var timeline_data = {  // save as a global variable
'dateTimeFormat': '',
/*'wikiURL': "http://simile.mit.edu/shelf/",
'wikiSection': "Simile Cubism Timeline",*/

'events' : [
        {'start': '1620',
        'title': '1620: First European explorers visit Michigan',
        'description': 'The first European explorer visits Michigan, Frenchman Etienne Brule',
        'image': '../images/timeline/1.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
        {'start': '1668',
        'title': '1668: Colonizing Michigan begins',
        'description': 'The first permanent European settlement is founded in Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie by Jacques Marquette, a French missionary.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/2.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		
		        {'start': '1790',
        'title': '1790: Agents for Jacob Astor begin collecting furs from Michigan',
        'description': 'From 1790 to 1808, his agents collected furs from throughout the Great Lakes region.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/24.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		
        {'start': '1817',
        'title': '1817: University of Michigan is founded',
        'description': 'Michigan’s oldest University, the University of Michigan, is founded in Detroit (it would later be moved to Ann Arbor)',
        'image': '../images/timeline/4.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
        {'start': '1825',
        'title': '1825: Erie Canal ushers population growth',
        'description': 'Erie Canal opens and the population of Michigan territory grows rapidly as the new canal connects the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, speeding up the transportation between the eastern states and the less-inhabited western territories.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/5.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },

        {'start': '1630',
        'end': '1903',
        'title': 'Michigan 1.0 The Era of Natural Resources',
        'description': '',
        'image': '../images/timeline/7.jpg',
        'link': '',
        'isDuration' : true,
        'icon' : "dull-blue-circle.png",        
        'color' : '#0000FF',
        'textColor' : 'blue'},
		
        {'start': '1837',
        'title': '1837: Michigan joins the Union',
        'description': 'Michigan becomes the 26th state of the Union.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/3.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		      
		{'start': '1840',
        'title': '1840: Mining in Michigan booms',
        'description': 'Copper and iron ores are discovered in the Upper Peninsula, thousands of people flood into the UP looking for work.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/6.jpg',
        'link': ''},
		
  		{'start': '1870',
        'title': '1870: Lumber industry grows',
        'description': 'Michigan lumber industry flourishes and Michigan becomes the largest producer of wood in the country.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/7.jpg',
        'link': ''},
		
  		{'start': '1880',
        'title': '1870-1890: Michigan population doubles',
        'description': 'Michigan population doubles.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/8.jpg',
        'link': ''},
				
        {'start': '1899',
        'title': '1899: The birth of the automotive industry in Michigan',
        'description': 'The Olds Motor Vehicle Company opens a factory in Detroit.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/9.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		{'start': '1903',
        'title': '1903: Henry Ford introduces mass automation',
        'description': 'Ford Motor Company opens a factory in Detroit, starts mass production of the Ford Model T.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/10.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		{'start': '1908',
        'title': '1908: General Motors is founded in Flint',
        'description': 'General Motors is founded in Flint.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/11.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		      		
		{'start': '1917',
        'title': '1917: Rouge River complex becomes largest in the world',
        'description': 'Construction begins on Ford River Rouge Complex. When the factory opens in 1928 it is the largest integrated factory in the world.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/12.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		      
  		{'start': '1915',
        'title': '1900-1929: Michigan jobs boom',
        'description': 'Michigan’s expansion of industry attracts hundreds of thousands of migrants from the rest of the United States and from all over the world.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/13.jpg',
        'link': ''},
	
		{'start': '1929',
        'title': '1929: The Great Depression hits',
        'description': 'Michigan is hit particularly hard.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/14.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		  
		{'start': '1935',
        'title': '1935: Organized labor forms around automotive industry',
        'description': 'United Auto Workers Union is formed to represent automotive industry employees.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/15.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		{'start': '1941',
        'title': '1941: World War II ends economic contraction in Michigan',
        'description': 'America’s entry into World War II ends the economic contraction in Michigan brought on by the Great Depression. Michigan factories build weapons and military vehicles. ',
        'image': '../images/timeline/16.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		{'start': '1959',
        'title': '1941-1970: Michigan industry experiences steady growth',
        'description': 'Generally good years for Michigan industry.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/17.jpg',
        'link': ''},
		  	
		{'start': '1973',
        'title': '1973: Oil crisis hits, economic depression ensues',
        'description': 'The Oil Crisis happens, which causes an economic recession in the United States, which hits Michigan particularly hard.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/18.jpg',
        'link': ''
        },

		{'start': '1975',
        'title': '1970s: Michigan achieves highest unemployment rate in the nation',
        'description': 'Michigan automobile companies face increases multinational competition. Unemployment rates skyrocket in Michigan. Throughout the 1970s Michigan posses the highest unemployment rate of any state.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/19.jpg',
        'link': ''},
		
		{'start': '1985',
        'title': '1980s: Michigan industry under pressure',
        'description': 'The auto industry bounces back, but Michigan’s industrial base is still under great pressure from other countries.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/20.jpg',
        'link': ''},
		
		{'start': '1903',
        'end': '2009',
        'title': 'Michigan 2.0 The Era of Industrial Automation',
        'description': '',
        'image': '../images/timeline/21.jpg',
        'link': '',
        'isDuration' : true,
        'icon' : "dull-blue-circle.png",        
        'color' : 'red',
        'textColor' : '#660000'},
		
		{'start': '2011',
        'title': '2011: Rick Snyder is elected Governor of Michigan',
        'description': 'Rick signals the end to politics-as-usual, economic hardship, and poor investment in our future. He ushers in a new Era of Innovation.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/22.gif',
        'link': ''
        },
		
		{'start': '2011',
        'end': '2050',
        'title': 'Michigan 3.0 The Era of Innovation',
        'description': 'Rick Snyders leadership ushers in an Era of Innovation to Michigan. An era in which innovation creates a neew breed of knowledge workers, decreased unemployment, more accountability in Lansing and a brighter future for all Michiganders.',
        'image': '../images/timeline/23.jpg',
        'link': '',
        'isDuration' : true,
        'icon' : "dull-blue-circle.png",        
        'color' : 'green',
        'textColor' : 'green'}
]
}