Explore 785 historical events from 1850–1859.
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have…
Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which encouraged h
Jacques Offenbach was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The …
French composer Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, featuring the music most associated with the…
The Spirits' Book is part of the Spiritist Codification, and is regarded as one of the five fundamental works on Spiritism. It was published by the French educator Hippolyte Léon D…
"The Spirits Book" by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France
The East India Company (EIC), more commonly known as the British East India Company (BEIC), was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and diss…
The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolt
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, including military …
Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British
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, including military …
Indian Rebellion of 1857: In India, the first war of Independence begins
Mindon Min, born Maung Lwin, was the penultimate king of Burma (Myanmar) from 1853 to 1878. He was one of the most popular and revered kings of Burma because of his role in the Fif…
Mindon Min was crowned as King of Burma in Mandalay, Burma
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherit…
Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal is published
Louis Léon César Faidherbe was a French general and colonial administrator. He created the Senegalese Tirailleurs when he was governor of Senegal.
Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj…
Lefort was an Imperatritsa Aleksandra–class ship of the line of the Imperial Russian Navy, rated at 84 guns but actually armed with 94 guns. Her keel was laid in 1833 at Saint Pete…
The Russian warship Lefort capsizes and sinks during a storm in the Gulf of Finland, killing all 826 aboard.
Sheffield Football Club is an English football club, currently based in Dronfield, Derbyshire. They compete in the United Counties League Premier Division North, at the ninth level…
Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club still in operation, is founded in England.
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and politician who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century f…
Clarence Darrow, American lawyer (died 1938)
The Revolution of the Ganhadores was a labor strike that involved African porters, known as ganhadores, in the Brazilian city of Salvador, Bahia. The strike began following the pas…
The Revolution of the Ganhadores begins in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the …
The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London
The siege of Arrah took place during the Indian Mutiny. It was the eight-day defence of a fortified outbuilding, occupied by a combination of 18 civilians and 50 members of the Ben…
Indian Rebellion: Sixty-eight men hold out for eight days against a force of 2,500 to 3,000 mutinying sepoys and 8,000…
The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of …
The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher wagon train. The massacre oc…
Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers slaughter most members of a peaceful emigrant wagon train.
Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs, but it is his 1892 opera Pagliacci that rem…
Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (died 1919)
Theodor Severin Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustration…
Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (died 1914)
Paul Eugen Bleuler was a Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist most notable for his influence on modern concepts of mental illness. He coined several psychiatric terms including schizo…
Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and eugenicist (died 1940)
Walter Simon was a German banker, councillor and philanthropist active in Königsberg and Tübingen.
Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (died 1920)
Theodorus van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer and a younger brother of Vincent van Gogh. His support of his older brother's artistic ambitions and well-being allowed Vincent to devote …
Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (died 1891)
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a series of attacks during the Utah War that resulted in the mass murder of at least 120 members of the Baker–Fancher wagon train. The massacre oc…
The Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers and Paiutes massacre 120 pioneers at Mountain Meadows, Utah.
SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a 280-foot (85 m) sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the East Coast of the United States during the 1850…
The SS Central America sinks about 160 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, drowning a total of 426 passengers…