-
Period: 1789 BCE to 1813 BCE
The Reign of Napoleon
Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d'état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804 -
Period: to
American Revolution
The American Revolution is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence. The conflict came from growing tensions between the people of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. -
Period: to
The Reign of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI (1754-1793) Louis was born at Versailles on 23 August 1754. In 1770, he married Marie Antoinette, daughter of the emperor and empress of Austria, a match intended to consolidate an alliance between France and Austria. In 1774, Louis succeeded his grandfather Louis XV as king of France. -
James Watt Perfecting the Steam Engine
The Watt steam engine, developed sporadically from 1763 to 1775, was an improvement on the design of the Newcomen engine and was a key point in the Industrial Revolution. Watt's two most important improvements were the separate condenser and rotary motion. -
Period: to
Development of The Spinning Mule
The Spinning Mule was invented by a man called Samuel Crompton, born in Bolton Lancashire in 1753. He made it for -
Period: to
Simon Bolivar
Simón Bolívar, byname The Liberator or Spanish El Libertador (born July 24, 1783, Caracas, Venezuela, New Granada [now in Venezuela]—died December 17, 1830, near Santa Marta, Colombia), Venezuelan soldier and statesman who led the revolutions against Spanish rule in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. -
Period: to
The French Revolution
The financial strain of giving old debt and the excesses of the current royal court caused no satisfaction with the monarchy. Also, it contributed to national unrest, and culminated in the French Revolution of 1789. -
Period: to
The Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was the result of a long struggle on the part of the slaves in the French colony of St. Domingue, but was also propelled by the free Mulattoes who had long faced the trials of being denoted as semi-citizens -
Development of the Cotton Gin
In 1794, United States born inventor Eli Whitney (1765-1825) made the cotton gin, a machine that completely changed the production of cotton by speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export. -
Period: to
The Wars of Independence in Latin America
Central American Nations Declare Independence From Spain, the 15th of September, 1821. This day in 1821 was an historic day for much of Central America as, after almost three centuries of colonial rule, the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, gained independence from Spain -
Period: to
Congress of Vienna
assembly in 1814–15 that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. It began in September 1814, five months after Napoleon I’s first abdication and completed its “Final Act” in June 1815, shortly before the Waterloo campaign and the final defeat of Napoleon. The settlement was the most-comprehensive treaty that Europe had ever seen. -
Period: to
Unification of Italy
The formation of the modern Italian state began in 1861 with the unification of most of the peninsula under the House of Savoy (Piedmont-Sardinia) into the Kingdom of Italy. Italy incorporated Venetia and the former Papal States (including Rome) by 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) -
The Taiping Rebellion
A radical political and religious upheaval that was probably the most important event in China in the 19th century. It lasted for some 14 years (1850–64), ravaged 17 provinces, took an estimated 20 million lives, and irrevocably altered the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12). -
Period: to
The Greek War of Independence
The revolt began in March 1821 when Alexandros Ypsilantis, the leader of the Etairists, crossed the Prut River into Turkish-held Moldavia with a small force of troops. Within a year the rebels had gained control of the Peloponnese, and in January 1822 they declared the independence of Greece. -
Period: to
The Opium War
Opium Wars, two armed conflicts in China in the mid-19th century between the forces of Western countries and of the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1911/12. The first Opium War (1839–42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Britain and France against China. -
Publishing of the Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, was published in London by a group of German-born revolutionary socialists known as the Communist League. -
Period: to
The Crimean War
It was fought by Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia. It started in October 1853 – although Britain and France only became involved in 1854 – and ended in February 1856. -
Bessemer Process Developement
Sir Henry Bessemer, and inventor and engineer who created the first process for manufacturing steel inexpensively, in 1856. This leading to the development of the Bessemer converter, and he was then knighted in 1879. -
Period: to
The Sepoy Rebellion
As a result of the Sepoy Mutiny, which some call the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British government dissolved the British East India Company. The British government then began administering those areas directly, and Queen Victoria became Empress of India. -
The Origin of the Species
It was not until he was 50 years old, in 1859, that Darwin finally published his theory of evolution in full for his fellow scientists and for the public at large. He did so in a 490 page book entitled On the Origin of Species. -
Emancipation of Russian Surfs
A 1907 painting by Boris Kustodiev depicting the muzhiks listening to the proclamation of the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861. The system was tied with the Russian peasants unheard by their landlords, and this was abolished at the Tsar's imperial command. -
Meiji Restoration
This was the political revolution in 1868 that brought about the final demise of the Tokugawa shogunate (the military government)—thus ending the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603–1867)—and, at least nominally, returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under Mutsuhito. -
The Building of The Suez Canal
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. -
Unification of Germany
The man who did most to unite the German states was Otto Von Bismarck. He was the Prussian Chancellor and his main goal was to strengthen even further the position of Prussia in Europe. His primary aims were to: unify the north German states under Prussian control. -
Period: to
Berlin West Africa Conference
Berlin West Africa Conference, a series of negotiations (Nov. 15, 1884–Feb. 26, 1885) at Berlin, in which the major European nations met to decide all questions connected with the Congo River basin in Central Africa. -
Founding of The Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress, byname Congress Party, broadly based political party of India. Formed in 1885, the Indian National Congress dominated the Indian movement for independence from Great Britain. -
Period: to
The Boer War
The South African Boer War begins between the British Empire and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa. -
Period: to
The Building of the Panama Canal
Building the Panama Canal, 1903–1914. President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the realization of a long-term United States goal—a trans-isthmian canal. Throughout the 1800s, American and British leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. -
Period: to
The Russian and Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria. In 1898 Russia had pressured China into granting it a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur (now Lü-shun), at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula, in southern Manchuria. -
All-India Muslim League Founding
The All-India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka Bangladesh. Muslim League, original name All India Muslim League, political group that led the movement calling for a separate Muslim nation to be created at the time of the partition of British India (1947). -
Henry Ford Assembly Line
On this day in 1913, Henry Ford installs the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes.