B.C. to 1800's
History Timeline B.C. A.D. 1700's 1800's
15 Billion Years Ago... The Universe Began with a "Big
Bang" ,
& Thus began other "Cosmic Events": Anti Matter, Black
Holes, etc!
Big Bang Model
Big
Bang Theory
Yahoo's Big
Bang
More Big
Bang
The
Day There Was No Yesterday & How true that is!
251,000,000 BC : Dinosaur Age began 1/4 of a Billion Years Ago!
65,000,000 BC : Tyrannosaurus Rex & last
Dinosaurs wiped out by
Giant Asteroid.
(*) Ref: Dinosaur & prehistoric links on my history
page
500,000 BC : Cave Men (1/2
Million Years Ago) first appeared!
6,500 BC : Metallurgy was developed
3,500 BC : Where IRAQ is today, the Sumerians kept
the first known written
records. They had mathematics, a 24 hour clock, and an impressive
civilization. Some speculate that was the site of the Biblical Garden
of Eden. (How
ironic it is that Saddam lives there today!)
2,500 BC : Pyramids in Egypt started construction
2,050 BC : Papyrus (Paper) is first used (more convenient
than stone tablets!)
1,000 BC : Legendary City of Atlantis
supposidly destroyed; #1
#2 #3
800 BC : First Olympic Games in Greece
700 BC : Old Testament Prophet Isaiah
500 BC : Early Greeks discovered the Yo Yo! - Dedication to: Johnnie Davis
61
AD
: Christian's Jesus of Nazareth began 3 year ministry (31-64 AD)
79
AD
: Mt Vesuvius Erupted & Roman City of Pompeii destroyed
1000 - 1500 : Is that general timeframe we call "Medieval", also referred to
as
"Middle Ages". Note most of my links to this time period are staying
on my History page, most will not be duplicated here...
fyi: There exists an
"incredible" amount of information
for this (and virtually every other) time period, on the Internet.
1057
(
): Coventry England, Leofric agreed if his wife (Lady Godiva) would
agree to ride (without attire) at noon through the town, Leofric would
greatly reduce excessive taxes on the pesants. Then, even manure was
being taxed. Godiav was then spelled; "Godgifu". The "really long
hair" was a 17th century embellishment by noblemen, as was the
peasant who "went blind for peeking".... Yes, that was a real event
in history.
1173 (Aug 9 ):
Italy's famous Leaning Tower
in the town of Pisa's
Cornerstone date.
(I'm
guessing the original architects left town fast - with no forwarding
address?)
If
a picture is worth 1,000 words - then (...click here!)
1189 (Sept 3):Richard the Lionhearted is crowned King! Historians have
determined
Sir Lancelot, and some legends of Camelot are based on fact. Whether
he
had the "Holy Grail", a "Magic Sword", or competed for the affections
of
Guineviere & had a "Round table"? - Well, who can say for sure! A few
years
before my time...
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Likewise, most of us have enjoyed theatrical escape in some English outlaw
Robin Hood
adventures (standing up for underdogs, fighting the evil
evil Sheriff of Nottingham in Sherwood
Forest with his side kicks Friar Tuck,
Little John, a band of "merry men", and the beautiful Maid Marian, ever
awaiting good King Richard to return from his misguided Crusades - to end
his brother's tyrancy). Historians have run into varied conflicting accounts, but
as
long as no one can prove the legend was not factual - why not
believe!
1492 (Aug 3):Christopher Columbus
set sail for the "new world"
Three months later (Oct 12), Columbus arrives at the Bahamas
** What few realize is, by 1492
there was an estimated 30 million
population in the Western Hemisphere! 50,000+
years ago,
tribes existed in this hemisphere. Ancient
and/or pre-European
inhabitants of this hemisphere have included; Native American
Indians, Maya, Aztecs, Incas, and
Vikings....
1507 (
): Leonardo
DaVinci completed the Mona Lisa (it is now
believed the
original
colors were radically brighter than what you see today, but
it
seems unlikely any "restoration" to reveal them is not going to
happen)
1513 ( ): Michelangelo completed the Sistine Chapel
1513 (
): Ponce de Leon
seeks Fountain of Youth (in Sunny Florida, where else!)
1620 (Sept 6): Mayflower set sail (149 Pilgrim passengers)
1620 (Dec 21) : Pilgrims set foot on American Soil
1654
(
) : Brittish Parliament banned the rowdy pagen holiday "Christmas"
1752 (June 15) :Benjamin Franklin demonstrated "a shocking" principle, as he
flew a kite
1769 (June 7) : Daniel Boone began exploring Kentucky
1770 (March 5) :Boston
Massacre greatly increased growing tensions
between Britain and it's 13 Colonies.
1773 (Dec 16) :Boston Tea Party rebellion against the English
1775 (March 23): Patrick
Henry's inspired "Give me liberty or give me death!"
1775 (April 19): Revolutionary War began
1776 (Jan 1):
First American
flag with the original 13 States
1776 (July 4): Declaration of Independance was
adopted by Congress
1776 (Sept 9):"United States of America" became the Nation's Official Name
1776 (Sept 22): Nathan Hale: "I only regret that I have but one life to give
to my country".
1776 (Dec 19):Thomas Paine essay - "These are the
times that try men's souls".
1777 (June 14): Betsy Ross makes the first official American flag
1783 (Sept 3) : Treaty of Paris oficially ended
the Revolutionary War
1787 (Sept 17) : U.S. Constitution was signed at the
Constitutional Convention
in Philadelphia.
1788 (June 21): The U.S. Constitution went into effect
1789 (Jan 7): George Washington was elected as our first President
1789 (Oct 21): USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) launched at
Boston Harbor
- 1800's -
1800 (April 25): Library of Libraries: Library of Congress was established!
1800 (June 4): White House construction was complete
1809 (Feb 12): Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky.
1812 (thru:1839) : Luddites were "anti-technology terrorists",
destroying machinery
in English factories. Here are a few interesting "Ned Lud" url's;
1
2
3 4 5
6
7
1814 (August 24) : British Forces
burned down the White House
1814 (Sept 14) : Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner
1818 (Dec
25) : "Silent Night" is performed for the 1st
time ever, in Austria.
Where? In the Church of "St. Nikolaus", of course!
1820 ( ) : Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith's 1st Vision
1828 (April 14) :
First publication of Webster's Dictionary
1831 (Aug 9): First steam locomotive run
1833 (April 9): New Hampshire opens the 1st public library
1843 (Dec 19): One of my two all time favorite Christmas stories;
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens was published
1846 (Sept 10) : Elias Howe (Spencer, Mass) patents the "Sewing Machine"
1847 (Feb 11) : Thomas Alva Edison the great Inventor
was born (in Ohio)
1854
(
) : German Composer "Engelbert
Humperdinck" was born. He later
wrote the 1893 Opera "Haensel und Gretel" - based on the famous
Brother's Grimm tale named (... guess?). The Engelbert of the 1980's
real name was; "Arnold George Dorsey")
1860 (April 3): Pony Express began
1860 (Nov 6): Abraham Lincoln was elected President
1861 (April 11) : Civil
War Began
1861 (July 17) : First U.S. paper money issued
1863 (Jan 1) :
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect
1863 (Oct 3) : President Lincoln established the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.
1864 (April 22):"In God We Trust" is added to our
coins by the U.S. Congress
(There existed no ACLU telling them that was "unconstitutional", back then!)
1865 (April 9): General's Robert E. Lee & Ulysses Grant signed agreement officially
ending
the Civil War at Virginia's Appomattox Court House.
1865 (April 14): John Wilkes Booth, Actor and
Confederate Spy, assasinated President
Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre, then
shouted out;
"The South is Avenged"
1865 (Dec 18): The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery - was finally in effect. This was a
very important step to ending a terrible chapter in History
(but hardly an end to racial prejudices).
1865 (Dec 24): The night before Christmas - in the
same year that the Civil War Ended,
and President Lincoln's died (ironically in the very month slavery was
abolished), Confederate soldiers under General Forrester started the
abominable Klu Klux Klan. "Those were the best of times, and the worst
of times..."
1868 (
) : The Impeachment Trial of President Andrew
Johnson
1869 (May 10): First transcontinental railroad was completed
1870 (Feb 26): New York Subway Line opened
1871 (Oct 8) : Was Catherine
O'Leary's Cow falsely blamed for the great Chicago Fire?
1871 (Oct )
: First logged sighting of the famous Loch Ness Monster, ("Nessie"), in Scotland
1876 (March 10): Alexander
Bell transmits first modern telephone message
1879 (Oct 21): Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light
1886 (Oct 28): Statue of Liberty is presented to the U.S. by the French
1888 (Sept 4) : George Eastman gets patent for camera & film (trademark Kodak)
1890
(
) : Christmas became a
National U.S. Holiday
1890
(
) : Sherman Antitrust Act was written to guarantee fair
competition
against unfair practices by Monopolies. Standard Oil was
split into smaller companies in 1911, AT&T in 1984. That was the
bill which enabled the Microsoft antitrust case of 1998. In same
Mobil & Exxon, created by Sherman Act - remerged!
1895 (Feb 6 ): Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore
1895
(
): Frank & Charles Durea were the first to make money
manufacturing
automobiles, better known then as the
"Horseless Carriage".
Fact: The Durea was manufactured in
Springfield Mass !
View: Eric Anninger's Horseless Carriage Collection !!!
1895 (July 4) : Katherine Lee Bate's "America the
Beautiful" was 1st Published.
Although both Music & Lyrics are greatly superior to
Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner", it is unlikely
politicians of our day will legislate approval of a 2nd, alternate
National Anthem (... and that's to our loss!!!).
1897 (Sept 21): "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa
Claus" editorial appeared in the
New York Sun, in response to 8 year old Virginia O'Hanlon's
now famous letter to the Sun's Editor, Francis P. Church.
("Virginia O'Hanlon-Douglas" later became a New York
school teacher).
Welcome Your Feedback, do visit again!
Mark G. Davis