historic period - an era of history having some distinctive feature; "we live in a litigious age"history - the aggregate of past events; "a critical time in the school's history" Elizabethan age - a period in British history during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century; an age marked by literary achievement and domestic prosperity Victorian age - a period in British history during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century; her character and moral standards restored the prestige of the British monarchy but gave the era a prudish reputation epoch, era - a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event antiquity - the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe golden age - any period (sometimes imaginary) of great peace and prosperity and happiness Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance Renaissance - the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world; a cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries Reign of Terror - the historic period (1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed; "the Reign of the Bourbons ended and the Reign of Terror began" reign - the period during which a monarch is sovereign; "during the reign of Henry VIII" Harlem Renaissance - a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished New Deal - the historic period (1933-1940) in the U.S. during which President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies were implemented Reconstruction, Reconstruction Period - the period after the Civil War in the United States when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877 Restoration - the reign of Charles II in England; 1660-1685 |