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Jan 1, 1546
Monarchy of Ivan IV
In 1546 Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) claimed the title of czar. Ivan intended on ruling without limits on his power. His own madness created chaos. -
Jan 1, 1560
Ivan The Terrible
During the late 1560's Ivan changed. His violent actions and strict policies earned him the name "Ivan The Terrible". Ivan ordered the killing of thousands of people. In 1581 Ivan the terrible killed his own son who was next in line to be czar. -
Galileo invented the telescope
The telescope was possibly Galileo's most famous invention. He invented it for astronomy. With this telescope, he was able to look at the moon, discover the four satellites of Jupiter, observe a supernova, verify the phases of Venus, and discover sunspots. His discoveries proved the Copernican system which states that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun. -
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a resopnse to the effects of the Reformation, as well as a response to the rising needs of the middle class. The war involved the king, Parliament, the aristocracy, the middle classes, the commoners, and the army. War raged between Parliamentarians, Royalists, Cavaliers and Roundheads and every religious sect in England. -
Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity
Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity when observing an apple fall from a tree. Upon observing an apple fall from a tree, began to think along the following lines: The apple is accelerated, since its velocity changes from zero as it is hanging on the tree and moves toward the ground. by Newton's 2nd Law there must be a force that acts on the apple to cause this acceleration. He called this force “gravity”. -
John Locke
In 1675 John Locke studied in France. When he returned he found the political climate under James II less than pleasant, and so he moved to Holland. It was there that he wrote his great psychological work, Essay concerning Human Understanding. -
Peter The Great's rule
Peter The Great became czar at a very young age. Because he was so young, his sister insisted on ruling in his place. When Peter turned 17, he removed his sister from throne and took power. -
Palace of Versailles
The Palace is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to improve it. -
Peter's journey
Peter began a journey to western Europe to see for himself what Russia needed to modernize. He was in disguise but was sometimes recognized anyway. Wherever Peter traveled, he learned hands-on skills, especially shipbuilding. -
Scotland and England
There is on parlament representing both England, and Scotland. The countries had tried on multiple ocassions to unite, but they failed several times. Finally in 1707, a treaty was signed, and they united. -
Charles VI Died
Charles VI was the Hapsburgh Holy Roman Emperor. He died without a male heir. But before he died he approved a document called the Pragmatic Sanction, which stated that the empire could be passed to a female heir. -
King George's War
This was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place mainly in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia. Its only successful large-scale action was a major expedition organized by Massachusetts Governor William Shirley. -
Montesquieu wrote Spirit of the Laws
Montesquieu spent nearly twenty years researching and writing L'esprit des lois ( The Spirit of the Laws). It covered a wide range of topics in politics, the law, sociology, and anthropology. He argued that the type of government varied depending on circumstances. -
The end og King George's War
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that ended the war in 1748 restored Louisbourg to France, and failed to resolve any outstanding territorial issues. The war took a heavy toll, especially in the northern British colonies. The losses of Massachusetts men alone in 1745–46 have been estimated as 8% of that colony's adult male population. -
Diderot Wrote the Encyclopedia
Diderot finished writing the Encyclpedias in 1772. He had a hard time publishing them, because the government thought that he was criticizing the church and legal system. It took him 27 years to write 17 volumes. -
King Louis XVI Reign
When Louis XVI became king, he had to choose its own way to govern France. He sent his forces to America where the independence war was raging. This act was a key point in the independentist's naval victory. -
Death of Voltaire
Voltaire is remembered as a crusader against tyranny and bigotry. He had suffered throughout his life from poor health, but at the time of his death he was eighty-four. When he died he left behind many volumes of literary work. -
The French Revolution Begins
The Revolution began when the Estates-General met on May 5, 1789. Many Nobles and some of the clergy followed the Third Estate, in starting the long revolution. They changed the name of their gathering from Estates General to the National Assembly, which represented all of the people of France. -
Oath of the Tennic Court
When the King shut the Nobles out from their usual place of meeting, they took the famous Oath of the Tennis Court, pledging their selves not to separate until they had given France a constitution. They changed the name of their gathering from Estates General to the National Assembly, which represented all of the people of France -
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin
Whitney had designed and constructed the cotton gin, a machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. Eli Whitney's invention revolutionized the cotton industry in the United States. Prior to his invention, farming cotton required hundreds of man-hours to separate cottonseed from cotton fibers.
