1685- Johann Sebastian Bach is born, he is regarded as the father of European music (Thomas). He sets the rules of harmony, melody, and rhythm, which Debussy will break 200 years later (Thomas).
1862- Claude Debussy is born.
1872- Claude Debussy enters the Paris Conservatoire of music where he learns how to compose music (Knight 3).
1887- The piece "Printemps" is published. It is one of Debussy's earlier works, and it started the Impressionist period of music (Knight 4). This piece caused negative backlash from the people that listned to it (Knight 4).
1892-1894- Debussy writes "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", this piece however caused no criticism from the public (Ross). This marks the start of the Impressionist period as it starts to gain ground in the musical world (Ross).
1905- "La Mer" is published, this is regarded by many to be Debussy's greatest work (Ross).
1918- Claude Debussy dies.