This timeline is a collaborative effort of a modern poetry course taught at the College of Charleston during the fall 2011 semester.
The Paris Expo opens. First time, citizens of Paris and the world saw escalators, integration of film and sound, Rudolf Diesel's aptly named diesel engine, and a 60-meter telescope.
The Reichstag passes a law allowing for the expansion of the German Navy. One of many harbingers of a war that was stil over a decade away.
Planck's discovery was crucial for his future work with Quantum theory
Inaugurated in July, the Paris Metro's first line ushered in a new era in urban transportation. It exemplified a new urban existence: never before had so many utter strangers been so utterly close. Welcome to the moderns.
Dreiser (1871-1945) publishes his landmark first novel, Sister Carrie, now viewed as one of the earliest and most important examples of literary naturalism.
Hardy's (1840-1928) elegy to the century is now more readily recognized by the the title he would later give it: "The Darkling Thrush."
Oil! The first great "Texas Gusher" was discovered at Spindletop in Beaumont Texas. This would help advance modern technology!
71 Vincent Van Gogh paintings were made into an exhibit in Paris. This comes 11 years after his death and as Wikipedia states, "created a sensation" among parisians and those visiting. Van Gogh was a post-impressionalist painter and had a huge influence on the art movement in the 20th century.
In NY during this world fair, President McKinley was assassinated. Despite the close availability of genius advancements like the x-ray, McKinley's doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight on the operating table due to the expo's lack of in-hospital lighting.
The new state constitution of Alabama requires voters to have passed literacy tests. This is a direct attack on African American voters who generally didn't know how to read or write. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended the use of literacy tests in states or political subdivisions where less than 50% of voting-age residents were registered.
