Explore 350 historical events from 1840–1849.
SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. The largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1853, she was designed by Isam…
SS Great Britain, the first ocean-going ship with both an iron hull and a screw propeller, was launched (pictured) in…
On 8 May 1842, a train crashed in the cutting between Meudon and Bellevue stations on the railway between Versailles and Paris, France. The train was travelling to Paris when it de…
A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. Before the extensive use of military vehicles, baggage trains followed an army with supplies and ammunition.
The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, wit
Maurice Rouvier was a French statesman of the "Opportunist" faction, who twice served as the Prime Minister of France. He is best known for his financial policies and his unpopular…
Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd Prime Minister of France (died 1911)
Carl Joseph Millöcker, was an Austrian composer of operettas and a conductor.
Carl Millöcker, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1899)
The Illustrated London News, founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was publish…
The first edition of The Illustrated London News, the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine, was published
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of …
John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert
Emil Christian Hansen was a Danish mycologist and fermentation physiologist.
Emil Christian Hansen, Danish physiologist and mycologist (died 1909)
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (188…
Jules Massenet, French composer (died 1912)
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of …
Arthur Sullivan, English composer (died 1900)
Sir John Cox Bray was a prominent South Australian politician and the first native-born Premier of South Australia (1881–1884).
John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (died 1894)
John Quincy Adams Brackett was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican and temperance advocate, he served one term as the 36th governor of Massachusetts,…
John Q
Hazard Stevens was an American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Union army during the American Civil War …
Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (died 1918)
Carl Paul Gottfried von Linde was a German scientist, engineer, and businessman. He discovered the refrigeration cycle and invented the first industrial-scale air separation and ga…
Carl von Linde, German engineer and academic (died 1934)
Hermann Cohen was a German Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosoph…
Hermann Cohen, German philosopher (died 1918)
William David Coleman was an Americo-Liberian politician. A True Whig Party member, he served as the 13th president of Liberia from 1896 to 1900. Born in Fayette County, Kentucky, …
William D. Coleman, 13th President of Liberia (died 1908)
Frederic Thomas Greenhalge was an American lawyer and politician in Massachusetts. He served in the United States House of Representatives and was the 38th governor of Massachusett…
Frederic T. Greenhalge, English-American lawyer and politician, 38th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1896)
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American author, journalist, and poet. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United …
Ambrose Bierce, American short story writer, essayist, and journalist (died 1914)
Alfred Marshall was an English economist and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book Principles of Economics (1890) was the dominant economic textbook in Engla…
Alfred Marshall, English economist and academic (died 1924)
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist and …
Jules Dumont d'Urville, French admiral and explorer (born 1790)
Walenty Wilhelm Wańkowicz was a Polish painter. He studied at the Jesuit College in Polotsk, the University of Wilno and the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He produced…
Walenty Wańkowicz, Belarusian-Polish painter (born 1799)
Dominique Jean, Baron Larrey was a French surgeon and soldier best known for his service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. An important innovator in battlefield medi…
Dominique Jean Larrey, French physician and surgeon (born 1766)
Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz and Lujo Brentano.
Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (born 1778)
On 8 May 1842, a train crashed in the cutting between Meudon and Bellevue stations on the railway between Versailles and Paris, France. The train was travelling to Paris when it de…
A train derailed and caught fire near Versailles, France, killing at least 52 people