1859 in the United Kingdom
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 1859 in the United Kingdom: |
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Events from the year 1859 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Incumbents
- Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Conservative (until 12 June), Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Liberal
[edit] Events
- 15 January - National Portrait Gallery opens.[1]
- 30 April - Charles Dickens publishes the first issue of his new magazine All the Year Round
- 4 May - Cornwall Railway opened across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall.
- 31 May - Whigs under Palmerston win the general election.
- 6 June - The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales.
- 10 June - Derby resigns as Prime Minister after a defeat in the House of Commons; replaced by Palmerston.[1]
- 1 September - Astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington makes the first observation of a solar flare.[2]
- 7 September - The clock of the Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster becomes operational. The bell acquires the nickname "Big Ben" by association with Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover.
- 26 October - The steamship Royal Charter is wrecked by a storm on the coast of Anglesey with 454 dead.
- 24 November - naturalist Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, a book which argues that species gradually evolve through natural selection.[2] (It immediately sold out its initial print run.)
[edit] Undated
- The formation of the Liberal Party out of the Whig Party, Peelites and Radicals.[3]
- Trinity College in Cambridge bans The Origin of Species.
- Solar flares first observed on the Sun by astronomer Richard Carrington.
[edit] Publications
- Charles Darwin's book The Origin of Species.[1]
- Charles Dickens's novel A Tale of Two Cities.[1]
- George Eliot's novel Adam Bede.[1]
- Alfred Tennyson's poetry cycle Idylls of the King.[1]
[edit] Births
- 11 January - George Nathaniel Curzon, statesman and Viceroy of India (died 1925)
- 14 February - Henry Valentine Knaggs, physician and author (died 1954)
- 16 February - T. E. Ellis, politician (died 1899)
- 8 March - Kenneth Grahame, author (died 1932)
- 26 March - Alfred Edward Housman, poet (died 1936)
- 18 April - Sir Evan Davies Jones, 1st Baronet, civil engineer (died 1949)
- 2 May - Jerome K. Jerome, author (died 1927)
- 22 May - Arthur Conan Doyle, writer (died 1930)
- May - Sir Samuel Thomas Evans, politician and judge (died 1918)
- 17 July - Ernest Rhys, writer (died 1946)
[edit] Deaths
- 21 January - Henry Hallam, historian (born 1777)
- 28 January - Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister (born 1782)
- 13 February - Eliza Acton, cookery writer (born 1799)
- 1 May - John Walker, inventor (born 1781)
- 15 September - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer (born 1806)
- 12 October - Robert Stephenson, engineer (born 1803)
- 22 November - George Wilson, chemist (born 1818)
- 8 December - Thomas de Quincey, writer (born 1785)
- 28 December - Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, poet, historian and politician (born 1800)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd, 279-280. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ a b (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ Icons, a portrait of England 1840-1860. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
