1840s

Millennium: 2nd millennium
Centuries: 18th century – 19th century – 20th century
Decades: 1810s 1820s 1830s – 1840s – 1850s 1860s 1870s
Years: 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849
1840s-related
categories:		 Births – Deaths – By country
Establishments – Disestablishments

The 1840s decade ran from January 1, 1840, to December 31, 1849.

Politics and wars

Pacific Islands

In 1842, Tahiti and Tahuata were declared a French protectorate, to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed. The capital of Papeetē was founded in 1843. In 1845, George Tupou I united Tonga into a kingdom, and reigned as Tuʻi Kanokupolu.

East Asia

China

On August 29, 1842, the first of two Opium Wars ended between China and Britain with the Treaty of Nanking. One of the consequences was the cession of modern-day Hong Kong Island to the British. Hong Kong would eventually be returned to China in 1997.

Other events:

Japan

The 1840s comprised the end of the Tenpō era (1830-1844), the entirety of the Kōka era (1844-1848), and the beginning of the Kaei era (1848-1854). The decade saw the end of the reign of Emperor Ninko in 1846, who was succeeded by his son, Emperor Kōmei.

Southeastern Asia

Vietnam

Main article: Nguyễn dynasty

Emperors Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị and Tự Đức ruled Vietnam during the 1840s under the Nguyễn dynasty.

New Guinea

Australia and New Zealand

Southern Asia

Afghanistan

The First Anglo-Afghan War had started in 1838, started by the British as a means of defending India (under British control at the time) from the Russian Empire's expansion into Central Asia.[1] The British attempted to impose a puppet regime on Afghanistan under Shuja Shah, but the regime was short lived and proved unsustainable without British military support. By 1842, mobs were attacking the British on the streets of Kabul and the British garrison was forced to abandon the city due to constant civilian attacks. During the retreat from Kabul, the British army of approximately 4,500 troops (of which only 690 were European) and 12,000 camp followers was subjected to a series of attacks by Afghan warriors. All of the British soldiers were killed except for one and he and a few surviving Indian soldiers made it to the fort at Jalalabad shortly after.[2] After the Battle of Kabul (1842), Britain placed Dost Mohammad Khan back into power (1842-1863) and withdrew from Afghanistan.

India

Map of India in 1848

Sikh Empire

The Sikh Empire was founded in 1799, ruled by Ranjit Singh. When Singh died in 1839, the Sikh Empire began to fall into disorder. There was a succession of short-lived rulers at the central Durbar (court), and increasing tension between the Khalsa (the Sikh Army) and the Durbar. In May 1841, the Dogra dynasty (a vassal of the Sikh Empire) invaded western Tibet,[3] marking the beginning of the Sino-Sikh war. This war ended in a stalemate in September 1842, with the Treaty of Chushul.

The British East India Company began to build up its military strength on the borders of the Punjab. Eventually, the increasing tension goaded the Khalsa to invade British territory, under weak and possibly treacherous leaders. The hard-fought First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1846) ended in defeat for the Khalsa. With the Treaty of Lahore,[4] the Sikh Empire ceded Kashmir to the East India Company and surrendered the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria.

The Sikh empire was finally dissolved at the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849 into separate princely states and the British province of Punjab. Eventually, a Lieutenant Governorship was formed in Lahore as a direct representative of the British Crown.

Sri Lanka

A memorial of Matale Rebellion, which began in Sri Lanka in 1848

Western Asia

Ottoman Empire

The decade was near the beginning of the Tanzimât Era of the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Abdülmecid I ruled during this period.

Lebanon
Further information: 1840 Lebanon conflict

Emir Bashir Shihab II controlled the Mount Lebanon Emirate at the beginning of the 1840s. Bashir allied with Muhammad Ali of Egypt, but Muhammad Ali was driven out of the country. Bashir was deposed in 1840 when the Egyptians were driven out by an Ottoman-European alliance, which had the backing of Maronite forces. His successor, Emir Bashir III, ruled until 1842, after which the emirate was dissolved and split into a Druze sector and a Christian sector.

Romania

Persian Empire

Revolutions of 1848

There was a wave of revolutions in Europe, collectively known as the Revolutions of 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in European history, but within a year, reactionary forces had regained control, and the revolutions collapsed.

The revolutions were essentially bourgeois-democratic in nature with the aim of removing the old feudal structures and the creation of independent national states. The revolutionary wave began in France in February, and immediately spread to most of Europe and parts of Latin America. Over 50 countries were affected, but with no coordination or cooperation among the revolutionaries in different countries. Six factors were involved: widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership; demands for more participation in government and democracy; demands for freedom of press; the demands of the working classes; the upsurge of nationalism; and finally, the regrouping of the reactionary forces based on the royalty, the aristocracy, the army, and the peasants.[5]

The uprisings were led by ad hoc coalitions of reformers, the middle classes and workers, which did not hold together for long. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and many more forced into exile. The only significant lasting reforms were the abolition of serfdom in Austria and Hungary, the end of absolute monarchy in Denmark, and the definitive end of the Capetian monarchy in France. The revolutions were most important in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy, and the Austrian Empire, but did not reach Russia, Sweden, Great Britain, and most of southern Europe (Spain, Serbia,[6] Greece, Montenegro, Portugal, the Ottoman Empire).[7]

Eastern Europe

Russia

Austrian Empire

Hungary
Galicia

Northern Europe

[9]

Sweden

Denmark

United Kingdom

April 10: "Monster Rally" of Chartists held on Kennington Common in London; the first photograph of a crowd depicts it.
Royalty

Queen Victoria was on the throne 20 June 1837 until her death 22 January, 1901.

Ireland

The Great Famine of the 1840s caused the deaths of one million Irish people and over a million more emigrated to escape it.[11] It is sometimes referred to, mostly outside Ireland, as the "Irish Potato Famine" because one-third of the population was then solely reliant on this cheap crop for a number of historical reasons.[12][13][14] The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight.[15] A census taken in 1841 revealed a population of slightly over 8 million.[16] A census immediately after the famine in 1851 counted 6,552,385, a drop of almost 1.5 million in 10 years.[17]

The period of the potato blight in Ireland from 1845 to 1851 was full of political confrontation.[18] A more radical Young Ireland group seceded from the Repeal movement and attempted an armed rebellion in the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, which was unsuccessful.

Western Europe

Germany

Switzerland

September 12: The Swiss Confederation reconstitutes itself as a federal republic.

The Netherlands

France

The frigate Belle-Poule brings back the remains of Napoléon to France.

Southern Europe

Greece

Italian Peninsula

Spain

Portugal

Africa

Algeria

Ethiopia

South Africa

Morocco

Liberia

North America

Canada

In the prior decade, the desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[21] The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.[22] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[23]

United States

The first U.S. postage stamps have portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Though highly collectable, they are far from being the most valuable.
May 29: Wisconsin admitted as the 30th U.S. state.
Slavery
Native Americans

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was predicted to have been born in the 1840s

Presidents

The United States had five different Presidents during the decade. Only the 1880s would have as many. Martin Van Buren was President when the decade began, but was defeated by William Henry Harrison in the U.S. presidential election of 1840. Harrison's service was the shortest in history, starting with his inauguration on March 4, 1841, and ending when he died on April 4, 1841.

Harrison's vice president, John Tyler, replaced him as President (the first Presidential succession in U.S. history), and served out the rest of his term. Tyler spent much of his term in conflict with the Whig party. He ended his term having made an alliance with the Democrats, endorsing James K. Polk and signing the resolution to annex Texas into the United States.

In the Presidential election of 1844, James K. Polk defeated Henry Clay. During his presidency, Polk oversaw the U.S. victory in the Mexican–American War and subsequent annexation of what is now the southwest United States. He also negotiated a split of the Oregon Territory with Great Britain.

November 7: The first US presidential election held in every state on the same day sees Whig Zachary Taylor of Virginia defeat Democrat Lewis Cass of Michigan.

In the U.S. presidential election of 1848, Whig Zachary Taylor of Louisiana defeated Democrat Lewis Cass of Michigan. Taylor's term in office was cut short by his death in 1850.

California

Texas

Mexican–American War

Mexican–American War

In 1845, the United States of America annexed Texas, which had won independence from Centralist Republic of Mexico in the Texas Revolution of 1836. Nevertheless, Mexico still considered Texas part of its territory, declaring war on the U.S., and starting the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).

Combat operations lasted a year and a half, from the spring of 1846 to the fall of 1847. American forces quickly occupied New Mexico and California, then invaded parts of Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico; meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron conducted a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the Pacific coast farther south in Baja California Territory. Another American army captured Mexico City, and the war ended in a victory for the United States.

American territorial expansion to the Pacific coast was a major goal of U.S. President James K. Polk.[25] Thus, in the war-ending Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the U.S. forced Mexican Cession of the territories of Alta California and New Mexico to the United States in exchange for $15 million, In addition, the United States assumed $3.25 million of debt owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico accepted the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border.

Mexico

El Salvador

Caribbean

Barbados

Dominican Republic

Haiti

Trinidad

South America

Brazil

Uruguay

Paraguay

Argentina

Venezuela

Peru

Chile

Science and Technology

June 15: Charles Goodyear.

Astronomy

Photography

The 1840s saw the rise of the Daguerreotype. Introduced in 1839, the Daguerreotype was the first publicly announced photographic process and came into widespread use in the 1840s. Numerous events in the 1840s were captured by photography for the first time with the use of the Daguerreotype. A number of daguerrotypes were taken of the occupation of Saltillo during the Mexican–American War, in 1847 by an unknown photographer. These photographs stand as the first ever photos of warfare in history.

Telegraph

Computers

Chemistry

Geology

Physics

Biology

July 3: great auk.

Paleontology

Psychology

Economics

February 21: Karl Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto.

Medicine

Exploration

Antarctica

Transportation

Rail

Widespread interest to invest in rail technology led to a speculative frenzy in Britain, known there as Railway Mania. It reached its zenith in 1846, when no fewer than 272 Acts of Parliament were passed, setting up new railway companies, and the proposed routes totalled 9,500 miles (15,300 km) of new railway. Around a third of the railways authorised were never built – the company either collapsed due to poor financial planning, was bought out by a larger competitor before it could build its line, or turned out to be a fraudulent enterprise to channel investors' money into another business.

Steam power

January 13: Steamship Lexington sinks.
July 4: RMS Britannia.
July 19: SS Great Britain launch.

Other inventions

Commerce

Civil rights

Women's rights

Popular culture

Literature

Theatre

Music

Sports

Fashion

Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort at home, 1841. Her dress shows the fashionable silhouette, with its pointed waist, sloping shoulder, and bell-shaped skirt.

Fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a narrow, natural shoulder line following the exaggerated puffed sleeves of the later 1820s fashion and 1830s fashion. The narrower shoulder was accompanied by a lower waistline for both men and women.

Art

Religion and Philosophy

Disasters, natural events, and notable mishaps

February 28: USS Princeton deaths.

Cholera

The second cholera pandemic (1829–1849), also known as the Asiatic Cholera Pandemic, was a Cholera pandemic that reached from India across western Asia to Europe, Great Britain and the Americas, as well as east to China and Japan.[58] Cholera caused more deaths, more quickly, than any other epidemic disease in the 19th century. It is exclusively a human disease, and it can spread through many means of travel, such as by persons via caravan, ship, and aeroplanes. Cholera is known most popularly to spread through warm fecal-contaminated river waters and contaminated foods. The causative microorganisms (Cholera vibrio) flourish by reaching humans. It is treatable with oral re-hydration therapy and preventable with adequate sanitation and water treatment.

Over 15,000 people died of cholera in Mecca in 1846.[10] A two-year outbreak began in England and Wales in 1848, and claimed 52,000 lives.[11]

In 1849, a second major outbreak occurred in Paris. In London, it was the worst outbreak in the city's history, claiming 14,137 lives, over twice as many as the 1832 outbreak. Cholera hit Ireland in 1849 and killed many of the Irish Famine survivors, already weakened by starvation and fever.[12] In 1849, cholera claimed 5,308 lives in the major port city of Liverpool, England, an embarkation point for immigrants to North America, and 1,834 in Hull, England.[6]

An outbreak in North America took the life of former U.S. President James K. Polk. Cholera, believed spread from Irish immigrant ship(s) from England, spread throughout the Mississippi river system, killing over 4,500 in St. Louis[6] and over 3,000 in New Orleans.[6] Thousands died in New York City, a major destination for Irish immigrants.[6]Cholera claimed 200,000 victims in Mexico.[13]

That year, cholera was transmitted along the California, Mormon and Oregon Trails as 6,000 to 12,000[14] are believed to have died on their way to the California Gold Rush, Utah and Oregon in the cholera years of 1849–1855.[6] It is believed more than 150,000 Americans died during the two pandemics between 1832 and 1849.[15][16]

During this pandemic, the scientific community varied in its beliefs about the causes of cholera. In France doctors believed cholera was associated with the poverty of certain communities or poor environment. Russians believed the disease was contagious, although doctors did not understand how it spread. The United States believed that cholera was brought by recent immigrants, specifically the Irish, and epidemiologists understand they were carrying disease from British ports. Lastly, some British thought the disease might rise from divine intervention.[17]

Establishments

Publications

Institutions

Asia

Australia

Europe

Tivoli Gardens

Africa

North America

Other

People

World leaders

  1. Mohammad Shah Qajar, (b. 1810 – d. 1848) Shah from 1834 to 1848
  2. Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, 1848–1896

Deaths

References

  1. ↑ "When Will the Great Game End?". orientalreview.org. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  2. ↑ Gandamak at britishbattles.com
  3. ↑ Dattar, C. L. "ZORĀWAR SIṄGH (1786-1841)". Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Punjabi University Patiala.
  4. 1 2 Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
  5. ↑ R.J.W. Evans and Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann, eds., The Revolutions in Europe 1848–1849 (2000) pp v, 4
  6. ↑ Serbia's Role in the Conflict in Vojvodina 1848-49, Ohio State University, http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/rz/serbvio.htm
  7. ↑ Nor did it reach Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, or the Ottoman Empire. Evans and Strandmann (2000) p 2
  8. ↑ Stoica, Vasile (1919). The Roumanian Question: The Roumanians and their Lands. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Printing Company. p. 23.
  9. ↑ "WHKMLA : History of Sweden".
  10. ↑ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 269–270. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  11. ↑ "The Irish Potato Famine". Digital History. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  12. ↑ Woodham-Smith, Cecil (1991), The Great Hunger, p. 19
  13. ↑ Kinealy, Christine (1994), This Great Calamity, Gill & Macmillan, pp. xvi–ii, 2–3, ISBN 0-7171-4011-3
  14. ↑ O'Neill, Joseph R. (2009), The Irish Potato Famine, ABDO, p. 1, ISBN 978-1-60453-514-3
  15. ↑ Ó Gráda, Cormac (2006), Ireland's Great Famine: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Dublin Press, p. 7, ISBN 978-1-904558-57-6
  16. ↑ Killen, Richard (2003), A Short History of Modern Ireland, Gill and Macmillan Ltd
  17. ↑ Vaughan, W.E; Fitzpatrick, A.J (1978), W. E. Vaughan; A. J. Fitzpatrick, eds., Irish Historical Statistics, Population, 1821/1971, Royal Irish Academy
  18. ↑ Donnelly, James S., Jr. (1995), Poirteir, Cathal, ed., Mass Eviction and the Irish Famine: The Clearances Revisited", from The Great Irish Famine, Dublin, Ireland: Mercier Press
  19. ↑ Giraud, Victor (1890). Les lacs de l'Afrique Équatoriale : voyage d'exploration exécuté de 1883 à 1885 (in French). Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie. p. 31.
  20. ↑ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 266–267. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  21. ↑ Buckner, Philip, ed. (2008). Canada and the British Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 37–40, 56–59, 114, 124–125. ISBN 978-0-19-927164-1.
  22. ↑ Romney, Paul (Spring 1989). "From Constitutionalism to Legalism: Trial by Jury, Responsible Government, and the Rule of Law in the Canadian Political Culture". Law and History Review. University of Illinois Press. 7 (1): 128. doi:10.2307/743779.
  23. ↑ Evenden, Leonard J; Turbeville, Daniel E (1992). "The Pacific Coast Borderland and Frontier". In Janelle, Donald G. Geographical snapshots of North America. Guilford Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-89862-030-6.
  24. ↑ Dallas Historical Society (2002-12-30). "Dallas History". Retrieved 2006-04-20.
  25. ↑ Rives. The United States and Mexico, vol. 2. p. 658.
  26. ↑ When the British decided they were going to bring Indians to Trinidad this year, most of the traditional British ship owners did not wish to be involved. The ship was originally named Cecrops, but upon delivery was renamed to Fath Al Razack. The ship left Calcutta on February 16.
  27. ↑ Fuegi, John; Francis, Jo (October–December 2003). "Lovelace & Babbage and the creation of the 1843 'notes'". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 25 (4): 16–26. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2003.1253887.
  28. ↑ "Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace". Archived from the original on 21 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  29. ↑ Menabrea, L. F. (1843). "Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage". Scientific Memoirs. 3. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  30. ↑ von Mayer, J. R. (1842). "Bemerkungen über die Kräfte der unbelebten Nature ("Remarks on the forces of inorganic nature")". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 43: 233–40. doi:10.1002/jlac.18420420212. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  31. ↑ "William Rowan Hamilton Plaque". Geograph. 2007. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  32. ↑ Joule, J. P. (1843). "On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat". Abstracts of the Papers Communicated to the Royal Society of London. 5: 839. doi:10.1098/rspl.1843.0196. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  33. ↑ Owen, R. (1842). "Report on British Fossil Reptiles." Part II. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Plymouth, England.
  34. ↑ First communicated to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, November 10, and published in a pamphlet, Notice of a New Anæsthetic Agent, in Edinburgh, November 12.
  35. ↑ Gordon, H. Laing (2002). Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811–1870). Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4102-0291-8. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  36. ↑ "Antarctic Exploration — Chronology". Quark Expeditions. 2004. Archived from the original on 2006-09-08. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
  37. ↑ Guillon, Jacques (1986). Dumont d'Urville. Paris: France-Empire. ISBN 2-7048-0472-9.
  38. ↑ Ross, Voyage to the Southern Seas, 1, pp. 216–8.
  39. ↑ Coleman, E. C. (2006). The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration, from Frobisher to Ross. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 0-7524-3660-0.
  40. ↑ Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 263–264. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
  41. ↑ "Royal Visit". The Bristol Mirror. 20 July 1843. pp. 1–2.
  42. ↑ Meggs, Philip B. (1998). A History of Graphic Design (3rd ed.). Wiley. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-471-29198-5. It receives U.S. Patent 5,199 in 1847 and is placed in commercial use the same year.
  43. ↑ Fox, Stephen (2003). Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-019595-3.
  44. ↑ "Great Britain". The Ships List. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  45. ↑ U.S. Patent 4,750
  46. ↑ Buday, György (1992). "The history of the Christmas card". Omnigraphics: 8.
  47. ↑ Spielmann, Marion Harry (1895). The History of "Punch". p. 27.
  48. ↑ Hart, Hugh (2010-06-28). "June 28, 1846: Parisian Inventor Patents Saxophone". Wired. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  49. ↑ Bonham, Valerie (2004). "Hughes, Marian Rebecca (1817–1912)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-11-26. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  50. ↑ "Beliefs". Seventh-day Adventist Church.
  51. ↑ Shoghi, Effendi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 58. ISBN 0-87743-020-9. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  52. ↑ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1995). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan. p. 287. ISBN 0-333-57688-8.
  53. ↑ "The Great Yarmouth Suspension Bridge Disaster – May 2nd 1845" (PDF). Broadland Memories. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
  54. ↑ The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. 1999. p. 549. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
  55. ↑ "The Exmouth - a terrible tragedy on Islay". Isle of Islay. 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  56. ↑ "The Exmouth shipwreck off the Antrim Coast, Northern Ireland". My Secret Northern Ireland. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  57. ↑ Lubbock, Basil (1933). The Opium Clippers. Boston, MA: Charles E. Lauriat Co. p. 310.
  58. ↑ "Cholera's seven pandemics". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-11.Note: The second pandemic started in India and reached Russia by 1830, then spreading into Finland and Poland. A two-year outbreak began in England in October 1831 and claimed 22,000 lives. Irish immigrants fleeing poverty and the Great Potato Famine, carried the disease from Europe to North America. Soon after the immigrants' arrival in Canada in the summer of 1832, 1,220 people died in Montreal and another 1,000 across Quebec. The disease entered the U.S. via ship traffic through Detroit and New York City. Spread by ship passengers, it reached Latin America by 1833. Another outbreak across England and Wales began in 1848, killing 52,000 over two years.
  59. ↑ "The History of Birkenhead Park". Retrieved 2007-09-13.
  60. ↑ "Luce Ben Aben School of Arab Embroidery I, Algiers, Algeria". World Digital Library. 1899. Retrieved 2013-09-26.

Further reading

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