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Jan 1, 1000
Middle ages - Start burning coal
During the middle ages, people in Britain ran out of firewood, they started burning coal. -
Jan 2, 1000
Samuel Newcomen invented a coal burning steam engine
They used up the coal on the ground, so they dug deep, but the coal mines were filled with water. Then, Samuel Newcomen invented a coal burning steam engine to pump out water so that the miners can keep digging for coals. -
Jan 3, 1000
Rails make it easier, railroad created.
Coal miners bog down lugging coal, rails make it easier. Rails and steam engine combined and to make a railroad. -
Jan 4, 1000
Michael Faraday made the first electric motor
Michael Faraday made the first electric motor. -
Jan 5, 1000
Nicola Tesla invented alternating current
Nicola Tesla invented alternating current. -
Jan 6, 1000
Utility companies started to burn coal to generate electricity
Utility companies started to burn coal to generate electricity. -
Jan 7, 1000
Edwin Drake drilled the first rock oil well in Pennsylvania
Edwin Drake drilled the first rock oil well in Pennsylvania. -
Jan 8, 1000
Gottlieb Daimler built an automobile running on petroleum
Gottlieb Daimler built an automobile running on petroleum. -
Jan 9, 1000
Coal tar and oil were turned into industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals that prolong life
Coal tar and oil were turned into industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals that prolong life; More population growth. -
Jan 10, 1000
The Wright brothers started oil fueled aviation
The Wright brothers started oil fueled aviation. -
Jan 11, 1000
Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch made fertilizer from fossil fuels
Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch made fertilizer from fossil fuels. Fertilizer and oil-powered tractors expand food production, it feeds more people. -
Jan 12, 1000
First fossil fueled conflict - WW I & WW II
World war one is the first fossil fueled conflict. Then comes world war
two, giving us guided missiles and atom bombs. In between is a great depression partly caused by overproduction. Powered assembly lines make products faster than people need them. -
Jan 12, 1000
Advertising executives invent consumerism to soak up overproduction
Advertising executives invent consumerism to soak up overproduction. -
Jan 13, 1000
Advertisers use television to hood new generations of consumers
Advertisers use television to hood new generations of consumers. -
Jan 14, 1000
Oil shock
In the 1970s, there was an oil shock. Everyone's shocked to realize how dependent they are on oil. With the energy crisis, the environmental movement is born. But oil prices fall, and everyone forgets energy shortages. There was a showdown between market and planned economies. Market won. Politicians decided that the market will solve everything. -
Jan 15, 1000
Personal computers arrived
Personal computers arrived. -
Jan 16, 1000
Globalization took over when the market notices labor is cheaper in China
Globalization took over when the market notices labor is cheaper in China. -
Jan 17, 1000
Everyone has a cell phone; World oil production stalls out
Suddenly everyone has a cell phone, but world oil production stalls out. -
Jan 18, 1000
China is now burning half the world's coal to make export products
China is now burning half the world's coal to make export products. Environmental problems everywhere. -
Jan 19, 1000
Rising CO2 levels and also sorts of environmental issues
Rising CO2 levels led to record heat waves, floods, droughts. Oceans acidify. Topsoil erodes by 25 billion tons a year from industrial agriculture. Ancient forests disappear. Species go extinct at a thousand times normal rates. Freshwater is scarce or polluted. -
Jan 20, 1000
Oil companies drill in sea (easy oil gone)
Oil companies drill in miles of sea water, because the easy oil is gone, but a deep water oil platform explodes and fouls the gulf of Mexico. -
Jan 21, 1000
Manufacturing moves to polluting countries where labor is cheap and other crisis
Manufacturing moves to polluting countries where labor is cheap while the U.S. becomes a casino. The financial sector is 40% of the economy. Wall street is over-leveraged. Banks fail, unemployment soars, credit evaporates. The economy is on the verge of collapse.