The railway opens
Humans travel faster than a horse for the first time
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The railway compressed time and space faster than any previous technology. It forced the standardisation of time — before railways every town kept its own clock — and made national markets and mass newspapers possible. Militarily it transformed war, from Prussian mobilisation in 1870 to the trenches of 1914. It also tied continental interiors to the world market: wheat from the Midwest, tea from India, copper from Chile. Cities grew along the lines, and the suburb was invented.
For children
The Stockton and Darlington line became the first railway with a steam locomotive carrying passengers. Suddenly people could travel faster than a horse can run — and keep it up for hours. Within fifty years Europe and America were covered in rails.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org