19th Century Events

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1801        America's War With Tripoli Started The US fights pirates off the Barbary coast off and on for four years

1801        The United Kingdom Was Formed From the merger of the Kingdom of Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland

1803        The Louisiana Purchase Took Place In which a vast section of territory in the US west of the Mississippi was purchased from France's territorial claims

1804        Alexander Hamilton Died Hamilton was was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr. American statesmen and politicians

1804        The Austrian Empire Was Founded

1804        Lewis and Clark Expedition Started Exploration of what is now the northwest US

1804        The Republic of Haiti Was Formed As a result of a successful slave rebellion

1805        The Battle of Trafalgar Was Fought Lord Nelson defeats the French/Spanish fleet

1806        The Holy Roman Empire Dissolved As a consequence of the Treaty of Lunéville

1807        Beethoven's Fifth Symphony Was Written Probably the most popular piece of classical music in the world today

1810        The University of Berlin Was Founded Among its students and faculty are Hegel, Marx and Bismark

1812        Napoleon Invaded Russia Forced to retreat in winter, most of his 600,000 men are lost

1812        The War of 1812 Started Known also as the Anglo-American War, which is only slightly more imaginative.

1813        Giuseppe Verdi Was Born Oct 9 in Roncole, Italy

1815        The Battle of Waterloo Was Fought Napoleon is defeated by Wellington's army. Napoleon is forced into exile.

1819        Singapore Was Founded Established by the British East India Company

1820        Liberia Was Founded By the American Colonization Society for freed American slaves

1822        Brazil Gained Independence From Portugal

1823        The US Monroe Doctrine Was Written Warns European nations not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere

1824        Mexico Became a Republic

1825        The Argentina-Brazil War Began Ended in 1828. Resulted in the formation of Uruguay

1825        The Erie Canal Was Opened Connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean

1827        Ludwig Von Beethoven Died March 26

1830        The Belgian Revolution Occured The country of Belgium begins from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

1830        France Invaded Algeria

1830        The Republic of Gran Colombia Was Dissolved The countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador (and later, Panama) take its place

1833        The Carlist Wars in Spain Began

1833        The Slavery Abolition Act Was Adopted Bans slavery throughout the British Empire

1834        Charles Babbage Invented "analytical Engine" Precursor of the computer

1834        The Spanish Inquisition Officially Ended

1836        Charles Dickens Published The Pickwick Papers

1836        Texans Were Beseiged at the Alamo Entire garrison including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie is killed

1837        The Reign of Queen Victoria Began Her reign from 1837 to 1901 is referred to as the Victorian era

1838        Civil War in the United Provinces of Central America Began Ended 1840. Lead to the formation of Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua

1840        New Zealand Was Founded By the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi, between the British Crown and the Chiefs of the local tribes.

1840        Upper and Lower Canada Were United

1844        F. B. Morse Patented the Telegraph

1845        The Irish Potato Famine Began Leads to the Irish diaspora

1846        The Mexican-American War Began Leads to Mexico's cession of much of present day Southwestern US

1848        The Communist Manifesto Was Published Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

1848        Gold Was First Discovered in California Leads to thousands of people migrating to California in the following years, thus the term 49rs.

1849        Edgar Allan Poe Died American poet, author of "The Raven"

1851        Moby Dick Was Published Herman Melville

1851        The Taiping Rebellion Began China. Ended in 1864. The bloodiest conflict of the century claiming some 20 million lives

1851        The Victorian Gold Rush Began Australia

1854        The Battle of Balaclava Was Fought Oct. 25. During the Crimean War and famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade, subject of the famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1855        The Bessemer Process Was Invented Enabling steel to be mass produced

1855        Walt Whitman Published Leaves of Grass

1856        Gustave Flaubert Published Madame Bovary

1856        The World's First Oil Refinery Was Built In Romania

1858        The Great Stink of London Occured The smell of untreated sewage almost overwhelmed people in central London, England.

1859        Charles Darwin Published The Origin of the Species Was Published

1861        The American Civil War Began Between the Union and the seceding Confederate States

1861        French Intervention in Mexico Began Ended in 1867

1863        The Emancipation Proclamation Was Issued By President Abraham Lincoln of the US, freeing all slaves

1863        The International Red Cross Was Formed Followed by the adoption of the First Geneva Convention in 1864

1865        Abraham Lincoln Died Shot at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth

1865        The American Civil War Ended Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox

1865        Lewis Carroll Published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

1866        Austro-Prussian War Started

1866        The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable Was Laid

1867        The Canadian Confederation Was Formed

1867        The United States Purchased Alaska from Russia

1869        The First Transcontinental Railroad Was Completed in the United States

1869        The Suez Canal Opened Links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea

1870        The Franco-Prussian War Began Ended 1871

1871        The Great Chicago Fire Occured 250 die

1871        Stanley Discovered Livingstone Africa. "Dr Livingstone I presume."

1872        Jules Verne Published Around the World in 80 Days

1872        Yellowstone National Park Was Created In the United States. The first US National Park.

1875        The First Kentucky Derby Was Held Famous horse race

1876        Alexander Graham Bell Patented the Telephone

1877        Tchaikovsky Wrote Swan Lake

1878        The Congress of Berlin Was Held Results in extensive redivision of southeast Europe

1879        Anglo-Zulu War Started In South Africa

1879        Thomas A. Edison Invented a Practical Electric Light Edison didn't invent the light bulb. He refined existing designs to make the practical.

1881        The First Electrical Power Plant Was Built In Godalming, Britain.

1881        James Garfield Died Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau is convicted and executed (1882)

1882        The Tuberculosis Germ Was Discovered By Robert Koch in Berlin

1883        The Brooklyn Bridge Was Completed In New York City

1883        The Metropolitan Opera House Was Completed In New York City

1884        Sino-French War Begin Ended 1885. Lead to the formation of French Indochina

1886        Geronimo Surrendered

1886        The Statue of Liberty Was Dedicated In New York harbor

1887        Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Published A Study in Scarlet His first Sherlock Holmes story

1888        Slavery Was Banned in Brazil

1889        The Eiffel Tower Was Built For the Paris Exhibition

1890        Sitting Bull Died Lakota Sioux chief primarily known as the leader of the forces that defeated Gen. George Custer.

1890        Vincent Van Gogh Died Self inflicted gunshot, July 29

1890        The Wounded Knee Massacre Occured In South Dakota, marks the end of the American Indian Wars

1892        The Diesel Engine Was Patented

1893        New Zealand Allowed Women the Vote The first country in the world to give women the vote

1894        The Sino-Japanese War Began Ends in 1895 with China's defeat

1895        Auguste and Louis Lumière Showed Motion Pictures At a café in Paris

1895        Louis Pasteur Died From complications of a series of strokes, renowned inventor of pasteurization

1895        X-rays Discovered by German Physicist Wilhelm Roentgen

1896        The Modern Olympic Games Were Started The first modern Olympiad took place in Athens

1896        The Nobel Prizes Were Established Alfred Nobel's will established prizes for peace, science and literature

1896        The US Supreme Court Issued "Plessy V. Ferguson" Decision Establishes "separate but equal" doctrine

1898        The Boxer Rebellion Began China. Ended 1900.

1899        The Boer War Began Pits the British against the Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa

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