Events

January–March

January 21 Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. * 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded wh ...

–

José Mariano Salas José Mariano Salas Barbosa (11 May 1797 – 24 December 1867) was a Mexican soldier and politician who served twice as interim president of Mexico, once in 1846, during the Mexican American War, and once in 1859 during the War of Reform. He w ...

(1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim

President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

. *

January 24 Events Pre-1600 * 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula. * 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt. * 1438 – The Co ...

( O. S.) – Under the rule of

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

, the provinces of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

are united under the jurisdiction of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. It would be a principal step in forming the modern state of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. *

January 28 Events Pre-1600 *AD 98, 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. * 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accessi ...

– The city of Olympia is incorporated in the

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

of the United States of America. *

February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of " Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: ...

–

Miguel Miramón Miguel Gregorio de la Luz Atenógenes Miramón y Tarelo, known as Miguel Miramón, (29 September 1831 – 19 June 1867) was a Mexican Conservative Party (Mexico), conservative general who disputed the president of Mexico, Mexican presidency with ...

(1832–1867) becomes Conservative interim

. *

February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...

– German scholar

Constantin von Tischendorf Constantin is an Aromanian language, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian language, Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See ...

rediscovers the ''

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

'', a 4th-century

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

manuscript of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, in

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

on the foot of

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

, in the

Khedivate of Egypt The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which brought an end to the short- ...

and arranges for its presentation to his patron, Tsar

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. *

February 14 It is observed in most countries as Valentine's Day. Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution#Persian phase, Abbasid Revolution: The Kaysanites Shia#History, Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad ...

–

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

is admitted as the 33rd

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

. *

February 12 Events Pre-1600 * 1096 – Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular. * 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performed the first post- ...

– The

Mekteb-i Mülkiye The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...

School is founded in the

. *

February 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons ...

– French naval forces under

Charles Rigault de Genouilly Admiral Pierre-Louis-Charles Rigault de Genouilly (, 12 April 1807 – 4 May 1873) was a French naval officer. He fought with distinction in the Crimean War and the Second Opium War, but is chiefly remembered today for his command of French and S ...

capture the city and

Citadel of Saigon The Citadel of Saigon ( ) also known as the Citadel of Gia Định (; Chữ Hán: 嘉定城 ) was a late 18th-century fortress that stood in Saigon (also known in the 19th century as Gia Định, now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam from its constructi ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, beginning the

Siege of Saigon The siege of Saigon, a two-year siege of the city by the Vietnamese after its capture on 17 February 1859 by a Franco-Spanish flotilla under the command of the French admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly, was one of the major events of the ...

. *

February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantin ...

– United States Congressman

Daniel Sickles Daniel Edgar Sickles (October 20, 1819May 3, 1914) was an American politician, American Civil War , Civil War veteran, and diplomat. He served in the United States House of Representatives , U.S. House of Representatives both before and after t ...

shoots

Philip Barton Key (U.S. District Attorney) Philip Barton Key II (April 5, 1818 – February 27, 1859)Richardson, Hester Dorsey. ''Side-Lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families.'' Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins company, 1913. was an American lawyer who ser ...

for having an affair with his wife. *

March 3 Events Pre-1600 * 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan. * 1575 ...

– Construction begins on the first railway in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as tracks are laid between the modern-day locations of

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

and

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

. *

March 9 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, Posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the Annals of Quedlinburg, annals of the mo ...

– The army of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

mobilizes against Austria, beginning the crisis which will lead to the

Austro-Sardinian War The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

. *

March 21 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the '' Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas ...

–

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

issues the charter establishing the

Zoological Society of Philadelphia The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District (Philadelphia), Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth ...

, the first organization of its kind in the United States, and founder of the nation's first zoo. *

March 26 Events Pre-1600 * 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 624 – First Eid al-Fitr celebration. * 1021 – The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret ...

– French amateur astronomer

Edmond Modeste Lescarbault Edmond Modeste Lescarbault (1814, Châteaudun – 1894, Orgères-en-Beauce), was a French medical doctor and an amateur astronomer, best remembered for his 1859 supposed observation of the non-existent planet Vulcan. He graduated and obtained hi ...

claims to have noticed a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury (later named Vulcan).

April–June

April 13 Events Pre-1600 * 1111 – Henry V, King of Germany, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. * 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. * 1455 – Thirteen Years' War: ...

–

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

is founded by

Peter Cooper Peter Cooper (February 12, 1791April 4, 1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, philanthropist, and politician. He designed and built the first American steam locomotive, the ''Tom Thumb (locomotive), Tom Thumb'', founded the Cooper Union ...

, a New York industrialist, inventor and philanthropist. *

April 18 Events Pre-1600 * 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. * 1428 – Peace of Ferrara ...

–

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

revolutionary, Tantia Tope is hanged for the

1857 Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

April 25 Events Pre-1600 * 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against th ...

– Ground is broken for the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, in Egypt. *

April 28 Events Pre-1600 * 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V, effectively ending the Parthian Empire. * 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victor ...

– American ship '' Pomona'' is wrecked off the Irish coast, with 424 dead. *

April 29 Events Pre-1600 * 801 – An earthquake in the Central Apennines hits Rome and Spoleto, damaging the basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura. * 1091 – Battle of Levounion: The Pechenegs are defeated by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Kom ...

– Austrian troops begin to cross the

Ticino River The river Ticino ( , ; ; French and ; ) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four major rivers taking their source in t ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. *

April 30 Events Pre-1600 * 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends. * 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois. *1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus ...

– ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

is published in England. *

May 4 Events Pre-1600 * 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''. * 1415 – Religious reformer John Wycliffe is condemned a ...

– The

Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construct ...

opens across the

Royal Albert Bridge The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder app ...

, linking the counties of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in England. *

May 5 Events Pre-1600 * 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins. * 1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. * 1260 – ...

– Border Treaty between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

: The two countries agree their borders should be traced at the water divide, between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

basins. *

May 18 Events Pre-1600 * 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople. * 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47 ...

- The

1859 United Kingdom general election The 1859 United Kingdom general election was held from 28 April to 18 May 1859 following the defeat of Prime Minister the Earl of Derby's Conservative government in a vote of confidence. The newly formed Liberal Party, led by Viscount Palmerst ...

concludes. It is the first election fought by the new Liberal Party, in which they win a 28 seat majority, with Liberal leader

Viscount Palmerston Viscount Palmerston was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title is derived from Palmerstown in Ireland, which was also known as Palmerston. The name is the origin of several place names in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other former B ...

becoming Prime Minister *

May 20 Events Pre-1600 * 325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church. * 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed '' Augusta'' is able to choose h ...

–

: Battle of Montebello – The Austrian army led by

Karl von Urban Karl (Carl) Freiherr von Urban (English: ''Karl Baron of Urban;'' Hungarian: ''Báró Urban Károly''; French: ''Baron Carl d'Urban''; born 31 August 1802 in Kraków – died 1 January 1877 in Brno, Brünn) was an Austrian Lieutenant field marsha ...

faces the French-Sardinian combined forces. *

May 22 Events Pre-1600 * 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu. * 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. * 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt. ...

–

Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II (; ; ; 12 January 1810 – 22 May 1859) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death in 1859. Family Ferdinand was born in Palermo to King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain. ...

is succeeded by his 23-year-old son,

Francis II of the Two Sicilies Francis II ( Neapolitan and , ; christened ''Francesco d'Assisi Maria Leopoldo''; 16 January 1836 – 27 December 1894) was King of the Two Sicilies. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies as successive invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vict ...

. *

May 26 Events Pre-1600 * 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe. * 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire ta ...

–

Battle of Varese The Battle of Varese was fought on 26 May 1859 at Varese (Lombardy). It was an engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence, fought between the Italian volunteers formation of the Hunters of the Alps, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, against A ...

–

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

Hunters of the Alps The Hunters of the Alps () were a military corps created by Giuseppe Garibaldi in Cuneo on 20 February 1859 to help the regular Sardinian army to free the northern part of Italy in the Second Italian War of Independence. As their name suggest ...

confront and defeat Austrian forces, led by Field Marshal-Lieutenant Karl von Urban. *

June 2 Events Pre-1600 * 260 – Sima Zhao's regicide of Cao Mao: The figurehead Wei emperor Cao Mao personally leads an attempt to oust his regent, Sima Zhao; the attempted coup is crushed and the emperor killed. * 455 – Sack of Rome: ...

–

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Joseph Prestwich Sir Joseph Prestwich (12 March 1812 – 23 June 1896) was a British geologist and businessman, known as an expert on the Tertiary Period and for having confirmed the findings of Boucher de Perthes of ancient flint tools in the Somme valley ...

and amateur

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

John Evans report (to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

, respectively) the results of their investigations of gravel-pits in the Somme valley and elsewhere, extending

human history Human history or world history is the record of humankind from prehistory to the present. Early modern human, Modern humans evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago and initially lived as hunter-gatherers. They Early expansions of hominin ...

back to what will become known as the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

Era. *

May 30 Events Pre-1600 * 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within . * 1381 – ...

–

Battle of Palestro The Battle of Palestro was fought on 30–31 May 1859 between the Austrian Empire and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and Second French Empire, France. The Franco-Piedmontese forces were victorious. It was fought just sout ...

– The

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

ns defeat the Austrian army. *

May 31 Events Pre-1600 * 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. * 1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by th ...

– Big Ben, the Great Clock at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

, London, is started. *

June 4 Events Pre-1600 * 1411 – King Charles VI grants a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. *1525 – 1525 Bayham Abbey riot; Villagers from Kent and ...

–

Battle of Magenta The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, during the Second Italian War of Independence. It resulted in a French-Sardinian victory under ...

– The French and Sardinians defeat the Austrians. *

June 6 Events Pre-1600 * 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointe ...

– The British

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in Australia is created, by devolving part of the territory of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(

Queensland Day Queensland Day is officially celebrated on 6 June as the birthday of the Australian state of Queensland. History Moves towards statehood began with a public meeting in 1851 to consider separation of Queensland from the Colony of New South Wal ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

is declared the capital. *

June 8 Events Pre-1600 * 218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. * 452 – Attila leads a Hun army in the invasion of Italy, devastating the northern provinces ...

– The discovery of the

Comstock Lode The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the U ...

in the western Utah Territory sets off the Rush to Washoe. *

June 15 Events Pre-1600 * 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history. * 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II. * 923 – Battle of So ...

** Austro-Sardinian War:

Battle of Treponti The Battle of Treponti, also known as Battle of Castenedolo, took place on 15 June 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence. The encounter opposed the Austrians led by Field Marshal Karl von Urban and the Sardinians commanded by Giusep ...

– The Austrian Field Marshall

defeats

. ** The so-called Pig War border dispute between the Americans and the British, over the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

, begins by the death of the namesake pig. *

June 17 Events Pre-1600 * 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism. *1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burn ...

– The only recorded

simoom Simoom ( ''samūm''; from the root ''s-m-m'', "to poison") is a strong, hot, dry, dust-laden wind. The word is generally used to describe a local wind that blows in the Sahara, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and the deserts of Arabian Peninsula. Its t ...

ever in North America hits Goleta and

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. *

June 18 Events Pre-1600 * 618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China. * 656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. * 860 – Siege of Constantinople (860), Byzantine� ...

–

Aletschhorn The Aletschhorn () is a mountain in the Alps in Switzerland, lying within the Jungfrau-Aletsch region, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The mountain shares part of its name with the Aletsch Glacier lying at its foot. T ...

, the second summit of the

Bernese Alps The Bernese Alps are a mountain range of the Alps located in western Switzerland. Although the name suggests that they are located in the Berner Oberland region of the canton of Bern, portions of the Bernese Alps are in the adjacent cantons of Va ...

, is first ascended. *

June 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1312 BC – Mursili II launches a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa. * 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome. ...

– Austro-Sardinian War – Battle of Solferino: The

and the armies of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

of France defeat

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

in northern Italy; the battle inspires

Henri Dunant Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 182830 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, social activist, and co-founder of the Red Cross. His humanitarian efforts won him the first Nobel Peace Prize i ...

to found the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. *

June 30 Events Pre-1600 * 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy. * 763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus. * 1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Mil ...

–

Charles Blondin Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 182422 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. He toured the United States and was known for crossing the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope. During an event in Dublin i ...

crosses

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

on a

tightrope Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

for the first time.

July–September

July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and ...

– The first intercollegiate

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

game is played, between Amherst and Williams Colleges. *

July 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1099 – Some 15,000 starving Christian soldiers begin the siege of Jerusalem by marching in a religious procession around the city as its Muslim defenders watch. * 1167 – The Byzantines defeat the Hungarian army ...

–

Charles XV Charles XV or Carl (''Carl Ludvig Eugen''; Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian officially: ''Karl''; 3 May 1826 – 18 September 1872) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway, there often referred to as C ...

succeeds his father

Oscar I of Sweden Oscar I (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; 4 July 1799 – 8 July 1859) was King of Sweden and List of Norwegian monarchs, Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte. The only child of Ki ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

(as Charles IV). *

July 11 Events Pre-1600 * 813 – Byzantine emperor Michael I, under threat by conspiracies, abdicates in favor of his general Leo the Armenian, and becomes a monk (under the name Athanasius). * 911 – Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair ...

** The chimes of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

ring for the first time in London. **

– By the preliminary treaty signed at Villafranca, Italy,

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

is ceded to the French (who immediately cede it to Sardinia), while the Austrians keep Venetia, and the French promise to restore the Central Italian rulers expelled in the course of the war. This brings the Austro-Sardinian War effectively to a close. *

July 28 Events Pre-1600 *1364 – Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina. *1540 – Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. *1571 – La Laguna encomienda, known t ...

The

Bishop Cotton school (Shimla) Bishop Cotton School is a private boarding school for boys aged 7-18 years old in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is one of the oldest boarding schools for boys in Asia, having been founded on 28 July 1859 by Bishop George Edward Lynch Co ...

(BCS) was founded on July 28, 1859, *

July 30 Events Pre-1600 * 762 – Baghdad is founded. * 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. * 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay I ...

–

Grand Combin The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of the summit of ''Combin de Grafeneire'' is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Gran ...

, one of the highest summits in the Alps, is first ascended. *

July July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before the ...

** Count

Camillo Benso di Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (; 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as the Count of Cavour ( ; ) or simply Cavour, was an Italian politician, statesman, businessman, economist, and nobl ...

resigns, as president of Piedmont-Sardinia. ** Pike's Peak Gold Rush begins in the

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the 38th State of Colorado. The territory was organized ...

. *

August 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs. * 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the H ...

– The Tuscan National Assembly formally deposes the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

, ending an ascendancy of 109 years. *

August 27 Events Pre-1600 * 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. * 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. * 1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the ...

–

Edwin Drake Edwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819 – November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil. Early life Drake was born in Greenville, New York, on March 29, 18 ...

drills the first

oil well An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...

in the United States, near

Titusville, Pennsylvania Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,262 at the 2020 census. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for a number of years was the le ...

, starting the

Pennsylvania oil rush The oil rush in America started in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the Oil Creek Valley when Edwin L. Drake struck "rock oil" there in 1859. Titusville and other towns on the shores of Oil Creek expanded rapidly as oil wells and refineries shot ...

. *

August 28 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna. * 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...

–

September 2 Events Pre-1600 * 44 BC – Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. * 44 BC – Cicero launches the first of his '' Philippicae'' (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will make 14 of ...

– The

solar storm of 1859 The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking on 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally and caused sparking and even fires in telegr ...

, the largest geomagnetic solar storm on record, causes the Northern lights to be visible as far south as

Montería Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and the capital of the Departments of Colombia, Department of Córdoba Department, Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and r ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and knocks out

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

communication (this is also called the '' Carrington Event''). *

September 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia". *1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is the last attempt by the Byzantine E ...

– In

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Joshua Norton Joshua Abraham Norton (February 4, 1818 – January 8, 1880) was a resident of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 declared himself "Emperor of these United States" in a proclamation that he signed "Norton I., Emperor of the United States" ...

proclaims himself to be His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, ''Emperor of the United States'' and ''Protector of Mexico''. *

September September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent. In the Northern hemisphere, the b ...

– British merchant

Thomas Blake Glover Thomas Blake Glover (6 June 1838 – 16 December 1911) was an Anglo-Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji-period Japan. Early life (1838–1858) Thomas Blake Glover was born at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire in northeast Sc ...

begins business in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

, Japan.

October–December

October 16 Events Pre-1600 * 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire. * 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire. * ...

–

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

raids the

Harpers Ferry Armory The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory created by the United States government; the first was the Springfield Armory. It was located in Harpers Ferry, ...

Harper's Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in the lower Shenandoah Valley, where ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, in an unsuccessful bid to spark a general slave rebellion. *

October 18 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation. * 320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek phil ...

– Troops under Colonel

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

overpower

at the Federal arsenal. *

October 26 Events Pre-1600 * 1185 – The Uprising of Asen and Peter begins on the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki and ends with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. * 1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally ...

– The steamship ''

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

'' is wrecked on the coast of

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, Wales, with 454 dead. *

November 1 Events Pre-1600 * 365 – The Alemanni cross the Rhine and invade Gaul. Emperor Valentinian I moves to Paris to command the army and defend the Gallic cities. * 996 – Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk, Bishop of Freisin ...

– The current Cape Lookout,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

is lighted for the first time (its first-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

can be seen for 19 miles). *

November 10 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of ten months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. * 937 – Ten Kingdoms: Li Bian usurps the throne and deposes Emperor Y ...

– The

Treaty of Zürich The Treaty of Zurich was signed by the Austrian Empire, the French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia on 10 November 1859. The agreement was a reaffirmation of the terms of the preliminary peace of Villafranca, which brought the Austro-Sardinia ...

, reaffirming the terms of the

Treaty of Villafranca The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

, brings the

to an official close. *

November 15 Events Pre-1600 * 655 – Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia is defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. * 1315 – Growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushes the army of Leopold I in the Battle ...

– The first

Zappas Olympics The Zappas Olympics (), simply called Olympics (, ''Olympia'') at the time, were a series of athletic events held in Athens, Greece, in 1859, 1870 and 1875, sponsored by Greek businessman Evangelis Zappas. These games were one of the first revi ...

open in Greece. *

November 24 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Theodosius I makes his '' adventus'', or formal entry, into Constantinople. * 1190 – Conrad of Montferrat becomes King of Jerusalem upon his marriage to Isabella I of Jerusalem. * 1221 – Genghis Khan ...

** English naturalist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

publishes ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...

'', a book which argues for the gradual

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

through

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...

(it immediately sells out its initial print run). ** The French Navy's ''

La Gloire The French ironclad ''Gloire'' (, "Glory") was the first ocean-going ironclad, launched in 1859. She was developed after the Crimean War,The Battle of Sinop at the start of the war convinced the world's naval powers that wooden warships could n ...

'', the first ocean-going ironclad warship in history, is launched. * November –

Bernhard Riemann Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the f ...

publishes ''

On the Number of Primes Less Than a Given Magnitude " die Anzahl der Primzahlen unter einer gegebenen " (usual English translation: "On the Number of Primes Less Than a Given Magnitude") is a seminal 9-page paper by Bernhard Riemann published in the November 1859 edition of the ''Monatsberichte ...

''. In his paper there is an incidental comment that later becomes the

Riemann Hypothesis In mathematics, the Riemann hypothesis is the conjecture that the Riemann zeta function has its zeros only at the negative even integers and complex numbers with real part . Many consider it to be the most important unsolved problem in pure ...

, one of the most important unsolved problems in Mathematics. *

December 2 Events Pre-1600 * 1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon. *1409 – The University of Leipzig opens. 1601–1900 *1697 – St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren follow ...

– Militant

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

leader

is hanged for his

raid on

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 269 at the 2020 United States census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac River, Potomac and Shenandoah River, Shenandoah Rivers in the ...

. *

December 10 Events Pre-1600 *1317 – The Nyköping Banquet: King Birger of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers, dukes Valdemar and Erik, who are subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle. * 1508 – The Leag ...

– The Ateneo de Manila University is founded, as the ''Escuela Municipal de Manila''.

Date unknown

* District nursing begins in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, when philanthropist William Rathbone employs Mary Robinson to nurse the sick poor in their own homes. * The island of

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

is divided between Portugal and the Netherlands. * The Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros Land Grant is confirmed to Rafael Alvisa (part of modern-day

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

). * The

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

is founded. *

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

publishes ''

A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy ''A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy'' () is a book by Karl Marx, first published in 1859. The book is mainly a critique of political economy achieved by critiquing the writings of the leading theoretical exponents of capitalism ...

''. *

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

publishes ''

On Liberty ''On Liberty'' is an essay published in 1859 by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill. It applied Mill's ethical system of utilitarianism to society and state. Mill suggested standards for the relationship between authority and liberty. H ...

''. *

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

publishes ''

Adam Bede ''Adam Bede'' was the first novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel ...

''. *

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

publishes the first set of ''

Idylls of the King ''Idylls of the King'', published between 1859 and 1885, is a cycle of twelve narrative poems by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892; Poet Laureate from 1850) which retells the legend of King Arthur, his knights, his love f ...

''. * The

Society for Promoting the Employment of Women The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW) was one of the earliest British women's organisations. The society was established in 1859 by Jessie Boucherett, Barbara Bodichon, Adelaide Anne Proctor and Lydia Becker to promote the ...

is founded. * The Mary Institute is founded in Missouri. * ''

Tidskrift för hemmet The ''Home Review'' () was a Swedish women's magazine, published from 1859 to 1885. It was the first women's magazine in the Nordic countries and its inception is sometimes regarded as the foundation of Sweden's women's movement. It was sometimes ...

'', the first women's magazine in the Nordic countries, begins publication in Sweden. * Nillmij, a predecessor of

Aegon Aegon Ltd. (stylized as AEGON) is a Dutch public company for life insurance, pensions and asset management. It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and has 26,000 employees as of July 21, 2020. Aegon is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam a ...

, Dutch-based worldwide

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

company, is founded in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(modern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Births

January–March

January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...

–

Hugh Rodman Admiral Hugh Rodman KCB (6 January 1859 – 7 June 1940) was an officer in the United States Navy who served during the Spanish–American War and World War I, later serving as the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet from 1919 to 1921. B ...

, American admiral (d.

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

) *

January 8 Events Pre-1600 * 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Chi becomes emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty in succession to his brother, Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, despite a challenge from his other brother, Sima Ying. * 871 ...

–

Fanny Bullock Workman Fanny Bullock Workman (January 8, 1859 – January 22, 1925) was an American geographer, cartographer, explorer, travel writer, and mountaineer, notably in the Himalayas. She was one of the first female professional mountaineers; she not only e ...

, American geographer, writer and mountain climber (d.

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

) *

January 11 Events Pre-1600 * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. * 630 – Conquest of Mecca: Muhammad and his ...

–

George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

, British statesman,

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

(d.

) *

January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the ...

–

Wilhelm II of Germany Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

, last Emperor of Germany and

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

(d.

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

) *

January 29 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. * 946 – Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler ...

– Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, American-born Parisian socialite, model for the painting ''

Portrait of Madame X ''Madame X'' or ''Portrait of Madame X'' is an 1884 portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite, Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of the French banker Pierre Gautreau. ''Madame X'' was painted not as a commission, but at th ...

'' (d.

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

) *

February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), ...

** Henry Miller (actor), Henry Miller, English-born American stage actor, producer (d. 1926) ** Victor Herbert, Irish-born composer (''Babes In Toyland'') (d. 1924) * February 3 – Hugo Junkers, German industrialist, aircraft designer (d. 1935) * February 5 ** Louis Cheikho, Lebanese Jesuit Chaldean Catholics, Chaldean priest and venerable (d. 1927) ** Ernest Terah Hooley, English fraudster (d. 1947) * February 9 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, Japanese general (d. 1930) * February 10 – Alexandre Millerand, President of France (d. 1943) *

** Henry Valentine Knaggs, English physician, author (d. 1954) ** George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., American inventor of the Ferris wheel (d. 1896) * February 19 – Svante Arrhenius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927) * February 24 – George Edwin Patey, British admiral (d. 1935) * February 25 – Vasil Kutinchev, Bulgarian general (d.

) * February 26 – Louise DeKoven Bowen, American philanthropist, activist (d. 1953) * February 28 – Florian Cajori, Swiss historian of mathematics (d. 1930) * March 2 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian Yiddish novelist (d. 1916) * March 8 – Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932) *

– Alexandru Averescu, Romanian general and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1938) * March 12 – Abraham H. Cannon, American Mormon apostle (d. 1896) * March 13 – Alice Bellvadore Sams Turner, American physician (d.

) * – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1906 [O.S. 1905]) * March 25 – Hendrik Wortman, Dutch civil engineer (d. 1939) *

– A. E. Housman, English poet (d. 1936)

April–June

* April 3 – Reginald De Koven, American composer, music critic (d. 1920) * April 7 – Jacques Loeb, German–American physiologist, biologist (d. 1924) * April 8 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (d. 1938) * April 14 – Luigi Capello, Italian general (d.

) * April 17 – Willis Van Devanter, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d.

) * May 1 – Jacqueline Comerre-Paton, French artist (d. 1955) * May 15 – Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906) *

– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Scottish writer (d. 1930) * June 5 – Belle Archer, American actress (d. 1900) * June 9 – Doveton Sturdee, British admiral (d.

) * June 21 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American artist (d. 1937)

July–September

– DeLancey W. Gill, American artist (d.

) * July 6 ** Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (British Army officer, born 1859), Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, British general (d. 1939) ** Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d.

) * July 13 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, British co-founder of the London School of Economics (d. 1947) *

– Mary Anderson (actress, born 1859), Mary Anderson, American stage actress (d.

) * July 29 – Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz, Portuguese priest (d. 1948) * August 2 – Auguste Adib Pacha, 2-time prime minister of Lebanon (d. 1936) * August 4 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952) *

– Dora Knowlton Ranous, American actress, author and translator (d. 1916) * August 18 – Anna Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1935) * September 3 – Jean Jaurès, French socialist (d. 1914) * September 7 – Margaret Crosfield, British palaeontologist, geologist (d. 1952) * September 16 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese dictator (d. 1916) *

** William H. Bonney (Billy The Kid), American outlaw, gunfighter (d. 1881) ** I. L. Patterson, American politician, 18th Governor of Oregon (d. 1929) * September 18 – Lincoln Loy McCandless, Hawaiian politician, rancher (d.

) * September 19 – Marshall Pinckney Wilder, American actor, humorist, comedian and monologist (d.

) * September 21 – Francesc Macià, Catalan politician (d. 1933) * September 24 – Radko Dimitriev, Bulgarian and Russian general (d. 1918) * September 28 – Alfredo Baquerizo, 19th President of Ecuador (d. 1951)

October–December

* October 6 – Frank Seiberling, American inventor, co-founder of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (d. 1955) * October 9 – Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer, subject of the Dreyfus affair (d. 1935) * October 12 – Diana Abgar, Armenian diplomat (d. 1937) *

– Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d.

) * October 20 – John Dewey, American philosopher, psychologist and educator (d. 1952) *

– Gustav Globočnik Edler von Vojka, Austro-Hungarian nobleman and field marshal (d. 1946) * November 11 – Belle Gunness, born Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth, Norwegian-born serial killer (d. 1908?) * November 14 – Alexander Samsonov, Russian general (d. 1914) *

** Jean César Graziani, French general (d. 1932) ** Christopher Hornsrud, 11th prime minister of Norway (d. 1960) * November 19 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (d. 1935) *

– Cass Gilbert, American architect (Woolworth Building, United States Supreme Court building) (d. 1934) * November 27 – William Bliss Baker, American painter (d. 1886) * November 29 – Jesse Pomeroy, youngest convicted murderer in Massachusetts (d. 1932) *

– Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891) * December 5 – John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, British admiral (d. 1935) * December 15 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish creator of Esperanto (d. 1917) * December 17 – Paul César Helleu, French artist (d. 1927) * December 17 – Wilmer W. MacElree, American lawyer and author (d. 1960) * December 24 – Olive E. Dana, American author (d. 1904) * December 29 – Venustiano Carranza, 37th President of Mexico (d. 1920)

Date unknown

* Vittorio Alinari, Italian photographer (d. 1932) * Stanisław Roman Lewandowski, Polish sculptor (d.

) * Margaret Manton Merrill, English-American journalist and writer (d. 1893)

Deaths

January–June

* January 19 – George Schonswar, British politician (b. 1775) *

– Henry Hallam, English historian (b. 1777) *

– F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782) * February 13 – Eliza Acton, English poet, cookery writer (b. 1799) *

– Philip Barton Key II, Philip Barton Key, U.S. District Attorney (b. 1818) * April 8 – Joseph Thackwell, Sir Joseph Thackwell, British army general (b. 1781) * April 16 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian (b. 1805) * May 6 – Alexander von Humboldt, German naturalist and geographer (b. 1769) * May 13 – Bakht Khan, commander-in-chief of

n rebel forces in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (b. 1797) * June 11 – Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian diplomat (b. 1773) * June 13 – Angélique Brûlon, French soldier, first female Knight of the French Legion of Honour (b. 1772) * June 23 – Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859), Maria Pavlovna, Dowager Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (b. 1786)

July–December

** King

and Norway (b. 1799) ** Charlotte von Siebold, German gynecologist (b. 1788) * July 16 – Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart, British army general and colonial administrator (b. 1783) * July 17 – Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Queen consort of Portugal (b. 1837) *

– Richard Rush, United States Attorney General under James Madison, United States Secretary of the Treasury under President John Quincy Adams (b. 1780) * August 2 – Horace Mann, American educator, abolitionist (b. 1796) * August 4 – John Vianney, French saint known as the ''Curé de Ars'' (b. 1786) * August 15 – Nathaniel Claiborne, U.S. politician (b. 1777) *

** Leigh Hunt, British critic, essayist (b. 1784) ** Sultan Abd al-Rahman of Morocco (b. 1788) * September 15 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (b. 1806) * September 19 – George Bush (biblical scholar), American professor of Asian languages (b. 1796) * September 28 – Carl Ritter, German geographer (b. 1779) * October 4 – Karl Baedeker, German author, publisher (b. 1801) * October 12 – Robert Stephenson, English civil engineer (b. 1803) * October 22 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer (b. 1784) * November 28 – Washington Irving, American author (b. 1783) *

–

, American abolitionist (hanged) (b. 1800) * December 8 – Thomas de Quincey, English writer (b. 1785) * December 16 – Wilhelm Grimm, German philologist, folklorist (b. 1786)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1859 1859,