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Thomas Hobbes Publishes Leviathan
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Newton’s Law of Gravity
This is a general physical law derived from empirical observations by what Isaac Newton called inductive reasoning. It is a part of classical mechanics and was formulated in Newton's work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("the Principia"), first published on 5 July 1687. -
John Locke, Two Treatises on Government is published
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Diderot Publishes First Volumes of Encyclopedia
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Rousseau Publishes, The Social Contract
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1st Continental Congress
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2nd Continental Congress issues the Declaration of Independence
In July 1776, the second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence. This document, written by Thomas Jefferson, was firmly based on the ideas of John Locke and the Enlightenment. The declaration reflected these ideas in its eloquent argument for natural rights. -
Articles of Confederation ratified by 13 states
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Constitutional Convention revises Articles of Confederation
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The Storming of the Bastille
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Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is Published
On 26 August 1789, the French National Constituent Assembly issued the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen (Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen) which defined individual and collective rights at the time of the French Revolution. -
The Tennis Court Oath
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New U.S. Constitution signed, with promise of drafting Bill of Rights
The Virginia Bill of Rights drafted by George Mason and adopted at the 1776 Convention of Delegates. Drawing on Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, as well as Britain's Magna Carta and other documents, Madison introduced the Bill of Rights in Congress on June 8, 1789, and it was ratified on December 15, 1791. -
National Convention declares France a republic
Created after the great insurrection of 10 August 1792, it was the first French government organized as a republic, abandoning the monarchy altogether. The Convention sat as a single-chamber assembly from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 (4 Brumaire IV under the Convention's adopted calendar). -
Execution of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI was guillotined in the Place de la Révolution on January 21, 1793. His wife, Marie Antoinette, met the same fate nine months later, on October 16, 1793. -
Robespierre leads the Committee of Public Safety
On July 27, 1793, Robespierre was elected to the Committee of Public Safety, which was formed in April to protect France against its enemies, foreign and domestic, and to oversee the government. Under his leadership, the committee came to exercise virtual dictatorial control over the French government. -
Period: to
The Reign of Terror rules France
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Napoleon defends the Delegates of the National Convention
In October of 1795, when Napoleon was 26, a government official told Napoleon to defend the delegates at the National Convention from royalist rebels who were marching toward them. Napoleon & his gunners greeted the 1000's of royalists with cannonade (cannon fire). -
Haiti gains Independence
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Saint Domingue demands independence
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Napoleon is crowned as Emperor
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Mexico gains independence
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Congress of Vienna
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. -
Battle of Waterloo
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Bolivar wins Venezuela’s independence
