English Historical Fiction Research Timeline

  • Machu Picchu rediscovered by Hiram Bingham

    Machu Picchu rediscovered by Hiram Bingham
    Machu Picchu, an ancient mountaintop city built in the 15th century by the Inca, is rediscovered by a Yale University history lecturer named Hiram Bingham. This proves to be an extremely important historical discovery.
  • The Titanic sinks

    The Titanic sinks
    The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, a mere four days from her departure of her maiden voyage from Southampton, England. The tragedy took the lives of over 1500 passengers and crew. It was one of the most devastating maritime disasters in history and changed the regulations of modern maritime safety drastically.
  • Period: to

    World War I

    Unprecedented in the amount of bloodshed and destruction, World War I saw the Central Powers—Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey battling against the Allies—France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan and the United States in a bloody 4-year war.
  • Christmas Truce of 1914

    Christmas Truce of 1914
    On a rare occasion of wartime peace between sides, some of the British Expeditionary Force heard some German soldiers singing Christmas carols in their trenches. Spurred on by holiday spirit, messages started exchanging between sides and some men climbed out onto no man’s land. A temporary truce was formed and trenches were repaired, casualties were tended to. A few even started a game of football on no man’s land!
  • Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity released

    Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity released
  • Period: to

    Prohibition of alcohol in the US

  • ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F Scott Fitzgerald published

    ‘The Great Gatsby’  by F Scott Fitzgerald published
  • Electronic TV successfully demonstrated

    Electronic TV successfully demonstrated
  • Premiere of Mickey Mouse, ‘Steamboat Willie’ released

    Premiere of Mickey Mouse, ‘Steamboat Willie’ released
    Mickey Mouse, the cartoon mouse we all know and love, started his life as one of the world’s most famous characters in his debut in ‘Steamboat Willie’. It was a short black-and-white animation but it has been fondly remembered and watched by millions of people worldwide.
  • Wall Street Crash

    Wall Street Crash
    Some may call the historical Wall Street Crash of 1929 inevitable. Many factors led to this collapse of the stock market. A recession of the economy had already began to appear during the summer of 1929. The government at the time, led by president Herbert Hoover, also did not take much action to counter the crash, instead choosing to ignore the crisis.
  • Franklin D Roosevelt elected as US president

    Franklin D Roosevelt elected as US president
    In a landslide victory which saw Franklin D Roosevelt receive a whopping 472 electoral votes in the 1932 US presidential election, the Democrat won the seat to become the 32nd president of the United States. He went on to become a popular president that took on the Great Depression head-on.