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From left, clockwise:
Steve Jobs unveils
Apple's first
iPhone ;
TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a
gas station , killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani
Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto is
assassinated ; 2007 marked the beginning of the
Subprime mortgage crisis in the
United States ; A
surge of troops is sent to fight in the
Iraq War ; a gunman
kills 32 people at
Virginia Tech ;
Google Street View is unveiled to the world;The
Treaty of Lisbon is signed by member states of the
European Union
From left, clockwise:
Wikipedia is launched, making it the world's largest online
encyclopedia ;
Enron files for
bankruptcy after a
major scandal ;
Foot-and-mouth disease
breaks out in the
United Kingdom ; The
United States
invades
Afghanistan to begin the
War on terror ; The
2001 Gujarat earthquake kills between 13,000 and 20,000 people;
Apple Inc. launches the first
iPod after releasing
iTunes earlier in the year; President
George W. Bush announces the
War on terror and demands that the
Taliban hand over
Al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden ; The Twin Towers of the
World Trade Center burn and eventually collapse after being struck with
hijacked
planes during the
9/11 attacks .
From left, clockwise: Protests against
Bush v. Gore after the
2000 United States presidential election ; Heads of state meet for the
Millennium Summit ; The
International Space Station in its infant form as seen from
STS-97 ; The
2000 Summer Olympics are held in
Sydney ; A
U.S. Air Force
MH-53 flies over the
2000 Mozambique flood ; An
Air France
Concorde similar to the one that
crashed after takeoff from
Charles de Gaulle Airport ; The
USS Cole is
bombed by
Al-Qaeda ;
Times Square after the
ball drop that heralded the
New Millennium .
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From left, clockwise: The
2002 Winter Olympics are held in
Salt Lake City ;
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon both die within weeks of each other;
East Timor gains
independence from
Indonesia and is admitted to the
United Nations ; an
Armenian
postage stamp depicts the
2002 FIFA World Cup , which was held in
South Korea and
Japan ; the
Department of Homeland Security is created in the wake of
9/11 to counter further
terrorist threats against the
United States ; the
2002 Überlingen mid-air collision kills 71 people;
FBI agents investigate a
crime scene related to the
D.C. sniper attacks ; the
Euro becomes the official currency of the
European Union .
From left, clockwise: The crew of
STS-107 perished when the
Space Shuttle Columbia
disintegrated during
reentry into
Earth's atmosphere ;
SARS became an
epidemic in
China , and was a precursor to
SARS-CoV-2 ; A destroyed building in
Bam, Iran after the
2003 Bam earthquake killed 30,000 people; A
U.S. Army
M1 Abrams
tank patrols the streets of
Baghdad after the city
fell to U.S.-led forces;
Abuse and torture of
Iraqi prisoners at
Abu Ghraib prison by U.S. personnel;
Protests in
London against the
Invasion of Iraq ; "Mission Accomplished" became an ironic symbol of the protractedness of the
Iraq War after President
George W. Bush 's infamous
speech ; a statue of
Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad after he was deposed during the Iraq War.
From left, clockwise: The
funeral procession of
King Hussein of Jordan in
Amman ; the
1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in
Turkey ; the
Columbine High School massacre becomes one of the first major
school shootings in the
United States ; the
Year 2000 problem , or "Y2K", becomes a major technological concern in the lead up to the year
2000 ; the
Millennium Dome opens in
London in anticipation for the
Millennium celebrations ;
Napster , an online music downloading platform, is launched and becomes a source of
online piracy ;
NASA loses both the
Mars Climate Orbiter and the
Mars Polar Lander ; a destroyed
t-55
tank lies near
Prizren during the
Kosovo War .
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From left, clockwise: The
movie set of
Titanic , which became the
highest-grossing movie in history for over a decade; The first book in
J.K. Rowling 's
Harry Potter series,
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , is published;
Comet Hale-Bopp passes by
Earth and becomes one of the most observed
comets of the
20th century ;
Golden Bauhinia Square , where
sovereignty of
Hong Kong is
handed over from the
United Kingdom to the
People's Republic of China ; the
1997 Central European flood kills 114 people in the
Czech Republic ,
Poland , and
Germany ;
Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavy
rain on
Guam , killing 229;
Mars Pathfinder and
Sojourner land on
Mars ;
Flowers are left outside of
Kensington Palace following the
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash in
Paris .
From left, clockwise: A
bomb explodes at
Centennial Olympic Park in
Atlanta , set off by a radical
anti-abortionist ; The center
fuel tank explodes on
TWA Flight 800 , causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on board; Eight people
die in a
blizzard on
Mount Everest ;
Dolly the Sheep becomes the first
mammal to have been cloned from an adult
somatic cell ; The
Port Arthur Massacre occurs on
Tasmania , and leads to major changes in
Australia's gun laws ;
Macarena , sung by
Los del Río and remixed by The Bayside Boys, becomes a major dance craze and
cultural phenomenon ;
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 crash-ditches off of the
Comoros Islands after the plane was
hijacked ; the
1996 Summer Olympics are held in
Atlanta , marking the Centennial (100th Anniversary) of the modern
Olympic Games .
From left, clockwise:
O. J. Simpson is
acquitted of the murders of
Nicole Brown Simpson and
Ronald Goldman from the
year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the
United States ; The
Great Hanshin earthquake strikes
Kobe ,
Japan , killing 5,000-6,000 people; The
Unabomber Manifesto is published in several U.S.
newspapers ;
Gravestones mark the victims of the
Srebrenica massacre near the end of the
Bosnian War ; Over 150,000 people gather for the
Million Man March in
Washington, D.C. ; The first
exoplanet ,
51 Pegasi b , is discovered;
Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the
Space station
Mir in a display of U.S.-Russian cooperation; The
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City is
bombed by
domestic terrorists , killing 168.
From left, clockwise: The
1994 Winter Olympics are held in
Lillehammer ,
Norway ; The
Kaiser Permanente building after the
1994 Northridge earthquake ; A model of the
MS Estonia , which
sank in the
Baltic Sea ;
Nelson Mandela casts his
vote in the
1994 South African general election , in which he was elected
South Africa 's first
president , and which effectively brought
Apartheid to an end;
NAFTA , which was signed in
1992 , comes into effect in
Canada , the
United States , and
Mexico ; The first passenger rail service to utilize the newly-opened
Channel tunnel ; The
1994 FIFA World Cup is held in the
United States ;
Skulls from the
Rwandan genocide , in which over half a million
Tutsi people were massacred by
Hutus .
From left, clockwise: The
Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict ; The
Russian White House is shelled during the
1993 Russian constitutional crisis ;
Czechoslovakia peacefully
dissolves into the
Czech Republic and
Slovakia ; The
ATF
besieges a compound belonging to
David Koresh and the
Branch Davidians in a search for illegal weapons, which ends in the building being set alight and killing most inside- the event serves as inspiration for
Timothy McVeigh to commit the
Oklahoma City bombing in
1995 ;
Eritrea gains independence; A major
snow storm passes over the
United States and
Canada , leading to over 300 fatalities; Infamous
drug lord and
narcoterrorist
Pablo Escobar is killed by
Colombian special forces ;
Ramzi Yousef and other
Islamic terrorists
detonate a truck bomb in the subterranean garage of
the North Tower of the
World Trade Center in an attempt to destroy the site.
From left, clockwise: The
Cypress structure collapses as a result of the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , killing motorists below; The proposal document for the
World Wide Web is submitted; The
Exxon Valdez
oil tanker runs aground in
Prince William Sound ,
Alaska , causing a large
oil spill ; The
Fall of the Berlin Wall marks the beginning of the end of
Communism in
Eastern Europe , and leads to
German reunification the
next year ; The
United States
invades
Panama to depose
Manuel Noriega ; The
Singing Revolution led to the independence of the
Baltic states of
Estonia ,
Latvia , and
Lithuania from the
Soviet Union ; The stands of
Hillsborough Stadium in
Sheffield ,
Yorkshire , where the
Hillsborough disaster occurred; Students demonstrate in favor of
democracy in
Tiananmen Square , where many ended up being
massacred by forces of the
Chinese Communist Party .
From left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the
Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi was
killed ;
Crimea is
annexed by Russia in 2014;
ISIS/ISIL perpetrates terrorist attacks and captures territory in Syria and Iraq;
climate change awareness and the
Paris Agreement ; the
Event Horizon Telescope captures the first image of a
black hole in 2019;
Obergefell v. Hodges legalizes
same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015; increasing use of digital and mobile technologies; the
UK votes to
leave the
EU in 2016, on a rising tide of
populism throughout the West during the decade. </imagemap>
From top left, clockwise: The
World Trade Center on fire and the
Statue of Liberty during the
9/11 attacks in 2001; the
euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of
Saddam Hussein being toppled during the
Iraq War in 2003, and in 2006, Hussein would be
executed for crimes against humanity; U.S. troops heading toward an army helicopter in
Afghanistan during the
War on Terror ;
social media through the Internet spreads across the world; a Chinese soldier gazes at the
2008 Summer Olympics commencing in
Beijing ; the largest
economic crisis since the
Great Depression hits the world in 2008;
a tsunami from the Indian Ocean earthquake kills over 230,000 in 2004, and becomes the strongest earthquake since the
1964 Alaska earthquake
From top-left, clockwise: The
Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American
F-16s and
F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991
Gulf War ; the signing of the
Oslo Accords on 13 September 1993; the
World Wide Web gains a public face at the start of the decade and gains massive popularity worldwide;
Boris Yeltsin and followers stand on a tank in defiance to the
August Coup , which leads to the
dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991;
Dolly the sheep is the first mammal to be
cloned from an adult
somatic cell ; the
funeral procession of
Diana, Princess of Wales , who
died in 1997 in a car crash in Paris , and was mourned by millions; hundreds of thousands of
Tutsi people are killed in the
Rwandan genocide of 1994. This would become a factor in initiating the
Second Congo War of 1998.
From left, clockwise: The first
Space Shuttle ,
Columbia , lifts off in 1981; US president
Ronald Reagan and
Soviet
leader
Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the
end of the Cold War ; The
fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is considered to be one of the most momentous events of the 1980s; In 1981, the
IBM Personal Computer is released; In 1985, the
Live Aid concert is held in order to fund relief efforts for the
famine in Ethiopia during the time
Mengistu Haile Mariam ruled the country;
Pollution and ecological problems persisted when the
Soviet Union and much of the world is filled with radioactive debris from the 1986
Chernobyl disaster , and in 1984, when thousands of people perished in
Bhopal during a
gas leak from a pesticide plant ; The
Iran–Iraq War leads to over one million dead and $1 trillion spent, while
another war between the Soviets and Afghans leaves over 2 million dead.
Clockwise from top left:
U.S. President
Richard Nixon doing the
V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the
Watergate scandal in 1974; The
United States was still involved in the
Vietnam War in the early decade. The
New York Times
leaked information regarding the nation's involvement in the war. Political pressure led to America's withdrawal from the war in 1973, and the
Fall of Saigon in 1975; the
1973 oil crisis puts the United States in gridlock and causes economic damage throughout the developed world; both the leaders of
Israel and
Egypt shake hands after the signing of the
Camp David Accords in 1978; in 1971, the
Pakistan Armed Forces commits the
1971 Bangladesh genocide to curb independence movements in
East Pakistan , killing 300,000 to 3,000,000 people; this consequently leads to the
Bangladesh Liberation War ; the
1970 Bhola cyclone kills an estimated 500,000 people in the densely populated
Ganges Delta region of
East Pakistan in November 1970, and became the deadliest natural disaster in
40 years ; the
Iranian Revolution of 1979 ousts
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who is later replaced by an Islamic theocracy led by
Ayatollah Khomeini , meanwhile,
American hostages would be held by Iran until 1981; the popularity of the
disco music genre peaks during the mid-to-late 1970s.
Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the
Vietnam War ;
the Beatles led the
British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the
1969 Woodstock Festival ;
Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin
walk on the Moon during the
Cold War -era
Space Race ; the
Stonewall Inn ; China's
Mao Zedong initiates the
Great Leap Forward plan which fails and brings mass starvation in which
15 to 55 million people died by 1961, and in 1966, Mao starts the
Cultural Revolution , which purged traditional Chinese practices and ideas;
John F. Kennedy is
assassinated in 1963, after serving as
President for three years ;
Martin Luther King Jr. makes his famous "
I Have a Dream " speech to
a crowd of 250,000 .
Top, L-R: U.S. Marines engaged in street fighting during the
Korean War ,
c. late September 1950; The first
polio vaccine is developed by
Jonas Salk . Centre, L-R: US tests its first
thermonuclear bomb with code name
Ivy Mike in 1952. A 1954 thermonuclear test, code named
Castle Romeo , is shown here; In 1959,
Fidel Castro overthrows
Fulgencio Batista in the
Cuban Revolution , which results in the creation of the first and only communist government in the Western hemisphere;
Elvis Presley becomes the leading figure of the newly popular music genre of
rock and roll in the mid-1950s. Bottom, L-R: Smoke rises from oil tanks on Port Said following the invasion of Egypt by Israel, United Kingdom and France as part of the
Suez Crisis in late 1956; The
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 ; The
Soviet Union launches
Sputnik 1 , the first artificial satellite to orbit the
Earth , in October 1957. This starts the
Space Race between the Soviet Union and the
United States .
Above title bar: events during
World War II (1939–1945): From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching
Omaha Beach on
D-Day ;
Adolf Hitler visits
Paris , soon after the
Battle of France ;
The Holocaust occurs as
Nazi Germany carries out a programme of systematic state-sponsored
genocide , during which approximately six million
European Jews are killed; The
Japanese
attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor launches the
United States into the war; An
Observer Corps spotter scans the skies of
London during the
Battle of Britain and
The Blitz ; The creation of the
Manhattan Project leads to the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the first uses of
nuclear weapons , which kill over a quarter million people and lead to the
Japanese surrender ; Japanese Foreign Minister
Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the
Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, on board
USS Missouri , effectively ending the war. Below title bar: events after World War II: From left to right: The
Declaration of the State of Israel in 1948; The
Nuremberg trials are held after the war, in which the prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany are prosecuted; After the war, the United States carries out the
Marshall Plan , which aims at rebuilding Western Europe;
ENIAC , the world's first general-purpose electronic
computer .
From left, clockwise:
Dorothea Lange 's photo of the homeless
Florence Thompson shows the effects of the
Great Depression ; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central United States become dry and the
Dust Bowl spreads; The
Empire of Japan
invades China , which eventually leads to the
Second Sino-Japanese War . In 1937, Japanese soldiers
massacre civilians in
Nanking ; aviator
Amelia Earhart becomes an American flight icon;
German
dictator
Adolf Hitler and the
Nazi Party attempt to establish a
New Order of German
hegemony in Europe, which culminates in 1939 when Germany
invades Poland , leading to the outbreak of
World War II . The Nazis also persecute Jews in Germany, specifically with
Kristallnacht in 1938; the
Hindenburg
explodes over a small
New Jersey airfield , causing 36 deaths and effectively ending commercial airship travel;
Mohandas Gandhi walks to the Arabian Sea in the
Salt March of 1930.
From left, clockwise:
Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under
Seán Hogan during the
Irish War of Independence ; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the
18th amendment , which made
alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States throughout the entire decade; In 1927, Charles Lindbergh embarks on the first solo nonstop flight from New York to Paris on the
Spirit of St. Louis ; A crowd gathering on
Wall Street after the
1929 stock market crash , which led to the
Great Depression ;
Benito Mussolini and
Fascist
Blackshirts during the
March on Rome in 1922; the
People's Liberation Army attacking government defensive positions in
Shandong , during the
Chinese Civil War ; The
Women's suffrage campaign leads to
numerous countries granting women the
right to vote and be elected;
Babe Ruth becomes the most famous baseball player of the time.
From left, clockwise: The
Ford Model T is introduced and becomes widespread; The
sinking of the
RMS Titanic causes the deaths of nearly 1,500 people and attracts global and historical attention; Title bar : All the events below are part of
World War I (1914–1918) ; French Army lookout at his observation post in 1917; Russian troops awaiting a German attack; A ration party of the
Royal Irish Rifles in a communication trench during the
Battle of the Somme ;
Vladimir Lenin addresses a crowd in the midst of the
Russian Revolution , beginning in 1917; A
flu pandemic in 1918 kills tens of millions worldwide.
From left, clockwise: The
Wright brothers achieve the
first manned flight with a motorized
airplane , in
Kitty Hawk in 1903; A missionary points to the severed hand of a Congolese villager, symbolic of Belgian
atrocities in the Congo Free State ; The
1908 Messina earthquake kills 75,000–82,000 people and becomes the most destructive earthquake ever to strike Europe; America gains control over the
Philippines in 1902, after the
Philippine–American War ; Rock being moved to construct the
Panama Canal ; Admiral
Togo before the
Battle of Tsushima in 1905, part of the
Russo-Japanese War , leading to Japanese victory and their establishment as a
great power , while Russia's defeat eventually led to the
1905 Revolution .
From left, clockwise: Union workers at a
Carnegie Steel plant go on a strike later known as the
Homestead Strike in 1892;
Plessy v. Ferguson establishes the doctrine of racial segregation and leads to
Jim Crow laws ;
USS Maine sinks in
Havana Harbor in 1898 sparking the
Spanish-American War ; U.S. pays $20 million to get the Philippines from Spain in the
Treaty of Paris ; a cartoon mocks the
Cross of Gold speech given by
William Jennings Bryan who argues against the gold standard;
Panic of 1893 instigates an economic depression which lasts for most of the 1890s;
Thomas Edison invents the
kinetograph , an early example of motion-picture technology; US Marines hoist a US flag during the land campaign of Cuba in the
Spanish-American War .
From left, clockwise: A famous
gunfight erupts at the
O.K. Corral in
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881; a long-distance passenger train called the
Orient Express begins running between
Paris and
Constantinople in 1883;
U.S. Congress bans
Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. for ten years, starting in 1882;
South Fork Dam fails after heavy rainfall and floods the town of
Johnstown, Pennsylvania , killing over two thousand people;
George Eastman introduces the
Kodak No 1 and the camera becomes an enormous success;
Chicago's Haymarket Square is the scene of a
bombing that kills at least seven police officers and four civilians during a massive protest from a labor rally and is generally considered the origin of modern
May Day protests; settlers try to claim land during the
Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889; combined groups of
British and
Sudanese forces on opposing sides fight during a nationalist
uprising against the Khedive
Tewfik Pasha .
From left to right, clockwise: Conflict erupts between the
Second French Empire and the
Kingdom of Prussia leading to the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870; a
fire in
Chicago kills approximately 300 people and leaves about another 100,000 people homeless in 1871;
Claude Monet's
Impression, Sunrise is recognized as the source of inspiration for the
Impressionist movement ; The
U.S. Army is defeated by
Arapaho ,
Lakota and
Northern Cheyenne tribes during the
Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876;
Nicolaus Otto patents the first commercial four-stroke
internal combustion engine ;
Queen Victoria is recognized as the “
Empress of India ” in the
Royal Titles Act 1876 ;
Emirate of Afghanistan forces defend against
British Raj invaders in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War ;
British Empire and
Zulu Kingdom fighters engage in combat during the
Anglo-Zulu War .
From top left, clockwise: Scottish physicist
James Clerk Maxwell formulates the
classical theory of
electromagnetic radiation , bringing together for the first time
electricity ,
magnetism , and
light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon; the
Meiji Restoration leads to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure; the
International Workingmen's Association is formed in 1864, aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing
socialist ,
communist and
anarchist groups; the
Battle of Avay , fought in 1868 during the
Paraguayan War , the bloodiest inter-state war in Latin America's history; execution in 1867 of
Maximilian I of Mexico , ruler of the
Second Mexican Empire , established during the
Second French intervention in Mexico ; the
Battle of Gettysburg , the turning point of the
American Civil War , fought in the
United States from 1861 to 1865, between the
North (the
Union ) and the
South (the
Confederacy ) as a result of the long-standing
controversy over
the enslavement of black people ; the
Suez Canal is inaugurated in 1869;
Victor Emmanuel meets Garibaldi near
Teano in 1860, at the end of the
Expedition of the Thousand .
From left, clockwise:
Henry Clay introduces the
Compromise of 1850 the
U.S. Senate ;
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes
Uncle Tom’s Cabin ; Russian forces fight against British, French and Ottoman forces in
Sevastopol during the
Crimean War ;
SS Arctic , an American steamship, sinks in the
Atlantic Ocean after a collision with a French steamship,
SS Vesta in 1854; The
Panama Railroad opens in 1855 connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans with a railroad in
Central America ; Anglo-French and Qing Empire forces engage each other in a four-year long campaign known as the
Second Opium War starting in 1856;
Dred Scott v. Sandford denies American citizenship as mandated under the
U.S. Constitution to African Americans;
Charles Darwin publishes
On the Origin of Species in 1859, presenting the idea of
natural selection .
From top left, clockwise:
Mexican-American War was a conflict that ushered the American expansion in its
western frontier , paving way for new territories (and eventually states) such as
Texas and
California ;
Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 resulted with the establishment of
New Zealand as a
British colony , symbolizing Britain's rising power and expansion to new reaches, particularly in the
New World , where demand for imperial power and trade control increases; The
great auk goes extinct, as it falls victim to overhunting;
First Opium War catalyzed Europe's imperial encroachment and control over Chinese ports, as the war resulted with
Hong Kong 's succession to
Britain via the
Treaty of Nanking ; The
Oregon Trail opens up to the world, prompting a
wave of migration to the American west and later on, a
gold rush in California that persisted through the 1850s; The
saxophone was patented and released to the public, forging way for future music genres such as
jazz ,
swing , and
blues ; First edition of
the Communist Manifesto was published by
Karl Marx in February 1848. This publication would go on to create a revolutionary shift in political ideologies and thought in the 20th century, influencing entire states such as
Soviet Union ,
China , and
Cuba ; the
Revolutions of 1848 ravages European politics, and causes multiple socio-cultural changes, particularly in
classical music , arts, and politics.
From top left, clockwise:
Queen Victoria's coronation marked the beginning of her 64-year long reign. Her reign meant the revival of the
British Empire , as the
United Kingdom rapidly grew powerful territorially and economically. Under her rule, Britain saw a massive upheaval of colonial power, as over a quarter of the world fell into British rule;
France's 1830 revolution reinstated liberal values – and later French imperialism – back into French governance and power. The revolution resulted in the dethroning of King
Charles X and indirectly rebirthed the
French colonial empire ;
Michael Faraday and
John Daniell 's studies helped form the basis of
electrochemistry via the discovery of
electromagnetic induction . Their discoveries moulded a huge part of contemporary
chemistry , and forever changed the way people utilized
electricity ;
HMS Beagle circumnavigates the world twice. Its
second expedition with
Charles Darwin has proven to be particularly pioneering, as the discoveries and theories he made on said voyage, helped him develop the
theory of evolution , widely enhanced scientific consensus and knowledge on
taxonomy and
biology , and birthed the concept of
natural selection ;
Slave and free states grow in number and power; a dynamic movement widely perceived as a prelude to the
American Civil War as abolishment and establishment began to socio-politically polarize the United States' society, subsequently forming
Union and
Confederate states; The
telegraph is invented by
Samuel Morse . His patent opened the world to global networking and broke long distances as boundaries with it – the first of its kind; an 1832 still-life image developed by a
daguerrotype . The daguerreotype was first introduced to the public in 1839. Its release made it the first invention that enabled the public to capture images on a recurrent basis – a move that would eventually nurture the growth of modern-day
photography ;
Hans Christian Andersen publishes his first collection of fairy tales in 1837. His publications profoundly transformed literature, and grew to become one of the most popular and influential storywriters of the 19th century, with stories like
The Little Mermaid (as pictured), and
Thumbelina ; a legacy that today retains as
Denmark 's national icon.
From top left, clockwise:
Ludwig van Beethoven re-emerged as a popular composer during this decade, when his iconic
Symphony No. 9 is first performed in
Vienna in 1824. The
First Industrial Revolution achieves peak momentum for the West, as depicted in this engraving of a textile factory operating in
Manchester , arguably England's industrial hub of the 19th century; The
world's oldest photograph was taken in 1826, as seen above. The decade was the start of
daguerrotype development – an instrument used for motion-picture capturing and was a precursor instrument to the
camera ;
South American wars of independence were on full swing, as countries like
Brazil ,
Bolivia ,
Peru , and
Uruguay gained their independence at this era; a turning point for regional politics, and heavily influenced South America's contemporary socio-political conditions; Crowds gather to witness the opening of the world's first railway – the
Stockton and Darlington Railway – as it formally commenced in 1825; The world's first
electric motor was created by Hungarian engineer
Ányos Jedlik . His invention would drive to form modern-day knowledge and utilization of
electricity , and forged way for studies on
electrochemistry and
engineering to grow;
Antarctica was discovered and explored for the first time. Its inaugural expedition into continental waters was led by a Russian crew headed by
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen , in 1819 to 1821; The
typewriter receives its first patent in 1829; a breakthrough in technology, and paved way to form modern-day
communications and
computer science .
From top left, clockwise: The
Battle of Waterloo signified the end of
Napoleon 's
conquests , as it sealed the downfall of
his empire and brought his campaigns to an end; The
French invasion of Russia and the subsequent retreat from
Russia's harsh winter proved to be a turning point in the
Napoleonic Wars , as food shortages and drastic supply loss led to catastrophic French losses from which
Napoleon would never recover; The
stethoscope was invented – its first prototype made by Frenchman
René Laennec could be shown here. His invention proved to be an innovation that changed the course of medical diagnosis and overall
medicinal sciences ;
Mount Tambora 's
eruption in 1815 – the world's largest volcanic eruption in recorded history – inflicted over 90,000 human deaths, a cycle of
famines , and a series harsh winters over the next few years, in a period that would be known as the
Year Without a Summer . Its global impact had arguably made its eruption the world's most influential –and worst– volcanic eruption on contemporary history; -
War of 1812 was fought over Canada and the U.S, and largely involved the struggle between remnants of British imperialism on the continent, with the then-fledgeling nationalist movements that sprung as the aftermath of the
American Revolutionary War and
the United States' independence . It is widely considered as a spillover political conflict of the
Napoleonic Wars ; The
Great Comet of 1811 made a brief appearance. Observations made by amateur scientists evolved modern-day understanding of
comets , and eventually forged a way for
astronomy knowledge;
Theory of Colours was first published. The German-made theory helped inspire countless of
visual arts and
design concepts in the future, as well as nurturing further understanding on
colours ; The
gas light becomes widely implemented into urban systems – mainly as
streetlights – after its inception on the
1800s .
From top left, clockwise:
Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of the French Empire and embarked on trans-European conquests, which would later on be best known as the
Napoleonic Wars – a conflict that forever transformed European politics, and gave rise to the
global struggle for hegemony ;
Ceres was discovered, proving the existence of an
asteroid belt between the
Solar System 's inner and outer planets; Inventor
Isaac de Rivas created a hydrogen gas-powered vehicle, an inception to
automotive engineering and internal combustion engines; - The
Louisiana Purchase was made, singlehandedly expanding the
United States of America in a scale larger than ever; to this day the purchase is still viewed as one of the largest expansions within
North America to date;
Symington 's
Charlotte Dundas became the world's first functioning steamboat;
Haiti declares independence in 1804, becoming the world's very first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state, with its victory marking the world's arguably only successful slave revolution in history;
Morphine is successfully isolated from
opium and is produced for the first time as a separate medicinal product in 1804;
Francis II abdicates in 1806, thus dissolving the
Holy Roman Empire .
From top left, clockwise:
Atlantic slave trade and
abolitionism gain momentum over Europe and the Americas, as bans began to be enacted in countries such as
Denmark-Norway (1803), the
United Kingdom (1807), and Union States of the United States (1808) in the subsequent decade, following movements and upheavals of awareness at this period; Now-iconic
Peking opera was conceived after the
Four Great Anhui Troupes were brought into the dynasty capital to perform in Beijing, sometime in 1790; The
metric system is formally adopted for the first time in France after receiving recommendation from its Commission of Weights and Measures. This set the metric system as a global default of measures and trail-blazed its universal acceptance as the standard of measures, outpacing the imperial system in the process;
Smallpox vaccine was created in 1796 by British doctor Edward Jenner; a patent that would unknowingly lead to the
eradication of smallpox , directly contributing to the world's first and only successful disease eradication campaign; The United States'
very first contested presidential elections took place in 1796, who was eventually won over by John Adams; The
cotton gin was first formally patented and came into industrial use in 1793, by American
Eli Whitney . The modernized version of the engine paved way for much of the Industrial Revolution and enabled the textile industry to evolve and flourish more, due to its ability to separate cotton;
French Revolutionary Wars broke out and culminated at this decade, where events such as the
Reign of Terror (pictured) and the establishment of the
French First Republic set off frenzied politics, birthing the idea of modern-day
political spectrum in the process;
Lithography was invented, revolutionising
print methods, and increasing pragmatism over information processing.
From top left, clockwise: - The
fall of the Bastille propelled the start of the
French Revolutionary War , a war that will eventually influence global politics by the birth of
democracy in governments, and conceive the idea of
republicanism worldwide; The first
hydrogen balloons flew successfully this decade by Jacques Charles and
Nicolas-Louis Robert ;
George Washington becomes
president of the United States of America . His ascension into office marked him as
America's first president; The
United States Constitution is signed in
Philadelphia , formally ending the
American Revolutionary War against the
United Kingdom ;
Uranus is discovered in 1781 by
William Herschel , further expanding the global scientific consensuses and understanding on the
Solar System , recognizing it as the seventh planet from the Sun;
The Iron Bridge opens, making it the world's very first
bridge made out of
cast iron , ushering in the preliminary wave of the
Industrial Revolution ; The
Montgolfier brothers manned the world's first hot-air balloon, which stayed afloat 2 kilometres above ground in its 1783 voyage;
Icelandic volcano
Laki erupted in 1783, unleashing an 8-month-long environmental destruction and widespread famine across Europe. Up to 33% of Iceland's population and tens of thousands more in
Mainland Europe succumbed to the chain of disasters, leading the eruption to be dubbed as "one of the worst" in contemporary history.
From top left, clockwise: Englishmen and sailor
James Cook concludes his inaugural and embarks on his second voyage, leaving a trail of significant milestones along its way such as the discovery of
New Caledonia ,
Australia ,
Tahiti , the
Antarctic Circle , and becoming the first humans to witness
Antarctic waters as pictured; The
United States Declaration of Independence was unanimously signed and adopted by the
Second Continental Congress , announcing the colonies' intention to separate from
Great Britain ;
Company rule in India establishes governance over India for the first time at
Calcutta , giving way for
British colonialism over the
Indian subcontinent , and eventually
Western imperialism in Asia ;
Nitrogen gas was isolated from air by Scottish scientist
Daniel Rutherford ;
Amazing Grace was sung for the first time as a hymn in
Buckinghamshire ,
England at 1773; Chemist
Carl Wilhelm Scheele made several breakthroughs in
chemistry by discovering five chemical elements, namely
oxygen (1771),
barium (1772),
chlorine (1774),
manganese (1774), and
molybdenum (1778); The
Boston Tea Party protest precipitates anti-British sentiment in the
Thirteen Colonies , and subsequently the
American Revolutionary War ; A
Russo-Turkish War lead to now-
Russia 's first occupation of
Crimea ; initiating Russia's influence over Crimea that has since persisted today.
From top left, clockwise: English Explorer
James Cook commenced
his first voyage around the world and becoming the first known Europeans to reach the east coast of Australia; victory at the
Battle of Buxar and subsequent
Treaty of Allahabad marked start of the political and constitutional involvement
East India Company and the beginning of British rule in India; the Dutch ship, the
Meermin is taken over by the slaves it was transporting in the
Meermin slave mutiny ;
George III is
crowned
king of the United Kingdom and would go on to reign longer than any of his predecessors; French inventor
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" — effectively the world's first automobile; the
Stamp Act is passed by the British parliament required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London. The unpopularity of the Stamp Act, and other such taxes levied by the parliament would contribute to the start of the American revolution;
Leopold Mozart and his family
toured Europe allowing their children to experience to the full the cosmopolitan musical world which in
Wolfgang's case this would continue through further journeys in the following six years, prior to his appointment by the Prince-Archbishop as a court musician; the signing of the
Treaty of Paris formally ended the Seven Years' War and marked the beginning of an era of British dominance outside Europe.
From top left, clockwise: The
Treaty of Madrid amends the pre-existing
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Signed in 1750, this Spanish-Portuguese agreement, enabled
Portugal to claim more holdings in what is now
Brazil ;
Dzungar Khanate is captured by
Qing forces in 1755, ultimately transferring
Xinjiang into the hands of Han Chinese power – a legacy that continues to this day in modern-day
China ; A
destructive earthquake and tsunami ravages the city of
Lisbon in 1755, strongly influencing the studies of engineering, as well as philosophical thoughts on the Western
Age of Enlightenment ;
Britain 's victory during the
Battle of Quiberon Bay signalled the rise of the
British Navy 's power, as it heightens its ranks of becoming the world's foremost naval power, and a dominant global entity for the next two centuries;
Halley's Comet appears accurately from scientific projections for the first time in 1759; Artificial
refrigeration is invented and first used in 1758 under the studies of Scottish physician and chemist
William Cullen ; The precipitation of the
French and Indian War in 1754 proved to become one of North America's first major interstate conflicts, and one of the largest to significantly involve
Native American tribes such as the
Iroquois , the
Cherokee , and the
Mi'kmaqs ;
Benjamin Franklin conducts his now-iconic
kite experiment in 1752, leading him to the discovery of
electricity and the invention of
lightning rods .
From top left, clockwise: The
War of Jenkins' Ear , a conflict between the
British and
Spanish Empires lasting from 1739 to 1748. The
War of the Austrian Succession from 1740 to 1748, caused by the death of
Emperor Charles VI in 1740. The
siege of Trichinopoly a conflict between the
Nizam of Hyderabad and the
Maratha Empire over the
Carnatic region .
George Anson burns
Paita , a settlement in Peru in 1742 whilst on a
voyage around the world .
Nader Shah declares war on the
Ottoman Empire in 1743 resulting in the
Ottoman–Persian War . Following the end of the
First Silesian War in 1742, the
Second Silesian War occurs as a continuation of the first war. A
Leyden jar is discovered independently by
Ewald Georg von Kleist and
Pieter van Musschenbroek . The
Jacobite rising of 1745 , an attempt by
Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his
father .
Tonga Volcano Eruption 2022-01-15 0320Z to 0610Z Himawari-8 visible
Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral and Procession (19.Sep.2022) - 09
From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the
Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi was
killed ;
Crimea is
annexed by Russia in 2014;
ISIS/ISIL perpetrates terrorist attacks and captures territory in Syria and Iraq;
climate change awareness and the
Paris Agreement ; the
Event Horizon Telescope captures the first image of a
black hole in 2019;
Obergefell v. Hodges legalizes
same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015, marking continuing progress for
LGBT rights in
developed countries ; increasing use of digital and mobile technologies; the
UK votes to
leave the
EU in 2016 on a rising tide of
populism throughout the decade.