Q. Is there a book that will tell me just a few sentences about what significant events happened each year since the beginning of time?

Surprisingly, yes. The books usually have the word "chronology" in the title, and you'll find them at the beginning of the D section in reference. But bear in mind, most of the things we consider "significant" involved specific events in human history. Dinosaurs, for example, didn't keep very good records of annual events.