1866 CE

Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of St Petersburg. House of Representatives elections: Despite President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle tour, the Republican Party wins in a landslide. The Oaks explosion in the Barnsley seam in Yorkshire kills 361 coal miners; a subsidiary explosion the following day kills 27 rescuers. This is the all-time worst colliery or mining disaster in England, and the worst mining accident in the U.K. until 1913.

In the 1860s, the 19th century.

1866 at a glance

World population
about 1.32 billion Our World in Data
United States
Andrew Johnson (President) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602
United Kingdom
Victoria (Queen); John Russell, then Edward Smith-Stanley (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602
Russian Empire
Alexander II (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602
Qing dynasty
Tongzhi (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602
Second French Empire
Napoleon III (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602
Tokugawa shogunate of Japan
Kōmei (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1370561602

Who led every country in 1866 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 13 – The United States Congress overwhelmingly passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans; U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill on March 27, and Congress overrides the veto on April 9.source
  • April 8 – The kingdoms of Italy and Prussia form an alliance against the Austrian Empire.source
  • May 16 – The United States Congress approves the minting of a nickel 5-cent coin (nickel), eliminating its predecessor, the half dime.source
  • May 16 – The U.S. Congress approves the minting of a nickel 5-cent coin (nickel), eliminating its predecessor, the half dime.United Statessource
  • June 8 – The Parliament of Canada meets for the first time in Ottawa.source
  • 12 June – Partial legislative elections of 1866Belgiumsource
  • June 22 – In Sweden, the Riksdag of the Estates votes to replace itself by an elected two-chamber Riksdag.source
  • July 10 – Reconstruction Treaty with Choctaw & Chickasaw, completing the abolition of slavery in the United States; see also Choctaw freedmen.source
  • July 13 (July 1 Old Style) – The first Constitution of Romania is issued.source
  • July 24 – Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.source
  • July 25 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the four-star rank of General of the Army (later reestablished as a five-star rank); Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.source
  • August 6 – The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia are united, bearing the Mainland's name as the Colony of British Columbia, with the Island capital, Victoria, as the seat of government of the united colony.Canadasource
  • 15 August – John Manners-Sutton becomes Governor of VictoriaAustraliasource
  • August 23 – The Treaty of Prague formally ends the Austro-Prussian War. The German Federation is abolished (with the Duchy of Limburg and Luxemburg controlled by the Netherlands), the Habsburgs vow not to interfere in any reorganisation of Germany under Prussian leadership and cede Veneto.source
  • September 20 – The Kingdom of Prussia formally annexes the Kingdom of Hanover and King George V of Hanover goes into exile.source
  • October 12 – The Treaty of Vienna ends the war between Austria and Italy; it formalizes the annexation of Venetia by Italy.source
  • October 22 – The office of State President of the South African Republic is created by constitutional amendment approved at a session of the Volksraad.source
  • Chilean presidential election, 1866Chilesource
  • The Third Pre-Independence Law Commission passed the Draft Contract LawIndiasource
  • New Zealand Cup winner: NaurmahalNew Zealandsource
  • The town of Kopervik is founded.Norwaysource

Conflict & Security

  • January 6 – Ottoman troops clash with supporters of Maronite leader Youssef Bey Karam, at St. Doumit in Lebanon; the Ottomans are defeated.source
  • January 31 – Paraguayan War: The Battle of Pehuajó takes place when about 1500 Paraguayan troops, commanded by General Francisco Isidoro Resquín and Lieutenant Celestino Prieto, engage in a surprise attack Argentinian and Uruguayan battalions with around 2000 men, led by General Emilio Conesa; the Paraguayans are successful and the joint Argentine-Uruguayan force suffers heavy casualties.Argentinasource
  • February 7 – Battle of Abtao: A Spanish naval squadron fights a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet, at the island of Abtao, in the Chiloé Archipelago of southern Chile.source
  • April 4 – Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of St Petersburg.source
  • April 16 - Paraguayan War: Brazilian troops, under Marshal Manuel Luís Osório, cross the Rio Paraguay and stop at Fort Itapirú.Brazilsource
  • May 1–3 – The Memphis massacre: a rebellion with a series of violent racial events.source
  • May 2 – Battle of Callao: Peruvian defenders fight the Spanish fleet.source
  • May 2 - Chincha Islands War: Battle of CallaoPerusource
  • May 2 - Paraguayan War: Battle of Estero BellacoUruguaysource
  • May 7 – Student Ferdinand Cohen-Blind makes a failed attempt to assassinate Otto von Bismarck in Unter den Linden in Berlin.source
  • May 24 – Battle of Tuyutí: 32,000 soldiers of the Triple Alliance defeat 24,000 Paraguayan soldiers few miles north of the Paraná, Argentina, in the Paraguayan War, with 16,000 casualties.source
  • June 2 – Fenian forces skirmish with Canadian militia at the battles of Ridgeway and Fort Erie.source
  • June 14 – The Austro-Prussian War ("Seven Weeks War") begins when the Austrians and most of the medium-size German states declare war on Prussia.source
  • June 20 – The Kingdom of Italy declares war on Austria.source
  • June 27–29 – Battle of Langensalza: The Prussians defeat the Hanoverian army.source
  • July 3 – Battle of Königgrätz: the Prussian army under King Wilhelm and Helmuth von Moltke defeats the Austrian army of Ludwig von Benedek, leading to a decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War.source
  • July 20 – Austro-Prussian War: Naval Battle of Lissa – The Austrian fleet under Wilhelm von Tegetthoff defeats the Italian fleet of Carlo di Persano.source
  • July 22 – Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Blumenau – Austrians defend Bratislava against the Prussian army, concluding the fighting in the war.source
  • August 22 - Chincha Islands War: Action of 22 August 1866Chilesource
  • 8 September – The Blood or bread riots begin as unemployed men attempt to storm government stores; the riots continue to the 10thAustraliasource
  • September 22 – Paraguay successfully defends Curupayty against the Triple Alliance in the Paraguayan War, killing more than 5,000 while sustaining just about 50 casualties.source
  • 12 October: The Battle of Omaranui takes place near Napier.New Zealandsource
  • Federalist revolts occur in Argentina.source
  • British Indian administration established a post at Samaguting to end intertribal warfare and tribal raids on property and personnel in NagalandIndiasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • February 26 – The Calaveras Skull is discovered in California. Purported to be evidence of humans in North America during the Pliocene epoch, it turns out to be a hoax.source
  • 10 October – Dandenong Market opens in South-East Melbourne.Australiasource
  • October 14 – French troops under the command of Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze land at Ganghwa Island, Korea, as part of a punitive expedition against that kingdom for the execution of French Jesuit priests. It is the first military contact between Korea and a Western force.source
  • 24 October – The Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia opens in Melbourne.Australiasource
  • Erasmus Jacobs discovers the 21.25 carats Eureka Diamond near Hopetown on the banks of the Orange River in the Cape of Good Hope.source
  • Allahabad High Court was established as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces at Agra on 17 MarchIndiasource
  • St. Mary's Convent Inter College was established in Allahabad, Uttar PradeshIndiasource
  • Murray, John (1869). The Knapsack Guide to Norway. London: J. Murray. p. 103.Norwaysource
  • The Denholm Group is established by John Denholm of Greenock as a shipping agency.Scotlandsource
  • Samurai Yamao Yōzō, one of the Chōshū Five, begins 2 years studying marine engineering in Glasgow.Scotlandsource
  • Morris Brothers department store established at Tenby; it will still be trading 150 years later.Walessource

Religion & Belief

  • 19 March – Sister Mary MacKillop founds the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart at Penola, South Australia.Australiasource
  • June 11 – The Agra High Court is established (later shifted to the Allahabad High Court).source
  • 15 June – Contract signed for Covering of the SenneBelgiumsource
  • July — Launch of Yr Australydd, a Welsh language Calvinistic Methodist newspaper, in Victoria (Australia), edited by William Meirion Evans and Theophilus Williams.Walessource
  • September 8 - establishment of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, Aguada, MontevideoUruguaysource
  • October 7–21 – The Second Plenary Council of American Roman Catholic bishops is held in Baltimore.United Statessource
  • Pétur Pétursson became the fourth Bishop of Iceland, succeeding Helgi G. Thordersen in the position.Icelandsource
  • Coimbatore was constituted as a municipality.Indiasource
  • St Andrew's Church, Lisbon established by the Free Church of Scotland.Portugalsource

Economy & Finance

  • 7 January – Le Peuple (predecessor organisation of Belgian Labour Party) joins First International.Belgiumsource
  • 17 April – The Tariff Bill passes through the Parliament of Victoria; Australia's first protective tariffs become law the following day.Australiasource
  • May 10 – London bank Overend, Gurney and Company collapses, precipitating Panic of 1866.source
  • 11 May – London bank Overend, Gurney and Company collapses precipitating a financial crisis.United Kingdomsource
  • 20 July – Arthur Macalister resigns as Premier of Queensland during a bank crisis, he resumes his post on 7 August as the crisis easedAustraliasource
  • December 4 – The London Conference on resolutions discussed in 1864, to be added to the British North America Act.Canadasource
  • Magirus, as predecessor of a major worldwide commercial vehicles manufacturing brand, Iveco, is founded in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.source
  • Foundation of the predecessors of Nestlé S.A., the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé.source
  • The piano manufacturer Heintzman & Co. is incorporated.Canadasource
  • The Viceroy's Executive Council, Sir Henry Maine and Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, passed the Indian Companies ActIndiasource
  • Machilipatnam Municipal Corporation was constituted as a municipalityIndiasource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • May: The New Zealander stops publishing after its office burns down. The Auckland-based newspaper started publishing in 1845.New Zealandsource
  • June 9 – At Danville, Canada East, a fire breaks out in a railway car containing 2,000 lb of ammunition. Private Timothy O'Hea, an Irish soldier, will be awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership and initiative in fighting the fire.Canadasource
  • July 27 – The SS Great Eastern successfully completes laying the transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Ireland, and Heart's Content, Newfoundland, permanently restoring a communications link.source
  • 27 August – Antwerp city council makes Dutch the official language of city business.Belgiumsource
  • September 24 – Western Union Telegraph Expedition to Alaska begins its second season, the first after the death of Robert KennicottUnited Statessource
  • November 7 – The Ruse–Varna railway line (the first railway in Bulgaria) officially opens.source
  • 24 November – Richard Dry becomes Premier of TasmaniaAustraliasource
  • The Minneapolis Milling Company, predecessor of General Mills, builds its own mills.source
  • Laksar Junction opened in Laksar, UttarakhandIndiasource
  • Kalinin Machine-Building PlantRussiasource
  • The inauguration of the Norrköping Central Station.Swedensource

Science & Discovery

  • March 31 – A total lunar eclipse occurs.source
  • June 5 – Calculations indicate Pluto (not known at this time) reaches its only aphelion (furthest point from the Sun) between 1618 and August 2113.source
  • July 28 – The Metric Act of 1866 becomes law and legalizes the use of the metric system for weights and measures in the United States.United Statessource
  • 22 August – SS Ottawa departs from Copenhagen as the first emigration ship between Copenhagen and New York City.Denmarksource
  • Marcus Jastrow arrives in the United States to become rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.source
  • Alfred Nobel – invents dynamite in Germany.Germanysource
  • Order of the Star of India was expanded to three classesIndiasource
  • New Zealand Derby winner: NebulaNew Zealandsource
  • The last Kirkcaldy whaler, The Brilliant, is sold to Peterhead.Scotlandsource
  • Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1866.Swedensource
  • Rees Howell Gronow — Last RecollectionsWalessource

Health & Medicine

  • Fresh outbreaks in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp of 1863–75 cholera pandemic.Belgiumsource
  • July – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson opens the St Mary's Dispensary in the Marylebone district of London where women can seek medical advice from exclusively female practitioners.United Kingdomsource
  • 17 October — First confirmed death from a cholera epidemic in Carnarvon.Walessource
  • Peter Edmund Jones graduates from Queen's University, becoming Canada's first indigenous medical doctorCanadasource
  • Straits Settlements Act (British statute)Indiasource
  • Emmy Rappe are sent to Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at St Thomas' Hospital in London in order to be educated in nursing.Swedensource
  • Elizabeth Stride emigrate to London in Great Britain.Swedensource
  • General Post Office writes to all urban householders without a front door letter box urging them to provide one.United Kingdomsource

Crime & Justice

  • February 13 – The first daylight bank robbery in United States history during peacetime takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This is considered to be the first robbery committed by Jesse James and his gang, although James's role is disputed.source
  • October 6 – The Reno Gang commits the first train robbery in the United States, taking a total of $13,000.United Statessource
  • 21 October – Risk Allah Bey brought to trial in Brussels on charges of murder and forgery.Belgiumsource
  • 7 December – John Granville Grenfell, gold commissioner, killed by bushrangers near NarromineAustraliasource
  • José de Alencar - As minas de prata (part 2).Brazilsource
  • Calcutta Police Act, 1866 and the Calcutta Suburban Police Act, 1866 create the Kolkata Police ForceIndiasource
  • Moscow Criminal Investigations DepartmentRussiasource
  • Foundation of the Stockholms Allmänna Skyddsförening.Swedensource
  • John Owen (Owain Alaw) — Gŵyl GwaliaWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 12 – British auxiliary steamer SS London sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, on passage from the Thames to Australia, with the loss of 244 people, and only 19 survivors.source
  • 12 January – Auxiliary steamer SS London sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay on passage from Gravesend to Australia with the loss of 244 people and only 19 survivors.United Kingdomsource
  • July 4 – The Great Fire of Portland, Maine kills two and leaves 10,000 homeless in the worst fire in an American city at this time.United Statessource
  • 12 July – SS Cawarra was wrecked off Newcastle, only 1 of 61 passengers and crew surviveAustraliasource
  • 18 July – The passenger vessel Netherby is wrecked off King Island, all 450 on board survivedAustraliasource
  • India officially stops sending Indian labourers to Natal.South Africasource
  • December 12– Oaks explosion: The worst mining disaster in England kills 383 miners and rescuers.source
  • 12 December – the Oaks explosion in the Barnsley seam in Yorkshire kills 361 coal miners; a subsidiary explosion the following day kills 27 rescuers. This is the all-time worst colliery or mining disaster in England, and the worst mining accident in the U.K. until 1913.United Kingdomsource
  • The meteorite Jamkheir fell in Maharashtra on 5 OctoberIndiasource
  • 12–13 July – The town of Drammen is destroyed by fire, with the flames visible from Christiana (now Oslo) 36 km (22 mi) away. Tingle, Joseph Child (25 August 1866). "A Town in Ashes". All the Year Round. XVI (383). London: 150–153.Norwaysource

Climate & Environment

  • January 26 – Volcanic eruption in the Santorini caldera begins.source
  • November 5 – House of Representatives elections: Despite President Andrew Johnson's Swing Around the Circle tour, the Republican Party wins in a landslide.United Statessource
  • The Famine of 1866–68 begins in Finland.source
  • 47 million people were affected by the Orissa famine of 1866Indiasource

Culture & Society

  • January 1 – The last issue of the abolitionist magazine The Liberator is published.source
  • January 1 – Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee.source
  • January 12 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed as The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in London, the world's oldest such society.source
  • January 18 – Wesley College, Melbourne, is established.source
  • 28 January – "Manifeste des ouvriers", drafted by Edmond Picard, calls for universal manhood suffrage.Belgiumsource
  • March 1 – Stellenbosch Gymnasium is opened, later to be renamed Stellenbosch University.South Africasource
  • April 10 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.source
  • May 26 – First production of the comic opera Cox and Box by F. C. Burnand and Arthur Sullivan at Moray Lodge, Kensingtonsource
  • May 30 – Bedrich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premiered in Prague.source
  • May–June – The 1866 New Brunswick electionCanadasource
  • 20 June – Adelaide's town Hall opensAustraliasource
  • July 5 – Princess Helena, third daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.source
  • July 28 – The Metric Act of 1866 becomes law and legalizes the standardization of weights and measures in the United States.source
  • September – The Great Tea Race of 1866 ends in London, narrowly won by the clipper ship Taeping.source
  • December 18 – The College of Wooster is founded in Ohio.source
  • The recommendations of the state Girls' School Committee of 1866 result in a series of progressive reforms in women's rights in Sweden.source
  • Arthur Napoleão dos Santos - O remorso vivo (opera).Brazilsource
  • Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi established the Darul Uloom Deoband on 31 May 1866, founding the Deobandi movementIndiasource
  • The Union Rowing Club of Christchurch is formed.New Zealandsource
  • Alexander III marries Maria Sophie Feodorovna of DenmarkRussiasource

Births

Deaths

  • January 23 – Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (born 1785)source
  • January (date unknown) – Thomas Baldwin Marsh, American religious leader (born 1799)source
  • February 15 – Juan Gregorio de las Heras, military leader (born 1780)Argentinasource
  • March 4 – Alexander Campbell, Irish/U.S. founder of the Disciples of Christ (born 1788)source
  • March 6 – William Whewell, English scientist, philosopher and historian of science (born 1794)source
  • March 9 – Jakob Joseph Matthys, Swiss Catholic priest (born 1802)source
  • March 24 – Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of France (born 1782)source
  • March 29 – John Keble, British churchman (born 1792)source
  • April 7 – Johann Sedlatzek, German flautist (born 1789)source
  • April 12 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English Member of Parliament and developer (born 1801)source
  • May 29 – Winfield Scott, American general and presidential candidate (born 1786)source
  • June 17 – Lewis Cass, American military officer, politician, and statesman (born 1782)source
  • July 15 - Paulino Soares de Sousa, 1st Viscount of Uruguai, politician and diplomat (born 1808).Brazilsource
  • July 18 - León de Pallejas, Spanish-born general, killed in actionUruguaysource
  • July 20 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (born 1826)source
  • August 1 – John Ross, long-serving principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, of natural causes, in Washington D. C. (born 1790 in Cherokee Nation East).source
  • November 14 – King Miguel I of Portugal (born 1802)source
  • ? – Anoushirvan Khan Eyn ol-Molk, Iranian courtier.Iransource