World History Timeline

Timeline

1026 events

19th century

  1. 1856 – 1860★★★★★

    Second Opium War

    Britain and France fight Qing China, occupy Beijing and burn the Old Summer Palace in 1860, forcing further unequal treaties.

    War· China, United Kingdom, France
  2. May 10, 1857 – 1858★★★★★

    Indian Rebellion of 1857

    Sepoys mutiny at Meerut, sparking a widespread uprising against East India Company rule across northern and central India.

    WarRevolution· India, United Kingdom
  3. 1858 – 1947★★★★★

    Beginning of the British Raj

    After the 1857 rebellion, the Government of India Act transfers rule from the East India Company to the British Crown; the Mughal Empire formally ends.

    Politics· India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, United Kingdom
  4. September 1, 1858★★★★★

    Franco-Spanish attack on Đà Nẵng

    A Franco-Spanish force attacks Đà Nẵng, beginning the French conquest of Vietnam.

    War· Vietnam, France, Spain
  6. March 3, 1861★★★★★

    Emancipation of the serfs in Russia

    Tsar Alexander II issues the emancipation manifesto, freeing more than 20 million serfs across the Russian Empire.

    PoliticsEconomy· Russia
  8. April 12, 1861 – 1865★★★★★

    American Civil War

    War between the Union and the seceding Confederate states, centred on slavery, ending in Union victory and the abolition of slavery.

    War· United States
  9. April 12, 1861 – April 13, 1861★★★★★

    Battle of Fort Sumter

    Confederate forces bombard Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, opening the American Civil War.

    War· United States
  10. May 5, 1862★★★★★

    Battle of Puebla

    Mexican forces defeat a French expeditionary army at Puebla, a victory later commemorated as Cinco de Mayo.

    War· Mexico, France
  11. June 5, 1862★★★★★

    Treaty of Saigon

    The Nguyễn court cedes three eastern provinces of Cochinchina to France.

    Treaty· Vietnam, France
  12. January 1, 1863★★★★★

    Emancipation Proclamation

    President Lincoln proclaims freedom for enslaved people in the Confederate states in rebellion.

    Politics· United States
  13. July 1, 1863 – July 3, 1863★★★★★

    Battle of Gettysburg

    Union forces defeat Robert E. Lee's army in Pennsylvania in the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, a turning point of the conflict.

    War· United States
  14. November 19, 1863★★★★★

    Gettysburg Address

    Abraham Lincoln delivers a brief speech dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg, affirming the ideals of liberty and equality.

    Politics· United States
  15. 1864 – 1870★★★★★

    Paraguayan War

    Paraguay fights the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in a war that devastates Paraguay and kills a large share of its population.

    War· Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay
  16. 1865★★★★★

    Maxwell's electromagnetic theory

    James Clerk Maxwell publishes "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field", unifying electricity, magnetism and light.

    Science· United Kingdom
  18. April 14, 1865★★★★★

    Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

    John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre days after the Civil War effectively ends; Lincoln dies the next morning.

    PoliticsDeath· United States
  21. 1867★★★★★

    France annexes western Cochinchina

    France seizes Vĩnh Long, An Giang and Hà Tiên, completing the colony of French Cochinchina.

    WarPolitics· Vietnam, France
  22. March 30, 1867★★★★★

    Alaska Purchase

    The United States signs a treaty to buy Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million.

    Treaty· United States, Russia
  23. July 1, 1867★★★★★

    Canadian Confederation

    The colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick unite as the Dominion of Canada, the beginning of the modern Canadian state.

    Politics· Canada, United Kingdom
  24. November 7, 1867★★★★★

    Birth of Marie Curie

    Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences, is born in Warsaw.

    BirthScience· Poland
  25. January 3, 1868★★★★★

    Meiji Restoration

    Power is restored to Emperor Meiji, ending the shogunate and launching Japan's rapid modernisation.

    PoliticsRevolution· Japan
  26. 1869★★★★★

    Mendeleev's periodic table

    Dmitri Mendeleev arranges the chemical elements by atomic weight and properties, predicting elements not yet discovered.

    Science· Russia
  27. May 10, 1869★★★★★

    First transcontinental railroad completed

    The golden spike is driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, completing the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.

    TechnologyEconomy· United States
  28. October 2, 1869★★★★★

    Birth of Mahatma Gandhi

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in Porbandar; he becomes the leader of India's nonviolent independence movement.

    Birth· India
  29. November 17, 1869★★★★★

    Suez Canal opens

    The Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea opens, greatly shortening the sea route between Europe and Asia.

    TechnologyEconomy· Egypt
  30. April 22, 1870★★★★★

    Birth of Vladimir Lenin

    Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, later known as Lenin, leader of the October Revolution, is born in Simbirsk.

    Birth· Russia
  31. July 19, 1870 – May 10, 1871★★★★★

    Franco-Prussian War

    Prussia and its German allies defeat France, bringing down the Second French Empire and paving the way for German unification.

    War· France, Germany
  32. September 20, 1870★★★★★

    Capture of Rome

    Troops of the Kingdom of Italy enter Rome, ending the Papal States; Rome then becomes the capital of unified Italy.

    WarPolitics· Italy, Vatican City
  33. January 18, 1871★★★★★

    Proclamation of the German Empire

    King Wilhelm I of Prussia is proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, completing the unification of Germany led by Bismarck.

    Politics· Germany, France
  34. March 18, 1871 – May 28, 1871★★★★★

    Paris Commune

    A revolutionary government holds power in Paris for over two months before being bloodily suppressed by government troops during the "Bloody Week".

    Revolution· France
  35. November 30, 1874★★★★★

    Birth of Winston Churchill

    Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during the Second World War, is born at Blenheim Palace.

    Birth· United Kingdom
  37. March 10, 1876★★★★★

    Bell's first telephone call

    Three days after receiving his patent, Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call to his assistant Thomas Watson.

    Technology· United States
  38. June 25, 1876 – June 26, 1876★★★★★

    Battle of the Little Bighorn

    Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeat the US 7th Cavalry Regiment led by George Armstrong Custer.

    War· United States
  39. June 1878 – July 1878★★★★★

    Congress of Berlin

    The European powers reorganise the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War, recognising the independence of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania.

    TreatyPolitics· Germany, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Austria, Serbia, Romania, Montenegro, Bulgaria
  40. December 18, 1878★★★★★

    Birth of Joseph Stalin

    Ioseb Jughashvili, later known as Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, is born in Gori, Georgia.

    Birth· Georgia
  42. 1879 – 1884★★★★★

    War of the Pacific

    Chile defeats Peru and Bolivia in a war over the mineral-rich Atacama Desert; Bolivia loses its access to the sea.

    War· Chile, Peru, Bolivia
  43. January 22, 1879★★★★★

    Battle of Isandlwana

    In the Anglo-Zulu War, a Zulu army defeated a British column at Isandlwana, one of the worst defeats of the British army by an indigenous force.

    War· South Africa, United Kingdom
  44. March 14, 1879★★★★★

    Birth of Albert Einstein

    The physicist Albert Einstein, author of the theory of relativity, is born in Ulm, Germany.

    BirthScience· Germany
  45. December 16, 1880 – March 23, 1881★★★★★

    First Boer War

    Boers of the Transvaal rose against British annexation and regained self-government after their victory at Majuba Hill.

    War· South Africa, United Kingdom
  46. March 13, 1881★★★★★

    Assassination of Tsar Alexander II

    Tsar Alexander II is killed by a bomb thrown by members of the revolutionary group Narodnaya Volya in Saint Petersburg.

    PoliticsDeath· Russia
  48. March 14, 1883★★★★★

    Death of Karl Marx

    Karl Marx dies in London, where he had lived in exile and written Das Kapital.

    Death· United Kingdom, Germany
  49. August 27, 1883★★★★★

    Eruption of Krakatoa

    The cataclysmic eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait triggers tsunamis killing over 36,000 people; the explosion is heard thousands of kilometres away.

    Disaster· Indonesia
  50. June 6, 1884★★★★★

    Treaty of Huế (1884)

    The treaty places Tonkin and Annam under French protectorate.

    Treaty· Vietnam, France
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