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American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War was fought by colonists attempting to secure independence from the crown of Great Britain. The war was started by the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and pitted the British Royal Army against the Continental Army of the colonists. The Continental Army was able to enlist the aid of the French government and its military to help secure the defeat of Great Britain. The war ended with the Battle of Yorktown, although officially with the Treaty of Paris. -
Storming of the Bastille- beginning of French Revolution
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Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin allowed cotton to be picked at a higher rate than by hand, allowing production on cotton farms to increase dramatically. In the southern United States, this led to an uptick in slavery as plantation owners sought to capitalize on the new production, and increasing demands from manufacturers. -
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Napoleon's Rise to Power
Napoleon gains political power in France beginning in 1799 and by 1804 he crowns himself emperor -
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War of 1812
The War of 1812 was the first major war fought by the United States. It established the U.S. as a major force in the world, and solidified the existence of the new nation and freed it from threats of hostile takeover. The war was fought against Great Britain over unfair trading policies, conscription, and territorial disputes. It was ended by the Treaty of Ghent, although the Battle of New Orleans occured after the treaty, and made Andrew Jackson famous. -
Mansfield Park by Jane Auston
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Battle of Waterloo
At this battle, Napoleon was defeated, signaling the end of his rule over France. -
Emma by Jane Auston
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Frankenstein published on1 January 1818
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Panic of 1837 and related depression
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Telegraph's Invention
Though invented prior to this date, May 24, 1944 is the most renowned date in relation to the telegraph as it is the day on which inventor Samuel Morse sent his first message. -
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
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Communist Manifesto
On this date, the Communist Manifesto, an influential work that would be used as the basis of Communist societies, was published by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. -
Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
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American Civil War
This war pitted the Union against the Confederacy in a battle over states' rights and slavery. The Confederacy was comprised of seceded Southern states, which ultimately lost the war for slavery because of poor funding for its army and high casualty rates caused by battle and sickness. This war was the bloodiest war ever fought by the United States, but ultimately led to abolition. -
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 14, President Lincoln was killed in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, while watching a production of the play of Our American Cousin. Booth assassinated the president in retaliation for the recent Confederate loss to the Union, although the assassination had been planned for many months to cause the Confederacy to win. Booth was later hanged with his co-conspirators. -
15th Amendment Ratified
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Telephone's Invention
This day marks the first time that inventor Alexander Graham Bell was able to transmit an oral message to another person through his invention, thus signifying its creation. -
Radio's Invention
Gugliemo Marconi invented the radio in 1895 with the successful use of radio wave transmission. Many other inventors were competing to build the radio first. -
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Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American took place from April 25th, 1898 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in December -
Creation of Ford's assembly line
Henry Ford installs the first moving assembly line -
U.S. enters World War I
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End of World War I
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The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
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Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willia Cather
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To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
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Great Depression
The end is somewhere in the early 1940s but the Great Depression, at least in the U.S., lasted from Black Tuesday basically to World War II. On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and everyone freaked out and thus began the Great Depression. -
THe Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
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Rebecca by Daphe Du Maurier
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The Death of the Heart; By Elizabeth Bowen
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The Death of the Heart by Elibeth Bowen
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World War II
Everyone knows World War II. -
Heart of a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCuller
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The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
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A Tree Grows In Broklyn By Betty Smith
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The Delta Wedding by Eudora Welty
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NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed on this day in accordance to the North Atlantic Treaty. -
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Korean War
The war fought between North and South Korea for control of the continent, in which China and the United States became involved. A ceasefire was declared to end hostilities in the war, but it technically continues today. -
The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy
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22nd Amendment
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Flannery O'Conner published Wise Blood in 1952
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Nectar in the Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
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Vietnam War
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Vietnam War
The U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam begins in 1959 and the war ends in 1975 -
First Russian in Space
On this day, Yuri Gagarin became the first Russian and human to enter space. -
First American in Space
Alan Shepard becomes the first American in outer space by completing a 15 minute sub-orbital flight -
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
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The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
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Assassination of John F. Kennedy
The assassination of President Kennedy while riding in an open motorcade through the streets of Dallas stunned many throughout the United States and the world. News of the incident was spread rapidly throughout the nation, and changed the political landscape much like 9/11 later would. The president's alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested that day, although he, too, was assassinated by an unknown man. Lyndon B. Johnson, the vice-president, was sworn in as president in the aftermath. -
Assassination of Malcolm X
Malcolm X, a black Civil Rights leader, was assassinated on this day. Malcolm X was known for his strong views on race, especially views advocating the separation of blacks and whites and an increase in "black power." He was a proponent of violence as a measure of protest, although he changed his views after his journey to Mecca as a Muslim. He was assassinated soon after declaring his moderate beliefs. -
Wide Saragasso Sea by Jean Rhys
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Assasination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. is assasinated, while standing on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee -
Robert Kennedy's Assasination
Robert Kennedy is shot, just after midnight following a speech he made, in Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. -
First Man on the Moon
Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon -
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
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Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
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Common Prayer by Joan Didion
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Final Payments by Mary Gordon
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The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
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The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
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Beloved by Toni Morrison
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Ann Tyler published Breathing Lessions in 1988
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Fall of the Berlin Wall
The border separating Eastern Germany from Western Germany was opened -
Arabian Jazz by Diana Abu Jaban
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We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
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The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
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The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
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9/11
On this day, terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners in United States airspace. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City, one was flown into the Pentagon, and the fourth was brought down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania by a passenger revolt against the hijackers. The events of this day launched the United States into an ongoing war in Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror, and has led to the creation of new security departments and regulations. -
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Afghanistan War
Current U.S. conflict in Afghanistan, War on terrorism -
Caramelo was published on September 30, 2002
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Iraq War
The Iraq War, or the Second Persian Gulf War, took place from 2003-2011 and entailed a U.S. occupation/invasion of Iraq -
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
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The Name Sake by Jhumpa Lahiri
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A Mercy by Toni Morrison