The History of the Twentieth Century

In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia, which she had been governing for 30 years. For the first time in Franz Josef's 60-year reign, Austria was gaining, rather than losing, territory. A cause for celebration, right?

We take a look at the convoluted ethnic makeup of Austria-Hungary as well as some of the principal Austrian cultural figures of the time.

The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary struggles to remain relevant in the quickly changing nineteenth century.

Wilbur and Orville Wright, working out of the limelight, succeed in developing the first heavier-than-air craft capable of carrying a human being on a controlled flight.

This 1870-ish American poem shows us something of the public attitude toward those who were working to build a flying machine during this period.

Surprisingly, small-scale flying machines have been around for centuries. It was not a question of theory, but an engineering problem: finding the right materials and designs to build a craft capable of carrying a human being through the air.

Despite the Liberals winning a landslide election in 1906, the political situation in the UK was turbulent. Liberal constituencies were jockeying for favor. The new Labour Party and the working classes were increasing in power. The women's suffrage movement was getting militant, even violent. And the Irish Question hung over everything.

Sergei Diaghilev's most enduring influence on twentieth century art was the Ballets Russes, a modern ballet company he created, starring the greatest male ballet dancer of the twentieth century and Diaghilev's lover, Vaslav Nijinsky.

In the early twentieth century, the Russian Sergei Diaghilev was the "bad boy" of the Russian art world. It's safe to say he was the most important figure in twentieth century art who was not himself an artist.

The United States intervenes militarily in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America. A great earthquake strikes San Francisco, triggering racial discrimination and an economic downturn. The Brownsville Affair. And Roosevelt takes "In God We Trust" off the $20 coin.