) condemns the Sabbath fast |
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| 800 | "Epistle of Jesus" ("Letter from Heaven") arrives in Ireland during this century |
| 867 | Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, denounces Roman Catholic promotion of the Sabbath fast |
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| 1054 | The "Great Schism" splits Roman Catholic - Greek Orthodox churches |
| 1066 | Norman Conquest of England |
| 1070 | Margaret, Queen of Scotland, initiates reform of Sunday observance there |
| 1096 | First Crusade |
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| 1720 | Conrad Beisel, Sabbath-keeping founder of Ephrata Cloister, arrives in Pennsylvania |
| 1722 | Count Lugwig von Zinzendorf permits Moravian refugees to settle on his estate in eastern Germany |
| 1742 | Count Zinzendorf proposes Sabbath observance to Moravian community in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| 1273-1352 | Life of Ewostatewos (Eustathius), Ethiopian reform who called for revival of traditional Sabbath observance in Ethiopia |
| 1347-1351 | The Black Death (first onset) |
| 1350 | Strigolniks in Novgorod, Russia, observe the seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1382 | John Wycliffe and colleagues produce first English translation of Bible |
| 1324-1384 | Life of John Wycliffe, popular English "reformer" |
| 1401 | English Parliament passed "Act for the Burning of Heretics" |
| 1402 | Lollard John Seygno tried in English court for, among other things, observing seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1414-1418 | Roman Catholic Council of Constance resolves multi-pope issue, orders burning of John Hus |
| 1428 | John Wycliffe's bones exhumed, burned, ashes scattered |
| 1431-1435 | Roman Catholic Council of Basel condemns Sabbath observance by Jewish converts |
| 1435 | Forced conversion of Jews in Spain |
| 1435 | Roman Catholic church council in Bergen, Norway, condemns Sabbath observance in that country |
| 1469 | Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella unite kingdoms of Aragon and Castille to form new kingdom of Spain |
| 1475-1504 | Russian reform movement includes observance of seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1478 | Pope Sixtus IV grants Queen Isabella's request, authorizes the Spanish Inquisition |
| 1481 | First "auto-da-fe" (public trial) of Spanish Inquisition |
| 1491-1547 | Reign of Henry VIII of England |
| 1490 | Russian Orthodox Council of Moscow condemns pro-Sabbath reformers |
| 1492 | Expulsion of Jews from Spain |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus "discovers" America |
| 1497 | Forced conversion of Jews in Portugal |
| 1497-1499 | Vasco da Gama opens sea route from Europe to India |
| 1491-1547 | Reign of Henry VIII of England |
| 1504 | Ivan Kuritsin and other Sabbath-keeping reformers are burned to death in Moscow |
| 1517 | Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses, starts Protestant Reformation |
| 1518 | Martin Luther appeals to pope for a general church council |
| 1529 | Andreas Fischer, Sabbath-keeping Anabaptist preacher, survives hanging at Tschitschva Castle |
| 1534 | Henry VIII separates English church from Rome |
| 1540 | Andreas Fischer is murdered in Slovakia |
| 1541 | Christavao da Gama leads 400 Portuguese troops to Africa to help defend Christian Ethiopia against Moslem invaders |
| 1542 | Francis Xavier, early Jesuit missionary, arrives in India to begin evangelizing the East |
| 1544 | Christian III, king of Denmark and Norway, imposes fines for keeping the seventh-day Sabbath in his realm |
| 1545-1563 | Roman Catholic Council of Trent affirms authority of tradition, church's right to "change" the Sabbath |
| 1546 | Oswald Glaidt, former Sabbatarian Anabaptist partner of Andreas Fischer, is executed by drowning at Vienna |
| 1551 | Russian Orthodox "Council of 100 Chapters" approves seventh-day Sabbath worship in Russian churches |
| 1553-1558 | Reign of Queen Mary I (England); she tries to reestablish Roman Catholic Church in her realm |
| 1558-1603 | Reign of Queen Elizabeth (England) |
| 1560 | Portuguese Inquistion is established in Goa |
| 1560 | Constantino Ponce de la Fuenta, Spanish priest who taught observance of seventh-day Sabbath, dies in Inquisition prison |
| 1588 | Defeat of Spanish Armada off the coast of England |
| 1598 | King Henry IV (France) issues Edict of Nantes, protecting rights of French Protestants (Huguenots) |
| 1617 | John Traske, early English "Seventh-day Man," arrested in London |
| 1618 | England's King James I issues Book of Sports, promoting recreational activities on Sunday and thus infuriating Puritan preachers |
| 1622 | Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos declares Ethiopia a Catholic country |
| 1626 | Jesuit priest Afonso Mendes arrives in Ethiopia as patriarch of the Roman Catholic church in that country; advises Emperor Susenyos regarding anti-Sabbath reforms; civil war ensues |
| 1628 | Theophilus Brabourne publishes first English-language book promoting seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1632 | Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos abdicates in favor of his son, Facilidas; rescinds anti-Sabbath rules |
| 1636 | Roger Williams escapes deportation to England |
| 1650 | English Parliament orders burning of James Ockford's book advocating observance of seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1663 | King Charles II issues the Rhode Island Charter which includes the grant of religious liberty within the Rhode Island colony |
| 1665 | Stephen and Anne Mumpford arrive in Rhode Island; first known seventh-day Sabbath observers to arrive in the colonies |
| 1671 | First Seventh Day Baptist church established in America by Mumfords and friends (Newport, Rhode Island) |
| 1682 | Peter Chamberlen, prominent English physician and "Seventh-day Man," blames pope for changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday |
| 1684 | Charles Dellon publishes his book, An Account of the Inquisition of Goa, describing his experience as victim of the Portuguese Inquisition |
| 1684 | Francis Bamfield, one of the "Seventh-day Men," dies in London prison after his arrest for preaching to Sabbath-keeping congregation |
| 1201 | Eustace of Flay takes "Letter from Heaven" to England to encourage reform of Sunday observance there |
| 1208 | Pope Innocent III proclaims a Crusade against the Albigensian heretics of southern France |
| 1215 | King John (England) signs the Magna Carta, the charter of English liberties |
| 1231 | Pope Gregory IX establishes the medieval Inquisition |
| 1273-1352 | Life of Ewostatewos (Eustathius), Ethiopian reform who called for revival of traditional Sabbath observance in Ethiopia |
| 1830-1895? | Life of Maniilaq, the Eskimo prophet who learned about the seventh-day Sabbath from one he called "the Grandfather" |
| 1844 | Millerite Adventists disappointed when Christ did not return during this year |
| 1844 | A handful of Millerite Adventist preachers and lay people begin to observe the seventh-day Sabbath; this leads to the eventual establishment of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination |
| 1851-1864 | Taiping Revolution in China; the Ten Commandments and observance of seventh-day Sabbath were at the heart of the movement |
| 1859 | Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species published |
| 1888 | Senator Henry Blair calls for a national Sunday law; his proposal never makes it out of committee for consideration by the US Congress |
| 1896 | William Saunders Crowdy founds Church of God and Saints of Christ, a Sabbath-keeping denomination |
| 1900 | Owkwa, Amerindian village chief, learns about Sabbath, monogamy, etc., from supernatural messenger |
| 1926 | Herbert W. Armstrong accepts the seventh-day Sabbath as authentic biblical doctrine; goes on to found the Worldwide Church of God |
| 1986 | Herbert W. Armstrong dies; new leaders of the Worldwide Church of God eventually renounce the seventh-day Sabbath |
| 1998 | Pope John Paul II issues apostolic letter, Dies Domini, upholding essential nature of the Sabbath but claiming the Roman Catholic Church's authority for the Saturday-Sunday change |