-
T.H. Huxley
T.H. Huxley inspired H.G. Wells and taught him Darwinism when he got a scholarship to the Normal School of Science. This is a key factor towards the book, "The War of the Worlds" being published because Darwinism is the science of evolution and this gave H.G. Wells the idea of aliens and supernatural beings from another planet. This is what caused the book to be written. From the Book -
Automobile
The first automobile was created in 1886 which started the revolutionary start of engines and powered things that move. This gave H.G. Wells the idea of creating a futuristic looking space ship because when the automobile was created he was stunned about how fast the future was coming on to the earth in the technological ways. www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/auto.html -
Bikes in London
In 1895 the bike started beginning to be used in London. For some reason people just started to ride them. In the book, H.G. Wells and his brother use the bikes to escape the aliens when they start to attack the city. They are also mentioned in the book a lot of times. http://www.shmoop.com/war-of-the-worlds-hg-wells/setting.html -
X-Rays
The X-Rays were created in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. The creation of this type of technology helped inspire H.G. Wells write his book because it is like the advancement of technology and the aliens had very advanced technology like the Heat Rays that obliterated people with a single shot. http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1895
https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/.../Radiography/.../history.htm -
Wireless Telegraphy
The Wireless Telegraphy was created in 1896 by William Preece in London. This is a very important part of history for London, so that is why it inspired H.G. Wells to write his book on futuristic technology that is not even created even now in 2014. The Wireless telegraphy was the first step towards communication for humans and trying to talk to other life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_in_science -
Meteorite
During this year a meteorite entered earths atmosphere and blew up causing debris to fly everywhere over West Virginia. This relates to my book because in the story, the aliens come from a meteorite from mars and it explodes, leavening space pods everywhere in London. In the space pods were the aliens that tried to take over the world. -
Submarine
The first Submarine was created on May 17, 1897. This advancement of technology helped inspire H.G. Wells with his book because he is trying to write about an alien invasion with all of their better futuristic technologies. The creation of the Submarine was like the alien ship in the book because it looks like it is from the future or from a different planet. http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1897 -
Imperialism
http://www.shmoop.com/war-of-the-worlds-hg-wells/setting.html
During the years around 1895, Britain was invading places like Africa and other countries. This relates to the story because Britain is acting like the aliens to the people who are being taken over, because the aliens did this to the whole world. Britain looks like the alien conquers taking over the planet. http://www.shmoop.com/war-of-the-worlds-hg-wells/setting.html -
Mars
During the nineteenth century people started to think of mars because that’s the age when everyone was interested in space travel. In this book, the aliens came from space because mars was getting old and dyeing out. So the aliens came to earth for a new planet to live on. Even though mars were discovered a long time ago, it got popular these years. http://www.shmoop.com/war-of-the-worlds-hg-wells/setting.html
http://www.shmoop.com/war-of-the-worlds-hg-wells/setting.html -
Spanish American War
In 1898, The United States declared war on Spain. This war only lasted about half a year but it influenced H.G. Wells writing of The War of the Worlds because since the book talks about war going on between the aliens and the humans, it is just like the Spanish American war with the Americans vs. the Spanish. http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1898
