Explore 629 historical events from 1840–1849.
The rise of federalism in Switzerland began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the Sonderbundskrieg.
A new constitution marks the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state.
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scot…
The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English …
Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, was an invasion of Mexico by the United Stat…
Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada,
Otto was King of Bavaria from 1886 until 1913. However, he never actively ruled because of alleged severe mental illness. His uncle, Luitpold, and his cousin, Ludwig, served as reg…
Otto, King of Bavaria (died 1916)
Ludvig Schytte was a Danish composer, pianist, and teacher.
Ludvig Schytte, Danish pianist, composer, and educator (died 1909)
Eugène Louis Simon was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history…
Eugène Simon, French naturalist (died 1924)
Eilert Adelsteen Normann was a Norwegian painter who worked in Berlin. He was a noted painter of landscapes of Norway. Normann was the artist who invited Edvard Munch to Berlin, wh…
Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (died 1919)
Henry Edward Armstrong FRS FRSE (Hon) was a British chemist. Although Armstrong was active in many areas of scientific research, such as the chemistry of naphthalene derivatives, h…
Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (died 1937)
The Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and nationalist uprising in the Principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the …
In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new
The June Days were an uprising staged by French workers from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in orde…
A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism
The June Days were an uprising staged by French workers from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in orde…
End of the June Days Uprising in Paris
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London B…
Waterloo railway station in London opens.
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist mov…
Women's rights: A two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian painter and draughtsman who specialised in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered a co-founder of Russian folklorist and…
Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter and illustrator (died 1926)
Carl Wernicke was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist. He is known for his influential research into the pathological effects of specific forms of ence…
Carl Wernicke, German neuropathologist
Fritz von Uhde was a German painter of genre and religious subjects. His style lay in-between Realism and Impressionism, he was once known as "Germany's outstanding impressionist" …
Fritz von Uhde, German painter and educator (died 1911)
Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights wi…
Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (died 1896)
The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. Its organizers advertised it as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights …
The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved statehood and is…
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is established by Nelson Dewey, first Governor of Wisconsin.
The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. It constituted a…
Great Famine of Ireland: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful…
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of th…
Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress.
Brigandage in Southern Italy had existed in some form since ancient times. However, its origins as outlaws targeting random travellers would evolve vastly later on to become a form…
Pica Law (Legge Pica), a form of martial law, is established as the Italian government passes this anti-brigandage law…
Johann Baptist Singenberger was a Swiss composer, music teacher, editor and publisher. Much of his output was devoted to Catholic liturgical music. He was reckoned to have taught o…
Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (died 1924)