1906: The Abbey Theatre forms in Dublin as part of a push by notable literary figures such as W. B. Yeats to influence a cultural renaissance in Ireland.

Today: Irish theater and Irish playwrights, including Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) achieve critical acclaim and popular success all over the world.

1906: Irish nationalist group, Sinn Fein (Gaelic for "We Ourselves") forms with the goal to achieve Irish independence from England, which rules all of Ireland.

Today: Although the majority of Ireland became a sovereign nation in 1948, Northern Ireland, which consists of six counties, is still under English rule. English troops occupy Northern Ireland, and the IRA (Irish Republican Army) continues its terrorist attacks.

1899: W. B. Yeats publishes The Wind Among the Reeds, a poetry collection that incorporates ancient Irish-Gaelic myths and cultural traditions into its subject matter.

Today: Irish poet Seamus Heaney, who mines Ireland's cultural...