<p>This paper reviews six seminal publications that mark key milestones in the development of radiocarbon (¹⁴C) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques in Quaternary geochronology. The principle of radiocarbon dating was first proposed by Libby in 1949, and its reliability, together with the necessity of calibration, was subsequently demonstrated by Stuiver in 1978. In 1980, Suess further identified the “wiggle” phenomenon in tree-ring ¹⁴C records, established its global coherence, and linked it to variations in solar activity. This work ultimately led to the development of the IntCal calibration curves and firmly established radiocarbon dating as a fundamental chronological tool in archaeology and Quaternary research. OSL dating was initiated by Huntley et al. in 1985 through the development of quartz OSL dating and was subsequently extended to potassium feldspar using infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) by Hütt et al. in 1988. Further methodological advances were achieved by Murray and Wintle in 2000, who refined the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol for equivalent dose (<i>D</i>_e) determination, substantially improving the precision and reliability of luminescence dating. Taken together, radiocarbon and luminescence dating are highly complementary. Radiocarbon dating primarily constrains the ages of organic materials, whereas luminescence dating directly determines the burial ages of quartz and K-feldspar grains in sediments. Their combined application provides robust, high-precision, and cross-scale chronological frameworks for studies of Quaternary environmental evolution, human activities, and climate events.</p>