Explore 158 historical events from 1840–1849.
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic Olympian Spring". His work includes both…
Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)
Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States. In 1879, Mahoney was the first African American to gradu…
Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)
Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy.
Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (died 1913)
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, gallicised and known in Western sources as Élie Metchnikoff, was a zoologist from the Russian Empire of Moldavian noble ancestry best known for his research …
Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (died 1916)
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditio…
Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England
Fatel Razack was the first ship to bring indentured labourers from India to Trinidad. The ship was built in Aprenade for a trader named Ibrahim Bin Yussef, an Indian Muslim mercha…
The Fatel Razack coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the
Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló was a Spanish writer and priest, regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a cultura…
Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (died 1902)
Amadeo I, also known as Amadeus, was an Italian prince who reigned as King of Spain from 1870 to 1873. The only king of Spain to come from the House of Savoy, he was the second son…
Amadeo I, Spanish king (died 1890)
János Batsányi was a Hungarian poet.
János Batsányi, Hungarian poet and academic (born 1763)
Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina was the Head of State of Costa Rica during two periods: the first between 1835 and 1837, and the de facto between 1838 and 1842.
Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (born 1800)
Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th…
Gabriel Fauré, French pianist, composer, and educator (died 1924)
Wisconsin is a state in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michiga…
A long-running feud between two towns in Wisconsin came to a head when a schooner crashed into a bridge; they later merg
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditio…
Captain John Franklin (pictured) departed Greenhithe, England, on an expedition to the Canadian Arctic in search of the
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established
The Báb was an Iranian religious leader who founded Bábism, and is also one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. The Báb gradually and progressively revealed his claim in hi…
Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of …
Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought" (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in th
The great auk, also known as the garefowl or penguin, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human e…
The last pair of great auks is killed
Anatole France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a m…
Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)
Elijah J. McCoy was a Canadian-American engineer of African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines. Born free on the Ontario shore of Lake Erie to pare…
Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (died 1929)
Lewis Thornton Powell was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gett…
Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a…
Richard D'Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (died 1901)
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier, a humorous description of his occupation as …
Henri Rousseau, French painter (died 1910)
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas…
Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, born ʻAbbás, was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921.…
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (died 1921)