Reading as Victorians Timeline

These are timeline events that occured around the time our Victorian literary texts were being read and discussed.  

Timeline

Chronological table

Displaying 1 - 45 of 45
Date Event Created by Associated Places
1851

Crystal Palace opens

In 1851, the Crystal Palace opens, housing the Great Exhibition of 1851. This monumental glass and iron structure was simultaneously a building, an event, and a phenomenon:  a department store, a world's fair, an anthropological museum, and a trade exhibition.

Articles

Jules Law, “The Victorian Stereoscope”

Related Articles

Anne Helmreich, "On the Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854"

David Rettenmaier
16 Oct 1811

National Society for the Education of Poor Children founded

On 16 October 1811, the National Society for the Education of Poor Children in the Principles of the Established Church (the Church of England) was founded to establish “National Schools.” According to their founders, poor children were to be taught to avoid vice and behave in an orderly manner within their station. To limit costs, the monitorial system was employed, by which more advanced pupils taught younger ones.

Related Articles

Florence S. Boos, “The Education Act of 1870: Before and After”

David Rettenmaier
29 Aug 1833

Slavery Abolition Act

British Coat of ArmsThe Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 received the Royal Assent (which means it became law) on 29 August 1833. The Act outlawed slavery throughout the British Empire; Britain’s colonial slaves were officially emancipated on 1 August 1834 when the law came into force, although most entered a form of obligatory apprenticeship that ended in 1840. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Image: the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Elsie B. Michie, "On the Sacramental Test Act, the Catholic Relief Act, the Slavery Abolition Act, and the Factory Act"

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

David Rettenmaier
29 Aug 1833

Factory Act

British Coat of ArmsAct to Regulate the Labour of Children and Young Persons in the Mills and Factories of the United Kingdom passed on 29 August 1833. Image: the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Elsie B. Michie, "On the Sacramental Test Act, the Catholic Relief Act, the Slavery Abolition Act, and the Factory Act"

Related Articles

Peter Capuano, “On Sir Charles Bell’s The Hand, 1833″

David Rettenmaier
1 Aug 1838

Molesworth Report

On August 1838, the Molesworth Report was published, beginning the Dissolution of Convict Transportation to Australia.

The report successfully built upon the rhetoric of the abolition movement by drawing connections between convicts and slaves, becoming one of the major deciding factors in eventually putting an end to the entire system of transportation.

Articles

Julie M. Barst, “The Molesworth Report and the Dissolution of Convict Transportation to Australia, August 1838″

David Rettenmaier
1839 to 12 Oct 1842

Anglo-Afghan War

Butler's 'Remnants of an Army'Anglo-Afghan War. Though the British officially won the war, Afghanistan was hardly secure either during the occupation or in the decades that followed. In that sense, the first Anglo-Afghan war presaged a century of precarious imperial power on the frontier of the Raj. Image: Detail: ‘Remnants of an Army’ by Elizabeth Butler portraying William Brydon arriving at the gates of Jalalabad as the only survivor of a 16,500 strong evacuation from Kabul in January 1842. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired.

Articles

Antoinette Burton, “On the First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839-42: Spectacle of Disaster”

Related Articles

Zarena Aslami, “The Second Anglo-Afghan War, or The Return of the Uninvited”

David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1840

Royal Mail steamships introduced on Atlantic routes

RMS BritanniaA major factor in the facilitation of international correspondence was the introduction of steamships on the Atlantic routes which could maintain a guaranteed average speed of 8–9 knots per hour from Liverpool to Boston, as compared with sailing ships which were dependent on the strength and direction of the wind. This, coupled with fierce competition between rival shipping companies – principally Cunard and Collins ‒ for the lucrative transatlantic mail and passenger business resulted in the sailing time from Liverpool to Boston being cut from 14 days and 8 hours in 1840 to just 12 days by the mid-1850s. Ultimately, it was the Cunard fleet of ocean steamers – six 1830-ton wooden paddle-steamers: America, Niagara, Europa, Canada, Asia and Africa, which triumphed, and the company was contracted by the Royal Mail to make weekly trips to Boston and New York alternately, except during the period December to March when there was a monthly service. Image: Britannia of 1840, the first Cunard liner built for the transatlantic service. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.

Articles

Susan Donovan, “How the Post Office and Postal Products Shaped Mid-Nineteenth-Century Letter-Writing”

David Rettenmaier
10 Jan 1840

launch of UK Penny Post

The introduction of the Penny Post in 1840, the rapid expansion of the rail network in the UK, and the introduction of steamships on the transatlantic routes, created the optimum conditions for writing letters. Prior to 1840, the cost of inland postage was prohibitively expensive; it was calculated according to the number of sheets multiplied by the distance traveled. Additional charges were often levied and the burden of payment fell on the recipient, which did nothing to encourage frequent communication. The Penny Post Act drastically reduced the cost of an inland letter to a universal flat rate of just one penny for a half an ounce, and the introduction of the prepaid penny stamp removed the deterrent to accepting a letter.

Articles

Susan Donovan, “How the Post Office and Postal Products Shaped Mid-Nineteenth-Century Letter-Writing”

David Rettenmaier
Jul 1842

Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population

Photo of ChadwickIn July 1842 Edwin Chadwick, with Dr. Thomas Southwood Smith, published his ‘The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population,’ at his own expense. The report detailed the sanitary conditions of the poor and advocated reform, tracing public health problems directly to the awful state of urban housing the poor endured. Chadwick’s report launched the mid-century sanitary movement, though it had a slow start because change was expensive. Image: Photograph of Sir Edwin Chadwick. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Related Articles

Pamela Gilbert, "On Cholera in Nineteenth-Century England"

Barbara Leckie, “‘The Bitter Cry of Outcast London’ (1883): Print Exposé and Print Reprise”

David Rettenmaier
Oct 1844

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation

photo of ChambersWritten by Edinburgh publisher Robert Chambers but published anonymously in October 1844, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation provided a grand cosmic narrative of evolutionary change and became an immediate sensation. Its condemnation by leaders of both science and the church contributed to Charles Darwin’s delay in publishing his own evolutionary theory but also helped spread acceptance of what was then called “the transmutation of species” and “the development hypothesis.” Image: Robert Chambers, c. 1863. Reproduced from John van Wyhe, The History of Phrenology on the Web. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″

Related Articles

Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″

Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle”

Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881”

Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe"

Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″

Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″

David Rettenmaier
21 Jul 1845

Protection of Works of Art Act

British Coat of ArmsOn 21 July 1845, the Protection of Works of Art Act received Royal Assent. This Act established punishment for attacks on works of art and science exhibited in both public and private settings. It set a maximum sentence of 6 months, reserving the option of hard labor for men and 1, 2, or 3 private whippings at the discretion of the sentencing Court. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Amy Woodson-Boulton, “The City Art Museum Movement and the Social Role of Art”

David Rettenmaier
1 Feb 1848

Tuscan uprising

Italy before unificationTuscan patriotic upraising against Austrian Duke (February 1848), which led to a short-lived constitution. Image: An image of non-unified Italy (1815-1870), William Shepherd, Historical Atlas (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

To supporters of Italian independence, the short-lived uprising in Tuscany, leading to a new constitution as well as freedom of the press and of religious practice, seemed to be the first step to overthrowing foreign rulers

Articles

Alison Chapman, "On Il Risorgimento"

Articles

Marjorie Stone, “On the Post Office Espionage Scandal, 1844″

David Rettenmaier
24 Feb 1848

Times reports on Paris revolt

On 24 February 24 1848, news of revolt in Paris is reported in the second edition of The Times, although the scale of the uprising is not immediately appreciated. This begins extensive coverage of events in France, with newspapers in Britain often publishing several editions in one day to keep up with the fast changing situation.

Articles

Jo Briggs, “1848 and 1851: A Reconsideration of the Historical Narrative”

David Rettenmaier
31 Aug 1848

Public Health Act

British Coat of ArmsSpurred by the 1848 cholera epidemic and Edwin Chadwick’s report on The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population, a Central Board of Health was established that provided for taxation to enforce sanitary reform and the creation of local Boards of Health. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Pamela Gilbert, "On Cholera in Nineteenth-Century England"

Barbara Leckie, “‘The Bitter Cry of Outcast London’ (1883): Print Exposé and Print Reprise”

David Rettenmaier
Sep 1848

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founded

photo of DG RossettiIn September 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The brotherhood reacts, in part, against the use of bitumen, a transparent brown used for depicting exaggerated shadows, aiming instead to reproduce the sharp, brilliant colors found in fifteenth-century art. Image: Portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti: albumen print. This photograph, from 7 October 1863, was reproduced as the frontispiece of: Rossetti, William Michael, Dante Gabriel Rossetti as Designer and Writer. London: Cassell and Company, 1898.

Related Articles

Elizabeth Helsinger, “Lyric Poetry and the Event of Poems, 1870″

Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”

Morna O’Neill, “On Walter Crane and the Aims of Decorative Art”

Linda M. Shires, "On Color Theory, 1835: George Field’s Chromatography"

Linda M. Shires, “Color Theory—Charles Lock Eastlake’s 1840 Translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours)”

David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1850

Salford Royal Museum and Public Library opens

Salford MuseumIn 1850, the Salford Royal Museum and Public Library opened. This was Britain’s first free museum and public library to be supported through the 1845 Museums of Art Act. Exact day of opening unknown; if you have information about the correct date in January, please email felluga@purdue.edu with this information. Image: Photograph of the Salford Royal Museum and Public Library. CC-BY-SA-3.0; Released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Articles


Amy Woodson-Boulton, “The City Art Museum Movement and the Social Role of Art”

David Rettenmaier
1 May 1851 to 15 Oct 1851

Great Exhibition

Interior of the Crystal PalaceHeld from May to October of 1851, “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” was opened by Queen Victoria in the structure built to house it, the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, London. Image: Interior view of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London during the Great Exhibition of 1851. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was an event in the history of: exhibitions; world’s fairs; consumerism; imperialism; architecture; collections; things; glass and material culture in general; visual culture; attention and inattention; distraction. Its ostensible purposes, as stated by the organizing commission and various promoters, most notably Prince Albert, were chiefly to celebrate the industry and ingeniousness of various world cultures, primarily the British, and to inform and educate the public about the achievement, workmanship, science and industry that produced the numerous and multifarious objects and technologies on display. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Crystal Palace (pictured above) was a structure of iron and glass conceptually derived from greenhouses and railway stations, but also resembling the shopping arcades of Paris and London. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations became a model for World’s Fairs, by which invited nations showcased the best in manufacturing, design, and art, well into the twentieth century.

Articles

Audrey Jaffe, "On the Great Exhibition"

Related Articles

Aviva Briefel, "On the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition"

Anne Helmreich, “On the Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854″

Anne Clendinning, “On The British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25″

Barbara Leckie, “Prince Albert’s Exhibition Model Dwellings”

Carol Senf, “‘The Fiddler of the Reels’: Hardy’s Reflection on the Past”

David Rettenmaier
5 Sep 1852

Manchester Public Library opens

ON 5 Sept 1852, the Manchester Public Library opened. This was Britain’s first free public lending library, opened under the 1850 Public Libraries Act.

Related Articles

Amy Woodson-Boulton, “The City Art Museum Movement and the Social Role of Art”

David Rettenmaier
10 Aug 1854

Corrupt Practices Act

British Coat of ArmsOn 10 August 1854, the Corrupt Practices Act of 1854 was passed, an Act to Consolidate and Amend the Laws Relating to Bribery, Treating and Undue Influence At Elections of Members of Parliament. The bill introduced small fines for bribery, cheating and the use of undue influence and voter intimidation. Candidates had to itemize expenses that were then reviewed by an auditor. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Related Articles


Elaine Hadley, “On Opinion Politics and the Ballot Act of 1872″

David Rettenmaier
25 Oct 1854

Charge of the Light Brigade

Illustration of the Crimean War

On 25 October 1854, British forces undertook the charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava. Image: Tinted lithograph showing the embarkation of sick persons at the harbor in Balaklava" (William Simpson, artist; Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co., publishers, 24 April 24 1855). This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.05686. The image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

No other engagement of the war has stuck so vividly in the popular consciousness, aided by Tennyson's poem of the same name, by far the best-remembered cultural product of the war. On the morning of October 25th, 1854, over six hundred British men rode the wrong way down a “valley of death” (so christened first by The Times and later by Tennyson) as enemy guns attacked from all sides. Not two hundred made it out alive. The charge resulted from a series of miscommunications between Lord Raglan, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces, and Lord Lucan, the Commander of the Cavalry. Both Tennyson’s poem and many other contemporary responses to the charge suggest that reactions to this event were deeply conflicted, expressing real bewilderment about how to integrate it into preexisting models of patriotic feeling. Moreover, a new form of heroism grew out of the bewildering experience of the Light Brigade’s defeat—and a new sense of a national identity that was based in part on this new heroism.

Articles

Stefanie Markovits, "On the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade"

David Rettenmaier
Jan 1855

Food and its Adulterations

Arthur Hill Hassall, the senior analyst for the London The Lancet, published in 1855 a complete record of The Lancet articles that brought food adulteration before a wide public and eventually resulted in Parliamentary action: Food and its Adulterations. Comprising the Reports of the Analytic Sanitary commission of The Lancet for the years 1851 to 1854 inclusive; revised and extended: being records of the results of some thousands of original microscopical and chemical analyses of the solids and fluids consumed by all classes of the public. (Exact month of publication unknown; if you have information about the correct date, please email felluga@purdue.edu with this information.)

Articles

Judith L. Fisher, “Tea and Food Adulteration, 1834-75″

David Rettenmaier
May 1855

Scheutz’s Difference Engine

Scheutz Difference Engine, 1855.In May 1855, the difference engine of Georg and Edvard Scheutz debuts at the Paris World’s Fair. Image: “Scheutz Difference Engine, 1855.” _The Illustrated London News_. 30 June 1855. In the public domain.

Articles

Roger Whitson, “The Difference Engine: 1832, 1855, 1876, 1991, 2002, 2008″

David Rettenmaier
15 Jun 1855

Stamp Act

British Coat of ArmsOn 15 June 1855, the Stamp Act was passed, an act to amend the laws relating to the stamp duties on newspapers, and to provide for the transmission by post of printed periodical publications. The act abolished the stamp duty on newspapers, thus reducing the cost of such publications (for instance, the Manchester Guardian's price went from 7d. to 2d.) and facilitating the mass dissemination of the new medium of communication. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Related Articles

Elaine Hadley, “On Opinion Politics and the Ballot Act of 1872″

Claudia Nelson, “Mass Media Meets Children’s Literature, 1899: E. Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers

David Rettenmaier
30 Jul 1855

Public Libraries Act

British Coat of ArmsOn 30 July 1855, the Public Libraries Act received Royal Assent. This Act repealed the 1850 Act, expanding it to include towns, improvement districts, and parishes (or two parishes with combined population) of 5,000 or more. Town councils or a minimum of ten ratepayers could now request adoption of Act, which required a two-thirds vote of a meeting of ratepayers called by the Mayor, by the Improvement Board, or by the Parish Overseers of the Poor. (The Act specified how to call this meeting, but does not give a quorum.) This Act also doubled the library and museum rate to 1 penny in the pound, all libraries and museums created under Act to be free of charge; the law specifies detailed requirements for oversight of libraries, museums, and/or schools of art or science. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles


Amy Woodson-Boulton, “The City Art Museum Movement and the Social Role of Art”

David Rettenmaier
14 Mar 1856

Petition for Reform of Married Women’s Property Law

On 14 March 1856, presentation of the Petition for Reform of the Married Women’s Property Law, 1856. The petition began the joint effort by lawmakers and public women to grant married women control of their own wealth.

Articles

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Anne D. Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″

David Rettenmaier
10 May 1857 to 20 Jun 1858

Indian Uprising

print of the hanging of two rebelsThe Indian Rebellion or Uprising, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions. It was not contained until the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. Image: Felice Beato, Print of the hanging of two rebels, 1858 (albumen silver print). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Priti Joshi, “1857; or, Can the Indian ‘Mutiny’ Be Fixed?”

Related Articles

Julie Codell, “On the Delhi Coronation Durbars, 1877, 1903, 1911″

Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

David Rettenmaier
22 Jun 1857

Victoria and Albert Museum opened

Portrait of Queen VictoriaOn 22 June 1857, Queen Victoria opened the Victoria and Albert Museum. Image: George Hayter, State portrait of Queen Victoria, 1860 (oil on canvas), from the Government Art Collection of the United Kingdom. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Related Articles

Carol Senf, “‘The Fiddler of the Reels’: Hardy’s Reflection on the Past”

David Rettenmaier
28 Aug 1857

Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857

British Coat of ArmsOn 28 August 1857, passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. The Act legalized divorce and protected a divorced woman’s property and future earnings. The grounds for divorce for men was adultery (in legal terms, criminal conversation), for women adultery combined with bigamy, incest, bestiality, sodomy, desertion, cruelty, or rape. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Articles

Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″

Related Articles

Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”

Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”

Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”

David Rettenmaier
27 Oct 1857

Start of the 1857 financial crisis in England

engraving of a run on the seamen's savings' bankOn 27 October 1857, the failure of the Liverpool Borough Bank marked the beginning of the 1857 financial crisis in England. Image: "Run on the Seamen's Savings' Bank during the Panic of 1857" by Unknown - w:Harper's Weekly available at Library of Congress. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Articles

Lynn Shakinovsky, “The 1857 Financial Crisis and the Suspension of the 1844 Bank Act”

Related Articles

Crosby, Mark. “The Bank Restriction Act (1797) and Banknote Forgery”

Dick, Alexander J. “On the Financial Crisis, 1825-26″

Gooch, Joshua. “On ‘Black Friday,’ 11 May 1866″

David Rettenmaier
24 Dec 1857

End of the 1857 financial crisis in England

engraving of a run on the seamen's savings' bank24 December 1857 was regarded as the official end of the 1857 financial crisis, with the reduction of the Bank Rate from 10% to 8%. Image: "Run on the Seamen's Savings' Bank during the Panic of 1857" by Unknown - w:Harper's Weekly available at Library of Congress. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Articles

Lynn Shakinovsky, “The 1857 Financial Crisis and the Suspension of the 1844 Bank Act”

Related Articles

Crosby, Mark. “The Bank Restriction Act (1797) and Banknote Forgery”

Dick, Alexander J. “On the Financial Crisis, 1825-26″

Gooch, Joshua. “On ‘Black Friday,’ 11 May 1866″

David Rettenmaier
30 Apr 1859

All the Year Round founded

Cover of All the Year RoundFirst issue of All the Year Round appears on 30 April 1859.

All the Year Round was the first magazine with Dickens as proprietor-editor, and home to first important sensation novel, Woman in White.

Articles

Linda K. Hughes, "On New Monthly Magazines, 1859-60"

David Rettenmaier
4 Jun 1859

Battle of Magenta

Representation of the Battle of MagentaThe Battle of Magenta: On 4 June 1859, the combined armies of France and Sardinians defeat the Austrians; Austria withdraws from part of Lombardy; Napoleon III and Victor Emanuel triumphantly enter Milan. Image: Adolphe Yvon, Battle of Magenta (1863), Uniformes 68 (1982). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Alison Chapman, "On Il Risorgimento"

Related Articles

Marjorie Stone, “On the Post Office Espionage Scandal, 1844″

David Rettenmaier
24 Nov 1859

On the Origin of Species

Photograph of Charles DarwinOn 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin publishes his On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Image: Henry Maull and John Fox, Photograph of Charles Darwin (c. 1854). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″

Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle”

Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881”

Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe"

Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″

Related Articles

Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″

David Rettenmaier
30 Jun 1860

Huxley-Wilberforce “Debate” on Evolution

photo of HuxleyAt the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Oxford on 30 June 1860, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was informally debated by a number of speakers, most memorably in an exchange between Darwin’s friend and supporter T. H. Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford. Image: Thomas Henry Huxley as photographed by Ernest Edwards for Photographs of Eminent Medical Men, ed. William Tindal Robertson, vol. 2 (London: Churchill, 1868), between 4 and 5. Images from the History of Medicine, National Library of Medicine. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″

Related Articles

Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″

Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle”

Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881”

Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe"

Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″

Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″

David Rettenmaier
9 Jul 1860

Nightingale Home and Training School for Nurses opened

Photo of NightingaleOn 9 July 1860, the Nightingale Home and Training School for Nurses opened its doors. Image: Photograph of Florence Nightingale (1858). This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired.

Articles

Lara Kriegel, “On the Death—and Life—of Florence Nightingale, August 1910″

Related Articles

Arlene Young, “The Rise of the Victorian Working Lady: The New-Style Nurse and the Typewriter, 1840-1900″

David Rettenmaier
1 Feb 1861

Italy is united

Portrait of Vittorio EmanueleOn February 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II of Piedmont is crowned king of Italy: Italy is formally united, with Turin as the capital city. Image: Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoia (c. 1840s-1850s), Museo nazionale del Risorgimento, Torino (author unknown). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Alison Chapman, "On Il Risorgimento"

Related Articles

Marjorie Stone, “On the Post Office Espionage Scandal, 1844″

David Rettenmaier
1862 to 1865

Baker expedition to Lake Albert

photo of Baker1862-65 are the inclusive dates for Samuel Baker's expedition to Lake Albert. Baker was a big game hunter who met John Hanning Speke and James Grant during their journey down the Nile from Lake Victoria. Accompanied by his Hungarian mistress, Baker followed the Nile upstream to Lake Albert, which he claimed to be the co-source of the great river. Image: Photograph of Samuel White Baker taken by Leonis Rugitur. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Note that the exact month of the beginning and end of this expedition is difficult to determine.

Articles

Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"

David Rettenmaier
15 Aug 1862

Cage Crinoline

At the peak of the cage crinoline fad, a single issue of the London Evening Standard (15 August 1862) included a report of a young woman’s death caused by a crinoline fire and an advertisement touting the monarch-approved Thomson’s prize-winning “Crown” model.

Articles

Rebecca N. Mitchell, “15 August 1862: The Rise and Fall of the Cage Crinoline”

David Rettenmaier
25 Aug 1862

Victoria Station opened

On 25 August 1862, London Victoria Station was opened, connecting London to the Kent coast.

Related Articles

Paul Fyfe, “On the Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 1830″

Nancy Rose Marshall, “On William Powell Frith’s Railway Station, April 1862″

Carolyn W. de la L. Oulton, “‘Coquetting amid incredible landscapes’: Women on the River and the Railway”

David Rettenmaier
11 Oct 1865

Morant Bay Rebellion

Photo of John EyreA rebellion by Black peasants against unjust treatment by Jamaican courts breaks out at Morant Bay, Jamaica on 11 October 1865. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

David Rettenmaier
Dec 1865

“Jamaica Committee”

Photo of John EyreThe Jamaica Committee, a coalition of politicians, writers, and scientists, is organized to seek governmental and legal accountability for the actions undertaken by Governor Edward John Eyre and his subordinates during thirty days of martial law in the aftermath of the Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

David Rettenmaier
1866 to 187

Livingstone expedition to East Africa

Photo of David Livingstone1866-73 are the inclusive dates for David Livingstone's expedition into the East African lakes region. The famed missionary explorer David Livingstone entered the Nile sweepstakes to restore his reputation, which had been sullied by the futility of his previous Zambezi expedition. He was determined to prove that the Nile originated from the string of lakes further south. His death on the shores of Lake Bangweulu left his theory unconfirmed. Image: Photograph of Stanley Livingstone by Thomas Annan. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Note that the exact month of the beginning and end of this expedition is difficult to determine.

Articles

Matthew Rubery, "On Henry Morton Stanley’s Search for Dr. Livingstone, 1871-72"

Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"

David Rettenmaier
11 May 1866

Black Friday

The Collapse of the City of London's oldest bill-brokerage firm and discount company, Overend, Gurney, and Company initiates the financial panic of 1866, marking a change in perception of the banking industry and stimulating new economic theories during the 1860s.

Articles

Joshua Gooch, "On 'Black Friday,' 11 May 1866"

David Rettenmaier
14 Jun 1866 to 2 Aug 1866

Austro-Prussian War

Battle of Koniggratz, paintingAustro-Prussian War (also known as the Third Italian Independence War or the Seven Weeks’ War), was fought from 14 June 1866 to 23 August 1866, after which Italy gains Venice from Austria. Image: The Battle of Königgrätz, by Georg Bleibtreu. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Alison Chapman, "On Il Risorgimento"

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Marjorie Stone, “On the Post Office Espionage Scandal, 1844″

David Rettenmaier
Jun 1868

Edward John Eyre acquitted

Photo of John Eyre3 June 1868 saw the last, unsuccessful action against Edward John Eyre. This was the final effort by the Jamaica Committee to prosecute ex-Governor of Jamaica Edward John Eyre under the Colonial Governors Act for abuse of power in imposing an extended period of martial law during the 1865 Morant Bay rebellion; the case is sent forward to a grand jury, but Eyre is not indicted. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

Articles

Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″

David Rettenmaier