1400- Canterbury Tales by Chaucer

• First book of poetry written in English.
• First collection of short stories.
• Written in the vernacular, showed the poetic ability of English.

1436- Gutenberg's Printing Press

• Writing was able to be copied quickly for the first time.
• Allowed books to be printed and bought faster, cheaper, and more reliably.
• Increased the availability of books and the literacy rate.

1501- Harmonice Musices Odhecaton

• Book of songs published by Petrucci.
• The first sheet music to be produced with moveable type printing.
• Sheet music was now available on a mass scale.

1510- Missa de Beata Virgine by Josquin

• Most popular work by Josquin.
• Josquin was the best composer of the Renaissance.
• Influenced new forms of composition, especially polyphony.

1532- The Prince by Machiavelli

• One of the first works of modern political philosophy.
• Has influenced countless rulers.

1562- Council of Trent 22nd Session

• Reforms against secular music.
• Outlawed professional musicians, the use of the organ, and polyphonic singing.

1597- Dafne by Jacopo Peri

• First opera. Ever.
• An attempt to copy Greek music.

1599- Hamlet by Shakespeare

• One of the most quoted works, and often on lists of the world's greatest literature.
• Many works have been based off it.
• Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.

1605- Don Quixote by Cervantes

• One of the earliest novels ever produced, it is also the most influential work of Spanish literature.

1700- Piano invented by Cristofori

• Countless people play piano all over the world, and it is used in countless pieces of music.
• It allowed composers to write more expressive pieces.

1759- Haydn's Symphony No. 1

• The first work ever written in the form of a symphony.
• The form Haydn invented has been used hundreds of times by composers since then.

1759- Candide by Voltaire

• Considered one of the greatest achievements in Western literature.
• Created in response to a disastrous earthquake in Lisbon, Voltaire's rejection of optimism. 
• Inspired many works including and operetta by Leonard Bernstein.

1808- Faust by Goethe

• Considered to be the greatest work of German literature.
• Influenced many philosophers, including Nietzsche. 
• Many composers have based works on his books.

1848- The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels

• One of the world's most influential political works.
• Discusses class struggle and capitalism, many of the theories presented are still relevant.

1875- Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

• Set new standards for the role of music in ballet.
• Tchaikovsky is known as the first legitimate Russian composer, paving the way for modern composers like Stravinsky. 

1875- Middlemarch by George Eliot

• Milestone in realist literature.
• Demonstrates the importance of every human life.

1877- Edison's Phonograph

• FIrst device to play sound recordings.
• People could now hear recordings of sound.

1879- A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

• One of the first examples of modern drama.
• Controversial because it criticized the traditional roles of marriage.

1913- Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

• Russia's entry into 20th century music.
• Utilized modern composing techniques.
• Riot during its premiere. 

1921- Twelve-tone technique

• Invented by Arnold Schoenberg.
• Method of composition in which all 12 notes are played the same amount of times.
• Created a new way for composers to write music.

1925- Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

• This book helped Hitler ascend to power.
• He wrote it for followers of socialism, but it became mainstream.
• Mein Kampf was very popular during Hitler's reign, and it helped with Hitler's popularity with his people.

1942- The Stranger by Albert Camus

• Important as a work of existentialism.
• Existentialists believe that the individual is responsible for his or her own life and its meaning.

1963- Please Please Me by The Beatles

• Please Please Me was the first album by The Beatles.
• The Beatles introduced a new style of Rock and Roll.
• They were also the first 'band' to be successful, as opposed to a solo artist.

2001- Apple iPod

• Makes music far easier and more convenient to listen to.
• They have become incredibly popular, making CDs outdated.

2007- Amazon Kindle

• Fueled by the desire to make books available faster, cheaper, and with less space needed. 
• People are gradually moving away from paper books and toward electronic books.