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The American Revolution
The American Revolution was a political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. -
William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence
Songs of Innocence was the first of Blake's illuminated books published in 1789. The poems and artwork were reproduced by copperplate engraving and colored with washes by hand. -
Mary Wollstonecraft critiques female educational restrictions in A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is a declaration of the rights of women to equality of education and to civil opportunities. The book-length essay, written in simple and direct language, was the first great feminist treatise. -
Charles and Mary Lamb publish Tales from Shakespeare
Tales from Shakespeare is an English children's book written by Charles Lamb with his sister Mary Lamb in 1807. The book reduced the archaic English and complicated storyline of Shakespeare to a simple level that children could read and comprehend. -
English artisans called Luddites riot and destroy textile machines, fearing that industrialism threatens their livelihoods
The Luddites were trying to save their livelihoods by smashing industrial machines developed for use in the textile industries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Some Luddites were active in Lancashire also. They smashed stocking-frames and cropping frames among others. There does not seem to have been any political motivation behind the Luddite riots; equally, there was no national organisation. They attacked anything they saw as a threat to them. -
United States declares war on Great Britian
The War of 1812 was a 32-month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire and their Indian allies which resulted in no territorial change, but a resolution of many issues which remained. -
Brother's Grimm begin to publish Grimm's Fairytales
The Grimm brothers wrote classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White. The fairytales eventually totaled 209, according to Carnegie Mellon University. -
Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet and the haughty Darcy. -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution (1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a lasting impact on French history and more broadly throughout the world. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years. -
Mary Shelley, daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, publishes Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published in 1818, when Mary was 21, and became a huge success. The first edition of the book had an unsigned preface by Percy Shelley. Many, disbelieving that a 19-year-old woman could have written such a horror story, thought that it was his novel. -
One of the series of ineffective Factory Acts prohibits employment of children under nine
A succession of laws on child labour, the so-called Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work, those aged 9-16 could work 16 hours per day per Cotton Mills Act. In 1856, the law permitted child labour past age 9, for 60 hours per week, night or day. In 1901, the permissible child labour age was raised to 12. -
Noah Webster publishes An American Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's first dictionary only sold 2,500 copies. He was forced to mortgage his home to develop a second edition, and his life from then on was plagued with debt.In 1840, the second edition was published in two volumes. On May 28, 1843, a few days after he had completed revising an appendix to the second edition, and with much of his efforts with the dictionary still unrecognized, Noah Webster died. -
Charles Darwin serves as naturalist on HMS Beagle during expedition along the coast of South America
Charles Darwin’s five-year voyage on H.M.S. Beagle has become legendary, as insights gained by the bright young scientist on his trip to exotic places greatly influenced his masterwork, the book On the Origin of Species. -
Victor Hugo publishes The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and is a metaphor for Esmeralda, the main character of the story. -
Slavery is abolished in British Empire
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (citation 3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73) was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire. The Act was repealed in 1998 as part of a wider rationalisation of English statute law, but later anti-slavery legislation remains in force.
