United Kingdom

On 14 October 1066, William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, changing the English language, legal system, and culture forever.

In June 1215, English barons forced King John to seal the Magna Carta, establishing for the first time that the king was subject to the rule of law.

At its peak in 1920, the British Empire covered a quarter of the world's land surface and governed a quarter of its population, becoming the largest empire in history and reshaping every continent it touched.

Beginning in Britain around 1760, the Industrial Revolution replaced human and animal muscle with steam power and machinery, transforming not just production but the very shape of human society.