The BC years are like the negative numbers on a timeline. The AD years are like the positive numbers. The only difference is that there is no year 0 dividing them.
2013 BC . . . . . . 3 BC . . . 2 BC . . . 1 BC . . . 1 AD . . . 2 AD . . . 3 AD . . . . . 2013 AD
As for who was around in the BC years... man, them's a lotta years!
516000 BC = Neanderthal / Cro-Magnon split
100000 BC to 10000 BC = H. floresiensis live in Indonesia
300000 BC to 35000 BC = The Neanderthal Mousterian culture
35000 BC to 29000 BC = The Neanderthal Châtelperronian culture
32000 BC to 26000 BC = The Cro-Magnon Aurignacian culture
15000 BC = The bulls within Lascaux caves are painted
12000 BC to 10000 BC = The Carpenteria Plain floods, isolating Australia
11000 BC to 7000 BC = The Holocene Extinction Event
10000 BC = The Bering Land Bridge subsides
9500 BC = Grain farming with stone sickles along the Nile River
9000 BC = First stone structures built at Jericho
8700 BC to 8400 BC = The Star Carr site inhabited; dogs domesticated in Europe
8000 BC = Blonde hair and blue eyes appears in northern Europe
7500 BC to 6000 BC = The Kongomose culture in Scandinavia
7500 BC = Domestication of the housecat
7000 BC to 6000 BC = The English Channel forms; Ireland separates; Doggerland submerges
6800 BC to 4600 BC = Sesclo culture in Greece
6000 BC to 5000 BC = Wine made in Persia
6000 BC = The plow invented
5700 BC to 4900 BC = Samarran culture in Persia
5600 BC = The Sahara region begins desertification; Black Sea deluge
5500 BC to 4500 BC = Linear Pottery culture
5400 BC = Regular irrigation begins in Mesopotamia
5000 BC to 2300 BC = Pit Comb Ware culture
4900 BC = Development of the wheel in Europe and Asia
4500 BC = Domestication of the horse; Proto-indo-european spoken
4000 BC to 3500 BC = Pit Grave / Yamna culture
4000 BC to 2700 BC = Funnelbeaker culture
4000 BC = Beekeeping in Spain
3700 BC = Naqada culture begins in Egypt; beginning of Minoan culture on Crete
3600 BC = Tin mined in Cornwall
3600 BC to 2400 BC = Sumer flourishes
3500 BC = Egyptians develop hieroglyphic writing; Sumerians develop cuneiform writing
3300 BC = Ötzi the Iceman lived
3200 BC to 2300 BC = Corded Ware culture
3200 BC = First true Egyptian civilization
3150 BC = The tomb in Newgrange built
3100 BC to 2600 BC = Skara Brae populated
3100 BC to 2000 BC = The Seine-Oise-Marne Culture in France
3100 BC = First stage of Stonehenge begun
3050 BC = Menes unites upper and lower Egypt
3000 BC = Troy founded; Minoan civilization flourishes; true cities in Mesopotamia
2832 BC = The bristlecone pine tree, Methuselah, germinates in California
2800 BC to 1900 BC = Beaker culture
2600 BC = Harappan civilization flourishes in Mesopotamia; first flush toilets!
2550 BC to 2490 BC = Great Pyramids at Giza are built; the Sphinx is built
2500 BC to 2000 BC = The Hattic people thrive in Anatolia; Stonehenge construction continues
2500 BC = World population about 30 million
2450 BC = Beginning of the Celtic invasions of Europe; Battle Axe culture begins
2400 BC = Earliest known ski
2340 BC to 2180 BC = Akkadian empire established; Sumer disappears
2300 BC = First significant use of metals in northern Europe
2285 BC = Enheduanna born in Akkadia--first author known by name
2200 BC to 1700 BC = The Hittites conquer the Hattians
2180 BC = Agade, the capital of Akkadia, destroyed by the Guti army
2100 BC = Code of Ur-Nammu written; Gilgamesh epic written; Nanna Ziggurat built in Ur
2071 BC = Magh Ithe, the earliest recorded battle in Ireland
2049 BC = Seahenge built
2037 BC = Brewed tea invented in China
2004 BC = Ur destroyed by the Elamites
1932 BC = Amorites conquer the rebuilt city of Ur
1900 BC = Linear A written in Crete; fall of the Sumerian dynasty; Proto-Greeks invade Greece
1818 BC = Egyptians invade Israel
1770 BC = Babylon becomes the largest city in the world
1700 BC = Last pygmy mammoth on Wrangel Island dies
1627 BC = The eruption of Thera begins the decline of the Minoan civilization and possibly causes the collapse of the Xia dynasty in China
1600 BC = Phonecia flourishes
1595 BC = Babylon sacked by the Hittites
1469 BC = Egypt defeats Canaan at Megiddo
1420 BC = The Mycenaean period begins on Crete
1372 BC = The Hittites conquer the Mitannis
1345 BC = Pharaoh Amenhotep IV of Egypt begins the Cult of Aten; renames himself Akhenaton
1340 BC = King Tut born
1337 BC = Queen Nefertiti vanishes from the historical record
1300 BC = The Urnfield culture
1274 BC = Earliest known peace treaty signed between the Hittites and the Egyptians, following the battle of Kadesh in Syria
1225 BC = Helen of Troy possibly born
1200 BC to 1100 BC = The Bronze Age Collapse--the end of the Hittite Empire, the Mycenaean kingdoms, and the Egyptian New Kingdom
1200 BC to 100 BC = The Etruscan culture
1194 BC = The Trojan war begins
1184 BC = Troy falls
1146 BC = Nebuchadnezzar I becomes king of Babylon
1050 BC = Dorian Greeks enter the Greek Peninsula; Philistines capture the Ark of the Covenant
900 BC = Villanovan culture begins in Italy
814 BC = Carthage founded
753 BC = Rome founded
586 BC = Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon takes Jerusalem
509 BC = Rome becomes a republic
399 BC = Socrates dies
347 BC = Plato dies
323 BC = Alexander the Great dies
322 BC = Aristotle dies
216 BC = Hannibal defeats Rome at the battle of Cannae
146 BC = Carthage falls during the Third Punic War
73 BC = King Herod born
30 BC = Cleopatra and Antony commit suicide; Herod becomes King of Judaea
10 BC = The Second Temple in Jerusalem inaugurated
4 BC = King Herod dies
