Full Dates Quiz

constantinople is sacked by muslim forces

1453

bartholemew diaz rounds the cape of good hope

1488

columbus encounters the americas (god, glory, and gold)

1492

martin luther's posting of the 95 theses

1517

diet of worms declares martin luther and outlaw

1520

the peasants revolt takes place in germany

1524-1525

act of supremacy passed in england-henry VIII becomes head of the anglican church

1534

council of trent begins-the counter reformation

1545

peace of augsburgs (cuius regio, eius religio- whose religion, his religion)

1555

war of the three henries in france

1589-1589

spanish armada destroyed by the english and "the prostestant wind"

1588

elizabeth I dies - tudor dynasty ends and the stuart dynasty begins

1603

the thirty years' war (treaty of westphalia ends the war - 1648)

1618-1648

english civil war (roundheads vs. cavaliers)

1642-1646

charles I executed - oliver cromwell begins his rule

1649

stuart restoration in england through charles II

1660

glorious revolution in england - william and mary of orange replace james II and sign the english bill of rights

1688-1689

era of louis XIV - the sun king (l'etat c'est moi)

1643-1715

reign of peter the great in russia

1689-1725

the seven years war

1756-1763

era of the french revolution (radical stage late 1792-1795)

1789-1799

napoleon comes to power

1799

napoleonic wars are waged

1805-1815

the congress of vienna meets (main principles: legitimacy, conservatism, compensation and balance of power)

1814-1815

peterloo masscre in england

1819

belgian independence

1830

reform bill in england passed

1832

revolutions break out across western europe (france, austria, italy, and germany)

1848

serfs "emancipated" in russia under alexander II

1861

germany and italy unification

1870-1871

berlin conference is held (scramble for africa)

1884-1885

tsar nicholas II comes to power in russia - the last of the romanovs

1894

sunday bloody revolution in russia - the dress rehearsal

1905

archduke franz ferdinand is assassinated - ww1 starts

1914

march and november (bolshevik) revolutions in russia

1917

treaty of brest-litovsk is signed (russia withdraws from war)

1918

ww1 ends

1918

treaty of versailles is signed

1919

russian civil war (reds vs. whites)

1918-1921

mussolini comes to power in italy and establishes the first fascist government

1922

russia officially becomes known as the ussr (union of soviet socialist republic) - the soviet union

1922

adolf hitler leads the beer hall putsch in germany

1923

lenin dies

1924

stalin is firmly entrenched as the leader of the soviet union - begins the first of several 5 year plans

1928

stock market crash in the us - the great depression begins

1929

hitler comes to power in germany

1933

munich conference (peace in our time- neville chamberlain)

1938

world war II starts with germany's invasion of poland

1939

world war II ends (v-e day - may 8, 1945 and v-j day - august 15, 1945)

1945

first session of the united nations is held

1945

cold war (us vs su beings and begins to end in poland)

1945-1989

decolonization - european colonies become independent

post wwII

winston churchill gives the "iron curtain" speech

1946

"operation vittles" - the berlin airlift

1948-1949

ussr successfully tests first atomic bomb

1949

european coal and steel community formed (sounds like the zollverein)

1951

stalin dies and is succeeded by nikita krushchev - "destalinization" begins

1953

french forces defeated in french-indochina at dien bien pu

1954

hungarian revolt against the soviet union - it is crushed by the soviets

1956

rome treaty is signed - the european economic community (eec) is created (aka common market)

1957

sputnik is launched by the soviet union - the first space satellite

1957

the fifth republic is born in france and charles de gaulle becomes president

1958

berlin wall is built - dividing east and west berlin

1961

soviet yuri gagarin becomes the first man in space

1961

cuban missile crisis - 90 miles off the coast of florida

1962

betty friedans the feminine mystique is published

1963

leonid brezchev becomes leader of the soviet union

1964

under president charles de gaulle, france withdraws from the common NATO military command

1966

"praque spring" occurs in czechoslovakia - it is crushed by the soviets

1968

student revolt in france (paris)

1968

pole karol wojtyla elected pope - pope john paul II - first non-italian in 455 years

1978

margaret thatcher becomes the first female prime minister of england (the iron lady)

1979

the soviet union invades afghanistan (eventually becomes their own "little vietnam")

1979

first independent labor union in the soviet bloc formed - solidarity - led by lech walesa of poland

1980

ronald reagan elected president of the us (calls the soviet union an "evil empire")

1980

gorbachev becomes soviet leader (implements policies of perestroika and glasnost)

1985

chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the soviet union (specifically - the ukraine)

1986

berlin wall comes down

1989

the "velvet revolution" occurs in czechslovakia - vaclav havel becomes president

1989

the soviet union withdraws its forces from afghanistan

1989

romanian leader nicolai ceausescu is overthrown and killed

1989

lech walesa becomes president of poland

1990

east germany and west germany reunify into one germany

1990

the first mcdonalds opens in russia

1990

attempted coup attempt in the soviet union - the soviet union begins to disintegrate

1991

boris yeltsin becomes president of russia - former 15 republics of the soviet union form the commonwealth of independent states (CIS)

1991

yugolavia begins to break apart

1991

maastricht treaty signed

1992

tony blair becomes prime minister of england - first labour party leader in 18 years

1997

eurodollar becomes the single currency of the european union (EU)