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Sep 27, 1389
The Medici Family: Cosimo de Medici
Sometime during the Renaissance, the Medici family gained rule of Florence. The Medicis were a powerful banking family. Their family bank owned branch offices all throughout Italy. A few existed in the major cities of Europe. Cosimo de Medici was the wealthiest European at the time and by 1434, won control of the government of Florence. -
Jan 1, 1430
"God, Gold, and Glory"
The idea of “God, Gold, and Glory” came to be known as the basic motivating factors for exploration. Gold and other valuable items were in easy reach as was the availability of land. Many people can argue that the “God” piece of the “Three G’s” and the reason explorers worked so hard to spread the Catholic faith was to keep the support of the crowns and the Catholic Church. It can also be argued that glory too didn’t hold as much motivation as gold. Even still, explorers showed a lot of bravery. -
Jan 1, 1440
The Printing Press
The Printing Press was invented around 1440. Its inventor, Johann Gutenberg got the idea from block printing that had been practiced for many years. His creation made book production easier and faster. In the time it took a copyist to produce a single book (5 months), the Printing Press produced 100 times that. This made information easier to reach. -
Oct 31, 1451
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was born October 31, of the year 1451. Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa, Italy. He was an Italian explorer. His request for a three-ship voyage discovery was rejected by the King of Portugal. Determined, Columbus took his idea to Spain and presented them to King Ferdinand. After some consideration, King Ferdinand of Spain finally provided Columbus with three small ships and three sets of 30 crew members. It was on this voyage that he discovered the “New World”. -
Apr 15, 1452
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, Italy in the year 1452. He contributed a lot to the Renaissance. He was not only a painter, as he is most often recognized, but he was also a sculptor, inventor, and scientist. Leonardo was interested in how things worked and so he studied the movements of muscles. -
Jan 1, 1467
Pedro Alvares Cabral
Pedro Alvares Cabral was born in Portugal in the year 1467. When he was older, he became a Portuguese navigator. He dedicated much of his time to navigation. Generally, Cabral was called the Discoverer of Brazil. Many can assume that he possessed great navigation skills because King Emanuel of Portugal appointed him to continue the work of Vasco de Gama. By 1500, he was given command of the fleet setting sail for India. -
Jan 1, 1467
Portugal
Portugal was both a European and Atlantic nation. The involvement of Portugal in the Age of Discovery began in 1476. In the Age of Discovery, Portugal was a great world power. Wealth and status began to decline however, as the Dutch, English, and French took shares in the opportunities the New World offered. -
May 3, 1469
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli was born May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. He wrote The Prince. In his writing, he examined how a ruler can gain power and keep it in spite of his enemies. He was unconcerned with what was right morally, but instead what was most effective politically. -
Jan 1, 1492
Vittoria Colonna
In 1492, Vittoria Colonna was born. Colonna died in 1547. During her lifetime, she was recognized as a very influential writer. She expressed in one piece all the emotions she felt while her husband was away fighting in the war. -
Oct 12, 1492
"The New World"
The “New World” was first discovered by Columbus. Columbus first landed on the Caribbean islands on October 12, 1492. These islands are known today as the Bahamas. Originally, Columbus thought he had found a new route to India. The area of present-day United States was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon. -
Oct 12, 1492
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the new and old worlds. It began in on October 12, 1492. Plants, animals, and technology were a few of the many great exchanges that came to both worlds. However, not all that was exchanged was good. Among the exchange of food and other goods was a negative one: diseases. Besides that, the exchange greatly impacted the cultural and social make up of both Atlantic sides. -
Jan 1, 1500
Renaissance Literature
Literature is an area that expanded greatly due to the Renaissance. Despite the common form of writing in Latin, a few writers wrote in their vernacular. Renaissance writers wrote freely. Their writing often revolved around self-expression or to portray the individuality of their subjects. -
Oct 31, 1517
Reformation Causes
It is because the Renaissance emphasized secular and individual ideas, the authority of the Church was challenged. These ideas spread even farther and in less time with the help of the Printing Press. This was an endangerment to the political power. -
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Christian theologian born June 17, 1703. Wesley was credited for finding Methodist movement. He began in 1735 with open-air preaching. Wesley also requested everyone’s involovement. -
David Ricardo
David Ricardo was born April 18, 1772. He became a British political economist and was credited in 1810. He was credited with systemizing economics. He was one of the most influential out of all economists. Ricardo later wrote the “Iron Law of Wages”. In this piece, he shares three big opinions of his. His first is that when families have higher wages, they tend to have more family members. The second opinion is that there is no escape from poverty. His last says that individuals must improve. -
The Locomotive
The locomotive was invented in 1814. This powerful machine was created by George Stephenson. Its purpose: simplify long-distance traveling. Locomotives were also extremely useful for the transportation of massive amounts of goods. -
The First Photograph
Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was the world’s first photographer. He took the first ever, successful photograph in June or July of 1827. In order to do so, he set up a machine that he later named “camera obscura”. The picture took about eight hours to process. -
Latin America
Latin America held great importance in nationalism and imperialism. Latin America’s economy was dominated by Great Britain. Here was a source for many raw materials and foods. Wool, wheat, sugar, coffee, and tobacco were a few of the materials exported. Latin America remained an economic colony despite the fact that it was not a political colony. -
V.I Lenin
V.I Lenin was born April 22, 1870. Lenin was a leader of the Bolshevik party that overthrew the czar. He was the Premier of the Soviet Union. Lenin came to power soon after his exile in Switzerland in 1917. -
Leon Trotsky
November 7, 1879 marks the day of Leon Trotsky’s birth. Trotsky was a Russian Marxist revolutionary. He was a theorist as well. Leon Trotsky was the founder of the Red Army. Aside from that, Trotsky also led the Red Army. -
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin was born December 18, 1879, in Gori, Georgia. During his rise to power, in March 1924, Stalin pushed for rapid industrialization and central control of the economy. In the year 1930, under Stalin’s rule, there was a drastic increase in the number of people who knew how to read. This was true as well with writing. Under the rule of Stalin, the living standard increased. -
Aleksander Kerensky
Aleksander Kerensky was born May 4, 1881. When he grew older, Kerensky became a Russian politician. Around this time he led the Provisional group. He was thrown out of office by the Bolsheviks. Kerensky later died June 11, 1970. -
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Austria. He became the leader of Nazi Germany. From 1934-1945, he lead the Nazis as the chancellor of Germany. It was Hitler whom had initiated World War II. He blamed Jews for all the hardships Germany faced. He had imposed rapid industrialization to make weapons and ammunition for the war. Hitler himself oversaw the deaths of many Jews. On April 30, 1945, Hitler died in Berlin, Germany. -
The Movie Camera
A movie camera, the first in existence, was introduced in its creation in 1895. This creation was invented by the Lumiere brothers. The invention was a portable motion picture camera and projector. “Cinematographe” was the name given to the brothers’ creation. They two men were the first people to present a projected movie picture to an audience of more than one individual. -
Bloody Sunday
The humiliating loss of the Russo-Japanese war, living conditions became very poor. On January 22, 1905, at a protest, troops opened fire on all the protestors. About 130 people were killed. Hundreds of others suffered casualties. As a result of the poor handling of the issue, many previous supporters of Tsar turned another direction and joined revolutionary groups. -
The October Manifesto
On October 20, of 1905, the October Manifesto was put into place. It’s enforcer - Tsar. The October Manifesto was created and enforced after a large strike that began at the start of the war. The manifesto provided a few civil liberties and began the creation of the Duma. Tsar hoped this would improve the conditions over time. -
The Assassination of the Archduke
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand happened on June 28, 1914. Franz Ferdinand was the archduke of Austria. He was visiting Bosnia when the attack took place. A Serbian man by the name of Garrillo Princip carried out the assassination. Afetr the assassination occurred and the Princip was taken into custody, Austria accused Serbia of planning the assassination. Serbia denied the accusations and refused to be punished. Many agree that this action marked the start of World War I. -
The Trenches
The trenches were very important in trench warfare during the First World War. Life in the trenches was horrible. The trenches were six feet deep and many were water logged. Many areas were chest-deep in water and thick mud. During then, both sides where at a stalemate. Land would be won and then quickly lost due to poor conditions. The trenches were very unsanitary and as time went on, corpses piled up. The spread of bacteria from the corpses and feces made trench foot a common ailment. -
Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was created in an attempt to end World War I. Germany was blamed for the start of the war. Originally, Germans protested against the signing of the treaty. They felt it had impossible standards and conditions. Eventually, the treaty was signed June 1919. -
Germany
During World War II, Germany was where the Nazi party abused widespread uneasiness to attract popular and political support. All problems were blamed on the Jews who were often used as scapegoats. In Germany, Hitler slowly took control over the government. He used his increasing power to establish a dictatorship. It was in July 1933 that Germany was officially declared a one-party state. -
The United States
The United States restrained their participation in the war until December 7, 1941. It was at this time that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, a vote was made that decided whether or not the U.S. would declare war on Japan. With only one disputant, the decision was made to declare war. Three days later on December 11, 1941, Italy, Germany, and Japan declared war on the U.S.
