-
Industrial Revolution
It started in Great Britain. Gret Britain claimed colonies around the world that provided vast amounts of raw materials, such as cotton fiber. Parliament passed laws that favored business, helping the country compete successfully against other nations. -
1st successful steam engin built
Was built in England in 1712, but progress was very slow. Envented by James Watt. This engin was faster and more efficent at driving machinery. -
Mexico declares its independence
Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821. To win its independence both royalist and rebel troops joined Itrurbid to fight. That same year Mexico named as its emperor the creole military leader who had made independence happen. -
Michael Faraday's dynamo
English chemist discovered the connection between magnetism and electricity. His discovery led to the dynamo, a machine that generated electricity by moving a magnet through a coil copper wire. -
Taiping rebellion
Was a massive civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. It was a millenarian movement led by Hong Xiuquan. -
Sepoy Mutiny in India
Began as a mutiny of sepoys of the East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the cantonment of the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions. -
Karl Marx's 'Das Kapital'
Marx produced the first volume of Das Kapital in 1867. In this three-part work, he put forth his arguments against capitalism. -
The Meiji Restoration
Also known as the Meiji Ishin,Renovation or Revolution, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under the Meiji Emperor. -
Franco-Prussian War
In 1870 Napoleon III drew France into a war with Prussia. In the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon III waas captured in battle and surrendered to the Prussians. This shameful defeat led the French Assembly to depose Napoleon and proclaim the Third Republic. -
Spanish-American War begins
Was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, the result of American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. -
Boxer Rebellion
Was a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian movement which took place in China between 1899 and 1901. It was initiated by the Righteous Harmony Society Chinese forces. -
Russo-Japanese War
Japans status as a great power was confirmed by its victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. This war was cuased by Russian competition with Japan over influence in Manchuria and Korea. -
Franz Ferdinand is killed
Was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. -
Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
Was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. -
U.S. joins WWI
On April 6, 1917, the U.S. joined its allies--Britain, France, and Russia--to fight in World War I. Under the command of Major General John J. Pershing, more than 2 million U.S. soldiers fought on battlefields in France. -
Treaty of Versailes is signed
Was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. -
Mussolini's Fasciist Party in Italy
Was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism. The party ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943. -
Russia becomes the USSR
Was a socialist state on the Eurasian continent that existed between 1922 and 1991, governed as a single-party state by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital.[3] A union of multiple subnational Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. -
Stalin's rule in the USSR begins
Was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. -
Black Tuesday Stock Market crash
Began in late October 1929 and was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout.[2] The crash signaled the beginning of the 10-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
On this day in 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or fÜhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany. -
Germany attacks Poland-WWII begins
Was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. -
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor
Was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
US. declares war on Japan
In response to that country's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the prior day. It was formulated an hour after the Infamy Speech presidential address of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Following the declaration, Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, definitively bringing the United States into World War II. -
D-Day
In the military, D-Day is the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. The best known D-Day is June 6, 1944 — the day of the Normandy landings — initiating the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. -
U.S. drops A-Bomb on Hiroshima
The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in August 1945. To date the two bombings are the only instance of the use of nuclear weapons in wartime. -
Nuremberg trials are held
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg. -
Apartheid in South Africa
Was a system of racial segregation in South Africa enforced through legislation by the National Party (NP) governments, the ruling party from 1948 to 1994, under which the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained. -
Mao Zendong's People's Republic of China
Commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese communist revolutionary and a founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death. -
Korean War is fought
Was a war between the Republic of Korea (South Korea), supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), at one time supported by China and the Soviet Union. It was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. -
Fidel Castro's Communism in Cuba
Politician who was Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008, and as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. -
Vietnam War is fought
Was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from December 1956 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. -
Mikhail Gorbachev power in USSR
Is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the country's head of state from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born after the October Revolution. -
Persian Gulf War begins
Was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. -
USSR collapses & Russia is back
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) formally ceased to exist on 26 December 1991. The increasing political unrest led the authoritarian establishment of the Soviet military and the Communist Party to attempt a coup d'état to oust Gorbachev and re-establish strong central regime in August 1991. -
WTO is formed
Is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.