Astrology Timeline

History of astrology timeline from 4242 BCE to 1990

4242 BCE ~  Egyptian calendar in use, marking 12 months of 30 days each for a year of 360 days.

4000 BCE ~ Mesopotamia is the original home of astrology. Ziggurats, built by the Sumerians, are the first astrological observatories in the world. Astrologists keep track of the Sun, the Moon and 5 planets that they can see. What they learn is written in cuneiform on tablets of clay.

3500 BCE ~ Astronomical observations taking place in Mesopotamia, China and Egypt.

3000 BCE ~ Egyptian calendar is revised to 365 days.

2872 BCE ~ Astrologer priests are used by Sargon of Akkad to predict the future.

2700 BCE ~ In Egypt, the Great Pyramid of Khufu is constructed following factors based on astronomy.

2350 BCE ~ Solar and lunar eclipses are recorded by the Akkadians. Sargon creates summaries of these records onto 70 tablets. As his heirs continue to add to this database, it becomes known as the Namman-Bel.

2000 BCE ~ Babylonia replaces Sumeria. Astrologers in Babylon create zodiac signs and device accurate astronomical calculations.

1250 BCE ~ Egypt's Ramses II assigns fixed cardinal points in Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

700 BCE ~ The priests of Babylon create an ecliptic that they divide into 12 sections of 30 degrees each. These become the zodiac divisions.

670 BCE ~ Assyria's King Assurbanipal expands the astrological library at Ninevah.

668 BCE ~ The earliest surviving horoscope was cast in this year.

600 BCE ~ Astrology spreads from Babylonia to Greece, Egypt and the rest of the Middle East.

535 BCE ~ Pythagoras sets up a colony to learn about astrology, numerology and the occult arts.

475 BCE ~ The four elements of Earth, Fire, Water and Air are introduced into astrology as the 4-fold root of everything by Empedocles of Agrigentum. He theorized that nothing can be created or destroyed, only transformed.

460 BCE ~ Hippocrates studies the human body using astrological principles to relate the rhythms of the universe.

409 BCE ~ The oldest Babylonian horoscope dates from this time.

370 BCE ~ Eudoxus of Cnidus creates calendars using the zodiac with all 12 equal zodiac signs.

330 BCE ~ Alexander the Great spreads the knowledge of astrology throughout the Middle East. Greece personalizes astrology.

300 BCE ~ Greek astrology is introduced to India.

290 BCE ~ The legendary Alexandria becomes the center of astrological research.

250 BCE ~ Achinapolus and Antipatrus teach medical astrology based on the teachings of Berosus. They begin to experiment with natal horoscopes.

200 BCE ~ Astrology for predicting the future appears in Rome.

100 BCE ~ The Essenes develop the Qabbalah and esoteric astrology.

60 BCE ~ First school of astrology opens in Rome.

7 BCE ~ Three Magi astrologers predict the birth of Christ.

117 ~ Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, casts his own horoscopes.

150 ~ Ptolemy pens The Tetrabiblios, a comprehensive tome on astrology.

400 ~ Library of Alexandria is destroyed, including many of the world's texts on astrology.

476 ~ European astrology in decline after the Fall of the Roman Empire.

600 ~ The Church condemns astrology and tries to suppress it.

700 ~ Monks study astrology in secret in monasteries.

750 ~ Muslim astrologers revive Greek astrology.

1200 ~ The University of Bologna is the center for learning medical astrology.

1250 ~ Ancient magic and astrology is linked in the Speculum Astronomiae by Roger Bacon. Thomas Aquinas accepts the philosophical aspect found in astrology. The most famous astrologer at this time is Guidi Bonati. Emperor Frederick II consults astrologer Michael Scot. Astrology is taught at Cambridge University in England.

1280 ~ Johannes Campanus works for Pope Urban IV and develops a new way to divide astrological houses.

1400 ~ The invention of the printing press allows mass production of astrological writings to be distributed in Europe. Astrologers served many royal families in England, Italy, France and Austria. The Vatican promotes the instruction of astrology.

1450 ~ Famous astrologers of this time period: Charles the V of France and Pope Sixtus IV.

1474 ~ The first ephemeris is printed in Nuremberg, Germany.

1550 ~ Catherine de Medici often takes consultation with astrologers Ruggieri, Gauric and Nostradamus.

1552 ~ Martin Luther shows his support of astrology by writing the preface to Lichtenberger's astrology book.

1555 ~ Nostradamus rises to fame.

1570 ~ Queen Elizabeth employs John Dee as her astrologer. He helps design the Gregorian calendar.

1600 ~ Francis Bacon decries personal astrology while using divinatory astrology on groups of people. The astrology of mental illness is studied by Richard Burton. Six books on astrology are written by Tommaso Campanella in accordance with Church teachings. Shakespeare popularizes astrology by referring to it in his plays.

1610 ~ Astronomers Kepler and Galileo both dabble in astrology.

1645 ~ Nicolas Culpepper uses astrology to practice medicine. He uses herbal astrology and writes many books.

1650 ~ William Lilly produces Christian Astrology.

1666 ~ The Great Fire of London occurs as predicted by Lilly with astrology.

1733 ~ Poor Richard's Almanack is published by Benjamin Franklin, containing many astrological forecasts.

1770 ~ Christopher Witt, a physician and astrologer, assists Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington to choose the best designs, places and times in which to create the United States of America.

1816 ~ James Wilson publishes A Complete Dictionary of Astrology. This book provides basic information for anyone to interpret charts for the first time.

1825 ~ Raphael, aka Robert C. Smith, publishes the Manual of Astrology and prints an ephemeris that people still use today. He launched the first astrological publishing house to great success.

1844 ~ The British Association for Astral Science is established.

1862 ~ Frances Rolleston writes Mazzaroth, which explains all references to the zodiac in the Bible.

1875 ~ The Theosophical Society is founded in New York by Helena Blavatsky.

1880 ~ Richard Garnett attacks astrologers for not using astrology as a science.

1889 ~ Olney Richmond founds the Order of the Magi in Chicago, based on Christian occult astrology.

1890 ~ Astrological Magazine, later Modern Astrology, is first published.

1901 ~ The Portland School of Astrology in Oregon and the Llewellyn Publications Company are founded.

1908 ~ The Rosicrucian Fellowship is founded. It becomes known for its ephemeris and Table of Houses.

1922 ~ Astrology becomes all the rage in Germany.

1931 ~ Evangeline Adams uses astrology to predict that the United States will be involved in a great war in 1942.

1935 ~ Every major newspaper in the West publishes astrological forecasts.

1966 ~ A revival of interest in astrology and other occult topics occurs.

1967 ~ Andre Barbault, under the pseudonym of Astroflash, designs a computer program to cast horoscopes.

1975 ~ Astrology becomes modernized. It becomes computerized and is affected by Carl Jung's philosophy.

1976 ~ Robert Hand becomes one of the first astrologers to use a microcomputer and offers a computerized astrological service. He later launches Astro-Graphic Services, which later becomes Astrolabe astrological computing service.

1980 ~ Many of the astrological businesses enter the New Age lifestyle, adding organic foods, crystals, herbal remedies and more to their repertoire.

1990 ~ Computerized astrology rules supreme in astrological circles. Five main companies lead the pack: Matrix Software, Astrolabe Software, Time Cycles, Air Software and Cosmic Patterns. Programs are downloadable from the Internet.