(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
539 before our time: The Persian King Cyrus II (590-530) takes Babylon, in today's Iraq, and liberates the Jews. King Kyros guaranteed freedom of religion, slave prohibition and equality, as well as "freedom for all," as Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said in her Nobel Prize in 2003. Cyrus became a role model for Thomas Jefferson and the US Constitutional Fathers.
399 BCE: The philosopher Socrates (469-369) is sentenced to death by the Athens National Assembly. The accusation was that he was "corrupting the youth" and not believing in the right Greek gods. He drinks the poison cup.
265 BCE: Emperor Ashoka (304-232) unites India, goes over to Buddhism. Ashoka sets up stupas with her philosophy, which is based on non-violence, animal protection, religious freedom and tolerance for the opinion of others: "Other peoples' traditions deserve to be honored, for one reason or another"
221 BCE: The founder of the United China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260-210), bans all books of Confucianism. Thousands of books by Lao Tse, Mechius and Kon Fu Tse are burnt, and writers killed, in favor of Qin's own legal school.
About year 37 AD: The Jewish Palestinian Jesus is crucified by Roman soldiers in Jerusalem because of his words and nonviolent deeds.
604: Japanese Prince Shotoku (573-621) adopts a constitution, Kempo, on 17 articles: "Do not let us be negative when someone disagrees with us. For all people have hearts, and every heart has its own opinions. What is right for them seems wrong to us, and what is right for us seems wrong to others. ”
1215: Magna Carta is signed by King John (1166-1216) in England. Ensures that the king complies with the law to its inhabitants.
1575: Muslim mogul Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) builds the House of Faith outside Agra, India. Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Jainists, Zoroastrians and atheists are free to discuss their various beliefs here.
1600: Italian cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) is burned at a stake in Rome, convicted of making a false statement about Jesus, Christianity and the solar system.
1804: The lay preacher Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824) from Østfold is sentenced to seven years in prison for holding devotions without the parish priest's approval. In 1813 he was sentenced to two years of slavery.
1905: The radical pacifist and feminist Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914) is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as the first woman. Editor of non-violent newspaper Die Waffen nieder!
1922: Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) is sentenced to six years in prison by British government in India, due to his non-violence campaign for increased rights.
1948: On 10 December, the United Nations adopts human rights, including the right to speak freely.
1957: Agnar Mykles (1915-1994) novel The song about the red ruby (1956) is confiscated and banned by Norwegian courts. The appeal is later brought before the Supreme Court.
1980: Russian nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989), who in 1975 received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on human rights, is sent into exile to Gorky for his criticism of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
1989: Iran's Ayatollah Khomeni bans Salman Rushdie's novel Satanic Verses on Valentine's Day, February 14.