Important Events and Dates in Modern European History

1341 (April 6)     Petrarch crowned Poet Laureate. The Renaissance begins.
1397:                 Giovanni de Medici Moves to Florence: Giovanni de Medici, the papal banker, settles in Florence and becomes a patron of the arts, beginning the Medici rule over Florence.
1401:                 Ghiberti awarded the Right to Sculpt the Doors of The Baptistry in Florence: It takes him 28 years to sculpt the bronze doors. The doors are one of the great treasures of the Renaissance.
1415 (About):    The first known perspective picture was made by Brunelleschi with the help of a mirror. (Lost)
1420:                 The Papacy Returns to Rome from Avignon, France.
1425 or 1428:    Masaccio completes “The Holy Trinity.”
1429                  Cosimo de Medici Takes Over Family Business: Cosimo takes complete control over Florence.
1447                  Pope Nicholas V Ascends to the Throne: Becomes a great patron of the arts. Rome becomes a Renaissance city.
1452                  Leonardo Born near the town of Vinci, Italy.
1453          Gutenberg’s printing press.
1464                  Lorenzo de Medici Ascends to Power in Florence: Rules until 1491. Florence reaches its greatest heights.
1471                  Sixtus IV Becomes Pope: Undertakes successful projects; Known for corruption and nepotism.
1475                  Michelangelo born in Caprese, Italy.
1478                  The Spanish Inquisition begins.
1483                  Raphael born in Urbino, Italy.
1486                  Pico Della Mirandola publishes His Collection of 900 Treatises in which he expounds his belief in the
free will of man and the fact that individuals can commune with God without the need of priests.
1492:                 Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI: Corrupt and manipulative. Nepotism rampant.
1492         Columbus encounters the Americas. Spain was taken back from the Muslims.
1498                  Leonardo completes The Last Supper.
1502                  Leonardo completes the Mona Lisa.
1503                  Pope Julius II: The Roman Golden Age begins. Addresses the moral degradation in the Papacy and rebuilds Rome.
1504                  Michelangelo’s David completed.
1508-1512         Michelangelo completes the Sistine Chapel Ceiling.
1510 – 1511       Raphael completes The School of Athens
1513                  Pope Leo X: Son of Lorenzo de Medici, continues the Golden Age. A gifted administrator and patron of the arts.
1513                  Niccolo Machiavelli Publishes The Prince:  Considered by some the most influential political book of all time.
1517          Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses. The Reformation begins.
1520          Diet of Worms declares Martin Luther an outlaw.
1523                  Pope Clement VII: He is an incompetent politician; His poor decisions lead to the sack of Rome.
1527                  The Sack of Rome. The Renaissance ends.
1534         Act of Supremacy passed in England. Henry VIII becomes head of the Anglican Church
1545          Council of Trent begins. The Counter Reformation.
1588          Spanish Armada destroyed by the English. England moves toward supremacy.
1618-1648    The Thirty Years’ War (Protestants vs. Catholics) (Treaty of Westphalia ends the war)
1688-1689    Glorious Revolution in England. William and Mary of Orange replace James II and sign the English Bill of Rights
1643-1715     Era of Louis XIV, The Sun King.
1689-1725      Reign of Peter the Great in Russia
1690–1789    Age of Enlightenment
1756-1763      The Seven Years’ War – Treaty of Paris 1763
1775–1783     American Revolution (Declaration of Independence = 1776)
1760–1850    Era of the Industrial Revolution
1789          Ratification of the U. S. Constitution & start of George Washington’s presidency
1789-1799    Era of the French Revolution (Radical Stage = late 1792-1795)
1799          Napoleon comes to power
1805-1815      Napoleonic Wars are waged
1814-1815      The Congress of Vienna meets
1848          Revolutions break out across Western Europe (France, Austria, Italy & Germany)
1859         Darwin’s Origin of the Species
1861 – 1870    Italian Unification
1867        Creation of the Dual Monarchy of Austria – Hungary
1870-1871     Germany Unification & creation of Second Reich
1884-1885     Berlin Conference: Africa divided among European powers. (“Scramble for Africa”)
1894         Tsar Nicholas II comes to power in Russia; the last of the Romanov Emperors
1905         Sunday Bloody Revolution in Russia
1914         Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated. WWI starts
1917         Bolshevik Revolutions in Russia
1918         Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed (Russia withdraws from WW1)
1918         WWI ends
1919         Treaty of Versailles is signed
1918-1921     Russian Civil War (Reds vs. Whites)
1922     Mussolini comes to power in Italy and establishes the 1st Fascist government
1922     Russia officially becomes known as the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
1923         Adolf Hitler leads the Beer Hall Putsch in Germany
1924         Lenin dies
1928     Stalin is firmly entrenched as the leader of USSR; begins the first of several 5 year plans
1929         Stock Market Crash in the US. The Great Depression begins
1933         Hitler comes to power in Germany
1938         Munich Conference (Peace in our time. . Neville Chamberlain)
1939         World War II starts with Germany’s invasion of Poland
1945         World War II ends (V-E Day, May 8, 1945 & V-J Day, August 15, 1945)
1945         First session of the United Nations is held
1945-1989     Cold War (U.S. vs. S.U. -begins and begins to end in Poland)

POST WW II     Decolonization: European colonies become independent
1946         Winston Churchill gives the Iron Curtain speech
1948-1949    The Berlin Airlift
1949         USSR successfully tests its first atomic bomb
1953         Stalin dies and is succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev
1956         Hungarian revolt against the Soviet Union; it is crushed by the Soviets
1957     Rome Treaty is signed. The European Economic Community (EEC) is created
1957         Sputnik is launched by the Soviet Union; the first space satellite
1961         Berlin Wall built — dividing East and West Berlin
1961         Soviet Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space
1962         Cuban Missile Crisis — 90 miles off the coast of Florida
1963         Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is published
1964         Leonid Brezhnev becomes leader of the Soviet Union
1968        Prague Spring occurs in Czechoslovakia; it is crushed by the Soviets
1978         Pole Karol Wojtyla elected Pope
1979     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.)
1980     1st independent labor union in the Soviet Bloc (Solidarity — led by Lech Walesa of Poland)
1980     Ronald Reagan elected President of the US (calls the Soviet Union an evil empire.)
1985     Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader (implements policies of perestroika and glasnost)
1986     Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in the Soviet Union (specifically Ukraine)
1989         Berlin Wall comes down
1989     The Velvet Revolution occurs in Czechoslovakia. Vaclav Havel becomes President
1989         The Soviet Union withdraws its forces from Afghanistan
1989         Romanian leader Nicolai Ceausescu is overthrown and killed
1990         Lech Walesa becomes president of Poland
1990         East Germany and West Germany reunify into one Germany
1991     Attempted coup attempt in the Soviet Union – The Soviet Union begins to disintegrate
1991     Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia
1991         Yugoslavia begins to break apart
1992         Maastricht Treaty signed
1999         Eurodollar becomes the single currency of the European Union (EU)
2001        Attack on the World Trade Center in NYC and the Pentagon