100 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HISTORY

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
(Mohandas Gandhi)

In this section you’ll learn the 100 things you need to know about history, from the ancient world and its mythologies through modern times and the progress of mankind. You will learn how Attila the Hun was nicknamed the “Scourge of God.” How in the eleventh century the Vikings settled in areas of Great Britain where they had previously plundered. How the belief in the divine right of kings in Europe meant that monarchs received their authority to rule directly from God and therefore could not be challenged. How in the French Revolution King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were tried for treason and executed at the guillotine. How Manifest Destiny convinced Americans that their country was destined to expand throughout North America. All this and lots of other interesting stuff is covered in this chapter.

ABOLITIONISM

A movement in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America to abolish slavery among African Americans. The movement also had echoes abroad: British territories ended the slave trade in 1807 and Great Britain abolished it in 1833. In the United States, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1865 freed the slaves. However, before the Civil War many citizens in the North favored ending slavery immediately without compensation to the slave owners.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356 B.C.E.–323 B.C.E.)

King of Macedon and ruler of much of the known world, he was famous for conquering the ancient world to the boundaries of India. He established the city of Alexandria and conquered the Persian Empire, Egypt, and extended Greece’s rule throughout Asia into India. Legend has it that Alexander wept because there were no more nations to conquer. He died at thirty-two.

ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS

Near the end of the eighteenth century, these acts were passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. president John Adams (1735–1826) in order to curb the activities of radicals who criticized his federalist ideas and supported the French Revolution. Many people opposed Adams’s plans to increase the size and scope of the federal government and instead supported the right of states to determine policy for their citizens.

THE AMERICAN CRISIS

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” The American Crisis was a series of pamphlets written and published by Thomas Paine during the American Revolutionary War. Paine wrote about the need for revolution and the right of humans to secure their freedom.

ANTEBELLUM ERA

Period from 1781 to 1860, ending just prior to the U.S. Civil War. The term refers to society and culture in the Southern states during that time. The South had risen to great economic prominence in the antebellum era due to the expansion of slave-based cotton production after the invention of the cotton gin. After losing the Civil War, the Southern states suffered under Reconstruction, during which their culture and economic powers dwindled.

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

This document, agreed to by the thirteen American colonies in 1777, set up the first American nation as a confederacy. The Articles of Confederation put agreements in place that called for a weak federal system, with strong powers for the individual states. There were no federal executive or judicial branches of government. The legislature under the Articles of Confederation had few powers and could not collect taxes. The articles were replaced in 1789 by the stronger, more centralized U.S. Constitution.

ATHENS

The Greek capital and the political power center of the ancient world; the most powerful city in the fifth century B.C.E. Athens became known for its sophisticated culture and philosophy and as the birthplace of democracy. Much of Western civilization as it is known today came from Greece, and in particular from fifth-century Athens.

ATTILA THE HUN (?–453)

In the fifth century, the ruthless king of the Huns. This Asiatic tribe was feared for cruelty, murder, and torture. Attila led his armies through central and eastern Europe, and successfully invaded the Roman Empire in 452. The Romans responded by naming him the “Scourge of God.”

AUGUSTUS CAESAR (63 B.C.E.– C.E. 14)

Known as a reformer of Roman culture and politics, the first Roman emperor, born Octavius, ruled from 27 B.C.E. to C.E. 14 He achieved power after defeating his enemy Marcus Antonius at the end of a period of civil war following the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E. A promoter of the Roman arts, he presided over a period of peace for the empire. Because of this, as well as Augustus’s devotion to history and poetry, his reign is considered the golden age of Roman literature. The term “Caesar” became attached to the office of supreme Roman ruler.

BABYLON

An ancient and powerful city on the Euphrates River in southwest Asia. The city was at its height of power between 2800 B.C.E. and 1750 B.C.E. and was known the world over for its wealth, culture, and depravity. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon—gardens planted on terraces in the city—were among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Babylon has become a symbol for anything that is wicked and corrupt.

BASTILLE

The fortress prison built in the fourteenth century in Paris, France, made infamous on account of its cruelty to prisoners and its deplorable conditions. Here, the French government held and tortured political prisoners in the period leading up to the French Revolution. Revolutionaries attacked the Bastille in 1789 and released the prisoners; ironically, at the time, only seven prisoners remained. The attack on the Bastille often marks the beginning of the French Revolution, and Bastille Day is celebrated as a national holiday in France.

BILL OF RIGHTS

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, mandating such rights as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to assembly. More generally, the term means any document outlining a guarantee of civil rights. The English Bill of Rights was created in 1689 and is called the Declaration of Rights. It outlines the liberties and rights of the subjects to the king and queen.

BLACK DEATH

In the fourteenth century the bubonic plague, called the Black Death, spread through Asia and Europe. Believed to have started in Asia, it ended the lives of between 25 percent and 33 percent of the population of Western Europe, or nearly 50 million people. Fleas carried by rodents transmitted the disease; a more virulent form, pneumonic plague, was airborne. Symptoms before death included fever and painful swelling in the groin and armpits.

BOLSHEVIKS

In Russia prior to the revolution that ushered in Soviet rule, members of the left wing of the Social Democratic Party who fought for takeover of power by the workers. Instead of peaceful or gradual political change in Russia, they called for violent overthrow of the Provisional Government, which had come to power in February 1917. Led by Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), the Bolsheviks were radical Marxists; after the revolution of October 1917, their faction changed its name to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES

In ancient Rome, entertainment provided for the masses to divert attention from the nation’s struggling economy and other national problems in order to prevent an uprising. As Roman civilization teetered on the brink of collapse, politicians said to provide the people with bread and circuses so they will ignore the signs of trouble. Today, governments use similar measures to reduce popular discontent.

BRITISH EMPIRE

Under the British crown, starting in the eighteenth century, the vast control of countries and colonies around the globe by the British. At one point, people said that the sun never set on the British Empire. The empire reached its height in the first decades of the twentieth century, ruling more than 25 percent of the population of the globe. Many of the subject countries gained their independence later in the century, though some remained part of the British Commonwealth.

BRONZE AGE

Approximately 4500 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E. Following the Stone Age, the Bronze Age was characterized by the use of copper and bronze to make weapons and tools. It was followed by the Iron Age (1200 B.C.E.– C.E. 500) with the introduction of more complex and sophisticated ways of shaping metals.

BRUTUS, MARCUS JUNIUS (85 B.C.E.–42 B.C.E.)

Roman statesman involved in the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E. Brutus is the lead character in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Caesar, when stabbed by his former friend Brutus, is said to have uttered, “Et tu Brute?” (Even you, Brutus?). Brutus committed suicide after he was defeated in battle by Octavius (later Caesar Augustus) and Marcus Antonius. “Brutus” is now applied to someone who has betrayed.

BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The empire that arose from the eastern half of the Roman Empire. In 476 after the fall of the Western empire, the Byzantine Empire became the dominant cultural and political legacy of Rome. The Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453, when the capital, Constantinople, fell to Turkish forces. Until the eleventh century, the empire played an important role in European politics.

CENTRAL POWERS

In World War I, the alliance of the European countries including the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. These countries were opposed in the war by France and the United Kingdom in Western Europe, the Russian Empire in the east, and the United States.

CHARLEMAGNE (742–814)

“Charles the Great,” crowned Holy Roman Emperor in the year 800. Charlemagne’s empire included modern France and Germany, as well as parts of Italy. He was a proponent of education, enacted changes in church policy and judicial reforms, and also encouraged the spread of agriculture. Because of the advances he advocated, Charlemagne was considered a model for other medieval rulers.

COMMON SENSE

A pamphlet written in 1776 by Thomas Paine (1737–1809) that urged people in the American colonies to declare independence from England. The pamphlet was widely read and turned public opinion in favor of independence and support of the Revolutionary War. Prior to its publication many people were undecided about the movement for independence. The way that Paine laid out the arguments helped people understand the rationale for freedom from British rule. Paine signed the pamphlet, “Written by an Englishman.”

COMMONWEALTH

The union of a group of nation-states to further the individual interests and good of all of them. The first commonwealth was established in Britain, Scotland, and Ireland in the year 1649 when King Charles I (1600–1649) was executed during the English Civil War. A commonwealth was created in Australia when the colonies formed a union in 1901 and a constitution was signed that divided power between a federal governing body and the states. Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States of America, is also a commonwealth.

THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

An 1848 pamphlet written by Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) that is credited as the foundation of Communism. Known as the world’s most politically influential pamphlet, it outlined the history and present-day effects of class struggle between workers and capitalists, described the failures of capitalism and the defects in that economic system, and predicted communism’s future rise to prominence on the world stage.

CONFEDERACY

An alliance of states. Its best-known example is the alliance of the Southern states in America, formed after the South seceded from the Union in 1861. A confederacy may be an alliance or union of governments, groups, or individuals who unite behind a common purpose.

CONQUISTADORS

From the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, explorers and military forces of Spain and Portugal that sailed to the Americas to establish trade routes and colonize many areas. The explorers are called conquistadors since they conquered the native peoples of Mexico and Peru. The two most famous were Hernán Cortés (1485–1587) and Francisco Pizarro (1471?–1541).

CONSTANTINOPLE

Capital of the Byzantine Empire. In 476, after the fall of the western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire became the dominant Roman territory; it included eastern Europe and western Asia. The Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453, the year Constantinople fell when it was attacked by Turkish forces. From this point on, Constantinople was known as Istanbul and became a Muslim city.

COSSACKS

An elite group of horsemen from the Ukraine region of southern Russia, who flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though their descendants are still around today. The Cossacks were warriors who provided the Russian Empire with soldiers and spies. They were known for their horsemanship, as well as for their dances with fast music and difficult leaps. Cossack is a Turkic word for “adventurer.”

COUNTER-REFORMATION

In the sixteenth century, in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church launched its own reform movement to answer the claims of the Protestants. Jesuits led much of this movement that was intended both to shore up the beliefs of members of the Catholic Church and to refute the theological claims of the Protestants.

CRUSADES

From the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, Christians in Western Europe launched a series of military expeditions to Jerusalem to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslim occupiers. The crusaders took over Jerusalem in 1099 but could not control the Holy Land; they were driven out of Jerusalem in the latter part of the thirteenth century. Today the term “crusade” is applied to any strong movement for or against a cause.

CUBAN REVOLUTION

The revolution in Cuba lasted from 1956 to 1959. It ended with the overthrow of a corrupt dictatorship led by Fulgencio Batista (1901–1973) at the hands of a populist movement led by Fidel Castro (1926–) and his guerrilla fighters. Castro later became a Communist, and Cuba today is under Communist rule.

CULTURAL REVOLUTION

A political movement in China during the 1960s. Led by a faction of the Communist government of China, the revolutionaries overhauled much of the country’s education and university systems and purged much of its art, music, and literature. The actions were taken by the Red Guard, with the goal of building Chinese nationalism and loyalty to Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976). Also known as China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

DARK AGES

A period in Western Europe from 500 to 1000, also known as the Early Middle Ages. Prior to this, Rome had been the main stabilizing force of the Western world. The fall of the empire meant a long cultural decline in Western Europe, marked by few freedoms for the people and tight rule by monarchs and overlords. This period of history ended with the Renaissance of the twelfth century and the founding of the universities.

DE-STALINIZATION

In the late 1950s, the movement to erase the influence of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1878–1953) from Communist countries, especially the Soviet Union. This effort took the form of renaming cities, monuments, etc., as well as eliminating some policies instituted under Stalin who was known as a brutal dictator, having ordered the torture and execution of millions of his own people. His successor, Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), formulated and led the de-Stalinization movement.

DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS

The belief in Europe throughout the seventeenth century that monarchs received their authority to rule directly from God and therefore the king could not be challenged. The state labeled rebellion against the king’s wishes as a sin against God. The oppressive nature of monarchies based on this principle led reformers throughout Europe to suggest the right of humans to govern themselves. These suggestions led to democratic reforms and the belief that the consent of the people should determine who leads them.

DRED SCOTT DECISION

In the United States in 1857, Dred Scott (1795–1858), a black slave, sued for his freedom, claiming that he should be declared free because he had lived in free states and territories with his master. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court ruled against Scott on the grounds that as a slave he was not a U.S. citizen and thus had no standing to sue.

EDWARDIAN PERIOD

Referring to the early part of the twentieth century, when Edward VII (1841–1910) was king of England. His time as king was marked by its show of wealth and privilege among the powerful and rich in England. However, his lackadaisical attitude and failure of leadership are blamed for England’s lack of preparedness as the world fell into turmoil prior to World War I.

ELIZABETHAN PERIOD

England’s golden age of wealth and prosperity. Queen Elizabeth’s (1533–1603) reign from 1558 through 1603. This period was marked by England’s expansion abroad and cultural flourishing at home. The British navy gained superiority over the Spanish Armada in 1588, eliminating the most serious military challenge to the realm. There was new music, literature, and poetry. The Protestant Reformation brought new ideas of religious freedom and the individuality and innate gifts of human beings.

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation of January 1, 1863, that freed the slaves. Lincoln issued the proclamation while the Civil War was in progress, attempting to create chaos among the Southern states and their slaves as well as strengthen support for the Union abroad. In reality, the proclamation did not immediately free any slaves because the South, or rebellious territories, did not honor it. The proclamation did not apply to the slave states of Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky, and Delaware, which stayed part of the United States. Slaves in these states were freed after the war’s end.

ENLIGHTENMENT

A philosophic movement in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries focused on the idea that through reason humans could discern the true path to better politics, religion, and social institutions. This movement brought forth new ideas in science and religion and was the impetus for new concepts of governmental systems that enlarged political freedom. The term also has religious connotations. In Buddhism, enlightenment means to awake to new truth and to become free from the requirement to pass through more reincarnations. In Hinduism, enlightenment occurs when a person has progressed in knowledge and light to where she has a divine experience with Vishnu, a Hindu God.

FALL OF ROME

In the fifth century, the great Roman Empire came to an end. The actual invasion that marked its fall came at the hands of the Vandals as they attacked and plundered the city. Before that time Roman civilization had been declining due to corruption of its political, economic, and social institutions. Most scholars believe the decline was slow, lasting several centuries. The last Roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus (460–500?) who abdicated his throne in the year 476.

FERDINAND AND ISABELLA (1452–1516) (1451–1504)

Spanish monarchs in the late fifteenth century who financed the exploration of the New World. They backed Christopher Columbus’s (1451–1506) expedition as he searched for a new trade route to India, but instead discovered America. Also, in the year 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the Kingdom of Granada and forced the Jews, Moors, and Muslims to convert to Christianity or leave Spain. Together, they united the different regions of Spain.

FEUDALISM

A political and economic system prevalent in the eighth and ninth centuries in Western Europe in which a family is allowed to farm and live on a piece of land in return for providing service, usually military, to the master or lord of the region. Under feudalism, property belonged to the king, who provided large sections of land to his nobles. A vassal was the person who lived on the land and paid homage to the lord. In return for homage, the lords of the land would provide protection for the vassals. Japan and Egypt also had forms of feudalism.

FINAL SOLUTION

A Nazi program in World War II for exterminating all European Jews. Prior to implementing the Final Solution, the Nazis had killed about 1 million Jews. In 1942, Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) created what he termed the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” Under the direction of Hitler’s deputy Heinrich Himmler (ca.1900–1945), the extermination camps were built to carry out mass slaughter of the Jews.

FIRST AMENDMENT

The amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits Congress from interfering with freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, or freedom of religion. The First Amendment is the first article of the Bill of Rights. These freedoms were radical departures from the freedoms granted other people prior to the American Revolution.

FOUR FREEDOMS

In a speech given by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) in January 1941 to build support for democracies around the world, he enumerated four freedoms worth fighting for: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Especially after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Roosevelt positioned the war as a struggle for freedom.

FRENCH RESISTANCE

Small groups of people who fought against the Nazis in occupied France during World War II, using propaganda and guerrilla tactics. These groups worked together in secretive cells and published an underground newspaper to keep informed of the advances the Resistance was making to protect the country and stifle the efforts of the Germans. The groups provided intelligence to the official French army and ran escape networks to help soldiers get back to Allied territory.

FRENCH REVOLUTION

A ten-year revolution in France starting in 1789. In the first phase, the revolution ended the rule of the Capet monarchy and the French aristocracy; the conflict ended with Napoleon’s victory in 1799. The legislative assembly declared itself the voice of the people, and King Louis XVI (1754–1793) and Queen Marie Antoinette (1755–1793) were tried for treason and executed at the guillotine. Government passed to a group of radicals, the Jacobins, and the Reign of Terror began. Thousands of nobles and others considered enemies to the state were executed.

GENGHIS KHAN (CA. 1162–1227)

Mongolian conqueror whose empire reached from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea. His conquests included much of northern China and southwest Asia. He was greatly feared for his barbaric cruelty, the rape of women and children, and the ruthless slaughter of all who stood in his path.

GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s speech, delivered November 19, 1863, to dedicate the national cemetery at the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln’s speech was only three minutes long but many consider it among the most important documents of American history.

GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

A revolution in England in 1688 during which King James II (1633–1701) was forced by the British parliament to abdicate the throne. In his place, Mary II (1662–1694) and William III (1650–1702) were installed as co-monarchs. The cause of the upheaval was largely James II’s attempt to declare his royal prerogative over Parliament. The event is also called the “bloodless revolution,” although there were battles in Scotland and Ireland. As a condition of ascending to the throne, Mary II, daughter of James II, and her husband, William III, agreed to create a Bill of Rights.

GUTENBERG, JOHANNES (CA.1395–1468)

He was the first printer to use movable type and a press to print books and pamphlets. Considered one of the most influential inventions of all time, his movable type and press enabled books to be widely distributed and allowed the flow of new ideas. Gutenberg played a major role in bringing to pass the age of the Renaissance and the scientific revolution, as well as the Protestant Reformation.

HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

Empire established in central Europe when Charlemagne (742–814) was crowned Roman emperor in 800; a loose confederation of regions in Europe ruled by the laws and customs of the ancient Roman Empire. It was governed by a German king who was referred to as the Roman emperor. For its existence, the emperors were of German or Austrian descent. The empire declined in power from the sixteenth century and ended in 1806 when the Roman king Francis II (1768–1835) abdicated the title.

HOMESTEAD ACT

In 1862 this law made western lands in the United States available to settlers at no payment. The intention of the Homestead Act was to encourage westward migration, so provisions granted settlers with farmland divided into 160-acre sections. The homesteaders were required to cultivate the land or build a residence on it, as well as live on it for five years.

A HOUSE DIVIDED

An 1858 speech by Abraham Lincoln at the Republican Party convention. Lincoln referenced “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” found in the book of Matthew, to emphasize the danger arising from the unresolved slavery issue between the North and the South. Lincoln warned that “I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”

HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR

A series of conflicts between England and France that occurred between 1337 and 1453 over English possessions in France. Since the year 1066 when William the Conqueror (ca. 1028–1087) became the king of England, English kings had been required to pay homage to the French king. In 1337 the English king, Edward III (1312–1377), refused. The French sought to seize Edward’s lands in France, while Edward declared that he was the rightful king of France.

HUNS

A nomadic tribe that dominated parts of central and eastern Europe in the fifth century. In World War I and World War II, the Germans were referred to derogatorily as Huns.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

In the eighteenth century, the shift from hand tools in farming and manufacturing to powered tools and machines. Industrialization began in England and spread rapidly to other countries. The main source of power was the steam engine, which dramatically increased factory output and productivity, creating wealth for the factory owners. The transition to manufacturing also caused a population shift as people left their farms to work in factories in the cities.

INQUISITION

Investigations held by the Roman Catholic Church to discover and punish heresy. In many cases the accused were tortured to obtain a confession. If found guilty, a person could be excommunicated and turned over to the local government authorities for execution. The first inquisitions were held in France and then spread to other European countries. Today, when a person is questioned severely about a matter, they’re said to undergo an inquisition.

IRON AGE

Period following the Bronze Age, lasting roughly from 1200 B.C.E. to C.E. 500. The Iron Age was marked by advanced techniques of shaping metals to make weapons and tools in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The use of iron increased because it was more plentiful than bronze, although iron was a somewhat less durable metal.

JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY

With the beginning of the presidency of Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) in 1830, the movement to give more power and greater rights to the average citizen gathered force. Jacksonian democracy was opposed to providing special privileges to the wealthy and powerful. The ideas supporting the Jacksonian movement were first articulated in the southern and western settlements of the United States. Eventually, the movement led to an extension of the right to vote to white males throughout the country.

JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY

Movement led by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) to extend more rights and privileges to the people through democratic reforms. Jefferson believed the people would elect the men best suited for leadership of the country. The supporters of Jefferson believed that governance belonged to the farmer and average everyday citizen and distrusted the aristocracy. Jacksonian democracy took this concept further, espousing the view that the common people could decide for themselves what was best on national and state issues.

JOAN OF ARC (CA. 1412–1431)

In the fifteenth century, a seventeen-year-old French girl led the army of the French dauphin, later Charles VII (1403–1461), during the Hundred Years’ War. She believed that God spoke to her to help her obtain victory, which permitted the dauphin to be crowned as the rightful French king. After being captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English, she was burned at the stake for heresy.

JULIUS CAESAR (100 B.C.E.–44 B.C.E.)

Roman general and statesman who conquered Gaul and Britain for Rome. By today’s standards, he would be considered a populist politician, appealing to the masses with clever rhetoric and emphasizing his status as a successful general to gain their favor.

KOREAN WAR

War between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The United States and other countries belonging to the United Nations supported South Korea. Communist China supported North Korea. It was as much a war of ideologies between free democracy and Communism as a conflict between the two countries. The fighting ended in a truce in 1953.

LABOR MOVEMENT

A movement beginning in the eighteenth century to secure better wages and working conditions for laborers. By joining forces in an organization, workers had more bargaining power to negotiate. The early history of the labor movement is filled with tension and even violence as workers and their representatives fought long battles with many of the manufacturing facilities, railroads, oil production companies, etc.

LADY GODIVA

According to legend, in the eleventh century Lady Godiva, a noblewoman, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England to protest the high taxes imposed by her husband. The term “peeping Tom” is believed to have originated from this same legend; a man named Tom was struck blind for not turning his eyes away from the naked woman.

LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Created by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I to promote world peace and provide a platform for unity among the nations. Countries belonging to the League of Nations worked together to solve problems with refugees and immigration, improve health conditions, prevent disease, etc. The United States never joined the League of Nations because the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the league’s covenant. The League of Nations was disbanded in 1946 to make way for the creation of the United Nations.

LONG MARCH

In 1934, the Communist Chinese Red Army retreated to northwestern China after being driven out of southeastern China by Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) and his army. During the march Mao Zedong became the Communist Party leader. About 100,000 men started the journey and only 8,000 finished the trek. In the northeast, Mao Zedong and his army fought Japanese invaders and Chinese government troops while gradually renewing their strength.

LOST GENERATION

The men and women who returned home from World War I disillusioned by their war experience, wondering what they had sacrificed for. Many believed they had fought to protect the older, failing institutions of their fathers. They also felt lost in the societal changes brought to pass by the war. Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) were notable writers whose works reflect the disillusionment they experienced.

LUDDITES

In nineteenth-century England, groups of workers vandalized manufacturing equipment to protest the loss of jobs the machines represented. They also organized riots outside English factories. Most Luddites were textile workers, the dominant industry in England. Today a Luddite is anyone hostile to new technology or change.

MAGELLAN, FERDINAND (ca. 1480–1521)

Portuguese explorer who circumnavigated the world and discovered the Straits of Magellan in 1520. These straits, near the southern tip of South America, are the connecting point of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Magellan is also credited with discovering the Philippines, though he was murdered there by a native.

MAGINOT LINE

Prior to World War II, fortifications built along France’s eastern border to keep the Germans from invading France. The French thought the Maginot Line was impenetrable, but learned their mistake when the German troops simply went around the line in the north and spilled into France in 1940.

MAGNA CARTA

In 1215 in England, barons forced King John (1166–1216) to sign a charter of English rights and liberties. This document required the king to recognize the rights of the barons, church, and citizenry. The monarch could not take away property without a trial or increase taxes without permission of Parliament. The term sometimes refers to a country’s founding constitution that outlines rights and liberties.

MANIFEST DESTINY

In the early nineteenth century, the belief that the United States was destined to expand and control all of North America. According to this idea, God desired American ideals of freedom and capitalism to be spread throughout the continent. This belief both caused and was spurred on by the vast migration west as well as provided the justification for annexing the southwest parts of the continent.

MESOPOTAMIA

Known as the cradle of civilization, this ancient area in western Asia is now part of Iraq. It is the site of several ancient civilizations including the Assyrian, Sumerian, and Hittite. People in Mesopotamia living between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were among the first to achieve an agricultural surplus and to invent a written language.

MIDDLE AGES

Roughly, from 500 to 1500 in Western Europe. The Middle Ages cover the period from the end of the old world, which had known Roman rule for many centuries, to the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy.

NAZISM

In Germany, the movement led by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. In 1933, Adolf Hitler took control of the organization. The Nazis believed that Germans were part of a master Aryan race. To maintain the purity of the race, the Nazis sought to exterminate not only the Jews but also people with physical or mental handicaps. To find lebensraum or “living space” for the German people, the German government sought to take over Europe and rule under a thousand-year reich.

NEW DEAL

In the twentieth century in the United States, the program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help America recover from the Great Depression. The New Deal called for government programs to provide work for the millions of unemployed through the Works Progress Administration, as well as the creation of programs such as Social Security to which all taxpayers would contribute but only the neediest would use as a safety net.

NEW FRONTIER

Catchphrase developed by the administration of President John F. Kennedy to get U.S. citizens to support the space program and other initiatives of the White House. In the 1960s Americans felt as if there were no new challenges. Kennedy said there were always new opportunities, new frontiers to explore.

NEW WORLD

The yet-to-be-explored and -conquered parts of North and South America in the fifteenth century. After Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, explorers and military expeditions from Spain and Portugal sailed to the Americas for exploitation and conquest. They colonized many areas and were eventually joined by the British and French.

NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE

To withstand authority in a peaceful way. Also called civil disobedience. In the United States during the 1960s, nonviolent resistance was used to fight discrimination and segregation against African Americans. Such resistance included sit-ins, marches, and Freedom Rides.

NORMAN CONQUEST

In 1066, the Normans conquered England. Led by William the Conqueror, they sailed from Normandy to Hastings on the south coast of England, where they defeated an Anglo-Saxon army and William declared himself as king. He brought French culture and influence to England, and he established new systems of laws and administration throughout the country.

OCTOBER REVOLUTION

Also called the Russian Revolution. In February 1917, the Russian monarchy fell and a temporary government was established. The October Revolution refers to the overthrow of the Provisional Government by the Bolsheviks and marks the start of Communist rule in the new Soviet Union. The revolution actually occurred on November 7, 1917, but the Russian calendar was, at the time, behind that used in the West.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Turkish empire founded in 1300 and spread across parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It lasted until its collapse after World War I. In the sixteenth century, the Ottomans achieved their greatest amount of territorial control. After World War I, what remained of the Ottoman Empire became part of modern-day Turkey.

PERSIAN EMPIRE

In ancient times, a south Asian empire established in the sixth century B.C.E. that reached from Europe to India. Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century B.C.E. At one time or another, the Persian Empire was conquered by Turks, Mongols, Greeks, and Arabs. Today, Iran is located in the heart of the ancient Persian Empire.

PHOENICIA

An ancient seaside kingdom, which existed between 1200 B.C.E. and 1000 B.C.E. along the Mediterranean coast. Its inhabitants were traders and sailors traveling across the ancient world. The Phoenicians created an alphabet, which the Greeks and Romans adapted and which is the basis of the modern English alphabet. Today, Israel and Lebanon are located near the site of this ancient kingdom.

POMPEII

In 79, Pompeii, a city in southwestern Italy, was buried in volcanic ash and pumice as Mount Vesuvius erupted. The city had a reputation in its day for wealth and immorality. A great deal of work, beginning in 1748, has been done to excavate the remains, which are preserved in the hardened ash and reveal a rich history of daily life.

RECONSTRUCTION

From 1865 to 1877, after the end of the U.S. Civil War, the war-torn South rebuilt and reorganized cities, homes, and farms. The South was divided into districts under military oversight and elections were held to establish new state governments. The people of the South deeply resented being kept out of the reconstruction of their states, which was presided over by Republican politicians from the North. Carpetbaggers from the North profited from the destitute people of the South until 1877 when the last of the U.S. troops left.

RED SCARE

The Red Scare of 1919–1920 was the result of fears that the United States might be infiltrated by the same revolutionaries responsible for the Russian Revolution. During those years, the U.S. government deported hundreds of immigrants for suspected Communist-leaning political opinions. A second Red Scare occurred in the 1950s, led by Sen. Joseph McCarthy (1908–1957).

REFORMATION

In the sixteenth century in Europe, a religious movement that broke theologically from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Also called the Protestant Reformation, it brought new ideas about religious freedom and human individuality and innate gifts. The Roman Catholic Church launched the Counter-Reformation to refute the claims of the Protestants.

REIGN OF TERROR

During the French Revolution, many people were executed by the ruling party, the Jacobins. Between 1793 and 1794, thousands of people were sent to the guillotine on charges of treason. Maximilien de Robespierre (1758–1794) led the effort to identify people who were threats to the security of the French state in an effort to eliminate any and all areas of resistance to Jacobin rule.

RENAISSANCE

From the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, Europe experienced a rebirth or renaissance of learning, art, and literature. This era marked the transition point from the Middle Ages into the modern world and led to the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century and to the period known as the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century.

ROMAN EMPIRE

From about 27 B.C.E. through C.E. 476, the Roman Empire ruled the civilized world. The earliest origins of the city of Rome can be traced back to just prior to 753 B.C.E. However, it was in 27 B.C.E. that the Roman Empire may be said to have been formally established when Octavius Caesar was granted the title of Augustus. “All roads lead to Rome” summed up the vast land holdings and conquests of the empire. The Roman Empire was also known for its impressive aqueducts and cities of hundreds of thousands of people. Because of political corruption and invaders, the western Roman Empire weakened and collapsed in the fifth century. Its eastern remnant, the Byzantine Empire, lasted until 1453 when it fell to the Ottoman Turks.

ROSETTA STONE

In 1799 a stone slab was found near Rosetta, Egypt, which provided the key to translating ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. The stone displayed an inscription written in three parallel languages: Greek, demotic, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Jean-François Champollion deciphered the Rosetta stone in 1822, and it is now in the British Museum. The term “Rosetta stone” now refers to a clue leading to the solution of a problem.

SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

Of the Seven Wonders, only the Great Pyramids at Giza still exist. The other wonders included the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

STONE AGE

The period in which humankind used stone for weapons and crude tools. It preceded the Bronze Age and may have lasted several million years, ending around 4500 B.C.E. The Bronze Age was characterized by shaping metals such as bronze to make weapons and tools. The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age with the introduction of more complex and sophisticated ways of shaping metals.

VATICAN II

The nickname for the Second Vatican Council, which met in Rome from 1962–1965 under the leadership of Pope John XXIII. It initiated a series of modernizing reforms in the church, including permission to celebrate the mass in the vernacular as well as in Latin; affirming the centrality of Scripture in the Church; and opening the Church to the outside world.

VICTORIAN PERIOD

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the cultural norm in Great Britain. In those days, with Queen Victoria on the throne, Great Britain was the most powerful nation in the world. The English believed, given their many colonies around the globe and the industrialization of the country, that their country was blessed by God for its righteousness.

VIKINGS

From the eighth through the tenth century, people from Scandinavia sailed the coasts of Europe plundering and pillaging towns and settlements. The Vikings included Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians and ranged as far as Russia, where they raided Kiev and were known as Russe because of their red hair. The Vikings later settled in northern areas of Great Britain. The Viking ships, with their high sterns and bows, have become symbolic of a destructive force.

WARS OF THE ROSES

Between 1455 and 1485, a series of sporadic wars for the English throne between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by a red rose, and the House of York, symbolized by a white rose. The wars ended at the Battle of Bosworth when Henry Tudor (1457–1509) claimed the throne after defeating the last Yorkist, King Richard III (1452–1485). Henry married Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York (1456–1503), to shore up his claim to the throne.

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

The movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to gain women the right to vote and hold office. In America the struggle started in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention at which Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), and others launched a campaign for the vote. Though subject to brutal attacks, both in the press and physical, the movement triumphed in 1920 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Written by David Olsen in " 801 Things You Should Know", Adams Media, USA, 2013,excerpts chapter 2. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.