Explore 785 historical events from 1850–1859.
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. Along with his poetry, he is known for writing the autobiographical novel La Confession d'un enfan…
Alfred de Musset, French dramatist, poet, and novelist (born 1810)
Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus, pioneered the f…
Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (born 1789)
Douglas William Jerrold was an English dramatist, journalist, and writer, best known for his satirical wit, his socially critical essays, and his association with the early years o…
Douglas William Jerrold, English journalist and playwright (born 1803)
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology, palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anth…
Alcide d'Orbigny, French zoologist and paleontologist (born 1802)
Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He was an early advocate of propaganda by deed, arguing that violence w…
Carlo Pisacane, Italian soldier and philosopher (born 1818)
William Learned Marcy was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as U.S. Senator, the eleventh Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of War and the twenty-first U.S. S…
William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (born 1786)
Carl Czerny was an Austrian composer, music educator, and pianist of Czech origin. His music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounte…
Carl Czerny, Austrian pianist and composer (born 1791)
Reverend Thomas Dick, was a British church minister, science teacher and writer, known for his works on astronomy and practical philosophy, combining science and Christianity, and …
Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, astronomer, and author (born 1774)
Stefano Franscini was a Swiss politician and statistician. He was one of the initial members of the Swiss Federal Council elected in 1848 and Switzerland's first native Italian spe…
Stefano Franscini, Swiss statistician and politician (born 1796)
Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated The…
Eugène Sue, French author and politician (born 1804)
Rufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15 years old. He worked as a journalist, editor, and cr…
Rufus Wilmot Griswold, American anthologist, poet, and critic (born 1815)
John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at F…
John McLoughlin, Canadian-American businessman (born 1784)
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science …
Auguste Comte, French sociologist and philosopher (born 1798)
Karol Kazimierz Kurpiński was a Polish composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was a representative of late classicism and early romanticism as well as being a member of the Warsaw S…
Karol Kurpiński, Polish composer and conductor (born 1785)
George Washington Parke Custis was an American antiquarian, author, and playwright. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. His father John Parke Custis served in the American Revolut…
George Washington Parke Custis, American author and playwright (born 1781)
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac was a French general and politician who served as head of the executive power of France from June to December 1848, during the French Second Republic.
Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, French general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of France (born 1802)
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
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, the first general strike in Brazil, began in Salvador, Bahia
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: An eight-day siege of a fortified outbuilding in Arrah occupied by 68 defenders against more than…
The Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company was a banking institution based in Cincinnati, Ohio, which existed from 1830 to 1857. The Panic of 1857, an economic depression, resulted …
The New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. collapsed following widespread embezzlement, leading…
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States from February 4, 1841, until January 29, 1845. Its main function was the defense of Nauvoo and s…
A legion of Mormon militiamen completed a massacre of at least 120 California-bound Arkansas pioneers at Mountain…
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride …
Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transpo…
Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail
The Saimaa Canal is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opened on 7 September […
The Saimaa Canal is inaugurated.