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British East India Company
The East India Company was founded on this day in 1600. It was an incredibly powerful business with many ships and lots of resources. It took over India, claiming it had to restore order. It made changes to Indian society, such as introducing a new education system, the English language, and British laws banning certain customs. -
Fawkes’s Plot
Guy Fawkes and his friends discussed their plans to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The feel that they are treated unfairly by King James I because they are Catholic. James I persecuted Catholics and that is why Fawkes did not like him. They met at Duck and Drake pub to talk about collaborate their ideas. -
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The Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot was a failed attempt to blow up King James I’s palace. The plot was planned by Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby. The cause was to end the persecution of Catholics by the English government. -
Letter from Lord Monteagle
King James I received a letter from Lord Monteagle telling him not to attend the opening of the Houses of Parliament. Lord Monteagle had received this letter earlier and sent it to James I. The person who sent this letter was trying to keep the king and Lord Monteagle safe. -
Search for Gunpowder
Robert Cecil, the Secretary of State, orders a search of the Houses of Parliament. Once the king found out about it, he had the Parliament searched. Soldiers searched the cellars for gunpowder and suspicion. The were to look for anything that would harm the king or the Parliament. -
Guy Fawkes Arrested
Fawkes got arrested when the soldiers were looking for the gunpowder, since he was told to guard it. He got taken captive to the Tower of London as a prisoner. He got beaten for what he had done: trying to blow up the Parliament. -
British Send Convicts to Australia
This is the day when the British sent their convicts to Australia. They needed another place to send the convicts, since the United States forced them to stop sending the convicts to Georgia. British ships carried 700 convicts to Australia and formed Australia’s first European settlement. Over 160,000 British convicts were sent there in total. However, the aborigines weren’t treated well and were pushed off their land. -
Wilberforce’s First Speech
William Wilberforce gave his first abolition speech. Although he made many enemies when giving his speech, working with Parliament to abolish slavery, he still did not give up. He presented abolition bills to Parliament in favor of abolishing the slave trade. -
Napoleon Crowned Emperor
Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France by the Pope. There was a popular story that Napoleon took the crown and crowned himself Emperor to show that he was above the church. There is a debate about whether it’s true or false. -
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Napoleon
The time from when Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France to the time he died. -
Abolition of the Slave Trade
This act made it illegal to engage in the slave trade throughout Britain. The British themselves passed this law, with the help of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was a politician who became interested in abolishing slavery and passed abolition bills to Parliament. The abolition campaign consisted of many people besides him. On that day March 25, a man named William Pitt agreed to pass the Abolition of the Slave Trade. -
Birth of Napoleon’s Son
After he divorced his wife, Josephine, for not giving him a son, Napoleon married Marie-Louise, who bore him a son. A child was very important to him, and that’s why he wanted a wife who would give him a son. He was very relieved and satisfied once Marie-Louise gave him a child. Their relationship lasted longer than while he was with Josephine. -
Battle of Borodino
The French fought the Russians in this battle. The Russians lost, but they retreated back to Russia and the army remained intact. The French keep the battlefield, but also lose many men. This battle was known as Napoleon’s last major offensive. -
Retreat from Moscow
Napoleon’s soldiers weren’t prepared for winter when they retreated. He not only lost soldiers to the battles, but lost many more to the cold of the winter. Some say that only 22,000 of his army survived. Other sources say more like half of his army survived. -
Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon’s last battle was fought near the city of Waterloo in Belgium. He was defeated for the last time by armies of the 7th Coalition under the command of Duke of Wellington. His defeat caused him to be exiled to St. Helena. -
Napoleon’s Death
Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena during his second exile. Here he was treated fairly poorly. He died by being poisoned with arsenic in his drink. Others say he died from natural causes. -
Sadler’s Interview
Michael Sadler was an individual who was concerned about the long hours that children had to work and the harsh conditions they endured. He introduced a bill in Parliament that proposed limiting works hours to 10 hours for kids under 18. Unfortunately, Parliament was unwilling to pass Sadler’s bill. -
Abolition of Slavery Act
It wasn’t until this day in 1833 that slavery in total had been condemned. Before, the slave trade was abolished, but this was when slavery itself was completely abolished. This act banned slavery in England. Wilberforce also worked to pass this act, and died three days later. The abolitionists won their fight, and most slaves were freed by this very act. -
Victoria Becomes Queen
On this day in 1837, Victoria became queen of England. She was 18 years old at this time and her birthday was just a month before she was inaugurated. Her rain lasted 63 years, longer than any queen except for Queen Elizabeth II. She brought political stability to the nation, was popular, well-educated, and spoke five languages. She became queen when the monarchy was unpopular with the people. -
The Opium War
The Opium War began when the Chinese government confronted foreign merchant ships and demanded they surrender their illegal cargo. The British protested and tried to keep smuggling opium to China, even though China didn’t want it. The battles mostly took place at sea, and the British kept winning because they had better technology and weaponry. The British eventually won the war. -
Crystal Palace Exhibition
The Crystal Palace Exhibition was finished being constructed. It was built to show off British inventions. It was like a museum where people could see the new inventions. The building was largely built of metal and glass. It was the largest enclosed space in the world at the time, containing 300,000 panes of glass. It had about 14,000 worldwide visitors. -
Invention of the Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone on this day in 1876. He used electricity to transmit sound over long distances. It was not only him who made the telephone, but Nickola Tesla made some contributions to the invention as well. This became a convenient item that was and still is used around the world. -
The Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference was a meeting held by European leaders of European countries. In this conference, the leaders decided how to divide their share of territory in Africa amongst themselves. They chose to have this meeting because the European nations were competing aggressively for African territory. No African leaders were invited, and the European leaders didn’t pay attention to ethnic boundaries in dividing Africa. However, the European leaders agreed to end slavery and the slave trade. -
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress started on this day in 1885 and was the first nationalist group founded by English-speaking Indians. These Indians wanted more fair treatment from the British at this time. This group turned nationalism radical when the British announced plans to partition Bengal. -
Wright Brothers’ First Flight
On this day in 1903, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, born in Dayton, Ohio, first flew their plane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was a gas-powered machine that flew for 59 seconds—almost one minute. This gave a rise to the aircraft industry and became more advanced over the years. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was a war between Russia and Japan. Both countries had designs on Manchuria and Korea and ended up going to war over this issue. Japan destroyed the Russian fleet off the Korean coast and won major battles on land. Japan won this war and the Westerners were horrified that Japan defeated a major Eastern power. -
Dreyfus is Exonerated
On this day, Alfred Dreyfus was set free by military commission. He was no longer in jail or at Devil’s Island. This time, he was remarked as a hero instead of a villain. Before this, he lived in house arrest in a house with one of his sisters in Carpentras, and then later at Cologny. -
Invention of the Model ‘T’ Ford
Henry Ford invented the Model ‘T’ Ford, which was a convenient use of transportation. Not only that, but many people bought it because it was affordable. Around this time, cars became a big use of transportation rather than a toy for the rich. At one point, Ford was producing one automobile per minute! -
The Start of World War 1
World War 1 bean when Germany stormed through Belgium and into France. The four main causes of the war were countries practicing militarism, the alliances various countries had with each other, imperialism, and nationalism. Local issues soon turned into world issues, and the alliances that European countries had with other African and Asian countries brought those countries into the war. The overall short-term cause of the war, or the “spark,” was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. -
The Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen plan was Germany’s plan to quickly invade and defeat France before it had time to mobilize, then turn around and attack Russia. The idea that Germany was for them to not have to divide their forces for war on both fronts. Unfortunately, for Germany, the plan did not succeed because France was ready to fight. This ended up in a stalemate of trench warfare. -
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide began when the Turkish government arrested and killed several Armenians. The Ottoman Empire began to question Armenia’s loyalty because Armenia was a Christian nation and Turkey was Muslim. Turkey started an uprising against the Armenians. A group called the Young Turks killed around 500,000 Armenians. Government squads kidnapped children, raped women, and seized their property. Later, the Ottoman Empire was losing the war and surrendered, and the genocide ended. -
Zimmerman Telegram Intercepted
The Zimmerman telegram was a message sent from Germany to Mexico. It was a letter of Germany promising to give Mexico back the land America stole from them. On this day in 1917, the telegram was intercepted by the British and handed over to the Americans. This was one of the two main causes that brought America into the war. -
Representation of the People Act
On this day, the Representation of the People Act was passed. It was passed by a majority of 385 to 55 in the House of Commons with the help of Emmeline Pankhurst. This act gave women over 30 and all men the right to vote. -
Russia Exits World War 1
Russia exited world World War 1 because the war was going very badly for them. They were losing horribly and millions of Russians were dying. The Russian Revolution also pulled them out of the war when the Czar was overthrown and the Bolsheviks, or the communists, took over. Russia then instead made a separate peace treaty with Germany called the Treaty of Breast-Litovsk. -
Spanish Flu Epidemic
The Spanish flue reached Spain on this day in 1918. During this time, Spain was one of a few European nations to remain neutral in World War 1. The flu did not originate from Spain, but it was called the Spanish flue because Spain was reporting on the flu, which convinced people that it came from Spain and gave the flu its name. Funny enough, Spain believed the virus came from France and called it the “France Flu.” Sadly, 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 people died from this flu. -
Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the five-year anniversary of the start of the Great War, or World War 1. The four major leaders from America, Britain, France, and Italy signed this treaty, hoping to restore other countries after the damages of the war. Unfortunately, this treaty upset many countries involved in it. Germany had it the worst and was deprived of its territory, many soldiers, and machines for war. This treaty eventually led to World War 2.
