Explore 216 historical events from 1840–1849.
The great auk, also known as the garefowl or penguin, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human e…
The last pair of great auks is killed
Anatole France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a m…
Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)
Elijah J. McCoy was a Canadian-American engineer of African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines. Born free on the Ontario shore of Lake Erie to pare…
Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (died 1929)
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a…
Richard D'Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (died 1901)
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier, a humorous description of his occupation as …
Henri Rousseau, French painter (died 1910)
YMCA, formerly known as the Young Men's Christian Association, is a worldwide youth organization based in Vernier, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million benefici…
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London
Lewis Thornton Powell was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gett…
Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas…
Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, born ʻAbbás, was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921.…
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (died 1921)
Félix Arnaudin was a French poet, photographer, and specialist in Haute-Lande folklore. In Gascony, M. Arnaudin created his collection of tales by attending gatherings, as well as …
Félix Arnaudin, French poet and photographer (died 1921)
Garret Augustus Hobart was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899, under President William McKinley. A member of the Republican Par…
Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (died 1899)
Baron Detlev von Liliencron born Friedrich Adolf Axel von Liliencron was a German poet and novelist from Kiel.
Detlev von Liliencron, German poet and author (died 1909)
Richard McCarty was an American politician from New York.
Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (born 1780)
Abbate Giuseppe Baini was an Italian priest, music critic, conductor, and composer of church music.
Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest and composer (born 1775)
Thomas Campbell was a Scottish poet at the intersection of the neoclassical with the Romantic style of British poetry.
Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet and academic (born 1777)
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defende…
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French zoologist and biologist (born 1772)
Shiraz is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which is historically known by the exonym Persia proper. As of the 2016 national census, the popula…
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism,
The Báb was an Iranian religious leader who founded Bábism, and is also one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. The Báb gradually and progressively revealed his claim in hi…
A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement
The great auk, also known as the garefowl or penguin, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and was driven to extinction by human e…
The last known pair of great auks (one pictured), the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus of flightless birds, we
The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church o…
The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland
Princess Alice was Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine from 13 June 1877 until her death in 1878 as the wife of Grand Duke Louis IV. She was the third child and second daughter of …
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (died 1878)
Bianka Blume was a German soprano opera singer.
Bianka Blume, German opera singer (died 1896)
William George Beers was a Canadian dentist who founded Canada's first dental journal and served as the founding dean of the Dental College of the Province of Quebec. In addition, …
William George Beers, Canadian dentist and patriot (died 1900)
Grove Karl Gilbert, known by the abbreviated name G. K. Gilbert in academic literature, was an American geologist.
Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (died 1918)