May 14, 1796★★★★★
Jenner's smallpox vaccination
Edward Jenner inoculates the boy James Phipps with cowpox material, pioneering vaccination against smallpox.
ScienceDisease· United Kingdom
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Events this year
Ongoing
c. 15th century – c. 1860s★★★★★
The transatlantic slave trade
From the 16th to the 19th century, an estimated 12.5 million enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas, with profound consequences for both continents.
Economy· Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Angola, Brazil, United States, Portugal, United Kingdom
1639 – 1853★★★★★
Japan's sakoku isolation policy
The shogunate expels the Portuguese and severely restricts foreign contact, allowing only Dutch and Chinese trade at Nagasaki.
PoliticsEconomy· Japan
August 22, 1791 – January 1, 1804★★★★★
Haitian Revolution begins
Enslaved people in the French colony of Saint-Domingue rise up, beginning the only successful slave revolution in history.
RevolutionWar· Haiti, France