I searched online for lists of important dates. I found this, which looks great to me:
http://www.wisdomportal.com/History/HistoryDates-1.html
http://www.wisdomportal.com/History/HistoryDates-2.html
http://www.wisdomportal.com/History/HistoryDates-3.html
Sure would be nice to have a PowerPoint presentation or video…illustrated…with that info. Maybe such a thing already exists, I didn’t search YouTube…or Brillkids.com…
If you’re interested in memorization, check out http://www.classicalconversations.com/academic-programs/foundations.html . Yes, what they offer is based on a Christian worldview (which I don’t personally mind), but the timeline memorization of 160 events is second to none based on what I have read. Judging by this clip, you’d have to do a lot of editing to make it secular
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxIdfX2xsYQ
They come up with catchy songs and youtube clips to teach it all, and offer audio CD’s of the memory work and power point versions. They formerly used the Veritas press cards but now are coming out with their own version so they have more freedom to make up supplemental memory tools without worry of copyright infringement. To join as a member of a local group that meets once a week is $370-ish I think, and it’s the same to join just their forum online. That’s probably overkill for you, but we may end up trying a local group this fall. And their materials are available for purchase without joining. In the early years, the memorization covers history, geography, Latin, math facts, and science. Parents can expand on the memorization at home with books, etc, and supplement with a language arts and math program. You can see quite a few youtube clips to learn more if you search, but I love the memorization part of it as it trains the brain to memorize while filling it with very useful facts and history.
So, maybe it’s too religious for your tastes or perhaps you can get something useful out of it. Just thought I would put that out there!
So neat! Thank you for sharing. I like to check it out for sure, sounds fascinating.