Turning Points in Modern History

This lecture series takes you on a far-reaching journey around the globe - from China to the Americas to New Zealand - to shed light on how two dozen of the top discoveries, inventions, political upheavals, and ideas since 1400 have shaped the modern world. In just 24 thought-provoking lectures, you'll get the amazing story of how life as we know it developed. Starting in the early 15th century and culminating in the age of social media, you'll encounter astounding threads that weave through the centuries, joining these turning points in ways that may come as a revelation. You'll also witness turning points with repercussions we can only speculate about because they are still very much in the process of turning. Professor Liulevicius doesn't merely recount the greatest events of history, but rather has selected true catalysts in provoking changes in worldview. Some of the events you'll investigate, including the discovery of the New World and the fall of the Berlin Wall, will immediately resonate as watershed moments. The global significance of other pivotal events may only become apparent through the detailed analysis contained in these lectures, such as the publication of the Enlightenment-era Encyclopédie and the Russo-Japanese War - which has been historically overshadowed by the two world wars that followed. As you discover how turning points such as the discovery of penicillin and the opening of East Berlin hinged on chance, accident, and, in some cases, sheer luck, you'll realize how easily history might have played out differently.

All Lectures:
1. 1433-The Great Voyages of Admiral Zheng He
2. 1453-The Fall of Constantinople
3. 1455-Gutenberg's Print Revolution
4. 1492-The Columbian Exchange
5. 1600-The British East India Company
6. 1648-The Treaty of Westphalia
7. 1676-Van Leeuwenhoek's Microscope
8. 1751-Diderot's Enlightenment Encyclopedia
9. 1787-The American Experiment
10. 1789-The French Revolution
11. 1838-The British Slavery Abolition Act
12. 1839-The Opium War in China
13. 1859-Darwin and the Origin of Species
14. 1869-Binding Continents
15. 1893-First Women Voters in New Zealand
16. 1896-The Invention of Motion Pictures
17. 1903-Kitty Hawk and Powered Flight
18. 1904-The Russo-Japanese War
19. 1928-The Discovery of Penicillin
20. 1942-The Dawn of the Atom
21. 1969-Walking on the Moon
22. 1972-China Enters the World Balance
23. 1989-The Fall of the Berlin Wall
24. 2004-The Rise of Social Media