English Online Magazine Feature Article:
Cornelius James Vanderbilt awoke on the 1st of January 1800 to a freezing cold winter’s morning. He had a middle-class family and a home on the banks of the Potomac River in the newly named capital of the young United States, Washington, in the state of the District of Columbia. He got out of his wooden bed, and then went outside to collect firewood, the only source of heat and warmth for his freezing family. The dawn of the 19th century saw the nation prospering with the arrival of steam pumps and trains from the Industrial Revolution coming over the Atlantic Ocean from Europe.
1800-1899:
The turn of the century saw the downfall of many empires and the rapid growth of others. The Spanish, French and Chinese empires all fell to the rising powers of the United States, Japan, the Russian empire and the German empire. The British Empire, however, rained supreme over all the others, controlling a quarter of the world’s population. After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, Britain replaced France as the world’s leading power.
The last remaining unexplored areas of the world (with the exception of the polar regions) were discovered and mapped during the Age of Exploration and by the 1890’s very detailed maps of the world were available to the general public.
1800-1810:
With Napoleon having crowned himself emperor of France, Britain and Ireland merging to become the United Kingdom and Thomas Jefferson being made the president of the United States. The 19th century started off with a struggle between superpowers. The French and Spanish navies were destroyed during the Battle of Trafalgar, leaving the British Royal Navy to dominate the Mediterranean Sea. They took control of Egypt and it’s capital just as the French Revolution started to gather momentum.
1811-1820:
The 1810’s were a time full of many important wars. The United States, lead by Abraham Lincoln, gained independence from the United Kingdom and became a republic. Napoleon is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and Argentina becomes independent.
1821-1830:
Antarctica was discovered, Mexico became independent, but it was the inventions and gadgets that shaped the 1820’s. Aluminium was finally isolated and the first electric motor was designed and built.
1831-1840:
Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle to the Galapagos Islands in 1831, the spark for the idea of natural selection by evolution. Queen Victoria’s rain of the UK is considered it’s highest point and is called the Victorian era. Belgium becomes independent from the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium is established, while Canada starts to rebel as well.
1841-1850:
New Zealand is founded, the word “dinosaur” is created, the Great Auk becomes extinct and Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were published.
1851-1860:
The Victorian Gold Rush in Australia and the Great Exhibition both happen. The first oil refinery if opened in Romania, Neanderthal Man is discovered and Charles Darwin publishes On The Origin Of Species. The Suez Canal is also constructed.
1861-1870:
The United States purchase Alaska from Russia, President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, Cro-Magnon Man is identified, the Periodic Table is created, the American Civil War is ended and the Suez Canal is opened.
1871-1880:
The HMS Challenger reaches the deepest point in the ocean Challenger Deep, Thomas Edison invents the Phonograph and the light bulb, Yellowstone National Park is created and Asaph Hall discovers Mars’ moons.
1881-1890:
Treasure Island, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are published; the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are constructed, Krakatoa erupts, the Quagga is declared extinct and the Race for Africa gives many European countries one or more African provinces.
1891-1900:
The turn of the 20th Century left behind a 100 years that was full of inventions, ideas, monuments and moments that human kind will remember forever.
Steel, allowing men to reach for the stars:
The Steel industry was struggling to produce large-scale amounts of the product until a young man named Andrew Carnegie bought into the market. He revolutionised the way that steel was produced and made a fortune from it. By 1900, his personal slice of Carnegie Steel and the industry as a whole amounted to $25,000,000. He bought out many other companies, creating America's largest monopoly.
The Bulb, Lighting the way forward:
Famous inventor Thomas Edison, who had patented the phonograph and the motion picture camera created his most famous invention in 1879, the long-lasting electric light bulb. The light bulb replaced John D Rockefeller's Standard Oil kerosene as the main lighting source for the United States.
The Turn of the Century:
The 19th century was a time of innovation, invention, revolution and exploration and at the turn of the 20th century, many capital and famous cites were reaching for the skies with the help of the many great gadgets that were created in one of history's greatest eras.
