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1492
Isabella & Ferdinand unify Spain
They freed Spain from Muslim rule. -
Apr 22, 1509
Henry VIII reigns in England
Henry VIII's reign is usually remembered for the King's six wives and his legendary appetite. -
1558
Elizabeth I reigns England
Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sister's death in November 1558. -
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued under Henry of Navarre after he ascended to the French throne as Henry IV, effectively ended the French Wars of Religion by granting official tolerance to Protestantism. -
Don Quixote is published
Miguel de Cervantes' El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, better known as Don Quixote, is published. The book is considered by many to be the first modern novel and one of the greatest novels of all time. -
Thirty Years War
Radically altered the balance of power in Europe and resulted in reduced influence over political affairs for the Catholic Church, as well as other religious groups. -
Petition of Right signed
The Petition of Right was sent by English Parliament to King Charles I to complain about a series of breaches of law he had made. He was compelled to agree to the petition in order to receive money for his lifestyle and policies. -
Louis XIV reigns as king of France
The reign of Louis XIV is often referred to as “Le Grand Siècle” (the Great Century), forever associated with the image of an absolute monarch and a strong, centralized state. -
The Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was an English Parliament that lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. -
Peace of Westphalia is signed
On 24 October 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia was signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War. Ratification of the Peace of Münster (Gerard ter Borch, Münster, 1648). -
Charles II reigns England
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Henrietta Maria of France. -
Thomas Hobbes publishes “Leviathan”
Hobbes wrote many books and contributed to many academic fields, but his 1651 book Leviathan or the matter, forme and power of a commonwealth ecclesiasticall and civil is the one he is best remembered for. -
Peter the Great reigns as czar of Russia
Peter the Great, born Petr Alekseevich Romanov, was Tsar, later Emperor, of Russia from 1682 until his death in 1725, co-reigning with his half-brother, Ivan V, from 1682 to 1696. Peter the Great's influence on Russian society and culture cannot be overstated. -
Sabastian Bach height of his career
Sabastian spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as both organist and music director. -
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution is the term first used in 1688 to summarise events leading to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in November 1688, and his replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband and James's nephew William III of Orange, de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. -
English Bill of Rights signed
An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown. -
John Locke publishes “Two Treaties of Government”
Two Treatises of Government, major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke, published in 1689 but substantially composed some years before then. -
Daniel Dafoe publishes “Robinson Crusoe”
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents. -
Jonathan Swift publishes “Gulliver’s Travels”
Gulliver's Travels was first published in 1726, and three centuries later it remains in full force. This famous satirical novel is both an adventure story and a devious philosophical reflection on the constitution of modern societies. -
Frederick II reigns Prussia
Frederick II ruled Prussia from 1740 until his death, leading his nation through multiple wars with Austria and its allies. His daring military tactics expanded and consolidated Prussian lands, while his domestic policies transformed his kingdom into a modern state and formidable European power. -
Baron de Montesquieu publishes “The Spirit of Laws”
Montesquieu's greatest work, De l'esprit des lois (The Spirit of Laws), was published in 1748. It is a comparative study of three types of government: republic, monarchy, and despotism. Montesquieu held that governmental powers should be separated and balanced to guarantee individual rights and freedom. -
Denis Diderot publishes his “Encyclopedia”
The Encyclopédie, Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné Des Sciences, Des Arts Et Des Métiers, often referred to simply as Encyclopédie or Diderot's Encyclopedia, is a twenty-eight volume reference book published between 1751 and 1772 by André Le Breton and edited by translator and philosopher Denis Diderot. -
Seven Years War
The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Voltaire publishes “Candid”
Trying to find and marry Cunégonde, a young woman with whom he is in love, even leaving the gold city of El Dorado to be with her. He encounters many misfortunes and though he does ultimately marry Cunégonde, he no longer loves her. -
George III reigns England
George III, who ruled between 1760 and 1820, was the first truly British monarch of the Hanoverian kings. -
Jean Jacque Rousseau publishes “Social Contract”
The Social Contract, originally published as On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Rights is a 1762 French-language book by the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. -
Catherine Great reigns Russia
Catherine II, most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. -
Joseph II reigns Austria
He was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the union of the Houses of Habsburg and Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which a group of nine British soldiers shot five people of a crowd of three or four hundred who were harassing them verbally and throwing various projectiles. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge. -
Adam Smith publishes “Wealth of Nations”
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, generally referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. -
Declaration of Independence signed
The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776, delegates began signing it. -
Battle of Yorktown
The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle because of the presence of Germans in all three armies, began September 28, 1781 and ended on October 19, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia -
Treaty of Paris
Between the American colonies and Great Britain, ended the American Revolution, and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. -
US Constitution ratified
Became the official framework of the government of the United States of America. -
Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revolution. -
Storming of the Bastille
The monarchy was overthrown and a republic set up based on the ideas of 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité' -
Tennis Court Oath
The National Assembly swore not to stop meeting until France had a constitution. -
Women’s march on Versailles
Crowds of Parisian market women marched on Versailles, demanding reforms. They besieged the palace and forced King Louis XVI of France to return with them to Paris. -
Declaration of the Rights of Woman
The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, also known as the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, was written on 14 September 1791 by French activist, feminist, and playwright Olympe de Gouges in response to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was written in 1791 and published in 1792, with a second edition appearing that same year. -
Radical Phase (French Revolution)
Initially, the monarchy was abolished and a republic was established. War continued throughout Europe. After the radicals gained control, those who were against the revolution were subject to arrest or execution. -
National Convention Formed
The National Convention (1792 – 95) was the first French assembly elected by universal male suffrage; it transitioned from being paralyzed by factional conflicts to becoming the legislative body overseeing the Reign of Terror and eventually accepting the Constitution of 1795. -
Committee of Public Safety created
The Committee of Public Safety was created by the National Convention in 1793 with the intent to defend the nation against foreign and domestic enemies, as well as to oversee the new functions of the executive government. Members were elected and served for a period of one month. -
Reign of Terror (French Revolution)
Reign of Terror, also called the Terror, French La Terreur, period of the French Revolution from September 5, 1793, to July 27, 1794. -
Five Man Directory created
The Constitution established a unique kind of executive, a five-man Directory chosen by the legislature. It required the Council of Five Hundred to prepare, by secret ballot, a list of candidates for the Directory. The Council of Ancients then chose, again by secret ballot, the Directors from that provided list. -
Napoleon Bonaparte becomes Emperor
In May 1804, he became Emperor of the French under the name of Napoleon I, and was the architect of France's recovery following the Revolution before setting out to conquer Europe, which led to his downfall. -
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. -
Battle Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire. -
Napoleon exiled to St. Helena
Napoleon arrived in St Helena on 15th October 1815, after ten weeks at sea on board the HMS Northumberland. -
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig decisive defeat for Napoleon, resulting in the destruction of what was left of French power in Germany and Poland. -
Congress of Vienna
A long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars through negotiation. -
Napoleon exiled to Elba
Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba.