-
Period: to
The Enlightenment
-
Royal Academy Of Science Founded In France
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is one of the earliest academies of sciences. -
Isaac Newton Publishes The "Principia"
In his monumental 1687 work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts. It was Rousseau's first successful published philosophical work, and it was the first expression of his influential views about nature vs. society, to which he would dedicate the rest of his intellectual life. This work is considered one of his most important works. -
The 7-Year War Begins
The Seven Years War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, officially begins when England declares war on France. However, fighting and skirmishes between England and France had been going on in North America for years. -
The 7-Year War Ends
The war ends by two treaties. The primary treaty was the 1763 Treaty of Paris, with the Austrian/Prussian segment ending with the Treaty of Hubertusburg. -
Independence From Britain
On this day in 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of a new United States of America from Great Britain and its king -
French Revolution Begins
The French Revolution violently transformed France from a monarchical state with a rigid social hierarchy into a modern nation in which the social structure was loosened and power passed increasingly to the middle classes. King Louis XVI's financial crisis forced the French monarch to reluctantly convene the Estates General in order to levy a new land tax that would hopefully solve his monetary woes. -
The Storming Of The Bastille
The storming of the Bastille opens the French Revolution. Although the revolution is remembered for the Terror, French revolutionaries should also be remembered for creating a new kind of public health policy. "The right of property," said the revolutionary Robespierre, "is limited like all others by the obligation to respect the rights of others. -
The Ratification of the Constitution
The constitution of the United States is ratified by the nine states. Less than three months after the Constitution was signed, Delaware became the first state to ratify it, on December 7, 1787. New Hampshire was the ninth state, putting the Constitution into effect on June 21, 1788. But the Founding Fathers could not be sure that the Constitution would be generally accepted until the important states of New York and Virginia had ratified it. -
Mary Wollstonecraft Publishes Her Book
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a vindication of the rights of women. It was one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should have an education.
