1859 in France

Events from the year 1859 in France.

Events

26 March - A French amateur astronomer claims to have noticed a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury - later named Vulcan.
23 April - Austria issues an ultimatum seeking the complete de-militarization of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
29 April - Second Italian War of Independence begins, when Austrian ultimatum is ignored.
14 May - Napoleon III arrives in Alessandria, taking command of the operations.
20 May - Battle of Montebello, Piedmontese cavalry and French infantry defeat Austrian troops.
30 May - Battle of Palestro, French-Sardinian victory.
4 June - Battle of Magenta, French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians.
24 June - Battle of Solferino, French-Sardinian victory.
30 June - Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope for the first time.
12 July - Armistice of Villafranca ends the Second Italian War of Independence.
24 November - The French Navy's La Gloire ("Glory"), the first ocean-going ironclad warship in history, is launched.

15 May - Pierre Curie, physicist, shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics (d.1906).
3 September - Jean Jaurès, socialist and pacifist (assassinated) (d.1914).
9 October - Alfred Dreyfus, military officer (see: Dreyfus Affair) (d.1935).
18 October - Henri Bergson, philosopher (d.1941).
2 December - Georges-Pierre Seurat, painter (d.1891).
17 December - Paul César Helleu, artist (d.1927).

18 March - Jean Louis Lassaigne, chemist (b.1800).
16 April - Alexis de Tocqueville, political thinker and historian (b.1805).
5 July - Charles Cagniard de la Tour, engineer and physicist (b.1777).
23 July - Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, poet (b.1786).
7 November - Auguste Hilarion, comte de Kératry, poet, novelist, historian and politician (b.1769).
19 November - Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson, playwright and theatre director (b.1790).