| 1800's |
| 1800: Britain's population soared from 5 million to almost 9 million. 1800: Jeremy Bentham was preaching utilitarianism. He believed in the idea that the goal of society should be "the greatest happiness for the greatest number" of its citizens. 1800: Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta, develops the first battery. 1801: Manchester's population reaches 70,000. 1807: Robert Fulton, an American, used Watt's steam engin to power up the Claremont. It traveled up the Hudson River at a speed of more than five miles an hour. 1807: William Cockerill, a British mechanic, broke the strict rules against exporting inventions. He opened factories in Belgium for the manufacturing of spinning and weaving machines. 1812: Charles Dickens was born. He would go on to write 15 major novels. He wrote durng the artistic movement called Realism. His books portrayed the lives of slum dwellers, factory workers, and children. 1816: Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. It reflected the fear that humans were using technology to hamper with nature. 1816: Charlotte Bronte is born. She is the author of the novel Jane Eyre. She wrote under the name Currer Bell. 1818: Emily Bronte is born. She is the authorof the novel Wuthering Heights. She wrote under the name Ellis Bell. 1819: At a rally in Manchester, solidiers charged the crowd. They killed more than a dozed and injured hundreds more. After this, workers were forbidden to form labor unions. Strikes were also outlawed. 1820: Anne Bronte is born. She is the author of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. She wrote under the name Acton Bell. 1820s: Robert Owen became a successful mill owner. Unlike most other industrialists at the time, he refused to use child labor. He was one of the few who campained for child labor laws and who encouraged labor unions. September 15, 1830: The world's first major rail line opened. It ran from Liverpool to Manchester in England. 1830s-1840s: British lawmakers first look into the abuses in factories and mines. Children as young as five years old were working in the factories. 1840s: A new art form, photography, first appears. 1840: Karl Marx condemned the ideas of the Utopians as unrealistic idealism. He was a German philosopher. He teamed up with German socialist, Friedrich Engels because of his radical ideas. 1842: Patience Kershaw's testimony shocked many people in Britain as they learned of the abuse women and children had to go through. Since she never had any education, Patience never got to see the Ashley Mines Commission report. After this incident, Parliament passed laws to regulate the employment of children in mines in factories. 1844: The first telegraph line went into service. It was created by American inventor, Samule F. B. Morse. 1846: Anesthesia was introduced relieve pain during surgery by a William Morton, a Boston dentist. 1848: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published the pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto. In this pamphlet, they theorized that economies were the driving force in history. 1852: Susan B. Anthony started to organize a movement for women's rights. 1856: The process to purify ore and produce a new substance, steel, was developed by British engineer Henry Bessemer. This new substance was lighter, harder, and more durable than iron. 1859: Advice and "restrictions" appeared in the Ladies' Handbook. 1859: Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species. It created a furious debate between scientists and theologians. Controversy still exists today on this subject. 1860s: An undersea cable relayed messages between North America and Europe. |
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