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] Events
- 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.
- 7 September - The clock of the Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster becomes operational.
- 26 October - The steamship Royal Charter is wrecked 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. (It immediately sold out its initial print run.)
- Trinity College in Cambridge bans The Origin of Species.
- Solar flares first observed on the Sun by astronomer Richard Carrington.
[edit] Births
- 11 January - George Nathaniel Curzon, statesman and Viceroy of India (d. 1925)
- 14 February - Henry Valentine Knaggs, physician and author (d. 1954)
- 8 March - Kenneth Grahame, author (d. 1932)
- 26 March - Alfred Edward Housman, poet (d. 1936)
- 22 May - Arthur Conan Doyle, writer (d. 1930)
[edit] Deaths
- 28 January - Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Prime Minister (b. 1782)
- 13 February - Eliza Acton, cookery writer (b. 1799)
- 15 September - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer (b. 1806)
- 8 December - Thomas de Quincey, writer (b. 1785)
- 28 December - Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, poet, historian and politician (b. 1800)
