“Presidents of the Church Time Line,” Presidents of the Church Student Manual (2004), 281–96
“Time Line,” Presidents of the Church Student Manual, 281–96
Presidents of the Church
Time Line
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Church History
-
Joseph Smith (23 Dec. 1805–27 June 1844)
-
Brigham Young (1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877)
-
John Taylor (1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887)
-
Wilford Woodruff (1 Mar. 1807–2 Sept 1898)
-
Hyrum Smith born (9 Feb.)
-
Joseph Smith Sr. moved his family to Sharon, Vermont
-
David Whitmer born (7 Jan.)
-
Oliver Cowdery born (3 Oct.)
-
Joseph Smith had leg operation
-
Joseph Smith
-
Brigham Young
-
John Taylor
-
Wilford Woodruff
-
Lorenzo Snow (3 Apr. 1814–10 Oct. 1901)
-
Smith family moved to Palmyra, New York, due to three successive crop failures in Vermont
-
Smith family moved to Manchester, New York
-
Joseph Smith had the First Vision (spring)
-
Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith three times during one night and twice the next day (21–22 Sept.)
-
Joseph Smith first visited the Hill Cumorah and viewed the golden plates
-
Alvin Smith died (19 Nov.)
-
Joseph Smith made second visit to Hill Cumorah to receive instruction
-
Joseph Smith made third visit to Hill Cumorah for instruction
-
Joseph Smith made fourth visit to Hill Cumorah for instruction
-
Joseph Smith and Emma Hale married (18 Jan.)
-
Joseph Smith obtained the golden plates (22 Sept.; see Isaih 29:11–12)
-
Martin Harris visited Charles Anthon in New York City (Feb.)
-
Martin Harris lost 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon (June)
-
Joseph Smith regained the gift to translate the Book of Mormon (Sept.)
-
Aaronic Priesthood restored (15 May); the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored about two weeks later, probably the end of May; Joseph Smith was ordained an Apostle by Peter, James, and John (see D&C 20:2; 27:12; 128:20)
-
Book of Mormon translation completed; the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses were shown the golden plates
-
Joseph Smith (sustained as First Elder of the Church 6 Apr. 1830)
-
Brigham Young
(ordained Apostle 14 Feb. 1835)
-
John Taylor
(ordained Apostle 19 Dec. 1838)
-
Wilford Woodruff
(ordained Apostle 26 Apr. 1839)
-
Lorenzo Snow
-
Joseph F. Smith (13 Nov. 1838–19 Nov. 1918)
-
Book of Mormon published
-
The Church was organized (6 Apr.)
-
Church members began gathering to Ohio
-
Some Church members moved to Missouri
-
Joseph Smith sustained as President of the High Priesthood (25 Jan.)
-
Vision of the three degrees of glory (D&C 76) received (16 Feb.)
-
“Prophecy on War” (D&C 87; 25Dec.) and “Olive Leaf” (D&C 88: 27–28Dec, 3 Jan.) received
-
The Word of Wisdom (D&C 89) received (27 Feb.)
-
Book of Commandments published
-
Brigham Young baptized (14 Apr.)
-
First Presidency organized (18 Mar.)
-
Wilford Woodruff baptized (31 Dec.)
-
First stake organized
-
Zion’s Camp (May–July)
-
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Quorum of the Seventy organized (Feb.)
-
Mummies and scrolls purchased from Michael Chandler (July)
-
Doctrine and Covenants approved (17 Aug.)
-
Kirtland Temple dedicated (27 Mar); first temple built in this dispensation
-
Moses, Elias, and Elijah committed priesthood keys to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (3 Apr.)
-
John Taylor baptized (9 May)
-
Lorenzo Snow baptized (19 June)
-
Church hymnal published (Nov.)
-
First mission in the Church organized in Great Britian
-
Joseph Smith received revelation on tithing (8 July)
-
Governor Boggs issued “Extermination Order” in Missouri (27 Oct.)
-
Haun’s Mill massacre (30 Oct.)
-
Joseph and Hyrum Smith imprisoned in Liberty Jail (Dec. 1838–Apr. 1839)
-
Church members moved to Illinois and Iowa
-
First Church members to gather from a foreign land sailed from England
-
Joseph Smith began teaching baptism for the dead (15 Aug.)
-
Orson Hyde dedicated the Holy Land for the return of the Jews (24 Oct.)
-
First full endowment given (4 May)
-
Wentworth Letter written (spring)
-
Book of Abraham published
-
Relief Society organized (17 Mar.)
-
Revelation on the new and everlasting covenant, marriage, and fullness of life (D&C 132; recorded on 12 July)
-
Joseph and Hyrum Smith martyred in Carthage, Illinois (27 June)
-
The Twelve Apostles sustained as the presiding quorum in the Church (8 Aug.)
-
Church membership: approximately 280 at end of year
-
16,865
-
Brigham Young
-
(President of the Church, 27 Dec. 1847)
-
John Taylor
-
Wilford Woodruff
-
Lorenzo Snow
(ordained Apostle 12 Feb. 1849)
-
Joseph F. Smith
-
Heber J. Grant (22 Nov. 1856–14 May 1945)
-
Church leaders announced plans to move to the West (Oct.)
-
Saints began leaving Nauvoo (Feb.)
-
Nauvoo Temple dedicated (1 May)
-
Brigham Young’s Pioneer Company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley (22–24 July)
-
Mormon Battalion began its 2000-mile march from Kanesville, Iowa (21 July)
-
Members of Mormon Battalion discharged at Los Angeles, California (16 July)
-
Brigham Young became 2nd President of the Church, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as counselors (27 Dec.)
-
Miracle of seagulls saved crops
-
Utah became a U.S. territory; Brigham Young appointed its first governor (Sept.)
-
Doctrine of plural marriage first publicly announced (28–29 Aug.)
-
Pearl of Great Price published in Liverpool, England
-
Perpetual Emigrating Fund established (Oct.)
-
Sunday School organized (9 Dec.)
-
Four cornerstones of the Salt lake Temple laid (6 Apr.)
-
Fast day held the first Thursday of each month
-
Brigham Young and Saints learned of Utah Expedition (24 July); Utah War (to 1858)
-
Johnston’s Army passed through Salt Lake City (26 June)
-
Pioneer handcart companies began (June); Willie and Martin companies rescued (Oct.–Nov.)
-
51,839
-
Brigham Young
-
John Taylor
-
Wilford Woodruff
-
Lorenzo Snow
-
Joseph F. Smith
(ordained Apostle 1 July 1866)
-
Heber J. Grant
-
George Albert Smith (4 Apr. 1870–4 Apr. 1951)
-
Handcart era ended (last company arrived in Salt Lake in Aug.)
-
Brigham Young arrested on charge of bigamy (10 Mar.); never brought to trial
-
Church began use of wagon trains that left Salt Lake Valley in the spring with provisions for yearly immigration and returned in the fall with immigrants; used until 1868 (railroad came in 1869)
-
Salt Lake Theatre was dedicated (6 Mar.)
-
US Congress passed Morrill Act, outlawing plural marriage in US territories (8 July)
-
Black Hawk War began in central Utah (9 Apr.; ended 1867)
-
Settlers in many parts of Utah battled with Indians
-
First general conference held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle (6 Oct.)
-
Last organized “Church train” arrived in Salt Lake Valley
-
Church-owned Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) opened for business (spring)
-
President Brigham Young organized the Young Ladies’ Retrenchment Association (28 Nov.; later renamed the Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Organization)
-
Utah became one of first US states or territories to grant women the right to vote (12 Feb.)
-
Location for the St. George Temple dedicated (Nov.)
-
United order movement launched (Feb.); over 200 united orders established in Latter-day Saint settlements by the end of the year
-
President Young called six additional counselors in the First Presidency
-
Church membership: 61,082
-
90,130
-
Brigham Young
-
John Taylor
(President of the Church, 10 Oct. 1880)
-
Wilford Woodruff
-
Lorenzo Snow
-
Joseph F. Smith
-
Heber J. Grant
(ordained Apostle 16 Oct. 1882)
-
George Albert Smith
-
David O. McKay (8 Sept. 1873–18 Jan. 1970)
-
Joseph Fielding Smith (19 July 1876–2 July 1972)
-
First Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association organized (10 June)
-
Salt Lake Tabernacle dedicated (Oct.); President John Taylor, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, read the dedicatory prayer
-
Brigham Young Academy founded in Provo, Utah (16 Oct.); became Brigham Young University in 1903
-
Missionary work launched in New Mexico
-
St. George Temple dedicated (6 Apr.); first temple since the Church moved west
-
President Brigham Young died (29 Aug.)
-
Primary founded; first meeting at Farmington, Utah (25 Aug.)
-
Jubilee year celebration inaugurated (6 Apr.), reminiscent of Old Testament practice (see Leviticus 25)
-
Assembly Hall on Temple Square dedicated (8 Jan.)
-
John Taylor became 3rd President of the church, with George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as counselors (10 Oct.)
-
Pearl of Great Price accepted as a standard work of the Church (10 Oct.)
-
First permanent branch of the Church among the Maoris organized in New Zealand (26 Aug.)
-
Extensive prosecution of church members practicing polygamy continued under the Edmunds Law; President John Taylor and other Church leaders went into hiding
-
Church colonies in Mexico established
-
Hundreds of Church members imprisoned for the practice of polygamy
-
Logan Temple dedicated (17 May); second temple since the Church moved west
-
Church disincorporated and property confiscated due to prosecution under the Edmunds-Tucker Act
-
President John Taylor died while in “exile” (25 July)
-
Manti Temple dedicated (17, 21 May); third temple since the church moved west
-
Church settlements in Canada began
-
Wilford Woodruff became 4th President of the Church with George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as counselors (7 Apr.)
-
Missionary work began in Samoa
-
133,628
-
Wilford Woodruff (President of the Church, 7 Apr. 1889)
-
Lorenzo Snow
(President of the Church, 13 Sept. 1898
-
Joseph F. Smith
(President of the Church, 17 Oct. 1901
-
Heber J. Grant
-
George Albert Smith
-
David O. McKay
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
-
Harold B. Lee (28 Mar. 1899–26 Dec. 1973)
-
Spencer W. Kimball (28 Mar. 1895–5 Nov. 1985)
-
Ezra Taft Benson (4 Aug. 1899–30 May 1994)
-
“Manifesto” issued (24 Sept.); unanimously accepted by vote in general conference (6 Oct.; see Official Declaration 1)
-
First Presidency sent letter directing that a week-day religious education program be established in every ward where there was no Church school (25 Oct.)
-
Brigham Young Academy building dedicated in Provo, Utah (4 Jan.)
-
Proclamation of amnesty for polygamists issued by US President Benjamin Harrison (4 Jan.)
-
Church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Relief Society
-
Salt Lake Temple dedicated (6 Apr.); fourth temple since the Church moved west
-
Congressional resolution signed for return of Church’s personal property (25 Oct.); 3 years later (28 Mar. 1896) a memorial was passed providing for restoration of Church’s real estate
-
Genealogical Society of Utah organized (13 Nov.)
-
Utah state constitution ratified and statehood approved (5 Nov.)
-
Utah became a state (4 Jan.)
-
First stake outside the US created in Cardston, Alberta, Canada (9 June)
-
Fast day changed from Thursday to Sunday (5 Nov.)
-
President Wilford Woodruff died (2 Sept.); Lorenzo Snow became 5th President of the Church, with George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as counselors (13 Sept.)
-
Revelation emphasizing tithing received by President Snow (17 May)
-
First single, official, proselyting female missionaries set apart (spring)
-
Fiftieth anniversary of the Saints’ arrival in the Salt Lake Valley celebrated (24 July)
-
Improvement Era began publication (Nov.)
-
President Snow reaffirmed Church’s ban on plural marriage (8 Jan.)
-
Mission opened in Japan (12 Aug.)
-
President Lorenzo Snow died (10 Oct.); Joseph F. Smith became 6th President of the Church, with John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund as counselors (17 Oct.)
-
Children’s Friend first published (Jan.)
-
President Smith issued second manifesto (6 Apr.)
-
Brigham Young Academy became Brigham Young University (Oct.)
-
Church purchased Carthage Jail (5 Nov.)
-
Church membership: 188,263
-
283,765
-
Joseph F. Smith
-
Heber J. Grant
-
George Albert Smith (ordained Apostle 8 Oct. 1903)
-
David O. McKay (ordained Apostle 9 Apr. 1906)
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
(ordained Apostle 7 Apr. 1910)
-
Harold B. Lee
-
Spencer W. Kimball
-
Ezra Taft Benson
-
Howard W. Hunter (14 Nov. 1907–3 Mar. 1995)
-
Gordon B. Hinckley (23 June 1910)
-
Dr. William H. Groves Latter-day Saints Hospital, first in Church hospital system, opened in Salt Lake City (1 Jan.); Church turned its hospitals over to private organization in 1975
-
Joseph Smith Memorial Cottage and Monument, in Sharon, Vermont, site of the Prophet’s birth, dedicated (23 Dec.)
-
President Smith announced that the Church was free of debt (10 Jan.)
-
President Joseph F. Smith became the first Church President to visit Europe (summer)
-
Church purchased Smith farm near Palmyra, New York, including the Sacred Grove
-
Priesthood programs and other organizations systematized (8 Apr.)
-
Responding to debate of Darwinism and evolution, First Presidency issued official statement on origin of man (Nov.)
-
Church adopted Boy Scout program
-
Boy Scout program officially adopted as activity program for boys of the Church (21 May)
-
Seagull Monument on Temple Square dedicated (1 Oct.)
-
First seminary organized at Granite High School in Salt Lake City (Sept.)
-
Correlation Committee created (8 Nov.)
-
Ricks Academy, in Rexburg, Idaho, became Ricks College (fall)
-
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve issued Doctrinal exposition on the Father and the Son (30 June)
-
Relief Society Magazine began monthly publication (Jan.)
-
Elder James E. Talmage’s book Jesus the Christ published (Sept.)
-
First Presidency inaugurated “Home Evening” program (27 Apr.)
-
President Smith received vision of the redemption of the dead (3 Oct.; see D&C 138)
-
President Joseph F. Smith died (19 Nov.); Heber J. Grant became 7th President of the Church, with Anthon H. Lund and Charles W. Penrose as counselors (23 Nov.)
-
April general conference postponed to June 1–3 due to nationwide influenza epidemic
-
Church Administration Building completed in Salt Lake City (2 Oct.)
-
Laie Hawaii Temple, first out of contiguous US, dedicated (27 Nov.)
-
398,478
-
Heber J. Grant (President of the Church, 23 Nov. 1918)
-
George Albert Smith
-
David O. McKay
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
-
Harold B. Lee
-
Spencer W. Kimball
-
Ezra Taft Benson
-
Howard W. Hunter
-
Gordon B. Hinckley
-
Elder David O. McKay and Hugh J. Cannon leave on 55,896-mile world survey of Church missions (4 Dec.; returned 24 Dec. 1921)
-
Primary children’s Hospital opened in Salt Lake City (May)
-
President Heber J. Grant dedicated Deseret News radio station and, for the first time in the Church’s history, delivered a message over the airways (6 May)
-
Church purchased part of the Hill Cumorah
-
Cardston Alberta Temple dedicated in Canada (26 Aug.)
-
First radio broadcast of general conference (3 Oct.)
-
First mission in South America established (6 Dec.)
-
Mission home in Salt Lake City; first organized training for missionaries
-
First institute of religion began in Moscow, Idaho, at University of Idaho (fall)
-
Mesa Arizona Temple dedicated (23 Oct); dedicatory services broadcast by radio
-
Church purchased the rest of the Hill Cumorah
-
100th stake organized, in Lehi, Utah (1 July)
-
Tabernacle Choir began weekly network radio broadcasts (15 July)
-
Church observed the centennial of its organization (6 Apr.)
-
Church News first published by Church’s Deseret News(6 Apr.)
-
Church began a campaign against the use of tobacco (2 Apr.)
-
Special fast day called during the Great Depression to help the poor (15 May)
-
Church held a six-day commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of the Word of Wisdom revelation (21–26 Feb)
-
Junior Sunday School became official part of Sunday School organization
-
Church membership: 525,987
-
670,017
-
Heber J. Grant
-
George Albert Smith
-
(President of the Church, 21 May 1945)
-
David O. McKay
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
-
Harold B. Lee
-
(ordained Apostle 10 Apr. 1941)
-
Spencer W. Kimball
-
(ordained Apostle 7 Oct. 1943)
-
Ezra Taft Benson
-
(ordained Apostle 7 Oct. 1943)
-
Howard W. Hunter
-
Gordon B. Hinckley
-
Hill Cumorah Monument dedicated (21 July)
-
Church introduced its formal welfare program, the Church Security Program (Apr.); later renamed the Church Welfare Program (1938)
-
Hill Cumorah pageant, “America’s Witness for Christ,” began (July)
-
Church purchased portion of Nauvoo Temple lot (20 Feb.)
-
Church members counseled to store a year’s supply of food (Apr.)
-
Genealogical Society of Utah began microfilming records (Nov.)
-
First Deseret Industries store opened, in Salt Lake City (14 Aug.)
-
Church purchased Liberty Jail in Missouri (19 June)
-
First Presidency recalled all missionaries from Europe (Aug.–Nov.)
-
First Presidency recalled all missionaries from South Pacific and South Africa
-
First Presidency announced new positions of Assistants to the Twelve (6 Apr.)
-
Church members urged to restrict travel to comply with wartime restrictions
-
USS Joseph Smith, a Liberty class ship, was launched (22 May)
-
USS Brigham Young, a Liberty class ship (to carry cargo), was christened (17 Aug.)
-
Church announced purchase of Spring Hill in Missouri, (Adam-ondi-Ahman; Mar.)
-
Memorial Services held to commemorate 100th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum (June)
-
President Heber J. Grant died (14 May); George Albert Smith became 8th President of the Church, with J. Reuben Clark Jr. and David O. McKay as counselors (21 May)
-
For the first time since 1942, general church membership invited to attend general conference (5-7 Oct.)
-
Church began sending supplies to war-torn Europe (Jan.)
-
Church membership passed one million
-
Church celebrated 100th anniversary of Pioneers’ arrival in Salt Lake Valley (24 July)
-
The Welfare Program declared a program of the Church (5 Apr.)
-
The Tabernacle Choir performed its 1,000th nationally broadcast radio program (17 Oct)
-
Public telecast of general conference began (Oct.)
-
862,664
-
George Albert Smith
-
David O. McKay (President of the Church, 9 Apr. 1951)
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
-
Harold B. Lee
-
Spencer W. Kimball
-
Ezra Taft Benson
-
Howard W. Hunter
(ordained Apostle 15 Oct. 1959)
-
Gordon B. Hinckley
(ordained Apostle 5 Oct. 1961)
-
First early morning seminary started in Southern California (Sept.)
-
President George Albert Smith dedicated statue of Brigham Young at US Capital (1 June)
-
President George Albert Smith died (4 Apr.); David O. McKay became 9th President of the Church, with Stephen L. Richards and J. Reuben Clark Jr. as counselors (9 Apr.)
-
Missionaries began using the Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel, inaugurating use of a standard plan for missionary work throughout the Church
-
Elder Ezra Taft Benson chosen as Secretary of Agriculture by newly elected US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (31 Dec.); Elder Benson served for eight years
-
Church organized its United Church School System (9 July)
-
Church Building Committee organized (July)
-
Church announced inauguration of Indian Placement Program (July)
-
Bern Switzerland Temple (first in Europe) dedicated (11 Sept.)
-
Tabernacle Choir made major concert tour of Europe (Aug.–Sept.)
-
Church College of Hawaii (now BYU–Hawaii) opened (26 Sept.)
-
Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City dedicated (3 Oct.)
-
Semi-annual general conference cancelled because of flu epidemic (Oct.)
-
Hamilton New Zealand and London England Temples dedicated (20 Apr.; 7 Sept.)
-
First Presidency issued statement admonishing Church members to keep the Sabbath day holy and avoid shopping on Sundays (19 June)
-
Tabernacle Choir awarded a Grammy, a national music award, for its recording of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (29 Nov.)
-
President McKay issued statement “Every member a missionary” (6 Apr.)
-
First stake in England organized in Manchester (27 Mar.)
-
First non-English speaking stake created in The Hague in The Netherlands (12 Mar.)
-
Age young men eligible for full-time missions lowered from 20 to 19 (Mar.)
-
Language Training Institute for missionaries called to foreign countries established at BYU (Nov.); later became Language Training Mission (1963)
-
Church purchased shortwave radio station (10 Oct.); subsequently used to transmit Church broadcasts to Europe and South America
-
Polynesian Cultural Center dedicated in Hawaii (12 Oct.)
-
Home teaching program inaugurated (Jan.)
-
Church hosted pavilion at the New York World’s Fair (Apr.)
-
Church Membership: 1,111,314
-
1,693,180
-
David O. McKay
-
Joseph Fielding Smith
(President of the Church, 23 Jan. 1970)
-
Harold B. Lee
(President of the Church, 7 July 1972)
-
Spencer W. Kimball
(President of the Church, 30 Dec. 1973)
-
Ezra Taft Benson
-
Howard W. Hunter
-
Gordon B. Hinckley
-
Church first published a family home evening manual (Jan.)
-
Stopped in 1862, missionary work resumed in Italy (Feb.)
-
First stake in South America organized in Sao Paulo, Brazil (1 May)
-
Granite Mountain Records Vault dedicated (22 June)
-
Two additional counselors, Joseph Fielding Smith and Thorpe B. Isaacson, were called to the First Presidency (Oct.); Alvin R. Dyer called to be third additional counselor in April 1968
-
First Regional Representatives called (29 Sept.)
-
Missionary work began in Thailand (Feb.)
-
Some of the Egyptian papyri Joseph Smith owned were given to the Church by New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (Nov.)
-
Two-month language training instituted for full-time missionaries (Jan.)
-
Relief Society General President Belle S. Spafford named president of US National Council of Woman (17 Oct.); she served two years
-
First missionaries arrive in Spain (June)
-
President David O. McKay died (18 Jan.); Joseph Fielding Smith became 10th President of the Church, with Harold B. Lee and N. Eldon Tanner as counselors (23 Jan.)
-
First missionaries sent to Indonesia (Jan.)
-
Monday designated for family home evening Churchwide (Oct.)
-
Publication of new Church magazines began: Ensign, New Era, and Friend (Jan.)
-
Medical missionary program began (July)
-
First area conference held in Manchester, England, (27–29 Aug.)
-
President Joseph Fielding Smith died (2 July); Harold B. Lee became 11th President of the Church, with N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney as counselors (7 July)
-
President Harold B. Lee died (26 Dec.) Spencer W. Kimball became 12th President of the Church, with N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney as counselors (30 Dec.)
-
Creation of Welfare Services Department announced (7 Apr.)
-
Washington D.C. Temple dedicated (19 Nov.)
-
Teton Dam in Idaho burst, affecting thousands of Latter-day Saints (5 June)
-
The 28-story Church Office Building was dedicated (24 July; Church departments had begun moving in Nov. 1972)
-
Two revelations accepted for addition to Pearl of Great Price (3 Apr.); later moved to Doctrine and Covenants (6 June 1979; see D&C 137; 138)
-
Organization of First Quorum of the Seventy announced (1 Oct.)
-
Language Training Center constructed in Provo, Utah; later became Missionary Training Center and used to train all missionaries (26 Oct. 1978)
-
New format for general conferences announced (1 Jan.): first Sunday in each April and October and preceding Saturday
-
Sao Paolo Brazil Temple, first in South America, dedicated (30 Oct.)
-
LDS edition of King James Bible published (29 Sept.)
-
Revelation announced allowing worthy men of all races to receive priesthood (June; see Official Declaration 2)
-
1,000th stake organized at Nauvoo, Illinois (18 Feb.)
-
Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens on Mount of Olives in Jerusalem dedicated (24 Oct.)
-
2,930,810
-
Spencer W. Kimball
-
Ezra Taft Benson
(President of the Church, 10 Nov. 1985)
-
Howard W. Hunter
-
Gordon B. Hinckley
-
Church celebrated 150th anniversary (6 Apr.)
-
Consolidated, 3-hour Sunday meeting schedule began in US and Canada (2 Mar.)
-
Church membership reached five million (announced 1 Apr.)
-
Term of service for single elders on full-time missions reduced to 18 months (2 Apr.); later changed back to 24 months (26 Nov. 1984)
-
New version of triple combination published (Sept.)
-
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley called as third counselor in First Presidency (23 July)
-
Threefold mission of the Church proclaimed (4 Apr.)
-
Museum of Church History and Art in Salt Lake City dedicated (4 Apr.)
-
Area Presidencies appointed (24 June)
-
First regional conference held in London, England (16 Oct.)
-
Freiberg Germany Temple, in then communist-controlled German Democratic Republic, dedicated (29 June)
-
Church Genealogical Library in Salt Lake City dedicated (23 Oct.)
-
Revised LDS hymnbook published, first in 37 years (2 Aug.)
-
Seventies quorums in stakes discontinued (4 Oct.)
-
President Spencer W. Kimball died (5 Nov.); Ezra Taft Benson became 13th President of the Church, with Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson as counselors (10 Nov.)
-
1,500th stake organized, Ciudad Obregon Mexico Yaqui Stake, 150 years after first stake was organized in Kirtland, Ohio (28 Oct.)
-
Church’s Genealogical Department renamed Family History Department (15 Aug.)
-
Church members in Britain commemorated 150th anniversary of first missionary work in Great Britain (24–26 July)
-
Announcement that Church granted rights for missionary work in German Democratic Republic (12 Nov.)
-
Missionaries expelled from West African nation of Ghana (14 June); later allowed to return (30 Nov. 1990)
-
Second Quorum of the Seventy organized (Apr.)
-
First stake in West Africa organized, Aba Nigeria Stake (15 May)
-
Church released FamilySearch software package to simplify family history research (2 Apr.)
-
Milestone of 100 million endowments completed for the dead (Aug.)
-
Tallin Estonia Branch established; first in Soviet Union (28 Jan.)
-
Russian Republic, largest in Soviet Union, granted formal recognition to the Church (24 June)
-
100th anniversary of founding of the Church in Tonga observed (13–27 Aug.)
-
150th anniversary of founding of Relief Society celebrated (14 Mar.)
-
Encyclopedia of Mormonism published by Macmillian Published by Macmillian Publishing Co.
-
Literacy program sponsored by Relief Society announced (15 Dec.)
-
Refurbished, remodeled Hotel Utah renamed, rededicated the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (27 June)
-
TempleReady computer software announced (8 Nov.)
-
President Ezra Taft Benson died (30 May); Howard W. Hunter became 14th President of the Church, with Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson as counselors (5 June)
-
Church membership: 4,639,822
-
7,761,207
-
Howard W. Hunter (President of the Church, 5 June 1994)
-
Gordon B. Hinckley (President of the Church, 12 Mar. 1995)
-
President Howard W. Hunter died (3 Mar.); Gordon B. Hinckley became 15th President of the Church, with Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust as counselors (12 Mar.)
-
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve issued “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (23 Sept.)
-
Area Authority Seventies organized into three new quorums (5 Apr.)
-
Majority of members resided outside of US (28 Feb.)
-
Position of regional representative discontinued; new position of Area Authority Seventy announced (1 Apr.)
-
Construction of small temples announced (4 Oct.)
-
Church members throughout the world commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Mormon pioneers’ trek west
-
President Hinckley announced that there would be 100 operating temples by the end of 20th century (4 Apr.)
-
Church launched the FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service (24 May)
-
First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” (1 Jan.)
-
Membership passes 11 million (Sept.); more non-English-speaking members than English-speaking
-
Last general conference held in the Tabernacle (2–3 Oct.)
-
Perpetual Education Fund announced (31 Mar.)
-
First general conference held in new Conference Center (1–2 Apr.); Conference Center dedicated (8 Oct.)
-
Boston Massachusetts Temple, 100th operating temple, dedicated (1 Oct.)
-
The 100 millionth copy of Book of Mormon printed; Book of Mormon printed in its 100th language
-
Rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple dedicated on 158th anniversary of martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum (27 June)
-
11,068,861
US History
-
The Second “Great Awakening” (religious revival) (1800–30)
-
US capital moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C.
-
Thomas Jefferson, President 1801–09
-
Louisiana Purchase negotiated with France; size of US doubled
-
Ohio became 17th state
-
Robert Fulton invented the steamboat
-
Lewis and Clark expedition, overland to Pacific Coast and back, began from St. Louis, Missouri (1804–6)
-
Lewis and Clark first saw the Rocky Mountains
-
Congressional act prohibiting African slave trade took effect
-
The Missouri Gazette became first newspaper published west of the Mississippi River
-
James Madison, President 1809–17
-
Construction began on Cumberland Road, connecting Maryland with West Virginia
-
Louisiana became 18th state
-
The War of 1812 began (1812–15)
-
British forces burned Washington, D.C.
-
Francis Scott Key wrote “Star-Spangled Banner”
-
US population: 5,308,483
-
7,239,881
-
First charter granted for a railroad in US
-
The year without a summer; crops failed in New England as a result of volcanic eruption in Indonesia the previous year
-
Indiana became 19th state
-
Mississippi became 20th state
-
Construction of Erie Canal began
-
James Monroe, President 1817–25
-
Illinois became 21st state
-
Spain ceded East Florida to US
-
Alabama became 22nd state
-
Maine became 23rd state
-
Missouri became 24th state
-
Monroe Doctrine, warning European countries about interference with countries in western hemisphere, announced
-
Jim Bridger discovered the Great Salt Lake
-
John Quincy Adams, President 1825–29
-
Erie Canal, a 363-mile-long waterway from Albany to Buffalo, New York, completed
-
Jedediah Smith, trailblazer and trapper, was the first white man to travel overland from the Mississippi River to California; he led first group from the Great Salt Lake to southern California to assess trapping potential (to 1827)
-
Noah Webster published his first dictionary
-
Andrew Jackson, President 1829–37
-
First steam-powered locomotive in US; first passenger rail line
-
9,638,453
-
President Jackson signed Indian Removal Act, moving Indians from the East to the West, making land east of the Mississippi River available for settlement
-
Cyrus McCormick introduced mechanical grain harvester
-
US tried to purchase Texas from Mexico
-
Arkansas became 25th state
-
Battle of the Alamo
-
Martin Van Buren, President 1837–41
-
Michigan became 26th state
-
Financial and economic crisis
-
More than 15,000 Indians along Missouri River die of small pox
-
Cherokee Indians “Trail of Tears” forced move
-
Charles Goodyear discovered process of “vulcanization,” making commercial use of rubber possible
-
First baseball game played, in Cooperstown, New York
-
William Henry Harrison, President for 31 days; he died of pneumonia
-
John Tyler, President 1841–45
-
Crawford W. Long used ether for surgical anesthesia
-
First large group migrated west on Oregon Trail; left from Independence, Missouri
-
Samuel Morse sent first telegraph message
-
US population: 12,866,020
-
17,068,953
-
James K. Polk, President 1845–49
-
Iowa became 29th state
-
Florida and Texas became the 27th and 28th states
-
Great Britain gave Oregon Territory to US
-
John Deere constructed steel plow
-
Wisconsin became 30th state
-
Gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California
-
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended Mexican War; US gained most of present-day Southwest states
-
Zachary Taylor, President 1849–50 (died of cholera while in office)
-
Millard Fillmore, President 1850–53
-
California became 31st state
-
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin
-
Herman Melville published Moby Dick
-
Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter
-
Franklin Pierce, President 1853–57
-
First American kindergarten began in Waterton, Wisconsin
-
Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass
-
Henry David Thoreau published Walden, or Life in the Woods
-
James Buchanan, President 1857–61
-
Minnesota became 32nd state
-
Oregon became 33rd state
-
Gold discovered at Cherry Creek, now part of Colorado (near Denver)
-
First major discovery of silver in US, the Comstock Lode, in present-day Nevada
-
23,191,876
-
Pony express began mail service to West Coast
-
US population: 31,443,321
-
Abraham Lincoln, President 1861–65
-
Civil War began (to 1865)
-
Kansas became 34th state
-
Transcontinental telegraph lines completed at Salt Lake City juncture
-
President Lincoln signed Emancipation Proclamation
-
First coins minted with “In God We Trust”
-
West Virginia became 35th state
-
Nevada became 36th state
-
Andrew Johnson, President 1865–69
-
President Lincoln assassinated
-
Thirteenth Amendment ratified, abolishing slavery
-
Nevada became 36th state
-
Nebraska became 37th state
-
US purchased Alaska from Russia
-
Louisa May Alcott published Little Women
-
Ulysses S. Grant, President 1869–77
-
America’s first transcontinental railroad completed at Promontory, Utah
-
Chicago, Illinois, fire killed 300, left 90,000 homeless, destroyed 18,000 buildings, and did $200 million in property damage
-
Yellowstone National Park established
-
P.T. Barnum opened his circus, “The Greatest Show on Earth”
-
Pressure-cooking method for canning foods introduced
-
38,558,371
-
Battle of the Little Bighorn
-
Colorado became 38th state
-
Mark Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
-
Thomas Edison invented the phonograph
-
Rutherford B. Hayes, President 1877–81
-
Thomas Edison developed electric incandescent light bulb
-
Over 14,000 people killed during yellow fever epidemic in the South
-
James A. Garfield, President 1881
-
Chester A. Arthur, President 1881–85
-
Clara Barton organized American Red Cross
-
Edmunds Act, anti-polygamy legislation, signed into law
-
President James Garfield assassinated (he was shot 2 July and died 19 Sept.)
-
World’s first steel-framed “skyscraper” (10 stories high) completed in Chicago
-
Grover Cleveland, President 1885–89
-
Edmunds-Tucker Act, anti-polygamy legislation passed
-
The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, dedicated
-
Hannibal Goodwin invented celluloid film
-
George-Eastman produced coated photographic paper
-
George Eastman introduced the Kodak box camera
-
Benjamin Harrison, President 1889–93
-
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington became the 39th–42nd states
-
Dam broke near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 5,000 people
-
50,189,209
-
Idaho and Wyoming became 43rd and 44th states
-
Battle of Wounded Knee
-
Whitcomb Judson patented the zipper
-
Elllis Island opened as an immigration station
-
Grover Cleveland, President 1893–97
-
Stock market crash resulted in four-year economic depression
-
Utah became 45th state
-
“Separate but equal” facilities for whites and blacks ruled constitutional by Supreme Court
-
Klondike gold rush began
-
William McKinley, President 1897–1901
-
Spain and US declared war on each other over Cuba (Apr.–Dec.)
-
Scott Joplin’s composition “Maple Leaf Rag” sold over 1 million copies
-
Reginald Fessenden transmitted first speech by radio
-
Walter Reed discovered that yellow fever virus is carried by mosquitos
-
President William McKinley assassinated
-
Theodore Roosevelt, President 1901–9
-
Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan
-
Wright brothers flew a manned, motorized airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
-
US population: 62,979,766
-
76,212,168
-
San Francisco earthquake killed 700 people; $400 million in property loss
-
Oklahoma became 46th state
-
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) founded
-
Henry Ford introduced Model T automobile
-
William Howard Taft, President 1909–13
-
William D. Boyce organized Boy Scouts of America
-
W. E. B. DuBois founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
-
New Mexico and Arizona became 47th and 48th states
-
Woodrow Wilson, President 1913–21
-
Federal income tax introduced with ratification of Sixteenth Amendment
-
Robert H. Goddard began his rocketry experiments
-
First transcontinental telephone call, between New York and San Francisco
-
US entered World War I
-
Daylight-saving plan enacted to conserve fuel
-
Eighteenth Amendment ratified, prohibiting manufacture, sale, import, export, of alcoholic beverages (ended 1933)
-
Grand Canyon National Park established
-
92,228,496
-
Nineteenth Amendment ratified, granting right to vote regardless of gender
-
Warren G. Harding, President 1921–23
-
Calvin Coolidge, President 1923–29
-
President Warren G. Harding died
-
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue premiered
-
“Scopes-Monkey Trial” found John Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in public school
-
Charles Lindberg completed 33.5-hour solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris
-
The Jazz Singer, first talking motion picture, opened
-
Herbert Hoover, President 1929–33
-
New York stock market crashed, beginning severe economic depression (to 1941)
-
Congress confirmed “Star-Spangled Banner” as national anthem
-
Philo Farnsworth developed electronic television
-
Amelia Earhart became first woman to make solo airplane flight across Atlantic
-
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President 1933–45
-
Twenty-first Amendment ratified, ending Prohibition
-
US population: 106,021,537
-
123,202,624
-
Social Security Act signed, providing retirement pension funds and unemployment insurance; first payment was made in 1937
-
Olympic athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at Berlin games
-
Plastics first used in manufacturing
-
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opened
-
German dirigible Hindenburg exploded and burned while landing in New Jersey
-
Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds broadcast caused radio audience hysteria
-
Television demonstrated at New York World’s Fair
-
Composer Irving Berlin released “God Bless America”
-
Mt. Rushmore National Monument completed
-
Germany attacked US ships; Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; US entered World War II
-
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical play Oklahoma! first produced
-
Polio epidemic killed almost 1,200 and crippled thousands
-
President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized internment of Japanese-Americans
-
Harry S. Truman, President 1945–53
-
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died
-
US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan
-
Under “GI Bill of Rights,” over 1 million war veterans enrolled in colleges
-
Religious training in public schools ruled unconstitutional
-
The X-1 airplane, rocket-powered, made the first supersonic flight
-
Atomic Energy Commission created
-
Transistor invented at Bell Telephone Laboratories
-
132,164,569
-
Electricity produced using nuclear fuel
-
Color television first introduced
-
Lung cancer began to be linked to cigarette smoking
-
Dwight D. Eisenhower, President 1953–61
-
Jonas Stalk developed anti-polio vaccine
-
Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional
-
Interstate Highway system proposed
-
Rosa Parks, a black woman, arrested for refusing to sit at the back of a bus
-
Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California
-
Dr. Suess published The Cat in the Hat
-
US and Canada established North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established
-
Alaska and Hawaii became 49th and 50th states
-
John F. Kennedy, President 1961–63
-
Peace Corps established
-
Alan Shepard became the first American in space
-
Lyndon Baines Johnson, President 1963–69
-
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech
-
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated
-
John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth
-
British band “The Beatles” first visited the US
-
US population: 151,325,798
-
179,323,175
-
US entered Vietnam War
-
Tennessee’s “Monkey Law” repealed, allowing evolution to be taught in public schools
-
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
-
Richard M. Nixon, President 1969–74
-
Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon
-
Over 250,000 people gather in Washington, D.C. to protest US involvement in Vietnam
-
Twenty-sixth Amendment ratified, lowering voting age to eighteen
-
Two towers of World Trade Center in New York City, tallest buildings in the world, completed
-
Gerald R. Ford, President 1974–77
-
President Richard M. Nixon resigned as result of Watergate scandal
-
James Earl Carter Jr., President 1977–81
-
First space shuttle flight
-
Partial meltdown at Three-Mile Island nuclear plant released radioactivity into the air
-
U.S. bicentennial celebrated
-
Viking I and II space probes landed on Mars
-
Author Alex Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family
-
203,302,031
-
Mount St. Helens, in Washington, erupted, killing 57 people
-
Voyager 1 photos revealed other moons around Saturn
-
Ronal W. Reagan, President 1981–89
-
Equal Rights Amendment defeated
-
IBM introduced first home or personal computer (PC)
-
First permanent artificial heart implanted
-
Sally Ride became first US woman in space
-
Apple Computer introduced the computer “mouse”
-
Space shuttle Challenger exploded 74 seconds after liftoff
-
George H. W. Bush, President 1989–93
-
Supreme Court ruled that money given directly to missionaries is not tax deductible
-
Oil tanker Valdez hit Alaskan reef, causing one of world’s largest oil spills (11 million gallons)
-
William Jefferson Clinton, President 1993–2001
-
Floods affecting nine states in the Midwest left 70,000 homeless, $12 billion damage
-
Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed into law
-
Militants bombed World Trade Center, New York City, killing 6 people
-
US population: 226,542,199
-
248,718,301
-
Federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, bombed, 168 people killed
-
US troops in Bosnia (to 1996)
-
Tobacco companies agree to $206 billion settlement for health-related costs of smoking
-
Impeachment hearings for President William Clinton
-
Closest presidential election in US history; George W. Bush declared winner
-
George Walker Bush, President 2001–
-
After hijacking airplanes, terrorists crashed them into World Trade Center, New York City; the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; and in a field in Pennsylvania; over 3,000 people killed
-
Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah
-
281,421,906 (Apr. 2000 Census)
World History
-
Eli Whitney (US) made muskets with interchangeable parts
-
William Herschel (Brit.) discovered infrared solar rays
-
Napoleonic Wars began; they last 12 years
-
Richard Trevithick (Brit.) built first steam locomotive
-
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned emperor in Paris, France
-
Napoleon proclaimed himself King of Italy
-
Earthquake in Naples, Italy killed nearly 26 thousand people
-
British Parliament passed act outlawing slave trade
-
Ludwig van Beethoven (Ger.) debuted his 5th and 6th Symphonies
-
Argentina, Colombia, and Chile declared their independence from Spain; Mexicans began fight for their independence from Spain
-
Francois Appert (Fr.) developed method for canning foods
-
Napoleon began his invasion of Russia
-
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (Ger.) published their fairy tales
-
After various defeats, Napoleon was banished to the island of Elba
-
Estimated world population: 813 million
-
Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia, killing about 10,000; indirectly contributed to worldwide death toll over 80,000 and causing major climate changes
-
Congress of Vienna (1814–15) generated political and geographical realignments of Europe
-
Napoleon left Elba to recapture France; defeated at Waterloo
-
Argentina declared independence from Spain
-
Chile gained independence from Spain
-
Franz X. Gruber (Austria) composed the music for “Silent Night”
-
King George III of Great Britain died; his son George IV became king
-
Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena
-
Earthquake in Syria killed 20,000 people
-
Mexico became a republic
-
Simon Bolivar completed campaign for independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
-
First steam locomotive railway in England began operating
-
John Walker (Eng.) introduced sulfur friction matches
-
King George IV of Great Britian died; his brother William IV became king
-
Charles Darwin sailed on surveying expedition on H.M.S. Beagle (to 1836)
-
Louis Braille (Fr.) perfected his reading system for the blind
-
Slavery abolished in the British Empire
-
Halley’s Comet reappeared (76-year cycle)
-
Hans Christian Anderson (Dan.) published first of his children’s stories
-
After the death of her uncle, Victoria became Queen of Great Britain
-
Public announcement of Louis Daguerre’s (Fr.) form of photography
-
Kirkpatrick Macmillan (Scot.) constructed first bicycle
-
China ceded Hong Kong to Great Britain
-
Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol
-
Friedrich Gottlob Keller (Ger.) invented wood pulp paper
-
Elias Howe (US) patented first lockstitch sewing machine
-
Potato crop failure led to famine in Ireland
-
Communist Manifesto issued by Marx and Engles
-
Armand Fizeau (Fr.) determined speed of light
-
Isaac Singer (US) patented first continuous stitch sewing machine
-
R.W. Bunsen (Ger.) produced a gas burner
-
Telegraph began operating between London and Paris
-
Crimean War began (to 1856)
-
During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale (Eng.) redefined the field of nursing
-
Commodore Matthew Perry (US) sailed to Japan (isolated for 150 years) to negotiate trade agreements
-
First transatlantic telegraph cable between the US and Britain completed
-
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection
-
Estimated world population: 1.128 billion
-
Jean Etienne Lenoir (Fr.) demonstrated first practical internal combustion engine
-
All foreigners expelled from Japan
-
Victor Hugo (Fr.) published Les Miserables
-
Founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross
-
Louis Pasteur (Fr.) developed pasteurization
-
Lewis Carrol (Eng.) published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
-
Alfred Nobel (Swed.) invented dynamite
-
Britain granted four Canadian provinces dominion status
-
Gustave Dore (Fr.) created his illustrations for the Bible
-
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russ.) published Crime and Punishment
-
Johannes Brahms (Germ.) composed Ein Deutsches Requiem
-
Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, opened
-
Franco-Prussian War (to 1871)
-
Jules Verne (Fr.) published Around the World in 80 Days
-
Color photography developed
-
Count Leo Tolstoy (Russ.) published Anna Karenina
-
Alexander Graham Bell (US) patented the telephone
-
Korea became an independent nation
-
Robert Louis Stevenson (Scot.) published Treasure Island
-
Eruption of Krakatoa, volcano in Indonesia, killed almost 36,000 on nearby islands
-
Karl Benz (Ger.) built first practical automobile powered by internal combustion engine
-
Nikola Tesla (US) built first alternating current (AC) electric motor
-
Eiffel Tower opened during Paris World Exhibition
-
Earthquake in Japan killed nearly 10,000 people
-
Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s (Russ.) The Nutcracker ballet performed for the first time
-
Rudyard Kipling (Eng.) published The Jungle Book
-
First modern Olympic games held in Athens, Greece
-
Wilhelm Rontgen (Ger.) discovered x-rays
-
Guglielmo Marconi (Ital.) invented radio telegraphy
-
Jewish Zionist Congress convened in Switzerland
-
Pierre and Marie Curie (Fr.) discovered radium
-
Boer War in South Africa began (ended 1902)
-
Boxer Rebellion against foreigners in China began (ended 1901)
-
Bayer company (Ger.) patented asprin
-
First magnetic recording of sound
-
Queen Victoria of England died; succeeded by her son Edward VII
-
Mount Pelee erupted killing nearly 29,000 people
-
Aswan Dam in Egypt opened
-
First Tour de France (bicycle race) held
-
Trans-Siberian railroad completed (4,607 miles)
-
Mohandas Ghandi began non-violent resistance movement in South Africa
-
A typhoon in Tahiti killed over 10,000 people
-
Sir Robert Baden-Powell (Eng.) founded Boy Scouts
-
Robert E. Peary (US) became first person to reach North Pole
-
Sigmund Freud (Aust.) introduced his theories on psychoanalysis
-
King Edward VII of England died; succeeded by George V
-
Roald Amundsen (Nor.) became first person to reach South Pole
-
SS Titanic sank after hitting iceberg: 1,513 passengers and crew died
-
Panama Canal opened
-
Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary assassinated, triggering World War I
-
Albert Einstein (Ger.) published his General Theory of Relativity
-
Battle of Verdun results in over 1 million soldiers being killed
-
Balfour Declaration declared Palestine as homeland for the Jews
-
Czar Nicholas II and his family execut
-
ed; Russian revolution (to 1921)
-
Influenza epidemic (killed 20 million people by 1920)
-
Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I
-
Estimated world population: 1.75 billion
-
Earthquake in China killed over 180,000 people
-
The League of Nations was established
-
Mussolini established fascist dictatorship in Italy
-
King Tutankhamen’s tomb was opened in Egypt
-
Adolph Hitler published Mein Kampf
-
Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennet (US) made first airplane flight over North Pole
-
Economic system in Germany collapsed
-
Chiang Kai-shek overthrew Manchu dynasty; elected president of China
-
Josef Stalin began his Five-Year Plan in the Soviet Union
-
Alexander Fleming (Brit.) discovered penicillin
-
Max Theiler (S. Afr.) developed yellow fever vaccine
-
Mohandas “Mahatma” Ghandi began a “fast unto death” and urged a boycott of British goods to protest British goods to protest British government’s treatment of India’s lowest cast, the “untouchables”; helped bring reforms
-
Hitler gained titled of Fuhrer and control of Germany
-
First concentration camps erected by the Nazis in Germany; by 1945, 8–10 million prisoners were interned, at least half of them (most of them Jews) were killed
-
Estimate: 1,860 Million
-
Estimated world population: 2.07 billion
-
Robert Watson-Watt (Scot.) built radar equipment to detect aircraft
-
Spanish Civil War began (ended 1939)
-
King George V of England died and was succeeded by his son Edward VIII; Edward VIII later abdicated and was succeeded by his brother George VI
-
Frank Whittle (Brit.) built first jet engine
-
Lajos Biro (Hung.) invented ballpoint pen
-
Germany invaded Poland; World War II began (ended 1945)
-
German blitz on London began; nearly one-third of the city destroyed by end of year
-
C. S. Lewis (Eng.) published The Screwtape Letters
-
Famine in India killed at least 1.5 million people
-
Allies launched “D-Day” invasion of Europe
-
Selman Waksman (US) discovered streptomycin
-
World War II ended
-
United Nations held first session
-
Cold War began (to 1990); British Prime Minister Winston Churchhill coined term “Iron Curtain”
-
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered
-
To prove prehistoric immigration, Thor Hyerdahl (Nor.) took raft expedition from Peru to Polynesia
-
Israel declared an independent state
-
German Democratic Republic and Federal Republic of Germany created, splitting Germany into East and West Germany
-
World Council of Churches organized
-
Independent Republic of Ireland established
-
Estimated world population: 2.3 billion
-
Korean War began (ended 1953)
-
First thermo-nuclear bomb detonated, in the Marshall Islands
-
The Diary of Anne Frank published
-
King George VI of England died; succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth II
-
First hydrogen bomb detonated
-
Sir Edmund Hillary (N.Z.) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) first to reach peak of Mt. Everest, world’s tallest mountain
-
In South Africa, armed police move 60,000 blacks from an area to be used by whites only
-
Transatlantic cable telephone service began
-
Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite
-
Nikita Khrushchev became leader of USSR
-
Fidel Castro took control of Cuban government
-
Vietnam War (to 1973)
-
Bay of Pigs Invasion failed in Cuba
-
Yuri Gagarin (USSR) became the first man in space; he orbited the earth
-
East Germany built Berlin Wall
-
Cuban Missile Crisis
-
Telstar (US), first communications satellite, launched
-
Leonid Brezhnev became leader of USSR
-
Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) became the first woman in space
-
World population: 2.555 billion
-
3.04 billion
-
Six-day Israeli-Arab War
-
First human heart transplant performed in South Africa
-
First World Conference on Records was held (in Salt Lake City)
-
Aswan High Dam in Egypt completed
-
Cyclones and floods in East Pakistan killed 500,000 people
-
Earthquakes, floods, and landslides killed 30,000 people in Peru
-
Earthquake in Nicaragua killed over 10,000 people
-
Vietnam War ended, US troops pulled out
-
Oil-producing Arab nations ban export of oil to US, western Europe, and Japan (to 1974) because of their support of Israel, resulting in energy crisis
-
Author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn expelled from Soviet Union after publishing The Gulag Archipelago
-
Communists took over government of South Vietnam
-
Earthquakes in Italy, China, Philippines, Turkey, Bali, and Guatemala killed an estimated 780,000 people
-
US confirmed testing of neutron bomb
-
Mother Theresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
-
Margaret Thatcher became first woman prime minister of Britain
-
3.708 billion
-
Soviet cosmonauts returned to earth after 185 days on a space station
-
Most severe El Nino (1982–83) to date caused worldwide weather anomalies
-
Compact disk for pulic use launched
-
Toxic gas leak in Bhopal, India, killed over 2,000 people
-
AIDS virus identified
-
Mikhail Gorbachev became premier of Soviet Union
-
Nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine, exploded; 133,000 evacuated; clouds of fallout affected all of Europe
-
Earthquake in Armenia killed over 40,000 people
-
Tiananmen Square Massacre in China; 300–400 prodemocracy students killed
-
Berlin Wall dismantled
-
Soviet parliament voted to allow freedom of religious belief
-
USSR dissolved; became Russian Federation
-
Persian Gulf War
-
Cold War formally ended
-
Nelson Mandela became first black president of South Africa
-
Public Internet era began
-
Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) opened, linking England and France
-
World population: 4.454 billion Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) identified
-
5.276 billion
-
Earthquake in Kobe, Japan killed over 5,000 people
-
Control of Hong Kong returned to China
-
Panama takes over control of Panama Canal from US
-
Australians voted to retain British monarchy as head of state rather than elect president
-
6.79 billion
Nauvoo Temple, rebuilt