This will outline some major years This is a brief chart of critical years in the major regions I'm looking at.

Silk Road	Monsoon	Silver
Antiquity	Antiquity	1492-Columbus reaches the Americas
1453-Fall of Constantiople leads to Turkish/Islamic hegemony in the middle east and Central Asia	1757-British secure dominance in much of India.	1571-Legazpi reaches the Philippines.
1991-Soviet Union collapses, adding several new countries to the region and reducing Rusisian dominance.	1869-Suez canal reduces naval reliance on the Cap of Good Hope.	1898-USA conquers what remains of the Spanish Empire including the Philippines with the USA domininating the Atlantic pacific bridge.