500 BC

Events

By place

Europe

• Vulca makes Apollo of Veii, from Portonaccio Temple. It's kept at Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome.
• The Nordic Bronze Age civilization ends and the Pre-Roman Iron Age begins in Scandinavia, according to the Oscar Montelius periodization system.
• Refugees from Teos resettle Abdera.

  Middle East

• Darius I of Persia proclaims that Aramaic be the official language of the western half of his empire.

  Africa

• Bantu-speaking people migrate into south-west Uganda from Northeastern Africa.
• The Hutu tribe begins around this time, in Middle and Southern Africa.
• approximate date
• * Hanno the Navigator's naval exploration of the western coast of Africa could have reached as far south as Gabon.

  Asia

• The first republic in Vaishali, Bihar, India is founded.
• States in existence include the Kingdom of Pratipalapura.
• Yayoi period starts in Ancient Japan.

  Mesoamerica

• The oldest known Zapotec writing appears.
• The Olmecs establish Monte Albán, the sacred city, and continue building pyramids. Founded toward the end of the Middle Formative period at around 500 BC, by the Terminal Formative Monte Albán soon becomes the capital of a large-scale expansionist polity that dominates much of the Oaxacan highlands and interacts with other Mesoamerican regional states, such as Teotihuacan to the north.

  By topic

Demographics

• World population reaches 100,000,000—the population is 85,000,000 in Eastern hemisphere and 15,000,000 in Western Hemisphere, primarily Mesoamerica.

  Arts and culture

• She-Wolf, with late 15th century or early 16th century additions, is made. It is now kept at the Museo Capitolino in Rome.

  Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Mesoamerican calendars are developed by the Olmec civilisation

  Births

• Anaxagoras, Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher

  How the world looked