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Charles Dickens publishes Oliver Twist in periodical form
In this novel, Dickens recounts the story of a young boy, Oliver Twist, who survives a terrible childhood full of factory work and mistreatment only to escape to a tweenhood just as horrible. Dickens made an attempt with this story to point out the atrocities of child labor and the horrid conditions of factories of the day, hoping that his readers would recognize how plausible the events in the book were. He was reform-minded and wanted to improve the country one page at a time. -
Victoria becomes queen of the United Kingdom of Geat Britain and Ireland
Victoria ascended the throne (technically) the moment the king died, when the girl was only 18. She held the throne for the longest of anybody else in history. Victoria's reign is most commonly associated with the vast economic and industrial reforms and improvements that occurred therein. -
William Wordsworth becomes poet laureate
Wordsworth, whose name preceded his talents, was born in England into a relatively well-off family, Much of his work is influenced by the death of his mother when he was eight years old. His father then died while William was away in grammar school; then it was just his siblings and him. In adulthood he conceived one illegitimate child and had five with his childhood sweetheart, Mary Hutchinson; two of the children died in the same year. -
Potato famine begins in Ireland
Potatoes are to Ireland as oranges would be to California if California subsisted on nearly nothing but citrus. In 1845 when a sudden wave of a new mold began overtaking potato crops, vast numbers of people were wiped out. In just five years, the population of Ireland had been cut by nearly a quarter. -
Alfred, Lord Tennyson becomes a poet laureate
Tennyson was one of the writing prodigies of his day. He was the fourth of twelve children and composed an epic of 6,000 lines at age twelve. His father was an alcoholic and would take violent spells, leading Alfred to leave home at age 18 and immediately publish a book of poetry with his brother Charles. After a few more publications, Tennyson's writing fell out of favor because it was deemed "affected" and "obscure." -
In France, Victor Hugo publishes Les Miserables
Jokes abound online about Hugo's vicious, bloody account of the French Revolution, mostly that it could be subtitled "Death and Crying: The Musical." True enough, the French Revolution was an incredibly violent time, and Hugo's epic novel covering it was no exaggeration. Families were ripped apart, siblings against siblings, fathers against sons, etc. until the end of the war, when the country managed to begin rebuilding. -
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declares slavery illegal in Confederate Territories
Contrary to popular belief, the Emancipation Proclamation did indeed make slavery illegal, but it didn't free a single slave. The Union states were upset with Lincoln for dragging his feet, so they didn't listen. The Confederate states didn't appreciate Lincoln taking away their labor force, so they didn't listen either. The real release of slaves didn't happen until quite a bit later on. -
Mohandas K. Gandhi is born in India
Mohandas Gandhi led the great Indian revolt against British rule beginning in 1919. By the end of the following year, he had become a prominent figure in Indian and British politics for his nonviolent methods of protest. He was imprisoned multiple times and not disheartened by a single one of them. -
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Appears
Samuel Clemens (pen name Mark Twain) had a childhood full of uproar, mainly in the form of moving house and several family deaths. The uproar was halted when he was 13 and left home to apprentice with a printer, and at 17 he became a pilot's assistant with whom he fabricated his pen name. "Mark twain" means that the depth of water a ship is in is safe to navigate. -
Queen Victoria dies
After reigning for nearly 64 years, setting an as-yet-unbroken record, the great Alexandrina Victoria passed on at age 82. She was buried with honor next to Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum, which she had commissioned to be built just for him and herself. Her last words are engraved above the door.
