Human history Human history is the history of the Human species from the planet Earth . Earth history has been extensively studied by Humans and non - Humans alike . Those who study history are known as " historians " . One famous historian , John Gill , taught history in the 23rd century by lecturing on the causes and motivations of historical events , rather than simply reciting dates and events . ( ) Origins . In 2369 , evidence was discovered that suggests many of the galaxy ' s humanoid races were descended from a single humanoid race , the originators of the basic anatomy . Around 4 . 5 billion years ago they had seeded many worlds with a DNA code to guide evolution to a form resembling their own . Humans displayed evidence of these DNA sequences . ( ) According to Q , approximately 3 . 5 billion years ago , " " give or take an eon or two , " " a group of amino acid s combined to form the first protein s , in the region of Earth that eventually became known as France . This first life on the planet developed into , among other things , the Human species . ( ) Approximately 290 million years ago , the semi - aquatic amphibian species " Eryops " lived on Earth . " Eryops " was probably the last link between the branches of life that evolved along separate paths into dinosaur s and mammal s . The mammalian line resulted in Humans . ( ) One religious account for the creation of Humans featured the first two members of the species , Adam and Eve , being created by God . In 2268 , Sargon said that the story of all Humans being descended from Adam and Eve may have been based on his own people having colonized Earth some 600 , 000 years prior . However , James T . Kirk replied that 23rd century science indicated life had evolved independently on Earth ( a conclusion later bolstered by Q ) . Spock thought that Sargon ' s people might have , instead , colonized rather than Earth . ( ; ) Approximately thirty - five thousand years ago , multiple species of humanoids co - existed on Earth , two of which were modern Humans and Neanderthal s . However , the Neanderthals became extinct , which turned out to be fortunate for modern Humans . ( ) Ancient history . Ancient Human history was taught at Starfleet Academy in the 24th century . ( ) The Greek civilization arose in approximately 2700 BC . Much of Earth ' s culture and philosophy began with the Greeks . To Captain James T . Kirk in the 23rd century , the Greek civilization was seen as the beginnings of a " Golden Age " . ( ) Another ancient civilization , the Egypt ians , constructed large pyramid s as part of their accomplishments . Their Great Pyramid of Giza was the largest of the pyramids built in Egypt and was finished around 2600 BC . Its construction was observed by time - traveling anthropologists beginning in 2769 . ( ) Some battles that took place in ancient Human history were remembered into the 24th century . One such battle involved a small band of Spartan s led by King Leonidas , who defended a mountain pass against a vast Persia n army at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC . The Spartans put up a " heroic struggle " ( according to Julian Bashir ) , until they were wiped out . ( ) The Roman Empire – arising in the first century BC and lasting in one form or another until the 15th century – was the first major global power in Human history . Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar ( 63 BC – 14 AD ) was viewed by many , including Khan , as having achieved great things for the Empire during his reign . ( ) The Roman Empire was seen by Jean - Luc Picard to have begun its fall as a civilization in the 5th century when the Visigoth s attacked the capital city of Rome during the reign of Emperor Honorious . ( ) Following on the heels of Rome was a popular religion , Christianity , with a basic philosophy of , as Spock summarized it , " total love and total brotherhood . " It arose in the ancient world beginning in the 1st century and followed the teachings of Jesus Christ . The religion considered Christ to be the son of God . ( ) Pre - warp history . A member of Species 8472 said of Humans in 2375 , " " At first glance they ' re so primitive . Genetic impurities , no telepathy , violent . And yet they ' ve created so many beautiful ways to convey their ideas : literature , art , music . " " ( ) Unfortunately , Human history before the discovery of the warp drive is , in many ways , not defined by literature , art , and music but by military conflicts , plague , and inhumanity . The trend begins with a series of related military campaigns – fought for causes both religious and political – that took place during the 11th century through the 13th century . These were known as the Crusade s . These wars gave Human history " character " according to Q . ( ) Half of Europe was killed by the bubonic plague circa 1334 . Flint saw it that summer from Constantinople : " " . . . It marched through the streets , the sewers . It left the city by ox cart , by sea , to kill half of Europe . The rats , rustling and squealing in the night as they , too , died " . " ( ) Beginning in 1478 , the Spanish Inquisition was founded in Spain to suppress heresies against the Christian religion . The Inquisition was regarded by Humans as a particularly brutal institution into at least the 24th century , and was regarded by Q as another historical event that provided character to Humanity and kept it from being boring . ( ; ) By 1485 , Earth had recovered from plague and war to achieve a technological level equivalent to a " B " rating on the industrial scale used by 23rd century Starfleet . ( ) Another inquisition in the name of Christianity took place during the 17th century . The scientist Galileo Galilei publicly supported the idea that the Earth was not the center of the universe . He was tried and convicted of heresy in 1633 by an inquisition as a result , and many of his books were burned . ( ) The 17th century also saw the start of many uprisings and revolutions against oppressive governments and empires . The Pueblo Revolt in 1680 was one . As described by Deanna Troi and Anthwara in 2370 : According to Anthwara , one of the Spaniards was an ancestor of Picard ' s named Javier Maribona - Picard . ( ) Another took place in the late 18th century , when George Washington helped win a war for his colonies ' independence from Great Britain . This was generally known as the American Revolution and resulted in the establishment of the United States of America . In 2366 some , such as Beverly Crusher , considered Washington a military general ; others , such as Kyril Finn , considered him a terrorist . ( ) Commerce arose in the United States following the revolution , and throughout the 18th century and 19th century , ocean - going " Yankee Traders " sailed the oceans in search of mercantile opportunity . ( ) In 1794 , army general Napoléon Bonaparte rose to power , installing himself as absolute ruler of France in 1799 , declared himself Emperor of France , and subsequently dominated Europe . The British Royal Navy , led by Admiral Horatio Nelson , defeated the combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 . Napoleon was ultimately defeated at Waterloo in 1815 due to the combined efforts of the British General Wellington , and the Prussian General Blucher . ( ; ) Human civilization experienced major wars that involved nearly every continent on Earth during the 20th and 21st centuries . The first two such wars – the first and second World Wars – saw six million and eleven million Humans die , respectively , from the effects of despotism alone . The third resulted in 37 million such deaths , and a total of 600 million Human deaths . ( ; ; ) The Second World War was a conflict , in part , between the forces of fascism – epitomized by Germany ' s Adolf Hitler and his Nazi political party – and those who opposed such a form of government . ( ) Initially assuming an official position of neutrality , the United States fully entered the conflict after a Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor . ( ) Hitler and his allies were defeated , but left controversy in their wake . In the 23rd century , some , such as Spock , saw the Nazis as sadistic ; some , such as Kirk saw them as " " brutal , perverted " " and that they " " had to be destroyed at a terrible cost " " . Still others , such as John Gill , saw them governing over the " " most efficient state . . . Earth ever knew " " , and believed that some of the Nazi approaches could prove beneficial to a society . Spock agreed with Gill , at least as to efficiency : " " That tiny country – beaten , bankrupt , defeated , rose in a few years to stand only one step away from global domination " . " ( ; ; ) Multiple brush wars occurred on the Asia n continent involving two great powers . ( ) The 20th century also saw the rise of nuclear weapon ry and the beginnings of space exploration . In 1947 , the three Ferengi Quark , his brother Rom , and nephew Nog were accidentally transported back in time from the 24th century to , and were mistaken for Martians . After returning to their own time by using from a nuclear explosion , the incident was passed off by the government as a weather balloon . ( ) The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite , " Sputnik 1 " on October 4 , 1957 . ( ) 1968 , the year in which a malfunctioning orbital nuclear weapon nearly detonated , was viewed by 23rd century Humans as one of the most critical years on record . Then - current Earth crises " would fill a tape bank " , according to Spock . Assassinations , government " coup s " , wars in Asia , the Communist / Capitalist conflicts , and orbiting hydrogen bombs were among the greatest problems facing Humanity at that time . ( ) Despite this , Humanity first landed two men on Earth ' s moon and returned them safely to Earth the following year . ( ; ) The 20th century was when the computer age begun . Henry Starling introduced technological innovations in 1969 , when he introduced the first isograted circuit and founded Chronowerx Industries , by reverse - engineering technology from the future . However , this timeline was negated when the Aeon was prevented from reaching 1967 by the breaking the time loop that lead it there . ( ) The DY - 100 class was an early design of space vessel s , some of the sleeper ship s , that were in operation for interplanetary travel during the late 20th century . ( ) The 20th century also saw the start of genetic modifications to the Human genome and the creation of Humans ( popularly known as Augment s ) made stronger , faster , and smarter by the hand of scientist s . In 1993 , a group of Augments seized power simultaneously in over forty nations and sparked the Eugenics Wars . The wars were particularly devastating , and during them civilization was on the verge of collapse in some parts of the world . ( ; ) The terrible experiences that Humanity had with genetic manipulation resulted in long lasting prohibitions against intentional " improvement " of the Human genome well into the 24th century . ( ) In 2002 humans sent one of the first interstellar probes , " Nomad " , to space . ( ) After advances in sub - light propulsion rendered sleeper ship s a thing of the past around 2018 , manned and unmanned exploration of space further advanced . Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher led the first successful mission to Saturn . ( ) The United States suffered economic setbacks in the early 2000s . They were addressed circa 2020 by establishing Sanctuary District s in major US cities . These walled districts were originally created to help America ' s massive homeless and jobless population . Instead , the districts became little more than prisons for the destitute and the mentally ill . In September of 2024 , mounting tensions in the Sanctuary Districts culminated in the Bell Riots . Political fallout from the riots resulted in the abolition of the districts and the United States finally began to face the serious social problems it had struggled with for over a century . ( ) During the early 2000s , the international scene was deteriorating as well . The United Nations had been reorganized as the New United Nations . ( ) A number of nations joined together in a union known as the Eastern Coalition . Hostilities between the Eastern Coalition and forces including the United States broke out in 2026 as World War III . The conflict soon escalated into full - blown nuclear holocaust , engulfing much of the globe and again nearly returning Human civilization to a dark age . 600 million people died across the planet as a result . The subsequent collapse of the global economy , political systems , and the drastic environmental effects of the war devastated those nations which had escaped direct nuclear attack . ( ; ; ) With most of the major governments collapsed , law and order soon degraded into a " guilty - until - proven - innocent " , lawyer - free show trial system which lasted until 2079 in some parts of the world . ( ; ) The period from the 19th to the late 21st centuries also saw dramatic environmental degradation due to Human activities . Humans were responsible for the extinction of many species , including the draco lizard , white rhinoceros , the buffalo , and the humpback whale ( the latter eventually proved to be sentient and were brought back from extinction by James Kirk ) . Human industrial activities also resulted in massive air pollution and degradation of Earth ' s ozone layer . The nuclear wars led to several " nuclear winter s " , as well as radiation poisoning of both Humans and animals . ( ; ; ) From First Contact to the Federation . After the last global conflict , Dr . Zefram Cochrane made mankind ' s first faster - than - light spaceflight in 2063 . This resulted in the first formal post - warp contact by an interstellar race : the Vulcan s . This affected Humanity in a profound way . ( ) The newly gained warp - capability was immediately put to use and several crewed as well as uncrewed missions of exploration and colonisation were launched , e . g . , the in 2065 , " Friendship 1 " in 2067 , the in 2069 , and a ship to colonise Terra 10 prior to or in 2069 . ( ; ; ; ) Following first contact , Humanity rebuilt its world from the ashes of the devastating nuclear conflict ; most forms of poverty and disease were eradicated from the planet within the next fifty years . However , it was a very difficult fifty years and global recovery was uneven : in the early 2080s , some areas of the planet remained in a state of near - anarchy ; and from a 24th - century perspective , Earth was still seen as recovering from World War III well into the early 22nd century ; Picard even called the era " chaotic . " ( ; ; ) As Earth gradually recovered , Humans ventured out into space using warp capability . Early starship s such as the circa 2065 were sent out to explore the universe . ( ) Colonies such as New Berlin were established on the moon by 2067 , and the first Human colony on Mars was established in 2103 . ( ; ) During the mid - to late - 21st century , Humanity fought four wars against the alien race known as the Kzinti . The conflict ended with the Treaty of Sirius and the victory of Earth . Kzinti were forced to do a complete demilitarization of their government , with only a small police force permitted , and to allow complete and unrestricted access to their territory . ( ) By the early 22nd century , the situation on Earth was still " chaotic " as the planet had yet to fully recover from the aftermaths of the Third World War . During this time , Liam Dieghan founded the Neo - transcendentalist movement , advocating " a simpler life in which one lived in harmony with nature . " ( ) As one of the first steps toward a unified Earth government , the European Hegemony , a somewhat loose alliance in the European region on Earth , formed . ( ) By 2150 , all of Earth ' s former nations had joined the United Earth government . ( ) In 2151 , Humanity ' s first starship capable of warp 5 was launched : . It was the first of a line of ships that would , from a design and organizational point of view , evolve into the ships used by Starfleet into the 24th century and beyond . " Enterprise " had a distinguished service career , but is best known for thwarting the Xindi plan to eradicate Humanity . In the 22nd century , the Sphere - Builder s informed the Xindi that they would be the victims of a genocidal attack from Humans in the 26th century , and should act preemptively to eliminate the threat . This was a fabrication on the part of the Sphere - Builders to use the Xindi to their own advantage . ( ) The Xindi Council went along with the advice , tested a prototype weapon on Earth in 2153 ( resulting in the deaths of nearly 7 million humans ) , and intended to use a more powerful weapon to destroy the entire planet . ( ) This crisis became the most threatening event to Humans as a species since World War III . " Enterprise " , under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer , was able to both severely damage the Sphere - Builders ' technology systems and convince the Xindi that Humans were not their enemy . ( ) After the Xindi crisis , and following increased tensions with the Romulan Star Empire , several of the affected political powers in the region of space – including Humans – joined together in an alliance known as the Coalition of Planets . The Coalition of Planets was founded in 2155 , and was made up of several worlds who later became integral to the formation and early history of the United Federation of Planets , formed in 2161 . ( ; ) Humanity ' s participation in this Coalition marked the true beginning of its growth into an interstellar species . In the 2160s the tensions that existed in the 2150s between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire flared up into a full - scale interstellar war . The Earth - Romulan War was a major conflict , with military and political ramifications felt for at least two centuries . Neither side clearly prevailed . Earth and the Star Empire finally ended the violence after the Battle of Cheron and established a neutral zone as a buffer between their two spheres of influence . The neutral zone lasted into at least the 24th century . ( ; ) Humanity and the Federation . The Federation , as a body , was not involved in the Earth - Romulan War . ( ) However , after that war Humanity ' s history and that of the Federation go hand in hand . The United Earth Starfleet grew into the military and exploratory arm of the Federation known as simply " Starfleet " by the 23rd century . The Federation president ' s office was in the city of Paris on Earth . ( ; ) Political crises and conflicts that involved the Federation drew Humanity in , and vice versa . Human involvement in Federation matters in the 23rd century were so extensive that they prompted at least one Klingon to claim in 2293 that the Federation was little more than " a ' homo sapiens ' only club . " ( ) Some major examples : Despite such planetary threats , by the 24th century most Humans considered that they had turned their home planet into a paradise . ( ) Pre - warp alien contacts . Although official First Contact came with the Vulcans landing on Earth in 2063 , ( ) several earlier contacts with aliens ( non - Humans for purposes of this article ) took place under less well - known circumstances . The motivations driving these furtive contacts were sometimes less than clear , even to those they contacted . A few of these of summarized below : Background information . In an unused line of dialogue from the final draft script of , Doctor Leonard McCoy commented , " " Earth history is full of cases where a small child managed to survive in a wilderness . " " Apocrypha . According to Gene Roddenberry ' s of , the Mediterranean region and north Africa had remained an island of Human progress and tranquility during the savagery which had racked much of the rest of the world during the 21st century , partly due to the drastic alterations made to the old sea ' s character and the region surrounding it – the fabled Mediterranean Sea was now hardly more than a long , slender lake which trailed off into the hazy blue distance in the direction from which it had just come . Human ingenuity had turned the region into a virtual garden , skillfully engineered climate alterations having profoundly improved the climate and character of the entire northern half of Africa . Population growth in the region had been compensated with underground city construction – similar habitation centers were constructed throughout the world in the later half of the century .