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Galileo Determines Planets Rotate Around Sun
Galileo determines through his invention of the telescope that the planets revolve around the sun, and not including the sun, revolve around earth. Galileo's work was considered anti-church, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. -
Thomas Hobbes Publishes "Leviathan"
The idea of a social contract was documented in its earliest stage in Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan." He stated that a person with absolute authority should rule a nation, and he should be responsible for ensuring the protection and prospering of his people. He came up with his ideas out of fear of political turmoil engulfing England at the time. -
Isaac Newton
An apple fell and hit his head when he was sitting under a tree and that is how he discovered gravity. He published a book about his findings on motion and gravity. The book was called Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. This book is the most influential book of time on physics. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was passed by the English parliament. King and Queen William and Mary also had to sign it before they got their positions as so. It prevented the Crown from raising taxes without parliament’s permission. It led way to England becoming a constitutional monarchy. -
Locke
Locke's major work was An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. It describes his theory of how the mind functions in learning about the world. Locke argued against the doctrine of innate ideas, which stated that ideas were part of the mind at birth and not learned or acquired later from outside sources. Locke claimed that all ideas were placed in the mind by experience. -
Daily newspaper
An important aspect of the growth of publishing and reading in the 18th century was the development of magazines and newspapers for the general public. The first daily newspaper was printed in London in 1702. They were cheap and free in many coffeehouses. -
Benjamin Franklin
He was born in Boston on January 17, 1706 and he was the tenth of seventeen children. His father intended for him to be part of the clergy but he could not afford the schooling needed to become part of the clergy. He became a printer and sold products on the streets at the age of twelve. His printing business was thriving and he retired to focus more on science. -
Rococo
The baroque and neoclassical styles that had dominated 17th century art continued into the 18th century. By 1730 a new style known as Rococo had spread all over Europe. -
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa took control of the Austrian
Empire in 1740. While she was not open to
the Enlightenment ideas, she did work to
improve the lives of the serfs. -
Austrian War of Succession
After the Austrian emperor Charles VI died in 1740, Frederick II of Prussia invaded Austrian Silesia, beginning the Austrian War
of Succession. France seized Madras and the Austrian
Netherlands, while Britain seized Louisbourg in North America. In 1748, a treaty returned all of the land except Silesia. -
Three basic governments
Montesquieu was a French noble. His Famous work "The Spirit of the laws" was a study of governments. He used the scientific method and found three different basic kinds of government; Republics, suitable for small states; despotism, appropriate for large states; and monarchies, ideal for moderate sized states. -
Encyclopedia
Diderot wrote 28 volumes of his book, "Encyclopedia." This book was to, " change the general way of thinking." It even became a weapon against the old French society. -
Seven year war
The Seven Years’ War started in 1756 and
became global as new alliances were
formed and as war broke out in
Europe, India, and North America. -
Catherine The Great Czarina of Russia
Catherine the Great was actually born in Germany, but she married the grandson of Peter the Great. Eventually she and several nobles became tired of her husband's rule, and they overthrew him, putting Catherine in charge. Catherine promoted arts and education, and continued Westernization. -
Social contract
In 1762 The social contract was created, through a social contract an entire society agrees to be governed by it's general will. Individuals who wish to not follow their own self interests must be forced to abide by the general will. -
Catherine the Great
In Russia, Catherine the Great started her ruling in
1762. She was familiar with works of
the philosophes and seemed to favor
enlightened reforms. -
Voltaire religious fight
Voltaire was known for his criticism of Christianity and his strong belief in religious toleration. He fought against religious intolerance in France and he reminded governments that, "all men are brothers under God." -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris granted the
French Canada, the lands up to the
Mississippi, and Spanish Florida to
Britain, and Spain received Louisiana. -
On Crimes and Punishments
One philosophe who proposed a new approach to justice was Cesare Beccaria. She argued that punishments should not be exercises in brutality. Also he apposed to capital punishments because he did not believe that it stopped others from committing crimes. -
Joseph II Comes Into Power
Joseph II of Austria became emperor in 1764. He was one of the most progressive emperors of his time. He got rid of executions and torture. He offered the poor food, and forced the nobility to pay them for their work. Joseph II even tolerated the Protestants and Jews in his nation. -
Mozart
By 1772 he had written about 25 symphonies, although not all of them can be found. Sadly some have been lost. His last piece of work was the opera Die Zauberflote, which can be translated to The Magic Flute. He established a new language of music called Classical Music. -
Laissez-faire
The state, should not interrupt the free play of natural economic forces by imposing regulations on the economy. Instead, the state should leave the economy alone, this became the doctrine laissez-faire. The meaning is "to let (people) do (what they want)" -
Adam Smith Publishes "The Wealth of Nations."
Adam Smith was one of the first men to advocate free market capitalism. He outlined this in his book, "The Wealth of Nations." This said that if markets were kept free from government regulation, the people participating in them would be richer, and to a further extent the government. -
Articles of Confederation
The first government under the Articles of Confederation was ineffective and did not give the government the power it needed to deal with the nation’s problems. A new government was established as a federal system under the United States Constitution, in which the national government and the state governments shared power. -
George Washington
George Washington was the general of the continental army and eventually was America’s first president. During the Revolutionary War he was the “person in charge” and this made everyone put their trust in him after winning the war. This contributed greatly to his election to the presidency. He died in 1799, leaving behind a great legacy. He was one of the first people to create a vision for educating public servants. -
Beethoven
In 1815 he began to suffer from depression after his brother died. His brother was to have co-guardians, Beethoven and his mother. Beethoven fought for full custody and won, causing the boy to commit suicide after the four year battle.
