On July 14, 1789, Parisians stormed the Bastille. Thus began a revolution that was to have significant consequences on the rest of Europe. The decade that followed was a time of great upheaval in the political arena and in broader society. According to historians William J. Duiker, et. al., the rise of nationalism in Europe can be directly traced back to the French Revolution. In the early part of the 20th century, the world's three largest multiethnic states, namely Imperial Russia, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, had dissolved and given way to several individual nation states. Paul R. Hanson believes that the French Revolution gave birth to democracy in Europe. Up until then, democracy was considered unworkable by several influential thinkers. However, democracy came to Europe and it was partly due to the French Revolution. The breakdown of democracy from 1917 onward in Europe can also be linked to the French Revolution. Several European countries became dictatorships in the 20th century, including Soviet Russia, Italy, Germany and Spain.
The BSA A10 is a classic motorcycle built by the Birmingham Small Arms Company, or BSA, in England, from 1949 to 1962. BSA was initially an arms supplier but its product line grew to include motorcycles, which were very popular in postwar Britain. The BSA A10 is loved by many devotees, who refer to it as the Golden Flash, on account of its distinctive gold livery. When polished with pride and turned out correctly, the machine literally glitters on account of its chrome and shiny engine cases. It rides like a genuine motorcycle should, delivering raw speed with handling that does not cater overmuch to the modern propensity for comfort. The maintenance sheets of the time, such as BSA Service Sheet No. 208, published in the late 1940s, are full of endearingly primitive advice on such matters as how to tighten the cylinder head bolts. These days, a precise torque setting would be specified in foot-pounds, whereas the BSA advice is that you should "make them all really tight." In these days of soulless and characterless design, the BSA A10 reminds us of an era of rugged grandeur.
The more you learn about Benjamin Franklin, the more impressed you are. It seems as if there was nothing he couldn't do. Not only was he a Founding Father and politician but also a scientist, inventor, postmaster, satirist and man of great personal virtue. Franklin typified many of the qualities that now represent America itself, such as industriousness, community spirit, opposition to authoritarianism, respect, tolerance and inclusiveness.