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Nov 9, 1300
The Renaissance Flexible
The word "renaissance" means "to be born again." The transition period between the Middle Ages and the modern era, during which there was a cultural and intellectual rebirth in European civilization, is therefore spoken of as the Renaissance.
The Renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century, and reached its height in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. Great developments were made in the arts (by such notables as Leonardo Di Vinci, Michelangelo, Cervantes, and Shakespeare). Machiavelli -
Nov 19, 1440
Invention of the Printing Press
In 1440, German inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press process that, with refinements and increased mechanization, remained the principal means of printing until the late 20th century. The inventor's method of printing from movable type, including the use of metal molds and alloys, a special press, and oil-based inks, allowed for the first time the mass production of printed books.
Inventor: Johannes Gutenberg (aka Johann Gutenberg)
Birth: c1400 in Mainz, Germany -
Nov 8, 1506
Mona Lisa completion
The Mona Lisa was completed in 1506.
* Born: 1503
* Birthplace: Florence, Italy
* Best Known As: Famous portrait by Leonardo da Vinci
It is known that Leonardo began the portrait in Florence in 1503, continued work on it through 1506, and then kept the painting until his death in 1519. -
Nov 27, 1543
The Introduction of the Heliocentric Theory
The conclusion that the "Earth circles the Sun," was reached and publicized by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Halley. This is the "heliocentric theory." To appreciate the work of these men, one must also consider the role of ancient Greek philosophers and the Roman Catholic Church. -
Period: Nov 27, 1545 to Nov 27, 1563
Council of Trent
(1545 – 63) 19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church, which made sweeping reforms and laid down dogma clarifying nearly all doctrines contested by the Protestants. Convened by Pope Paul III at Trento in northern Italy, it served to revitalize Roman Catholicism in many parts of Europe. In its first period (1545 – 47) it accepted the Nicene Creed as the basis of Catholic faith, fixed the canon of the Old and New Testaments, set the number of sacraments at seven, and defined the nature -
Period: Nov 27, 1571 to
Newton’s Laws of Gravity
The famous story that Newton came up with the idea for the law of gravity by having an apple fall on his head is not true, although he did begin thinking about the issue on his mother's farm when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He wondered if the same force at work on the apple was also at work on the moon. If so, why did the apple fall to the Earth and not the moon? Along with his Three Laws of Motion, Newton also outlined his law of gravity in the 1687 book Principia. -
Gun Powder Plot
In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which some Catholics, most famously Guy Fawkes, plotted to blow up James I, the first of the Stuart kings of England. The story is remembered each November 5th when ‘Guys’ are burned in a celebration known as "Bonfire Night". -
Invention of the First Telescope
The telescope was introduced to astronomy in 1609 by the great Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, who became the first man to see the craters of the moon, and who went on to discover sunspots, the four large moons of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn. Galileo's telescope was similar to a pair of opera glasses in that it used an arrangement of glass lenses to magnify objects. This arrangement provided limited magnification up to 30 times for Galileo and a narrow field of view. -
Period: to
30 Years War
This website provides summaries, in varying degrees of detail, of the military and diplomatic developments of the Thirty Years War. The Thirty Years War is one of the great conflicts of early modern European history. The Thirty Years War consisted of a series of declared and undeclared wars which raged through the years 1618-1648 throughout central Europe. -
1st English Civil War
From the start of his reign, Charles I had been in conflict with Parliament. His believe in the divine right of kings meant that he was bound to oppose any attempt by Parliament to restrict his authority, and he dissolved his first Parliament in 1626 because they had demanded limits on Charles' right to levy customs, and a second in 1629 after protests over taxation, the war with Spain, and attempts to allow toleration for Catholics. -
3rd English War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The Civi -
Period: to
Louis XIV, XV, & XVI
One such monarch was France's King Louis XIV, who ruled from 1643 to 1715. One of Europes most powerful kings, Louis XIV ruled at a time when France was a leading world power. Like other kings of his time, Louis was an absolute monarch. -
2nd English Civil War
Brief second flare-up of fighting after the First English Civil War. Fighting started in March 1648, with Royalist uprisings in Wales and southern England. Cromwell led the campaign against the Welsh rebels, capturing their stronghold of Pembroke Castle in July, while Fairfax dealt with the rebels in Kent and Essex, who were forced back into Colchester, where they surrendered in August. In July, a 24,000 strong army of Scottish royalists, led by James, duke of Hamilton, invaded England. -
The Glorious Revolution
I am perfectly lost in wonder when I think of this Revolution. To us, that knew it, it looks like a dream, but to posterity it must seem a romance . . . that all the politics of several last years past should be unraveled in three months.–A Dialogue Between Dick and Tom (1689), quoted in Melinda Zook, Radical Whigs and Conspiratorial Politics in Late Stuart England 173 (1999). -
The Invention of the First Steam Engine
Thomas Savery was an English military engineer and inventor who in 1698, patented the first crude steam engine, based on Denis Papin's Digester or pressure cooker of 1679. Thomas Savery had been working on solving the problem of pumping water out of coal mines, his machine consisted of a closed vessel filled with water into which steam under pressure was introduced. This forced the water upwards and out of the mine shaft. Then a cold water sprinkler was used to condense the steam. -
The Invention of the Cotton Gin
In seventeen ninety-three, approximately one hundred and eighty thousand pounds of cotton was harvested in the United States. Two years later, that harvest grew to more than six million pounds; by eighteen ten, an astounding ninety three million pounds was brought to harvest. Not long after listening to the growers speak of their troubles, Whitney began to experiment and arrived at his basic design of the cotton gin. This machine was created to ease the tremendous burdens of those who labored. -
Age of Reason
The Age of Reason was an eighteenth-century movement which followed hard after the mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages. The Age of Reason represented a genesis in the way man viewed himself, the pursuit of knowledge, and the universe. In this time period, man’s previously held concepts of conduct and thought could now be challenged verbally and in written form; fears of being labeled a heretic or being burned at the stake were done away with. -
The First Electric Battery
Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist, known for his pioneering work in electricity. Volta was born in Italy and educated in the public schools there. By 1800 he had developed the so-called voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery, which produced a steady stream of electricity. In recognition of his work in the field of electricity, the electrical unit known as the volt was named in his honor. Criteria: First to invent. Birth: February 18, 1745.in Como, Lombardy, Italy. Death: March 5 -
The First Steel Plow by John Deere
John Deere was an Illinois blacksmith and manufacturer. Early in his career, Deere and an associate designed a series of farm plows. In 1837, on his own, John Deere designed the first cast steel plow that greatly assisted the Great Plains farmers. The large plows made for cutting the tough prairie ground were called "grasshopper plows." The plow was made of wrought iron and had a steel share that could cut through sticky soil without clogging. -
Luther’s Translation of the Bible
The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house. If he had done nothing else, he would be one of the greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race. -
95 theses
Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg under the presidency of the reverend father, Martin Luther, Augustinian, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and duly appointed Lecturer on these subjects in that place. He requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.
