Greetings, Redditors

In France, history classes always divide history in 4 periods:

• Antiquité (Antiquity): starting around 3500 and 3000 B.C. with the invention of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt;

• Moyen-Âge (Middle Ages): beginning in 476 A.D. with the Fall of Rome;

• Temps modernes (Modern Times): usually starting in 1492 (discovery of America by Columbus) or 1453 (the Fall of Constantinople);

• Époque contemporaine (Contemporary era): beginning in 1789 with the French Revolution.

This periodization of history is obviously designed for a Eurocentric history therefore I was asking myself:

• How do other civilizations divide their history? For example, the Fall of Rome didn't impact China much, so when did Chinese Antiquity end? Another example would be the US since their Revolution would be the start of the Contemporary Era. Are there timelines showing the different "cultural" periodizations side by side?

• How did ancient historians divide time?

• Are these periods a consensus or do they cause controversy?

• Which historians are behind it?

• The gradual shortening of these different periods shows a sort of "acceleration of history", is it real?

• Do they have any actual academic value in the study of history or is it only a way to popularize and simplify history?

• Finally, are we already in a new era? If yes, what would be the starting point?