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Hooray for the Egyptian Protesters! Hooray for Democracy!

It’s been incredibly inspiring to watch the perseverance of the protesters in Egypt over the past two plus weeks. And today they got what they peacefully fought for – Hosni Mubarak’s resignation. What a scene of happiness and joy!

We are thrilled to have helped the Boston Globe chronicle all of the happenings that led up to this historical event through our Timelines Showcase service. (You can check it out here: http://timelines.boston.com/timelines/egyptian-protests.) And we’ll be tracking the events as they unfold from here.

Congratulations to the people of Egypt!

Need a resource for Black History Month? Look no further – you’ve found it at Timelines.com

February is Black History Month. If you are learning about Black History, check out our site Timelines.com for information about the civil rights movement and many African Americans who have contributed to US culture, politics, sports and entertainment.  See below for some good examples.

Furthermore, we have a 25 question quiz to take on Black History- it’s pretty challenging!  In fact, we know of no one who has gotten a perfect score.  If you achieve perfection, let us know and we’ll publicize your achievement on our blog.  For example, did you know that the precursor to Black History Month was Negro History Week, and that this recognition in the US of African American contributions began in 1926?  Good luck on the quiz!

Our Civil Rights Movement Timeline provides a great overview of the struggle and progress of the movement.  It starts with the publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1851 and includes many critical events of the movement, including:

1945 – Jackie Robinson Signing to Play Major League Baseball in  for the Brooklyn Dodgers

1954 – US Supreme Court Ruling on Brown v. Board of Education

1955 – Rosa Parks’ Refusal to Give up Her Seat on the Bus and the ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott

1957 – Nine Black Students Prevented from Entering Little Rock High School by Arkansas National Guard

1957 – President Eisenhower Signing of the Civil Rights Act

1960 – Four Black Students Sit at Segregated Lunch Counter, Sparking the Greensboro (NC) Sit-ins

1962 – First Black Student at University of Mississippi

1963 – Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech

1964 – President Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964 into Law

1964 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Receives Nobel Peace Prize

1965 – Malcolm X Assassinated

1967 – Selma – Montgomery Alabama Marches

1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated

1968 – Tommie Smith and John Carlos Raise Black-Gloved Fist on Podium at Olympics

and more….

Also, check out our timelines on the following people who have been instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement and who have contributed to African-American achievement:

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Coretta Scott King

Rosa Parks

Malcolm X

“Blind Tom” Wiggins

Abraham Lincoln

Lyndon B. Johnson

John F. Kennedy

Jackie Robinson

Aretha Franklin

Oprah Winfrey

Barack Obama

And finally, here are some other great resources to check out regarding Black History Month:

Library of Congress – African American History Month

San Francisco Chronicle – Black History Month Highlights

Kaboose.com – Black History Month for Kids

PBS – Black History Month shows, videos and features

Back-to-School Primer #3: The 19 Major Events of the American Civil War

This is our third post in our “Back-to-School” series.  Our first post focused on the key events of the American Revolution, and our second post featured the major events leading up to the American Civil War.  This post focuses on the major events of the Civil War, and it draws from our timeline of over 600 events of the war that we have on Timelines.com.

Apr 1861  The First Battle of Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter was the scene of the first battle of the American Civil War.  The fort sat (and is there today) on an island in the middle of the harbor in Charleston, South Carolina.  South Carolina had seceded from the Union in 1860, but despite this, Fort Sumter was still part of the Union and continued to fly the Union flag.  When the Fort Sumter was resupplied on April 12th, Confederate troops began shelling it from the mainland.  The bombardment lasted for 34 straight hours, until the Union defenders surrendered.  Surprisingly, no soldiers on either side were killed by enemy fire.

Jul 1861  First Battle of Bull Run (aka First Battle of Manassas)

The First Battle of Bull Run was the first major land battle of the war.  It occurred near Manassas, Virginia.  Union forces from Washington, DC totaling 28,450, under the command of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, attempted to surprise 32,230 Confederate troops.  After initial success, the inexperienced Union troops were stopped by Confederate reinforcements, and they were forced to retreat back to Washington.  The Union suffered nearly 3,000 casualties (versus 1,750 for the Confederates), convincing President Lincoln and his administration that the war would be longer and harder than originally anticipated.  Incidentally, a relatively unknown Confederate colonel, Thomas J. Jackson, earned his famous nickname “Stonewall” during this battle for rallying his troops and convincing them to stand their ground against the attacking Union forces.

Feb 1862  Battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee

The Battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee were the first important strategic Union victories of the war, as they resulted in forcing the Confederates out of Kentucky and provided a path for the Union to advance through Tennessee.  The Confederate’s Fort Henry fell in early February when Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant’s troops and seven gunboats from the Union began shelling the fort.  The Confederate troops evacuated Fort Henry and moved to Fort Donelson 10 miles away, and Grant’s troops pursued them.  On February 16, after attempting unsuccessfully to break out of the fort through Grant’s lines, the Confederates surrendered unconditionally.  Union casualties totaled 2,331 while the Confederacy suffered more than 15,000.  The Union could now advance north through Tennessee, using the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers to ferry supplies and soldiers.  Grant was promoted to major general for this victory and earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender.”

Mar 1862  Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack (aka The Battle of Hampton Roads)

USS Monitor, CSS Merrimack, Battle of Hampton Roads 1862, American Civil War

The Battle of Hampton Roads (Virginia) was the most famous and well-known naval battle of the Civil War.  It was also the first battle between two ironclad ships, the Monitor on the Union side and the Merrimack (also know as the Virginia) on the Confederate side.  The battle raged over 2 days (March 8 – 9), with the Confederacy attempting unsuccessfully to break a Union blockade at the rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay; the blockade had cutoff Norfolk and Richmond from international trade.  Though it ended inconclusively and the two ships never tangled with each other again, the battle received worldwide attention, and it changed the way warships were built.  In fact, the new design of ship was called the monitor, and it featured a small number of large guns that could fire in all directions and a hull with a built-in ram.

Apr 1862  Battle and Capture of New Orleans

The Capture of New Orleans by Union forces was a major turning point in the war.  New Orleans was the Confederacy’s largest city, and, given its location at the mouth of the Mississippi River, a strategic location with a large and economically important port.

Sep 1862  The Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam was the first battle of the war to take place on Northern soil.  It was the the bloodiest day in the American Civil War, with a total of over 23,000 casualties including more than 4,800 killed.  (In fact, more Americans were killed on this day than on any other day in American military history).  Though the battle was fought to a draw, it stopped Lee’s advance into the North and caused France and Britain to hold off on recognizing the Confederacy as a nation.  Furthermore, it gave Abraham Lincoln the chance to announce the Emancipation Proclamation later in the month, which would free all slaves in the South starting in January 1863.

Jan 1863  The Emancipation Proclamation Signed

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order that Abraham Lincoln issued in late 1862 that was signed on January 1, 1863.  It proclaimed the freedom of  the 3.1  million slaves in the Confederate States of America, even though the Union had no power over these states. The Emancipation Proclamation marked the transition from a war to preserve the Union, where fighting was restricted to the battlefield, to a total war, seeking to destroy the Old South and using any means possible to achieve it. It enraged the Confederacy and emphasized the divided nature of the Union.

July 1863  Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg is often regarded as the primary turning point of the war.  Despite being stopped from invading the North at the Battle of Antietam, Robert E. Lee decided to invade again.  Over the course of three days of fierce fighting, Union Major General George Meade beat back Lee’s advances, effectively halting his advance and damaging Lee’s air of invincibility.  In addition to stopping the invasion, the victory by the Union squelched all remaining hopes of European recognition of the Confederacy as an independent country.  The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the war, with a total of over 46,000 casualties – nearly 8,000 of which were killed.

July 1863  Capture of Vicksburg (MS) and Port Hudson (LA) splits Confederacy in two

Union General Grant won several victories around Vicksburg, Mississippi, the fortified city considered essential to the Union’s plans to regain control of the Mississippi River. On May 22, Grant began a siege of Vicksburg. After six weeks, Confederate General John Pemberton surrendered, giving up the city and 30,000 men. The capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana, shortly thereafter placed the entire Mississippi River in Union hands. The Confederacy was split in two.

November 1863 – Battle of Chattanooga

On November 23-25, Union forces pushed Confederate troops away from Chattanooga. The victory set the stage for General Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.

May – June 1864 – Grant’s Wildness Campaign

Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to commander of the Union’s armies, and planned to fight Lee’s forces in Virginia until they were destroyed.  Though Lee inflicted more casualties on Grant’s armies in battles in Wilderness, Spotslvania and Cold Harbor (at Cold Harbor, Grant lost over 7,000 men in 20 minutes), Grant could replace his losses with reinforcements and Lee could not.  Cold Harbor was Lee’s last decisive victory of the war.

August 1864 – General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign

Union General Sherman departed Chattanooga with the goal of capturing Atlanta.  He was soon met by Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Skillful strategy enabled Johnston to hold off Sherman’s force — almost twice the size of Johnston’s. However, Johnston’s tactics caused his superiors to replace him with General John Bell Hood, who was soon defeated. Hood surrendered Atlanta, Georgia, on September 1; Sherman occupied the city the next day. The fall of Atlanta greatly boosted Northern morale (and Lincoln’s re-election bid).

November – December 1864 – Sherman begins march to the sea

General Sherman continued his march through Georgia to the sea. In the course of the march, he cut himself off from his source of supplies, planning for his troops to live off the land. He employed a “Scorched Earth” policy, and his men cut a path 300 miles in length and 60 miles wide as they passed through Georgia, destroying factories, bridges, railroads, and public buildings.

After marching through Georgia for a month, Sherman stormed Fort McAllister on December 13, 1864, and captured Savannah itself eight days later.

November 1864 – Abraham Lincoln wins re-election

The Republican party nominated President Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate, and Andrew Johnson for vice-president. The Democratic party chose General George B. McClellan for president, and George Pendleton for vice-president. At one point, widespread war-weariness in the North made a victory for Lincoln seem doubtful. In addition, Lincoln’s veto of the Wade-Davis Bill — requiring the majority of the electorate in each Confederate state to swear past and future loyalty to the Union before the state could officially be restored — lost him the support of Radical Republicans who thought Lincoln too lenient. However, Sherman’s victory in Atlanta boosted Lincoln’s popularity and helped him win re-election by a wide margin.

February 1865 – Sherman heads north through South and North Carolina

Union General Sherman moved from Georgia through South Carolina, destroying almost everything in his path.   Furthermore, transportation problems and successful blockades caused severe shortages of food and supplies in the South and starving soldiers began to desert Lee’s forces.  The Confederacy was near its end.

April 1865 -  General Lee and President Davis evacuate Richmond, Virginia and it is taken by Grant

On March 25, General Lee attacked General Grant’s forces near Petersburg, but was defeated — attacking and losing again on April 1. On April 2, Lee evacuated Richmond, the Confederate capital, and headed west to join with other forces.

April 1865 – Lee Surrenders to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse

After evacuating Richmond, General Lee’s troops were soon surrounded, and on April 7, Grant called upon Lee to surrender. On April 9, the two commanders met at Appomattox Courthouse, and agreed on the terms of surrender. Lee’s men were sent home on parole — soldiers with their horses, and officers with their side arms. All other equipment was surrendered.

April 1865 – President Lincoln is assassinated

On April 14, as President Lincoln was watching a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, an actor from Maryland obsessed with avenging the Confederate defeat. Lincoln died the next morning. Booth escaped to Virginia. Eleven days later, cornered in a burning barn, Booth was fatally shot by a Union soldier. Nine other people were involved in the assassination; four were hanged, four imprisoned, and one acquitted.

May 1865 – Final Surrender of Remaining Confederate Troops and Capture of Jefferson Davis (on May 10)

What happened in 2010? Our year in review

It’s that time of year again when seemingly everyone is looking back on the just passed 365 days and trying to encapsulate what the year meant- in politics, sports, celebrity, general wackiness, etc.  Well, here’s our list of those that we deemed most notable.  If you don’t agree with us (or if you want to put together your own list), check out our compilation of over 2,000 events from 2010 on Timelines.com.  And be sure to have a Happy 2011!

#1 Event of the Year

Rescue of 33 Chilean miners after being trapped in mine for 68 days

Disasters

Deepwater Horizon oil well exploded

Earthquake measuring 7.0 on Richter Scale devastated Haiti

The President of Poland and 95 other Polish leaders died in plane crash

Politics

President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) into law

Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy’s US Senate seat, becoming first Republican Senator from Massachusetts since 1972

US Supreme Court decision ruled that corporations and unions could spend as much as they wanted in Federal elections

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich found guilty on one (of 24) counts brought against him

Last US combat troops left Iraq

Wikileaks published US diplomatic cables and Afghan War diary

Sports and Entertainment

The longest tennis match ever was played at Wimbledon – over 112 games, 10 hours

Avatar became highest grossing film of all-time

Lee DeWyze won “American Idol”

Tila Tequila was attacked at Juggalos Festival

The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl XLIV

Tiger Woods made public apology for his sex scandal

Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup

Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Title

San Francisco Giants won the World Series, the franchise’s first since moving from New York in 1954

Roy Halladay threw 2nd no-hitter in Major League Baseball playoff history

Science

First synthetic living cell was created

Low Vitamin D linked to depression

Harvard Study found that replacing white rice with brown rice lowered risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Random and Miscellaneous

Apple launched the iPad

Magnus Carlsen of Norway became the youngest chess player ever (age 19) to be ranked #1 in the world.

World’s tallest building opened in Dubai, UAE.  Burj Khalifa is 2,717 feet high… more that half a mile.

A man using a metal detector unearthed ancient Roman coins worth over $400,000

A trainer at SeaWorld was killed by a killer whale

A UFO was seen in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY

General Motors returned to profitability

Mark Twain’s autobiography was published 100 yrs after his death

Notable Deaths

J.D. Salinger, Merlin Olsen, Ron Santo, Bob Guccione, Tony Curtis, Manute Bol, George Steinbrenner, Jimmy Dean, Lynn Redgrave, Lena Horne, Art Linkletter

December 8: Perhaps History’s Most Disaster-Filled Day

Many people are fascinated by disasters.  Whether it be the Hindenburg Explosion, the Great Chicago Fire or Boston’s molasses flood, and despite the tragedies involved, disasters rivet one’s attention and imagination.

With that in mind, December 8th, may be history’s most disaster filled day, especially disastrous fires.  Consider the following:

December 8, 1863: Church of the Company Fire in Santiago, Chile

The Church of the Company Fire (December 8, 1863) is the largest fire to have ever affected the city of Santiago, Chile. Between 2,000 and 3,000 people died and is considered one of the worst fire disasters in history.

The Church of the Company of Jesus, (Spanish: Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús) was a Jesuit church located in downtown Santiago. That day was the celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one of the most popular festivities of the religious calendar, and the temple was adorned with a profusion of gas lights and wall coverings. In the main altar, a large statue of the virgin Mary stood over a half-moon that in itself was a huge candelabra.

The fire started a few minutes before 7 PM, when a gas lamp at the top of the main altar ignited some of the veils that adorned the walls. Somebody tried to put it out by smothering it with another cloth, but managed to only make the fire jump over to the rest of the veils and from there on to the wood roof. The mostly women attendees panicked and tried to escape but the side doors had been closed in order to leave space to accommodate more people (they only could be opened inwards), leaving the main entrance as the only exit.

The New York Times article published in January of 1864 read: TERRIFIC TRAGEDY IN CHILI; Two Thousand Five Hundred Persons Roasted to Death in a Church. Awful Ending of a grand Religious Fete at Santiago,the Chilian Capital.

Read more about the Church of the Company Fire here.

December 8, 1881: Ring Theater Fire in Vienna, Austria

The Ring Theater fire in Austria is the deadliest single building fire in history.  Over 620 people were killed and hundreds more were injured.

The  theater was featuring the second night of Jacques Offenbach’s opera Les Contes d’Hoffman, which was proving popular with both the wealthy and middle class of Vienna. It was about 6:45 p.m. when a stagehand took a long-arm igniter to light the row of gas lights above the stage. He inadvertently also lit some prop clouds that were hanging over the stage.

The flames quickly hit the stage curtain, but the theater’s established fire procedures were not followed. The theater’s iron fire curtain, used to restrict fire, was not lowered, nor were available water hoses used immediately. Worse, the stage managers panicked and shut off the gas totally, cutting off light in the theater. At this point, situation dissolved into chaos. The balconies became clogged as the exits jammed. A fire brigade brought ladders, but they were too short to reach even the first balcony. Despite an attempt to use a curtain to create a net, some people jumped from the balconies, not only killing themselves but also crushing people on the ground floor.

Read more about the Ring Theater Fire here.

December 8, 1942: Seacliff Asylum Fire in New Zealand

Seacliff Lunatic Asylum was a psychiatric hospital in Seacliff, New Zealand.

Around 9:45 pm, on the 8th of December 1942, a fire broke out in Ward 5 of the hospital . Ward 5 was a two-story wooden structure added onto the original construction, holding 39 (41 according to some sources) female patients.

After the fire was noticed by a male attendant, the hospital’s firefighters tried to extinguish the flames with water from a close-by hydrant, while two women were saved from rooms that did not have locked shutters. However, the flames were too strong, and after an hour the ward was reduced to ashes – though the fire could be kept from spreading to other buildings. The thirty-seven patients who remained in Ward 5 are thought to have died via suffocation from smoke inhalation

Read more about the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum here.

December 8, 1994: Karamay Theater Fire in Xinjiang, China

A total of 288 children were killed in a 1994 theatre fire in northwest China mainly because they were told to remain seated to allow officials to leave after the blaze broke out, according to an expose by a journalist.

A total of 323 people were killed in the fire in the oil town of Karamay in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang on Dec. 8, 1994. The high death toll was then blamed on locked exits and the failure of officials to check safety facilities beforehand, and to organise effective evacuation.

Read more about the Karamay Theater fire here.

If disasters are your thing, see our Disasters Timeline that contains almost 800 disasters and check out our “Disaster of the Day” iphone app.

Mark Twain’s Autobiography Is Runaway Bestseller

Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written.

- Mark Twain

In spite of that quote by the man himself, the Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1 is one of the hottest titles on the market. In fact, as of this writing, Amazon.com is out of stock. So, while you wait to get your book (or if you aren’t in the mood for 760 pages of homespun stories and eclectic and oftentimes acerbic observations), check out our Mark Twain timeline. From birth to various careers that he attempted to his publications to his death, it’s all here. Learn something now, and dive into the full autobiography when you can get your hands on it.

Get Ready for Thanksgiving – Everything You Need to Know About the Pilgrims

Most people celebrating Thanksgiving in the US know about the Pilgrims and their ship the Mayflower that brought them to establish Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts) in the new world.  But how many of you know that the original plan called for two ships? Or that the original destination of the voyage was the Hudson River? Or what land in the new world was sighted first aboard the Mayflower? Or who was the first English child born in the New World? Or when the first Thanksgiving was celebrated?

Well, our Pilgrims timeline provides all of these details and much more.  So take a look at the timeline now, and learn a bunch.  And then when you are sitting around the table with you family and friends getting ready to dive into the turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce, shock them with your in depth knowledge.  Or set up a fun trivia game for your group.

Whatever you do, be sure to remember the Pilgrims and from all of us at Timelines, have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

Looking for a great resource for your Paul Revere Essay? Look no further than our Paul Revere Timeline

Paul Revere's midnight ride

So, my son and his friends just informed me of a nationwide history essay contest for 5th through 8th graders.  The annual contest is sponsored by local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and this year’s topic is Paul Revere.  Specifically, the contest is in honor of 275th anniversary of Paul Revere’s birth.  The participants have to pretend that they are Paul Revere writing his memoirs and reference specific accomplishments for which they’d like to be remembered.  Well, we have a great timeline that covers his entire life: from his birth, to where he lived, to his participation as a patriot and soldier in the American Revolution, to his business activities and finally to his death.  And of course we have his Midnight Ride in there as well.

So check out our Paul Revere timeline, and if you win, be sure to let us know.  We’ll mention you in our blog!

Good Luck!

UFOs and Unexplained Phenomena – Just in Time for Halloween

Halloween will be here on Sunday.  So we thought that we’d provide some inspiration for all of you aspiring ghouls, ghosts and especially aliens by highlighting a timeline on Unexplained Phenomena on Timelines.com.  Sometimes spooky and always entertaining, this timeline contains events that a mostly about Unidentified Flying Objects, and begins in 1870 with the “Earliest UFO Photo”, taken from the summit of Mount Washington (New Hampshire).  It ends in 1995 with the presentation of an “Alien Autopsy” film at the Museum of London.

Some of the other unexplained phenomena on this timeline include:

1908.  The Tunguska Explosion

A massive explosion caused by an unknown force scorched an a 40 km radius area in Siberia.  It burned reindeer to death.  UFO or Comet? You decide.

1917.  The Miracle of the Sun

A sanctioned Roman Catholic Church Miracle.  Over 70,000 people claimed to have seen a silvery disk that flew through the sky in Fatima, Portugal.

1947.  Roswell Army Air Field announced the capture of a “Flying Saucer.”

I think Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the “X-Files” are still trying to sort this one out.  The truth is out there.

You can check out the rest of the Unexplained Phenomena Timeline here.

Enjoy your Trick or Treating!

STLToday.com, St. Louis’ #1 web site, partners with Timelines

STLToday.com becomes Timelines.com partner with Timelines SE

We are proud to announce another Timelines SE partner, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s STLToday.com – the #1 St. Louis website.  We launched three new implementations of our service: the Rams, the Blues and the Cardinals.  See below for a sampling of the Rams’ implementation.  Check them all out and let us know what you think.

Thank you STLToday.com!

Embeddable Widgets from Timelines

Rams’ Game Page Provided by Timelines

Full Season Timeline for the Rams

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