Key Events 1750 - 1910 By 149194 Feb 9, 1776 American Declaration of Independence Feb 9, 1785 Edmund Cartwright patents a power loom Feb 9, 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen - (French Revolution) Feb 9, 1791 Tom Paine’s - 'The Rights of Man' is published Feb 9, 1804 First steam locomotive is operating at Pennydarren, Wales Feb 9, 1833 Abolition of slavery in the British Empire Feb 9, 1868 Meiji (‘enlightened rule’) Restoration in Japan; feudalism is abandoned and capitalism embraced Feb 9, 1871 German unifcation after the Franco-Prussian War leading to Germany’s rise as an imperial power Feb 9, 1899 Guglielmo Marconi invents the wireless (radio) Feb 9, 1905 Russo-Japanese War; Japan defeats Russia