Explore 785 historical events from 1850–1859.
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century. He held a high position at…
Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet and translator (born 1783)
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov was a Russian painter and draughtsman during the Romantic period, remembered among the greatest visual artists in the history of Russian art.
Karl Bryullov, Russian painter (born 1799)
Henry Clay was an American lawyer, statesman, and diplomat who represented Kentucky in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the seve…
Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (born 1777)
Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan was a 19th-century politician and lawyer who served briefly as United States Secretary of the Interior under President Millard Fillmore.
Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1794)
James Finlayson was a Scottish Quaker who, in effect, brought the Industrial Revolution to Tampere, Finland, founding in 1820 the Finlayson company.
James Finlayson, Scottish Quaker (born 1772)
William MacGillivray FRSE was a Scottish naturalist and ornithologist.
William MacGillivray, Scottish biologist and ornithologist (born 1796)
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was a British Army officer and statesman. A leading figure in early-19th-century British politics, Wellesley served as Prime…
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United…
Margaret Mackall Taylor was the first lady of the United States from 1849 to 1850 as the wife of President Zachary Taylor. She married Zachary in 1810 and lived as an army wife, ac…
Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (born 1788)
Johan Gadolin was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered a "new earth" containing the first rare-earth compound yttrium, which was later determined to be…
Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (born 1760)
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Goth…
Augustus Pugin, English architect and critic, designed Scarisbrick Hall (born 1812)
Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern was a German philologist in Livonia, the first director of the library of the Imperial University of Dorpat. He coined the term Bildungsroman.
Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern, German-Estonian philologist and academic (born 1770)
Francisco Javier Echeverría was a Mexican businessman and finance minister who served as interim president of Mexico for about two weeks in late September 1841, during the fall of …
Francisco Javier Echeverría, Mexican businessman and politician. President (1841) (born 1797)
Philander Chase was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, pioneer of the United States western frontier, especially in Ohio and Illinois, and founder of Kenyon College.
Philander Chase, American bishop and educator, founded Kenyon College (born 1775)
William Tierney Clark FRS FRAS was an English civil engineer particularly associated with the design and construction of bridges. He was among the earliest designers of suspension …
William Tierney Clark, English engineer, designed Hammersmith Bridge (born 1783)
Ferdinand Gotthold Max Eisenstein was a German mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory and analysis. Born in Berlin, Prussia, to Jewish parents who conver…
Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (born 1823)
John Chamberlain Clark was an American lawyer and politician who served four terms as a United States representative from New York from 1827 to 1829 and from 1837 to 1843.
John C. Clark, American lawyer and politician (born 1793)
James Whitcomb was a United States senator and the eighth governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican–American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's l…
James Whitcomb, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Indiana (born 1795)
Georg August Wallin, also known as Abd al-Wali, was a Finland Swede orientalist, explorer and professor at the University of Helsinki, remembered for his journeys across the Arabia…
Georg August Wallin, Finnish explorer, orientalist, and professor (born 1811)
Daniel Webster was an American lawyer, statesman, and diplomat who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th U.S. secretary o…
Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (born 1782)
A soprano (Italian pronunciation: [soˈpraːno]) is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific …
Swedish operatic soprano Jenny Lind concluded a successful concert tour of the United States under the management of sho
The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's…
The University of Sydney (pictured), Australia's oldest university, was inaugurated two years after being established…
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 …
Queen Victoria opens The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London
During the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered. Gold had been …
The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier
The practice of slavery in present-day Colombia dates back to the pre-Spanish era and persisted until its definitive abolition in 1851. This practice involved the human trafficking…
Slavery in Colombia is abolished