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1473
Nicolaus Copernicus
Came up with the heliocentric theory, where the Earth revolves around the sun -
Thomas Hobbes
Believed that all people were naturally evil, and needed strong government to rule over them -
James I Dies
His son Charles I becomes king, and he also believes in divine right and does not get along with parliament. -
Petition of Rights Signing
Parliament made Charles I sign this to limit his power -
Galileo Galilei's Theory
Galilei claimed at the sun was the center of the universe, and was put on house arrest by the church for life because of it. -
The Restoration
The entertainment and fun in England was restored by Oliver Cromwell under the commonwealth -
Voltaire
An enlightenment thinker who was into freedom of speech and freedom of religion. -
Olaudah Equiano Writes his Auto-biography
This is both the first slave narrative and the first book published by a black in Great Britain. -
Meeting of the Estates-General
This was a meeting of representatives from all three estates. The meeting was initially called to vote on whether the second estate should be taxed. The Estates-General had not been called to meet since 1614. -
Storming of The Bastille
The people stormed the Bastille, a prison, in order to gain ammunition. They were going to use it to rebel against the first and second estates. In the process, they freed all 7 prisoners in attendance. The building was later destroyed during the revolution. -
The Bread March
People (mostly women) were marching to protest the high price of bread, which lead to marching into Versailles. -
Vendee Revolt
A rebellion to the revolution. This was brutally put down, as more than 20,000 rebels were slaughtered. -
Louis XVI is Beheaded
The National Convention voted 387 to 334 to execute the royalty. Marie Antoinette was killed later that year. -
Napoleon Creates the Banque of France
Napoleon created this bank to unify all of the banks in France -
Napoleon is Crowned Emperor of France
The story goes that Napoleon took the crown from the pope and put it on his head. We are certain if this is true, however -
Slave Trade is Outlawed Throughout the British Empire
While this did not ban slavery, it abolished the buying and selling of people on British soil. -
Napoleon Lands in France
This is because he escaped the island of Elba, the place he was exiled to less than a year ago -
Napoleon is Exiled to St. Helena
He stays on this barren rock until he dies of stomach problems on May 5, 1821 -
Hot Blast Steel
This type of steel was very pure, but also rather inexpensive -
Walhalla
A German building based on the Parthenon -
Reform Bill
This bill broadened the people eligible to vote in Great Britain from 2% to 3%. -
Michael Sadler's Attempt at Limiting the Working Hours for Minors
Sadler proposed a bill that would limit the hours of people under the age of eighteen to ten a day. This was initially rejected by parliament. -
The Peoples' Charter
Drafted by William Lovett, this reform gave all men the right to vote, allowed non-property owners to be members of parliament, and gave members of parliament a salary, among other things. -
The Start of the Opium Wars
When Great Britain traded Indian opium to China for Tea, many Chinese people became opium addicts. To stop this, China was trying to rehab the addicts, persecute the dealers, and stop any more opium from getting in China. While the first two went into action, Great Britain had a problem with China not accepting the opium shipments. Due to this, Great Britain declared war on China. This three-year war took place largely on the water, and Great Britain won easily due to the outdated Chinese Navy. -
The Year of Revolutions
In this year alone, many nations had revolts. These included France, Austria, Germany, and Italy. -
Cholera Outbreak in London
15,000 Londoners were killed, making it clear that something had to be done with the water problem in London -
The Crystal Palace
The largest enclosed space in the world when it was built, this museum hosted a large assortment of items brought back from around the British Empire as well as other innovative inventions and ideas. -
Coup d'Etat of Louis Napoleon
President Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, declared the Second French Empire and became Louis Napoleon III by vote of the people. -
The London Necropolis Company
Parliament passed an act creating the London Necropolis Company, which was not very well used. The London Necropolis only saw 3,200 burials a year for the first 20 years of its existence, and it only became less and less used. -
Treaty of Kanagawa is Signed
This treaty gave the United States the right to trade with Japan, which was rather forced on Japan. -
Siege of Sevastopol
French and British forces landed on the Crimean Peninsula and won the Battle of Alma River. This pushed the Russians back, leading to the siege. This phase lasted until the end of the war. -
Sepoy Mutiny of 1857
Also called the Indian war of Independence, this war was due to the Indian soldiers that were serving for the British rebelled due to rumors. The rumor was that the cartridges of gunpowder that you had to bite open were sealed with animal fat. Indians are vegetarian by religion, so they protested, sparking the mutiny. -
The Meiji Revolt
The Meiji were a group of Samurai that were led by Sakamoto Ryoma. In 1868, they rose up and overthrew the Shogun, giving the Emperor its power back. -
Suez Canal Made Operational
The Suez canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through Egypt. This was funded by France, built by Egypt, and then taken over by the British Empire in 1882. Great Britain did not fully leave the area until 1956. -
The Invention of a Practical Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell made the first useful telephone and got it patented as an apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically. -
The Berlin Conference
This conference was to divide up Africa between European powers. However, no Africans were invited to this meeting. The Europeans, ignorant of the tribal differences between Africans, divided up Africa based on size of land and water access instead of ethnical differences. -
Alfred Dreyfus is Sent to Devil's Island
Captain Dreyfus was accused of high treason when French military documents were found in the trash can of the German embassy in Paris. So, they sent him to Devil's Island, a prison island with an area of 35 acres just off the coast of French Guyana. -
The Boer War
This battle started in 1899 when the British tried to settle in south Africa, the area that the Boers currently inhabited. The Boers did not like this, so they went to war with Great Britain. However, the Boers lost the war three years later -
The Boxer Rebellion
In 1899, an anti-foreign society that came to be known as the boxers by the westerners, rose up and starting attacking people. Their targets were foreigners, Chinese Christians, and Chinese that were helping the foreigners. However, The United States, Europe, and Japan put and end to this, but not before thousands of Christians were killed. -
Australia Gains Independence from the British Empire
Australia then became the commonwealth of Australia. -
The First Successful Flight
Flyer, built and used by Orville and Wilbur Wright, was the first successful flying machine made. -
The Great Train Robbery
Directed by Edwin Porter, this is the first ever movie. -
Bloody Sunday
Peaceful protestors marched towards the Winter Palace to present a petition to grant better working conditions and rights to the Russian public. However, the Imperial Guards shot down all the protestors, leaving over a thousand dead. -
The Muslim League was Formed
The Muslim League was formed to protect the heritage and interests of Indian Muslims -
The Ford Model T is First Produced
Made until 1927, this was the first car that was affordable for commoners. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
A 19 year-old by the name of Gavrillo Princip (who was working with other Serbian nationalists) successfully fired two shots at Franz Ferdinand and his wife from point blank range while they were riding in a car through the streets of Sarajevo. This killed them both within minutes. -
The Battle of Verdun
Lasting almost the entire year, this battle was a German attack on the French city of Verdun where a million casualties were suffered. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allies wanted to sail between the western and eastern fronts via the Dardanelles, but the Ottoman Empire stopped them, with both sides taking heavy casualties. This has been reflected on as a large loss for the allies. -
Rasputin is Assassinated
Griogori Rasputin, a "monk" who believed that we need to sin more so that we can relieve ourselves of spirits, was assassinated one night in late December while attending a "party". The three assassins invited Rasputin, telling him there would be women, so he attended. They ended up poisoning him, shooting him, and then throwing him in a river to die of hypothermia. -
Representation of the People Act
Women over the age of 30 were now allowed to vote -
Red Terror
The Red Terror Campaign was launched by Joseph Stalin when his political opponents tried to assassinate him. Stalin ended up killing about 50,000. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Leon Trotsky was sent to Germany to negotiate with the Central Powers. They were given Russian territory in exchange for ending the war against Russia. -
The Assasination of the Royal Family and their Servants
Late in the night, the Bolsheviks keeping the family hostage told them to wake up. The Bolsheviks took them into the cellar, saying that they were going to take a picture of the family. They ended up lining the Romanovs up and executing them via firing squad. -
The Armistice is Signed
After four years of heavy fighting, the central powers must give up as Germany has no more men to go fight for them. This treaty, which stopped the fighting, was signed on November 11th, 1918. However, the full treaty about the repercussions of the war was not decided on until partway through 1919. -
Hitler Bceomes a NAZI
Adolf Hitler went to Munich to check out a small political party, with only 7 members at the time. This party was called the National Socialist German Worker's Party, which could be shortened to NAZI. Hitler joined the party. -
The Russian Civil War
This war was The Red Army (communists) vs. The White Army (everyone else). The White Army was composed of Russians against communism, along with Japan, Finland, and Poland. The Red Army ended up winning in 1921 because the coalition forces couldn't agree on anything. -
Mussolini is Invited in to the Italian Government
After Benito Mussolini threatened a Coup d’Etat in October 1922 King Victor Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to join the government, which he accepted. -
Beer Hall Putsch
Adolf Hitler and his 2,000 storm troopers attempt to take over the Munich government. They fail, but publicity for the NAZI Party grows. -
Dawes Plan
The Dawes plan was a loan from the United States to Germany over the course of several years that allowed Germany to pay for the reparations and regrow the industry. This was very successful in both of these, until the U.S. stock market crashed, and then all countries suffered economically. -
Hitler Becomes the Chancellor of Germany
Hitler made speeches in front of Germany saying that he would restore power to the "Fatherland". Germany was really tired of the weak Weimar Republic, and they were in an economic crisis. The Germans really needed Hitler to fix the country, so they voted more and more for the NAZI Party, which led to Adolf Hitler becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933. -
Fuhrer Hitler
After Hitler was Chancellor for all of two months, he convinced the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act in March 1933, which outlawed all political parties other then the NAZI Party. This essentially gave Hitler complete control of the country for life, and he became Fuhrer Hitler in 1934. -
The Rape of Nanjing
After the Chinese army of less than 100,000 surrendered to Japan, Japan stormed Nanjing, the capital city of China. They saw the surrender as cowardly and a violation to the code of military honor. So, the Japs went in and killed half of the 600,000 people living in the city at the time in horrific ways. -
Kritallnacht
Translating in English to "Glass night", this is also called :The Night of Broken Glass". This name is fairly accurate. Sparked by the assassination of German Diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a Polish Jew, many Jewish shops and businesses were raided. Many had their windows smashed, others were simply burned. Another target was Jewish Synagogues. Almost 100 Jews were murdered as well. -
NAZI Germany Invades Poland
The NAZI Invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II, as France and Great Britain declared war on the Third Reich on September 3. -
NAZI Invasion of Denmark and Norway
These Scandinavian countries were powerless to stop the Wehrmacht, and Denmark feel to the Nazis within hours. Norway surrendered a couple months later. -
Germany Invades Holland and Belgium
The Blitzkrieg was met with little resistance, and the NAZIs quickly dominated Northwest Europe. -
France Surrenders to the NAZIs
Part of France officially surrendered on this date. The other part, which came to be known as Vichy France, cooperated with the NAZIs and showed no resistance, so they were not occupied. -
The Tripartite Pact
This was the pact that joined the forces of Germany, Italy, and Japan to form the Axis Powers of WWII. -
The Final Solution
Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Adolf Hitler came up and agreed that “Europe would be combed of Jews from East to West” -
Hitler Issues the "Commissar Order"
"The originators of barbaric, Asiatic methods of warfare are the political commissars.... Therefore, when captured either in battle or offering resistance, they are to be shot on principle." -
The Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Japan bombed the U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor on December 7, declaring war on them at the same time. The reason for attacking the U.S. was because America was trying to stop Japan from invading China and Korea, so Japan wanted to be the one to strike first instead of being attacked. This was a huge success for Japan, as they killed 2,403 Americans, mostly military. The bigger accomplishment was that they sunk 6 battleships, three of them to never return. Japan also destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft. -
U.S. Surrender at Bataan
Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrendered the U.S. and Filipino armies to the Japanese at Bataan on April 4th, 1942. Japan saw this as cowardly, so they took those who surrendered on a death march, killing many of them on their way. They would be given no water, and only a couple of rice balls. The sun was very hot, and the prisoners would sometimes be forced to sit in the hot sun for hours, sustaining large sun burns. -
Ireland Gained Independence from the United Kingdom
After this, most of the island became the republic of Ireland. The only exception being Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. -
Establishment of the KGB
The KGB, which stand for "Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti", was the new secret police force in Russia, overtaking the Cheka from that position.
