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The Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt by the Catholics (who believed the king was horrible) to destroy Parliament, as well as the King. The plan was to blow up Parliament while the king was inside. There were lots of conspiracists, however Guy Fawkes is commonly associated with the plot. He was in charge of guarding gunpowder in a cellular. However, Parliament caught word of this plan and Soldiers caught Guy Fawkes red handed; ready to set the gunpowder on fire any second. -
The Death of Guy Fawkes
After Guy Fawkes was caught for treason against the king, he was taken to prison and tortured til he would confess who the other plotters were. Guy Fawkes was tortured for a little over three months until he finally confessed. His public death, where he would be hanged, was scheduled for January 31, 1606. Instead of suffocating to death, Guy Fawkes fell and snapped his neck making his death quick and not as painful. -
The Battle of Edgehill
The battle of Edgehill was the first battle of the English civil war. This battle took place between two countries, Banbury and Warwick. The royalists were in command of Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The roundheads(supporters of parliament) were in command of Robert Devereux, and Earl of Essex. Both armies lost a lot of soldiers. The roundheads withdrew to Warwick making this battle regarded as a draw. However, more battles of Edgehill were yet to come. -
John Locke Publishes His First Writing
Towards the end of 1689, John Locke published his most famous writing, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.” This essay is about Locke’s take on how the mind works; how we think and where our thoughts come from. Language, logic, and religious practices about how we express ourselves are also covered. -
The English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights was an act signed into by William and Mary. The law basically declaring Parliament’s power over the King. The English Bill of rights also contained a list of James II’s misdeeds, ensuring that no king or queen would be to act with absolute power ever again. -
The Death of James II’s Protestant Daughter, Mary
Unfortunately, Mary died at a young age of 32. She had no children. This left her husband, William to rule on his own. It is most possible that a Mary died of some sort of illness as for the cause of her death. -
John Newton Writes Amazing Grace
John Newton writes Amazing Grace after a huge storm on a slave ship where he was captain. He prays to God and than writes a song about God’s grace and mercy for sparing his life. He turned his life around and became a preacher. -
The Tennis Court Oath
Members of the third estate came up with The Tennis Court Oath to convince King Louis XVI to give them a constitution. They decided that they would stay at a nearby tennis court until the king would finally give them what they wanted. -
French Revolution Begins
The Enlightenment influenced many events, one of those being The French Revolution. Many countries were inspired by the enlightenment ideas, including natural rights: life, liberty, and property. The writings of a John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Baron de Montesquieu were some of key things and people that started this revolution. -
The Storming of the Bastille
People of Paris had had enough of starving from lack of food. They got together and stormed the fortress. At the time the Bastille was a prison that was being used as a place to store gunpowder. Their mission was quite successful. This place that symbolized what was wrong with France was destroyed. Many soldiers died and some were wounded. This event is seen as the start of the revolution. -
The March of the Women
This march was to protest against the luxuries the first and second estates would be granted while the third estate was left to suffer. These people, mostly women, marched all the way to the Palace of Versailles, where the King and Queen were. They demanded bread and that the royal should live among the regular people. -
Industrial Revolution Spreads to America
Samuel Slater was one of the people who played a big role in the spreading of industrialization to America. It first got introduced to America by the smuggling of invention designs. In 1790, Samuel Slater opens the first textile mill in Rhode Island. -
Reign of Terror Begins
After Louis’s execution, The Reign of Terror began and lasted from 1793-1794. Thousands of people started to suspect and excuse others of engaging in anti-revolutionary activities. The excused would be sent straight to the guillotine. Many would declare that “Terror is the order of the day.” -
Execution of Marie-Antoinette
After 10 weeks of being imprisoned Marie Antoinette was sent to be beheaded. This was long awaited since the revolutionists had already executed her husband, King Louis XVI. She had stated that she did not want to suffer too long, so at 12:30 pm on October 16, 1793, she was taken to the guillotine. Her head was shown to the crowd and they cheered “Vive la République!” -
The Invention of the Cotton Gin
The cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney in 1794. This invention specialized in separating the cotton itself from the cotton seeds. In factories this sped up the process of making clothing. The South was able to increase their cotton supply which unfortunately caused more use of slavery. -
Napoleon Declares Himself Emperor
On the day of Napoleon’s coronation, he took the crown from the pope and crowned himself emperor. He than crowned his wife, Josephine, empress of France. He than became the first Frenchman to become emperor of France in 1,000 years. -
Luddites Attack Factory Machinery
The Luddites believed that all this new technology was very harmful. The group was mostly made up of textile workers and artisans who could not compete with the mass production of the machines. The first major attack on the factories took place in Nottingham. On this attack they burnt the building, broke machinery, and raided the place. -
Invasion of Russia
One of Napoleon’s 3 mistakes that led to his downfall was the invasion of Russia. Napoleon led over 600,000 soldiers into Russia, and not many would return. Napoleon and his troops had a hard time maintaining there supply line. Along with Russians burning everything in their path. Napoleon’s men were not prepared for the extreme, Russian winter and many died. Napoleon ended up with defeat and about half his men gone. -
Battle of Dresden
The Battle of Dresden was Napoleon’s finale victory. This battle was fought between Napoleon’s 120,000 troops and 170,000 Austrians, Russians, and Prussians. France experiences 30,000 casualties while the other troops experience 100,000 casualties. -
Abolition of Slavery Act of 1833
In 1833, the abolition of slavery act was passed. This act took about a year to take effect. It freed over 800,000 slaves. William Wilberforce had a big impact on Parliament passing this act and he died shortly after. -
Treaty of Nanjing is Signed
The Treaty of Nanjing was a peace agreement China was forced by the British to sign after their defeat in the opium wars. China was forced to surrender its sovereignty to its own country and be open to the west. China was forced to give up territory and legalize opium trade. -
Morse Code
Samuel Morse invented the telegraph and he needed a way to communicate through this device so he invented Morse code. Morse code is an alphabet in which letters are represented by combinations of long and short signals. The first message sent with Morse code took place on May 24, 1844. -
Treaty of Kanagawa
The treaty of Kanagawa was placed between the U.S. and Japan. It was an agreement of trade. Mathew Perry was the U.S commander who convinced Japan to trade, establishing this treaty. -
Charles Darwin publishes Origin of Species
During this time in England, faith in science was very important. Charles Darwin strived to make a book to explaining his theory about organisms evolving through a process called natural selection. His book was sold out immediately and scientists were in awe of it; although Christians did not agree so much with it. -
The death of Prince Albert
Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, was said to die in 1861 from Typhoid fever. To show how deeply he would be missed, Queen than Victoria decided to mourn his death for the rest of her life. Since Queen Victoria was very liked by her people, many were encouraged to mourn just like she did, wearing the right mourning attire became proper etiquette. -
Invention of dynamite
Dynamite was invented in 1867 by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist. Dynamite was invented accidentally while Alfred Nobel was experimenting with nitroglycerin and caused an explosion. Dynamite was used for many things including bombs, and a way to dig deeper in mines. -
David Livingstone is Found
David Livingstone was a missionary and explorer who went into Africa in hopes to end the slave trade. After he set sail for South Africa, he was gone for quite awhile and he was said to have gone missing. Henry Stanley was the journalist who went to look for Livingstone and eventually succeeded. Although, David was not interested in coming back at all. He enjoyed helping the Africans and living his humble life. -
First Telephone Call
Alexander Graham Bell developed the telephone first by using electricity to transmit sounds over distance. In February of 1876, he officially invented the telephone. On March 10, 1876 he made the first telephone call to his assistant, calling him from the next room. -
British Occupies Suez Canal
The Suez Canal was linked the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. British saw this as a perfect spot to access more trade routes. British saw Egypt’s government to be unstable. The British were convinced control over Egypt would benefit themselves and the Egyptians. -
The Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference was issued by Euro leaders in response to Euro nations aggressively competing for territory. They planned to discuss and establish rules over trade and land in hopes to prevent conflicts. No African leaders were invited to attend and no attention to ethnic cultures was made. -
First Glass of Coca-Cola is Served
Coca-Cola, which was invented by John Pembersom, was originally used for medical purposes. The first glass of it was sold at a pharmacy on Peachtree Street. It costed a nickel a glass, which was significant than. -
Alfred Dreyfus gets imprisoned at Devil’s Island
Alfred Dreyfus was an innocent man convicted of treason by the French military. This led to him being sent to Devil’s island as a punishment. There he lived for 5 years in misery and was watched by guards constantly. -
Boxer Rebellion Begins
The Boxers, also known as “The society of righteous and harmonious fists,” were a group of rebels in China who were not fond of new western culture. They would attack and kill any foreigners or people with ties to foreigners. They caused 100,000 or more deaths and $330,000,000 in damages -
The Wright Brothers Fly
The Wright brothers, Wilber and Orville, developed the first airplane in Dayton, Ohio. In 1903, their plane took flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was a gasoline powered flying machine that lasted for 59 seconds in the air. -
The First Affordable Car
The Ford Model T, invented by Henry Ford, is known as the first affordable car. Before, cars were a luxury only rich people had because of how pricey they were. Henry Ford wanted to make a car that anyone could afford. They were all black and sort of slow to drive. The price for this car decreased from $1200- 295. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
In the city of Sarajevo, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne, was assassinated. He was attacked and murdered in their car along with his wife. The assassin was a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip. -
The Schlieffen Plan Begins
Germany developed a war plan called the Schlieffen plan that did not work out as they had anticipated. The idea was to defeat France and than go on to invade Russia. Although, France was more prepared than Germany had expected. This invasion was put into action on August 8 of 1914. -
The Christmas Truce
The Christmas Truce was a never seen before event when troops from both sides joined together in No Man’s Land to celebrate the holidays. The Christmas Truce brought much comfort to soldiers who missed their families at home. On Christmas night the soldiers would sing Christmas carols and spend the night laughing and talking amongst each other. -
The Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, a British steamship was sunk by a German U-boat. Over 1000 people died, including 128 Americans. This event is very important to WWI because it is what encouraged the U.S. to join the Allies. -
Italy Joins the Allies
Italy had previously been allies with Germany. This alliance is broken when Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary shortly after the world war begin. Italy joins the Allies. -
Representation of the People Act of 1918
Many people fought for women’s suffrage and getting the Representation of the People Act passed, including Emmeline Pankhurst and her family. This act gave women over the age of 30 the right to vote. It also allowed all men to gain suffrage. -
Armistice of 1918
Germany made arrangements with the Allies to sign an agreement to end the war. This agreement was called the Armistice. All fighting between sides was supposed to stop at 11 am, on November 11, 1918. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles ended the First World War. This treaty was in place to prevent Germany from invading France as well as reparations. All members were invited to discuss arrangements except Germany. Germany was forced to sign. Germany ended up losing a good portion of their military and having to pay an outrageous amount of money.
