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James I becomes King of England
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The Gunpowder Plot
Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy and John Wright, all Roman Catholics, are angry with King James I because he won’t grant more religious toleration to the Catholics. The conspirators plan to assassinate the King by blowing up barrels of gunpowder. Before they go through with the plan, Guy Fawkes is caught and tortured until he gives up information about his plan and who else was involved. -
Guy Fawkes is Executed
Fawkes was sentenced to be hanged, along with others involved in the Gunpowder Plot. -
the Battle of Edgehill
This was the first battle of the civil war, and took place near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire. The battle was caused by a failed constitutional compromise between King Charles and Parliament. -
The Glorious Revolution
1688-1689
The Glorious Revolution was a turning point in English constitutional history. The parliament establishes its rights limit the king’s power. -
Overthrow of King James II
English Protestants helped overthrow the Catholic king James II and installed the Protestant monarchs William And Mary. -
the American Revolutionary War
The war was fought between Britain and the newly formed United States, France, Netherlands, & Spain. It was the result of the political American Revolution. The British Parliament insisted it had the right to tax colonists to finance the colonies' military defense, which had become expensive because of the French and Indian Wars. -
Bastille is Stormed
The Bastille was originally a prison, but was being used to store gunpowder. Then it was stormed by the people and the guards were wounded and killed. The storm led to an uprising throughout France, and nobles were attacked and fled the country. Now known as “Bastille Day” -
The Night Session
The National Assembly met and feudal regime is abolished. All estates now had to pay taxes. -
The First Turnpike
The first engineered and planned road in the United States was the Lancaster Turnpike. It connected Philadelphia and Lancaster in Pennsylvania. By 1832, nearly 2400 miles of road connected most major cities. -
Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution & National Assembly
-France became a limited monarchy
-All laws were now created by the Legislative Assembly
-Feudalism abolished
-Independent judiciary was established -
The Establishment of the Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights limited the powers of the federal government of the United States and protecting the rights of all people in American territory. -
The Execution of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette is executed by guillotine at the Place de la Concorde -
The Discovery of the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone was discovered by Jean Francois Champollion near the town of Rosetta in 179 during Napoleon’s Egypt campaign. It was issued at Memphis in 196 B.C. On behalf of King Ptolemy V. The Rosetta Stone had a messaged written into it, in three different languages: Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Ancient Greek. This discovery achieved a breakthrough in translation. -
Napoleon as “First Consul”
Napoleon launched a successful “coup d’ etat” on November 9, 1799. Then he proclaimed himself “First Consul” and appointed a senate. Two years later, he declares himself emperor. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Napoleon sells the Louisiana Territory to America for $15,000,000 (only 4 cents an acre!) Thomas Jefferson’s attempts to profit from the Caribbean colonies failed, and he needed money for the wars he was fighting in Europe at the tame. He thought it would have a positive influence on America -
The Abolition of Slave Trade
The U.S. Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.” -
The Invention of the Steam Boat
After almost two years of working, Robert Fulton was finally permitted to bring a single steam engine to the United States. It was first launched in 1807. The steamboat made the transportation of goods more efficient. Travel time was cut in half, for both the transportation of people and goods. -
Napoleon’s Abdication
After his defeat on March 31, 1814, Napoleon abdicates in favor of his son, allies insist on unconditional surrender. The Treaty of Fontainebleau exiles Napoleon to Elba with an income of 2 million francs. The royalist then took control and restored King Louis XVIII to the throne, who then ruled from 1814 to 1824. -
The Reform Bill
Drafted by William Lovett in 1838, The Reform Bill is passed, broadening voting. Voting at the annual general elections required specific things from men. It required them to be MPs and own land. -
The Abolition of Slavery Act
An act of Parliament that abolished slavery in most British colonies. It freed more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa, and a small number in Canada. -
Invention of the Steel Plow
The steel Plow was invented by John Deere. It contributed greatly to the agricultural world. It allowed farmers to cultivate crops more efficiently. -
The Berlin Conference
As European nations were competing aggressively for territory, it began to get out of hand. The Berlin Conference regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the Imperialism period, in an effort to prevent conflict and create peace between the nations. -
The Potato Famine
The potato became a staple crop in Ireland for the poorest regions. Over 3 million Irish peasants depended only on potatoes as their food source, so when the famine hit, it was extremely devastating to many people. The famine was caused by a disease that destroyed the potatoes. It lasted for 4 years, until 1849. -
London Necropolis Co. Established
The London Necropolis company was a cemetery operator that was established by Act of Parliament in 1852. It was built when cemeteries inside of London grew too full and were closed. It was built right outside of the city as an extra space for bodies. -
The Crystal Palace Exhibition
The Crystal Palace opens in London to display to the world Britain’s newest inventions and discoveries. -
The Treaty of Kanagawa
The Treaty of Kanagawa was Japan’s first treaty with a Western nation. It was a trade treaty between Japan and the United States, and was signed after U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry demanded that the Japanese open their ports to U.S. ships for supplies. Treaty of Kanagawa was the first of the treaties signed between Japan and other Western countries in the 19th century. -
The Sepoy Mutiny
Rumours spread that the cartridges for the new rifle were greased with pig and cow fat. When these rumors reached the Indians, they were angered. This made them offensive to both Muslims and Hindus, which were the two main religions in India. 85 sepoys, who had been jailed for refusing to use cartridges they believed to be against their religion, were broken out of prison by their comrades. They attacked the nearby military station and killed any Europeans they could find. -
Prince Albert Dies
Queen Victoria's beloved husband, Prince Albert, died on December 14, 1861 at the age of 42. He died of typhoid fever. -
The Meiji Revolt
The Meiji Revolt was a political revolution in Japan in the year 1868. A powerful group of samurai overthrew the shogun and ended his rule. This restored the country’s power to the emperor and brought an end to the Edo (Tokugawa) period. -
First Lightbulb Patented
Thomas Edison and his team of researchers in Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, tested over 3,000 designs for lightbulbs between 1878 and 1880. “On January 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received the historic patent embodying the principles of his incandescent lamp that paved the way for the universal domestic use of electric light.” (archives.gov) -
1889 Paris Exhibition
The Eiffel Tower was built as an entrance for the world fair in honor of the French Revolution’s 100th anniversary. It was meant to be temporary, having no actual function, but made functional when an antenna was added to the top. The Eiffel Tower attracted lots of people, as it was the tallest structure at the time. It was built and named after Alexandre Gustavo Eiffel. -
The Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus Affair began in 1894 and continued through 1906 in France. The controversy was over deciding whether the army captain, Alfred Dreyfus, was innocent or guilty. He was convicted of treason for selling military secrets to the Germans in December 1894. -
The Publication of J’Accuse
J’Accuse was a letter written by Émile Zola to the president of the French Republic in defense of Alfred Dreyfus, who was a Jewish officer who had been accused of treason by the French army. It was published in the newspaper L’Aurore on Jan. 13, 1898. The letter began with the phrase “J’accuse,” (meaning “I accuse”). It blamed blamed the army for covering up its mistake of falsely accusing of Dreyfus. -
The Boer War
The Boer War fought from October 11, 1899, to May 31, 1902, between Great Britain and the two Boer (Dutch) republics over South African land claims. The Boers refused to grant political rights to foreigners, including the British. After about 2 and a half years, the British won. -
First Airplane Flight, Kitty Hawk, NC
Wilbur and Orville Wright had been experimenting with plane models for about 4 years. Finally, on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved the first successful airplane flight. The flight lasted 12 seconds, traveled 120 feet, and reached a top speed of 6.8 miles per hour. -
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated This is the event that is considered to have sparked the beginning of the First World War. His assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was just a few days to young to be charged with the death penalty, but was sent to prison. He died there four years later, in 1918. -
The Armenian Genocide Begins
The genocide began on April 24, 1915 when the Turkish government arrested and executed hundreds of Armenian intellectuals. After that, Armenians were turned out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. The marchers were stripped naked and forced to walk under the scorching sun until they dropped dead. People who stopped to rest were shot. They drowned people in rivers, threw them off cliffs, crucified them, and burned them alive. -
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign took place on the Gallipoli peninsula (modern day Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire. The British and the French attempted to capture the Ottoman Capital (Istanbul), but their plan failed. -
The Battle Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was fought from February 21, 1916 to December 18, 1916 on the Western Front in France. This was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War 1, with about 500,000 French casualties. -
The Somme Battle
The Battle of the Somme took place from July to November 1916. It began as an allied offensive against German forces on the Western Front and turned into one of the most costly battles of World War I, with nearly 60,000 casualties. -
Representation of the People Act 1918
This Act widened suffrage by abolishing almost all property requirements for men and by women over 30 who met minimum property requirements. The Act also instituted the present system of holding general elections on one day, and brought in the annual electoral register. -
The Armistice is Signed - World War I Ends
Germany, with no manpower and supplies left and faced with invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies outside Compiégne, France. World War I left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. -
The Armenian Genocide Ends
The Ottomans were on the losing side of WWI and had to surrender. In 1919, Great Britain was charged with overseeing Ottoman lands. The Young Turks were put on trial for war crimes and were found guilty for the destruction of the Armenian people. In 1923, a war hero Mustafa Ataturk came to power, formed the Republic of Turkey, and released all prisoners found guilty of war crimes (including the Young Turks).
