Early Modern
Storming of the Bastille (1789): The Day That Began a Revolution
Insurgents captured the Bastille, and royal authority in Paris collapsed in favour of the new revolutionary order.
Era · c. 1500 – 1800
Early Modern
Voyages of exploration, the Reformation and the age of revolutions that reshaped Europe and the wider world.
Early Modern
Mutiny on the Bounty (1789): Bligh, Christian and Pitcairn
Christian seized the ship; Bligh and 18 men reached Timor in an open boat, and the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island.
Early Modern
First Inauguration of George Washington (1789) in New York
Washington became the first President of the United States, launching the executive branch created by the new Constitution.
Early Modern
US Bill of Rights (1789): The First Ten Amendments Explained
Ten amendments protecting individual rights and limiting federal power were added to the US Constitution in December 1791.
Early Modern
Selim III and the Nizam-i Cedid: Ottoman Military Reform
Selim built a modern army of over 20,000 men but was deposed in 1807 by a Janissary-backed revolt and killed in 1808; his reforms were revived by Mahmud II.
Early Modern
Great Fear (1789): Panic and Peasant Revolt in Rural France
The panic and peasant attacks on manor houses led the National Assembly to announce the abolition of the feudal system on 4 August 1789.
Early Modern
Women's March on Versailles (1789): Bringing the King to Paris
The royal family and soon the National Assembly were forced to leave Versailles for Paris, placing them under the eyes of the capital.
Early Modern
Lavoisier and the Chemical Revolution (1789): Modern Chemistry
Lavoisier's oxygen theory, new nomenclature and quantitative method replaced the phlogiston theory and established modern chemistry.
Early Modern
Tennis Court Oath (1789): The Third Estate Defies the King
The deputies of the new National Assembly swore not to disband until France had a constitution, openly challenging royal authority.
Early Modern
Estates-General of 1789: The Assembly That Sparked a Revolution
The Third Estate broke away to form the National Assembly, ending the Estates-General as a body and opening the French Revolution.
Early Modern
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
The Assembly adopted 17 articles proclaiming natural rights and national sovereignty; the text became the preamble of the 1791 Constitution and remains part of French constitutional law.
Early Modern
French Revolution (1789–1799): Causes, Events and Legacy
The absolute monarchy and the privileged society of the old regime were abolished; after a decade of upheaval and war, Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799.