Acknowledgements
Wells Fargo:
licensed under Creative Commons – logos.wikia.com/Wells_Fargo. First
Aeroplane: Sir George Cayley in his 1849 “Boy
Carrier” – The Aviation History Online Museum (http://aviation-
1845
The American Erastus Bigelow begins work on the development of a power loom for the manufacture of carpets.
1838 Grace Darling, aged 23, daughter of a lighthouse keeper on the Farne islands, off
the north-
of nine shipwrecked seamen. But her
fame was short-
yeas later. Hundreds attended her funeral and the Queen sent a message of sympathy.
In
1840 the Irish artist William
Mulready produces the decorated pre-
,
the world’s first postage stamp.
First
issue
appears
in
1841.
1841 The dwarf Tom Thumb starts work in
Phineas Taylor Barnum’s exhibition of freaks and curios. He was just 25 inches in height and weighed 15 lbs. He later appeared before Queen Victoria.
Va-
1837. The
Englishman Isaac
Pitman (1813-
1839
The first Grand National steeplechase is run at Aintree, Liverpool, England.
1839
The first Royal Regatta is held on the Thames at Henley, Oxfordshire.
England.
The distinguished Union general Abner Doubleday is credited with inventing the game of baseball, first played on Elihu Phinney’s cow pasture in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. However, he himself never claimed to be the inventor!
1840 Work begins on the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament, London, designed by Charles Barry, assisted by the English architect Augustus Welby Pugin.
The Belgian Antoine-
in Trafalgar Square, London, is completed in 1843.
The Corinthian granite column is
some 170 ft high, and before the 18 ft figure of Nelson was put in
place, 14 stonemasons sat down to dinner on the platform at the top!
The statue was by the English sculptor Edward Hodges Bailey (1788-
1845
The Portland Vase, a Roman vase from the 1st century, is smashed to pieces by a vandal. It was painstakingly restored but 37 fragments were missing. These came to light in 1948 and after several attempts the vase was successfully restored in 1987. At one time owned by the Duke of Portland, it can be seen in the British Museum, London.
The
American Elias Howe (1819-
Duringxan evening in 1847
the Reverend Henry Francis Lyte, sitting
in his garden overlooking Torbay in Devon, England, composes the
words of the world-
A French gardener, Joseph Monier, invents reinforced concrete for garden tubs and, later, beams and posts.
1848
The American Schooner America wins the first yacht race
around the Isle of Wight in 1851 and gives its name to the
annual yacht race, won continuously by America until 1983!
In that year Australia II won the America’s Cup and broke the
winning streak, the longest run of wins achieved in any sport.
In America Wells Fargo and Company is founded in 1852 to provide banking facilities and a stagecoach service. Initially formed in response to the Californian Gold Rush, it soon starts operating across the nation.
In
1853 the French town-
The major part of the plan is completed by 1870, but work goes on to the end of the century.
The German Henry Steinway (Heinrich E. Steinweg) and his sons begin
manufacturing 
in New York in 1853 and soon gain a
reputation for the quality of their work. Three years later his
fellow countryman, Karl
Bechstein founds his piano factory in Berlin and builds some of the finest
instruments of his day. Over the next fifty years his factory produced more
than 62,000 pianos and grand pianos.
In 1854 the first Meteorological Office is founded in London, UK.
(It was later moved to a
purpose-
ThexGerman
chemist Robert Bunsen (1811-
1855
The longest fight in bare knuckle boxing (fisticuffs)
takes place in Melbourne, Australia, in 1856. Fought between James Kelly and Jack Smith, it lasts for 186 rounds, a total of 6hrs and 15 minutes!
The ship’s bell, salvaged from the
wreck of HMS Lutine in 1858
-
1858 The dance known as “The Can Can”, originating in the Paris stage production of the opera Orpheus in the Underworld, becomes all the rage.
is made
In the French town of Lourdes, a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous claims to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary over a five month period in 1858. Later declared authentic by the Pope, the grotto where the appearances occurred becomes a place of pilgrimage, visited by thousands of Christians every year.
In
1859 the 13-
after Sir Benjamin Hall (the commissioner of works at this
time) is installed in the clock tower at the east end of the Houses
of Parliament, Westminster, London. Later, the clock itself becomes
known as Big Ben.
In 1859 the French acrobat Charles
Blondin crosses the Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
His feat is watched by some 25,000 people. He made later crossings in style – blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow, on stilts, in a sack, and stopping to sit down half way to make himself an omelette!
In 1859, after a great deal of difficulty, the American Edwin Drake drills the first oil well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, and collects oil in a bath tub. But the man who founded the oil industry failed to patent his drilling invention and so made very little money out of his find!
The world’s first Dog Show is held in Newcastle, Northumberland, England, in 1859.
1859
Queensland breaks away from New South Wales and makes Brisbane its capital city.
1860
Start of the British open golf championship.
Return of the Welsh eisteddfod.
1861
appear in London.
1861
In 1861 a telephone wire is strung across
-
the United States from New York to San Francisco, heralding the beginning of the
end for the pony express.
The Frenchman Pierre
Lallement (1843-
A glider, designed by the English
inventor Sir George Cayley (1773-
