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Jamestown, Virginia
The First permanent English settlement is founded in Jamestown, Virginia -
Galileo
Inquisition condemns Italian scientist Galileo for supporting Copernicus's theory. -
Shakespeare Dies
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Slaves
The first enslaved Africans arrive in North America at Jamestown. -
Pilgrims
The Mayflower pilgrims establish the MAssachusetts Bay Colony at Plymouth. -
John Smith
John Smith publishes The General History of Virginia -
William Bradford
William Bradford describes his journey across the Atlantic and pilgrims' settlement in Of Plymouth Plantation. -
School
North America's First public school is founded in Boston. -
First Book
Bay Psalm Book is the first book to be printed in America. -
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet's poems, collected as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, are published in London -
Cape Town
Dutch found Cape Town on the southern tip of South Africa. -
King Philip's War
The Puritans' victory in King Philip's War ends Native American resistance in New England colonies -
Mary Rowlandson
Mary Rowlandson publishes The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, an account of her captivity at the hands of Algonquain Indians -
Pennsylvania
William Penn founds the colony of Pennsylvania. -
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, considered to be the most important work of the Scientific Revolution. -
Quakers Opposition
Quakers voice opposition to slavery. -
Witch Trials
Salem witch trials show atmosphere of mass hysteria. -
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather publishes The Wonders of the Invisible World in defense of the Salem witch trials. -
Matsuo Basho
The Japanese poet, known for revitalizing the haiku form, dies. -
Boston Newsletter
The Boston Newsletter, the first American newspaper, is established. -
The Dogood Papers
Benjamin Franklin uses humore to crticize the Puritan establsihment in his first published work -
Peter the Great Dies
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Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver's Travels.
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Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards delivers a sermon called, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The sermon typifies the religious movement known as the great awakening -
Ohio Valley Territory
The six nations of the Iroquois Confederation cede Ohio Valley territory north of the Ohio River to Britain. -
Population
Calcutta's population reaches 120,000 -
Catherine The Great
Catherine the Great, an "enlightened despot," becomes empress of Russia. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party marks a violent rejection of Britain's taxation policies. The Revolutionary War begins two years later. -
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams writes her first entry in what is published as Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife, Abigail -
July 4th
Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence. -
End of the American Revolution
British defeat at Yorktown ends the American Revolution -
Bhagavad-Gita
The Indian sacred text the Bhagavad-Gita is trranslated into English for the first time. -
The U.S. Constitution is approved
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Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of... Olaudah Equiano details harsh treatment of captive Africans. -
The classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber is published
