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Wedgwood & Davy
Thomas Wedgwood and Sir Humphrey Davy are known for their contribution to photography by using silver nitrate and the chemical action of light to create and copy images. -
Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, which doubled the land of the United States. This purchase was essential in establishing what is known as the modern United States as it expanded our country westward. "Part or all of 15 states were eventually created from the land deal, which is considered one of the most important achievements of Thomas Jefferson’s presidency." -
Invention of Coffee Pot
Benjamin Thompson is noted for creating a percolating coffee pot which helped to strain coffee grounds. Prior to this invention, coffee was chewed. -
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Britain over issues with trade and impressment. The war ended in 1814 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. -
Niépce
Joseph Nicéphore Niécpe is credited with creating the first photograph through the process he deemed "heliography", where he used a pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea attached to the camera obscura. -
Louis Daguerre and the Daguerreotype
The photograph "View of the Boulevard Tu Temple" was taken by Louis Daguerre in Paris, France. This is considered to be the first image of a human being in a photograph. The process by which he used was then patented as the "Daguerreotype". -
End of Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was from about 1760 to 1840, which introduced new manufacturing processes as a result of technological innovations in both Europe and the United States. This point in history was a major turning point for the United States. -
Hippolyte Bayard
Bayard created a process for the direct positive print that was considered to be more elegant and simple than that of Niepce and Daguerre. He produced this "Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man" as a reaction to his feelings about being lesser known for his work. -
Calotype patented
Fox Talbot patented the calotype in 1841, which became the basis for photographic reproduction via use of the negative produced by its process. His first known photograph was "Latticed Window". -
First Photographic Book
Anna Atkins, a scientific illustrator, self published her work in Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. This book is considered to be the first book ever to be illustrated exclusively with photographs. Atkins used the cyanotype process to create her illustrations. -
Mexican-American War
The Mexican-American War was fought over the boundaries of Texas and control over California. The war was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848 with America winning the titles to both Texas and California. -
Patent of Sewing Machine Invention
Elias Howe patented his creation of the sewing machine in 1846, revolutionizing the way that clothing was made. Prior to this invention, people sewed their clothing by hand. -
Photography in Ethnology
Photography was used as a method in 1850 by naturalist Louis Agassiz as a way to scientifically justify racial inequality, insisting that Negro men were a different species rather than that all men came from the same ancestry. This photograph was taken by J.T. Zealy for Agassiz. -
Roger Fenton
The Crimean War was the first conflict to produce a vast amount of war photos. Upon the most renowned photographers of this conflict was Roger Fenton, who produced "Valley of the Shadow of Death". -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris settled the Crimean War, declaring the Black Sea to be neutral territory. Involved in this agreement were: France, the UK, Ottoman Empire, Sardinia, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. -
John Murray
John Murray was one of the first Western photographers in India and was most known for his large-scale photos and panoramas which used two or three connecting photos. This photo is called "Panorama of the West Face of the Taj Mahal". -
Henry Peach Robinson
Robinson learned to combine negatives from Rejlander, and created this controversial but powerful image called "Fading Away" by combining 5 negatives. -
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll is best known for his book Alice in Wonderland. He was also interested in photography, including adults, landscapes, architecture, and children. This is a photo of Alice Liddell as "The Beggar Maid", which has been scrutinized in current day as being too suggestive. -
Matthew Brady
Matthew Brady was a prominent photographer of the Civil War, despite having much help from operators such as Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Grady. Brady photographed many important figures of the time like Abraham Lincoln. -
Beginning of Civil War
The Civil War was fought between the northern and southern United States from 1861 to 1865, and primarily started over controversy over enslavement in the southern states.By the end, the southern infrastructure collapsed and slavery was abolished. -
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order given by Abraham Lincoln in the third year of the Civil War which changed the legal status of all enslaved African Americans to free. -
Nadar
French photographer Nadar pioneered aerial photography, with his first surviving photograph being taken from 1866. His earliest efforts of aerial photographs did not survive, so the first aerial photograph known was by James Wallace Beck in 1860. -
Yellowstone National Park
On March 1, 1872, Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the formation of the first national park in the United States. -
Peter Henry Emerson
Emerson's notion of photography was based on science rather than art theory, and he did not see it as a way to express art or emotions. Emerson argued that photos should include a main subject, and the remaining imagery should become indistinct - similar to how the eye sees things. -
Kodak Camera
George Eastman began manufacturing the Kodak Camera. Their slogan was "You press the button- we do the rest". -
Portraits for Police Mugshots
Alphonse Bertillon invented standardized police mug shots, which were previously done using full body shots. The photos which Bertillon created contained fixed lighting and angles with full face and profile views.
