Here's a rough breakdown for Western history. I won't attempt a periodization of Asian or African history.
Ancient: app. 3000 b.c. - a.d. 476
-- Mesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria
-- Egypt
-- Greece
-- Persia and the Middle East
-- Rome
Dark Ages: app. 400 - 1000
-- Western Europe
---- Rise of Feudalism
-- Byzantium and the East
Middle Ages: app. 1000 - 1400
-- England
-- France
---- Hundred Years War
-- Germany (Holy Roman Empire)
-- Italy and Spain
-- Byzantium (to 1453)
-- Eastern and Northern Europe
-- The Crusades
Renaissance/ Reformation: 1400 - 1618
-- England
-- France
---- The Wars of Religion (1562-1598)
-- Germany (Holy Roman Empire)
-- Italy and Spain
-- Eastern and Northern Europe
-- The New World
---- The Age of Exploration
-- Renaissance (1400 - 1550)
---- Art, literature
-- Reformation (1550 - 1618)
---- Religion
Early Modern Era: 1618 - 1789
-- England/ Great Britain
---- The Civil Wars (1642-1650)
---- The Glorious Revolution (1688)
-- France
---- The wars of Louis XIV (1667-1715)
-- Germany (Holy Roman Empire)
-- Italy and Spain
-- Eastern and Northern Europe
---- The Great Northern War (1700-1712)
-- The Americas
---- The American War of Independence (1775-1783)
-- The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
-- The Industrial Revolution
Modern Era: 1789 - 1945
-- Great Britain
-- France
-- Germany
---- Wars of Unification (1848-1871)
-- Italy and Spain
-- Eastern and Northern Europe
-- North America
---- The United States
-- South America
---- Wars of Liberation
-- Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790-1815)
-- World War I (1914-1918)
-- World War II (1939-1945)
Post-Modern Era: 1945 - present
-- Western Europe
-- Soviet/ Eastern Europe
-- North America
---- United States
-- South America
-- Cold War (1947-1990)
I like.....
Thing is, I'll also have to work with what's given. Most sites will span a few of those categories.
craven : do you have at least a rough estimate as to how many entries/submissions there have been so far on able2know in various categories ? since contributors can always start a new topic, is it really important to "categorize" ? some categories, such as ww I and ww II might look like distinct categories but could just as easily overlap, e.g. "europe 1900 to 1950" , how should that be handled ? (perhaps go for a long walk or take a cold shower or both, before you try to categorize us. don't want to belittle your idea, but i've tried to bring some order into my stamp/postcard/envelope/letter collection for more years than i care to count; now i just enjoy it all even though they are not in perfect order/category). but we'll give you LOTS of credit for trying to whip us into shape; what an undisciplined lot we are. hbg
hbg, that must be some stamp collection. Hmm, I have a few you might like, from back when I was a lab research person and we got reprint requests from all over. There was a big lurch for the stamps when the mail came.
Please excuse the aside, just listening here.
hamburger,
I will not be categorizing the forum. I am talking about the portal (which by its nature is better categorized).
The portal can be found in a link at the top of every page.
Craven--
You are not only belling the cat/s, but you're putting collars on a whole room of proud beasties: lions with sore teeth, hyperactive leopards, rabid tigers, cheetahs with cubs.....
You are man of courage, searching for order.
Myself, I'd go by geography and then within geography, time.
Wouldn't a serious researcher be able to follow Place/Time?
Or for that matter any of the other methods suggested.
craven : thanks for the clarification. still quite a task, isn't it ? hbg
