Explore the major historical events, famous births, and notable deaths that occurred in the year 1859. This year saw 53 significant events. 8 notable figures were born. 2 notable figures passed away.
One of the oldest known copies of the Bible, "The Codex Sinaiticus" (Sinai Bible), is seen in Egypt by Constantin von Tischendorf, who takes the manuscript home
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien).
Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" is first published in the literary periodical "All the Year Round" in weekly installments until November 26
US President Chester A. Arthur (30) weds Ellen Herndon (22) at Calvary Episcopal Church in NYC, New York
English naturalist Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species," radically changing the view of evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology
First steamboat, the North Star, sails up the northern Red River, America
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza was the first domnitor (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as Prince of Moldavia on 5 January 1859 and Prince of Wallachia on 24 January 1859,...
Wallachia is a geographical region of modern-day Romania, as well as one of the two historical Romanian principalities that laid the foundation for the establishment of the modern Romanian state.
Oregon ( ORR-ih-ghən, -gon) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch
Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024.
Vera Cruz besieged by Miramon (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street.
1st supposed sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury; it doesn't exist
Bryant's Minstrels debut "Dixie" in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show
The Reform War (17 December 1857 – 11 January 1861) or War of Reform (Spanish: Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War (Spanish: Guerra de los Tres Años), and the Mexican Civil War,...
Hibernia Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates
Ground broken for Suez Canal
US Congressman Daniel E. Sickles is acquitted in the murder of Philip Barton Key on grounds of "temporary insanity," the first time this defense is used successfully in the US [1]
"Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard
The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall.
The origins of Australian rules football date back to the late 1850s in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. There is documentary evidence of "foot-ball" being played in Australia as early as the...
Philadelphia A's organize to play "town ball" became baseball 20 years later
Queensland, Australia, is established as a separate colony from New South Wales, celebrated as Queensland Day
The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first...
Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers
A dog show is an animal show; it is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a breed show, is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog...
French acrobat Charles Blondin is 1st to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope
Pittsfield is the most populous city in and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States.
American sealing ship Captain N. C. Brooks discovers the uninhabited Midway Islands in the North Pacific Ocean and claims for the US
King Charles XV/Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
William Goodale patents paper bag manufacturing machines in Massachusetts
Underarm slow right arm bowler V E Walker takes 10-74 in 1st innings for an All-England Cricket XI v Surrey CCC at The Oval in London
Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
First airmail in a balloon takes off from Lafayette, Indiana
Edwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819–November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil.
A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of the USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan
Carrington Event: largest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson make 1st observation of a solar flare.
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or coal gas (sometimes...
George Simpson patents the electric range
Great auroral display in the US
Wilhelm Tempel discovers a diffuse nebula around the Pleiades star Merope
Steam clipper Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, Wales;, in a storm that took down over 100 vessels; approximately 450 passengers and crew killed on voyage returning to Liverpool from Australia
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles (30 kilometers)
Jules Leotard performs the first flying trapeze circus act in Paris; he also designs the garment that bears his name
GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of the Sun
Frederiksborg Castle, largest Renaissance complex in Scandinavia, is badly damaged in a fire - later restored and turned into a museum
Grading started for Market Street RR in San Francisco
Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves
Carrie Chapman Catt, American social reformer and suffragist, known for american social reformer and suffragist, was born on 1859-01-09.
Wilhelm II is born
Kenneth Grahame, British writer, known for british writer, was born on 1859-03-08. Kenneth Grahame ( GRAY-əm; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer.
Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer and physician, known for british writer and physician, was born on 1859-05-22.
Édouard Michelin is born
Yuan Shikai, Chinese first president of the republic of china, known for first president of the republic of china, was born on 1859-09-16.
Alfred Dreyfus, French army officer, known for french army officer, was born on 1859-10-09.
John Dewey, American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, known for american philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, was born on 1859-10-20.
John Walker dies
Alexander von Humboldt, German polymath, known for german polymath, died on 1859-05-06.
One of the oldest known copies of the Bible, "The Codex Sinaiticus" (Sinai Bible), is seen in Egypt by Constantin von Tischendorf, who takes the manuscript home
The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien).
Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" is first published in the literary periodical "All the Year Round" in weekly installments until November 26
US President Chester A. Arthur (30) weds Ellen Herndon (22) at Calvary Episcopal Church in NYC, New York
English naturalist Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species," radically changing the view of evolution and laying the foundation for evolutionary biology
First steamboat, the North Star, sails up the northern Red River, America
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Loa is Earth's largest active volcano by both mass and volume.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza was the first domnitor (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as Prince of Moldavia on 5 January 1859 and Prince of Wallachia on 24 January 1859,...
Wallachia is a geographical region of modern-day Romania, as well as one of the two historical Romanian principalities that laid the foundation for the establishment of the modern Romanian state.
Oregon ( ORR-ih-ghən, -gon) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch
Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 827,526 in 2024.
Vera Cruz besieged by Miramon (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street.
1st supposed sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury; it doesn't exist
Bryant's Minstrels debut "Dixie" in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show
The Reform War (17 December 1857 – 11 January 1861) or War of Reform (Spanish: Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War (Spanish: Guerra de los Tres Años), and the Mexican Civil War,...
Hibernia Savings & Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates
Ground broken for Suez Canal
US Congressman Daniel E. Sickles is acquitted in the murder of Philip Barton Key on grounds of "temporary insanity," the first time this defense is used successfully in the US [1]
"Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard
The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall.
The origins of Australian rules football date back to the late 1850s in Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. There is documentary evidence of "foot-ball" being played in Australia as early as the...
Philadelphia A's organize to play "town ball" became baseball 20 years later
Queensland, Australia, is established as a separate colony from New South Wales, celebrated as Queensland Day
The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada (then western Utah Territory), which was the first...
Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers
A dog show is an animal show; it is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a breed show, is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog...
French acrobat Charles Blondin is 1st to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope
Pittsfield is the most populous city in and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States.
American sealing ship Captain N. C. Brooks discovers the uninhabited Midway Islands in the North Pacific Ocean and claims for the US
King Charles XV/Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
William Goodale patents paper bag manufacturing machines in Massachusetts
Underarm slow right arm bowler V E Walker takes 10-74 in 1st innings for an All-England Cricket XI v Surrey CCC at The Oval in London
Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
First airmail in a balloon takes off from Lafayette, Indiana
Edwin Laurentine Drake (March 29, 1819–November 9, 1880), also known as Colonel Drake, was an American businessman and the first American to successfully drill for oil.
A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of the USA, Europe, and even as far afield as Japan
Carrington Event: largest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson make 1st observation of a solar flare.
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as natural gas, methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or coal gas (sometimes...
George Simpson patents the electric range
Great auroral display in the US
Wilhelm Tempel discovers a diffuse nebula around the Pleiades star Merope
Steam clipper Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, Wales;, in a storm that took down over 100 vessels; approximately 450 passengers and crew killed on voyage returning to Liverpool from Australia
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles (30 kilometers)
Jules Leotard performs the first flying trapeze circus act in Paris; he also designs the garment that bears his name
GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of the Sun
Frederiksborg Castle, largest Renaissance complex in Scandinavia, is badly damaged in a fire - later restored and turned into a museum
Grading started for Market Street RR in San Francisco
Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves
Carrie Chapman Catt, American social reformer and suffragist, known for american social reformer and suffragist, was born on 1859-01-09.
Wilhelm II is born
Kenneth Grahame, British writer, known for british writer, was born on 1859-03-08. Kenneth Grahame ( GRAY-əm; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer.
Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer and physician, known for british writer and physician, was born on 1859-05-22.
Édouard Michelin is born
Yuan Shikai, Chinese first president of the republic of china, known for first president of the republic of china, was born on 1859-09-16.
Alfred Dreyfus, French army officer, known for french army officer, was born on 1859-10-09.
John Dewey, American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, known for american philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, was born on 1859-10-20.