Transition to the Modern World

  • 1347

    Black Death Hits Europe

    Black Death Hits Europe
    The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague, a disease caused by a bacterium infected fleas and rats pestis, that distributes among wild rodents where they live in numerous numbers and density. This was important because this was a deadly disease people were sick with and there hadn't been a cure yet.
  • 1440

    Printing Press

    Printing Press
    The printing press is a mechanical device for printing numerous copies of a text on regular sheets of paper. Primary invented in China 1041, the printing press as we know now was invented in the West by a German goldsmith and eventual printer, Joannes Gutenberg in the 1450s. This is important because if Gutenberg hadn't invented the printing press we wouldn't be able to print out papers as quick as we do today.
  • 1492

    Age of Exploration Columbus

    Age of Exploration Columbus
    Even though no birth records exist, church records indicate that William Shakespeare was baptized at the Holy Trinity Church in the explorer Christopher Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1992, 1493, 1498, and 1502. He was determined to discover a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Alternately, he unexpectedly stumbled across the Americans. This was important because he had discovered America on his four trip voyage.
  • 1498

    The Last Supper

    The Last Supper
    In the painting The Last Supper, Leonardo designed the effect that the place in which Christ and apostles are perceived as an extension of the refectory. This painting is important the wine refers to Jesus' blood that he shed for the cross.
  • 1503

    Mona Lisa

    Mona Lisa
    The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Rennaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that's been characterized as "the best knowledge, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most provided work of art in the world." This painting is important because it refers to the wife of a wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo to a new home and to celebrate the birth of their second son, Andrea.
  • Nov 10, 1517

    Luther's 95 Theses

    Luther's 95 Theses
    The 95 theses, became the establishment of the Protestant Reformation, were written in remarkably humble and academic tones questioning rather than accusing. The overall thrust of the record was nevertheless quite provocative. This was important because this later became the foundation of the Protestant Reformation.
  • 1560

    Children's Games

    Children's Games
    Children's Games is an oil on panel by Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted in 1560. The painting is produced in a town square, a wide street directing the viewer's eyes from the rural scenery of the background, into the urban backdrop of the foreground. This painting is important because it explains the change of generation what games children played.
  • Apr 26, 1564

    Birth of Shakespeare

    Birth of Shakespeare
    Even though no birth records exist, church records indicate that William Shakespeare was baptized at the Holy Trinity Church in Stanford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as William Shakespeare birthday.
  • Galileo's Telescope

    Galileo's Telescope
    The primary mechanism that Galileo used was a cruel refracting telescope. His initial version only magnified 8x but was soon refined 20x magnification he used for his observations for Sidereus Nuncius. It had a convex external lens and concave eyepiece in a long tube. This is important because Galileo invented a telescope people would find helpful looking up something closely.
  • The First Great Awakening

    The First Great Awakening
    The First Great Awakening was a series of Christians revivals that swept Britain and its Thirteen Colonies between the 1730s and the 1740s. This was an important event in American religion in the eighteenth century.