Realistically, your character may be ignorant of much if not all of these goings-on, or you may know them because you lived through them. For reference, the present is early 1490s DR.
The Time of Troubles–beginning 1358 DR. Gods walked the world as mortals. Some perished, and some mortals took the place of dead deities as gods themselves.
The Return of Netheril–1374 DR. The Empire of Netheril (an ancient human empire renowned for its magic that crumbled when its ruler attempted to usurp the throne of the god of magic) returned from the Shadowfell.
The Spellplague–1385 DR. This was a world-shaping event in which magic broke, arcanists went mad, the world was rent by blue flame, and much of the world’s geography disappeared.
The Second Sundering–1480s DR. The world experienced major political upheavals, massive geological disturbances, climate changes, weather catastrophes, war and famine, the ravaging of a great orc horde, and the wholesale destruction of great cities and empires. Many of the geographic changes brought by the Spellplague were undone amidst the chaos, as entire regions, realms, and cities returned to Toril.
By 1489, many of the wars fought during The Second Sundering came to an end, bringing us to present day. Effectively, that means much of the world remains undiscovered and unmapped because geography has changed so violently over the past century–entire areas have disappeared and reappeared.