A Brief Introduction To Islam

A Time-line
 
455 A.D. - Vandals (a mix of Arian Christians and pagans) sack Rome - Dark Ages begin
484 A.D. - First Schism of between Eastern and Western Churches
529 A.D. - Benedict founds the monastery at Monte Cassino
570 C.E. - Mohammed born in Mecca
610 C.E. - Mohammed begins having visions of the angel Gabriel while in a cave at Mt. Hira
615 C.E. - Sassanid Persians (Nestorian Christians) sack Jerusalem and take "the relic of the True Cross"
622 C.E. - The Hijrah (Hegira) - Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Yathrib (later called Medina)
632 C.E. - Mohammed dies in Medina and is succeeded by his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, who was called "Kalifat rasul-Allah" - "successor to the apostle of God"
634-637 C.E. - Muslims conquer the Sassanid Persian Empire (almost to India)
656-661 C.E. - disputes over succession to Mohammed between rival caliphs and Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law. This dispute split the Muslim world into "Sunnis" who followed "the custom" of appointed caliphs and the "Shi'a" (now Shi'ites) who believed only descendents of Ali could be caliphs
732 C.E. - Charles Martel defeats the Muslims at Poitiers, France stopping them from totaling engulfing Western Europe
1096-1099 C.E. - First Crusade, Jerusalem captured
1145-1148 C.E. - Second Crusade
1187 C.E. - Saladin leads Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem
1190-1191 C.E. - Third Crusade
1199-1204 C.E. - Fourth Crusade - which sacked Constantinople
1258 C.E. - Mongols capture Baghdad and over throw the Abbasids caliphate ending a 508 year Muslim dynasty
1389 C.E. - Ottoman Turks (Muslims) threaten Europe winning the Battle of Kossovo
1492 C.E. - Moors (Muslims) driven from Spain
1529 C.E. - Ottoman Turks lay siege to Vienna
1683 C.E. - Ottoman Turks lay siege to Vienna and Poland
1916 C.E. - The Arab Revolt (Lead by Feisal) which returned Arabs to power in the Middle East
1928 C.E. - consortium established for oil exploration in the Middle East
1948 C.E. - State of Israel founded