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Some of the most important events, discoveries and publications that took place from the second half of the 19th century to the beggining of the 20th century.
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After several unsuccessful attempts, the Atlantic Telegraph Company (led by Cyrus West Field) constructed the first transatlantic telegraph cable. This project began in 1854 and was finally completed in 1858. The cable functioned for only three weeks. It changed the way Americans and Europeans viewed the news.
Cyrus West Field was very praised on both sides of the Atlantic for his persistence in accomplishing what many thought to be an impossible undertaking. In 1866 a pernanent line was laid. -
Darwin’s theory argued that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce, influencing the overall genetic make-up of the species.
He acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a 5 years expedition in the 1830s. It opened the way for more scientific advances and new understandings of the natural world, but orthodox Christians considered the work as heresy. -
Marx published the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867. The book is about marxism.
Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory originated by Karl Marx that focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class. He wrote that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create a conflict among the different classes.
This idea gained a lot of followers and some of today's countries, like Cuba work under marxist ideas. -
In 1858, Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Suez Canal Company with the purpose of building the canal. Its construction lasted from 1859 to 1869. It offered a direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London by approximately 8,900 km.
Egypt closed it at the beginning of the Six-Day War and was reopened on 5 June 1975. -
Bell invented it in 1874, facilitating people to communicate. He didn´t think he was inventing one during his early experiments. He was working on a difficult task: sending multiple telegraph messages over the same wire. Two years later, he was speaking into the first telephone, saying the now-famous instruction to his assistant: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you."
On March 7, 1876 he got the patent. Then, his father, who worked with him, started commercializing the invention in Canada in 1878. -
By January 1879, at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Edison built his first high resistance, incandescent electric light.
It worked by passing electricity through a thin platinum filament in the glass vacuum bulb, which delayed the filament from melting. Still, the lamp only burned for a few short hours.
With the light bulb,people could have light at daytime or nighttime. It made it easier for people to read. It also made it easier for people to perform work-related tasks and to study. -
In 1884, the Berlin Conference was convened to discuss African colonization, with the aim of setting up international instructions for making requests to conquer African land in order to avoid conflict between European powers. There were several negotiations who lasted from 15 November 1884 to 26 February 1885.
It was convoked by France and the UK. The number of voting participants varied per nation. Fourteen countries sent representatives to attend to the conference and to sign the Berlin Act. -
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar") was built in 1885 by the German Karl Benz. It´s regarded as the world's first practical automobile, a self-propelled vehicle for carrying people, and first car put into series production. It was patented and shown in 1886. It worked with an internal combustion engine.
He had to invent many parts of the system as he went along. It could carry two people. Cars gave people a way to get around quickly. Industries, new jobs and transportation developed. -
On 13 May 1897, Marconi succesfully sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea. A message was transmitted over the Bristol Channel, from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point near Cardiff, a distance of 6 km.
In 1900 he patented his system. This made possible that later, on December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi and his assistant, George Kemp, were able to send and receive the first transatlantic radio signals. It was sent from England to California. It helped to improve communications -
Wilbur and Orville Wright spent four years of research and development to create the first successful powered airplane, the 1903 Wright Flyer. It first flew near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, having Orville at the controls. It was powered by gasoline. Two propellers pushed the machine through the air. a system of pulleys was also used.
During the following years, aeroplanes continued developing, allowing to transport cargo or to travel from long distances spending less time. -
On 18 October 1911, after the Antarctic winter, Amundsen's team started its drive toward the Pole. Captain Scott, a British, began his journey three weeks later. At around 3 pm on 14 December 1911, Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole. He reached the Pole 33 days before Captain Scott arrived. The English team died on the return.
Then, they explored this new territory, where nowadays it is mainly occupied by scientific bases to study astronomy, astrophysics, climate changes etc.