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Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili was born.
Dzhugashvili was born on December 21, 1879 in the small town of Gori in Georgia. He was born in a small hut to a poor family. Out of four children he was the only one to survive. Stalin's name given to him at birth was Dzhugashvili. Later on in life he went under aliases to prevent himself from being arrested. -
First modern Olympics.
In 1896 the first Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece. There were athletes from 14 different participating countries. There were 241 men and no women. There were a total of 43 events. This was the first of a long tradition of Olympic games that still go on today. They chose Athens as this was where ancient Olympic games took place. -
Expelled from seminary school.
Stalin was an excellent student and was the top of his class. He received a scholarship to go to the Orthodox Theological Seminary School in Tbilisi. During his time there he joined a secret study group to study the ideas of Karl Marx. He even joined the first Marxist group "Mesame Dasi". He was then expelled from the seminary school. These studies he underwent shaped his views and ideas for his future. -
Arrested for the first time.
Stalin was arrested for the first time in 1902. He was arrested for revolutionary actions. He helped the revolutionists by telling them all to wear their heavy coats to block the whips the police used. He also participated in the protests, his first revolutionary actions. For this arrest he was exiled to Siberia. Later on he was called upon to fight in WWI but was deemed unable due to a crippled arm. He was not however, sent back to Siberia. -
First controlled flight.
The Wright Brothers were the first people to have a successful controlled flight. The brothers built a craft in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The flight lasted a mere 12 seconds. It traveled 120 feet into a headwind that was 27 miles per hour strong. This was the first step in the airplanes of today. -
Boy Scouts of America.
The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated in 1910. It was created when a Chicago publisher W.D. Boyce was visiting London. he was guided by a boy who claimed to be a scout. It was a foggy day and he had lost his way when the boy helped him and refused a tip. Boyce met with the men at the headquarters and upon his return incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. -
Appointed to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party.
Stalin, after his exile was appointed to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party. This was his first step in seizing power. He was able to move up the ranks and serve under Lenin. He soon befriended Lenin and he looked up to his works in the paper about the revolution. Stalin wanted to follow Lenin in the revolution. -
General Theory of Relativity.
Einstein published his physics theory. The theory details how gravity arises from the curvature in space and time. He stated that massive objects such as planets, cause a distortion in space-time, which we feel as gravity. This was a tremendous achievement in science. He determined that the speed of light within a vacuum is the same no matter the speed of the observer. With this he found that space and time were woven into a continuum known as space-time. -
Bolshevik's claim power.
In 1917, the tsarist government was overthrown and the Bolsheviks seized power. The Bolsheviks now ruled over Russia after they were able to get the Petrograd soviets to overthrow the government. The government officials were soon all arrested. Soon after the revolution, an anti-Bolshevik force arose to take down the Red army. They were known as the White army. The two forces clashed and the Red army came out victorious. This was a large step up in power for Stalin. -
Lenin's death.
Stalin, under Lenin's suggestion, was promoted to General Secretary of the Committee. Lenin dies in 1924 because of a blood vessel the burst in his brain. Stalin soon has the thirst to take power and begins to eliminate his rivals using his position. He sullied their names while at the same time kept his own name clean. he was able to climb the ranks and replaced all the officers with men loyal to him. This effectively, made him the ruler of Russia. -
Al Capone arrested.
Al Capone was finally arrested in 1931. They could not find him guilty for his countless murders and other heinous crimes, but instead got him on something simpler. He was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years at Alcatraz. He was released in 1939 and died at his mansion in 1947. -
Stalin begins to purge Russia of his political opponents.
In 1933 he begins to round up everyone that he assumes to be an enemy to him. He rounds up eight million people and began to execute his rivals. He ends up executing eight hundred thousand people. This is a display of the power he has amassed and his cold heart. Stalin ruled with an iron fist and cared little about the lives of his comrades. He did not hesitate to send people to the gulags to work the rest of their lives. -
Nonaggression pact with Hitler.
In 1939, before WWII, Stalin signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler. Stalin planned to use this ten year peace time to amass his army while Hitler used it to invade Poland uncontested. A secret agreement was made under it and it described how they would split up Europe after the war. he pact was broken after Hitler invaded Russia in 1941. -
Yalta Conference.
Stalin met with Roosevelt and Churchill to agree to demand a surrender from Hitler. Stalin agreed to permit free elections in Eastern Europe and to enter he war against the Japanese. For it he would be granted the land taken from Russia in 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. They also scheduled another meting to create the united nations. Stalin soon broke his promise of free elections by installing his own governments ran by Soviets. -
Atomic bomb.
The first test of the atomic bomb was in 1945. It was tested on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. It was called the Manhattan project and would be used in WWII on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This ultimately led to Japans surrender. The bomb was invented under the direction of the scientist Oppenheimer. The bomb used a recently discovered technique called fission, which splits an atom in half causes a massive explosion. -
Stalin dies.
Stalin dies in 1953 at the age of 73. Years before he suffered from either a heart attack or from strokes. They left him in poor health since. This is what ultimately led to his death. This was the end of Stalin's hash rule. Nikita Khrushchev took power after his death. The end of Stalin's reign was marked with the power struggle Khrushchev had to take power.
