WEEKLY WHINE

2014 GoobNet Decade Championship: Seedings

We are pleased to announce the seeds for the first GoobNet Decade Championship, determining the best decade of the last 644 years.

Eligibility was open to the 64 most recent completed decades, which means that we have gone back to the 1370s. We then reviewed the major events, including technological and cultural events, that defined each decade. Considering whether each event was positive or negative, we used these to arrive at a score for each decade, which was then factored into the seeding.

As you can see, the regional semifinals are to be hosted by four of the most prominent units in the Système International: the metre, the kilogramme, the ampere, and the kelvin. We will post the results of the tournament next week here on GoobNet, so be sure to join us then. In the meantime, please hurry and fill in your bracket. The winning entry, if such a thing exists, will receive 1,073,741,824 GoobNet Silly Bucks, to be presented to you by some guy who was in a meeting with Warren Buffett that one time. And he totally said something that made Warren laugh.

1960S

Major events

• +: Apollo 11, 12 lunar landings
• +: Yuri Gagarin, first person in space on Vostok 1 mission
• –: Deaths of John F Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr
• –: War in Vietnam
• +: Independence of former colonies in Africa

Major technological events

• +: Apollo programme
• +: Release of birth control pill

Major cultural events

• +: Transition to colour television and films
• +: Woodstock
• +: Première of Doctor Who
• +: Popularisation of the bikini

Overall score: +7

Seed: Metre Regional, 1

1990S

Major events

• –: Genocide in Rwanda
• –: War and genocide in Yugoslavia
• +: End of apartheid in South Africa
• +: Oslo accords
• +: Northern Ireland truce

Major technological events

• +: First extrasolar planets discovered
• +: Launch of Hubble Space Telescope and installation of corrective optics
• +: Ubiquitisation of the Internet
• –: Founding of GoobNet

Major cultural events

• –: Deaths of Princess Diana, Selena, Matthew Shepard
• +: Development of computer generated imagery
• +: Premières of Family Guy, Futurama
• +: Founding of MLS

Overall score: +5

Seed: Ampere Regional, 1

1940S

Major events

• –: World War II
• –: Holocaust
• +: Postwar reconstruction, Marshall Plan
• +: Founding of United Nations

Major technological events

• +: Development of ENIAC, first electronic computer
• +: Development of radiocarbon dating
• –: Development of atomic bomb

Major cultural events

• +: Start of writing careers of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein
• +: Rise of film noir
• +: Breaking of colour barrier in professional baseball, Jackie Robinson

Overall score: +4

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 1

1820S

Major events

• –: Wars in Mexico, Greece
• –: John Quincy Adams elected US president by House of Representatives after electoral tie
• +: Independence of most of Latin America from Spain, Portugal

Major technological events

• +: Egyptian hieroglphys deciphered
• –: Patent issued for internal combustion engine, Samuel Morey

Major cultural events

• +: Première of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
• +: Invention of rugby football
• +: New Holland officially named Australia
• +: Invention of the Graham cracker
• +: Patent issued for accordion, Cyrill Demian

Overall score: +4

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 1

1780S

Major events

• +: Discovery of Uranus
• +: US Constitution takes effect
• –: Great Hurricane strikes Caribbean

Major technological events

• +: First hot air balloon flight, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier
• +: Great Meteor of 1783

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant

Overall score: +4

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 2

1830S

Major events

• –: Wars in Spain, Belgium, Poland, Texas, Afghanistan
• –: Trail of Tears march
• +: Amistad rebellion

Major technological events

• +: Second voyage of the HMS Beagle
• +: Distance to Alpha Centauri measured
• +: Patent issued for daguerrotype, Louis Daguerre

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen

Overall score: +3

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 2

1730S

Major events

• –: War fought over some dude’s ear
• +: Rise of Chinese Qing Dynasty

Major technological events

• +: Publication of Isaac Newton’s Method of Fluxions on differential calculus
• +: Occultation of Mercury by Venus observed at Greenwich

Major cultural events

• +: Opening of Teatro di San Carlo

Overall score: +3

Seed: Ampere Regional, 2

1920S

Major events

• –: Prohibition
• –: Irish Civil War
• +: First transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh

Major technological events

• +: Invention of the liquid fueled rocket

Major cultural events

• +: Introduction of the talking film
• +: Publication of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age novels

Overall score: +2

Seed: Metre Regional, 2

1860S

Major events

• –: US Civil War
• +: Thirteenth through Fifteenth Amendments to US Constitution
• –: Death of Abraham Lincoln
• –: New Zealand Wars

Major technological events

• +: Development of periodic table, Dmitri Mendeleev
• +: Publication of Maxwell’s equations on electricity and magnetism

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• +: Founding of Football Association

Overall score: +2

Seed: Metre Regional, 3

1850S

Major events

• –: Wars in Italy, China, Crimea
• +: Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species

Major technological events

• +: Neanderthal fossils discovered

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of A Tale of Two Cities

Overall score: +2

Seed: Ampere Regional, 3

1810S

Major events

• –: Wars in almost all of Europe, Latin America
• +: Congresses of Vienna, Aix-la-Chappelle, Carlsbad
• –: Mount Tambora eruption, Year Without a Summer

Major technological events

• +: Great Comet of 1811
• +: Invention of the stethoscope, René Laennec

Major cultural events

• +: Height of Lord Byron’s poetry career

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 3

1790S

Major events

• +: Founding of Washington, DC, USA
• +: Denmark outlaws slavery
• –: Death of Louis XVI, founding of Committee of Public Safety

Major technological events

• +: Smallpox vaccine first administered, Edward Jenner
• +: France adopts metric system

Major cultural events

• –: Première of hoax Shakespeare play Vortigern and Rowena

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 3

1720S

Major events

• +: First British prime minister, Robert Walpole
• –: Treaty of Constantinople
• –: Great Plague of Marseille
• –: Death of Kangxi Emperor

Major technological events

• +: Comet of 1729

Major cultural events

• +: Johann Sebastian Bach completes Brandenburg Concertos
• +: Publication of Treatise on Harmony, Jean-Philippe Rameau
• +: Publication of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 4

1670S

Major events

• –: Wars throughout Europe
• +: Discovery of microbes, Antonin van Leeuwenhoek

Major technological events

• +: Discovery of the Cassini division

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of Hudson’s Bay Company
• –: Death of Molière
• +: Popularisation of ice cream

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 4

1660S

Major events

• –: Wars throughout Europe
• +: Founding of Royal Society of London
• +: English Restoration
• –: London Great Plague, Great Fire

Major technological events

• +: Discovery of cells, Robert Hooke

Major cultural events

• +: Start of Samuel Pepys’s diary

Overall score: +2

Seed: Ampere Regional, 4

1600S

Major events

• –: Wars in Austria, Ireland
• –: Famine in Russia
• +: Foiling of Gunpowder Plot
• –: Settling of Jamestown

Major technological events

• +: Publication of Astronomia Nova, Johannes Kepler
• +: Kepler’s Supernova observed

Major cultural events

• +: Premières of Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth
• +: Introduction of professional sumo wrestling

Overall score: +2

Seed: Metre Regional, 4

1590S

Major events

• –: Wars in Russia, Indonesia, Hungary, Korea
• –: Plague in much of Europe
• +: Edict of Nantes grants equal rights to Huguenots in France

Major technological events

• +: Completion of Rialto Bridge in Venice

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of Trinity College, Dublin
• +: Premières of Richard III, Romeo and Juliet

Overall score: +2

Seed: Metre Regional, 5

1500S

Major events

• –: Famine in Spain
• –: First recorded smallpox epidemic in the Americas

Major technological events

• +: First working pocketwatch, Peter Heinlein

Major cultural events

• +: Michelangelo completes David
• +: Leonardo da Vinci completes Mona Lisa
• +: Introduction of italic text

Overall score: +2

Seed: Ampere Regional, 5

1480S

Major events

• –: Wars in Flanders, Scotland
• –: Death of Richard III, end of Wars of Roses in England

Major technological events

• +: Invention of the astrolabe
• +: Development of design for aerial screw, Leonardo da Vinci
• +: First known use of plus, minus signs

Major cultural events

• +: Creation of Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 5

1430S

Major events

• –: First African slaves delivered to Portugal
• +: Invention of mechanical printing, Johannes Gutenberg
• +: Founding of Incan empire
• –: Jean d’Arc burned at stake

Major technological events

• +: Publication of Zij-i-Sultani star catalogue, Ulugh Beg

Major cultural events

• +: Height of Jan van Eyck’s painting career

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 5

1420S

Major events

• –: Sieges of Orléans, Constantinople
• +: Completion of Forbidden City in Beijing
• +: Establishment of Aztec Triple Alliance

Major technological events

• +: Florence issues first patent

No major cultural events

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 6

1410S

Major events

• –: Wars in France, Poland, Spain

Major technological events

• +: Start of restoration of Grand Canal, China
• +: Construction of Prague Astronomical Clock

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of University of St Andrews, Scotland

Overall score: +2

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 6

1380S

Major events

• +: Last major islands of Polynesia settled
• +: Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal, still in effect today
• –: Wars in France, Persia, Italy

Major technological events

• +: Completion of Bastille, Paris

No major cultural events

Overall score: +2

Seed: Ampere Regional, 6

1980S

Major events

• +: Demolition of Berlin Wall
• –: Loss of Challenger Space Shuttle orbiter
• –: Chernobyl meltdown
• –: Bombing of Pan Am flight 103, crash of Japan Airlines flight 123

Major technological events

• +: Widespread use of personal computers
• +: Start of Space Shuttle programme

Major cultural events

• –: Deaths of John Lennon, Marvin Gaye
• +: Premières of The Cosby Show, Seinfeld
• +: Release of the Rubik’s cube

Overall score: +1

Seed: Metre Regional, 6

1950S

Major events

• +: Sputnik 1, first artificial satellite
• –: Wars in Korea, Vietnam, Egypt
• –: North Sea flood

Major technological events

• +: Structure of DNA discovered
• +: Development of polio vaccine

Major cultural events

• +: Rise of Elvis Presley, rock and roll
• –: Deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper

Overall score: +1

Seed: Metre Regional, 7

1910S

Major events

• –: World War I
• –: Genocide in Armenia
• –: Deaths of Franz Ferdinand, Nicholas II of Russia, George I of Greece
• +: US president Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Major technological events

• +: Completion of the Panama Canal
• +: Publication of general relativity, Albert Einstein
• –: Sinking of the Titanic

Major cultural events

• +: Amundsen reaches South Pole
• +: Invention of the crossword

Overall score: +1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 7

1890S

Major events

• –: Wars in Ethiopia, South Africa
• –: Greenwich Observatory bombing attempt

Major technological events

• +: Introduction of the Kinetoscope
• +: Discovery of X rays, Wilhelm Röntgen

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of HG Wells’s landmark science fiction novels The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 7

1840S

Major events

• –: Wars in France, Russia, Hungary, Mexico, China, Afghanistan, India, and pretty much everywhere else
• –: Irish famine
• +: Discovery of Neptune
• –: US president John Tyler vetoes bill reestablishing Second Bank of US

Major technological events

• +: First electrical telegraph transmitted, Samuel Morse
• +: Patent issued for vulcanisation process, Charles Goodyear
• –: Development of revolver, Samuel Colt

Major cultural events

• +: Heights of writing careers of Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe
• +: Publication of The Communist Manifesto

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 7

1770S

Major events

• +: United States declares independence
• –: Death of Capt James Cook

Major technological events

• +: Invention of marine chronometer and winning of Longitude Prize, John Harrison

No major cultural events

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 8

1760S

Major events

• +: Capt James Cook’s first expedition observes transit of Venus
• –: Spain establishes first missions in California
• –: Great Holocaust of the Sikhs

Major technological events

• +: Patent issued for steam engine improvements, James Watt

Major cultural events

• +: Mozart family grand tour of Europe

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 8

1740S

Major events

• –: War in Europe, North America, India
• +: Founding of First Saudi State
• +: Coordinated observations of transit of Mercury made

Major technological events

• +: Introduction of centigrade temperature scale, Anders Celsius

Major cultural events

• –: John Edwards delivers “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon

Overall score: +1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 8

1710S

Major events

• –: Death of Louis XIV

Major technological events

• +: British Parliament introduces Longitude Prize

Major cultural events

• +: Invention of the tuning fork, John Shore

Overall score: +1

Seed: Metre Regional, 8

1680S

Major events

• +: Publication of Principia Mathematica, Isaac Newton
• –: Edict of Fontainebleu
• –: Siamese Revolution
• +: English Bill of Rights

Major technological events

• +: Great Comet of 1680
• –: Death of last dodo

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of A Letter Concerning Tolerance, John Locke

Overall score: +1

Seed: Metre Regional, 9

1620S

Major events

• –: Wars in Germany, Moldavia
• –: Arrival of Pilgrims at Plymouth

Major technological events

• +: Invention of the slide rule, William Oughtred

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of the First Folio, William Shakespeare
• +: Introduction of the carousel

Overall score: +1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 9

1450S

Major events

• +: Construction of Machu Picchu
• –: Death of Constantine XI, end of Byzantine Empire
• –: Start of Wars of the Roses

Major technological events

• +: Invention of spectacles with concave lenses, Nicholas of Cusa

Major cultural events

• +: Ottoman Empire declares intent to protect Acropolis after occupation of Athens

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 9

1440S

Major events

• –: First European slave market opens in Portugal
• –: Split of Maya civilisation

Major technological events

• +: Construction of Zhihua Temple, Beijing

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of Laurentian Library, Florence
• +: Installation of Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle, Ireland

Overall score: +1

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 9

1970S

Major events

• –: Watergate scandal, resignation of US president Richard Nixon
• +: Camp David accords
• –: Bhola cyclone
• –: Munich massacre

Major technological events

• +: Apollo 14-17 lunar landings
• +: Development of the integrated circuit

Major cultural events

• –: Deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin
• +: Premières of Match Game, The Price Is Right, Soul Train

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 10

1900S

Major events

• +: First powered flight, Orville and Wilbur Wright
• –: San Francisco earthquake
• –: Messina earthquake
• –: Deaths of Umberto I of Italy, William McKinley, Carlos I of Portugal

Major technological events

• +: Publication of Albert Einstein’s landmark papers on special relativity, Brownian motion, photoelectric effect
• –: Invention of the polygraph

Major cultural events

• +: First Tour de France
• +: Invention of the hamburger

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 10

1700S

Major events

• –: War throughout Europe
• –: Revenge of the 47 Ronin

Major technological events

• +: Change to Gregorian calendar in most of Europe
• +: Iceland completes world’s first modern census

No major cultural events

Overall score: 0

Seed: Ampere Regional, 10

1630S

Major events

• –: Trial of Galileo
• –: Start of Sakoku period of closure of Japan
• –: Plague in Italy

Major technological events

• +: Publication of Discourse on the Method, René Descartes
• +: Fermat’s Last Theorem stated

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of Harvard University

Overall score: 0

Seed: Metre Regional, 10

1610S

Major events

• +: Discovery of Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto
• –: Start of Thirty Years War

Major technological events

• +: Discovery of Orion Nebula, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc
• +: Discovery of sunspots, multiple claimants

Major cultural events

• –: Globe Theatre fire
• –: Death of William Shakespeare

Overall score: 0

Seed: Metre Regional, 11

1560S

Major events

• –: Wars in Sweden, Chile, Malta
• –: Start of Eighty Years War

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of Rules of the Five Orders of Architecture, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola
• +: First tulip brought to Netherlands

Overall score: 0

Seed: Ampere Regional, 11

1510S

Major events

• –: Plague in England
• –: Death of Leonardo da Vinci

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Public unveiling of Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo
• +: Start of publication of Colloquies, Desiderius Erasmus

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 11

1400S

Major events

• –: Wars in Indonesia, Greece
• –: Flooding in Netherlands
• +: First voyage of Zheng He from China to southern and southeast Asia

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 11

1390S

Major events

• +: Construction of Templo Mayor in Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán
• –: Charles VI orders expulsion of Jews from France
• –: Wars in Lithuania, Sicily, Greece

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 12

1370S

Major events

• –: Wars in France, Russia, Serbia
• +: Ming Dynasty begins census in China
• –: Western Schism
• –: Death of Sa’im al Dahr, hanged for vandalising Sphinx

Major technological events

• +: Aachen begins minting coins with dates

Major cultural events

• +: Earliest known reference to playing cards

Overall score: 0

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 12

1930S

Major events

• –: Great Depression
• –: Rise of Hitler, German Nazi Party
• –: Start of World War II
• –: Spanish Civil War

Major technological events

• +: Development of radar
• +: Discovery of nuclear fission
• –: Disappearance of Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan

Major cultural events

• +: First Men’s World Cup
• +: Invention of the chocolate chip cookie

Overall score: –1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 12

1880S

Major events

• –: War in South America, Egypt
• –: Lynchings in southern US
• –: Berlin Conference
• –: Deaths of Alexander II of Russia, James A Garfield

Major technological events

• +: Michelson-Morley experiment proves invariability of speed of light
• +: Introduction of electric lighting, alternating current

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of the first Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle

Overall score: –1

Seed: Metre Regional, 12

1870S

Major events

• –: War in South Africa
• –: Great Chicago Fire

Major technological events

• +: Invention of the phonograph, Thomas Edison
• +: Formalisation of thermodynamic entropy, Ludwig Boltzmann

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of impressionism

Overall score: –1

Seed: Metre Regional, 13

1750S

Major events

• –: Peak of Little Ice Age
• –: Start of Seven Years War
• –: Start of Great Expulsion of Acadians

Major technological events

• –: Introduction of modern taxonomy, publication of Philosophia Botanica by Carolus Linnaeus
• +: Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electrical discharge
• +: Founding of British Museum

Major cultural events

• +: First chocolate factory opens, Germany

Overall score: –1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 13

1640S

Major events

• –: Wars in England, China, Spain, France
• –: Plague in Edinburgh
• –: Death of Galileo

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Publication of Principia Philosophiae, René Descartes
• +: Popularisation of wallpaper

Overall score: –1

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 13

1580S

Major events

• –: Wars on either side of the Atlantic involving the Spanish Armada
• –: Disappearance of Roanoke colony
• –: Deaths of William I of Orange, Mary Queen of Scots

Major technological events

• +: Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of Earth
• +: Development of the Gregorian calendar

No major cultural events

Overall score: –1

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 13

1570S

Major events

• –: Massacres of Novgorod, St Bartholemew’s Day
• –: Spanish conquest of Incan empire, death of Túpac Amaru
• –: Plague in Venice

Major technological events

• +: Development of imaginary numbers, Rafael Bombelli

Major cultural events

• +: Sevilla, Spain opens first public garden in Europe

Overall score: –1

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 14

1490S

Major events

• –: Columbus’s first landing in Americas, Treaty of Tordesillas
• –: Start of Italian Wars
• –: Alhambra Decree expels Jews from Spain

Major technological events

• +: Invention of oil lamp, Leonardo da Vinci
• +: Comet of 1491

No major cultural events

Overall score: –1

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 14

1470S

Major events

• –: Rapid expansion of slave trade
• –: Wars in France, Hungary, Moldavia, England
• –: Founding of Tribunal of Holy Office of Inquisition

Major technological events

• +: Invention of the parachute
• +: Introduction of first modern patent law, Venice

Major cultural events

• +: First recorded game of chess
• –: Amsterdam city council bans snowball fights

Overall score: –1

Seed: Ampere Regional, 14

1460S

Major events

• –: Wars in England, Morocco, Poland
• –: Miao rebellions destroyed by Ming Dynasty

Major technological events

• +: Rapid construction of bridges throughout China

No major cultural events

Overall score: –1

Seed: Metre Regional, 14

1690S

Major events

• –: War in Turkey
• –: French famine
• –: Salem witch trials

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• +: Founding of College of William and Mary
• +: Invention of clarinet
• –: Russian beard tax

Overall score: –2

Seed: Metre Regional, 15

1650S

Major events

• –: Wars in England, Netherlands, Sweden
• +: Completion of Taj Mahal
• –: Great Fire of Meireki

Major technological events

• –: Discovery of Titan, Christiaan Huygens

Major cultural events

• +: England’s first chocolate house opens
• –: Publication of Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes

Overall score: –2

Seed: Ampere Regional, 15

1540S

Major events

• +: Publication of heliocentric theory, Nicolaus Copernicus
• –: Wars in Hungary, France
• –: Famine in China

Major technological events

• –: Musket introduced to Japan

No major cultural events

Overall score: –2

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 15

1520S

Major events

• +: Rise to power of Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire
• –: Spanish conquest of Aztec empire
• –: Sack of Rome by League of Cognac
• –: Death of Ferdinand Magellan

Major technological events

• –: Introduction of breech loading cannon to China

Major cultural events

• +: Cocoa bean introduced to Spain

Overall score: –2

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 15

2000S

Major events

• –: TUE 11 SEP 2001
• –: Boxing Day tsunami
• –: Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
• –: Loss of Columbia Space Shuttle orbiter
• +: Founding of Yuri’s Night

Major technological events

• +: Ubiquitisation of wireless devices
• +: Construction of International Space Station

Major cultural events

• +: Return of Doctor Who
• –: Deaths of Michael Jackson, Aaliyah
• –: Homogenisation of mass media
• –: Degeneration of news organisations

Overall score: –3

Seed: Kilogramme Regional, 16

1800S

Major events

• –: Napoleonic Wars
• –: Union of Great Britain, Ireland

Major technological events

• –: Discovery of asteroids 1 Ceres, 2 Pallas, 3 Juno, 4 Vesta
• +: Development of the battery, Alessandro Volta

Major cultural events

• –: Berners Street Hoax

Overall score: –3

Seed: Kelvin Regional, 16

1550S

Major events

• –: Shaanxi earthquake
• –: Wars in India, China, Poland
• –: Nine day reign of Lady Jane Grey
• –: First Jewish ghetto established in Rome

Major technological events

• +: Publication of On the Nature of Minerals, Georgius Agricola

No major cultural events

Overall score: –3

Seed: Ampere Regional, 16

1530S

Major events

• –: Wars in Switzerland, Ethiopia, Hungary
• –: Start of Spanish conquest of Incan empire
• –: Deaths of Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour

No major technological events

Major cultural events

• –: Publication of The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
• –: Imprisonment of Thomas More

Overall score: –5

Seed: Metre Regional, 16