Welcome to Historic Hours!

Can you imagine a map without neighborhoods, cities, borders, or territories? This is what our world might look like if humans had never stopped searching for food and started planting and raising their own food, instead.

There is no record of the defining moments that caused this shift (like when people realized that seeds could be planted and how to enrich soils). Certainly, the transition away from wild harvesting was slow, but about 12,000 years ago, a move towards agriculture triggered a major transformation in the way humans lived. When we shifted from nomadic, hunter-gatherer traditions in favor of permanent settlements and farms, not only did it mean a more reliable food supply and more constant sources of nutrition, but it changed the shape of civilizations. Some argue that this shift planted the seeds of private ownership and capitalism.

Permanent structures and settlements led to the formation of towns and cities. The ability to meet the population's need for more crops and meat led to population explosions: 10,000 years ago, there were about five million people in the world but today, there are more than seven billion. Having permanent, reliable food sources freed up a little time for people to do things besides always thinking about finding food. . . like building things, creating new inventions, making art or medicine, forming religion, doing science, etc. So the ability to control food sources was a key part in the formation of what we refer to as culture and civilization today.

The Roman Empire, one of history's greatest and most impactful, lasted almost 500 years and stretched almost 780,000 miles. It had a good, long run, but in 476 CE, it finally lost its last grip of control when a Germanic leader named Odoacer led a successful revolt against Romulus Augustulus, then Emperor.

Romulus Augustulus was only a child of 16 and had only ruled for a year before he was deposed. Although all Roman emperors took the name Augustus (meaning venerable), he acquired the insulting nickname Momyllus Augustulus, roughly translating to little disgrace, as many blame him for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Was it his fault? Not entirely. Romulus Augustulus just had the lousy luck of being the last one left holding the hot potato. In the end, the empire's military controlled the government and its armies were comprised of paid soldiers who fought not for loyalty or love but just to make a buck. That and years of mounting political corruption, breakdowns in commerce and trade, widespread economic crises, and class conflicts all played a part.

In his book Escape From Rome, Walter Scheidel argues that the fall of Rome was not a bad thing. . . in fact, it was a necessary, positive change. In a nutshell, he posits that the removal of Rome's control led to small and large-scale innovations—cultural advancements in public education, private business organizations, individual freedoms and rights—that paved the way for modern development and prosperity. Scheidel asserts that “From this developmental perspective, the death of the Roman empire had a much greater impact than its prior existence.”

In 476 CE, the Western Empire broke into smaller bits that eventually became the countries we know today. Although the Eastern Roman Empire continued as the Byzantine Empire for hundreds of years more, 476 CE is often pointed to as the transition from the Age of Antiquity to the Middle Ages.

The oldest existing, continually operating institution of higher learning in the world is the University of Karueein (University of al-Qarawiyyin), founded in 859 CE in Fez (Morocco) by Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Fihriya Al-Qurashiya. That's right—the first university was founded by a woman (although women were not admitted to the institution until the 1940s).

Although it started as a mosque, its teachings expanded over centuries and it morphed into a widely respected general educational institution (although it wasn't officially declared a state university until 1963). The Guinness Book of World records recognizes it as the first university in the world.

Can you imagine a world without schools? The idea that learning is important and that ideas should be valued, recorded, discussed, shared, and passed down is one that significantly changed the world. By 2040, it is estimated that there will be 600 million students enrolled in universities around the world per year.

Fun facts:

• The first education system was created in the Xia Dynasty (2076–1600 BC).

• In Europe, the first university was established in Bologna, Italy in 1088 CE.

• In the US, education has only been deemed a fundamental human right since December 10, 1948, the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed.

The Renaissance (a word that means rebirth) was a glorious period in human history that is often described as a cultural explosion of creativity that began in Florence, Italy, in the 14th century, and spread throughout Europe. It was a period of cultural, political, and economic rebirth that followed the Middle Ages and involved a rediscovery of classical art, literature, and philosophy that inspired a huge wave of creative thought and innovation that lasted until the 17th century. In general, it was a move away from fear towards beauty, truth, and wisdom. It included. . .

• A move from medieval scholasticism to the development of individualism, skepticism, classicism, secularism, and Humanism.

• Humanistic values applied to architecture, literature, art, and science.

• The fall of feudalism (nobles vs. peasants) and the rise of a capitalist market economy.

• An explosion of new inventions and works of art.

High Points of the Renaissance

• The invention of eyeglasses (around 1300)

• Printing press invented (and Gutenberg Bible published), 1455

• The Age of Exploration: 1476 to 1500

• First modern atlas published, 1570

• Telescope invented, 1608

• Microscope invented, late 1660s

Important Players

• Writers: Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare

• Artists: da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael

• Scientists: Galileo, Newton, and Leibniz

• Explorers: Columbus, da Gama, and Magellan

Overall, the Renaissance inspired curiosity, investigation, invention, discovery, and more human-centered ways of thinking.

The first Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, when new industrial innovations allowed societies to centralize, specialize, and grow. It began in Britain's textile industry and spread to other fields and countries with the transcontinental railroad, cotton gin, steam engine, factories, electricity, and other inventions that changed society forever.

In 1790, Samuel Slater (known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution) built the first American factory. He brought textile manufacturing secrets from England and built cotton-spinning mills in Rhode Island. His factories became known as the Rhode Island System and his ideas were quickly imitated and improved upon.

The invention of factories powered by machines inspired an explosion of urban growth, increased international trade, social upheavals, new sources of wealth, and new systems of authority. It transformed how humans think about work and careers, social welfare, and what it means to earn a living.

Today, most of the world's nations are nominal republics, at least, and this is largely due to the success of the American revolution and republic. The end of British rule meant a new kind of government was possible, one that was actually "for the people" (although it was only for white men, at first). This concept of democracy was new, but it appealed worldwide and had huge, lasting repercussions.

On April 19, 1775, British soldiers (red coats) and colonists (minutemen) first exchanged gunfire in Lexington, Massachusetts. It's unclear exactly who shot first, but it was dubbed "the shot heard round the world" because it signaled the start of the American Revolution and it was the first step toward the creation of America as a nation.

The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. Its ultimate success instilled the new idea that people could take power and participate in their own government rather than blindly supporting a distant or uninterested monarch. It led to the adoption of the Declaration of Rights (which guaranteed new personal freedoms for worship, speech, and public meetings, among others) and the Constitution (which outlined three equal branches of power: executive, legislative, and judicial, and more).

The American Revolution is considered by many to be the point of origin of the Age of Revolution. In a nutshell, it inspired revolution and fights for freedom all over the world.

Slavery has probably existed as long as humans have and, despite centuries of anti-slavery legislation and protests, it still exists today. Although most places in the world have long histories of efforts to eradicate the practice of human trafficking, it is still widespread: According to The Global Slavery Index, approximately 40.3 million people are subject to slavery today—71% female, 25% children.

Since it's impossible to pinpoint a start or end of slavery, in order to include it on this list, we must look to those first protests against it. In 1791 in Haiti (then called Saint Domingue), an affranchis (freed slave) named Jacques Vincent Ogé led a group of enslaved people in a rebellion against the French. Aided by abolitionists, he armed and amassed 300 men, mostly mixed-race and free Black people, and led “common front of gens de couleur against the forces of white supremacy.”

Although the Ogé Rebellion was not immediately successful, it inspired a series of slave revolts and rebellions over a 13-year period that became known as the Haitian Revolution, often described as the largest and most successful slave rebellion in the history of the Western Hemisphere. In Saint Domingue, the protests ended not just slavery but also ended in independence from France. On January 1, 1804, the island declared independence and took the name of Haiti.

Haiti is the first country to be founded by formerly enslaved people. The Haitian Revolution inspired people all around the world to recognize and protest against the cruelty of slavery.

Timeline of the Abolition of Slavery

• 1803 Denmark-Norway becomes the first European country to ban the African slave trade. (Denmark didn't officially abolish slavery until 1859.)

• 1804 After declaring independence from France, Haiti became the first sovereign nation in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery.

• 1807 British Parliament enacts The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, prohibiting Atlantic slave trade. (In 1833, Britain passes The Abolition of Slavery Act, ordering a gradual slavery abolition in all British colonies.)

• 1808 President Thomas Jefferson signs the Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves, a law that takes effect in 1808. (1865 US Congress passes and ratifies the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the US except as a punishment for crime.)

• 1811 Spain abolishes slavery, including in its colonies (although though Cuba rejected the ban until 1886).

• 1813 Sweden bans slave trading (and abolishes slavery in 1847).

• 1814 Netherlands bans slave trading (and 1863 abolishes slavery).

• 1826 France effects laws against slave trading (in 1848, France abolishes slavery).

• 1851 Brazil abolishes slave trading. (In 1888, Brazil abolishes slavery.)

• 1926 The League of Nations creates an international treaty, the Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery, abolishing slavery.

• Today Slavery continues across the world, including all of these places, despite laws against it.

Smallpox, one of history's deadliest diseases, was estimated to have killed at least 300 million people since the 1900s. But in 1980, the World Health Organization declared that it had been eradicated.

We have Edward Jenner to thank for this. In 1796, he used live cowpox virus to create the first vaccine (for smallpox). Although variolation (smearing a healthy person with an infected sample to confer immunity) had been practiced since 11th century in China, Jenner was the first to demonstrate it to a scientific community and his work led to the development of the first smallpox vaccine in 1798.

The hair-of-the-dog idea that you could use a virus against itself this way had a ripple effect, spurring many more vaccines and saving many more lives.

Brief Timeline of Vaccine Inventions

• Cholera: 1897

• Plague: 1897

• Anthrax: 1904

• Tetanus: 1923

• Diptheria: 1926

• Pertussis: 1948

• Covid-19: 2020

More than two million lives have been saved by vaccines in the last 25 years.

It may have been a mostly ceremonial act, but the removal of the Berlin wall was huge, symbolically. Instead of including WWI and II on this list, I include this event. Why? Because many of the animosities that grew during those wars and during the Cold War were figuratively finished when the Berlin wall finally fell.

After the war was over, in 1949, Germany was split in two: half (the East) under a communist regime and the other half (West) with a more democratic government. The border ran right through the middle of Berlin—Germany's capital, chief urban center, and cultural heart—where a barbed-wire-and-cinder-block fence was erected on August 12, 1961. It was replaced with a 15-foot concrete wall festooned with electric wire and studded with armed guards—an imposing physical representation of the Iron Curtain separating the two ideologies.

On November 9, 1989, the whole world watched when the wall was finally brought down. Its fall represented an end to the hostilities of the Cold War and a turn towards democracy.

It's hard for us to imagine a world without the internet. The internet has had such a huge impact on the way things work that it's hard for anyone alive to remember what things were like before.

ARPANET, the first working prototype, was invented by the US Department of Defense in the late 1960s. Although the internet wasn't widely adopted until later, on October 29, 1969, it delivered the first message was sent from UCLA to Stanford. The system crashed while delivering this one-word message ("LOGIN"), so Stanford only received the first two letters: LO, which seems apt, since the word "lo" is an old-fashioned word used to draw attention to an amazing, interesting thing: lo and behold.

• The Wheel: 3500 BC

• The Compass: 200 BC

• Gunpowder: 800

• Printing Press: 1440

• Mechanical Clock: 725

• Steam Engine: 1698

• Vaccine: 1796

• Indoor plumbing: early 1800s

• Steam-Powered Train: 1804

• Anesthesia: 1844

• Telephone: 1876

• Electric light: 1879

• Cars: 1886

• Cameras: 1888

• Radio: 1895

• Airplanes: 1903

• Television: 1926

• The Computer: 1939

• The Internet: 1965

• Cellphones: 1973

• Personal computers: 1981

• The World Wide Web: 1991

Arguably the most famous date in English history, most people can link the year of 1066 with the Battle of Hastings. Whether or not King Harold really was killed by an arrow in the eye, England was transformed by the events on the battlefield in East Sussex that day. William's victory at Hastings earned him the nickname 'the Conqueror' - he was crowned by Christmas and Norman influence swept across the country.

The fame of Magna Carta, or 'Great Charter', lies not in its impact, which was actually relatively small, but its legacy. Forced on King John by his barons in an attempt to limit his power, the initial charter was swiftly annulled. Reissued by his son after his death, its idea lived on and today it is seen as an example of the principles of law, human rights and justice.

It is difficult to imagine the terror that must have struck the people in England as the Black Death swept across the country. Well over a quarter of the population are believed to have died, devastating villages and towns. The plague had profound impact on society - leading to relative peace for a time and providing wage rises to surviving peasants - paving the way to the Peasants Revolt and helping to end serfdom.

Less than one hundred years after the Black Death, England was again uprooted by dramatic upheaval - this time man-made. The Wars of the Roses, fought between the two powerful houses of York and Lancaster, pitted families against each other. After the removal of King Henry VI, the country faced three decades of rebellion and plotting. This was only ended when Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, which marked the beginning of the age of the Tudors.

Over 1,000 words in the English language are used today because of William Shakespeare, and phrases from his plays are still commonly used in daily conversation. It's not just his language that was important - he was the great entertainer of his day, writing for everyday people in a time when theatre was the popular entertainment for all. Elizabeth I may have been queen for much of his life, but it was Shakespeare who wrote much of the history.

An attempt by Catholic plotters to assassinate King James I, the Gunpowder Plot may have succeeded if it were not for a late warning by an anonymous letter. The plot is remembered by the rhyme 'remember, remember, the 5th November', and we still mark the day it was discovered with bonfires and fireworks today.

The Battle of Waterloo was the final clash after years of war between European nations and French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The allied forces led by the Duke of Wellington - who descibred the battle as 'a damned close-run thing' - defeated Napoleon's imperial amibitions. This led to peace in Europe for years to come and helped to end centuries of conflict between England and France.

Relatively few English kings or queens define their age, but the Victorian times are known to all of us. Queen for over 60 years, Victoria's reign saw huge changes transforming Britain. Industrial revolution, cultural and scientific discoveries all helped to change the way of life for people across the world, many through direct links with the growth of the British Empire. At its heart sat Victoria, symbol for the people over who she ruled.

The two World Wars shattered peace in Europe, and for the first time everyday people were affected by aerial warfare. Britain faced heavy losses, air raids, rationing and other hardships during the long years of war. When the Allies accepted Germany's unconditional surrender in May 1945 it was marked by cheering crowds and street celebrations across the country.

Few inventions have changed our lives as much as the internet. When Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new information management system at CERN in 1989, it was difficult to imagine the impact it would have, connecting the world and sharing information in a way never done before