19th century

{{Short description|One hundred years, from 1801 to 1900}}
{{other uses}}
{{Centurybox|19}}
[[File:Jacques-Louis David - The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]], Emperor of the [[First French Empire]].]]
The '''19th century''' began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the [[Roman numerals]] MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM).

The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. [[Slavery]] was [[abolitionism|abolished]] in much of [[Europe]] and the [[Americas]]. The [[Industrial Revolution|First Industrial Revolution]], though it began in the late 18th century, expanding beyond its British homeland for the first time during this century, particularly remaking the economies and societies of the [[Low Countries]], the [[Rhineland]], [[Northern Italy]], and the [[Northeastern United States]]. A few decades later, the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] led to ever more massive [[urbanization]] and much higher levels of productivity, profit, and prosperity, a pattern that continued into the [[20th century]].

In the Middle East, it was an era of change and reform. The [[Gunpowder empires|Islamic gunpowder empires]] fell into decline and European [[imperialism]] brought much of [[South Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]], and almost all of [[Africa]] under [[Colonialism|colonial rule]]. Reformers were opposed at every turn by conservatives who strove to maintain the centuries old Islamic laws and social order.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cleveland |first1=William L. |last2=Bunton |first2=Martin |title=A History of the Modern Middle East |date=2016 |doi=10.4324/9780429495502 |isbn=9780813349800 |s2cid=153025861 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429495502/history-modern-middle-east-william-cleveland|quote=The 19th century is frequently characterized as a period of tension between forces of continuity and change. The reformers who advocated the adoption of European institutions and technology, have often been portrayed as the progressive elements of society courageously charting the course toward an inevitably Westernized twentieth century. Conversely, the adherents of continuity, who viewed with alarm the dismantling of the Islamic order and sought to preserve tradition and retain the values and ideals that had served Ottoman and Islamic society so well for so long, are sometimes portrayed as nothing but archaic reactionaries. But we should avoid these simplistic characterizations if we are to appreciate the agonizing and dangerous process of transforming an established religious, social and political worldview.}}</ref> The century also saw the collapse of the large [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[Mughal Empire]]s. This paved the way for the growing influence of the [[British Empire|British]], [[French colonial empire|French]], [[German colonial empire|German]], [[Russian Empire|Russian]], [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]], [[Italian Empire|Italian]], and [[Empire of Japan|Japanese Empires]] along with the [[United States]]. The British boasted unchallenged global dominance after 1815.

After the defeat of [[First French Empire|France]] in the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the British and Russian Empires expanded greatly, becoming two of the world's leading powers. Russia expanded its territory to [[Central Asia]] and the [[Caucasus]]. The [[Ottoman Empire]] underwent a period of [[Westernization]] and reform known as the [[Tanzimat]], vastly increasing its control over core territories in the [[Middle East]]. However, it remained in decline and became known as the [[sick man of Europe]], losing territory in the [[Balkans]] and [[North Africa]].

The remaining powers in the [[Indian subcontinent]] such as the [[Maratha Empire|Maratha]] and [[Sikh Empire]]s suffered a massive decline and their dissatisfaction with the [[East India Company|British East India Company]]'s rule led to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], marking its dissolution. India was later ruled directly by the [[The Crown|British Crown]] through the establishment of the [[British Raj]].

Britain's overseas possessions grew rapidly in the first half of the century, especially with the expansion of vast territories in Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, and in the last two decades of the century in Africa. By the end of the century, the British controlled a fifth of the world's land and one-quarter of the world's population. During the post-Napoleonic era, it enforced what became known as the [[Pax Britannica]], which had ushered in unprecedented [[globalization]] on a massive scale.

[[Jiroemon Kimura]] (1897–2013) and [[Nabi Tajima]] (1900–2018), both Japanese, were the last man and woman respectively verified to have been born during the century.

==Overview==
[[File:Queen Victoria - Winterhalter 1859.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Queen Victoria]] of Great Britain.]]

The first [[electronics]] appeared in the 19th century, with the introduction of the [[Relay#History|electric relay]] in 1835, the [[telegraph]] and its [[Morse code]] protocol in 1837, the first telephone call in 1876,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html|title=The First Telephone Call|website=www.americaslibrary.gov|access-date=2015-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022110620/http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html|archive-date=2015-10-22|url-status=live}}</ref> and the first functional [[light bulb]] in 1878.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1218joseph-swan-electric-bulb/|title=Dec. 18, 1878: Let There Be Light — Electric Light|date=18 December 2009|magazine=WIRED|access-date=4 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021003405/https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1218joseph-swan-electric-bulb/|archive-date=21 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 19th century was an era of rapidly accelerating [[Discovery (observation)#In science|scientific discovery]] and [[invention]], with significant developments in the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, electricity, and metallurgy that laid the groundwork for the technological advances of the 20th century.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070105005042/http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html Encyclopædia Britannica's Great Inventions]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref> The [[Industrial Revolution]] began in Great Britain and spread to continental Europe, North America, and Japan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanhistory.about.com/od/industrialrev/a/indrevoverview.htm |title=The United States and the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century |publisher=Americanhistory.about.com |date=2012-09-18 |access-date=2012-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728095536/http://americanhistory.about.com/od/industrialrev/a/indrevoverview.htm |archive-date=2012-07-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  The [[Victorian era]] was notorious for the employment of young children in factories and mines, as well as strict [[social norm]]s regarding modesty and gender roles.<ref>Laura Del Col, West Virginia University, [http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html The Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313022018/http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html |date=2008-03-13 }}</ref> Japan embarked on a program of rapid modernization following the [[Meiji Restoration]], before defeating China, under the [[Qing dynasty]], in the [[First Sino-Japanese War]]. [[History of medicine#19th century: rise of modern medicine|Advances in medicine]] and the understanding of human anatomy and disease prevention took place in the 19th century, and were partly responsible for rapidly accelerating [[population growth]] in the [[Western world]]. Europe's population doubled during the 19th century, from approximately 200 million to more than 400 million.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization/12022/Population-change |title= Modernization – Population Change |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406074344/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/387301/modernization/12022/Population-change |archive-date=April 6, 2009}}</ref> The introduction of [[Rail transport|railroads]] provided the first major advancement in land transportation for centuries, changing the way people lived and obtained goods, and fuelling major [[urbanization]] movements in countries across the globe. Numerous cities worldwide surpassed populations of a million or more during this century. London became the world's [[List of largest cities throughout history|largest city]] and capital of the British Empire.  Its population increased from 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million a century later. The last remaining undiscovered landmasses of Earth, including vast expanses of interior [[Africa]] and [[Asia]], were [[Exploration|explored]] during this century, and with the exception of the extreme zones of the Arctic and Antarctic, accurate and detailed maps of the globe were available by the 1890s. [[Liberalism]] became the pre-eminent [[reform movement]] in Europe.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339173/liberalism/237346/Liberalism-in-the-19th-century Liberalism in the 19th century] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218233116/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339173/liberalism/237346/Liberalism-in-the-19th-century |date=2009-02-18 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica.''</ref>
[[File:Slaves ruvuma.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Arab slave trade]]rs and their captives along the Ruvuma river (in today's Tanzania and Mozambique), 19th century]]

[[Slavery]] was greatly reduced around the world. Following a successful [[Haitian Revolution|slave revolt in Haiti]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and France stepped up the battle against the [[Barbary pirates]] and succeeded in stopping their enslavement of Europeans. The UK's [[Slavery Abolition Act]] charged the British [[Royal Navy]] with ending the global [[History of slavery|slave trade]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108141034/http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml |date=2009-01-08 }}. ''BBC.''</ref> The first colonial empire in the century to abolish slavery was the British, who did so in 1834. America's [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] following their [[American Civil War|Civil War]] abolished slavery there in 1865, and in [[Lei Áurea|Brazil]] slavery was abolished in 1888 (see [[abolitionism]]). Similarly, [[serfdom]] was abolished in [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|Russia]] in 1861.

The 19th century was remarkable in the widespread formation of new [[Settler|settlement]] foundations which were particularly prevalent across North America and Australia, with a significant proportion of the two continents' largest cities being founded at some point in the century. [[Chicago]] in the [[United States]] and [[Melbourne]] in Australia were non-existent in the earliest decades but grew to become the 2nd largest cities in the United States and British Empire respectively by the end of the century. In the 19th century, approximately 70 million people left Europe, with most migrating to the United States.<ref>[http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=1118_0_5_0 The Atlantic: Can the US afford immigration?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704173521/http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=1118_0_5_0 |date=2010-07-04 }}. ''Migration News''. December 1996.</ref>

The 19th century also saw the rapid creation, development, and codification of many sports, particularly in Britain and the United States. [[Association football]], [[rugby union]], [[baseball]], and many other sports were developed during the 19th century, while the British Empire facilitated the rapid spread of sports such as [[cricket]] to many different parts of the world. Also, [[1890s in Western fashion|women's fashion]] was a very sensitive topic during this time, as women showing their ankles was viewed to be scandalous.

[[File:Europe 1815 map en.png|thumb|200px|The boundaries set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815.]]
It also marks the fall of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman rule]] of the [[Balkans]] which led to the creation of [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Kingdom of Montenegro|Montenegro]], and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] as a result of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|second Russo-Turkish War]], which in itself followed the great [[Crimean War]].

===Eras===
[[File:World 1898 empires colonies territory.png|thumb|250px|Map of the world from 1897. The [[British Empire]] (marked in pink) was the superpower of the 19th century.]]
*[[Industrial revolution]]
*[[European imperialism]]
*[[British Regency]], [[Victorian era]] (UK, [[British Empire]])
*[[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]], [[July Monarchy]], [[French Second Republic]], [[Second French Empire]], [[French Third Republic]] ([[France in the nineteenth century|France]])
*[[Belle Époque]] (Europe)
*[[Edo period]], [[Meiji period]] (Japan)
*[[Qing dynasty]] (China)
*[[Nguyen dynasty]] (Vietnam)
*[[Joseon]] dynasty (Korea)
*[[Zulu Kingdom]] (South Africa)
*[[Tanzimat]], [[First Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)|First Constitutional Era]] ([[Decline of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]])
*[[Russian Empire]]
*[[Manifest Destiny|American Manifest Destiny]], [[Antebellum South|Antebellum Era]], [[Gilded Age|The Gilded Age]], [[American frontier|Wild West]], [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] (United States)

== Wars ==
===Napoleonic Wars===
{{main|Napoleonic Wars}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of the Napoleonic era}}
[[File:Napoleons retreat from moscow.jpg|thumb|right|[[Napoleon]]'s retreat from Russia in 1812. The war swings decisively against the French Empire]]
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of major conflicts from 1803 to 1815 pitting the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] and its allies, led by [[Napoleon I]], against a fluctuating array of [[Coalition forces of the Napoleonic Wars|European powers formed into various coalitions]], financed and usually led by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. The wars stemmed from the unresolved disputes associated with the [[French Revolution]] and its [[French Revolutionary Wars|resultant conflict]].

In the aftermath of the [[French Revolution]], [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] gained power in France in 1799. In 1804, he crowned himself [[Emperor of the French]].

In 1805, the French victory over an Austrian-Russian army at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] ended the [[War of the Third Coalition]]. As a result of the [[Treaty of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of Pressburg]], the [[Holy Roman Empire]] was dissolved.

Later efforts were less successful. In the [[Peninsular War]], France unsuccessfully attempted to establish [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as King of Spain. In 1812, the [[French invasion of Russia]] had massive French casualties, and was a turning point in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

In 1814, after defeat in the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]], Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to [[Elba]]. Later that year, he escaped exile and began the [[Hundred Days]] before finally being defeated at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] and exiled to [[Saint Helena]], an island in the [[South Atlantic Ocean]].

After Napoleon's defeat, the [[Congress of Vienna]] was held to determine new national borders. The [[Concert of Europe]] attempted to preserve this settlement was established to preserve these borders, with limited impact.

===Latin American independence===
{{main|Latin American wars of independence|Spanish American wars of independence}}
[[File:JuraIndependencia.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of the Chilean declaration of independence|The [[Chilean Declaration of Independence]] on 18 February 1818]]
[[Mexico]] and the majority of the countries in [[Central America]] and [[South America]] obtained independence from [[Colonialism|colonial]] overlords during the 19th century. In 1804, [[Haitian Revolution|Haiti]] gained independence from France. In [[Mexico]], the [[Mexican War of Independence]] was a decade-long conflict that ended in Mexican independence in 1821.

Due to the Napoleonic Wars, the royal family of Portugal [[Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil|relocated to Brazil]] from 1808 to 1821, leading to Brazil having a separate monarchy from Portugal.

The [[Federal Republic of Central America]] gained independence from Spain in 1821 and from Mexico in 1823. After several rebellions, by 1841 the federation had dissolved into the independent countries of [[Guatemala]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]], and [[Costa Rica]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perez-Brignoli|first1=Hector|title=A Brief History of Central America|url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofce00pr|url-access=registration|date=1989|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520909762}}</ref>

In 1830, the post-colonial nation of [[Gran Colombia]] dissolved and the nations of [[Colombia]] (including modern-day Panama), [[Ecuador]], and [[Venezuela]] took its place.

===Revolutions of 1848===
{{main|Revolutions of 1848}}
[[File:Maerz1848 berlin.jpg|thumb|upright|Liberal and nationalist pressure led to the [[Revolutions of 1848|European revolutions of 1848]]]]
The [[Revolutions of 1848]] were a series of [[political upheaval]]s throughout [[Europe]] in 1848.  The revolutions were essentially [[democracy|democratic]] and liberal in nature, with the aim of removing the old [[Monarchy|monarchical]] structures and creating independent nation states.

The first revolution began in [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states|January in Sicily]].{{clarify|date=December 2017}} Revolutions then spread across Europe after a separate revolution began in [[French Revolution of 1848|France in February]]. Over 50 countries were affected, but with no coordination or cooperation among their respective revolutionaries.

According to Evans and von Strandmann (2000), some of the major contributing factors were widespread dissatisfaction with political leadership, demands for more participation in government and democracy, demands for freedom of the press, other demands made by the working class, the upsurge of nationalism, and the regrouping of established government forces.<ref>R.J.W. Evans and Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann, eds., ''The Revolutions in Europe 1848–1849'' (2000) pp. v, 4</ref>

===Abolition and the American Civil War===
{{main|Abolitionism|American Civil War}}
[[File:Wilberforce john rising.jpg|thumb|[[William Wilberforce]] (1759–1833), politician and philanthropist who was a leader of the movement to [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolish the slave trade]].]]

The [[abolitionism]] movement achieved success in the 19th century. The [[Atlantic slave trade]] was abolished in the United States in 1808, and by the end of the century, almost every government had banned slavery. The [[Slavery Abolition Act]] of 1833 banned slavery throughout the [[British Empire]], and the [[Lei Áurea]] abolished slavery in Brazil in 1888.

[[Abolitionism in the United States]] continued until the end of the [[American Civil War]]. [[Frederick Douglass]] and [[Harriet Tubman]] were two of many American abolitionists who helped win the fight against slavery. Douglass was an articulate orator and incisive antislavery writer, while Tubman worked with a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the [[Underground Railroad]].

The American Civil War took place from 1861 to 1865. Eleven [[Southern United States|southern states]] seceded from the [[United States]], largely over concerns related to slavery. In 1863, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] issued the [[Emancipation Proclamation]]. Lincoln issued a preliminary<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation|title=The Emancipation Proclamation|date=October 6, 2015|website=National Archives|access-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206210236/https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation|archive-date=February 6, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> on September 22, 1862, warning that in all states still in rebellion ([[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]) on January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves "then, thenceforward, and forever free."<ref>McPherson, J. M. (2014). "Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment", in E. Foner and J. A. Garraty (eds.), ''The Reader's Companion to American History''. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. [http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/rcah/emancipation_proclamation_and_thirteenth_amendment/0] Retrieved from {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106000538/https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/rcah/emancipation_proclamation_and_thirteenth_amendment/0|date=2018-11-06}}</ref> He did so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation/transcript.html|title=Transcript of the Proclamation|date=October 6, 2015|website=National Archives}}</ref> The [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]] to the Constitution,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment|title=13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery|date=January 27, 2016|website=National Archives|access-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216131544/https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment|archive-date=February 16, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> ratified in 1865, officially abolished slavery in the entire country.

Five days after [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered at [[Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia]], [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln was assassinated]] by actor and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] sympathiser [[John Wilkes Booth]].

=== Decline of the Ottoman Empire ===
{{main|Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Ibrahim_Pasha_During_his_Final_Years.jpg|alt=Ibrahim_Pasha_During_his_Final_Years|thumb|[[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] of [[Egypt]], leader of the [[Egyptian Army]] in [[Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aksan |first=Virginia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UaesAgAAQBAJ&q=Egyptian%E2%80%93Ottoman+War |title=Ottoman Wars, 1700–1870: An Empire Besieged |date=2014-01-14 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-88403-3 |language=en}}</ref>|252x252px]]

In 1830, [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] became the first country to break away from the [[Ottoman Empire]] after the [[Greek War of Independence]]. In 1831, the [[Bosnian uprising (1831–1832)|Bosnian Uprising]] against Ottoman rule occurred. In 1817, the [[Principality of Serbia]] became [[Suzerainty|suzerain]] from the Ottoman Empire, and in 1867, it passed a constitution that defined its independence from the Ottoman Empire. In 1831, The [[Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)|First Egyptian–Ottoman War]] (1831–1833) occurred, between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt brought about by [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha's]] demand to the Sublime Porte for control of Greater Syria, as reward for aiding the Sultan during the Greek War of Independence. As a result, Egyptian forces temporarily gained control of Syria, advancing as far north as [[Kütahya]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Westera |first=Rick |title=Historical Atlas of Europe (17 February 1832): First Egyptian-Ottoman War |url=https://omniatlas.com/maps/europe/18320217/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Omniatlas |language=en}}</ref> In 1876, [[Bulgarians]] instigated the [[April Uprising of 1876|April Uprising]] against Ottoman rule. Following the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]], the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]] recognized the formal independence of the Serbia, [[Principality of Montenegro|Montenegro]], and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]. [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] became autonomous.

=== China: Taiping Rebellion ===
{{main|Taiping Rebellion}}
[[File:Regaining the Provincial Capital of Ruizhou.jpg|thumb|280px|A scene of the [[Taiping Rebellion]].]]
The [[Taiping Rebellion]] was the bloodiest conflict of the 19th century, leading to the deaths of around 20–30 million people. Its leader, [[Hong Xiuquan]], declared himself the younger brother of [[Jesus Christ]] and developed a new Chinese religion known as the [[God Worshipping Society]].  After proclaiming the establishment of the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] in 1851, the Taiping army conquered a large part of China, capturing [[Nanjing]] in 1853. In 1864, after the death of Hong Xiuquan, [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] forces recaptured Nanjing and ended the rebellion.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reilly|first1=Thomas H.|title=The Taiping heavenly kingdom rebellion and the blasphemy of empire|date=2004|publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|isbn=978-0295801926|edition=1}}</ref>

=== Japan: Meiji Restoration ===
{{main|Meiji Restoration}}
During the [[Edo period]], [[History of Japan|Japan]] largely pursued an [[Sakoku|isolationist foreign policy]]. In 1853, United States Navy Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry]] threatened the Japanese capital [[Edo]] with gunships, demanding that they agree to open trade. This led to [[Bakumatsu|the opening of trade relations]] between Japan and foreign countries, with the policy of [[Sakoku]] formally ended in 1854.

By 1872, the Japanese government under [[Emperor Meiji]] had [[Abolition of the han system|eliminated the ''daimyō'' system]] and established a strong central government. Further reforms included the abolishment of the [[samurai]] class, rapid industrialization and modernization of government, closely following European models.<ref>W. G. Beasley, ''The Meiji Restoration'' (1972),</ref>

=== Colonialism ===
[[File:Arrival of Marshal Randon in Algier-Ernest-Francis Vacherot mg 5120.jpg|thumb|Arrival of Marshal [[Jacques Louis Randon|Randon]] in [[Algiers]], [[French Algeria]] in 1857]]
{{main|Western imperialism in Asia|Scramble for Africa}}
[[File:Rao Baji signing the Treaty of Vasai.jpg|thumb|The [[Maratha Empire|Maratha Confederacy]] and the [[East India Company]] sign the [[Treaty of Bassein (1802)|Treaty of Bassein]] in 1802.]]
* [[1803]]: United States more than doubles in size when it buys out France's territorial claims in North America via the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. This begins the U.S.'s westward expansion to the Pacific, referred to as its [[Manifest Destiny]], which involves [[United States territorial acquisitions|annexing and conquering land]] from Mexico, Britain, and Native Americans.
* [[1817]]  – [[1819]]: British Empire annexed the [[Maratha Empire|Maratha Confederacy]] after the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]].
* [[1823]] – [[1887]]: British Empire annexed Burma (now also called [[Myanmar]]) after three [[Anglo-Burmese Wars]].
* [[1848]] – [[1849]]: [[Sikh Empire]] is defeated in the [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]]. Therefore, the entire [[Indian subcontinent]] is under British control. 
* [[1862]]: France gained its first foothold in [[Southeast Asia]] and in [[1863]] annexed [[Cambodia]].
* [[1867]]: United States [[Alaska Purchase|purchased Alaska]] from [[Russia]].

==== Africa ====
[[File:Scramble-for-Africa-1880-1913-v2.png|thumb|300px|Comparison of Africa in the years 1880 and 1913]]
In Africa, European exploration and technology led to the colonization of almost the entire continent by 1898. New medicines such as [[quinine]] and more advanced [[firearms]] allowed European nations to conquer native populations.<ref name="KerrAfrica">{{cite book|last1=Kerr|first1=Gordon|title=A Short History of Africa: From the Origins of the Human Race to the Arab Spring|date=2012|publisher=Pocket Essentials|location=Harpenden, Herts [UK]|isbn=9781842434420|pages=85–101}}</ref>

Motivations for the [[Scramble for Africa]] included national pride, desire for raw materials, and Christian missionary activity. Britain seized control of Egypt to ensure control of the [[Suez Canal]], but [[Ethiopian Empire|Ethiopia]] defeated Italy in the [[First Italo–Ethiopian War]] at the [[Battle of Adwa]]. France, Belgium, Portugal, and Germany also had substantial colonies. The [[Berlin Conference]] of 1884–1885 attempted to reach agreement on colonial borders in Africa, but disputes continued, both amongst European powers and in resistance by the native populations.<ref name="KerrAfrica" />

In 1867, [[diamond]]s were discovered in the [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]] region of South Africa. In 1886, gold was discovered in [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]. This led to colonization in Southern Africa by the British and business interests, led by [[Cecil Rhodes]].<ref name="KerrAfrica" />

=== Other wars ===
* [[1801]]–[[1815]]: [[First Barbary War]] and the [[Second Barbary War]] between the United States and the [[Barbary States]] of [[North Africa]].
* [[1802]]: [[Tây Sơn dynasty|Tay Son]] army recaptured [[Thừa Thiên Huế province|Phu Xuan]], causing Vo Tanh to commit suicide, [[Gia Long|Nguyen Phuc Anh]] successfully captured [[Hanoi|Thang Long]], founded the [[Nguyen dynasty]]
* [[1804]]–[[1810]]: [[Fulani War|Fulani Jihad]] in [[Nigeria]].
* [[1804]]–[[1813]]: [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|Russo-Persian War]].
* [[1806]]–[[1812]]: [[Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)|Russo-Turkish War]], [[Treaty of Bucharest (1812)|Treaty of Bucharest]].
* [[1807]]–[[1837]]: [[Musket Wars]] among [[Māori people|Māori]] in many parts of [[New Zealand]]. 
* [[1808]]–[[1809]]: Russia conquers Finland from Sweden in the [[Finnish War]].[[File:KingShaka.jpg|thumb|1816: [[Shaka]] rises to power over the [[Zulu Kingdom]]. Zulu expansion was a major factor of the [[Mfecane]] ("Crushing") that depopulated large areas of southern Africa]]
* [[1810]]: [[Grito de Dolores]] begins the [[Mexican War of Independence]].
* [[1811]]: [[Battle of Tippecanoe]]: U.S. outnumbering Native Americans resulting in defeat and burning of community
* [[1812]]–[[1815]]: [[War of 1812]] between the United States and Britain; ends in a draw, except that Native Americans lose power.
* [[1813]]–[[1837]]: [[Afghan–Sikh Wars]].
* [[1814]]–[[1816]]: [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] between [[Nepal]] (Gurkha Empire) and [[British Empire]].
* [[1817]]: First [[Seminole War]] begins in Florida.
* [[1817]]: Russia commences its [[Caucasian War|conquest of the Caucasus]].
* [[1820]]: [[Revolutions of 1820]] in Southern Europe
* [[1821]]–[[1830]]: [[Greek War of Independence]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. 
* [[1825]]–[[1830]]: [[Java War]] begins.
* [[1826]]–[[1828]]: After the final [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|Russo-Persian War]], the [[Qajar dynasty|Persian Empire]] took back territory lost to Russia from the previous war.
* [[1828]]–[[1832]]: [[Black War]] in [[Tasmania]] leads to the near extinction of the [[Tasmanian aborigines]]
* [[1830]]: [[July Revolution]] overthrew old line of Bourbons.
* [[1830]]: [[November Uprising]] in [[Poland]] against [[Russia]].
* [[1830]]: [[Belgian Revolution]] results in [[Belgium]]'s independence from [[Netherlands]].
* [[1830]]: End of the Java War. The whole area of Yogyakarta and Surakarta Manca nagara Dutch seized. 27 September, Klaten Agreement determines a fixed boundary between Surakarta and Yogyakarta and permanently divide the kingdom of Mataram was signed by Sasradiningrat, Pepatih Dalem Surakarta, and Danurejo, Pepatih Dalem Yogyakarta. Mataram is a de facto and de yure controlled by the Dutch East Indies.
* [[1831]]: [[French rule in Algeria|France invades and occupies Algeria]].
* [[1831]]–[[1833]]: [[Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)|Egyptian–Ottoman War]].
* [[1832]]–[[1875]]: Regimental rebellions of Brazil
* [[1835]]–[[1836]]: [[Texas Revolution]] results in [[Texas]]'s independence from [[Mexico]].
* [[1839]]–[[1842]]: [[First Opium War]] begins.
* [[1846]]–[[1848]]: [[Mexican–American War]] leads to Mexico's cession of much of the modern-day [[Southwestern United States]].
* [[1848]]: [[French Revolution of 1848|February Revolution]] overthrew Louis Philippe's government. Second Republic proclaimed; Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon I, elected president.
* [[1853]]–[[1856]]: [[Crimean War]] between France, the United Kingdom, the [[Ottoman Empire]] and Russia.
* [[1857]]: [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]] against the [[Company Raj]]. After this the power of the [[East India Company]] is transferred to the [[British Raj|British Crown]].
* [[1859]]: [[Second Italian War of Independence|Franco-Austrian War]] is part of the wars of [[Italian unification]].
* [[1861]]–[[1865]]: [[American Civil War]] between the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and seceding [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. [[File:EwellsDeadSpotsylvania1864crop01.jpg|thumb|Dead Confederate soldiers. 30% of all Southern white males 18–40 years of age died in the [[American Civil War]].<ref>"''[https://archive.org/details/killinggroundpho0000hudd Killing ground: photographs of the Civil War and the changing American landscape] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228002928/https://books.google.com/books?id=YpAuHGkuIe0C&pg=PA&dq&hl=en |date=2017-02-28 }}''". John Huddleston (2002). [[Johns Hopkins University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8018-6773-8}}</ref>]]
* [[1861]]–[[1867]]: [[Second French intervention in Mexico|French intervention in Mexico]] and the creation of the [[Second Mexican Empire]], ruled by [[Maximilian I of Mexico]] and his consort [[Carlota of Mexico]].
* [[1863]]–[[1865]]: [[January Uprising]] against the [[Russian Empire]].
* [[1864]]–[[1870]]: [[Paraguayan War]] ends Paraguayan ambitions for expansion and destroys much of the Paraguayan population.
* [[1866]]: [[Austro-Prussian War]] results in the dissolution of the [[German Confederation]] and the creation of the [[North German Confederation]] and the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian-Hungarian Dual Monarchy]].
* [[1868]]–[[1869]]: [[Boshin War]] results in end of the shogunate and the founding the Japanese Empire.
* [[1868]]–[[1878]]: [[Ten Years' War]] between [[Cuba]] and [[Kingdom of Spain|Spain]].
* [[1870]]–[[1871]]: [[Franco-Prussian War]] results in the [[Unification of Germany|unifications of Germany]] and [[Italian unification|Italy]], the collapse of the [[Second French Empire]] and the emergence of a [[New Imperialism]].
* 1870: Napoleon III abdicated after unsuccessful conclusion of Franco-Prussian War. Third Republic proclaimed.
* [[1876]]: The [[April Uprising of 1876|April Uprising]] in [[Bulgaria]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]].
* [[1879]]: [[Anglo-Zulu War]] results in British victory and the annexation of the [[Zulu Kingdom]].
* [[1879]]–[[1880]]: [[Little War (Cuba)|Little War]] against Spanish rule in [[Cuba]] leads to rebel defeat.
* [[1879]]–[[1883]]: [[Chile]] battles with [[Peru]] and [[Bolivia]] over Andean territory in the [[War of the Pacific]].
* [[1880]]–[[1881]]: [[First Boer War]] begins.
* [[1881]]–[[1899]]: [[Mahdist War]] in [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan|Sudan]].[[File:Battle of Omdurman.jpg|thumb|A depiction of the [[Battle of Omdurman]] in 1898; in the battle, [[Winston Churchill]] took part in a cavalry charge.]]
* [[1882]]: [[Anglo-Egyptian War]] British invasion and subsequent occupation of [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt]]
* [[1883]]–[[1898]]: [[Mandingo Wars]] between the [[French colonial empire]] and the [[Wassoulou Empire]] of the [[Mandinka people|Mandingo]] people led by [[Samory Touré]].
* [[1894]]–[[1895]]: After the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], China cedes [[Taiwan]] to Japan and grants Japan a free hand in Korea.
* [[1895]]: [[Taiwan]] is ceded to the [[Empire of Japan]] as a result of the [[First Sino-Japanese War]].
* [[1895]]–[[1896]]: [[Ethiopia]] defeats Italy in the [[First Italo–Ethiopian War]] at the [[Battle of Adwa]].
* [[1895]]–[[1898]]: [[Cuban War for Independence]] results in Cuban independence from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]].
* [[1896]]–[[1898]]: [[Philippine Revolution]] results in a Filipino victory.
* [[1898]]: [[Spanish–American War]] results in the independence of Cuba.
* [[1899]]–[[1901]]: [[Boxer Rebellion]] in China is suppressed by the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]]. 
* [[1899]]–[[1902]]: [[Thousand Days' War]] in [[Colombia]] breaks out between the "[[Liberalism|Liberales]]" and "[[Conservatism|Conservadores]]", culminating with the loss of [[Panama]] in 1903.
* [[1899]]–[[1902]]: [[Second Boer War]] begins.
* [[1899]]–[[1902]]: [[Philippine–American War]] begins.

==Science and technology==
{{main|19th century in science}}
{{Distinguished men of science of Great Britain 1806-7|align=right}}
The 19th century saw the birth of science as a profession; the term '''scientist''' was coined in 1833 by [[William Whewell]],<ref>{{cite web
| access-date=2008-03-03
| url=http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/whewell/
| title=William Whewell
| publisher=Stanford University
| date=2000-12-23
| last1=Snyder
| first1=Laura J.
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104025611/http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/whewell/
| archive-date=2010-01-04
| url-status=live
}}</ref> which soon replaced the older term of '''natural philosopher'''. Among the most influential ideas of the 19th century were those of [[Charles Darwin]] (alongside the independent researches of [[Alfred Russel Wallace]]), who in 1859 published the book ''[[The Origin of Species]]'', which introduced the idea of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]]. Another important landmark in medicine and biology were the successful efforts to prove the [[germ theory of disease]]. Following this, [[Louis Pasteur]] made the first [[vaccine]] against [[rabies]], and also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry, including the [[Enantiomer|asymmetry of crystals]]. In chemistry, [[Dmitri Mendeleev]], following the [[atomic theory]] of [[John Dalton]], created the first [[periodic table]] of [[Chemical element|elements]]. In physics, the experiments, theories and discoveries of [[Michael Faraday]], [[André-Marie Ampère]], [[James Clerk Maxwell]], and their contemporaries led to the creation of [[electromagnetism]] as a new branch of science. [[Thermodynamics]] led to an understanding of heat and the notion of energy was defined. Other highlights include the discoveries unveiling the nature of atomic structure and matter, simultaneously with chemistry – and of new kinds of radiation. In astronomy, the planet Neptune was discovered. In mathematics, the notion of complex numbers finally matured and led to a subsequent analytical theory; they also began the use of [[hypercomplex number]]s. [[Karl Weierstrass]] and others carried out the [[arithmetization of analysis]] for functions of [[Function of a real variable|real]] and [[complex variable]]s. It also saw rise to [[Non-Euclidean geometry|new progress in geometry]] beyond those classical theories of Euclid, after a period of nearly two thousand years. The mathematical science of logic likewise had revolutionary breakthroughs after a similarly long period of stagnation. But the most important step in science at this time were the ideas formulated by the creators of electrical science. Their work changed the face of physics and made possible for new technology to come about including a rapid spread in the use of electric illumination and power in the last two decades of the century and radio wave communication at the end of the 1890s.
[[File:Faraday-Millikan-Gale-1913.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Michael Faraday]] (1791–1867)]]
[[File:1878 Darwin photo by Leonard from Woodall 1884 - cropped grayed partially cleaned.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles Darwin]]]]
* [[1807]]: [[Potassium]] and [[Sodium]] are individually isolated by [[Sir Humphry Davy]].
* [[1831]]–[[1836]]: [[Charles Darwin]]'s journey on {{HMS|Beagle}}.
* [[1859]]: [[Charles Darwin]] publishes ''[[On the Origin of Species]]''.
* [[1861]]: [[James Clerk Maxwell]] publishes ''[[On Physical Lines of Force]]'', formulating the four [[Maxwell's equations]].
* [[1865]]: [[Gregor Mendel]] formulates his [[laws of inheritance]].
* [[1869]]: [[Dmitri Mendeleev]] creates the [[Periodic table]].
* [[1873]]: Maxwell's ''[[A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism]]'' published.
* [[1877]]: [[Asaph Hall]] discovers the [[moons of Mars]]
* [[1896]]: [[Henri Becquerel]] discovers [[radioactivity]]; [[J. J. Thomson]] identifies the [[electron]], though not by name.

===Medicine===
[[File:Robert Koch.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robert Koch]] discovered the [[tuberculosis]] bacilli. The disease killed an estimated 25 percent of the adult population of Europe during the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cdc.gov/TB/pubs/mdrtb/default.htm |title=Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421174847/http://www.cdc.gov/tb/pubs/mdrtb/default.htm |archive-date=April 21, 2009|date=2018-12-31 }}</ref>]]

* [[1804]]: [[Morphine]] first isolated.
* [[1842]]: [[Anesthesia]] used for the first time.
* [[1847]]: [[Chloroform]] invented for the first time, given to [[Queen Victoria]] at the birth of her eighth child, [[Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany|Prince Leopold]] in [[1853]]
* [[1855]]: [[Cocaine]] is isolated by [[Friedrich Gaedcke]].
* [[1885]]: [[Louis Pasteur]] creates the first successful [[vaccine]] against rabies for a young boy who had been bitten 14 times by a rabid dog.
* [[1889]]: [[Aspirin]] patented.

===Inventions===

[[File:Edison in his NJ laboratory 1901.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Edison]] was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the [[phonograph]], the [[Movie camera|motion picture camera]], and a long-lasting, practical electric [[light bulb]].]]
[[File:Erste Benzin-Omnibus der Welt.jpg|thumb|upright|First motor bus in history: the [[Karl Benz|Benz]] Omnibus, built in 1895 for the Netphener bus company]]
* [[1804]]: First [[steam locomotive]] begins operation.
* [[1816]]: [[Dandy horse|Laufmaschine]] invented by [[Karl von Drais]].
* [[1825]]: [[Erie Canal]] opened connecting the [[Great Lakes]] to the [[Atlantic Ocean]].
* [[1825]]: First isolation of [[aluminium]].
* [[1827]]: First photograph taken (technique of [[heliography]]) by [[Joseph Nicephore Niepce]].
* [[1825]]: The [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]], the first public railway in the world, is opened.
* [[1826]]: [[Samuel Morey]] patents the [[internal combustion engine]].
* [[1829]]: First [[electric motor]] built.
* [[1837]]: [[Telegraphy]] patented.
* [[1841]]: The word "[[dinosaur]]" is coined by [[Richard Owen]].
* [[1844]]: First publicly funded [[telegraph]] line in the world—between Baltimore and Washington—sends demonstration message on 24 May, ushering in the age of the telegraph. This message read "What hath God wrought?" (Bible, Numbers 23:23)
* [[1849]]: The [[safety pin]] and the [[gas mask]] are invented.
* [[1852]]: The first successful [[blimp]] is invented
* [[1855]]: [[Bessemer process]] enables [[steel]] to be mass-produced.
* [[1856]]: World's first [[oil refinery]] in [[Romania]]
* [[1858]]: Invention of the [[phonautograph]], the first true device for [[recorded sound|recording sound]].
* [[1859]]: The first [[ironclad]] was launched into sea by the [[French Navy]].
* [[1860]]: [[Benjamin Tyler Henry]] invents the 16-shot [[Henry Rifle]]
* [[1861]]: [[Richard Gatling]] invents the [[Gatling Gun]], first modern [[machine gun]] used notably in the battles of [[Cold Harbor]] and [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]]
* [[1862]]: First meeting in combat of [[ironclad warship]]s, {{USS|Monitor|1862|6}} and {{ship|CSS|Virginia}}, during the [[American Civil War]].
* [[1863]]: First section of the [[London Underground]] opens.
* [[1866]]: Successful [[transatlantic telegraph cable]] follows an earlier attempt in 1858.
* [[1867]]: [[Alfred Nobel]] invents [[dynamite]].
* [[1868]]: [[Safety bicycle]] invented.
* [[1869]]: [[First transcontinental railroad]] completed in United States on 10 May.
* [[1870]]: [[Rasmus Malling-Hansen]]'s invention the [[Hansen Writing Ball]] becomes the first commercially sold [[typewriter]].
* [[1873]]: [[Jeans|Blue jeans]] and [[barbed wire]] are invented.
* [[1877]]: [[Thomas Edison]] invents the [[phonograph]]
* [[1878]]: First commercial [[telephone exchange]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut]].
* c. [[1875]]/[[1880]]: Introduction of the widespread use of electric [[lighting]]. These included early crude systems in France and the UK and the introduction of large scale outdoor [[Arc lamp|arc lighting]] systems by 1880.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edisontechcenter.org/ArcLamps.html|title=Arc Lamps – How They Work & History|website=edisontechcenter.org}}</ref>
* [[1879]]: [[Thomas Edison]] patents a practical [[incandescent light bulb]].
* [[1882]]: Introduction of large scale [[Electric power industry|electric power utilities]] with the Edison [[Holborn Viaduct power station|Holborn Viaduct]] (London) and [[Pearl Street Station|Pearl Street]] (New York) power stations supplying indoor electric lighting using Edison's incandescent bulb.<ref>Jonathan Daly, The Rise of Western Power – A Comparative History of Western Civilization, Bloomsbury Publishing · 2013, page 310</ref><ref>Turan Gonen, Electric Power Distribution Engineering, CRC Press · 2015, page 1</ref>
* [[1884]]: [[Sir Hiram Maxim]] invents the first self-powered [[Machine gun]].
* [[1885]]: [[Singer Manufacturing Company|Singer]] begins production of the '[[Singer Model 27 and 127|Vibrating Shuttle]]'. which would become the most popular model of [[sewing machine]].
* [[1886]]: [[Karl Benz]] sells the first commercial [[automobile]].
* [[1890]]: The [[cardboard box]] is invented.
* [[1892]]: [[John Froelich]] develops and constructs the first gasoline/petrol-powered [[tractor]].
* [[1894]]: [[Karl Elsener (inventor)|Karl Elsener]] invents the [[Swiss Army knife]].
* [[1894]]: First [[gramophone record]].
* [[1895]]: [[Wilhelm Röntgen]] identifies [[x-rays]].

==Religion==
[[File:BrighamYoung1.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Brigham Young]] led the [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS Church]] from 1844 until his death in 1877]]
* [[1818]]: The first permanent [[Reform Judaism]] congregation, the [[Hamburg Temple|Neuer Israelitischer Tempel]], is founded in [[Hamburg]] on October 18. Around the same time, through the development of ''[[Wissenschaft des Judentums]]'', the seeds of [[Conservative Judaism]] are sown.
* [[1830]]: The [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] is established.
* [[1844]]: The [[Báb]] announces his revelation on 23 May, founding [[Bábism]]. He announced to the world of the coming of "[[He whom God shall make manifest]]". He is considered the forerunner of [[Bahá'u'lláh]], the founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith]].
* [[1850s]]–[[1890s]]: In Islam, [[Salafism]] grows in popularity.
* [[1851]]: [[Hong Xiuquan]], the leader of the [[God Worshipping Society]], founds the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]].
* [[1857]]: In [[Paris]], [[France]], [[Allan Kardec]], publishes [[The Spirits' Book]] and founds the [[Kardecist spiritism|Spiritism]].
* [[1868]]: In Japan, [[State Shinto]] is established amidst the [[Meiji Restoration]].
* [[1869]]–[[1870]]: The [[First Vatican Council]] is convened, articulating the dogma of [[papal infallibility]] and promoting a [[Neo-scholasticism|revival of scholastic theology]].
* [[1871]]–[[1878]]: In [[German Empire|Germany]], [[Otto von Bismarck]] challenges the Catholic Church in the ''[[Kulturkampf]]'' ("Culture War")
* [[1875]]: [[Helena Blavatsky]] co-founds the [[Theosophical Society]] and becomes the leading articulator of [[Theosophy]].
* [[1879]]: [[Mary Baker Eddy]] founds the [[Church of Christ, Scientist]]. ''[[The Watchtower]],'' published by the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], releases its first issue.
* [[1881]]: In the Sudan, [[Muhammad Ahmad]] claims to be the [[Mahdi]], founding the [[Mahdist State]] and declaring war on the [[Khedivate of Egypt]].
* [[1889]]: [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]] establishes the [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]].
* [[1891]]: [[Pope Leo XIII]] issues the [[papal encyclical]] ''[[Rerum novarum]]'', the first major document informing modern [[Catholic social teaching]].

==Culture==
[[File:Crystal Palace - interior.jpg|thumb|350px|The [[Great Exhibition]] in London. Starting during the 18th century, the United Kingdom was the first country in the world to industrialise.]]
* [[1808]]: [[Beethoven]] composes [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]]
* [[1813]]: [[Jane Austen]] publishes ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]''
* [[1818]]: [[Mary Shelley]] publishes ''[[Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]''.
* [[1819]]: [[John Keats]] writes his [[John Keats's 1819 odes|six of his best-known odes]].
* [[1819]]: [[Théodore Géricault]] paints his masterpiece ''[[The Raft of the Medusa]]'', and exhibits it in the French Salon of 1819 at the [[The Louvre|Louvre]].
* [[1824]]: Premiere of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony]]''.
* [[1829]]: [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'' premieres.
* [[1833]]–[[1834]]: [[Thomas Carlyle]] publishes ''[[Sartor Resartus]]''.
* [[1837]]: [[Charles Dickens]] publishes ''[[Oliver Twist]]''.
* [[1841]]: [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] publishes ''[[Self-Reliance]]''.
* [[1845]]: [[Frederick Douglass]] publishes ''[[Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave]]''.
* [[1847]]: The [[Brontë sisters]] publish ''[[Jane Eyre]]'', ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' and ''[[Agnes Grey]]''.
* [[1848]]: [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] publish ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]''.
* [[1849]]: [[Josiah Henson]] publishes ''[[The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself]]''.
* [[1851]]: [[Herman Melville]] publishes ''[[Moby-Dick]]''.
* [[1851]]: [[Sojourner Truth]] delivers the speech "[[Ain't I a Woman?]]".
* [[1852]]: [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] publishes ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]''.
* [[1855]]: [[Walt Whitman]] publishes the first edition of ''[[Leaves of Grass]]''.
* [[1855]]: [[Frederick Douglass]] publishes the first edition of ''[[My Bondage and My Freedom]]''.
* [[1862]]: [[Victor Hugo]] publishes ''[[Les Misérables]]''.
* [[1863]]: [[Jules Verne]] begins publishing his collection of stories and novels, ''[[Voyages extraordinaires]]'', with the novel ''[[Cinq semaines en ballon]]''.
* [[1865]]: [[Lewis Carroll]] publishes ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''.
* [[1869]]: [[Leo Tolstoy]] publishes ''[[War and Peace]]''.[[File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette.jpg|thumb|[[Auguste Renoir]], ''[[Bal du moulin de la Galette]]'', 1876, [[Musée d'Orsay]]]]
* [[1871]]: [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[Aida]]'' in [[Cairo]]
* [[1875]]: [[Georges Bizet]]'s opera ''[[Carmen]]'' premiers in Paris.
* [[1876]]: [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Ring Cycle]]'' is first performed in its entirety.
* [[1883]]: [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Treasure Island]]'' is published.
* [[1884]]: [[Mark Twain]] publishes the ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]''.
* [[1886]]: ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' by Robert Louis Stevenson is published.
* [[1887]]: [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] publishes his first [[Sherlock Holmes]] story, ''[[A Study in Scarlet]]''.
* [[1889]]: [[Vincent van Gogh]] paints ''[[The Starry Night]]''.
* [[1889]]: [[Moulin Rouge]] opens in Paris.
* [[1892]]: [[Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Nutcracker Suite]]'' premières in [[St Petersberg]].
* [[1894]]: [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[The Jungle Book]]'' is published
* [[1895]]: Trial of [[Oscar Wilde]] and premiere of his play ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]''.
* [[1897]]: [[Bram Stoker]] writes ''[[Dracula]]''.
* [[1900]]: [[L. Frank Baum]] publishes ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''.

[[File:Ilya Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Portrait of Leo Tolstoy (1887).jpg|thumb|upright|Russian writer [[Leo Tolstoy]], author of ''[[War and Peace]]'' and ''[[Anna Karenina]]'']]

===Literature===
{{main|Romantic poetry|19th century in literature}}

On the literary front the new century opens with [[romanticism]], a movement that spread throughout Europe in reaction to 18th-century rationalism, and it develops more or less along the lines of the Industrial Revolution, with a design to react against the dramatic changes wrought on nature by the steam engine and the railway. [[William Wordsworth]] and [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]] are considered the initiators of the new school in England, while in the continent the German ''[[Sturm und Drang]]'' spreads its influence as far as Italy and Spain.  French arts had been hampered by the [[Napoleonic Wars]] but subsequently developed rapidly. [[Modernism]] began.<ref>David Damrosch and David L. Pike, eds. ''The Longman Anthology of World Literature, Volume E: The Nineteenth Century'' (2nd ed. 2008)</ref>

The Goncourts and [[Émile Zola]] in France and [[Giovanni Verga]] in Italy produce some of the finest [[Naturalism (literature)|naturalist novels]]. Italian naturalist novels are especially important in that they give a social map of the new unified Italy to a people that until then had been scarcely aware of its ethnic and cultural diversity. There was a huge literary output during the 19th century. Some of the most famous writers included the Russians [[Alexander Pushkin]], [[Nikolai Gogol]], [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[Anton Chekhov]] and [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]; the English [[Charles Dickens]], [[John Keats]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] and [[Jane Austen]]; the Scottish [[Sir Walter Scott]], [[Thomas Carlyle]] and [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] (creator of the character [[Sherlock Holmes]]); the Irish [[Oscar Wilde]]; the Americans [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], and [[Mark Twain]]; and the French [[Victor Hugo]], [[Honoré de Balzac]], [[Jules Verne]], [[Alexandre Dumas]] and [[Charles Baudelaire]].<ref>M. H. Abrams et al., eds., ''The Norton Anthology of English Literature'' (9th ed. 2012)</ref>

Some American literary writers, poets and novelists were: [[Walt Whitman]], [[Mark Twain]], [[Harriet Ann Jacobs]], [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], [[Herman Melville]], [[Frederick Douglass]], [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]], [[Joel Chandler Harris]], and [[Emily Dickinson]] to name a few.

===Photography===
[[File:View from the Window at Le Gras, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.jpg|thumb|upright|One of the first photographs, produced in 1826 by [[Nicéphore Niépce]]]]
[[File:Self-portrait of Nadar.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Nadar (photographer)|Nadar]], Self-portrait, {{Circa|1860}}]]
{{see also|History of photography|List of photojournalists|Photojournalism|Daguerreotype}}
*[[Ottomar Anschütz]], [[chronophotographer]]
*[[Mathew Brady]], documented the [[American Civil War]]
*[[Edward S. Curtis]], documented the [[American West]] notably [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]
*[[Louis Daguerre]], inventor of [[daguerreotype]] process of photography, chemist
*[[Thomas Eakins]], pioneer motion photographer
*[[George Eastman]], inventor of [[Photographic film|roll film]]
*[[Hércules Florence]], pioneer inventor of photography
*[[Auguste and Louis Lumière]], pioneer film-makers, inventors
*[[Étienne-Jules Marey]], pioneer motion photographer, [[chronophotographer]]
*[[Eadweard Muybridge]], pioneer motion photographer, [[chronophotographer]]
*[[Nadar (photographer)|Nadar]] a.k.a. Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, portrait photographer
*[[Nicéphore Niépce]], pioneer inventor of photography
*[[Louis Le Prince]], motion picture inventor and pioneer film-maker
*[[Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky]],  chemist and photographer
*[[William Fox Talbot]], inventor of the negative / positive photographic process.

===Visual artists, painters, sculptors===
{{main|History of art#Modern Art (ca. 1770-1970)|Western painting|Ukiyo-e}}
[[File:El Tres de Mayo, by Francisco de Goya, from Prado thin black margin.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco Goya]], ''[[The Third of May 1808]]'', 1814, {{Lang|es|[[Museo del Prado]]|italic=no}}]]
[[File:Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Eugène Delacroix]], ''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'', 1830, [[Louvre]]]]
[[File:Vincent van Gogh - National Gallery of Art.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''Self-portrait'', 1889, [[National Gallery of Art]]]]
[[File:Affiche Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile Mucha.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Alphonse Mucha]], Advertise with ''Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile'', 1897]]
The [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] and [[Romanticism]] of the early 19th century gave way to [[Impressionism]] and [[Post-Impressionism]] in the later half of the century, with Paris being the dominant art capital of the world. In the United States the [[Hudson River School]] was prominent. 19th-century painters included:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Ivan Aivazovsky]]
*[[Léon Bakst]]
*[[Albert Bierstadt]]
*[[William Blake]]
*[[Arnold Böcklin]]
*[[Rosa Bonheur]]
*[[William Burges]]
*[[Mary Cassatt]]
*[[Camille Claudel]]
*[[Paul Cézanne]]
*[[Frederic Edwin Church]]
*[[Thomas Cole]]
*[[Jan Matejko]]
*[[John Constable]]
*[[Camille Corot]]
*[[Gustave Courbet]]
*[[Honoré Daumier]]
*[[Edgar Degas]]
*[[Eugène Delacroix]]
*[[Thomas Eakins]]
*[[Caspar David Friedrich]]
*[[Paul Gauguin]]
*[[Théodore Géricault]]
*[[Vincent van Gogh]]
*[[William Morris]]
*[[Francisco Goya]]
*[[Andō Hiroshige]]
*[[Hokusai]]
*[[Winslow Homer]]
*[[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]]
*[[Isaac Levitan]]
*[[Édouard Manet]]
*[[Claude Monet]]
*[[Gustave Moreau]]
*[[Berthe Morisot]]
*[[Edvard Munch]]
*[[Mikhail Nesterov]]
*[[Camille Pissarro]]
*[[Augustus Pugin]]
*[[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]
*[[Ilya Repin]]
*[[Auguste Rodin]]
*[[Albert Pinkham Ryder]]
*[[John Singer Sargent]]
*[[Valentin Serov]]
*[[Georges Seurat]]
*[[Ivan Shishkin]]
*[[Vasily Surikov]]
*[[James Tissot]]
*[[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]]
*[[J. M. W. Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner]]
*[[Viktor Vasnetsov]]
*[[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]]
*[[Mikhail Vrubel]]
*[[James Abbott McNeill Whistler]]
*[[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]]
{{div col end}}

===Music===
{{main|List of Romantic-era composers|Romantic music|Romanticism}}
[[File:Beethoven.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]]]
[[File:Porträt des Komponisten Pjotr I. Tschaikowski (1840-1893).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]]]
[[Sonata form]] matured during the Classical era to become the primary form of instrumental compositions throughout the 19th century. Much of the music from the 19th century was referred to as being in the [[Romantic music|Romantic]] style. Many great composers lived through this era such as [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], [[Franz Liszt]], [[Frédéric Chopin]], [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]] and [[Richard Wagner]]. The list includes:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[Mily Balakirev]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Hector Berlioz]]
*[[Georges Bizet]]
*[[Alexander Borodin]]
*[[Johannes Brahms]]
*[[Anton Bruckner]]
*[[Frédéric Chopin]]
*[[Claude Debussy]]
*[[Antonín Dvořák]]
*[[Mikhail Glinka]]
*[[Edvard Grieg]]
*[[Scott Joplin]]
*[[Alexandre Levy]]
*[[Franz Liszt]]
*[[Gustav Mahler]]
*[[Felix Mendelssohn]]
*[[Modest Mussorgsky]]
*[[Jacques Offenbach]]
*[[Niccolò Paganini]]
*[[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]
*[[Gioachino Rossini]]
*[[Anton Rubinstein]]
*[[Camille Saint-Saëns]]
*[[Antonio Salieri]]
*[[Franz Schubert]]
*[[Robert Schumann]]
*[[Alexander Scriabin]]
*[[Arthur Sullivan]]
*[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]
*[[Giuseppe Verdi]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
{{div col end}}

===Sports===
* [[1858]]: The [[Melbourne Football Club]] was formed, starting the sport of [[Australian Rules Football]]
* [[1867]]: The [[Marquess of Queensberry Rules]] for [[boxing]] are published.
* [[1872]]: The first recognised international [[Association football|football]] match, between [[England]] and [[Scotland]], is played.
* [[1877]]: The first [[test cricket]] match, between [[England]] and [[Australia]], is played.
* [[1891]]: [[Basketball]] is invented by [[James Naismith]].
* [[1895]]: [[Volleyball]] is invented.
* [[1896]]: [[Olympic Games#Revival|Olympic Games]] revived in [[Athens]].

==Events==
{{For timeline}}

===1801–1850===
* [[1801]]: The [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] and the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] merge to form the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]].
* [[1802]]: The [[Wahhabi]]s of the [[Wahhabi sack of Karbala|First Saudi State sack Karbala]].
* [[1803]]: [[William Symington]] demonstrates his ''[[Charlotte Dundas]]'', the "first practical steamboat".
* [[1803]]: The [[Wahhabi]]s of the [[First Saudi State]] capture [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]].
* [[1804]]: [[Austrian Empire]] founded by [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I]].
* [[1804]]: [[World population]] reaches 1 billion.
* [[1805]]: The [[Battle of Trafalgar]] eliminates the French and Spanish naval fleets and allows for British dominance of the seas, a major factor for the success of the [[British Empire]] later in the century.
* [[1805]]–[[1848]]: [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]] modernizes [[Egypt]].
[[File:StamfordRaffles.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[1819]]: 29 January, [[Stamford Raffles]] arrives in Singapore with [[William Farquhar]] to establish a trading post for the [[East India Company|British East India Company]]. 8 February, The treaty is signed between Sultan Hussein of Johor, Temenggong Abdul Rahman and Stamford Raffles. Farquhar is installed as the first Resident of the settlement.]]
* [[1810]]: The [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]] was founded. Among its students and faculty are [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]], [[Karl Marx|Marx]], and [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]]. The German university reform proves to be so successful that its model is copied around the world (see [[History of European universities#European university models in the 19th and 20th centuries|History of European research universities]]).
* [[1814]]: [[Elisha Collier]] invents the [[Flintlock]] [[Revolver]].
* [[1814]] : February 1 Eruption of [[Mayon Volcano]] 
* [[1815]]: April, [[Mount Tambora]] in [[Sumbawa]] island erupts, becoming the largest [[volcanic eruption]] in [[recorded history]], destroying [[Tambora culture]], and killing at least 71,000 people, including its aftermath. The eruption created [[global climate]] anomalies known as "[[volcanic winter]]".<ref name="Oppenheimer2003">{{cite journal|last=Oppenheimer|first=Clive|title=Climatic, environmental and human consequences of the largest known historic eruption: Tambora volcano (Indonesia) 1815|journal=Progress in Physical Geography|volume=27|issue=2|year=2003|pages=230–259|doi=10.1191/0309133303pp379ra|bibcode=2003PrPG...27..230O |s2cid=131663534}}</ref>
* [[1816]]: [[Year Without a Summer]]: Unusually cold conditions wreak havoc throughout the Northern Hemisphere, likely influenced by the 1815 explosion of [[Mount Tambora]].
* [[1816]]–[[1828]]: [[Shaka]]'s [[Zulu Kingdom]] becomes the largest in [[Southern Africa]].
* [[1819]]: The [[Colombia|Republic of Colombia]] ([[Gran Colombia]]) achieves independence after [[Simón Bolívar]]'s triumph at the [[Battle of Boyacá]].
* [[1819]]: The modern city of [[Singapore]] is established by the [[British East India Company]].
* [[1820]]: Discovery of [[Antarctica]].
* [[1820]]: [[History of Liberia|Liberia]] founded by the [[American Colonization Society]] for freed American slaves.
* [[1820]]: Dissolution of the [[Maratha Empire]].
* [[1821]]–[[1823]]: [[First Mexican Empire]], as Mexico's first post-independence government, ruled by Emperor [[Agustín de Iturbide|Agustín I of Mexico]].
* [[1822]]: [[Pedro I of Brazil]] declared Brazil's independence from Portugal on 7 September. 
* [[1823]]: [[Monroe Doctrine]] declared by US President [[James Monroe]].
* [[1825]]: The [[Decembrist revolt]].
[[File:Kolman decembrists.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Decembrists]] at the [[Saint Petersburg Senate Square|Senate Square]].]]
* [[1829]]: [[Sir Robert Peel]] founds the [[Metropolitan Police Service]], the first modern police force.
[[File:Emigrants Leave Ireland by Henry Doyle 1868.jpg|thumb|upright|Emigrants leaving [[Ireland]]. From 1830 to 1914, almost 5 million Irish people went to the United States alone.]]
* [[1830]]: Anglo-Russian rivalry over Afghanistan, [[the Great Game]], commences and concludes in 1895.
* [[1831]]: November Uprising ends with crushing defeat for Poland in the [[Battle of Warsaw (1831)|Battle of Warsaw]].
* [[1832]]: The British Parliament passes the [[Great Reform Act]].
* [[1834]]–[[1859]]: [[Imam Shamil]]'s rebellion in Russian-occupied [[Caucasus]].
* [[1835]]–[[1836]]: The [[Texas Revolution]] in Mexico resulted in the short-lived [[Republic of Texas]].
* [[1836]]: [[Samuel Colt]] popularizes the [[revolver]] and sets up a firearms company to manufacture his invention of the [[Colt Paterson]] revolver, a six bullets firearm shot one by one without reloading manually.
* [[1837]]–[[1838]]: [[Rebellions of 1837]] in [[Canada]].
* [[1838]]: By this time, 46,000 Native Americans have been forcibly relocated in the [[Trail of Tears]].
* [[1839]]–[[1860]]: After the [[First Opium War|First]] and [[Second Opium War]]s, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia gain many [[Treaty ports|trade and associated concessions]] from China resulting in the start of the decline of the [[Qing dynasty]].
* [[1839]]–[[1919]]: [[Anglo-Afghan War]]s lead to stalemate and the establishment of the [[Durand line]]
* [[1842]]: [[Treaty of Nanking]] cedes [[Hong Kong]] to the British.
* [[1843]]: The first [[wagon train]] sets out from Missouri.
* [[1844]]: [[Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers]] establish what is considered the first [[cooperative]] in the world. 
* [[1845]]–[[1849]]: The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine of Ireland]] leads to the [[Irish diaspora]].
* [[1848]]: ''[[The Communist Manifesto]]'' published.
* [[1848]]: [[Seneca Falls Convention]] is the first [[women's rights]] convention in the United States and leads to the [[History of Women's Suffrage in the United States|battle for women's suffrage]].
* [[1848]]–[[1855]]: [[California Gold Rush]].
* [[1849]]: Earliest recorded [[Airstrike|air raid]], as Austria employs [[The Austrian balloons|200 balloons]] to deliver ordnance against [[Venice]].
* [[1850]]: The [[Little Ice Age]] ends around this time.
* [[1850]]: [[Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch]] establishes the first [[cooperative banking|cooperative financial institution]].
[[File:U.S. Territorial Acquisitions.png|thumb|250px|Historical [[Territorial evolution of the United States|territorial expansion of the United States]]]]

===1851–1900===
{{for|later events|Timeline of the 20th century}}
* [[1851]]: The [[Great Exhibition]] in London was the world's first international Expo or [[World's fair|World Fair]].
* [[1852]]: [[Frederick Douglass]] delivers his speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" in [[Rochester, New York]].
* [[1857]]: Sir [[Joseph Whitworth]] designs the first long-range [[sniper rifle]].
* [[1857]]–[[1858]]: [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. The British Empire assumes control of India from the [[East India Company]].
* [[1858]]: Construction of [[Big Ben]] is completed.
* [[1859]]–[[1869]]: [[Suez Canal]] is constructed.
[[File:SuezCanalKantara.jpg|thumb|upright|The first vessels sail through the [[Suez Canal]]]]
* [[1860]]: [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] launches the [[Expedition of the Thousand]].
* [[1861]]: Russia [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|abolishes serfdom]].
* [[1862]]–[[1877]]: [[Dungan revolt (1862–1877)|Muslim Rebellion]] in north-west China.
* [[1863]]: Formation of the [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|International Red Cross]] is followed by the adoption of the [[First Geneva Convention]] in 1864.
* [[1865]]–[[1877]]: [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] in the United States; Slavery is banned in the United States by the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]].
* [[1867]]: [[Canada]] is formed, via the process of [[Canadian Confederation]].
* [[1868]]: [[Michael Barrett (Fenian)|Michael Barrett]] is the last person to be publicly hanged in England.
* [[1869]]: The [[Suez Canal]] opens linking the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to the [[Red Sea]].
[[File:Barricade18March1871.jpg|thumb|upright|A barricade in the [[Paris Commune]], 18 March 1871. Around 30,000 Parisians were killed, and thousands more were later executed.]]
[[File:Schwarzer Freitag Wien 1873.jpg|thumb|upright|Black Friday, 9 May 1873, Vienna Stock Exchange. The [[Panic of 1873]] and [[Long Depression]] followed.]]
* [[1870]]: Official dismantling of the [[Cultivation System]] and beginning of a '[[Liberal Period (Dutch East Indies)|Liberal Policy]]' of deregulated exploitation of the Netherlands East Indies.<ref name="VICKERS_xii">Vickers (2005), page xii</ref>
* [[1870]]–[[1890]]: [[Long Depression]] in [[Western Europe]] and [[North America]].
* [[1871]]–[[1872]]: [[List of famines|Famine]] in [[Iran|Persia]] is believed to have caused the death of 2 million.
* [[1871]]: The [[Paris Commune]] briefly rules the French capital.
* [[1872]]: [[Yellowstone National Park]], the first [[national park]], is created.
* [[1874]]: The ''Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, and Graveurs'', better known as the [[Impressionist]]s, organize and present their first public group exhibition at the Paris studio of the photographer [[Nadar (photographer)|Nadar]].
* [[1874]]: The Home Rule Movement is established in [[Ireland]].
* [[1875]]: ''[[HMS Challenger]]'' surveys the deepest point in the Earth's oceans, the [[Challenger Deep]]
* [[1876]]: [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]] leads to the death of [[General Custer]] and victory for the alliance of [[Lakota people|Lakota]], [[Northern Cheyenne|Cheyenne]] and [[Arapaho]]
* [[1876]]–[[1914]]: The massive expansion in population, territory, industry and wealth in the United States is referred to as the [[Gilded Age]].
* [[1877]]: [[Great Railroad Strike]] in the United States may have been the world's first nationwide [[Strike action|labour strike]].
* [[1881]]: Wave of [[Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire|pogroms]] begins in the Russian Empire.
* [[1881]]–[[1882]]: The [[Jules Ferry laws]] are passed in [[French Third Republic|France]] establishing free, secular education.
* [[1883]]: [[Krakatoa]] volcano explosion, one of the largest in modern history.
* [[1883]]: The [[quagga]] is rendered extinct.
* [[1886]]: Construction of the [[Statue of Liberty]]; [[Coca-Cola]] is developed.
* [[1888]]: Founding of the shipping line ''[[Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij]]'' (KPM) that supported the unification and development of the colonial economy.<ref name="VICKERS_xii"/>
* [[1888]]: The [[Golden Law]] abolishes [[slavery in Brazil]].
* [[1889]]: [[Eiffel Tower]] is inaugurated in [[Paris]].
[[File:Filipino Ilustrados Jose Rizal Marcelo del Pilar Mariano Ponce.jpg|thumb|upright|Studio portrait of ''[[Ilustrado]]s'' in Europe, {{Circa|1890}}]]
* [[1889]]: A republican military coup establishes the [[First Brazilian Republic]]. The [[Empire of Brazil|parliamentary constitutional monarchy]] is abolished.
* [[1889]]–[[1890]]: [[1889–1890 pandemic]] kills 1 million people. 
* [[1890]]: First use of the [[electric chair]] as a method of execution.
* [[1892]]: The [[World's Columbian Exposition]] was held in [[Chicago]] celebrating the 400th anniversary of [[Christopher Columbus]]'s arrival in the [[New World]].
* [[1892]]: [[Fingerprinting]] is officially adopted for the first time.
* [[1893]]: [[New Zealand]] becomes the first country to enact [[women's suffrage]].
* [[1893]]: The [[Coremans-de Vriendt law]] is passed in [[Belgium]], creating legal equality for [[French language|French]] and [[Dutch language]]s.
* [[1894]]: The [[Dutch intervention in Lombok and Karangasem]]<ref name="VICKERS_xii"/> resulted in the looting and destruction of Cakranegara Palace in [[Mataram (city)|Mataram]].<ref>Wahyu Ernawati: "Chapter 8: The Lombok Treasure", in ''Colonial collections Revisited'': Pieter ter Keurs (editor) Vol. 152, CNWS publications. Issue 36 of ''Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde'', Leiden. CNWS Publications, 2007. {{ISBN|978-90-5789-152-6}}. 296 pages. pp. 186–203</ref> J. L. A. Brandes, a Dutch philologist, discovers and secures [[Nagarakretagama]] manuscript in Lombok royal library.
* [[1896]]: [[Philippine Revolution]] ends declaring Philippines free from Spanish rule.
* [[1898]]: The United States gains control of [[Cuba]], [[Puerto Rico]], and the [[Philippines]] after the [[Spanish–American War]].
* [[1898]]: [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] of [[Qing dynasty|China]] engineers a coup d'état, marking the end of the [[Hundred Days' Reform]]; the [[Guangxu Emperor]] is arrested.
* [[1900]]: {{lang|fr|[[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]]|italic=no}} held in Paris, prominently featuring the growing art trend [[Art Nouveau]].
* [[1900]]–[[1901]]: [[Eight-Nation Alliance|Eight nations invade China]] at the same time and ransack [[Forbidden City]].

=== Last survivors ===
Born on 19 April 1897, Japanese [[Jiroemon Kimura]] died on 12 June 2013, marking the death of the last man verified to have been born in the century.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 April 2013 |title=World's oldest man ever turns 116 in Kyoto as his health is studied |url=http://japandailypress.com/worlds-oldest-man-ever-turns-116-in-kyoto-as-his-health-is-studied-1927336 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605022257/http://japandailypress.com/worlds-oldest-man-ever-turns-116-in-kyoto-as-his-health-is-studied-1927336 |archive-date=5 June 2013 |access-date=19 April 2013 |work=The Japan Daily Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=19 April 2013 |title=World's oldest person turns 116 in Japan |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130419-worlds-oldest-person-turns-116-japan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616010617/http://www.france24.com/en/20130419-worlds-oldest-person-turns-116-japan |archive-date=16 June 2013 |access-date=19 April 2013 |work=France 24 International News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=World's oldest person Jiroemon Kimura turns 116 in Japan |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/worlds-oldest-person-jiroemon-kimura-turns-116-in-japan/articleshow/19628476.cms |access-date=19 April 2013 |work=The Economic Times |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> Kimura remains the to date date [[List of the verified oldest men|oldest verified man in history]].<ref name="bloomberg">{{cite web |last=Matsuyama |first=Kanoko |date=27 December 2012 |title=Japanese 115-Year-Old Becomes Oldest Man in History |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-28/japanese-115-year-old-becomes-oldest-man-in-recorded-history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121229142949/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-28/japanese-115-year-old-becomes-oldest-man-in-recorded-history.html |archive-date=29 December 2012 |access-date=28 December 2012 |work=Bloomberg}}</ref> Subsequently, on 21 April 2018, Japanese [[Nabi Tajima]] (born 4 August 1900) died as the last person to verifiably have been born in the century.<ref name="slate2">{{Cite web |last=Politi |first=Daniel |date=22 April 2018 |title=The Last Known Person Born in the 19th Century Dies in Japan at 117 |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/the-last-known-person-born-in-the-19th-century-died-in-japan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912162416/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/the-last-known-person-born-in-the-19th-century-died-in-japan.html |archive-date=12 September 2023 |access-date=4 October 2019 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

==Supplementary portrait gallery==
<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px">
File:Carl Friedrich Gauss 1840 by Jensen.jpg|[[Carl Friedrich Gauss]]
File:Charles Robert Darwin by John Collier cropped.jpg|[[Charles Darwin]]
File:Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat 1876 - full.jpg|[[Victor Hugo]] {{Circa|1876}}
File:Kramskoy Mendeleev 01.jpg|[[Dmitri Mendeleev]]
File:Louis Pasteur.jpg|[[Louis Pasteur]], 1878
File:Mariecurie.jpg|[[Marie Curie]], {{Circa|1898}}
File:Nikola Tesla by Sarony c1898.jpg|[[Nikola Tesla]]
File:Jose Rizal full.jpg|[[José Rizal]]
File:Jane Austen (chopped) 2.jpg|[[Jane Austen]]
File:Leo Tolstoy 1897, black and white, 37767u.jpg|[[Leo Tolstoy]] {{Circa|1897}}
File:Edgar Allan Poe 2.jpg|[[Edgar Allan Poe]]
File:Félix_Nadar_1820-1910_portraits_Jules_Verne.jpg|[[Jules Verne]]
File:Charles Dickens 3.jpg|[[Charles Dickens]]
File:Carjat Arthur Rimbaud 1872 n2.jpg|[[Arthur Rimbaud]]  {{Circa|1872}}
File:Twain in Tesla's Lab.jpg|[[Mark Twain]], 1894
File:RWEmerson.jpg|[[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]
File:Benjamin D. Maxham - Henry David Thoreau - Restored - greyscale - straightened.jpg|[[Henry David Thoreau]], August 1861.
File:Emile Zola 2.jpg|[[Émile Zola]], {{Circa|1900}}
File:Chekhov 1903 ArM.jpg|[[Anton Chekhov]]
File:Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky 1876.jpg|[[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], 1876
File:John L Sullivan.jpg|[[John L Sullivan]] in his prime, {{Circa|1882}}
File:David Livingstone -1.jpg|[[David Livingstone]] 1864, left [[Great Britain|Britain]] for [[Africa]] in 1840
File:Jesse and Frank James.gif|[[Jesse James|Jesse]] and [[Frank James]], 1872
File:William Notman studios - Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill (1895) edit.jpg|[[Sitting Bull]] and [[Buffalo Bill Cody]], Montreal, Quebec, 1885
File:Goyaale.jpg|[[Geronimo]], 1887, prominent leader of the [[Chiricahua]] [[Apache]]
File:Billy the Kid corrected.jpg|[[William Bonney]] aka [[Henry McCarty]] aka [[Billy the Kid]], {{Circa|late 1870s}}
File:Wyatt Earp und Bat Masterson 1876.jpg|Deputies [[Bat Masterson]] and [[Wyatt Earp]] in [[Dodge City]], 1876
File:Mathew Brady 1875 cropped.jpg|[[Mathew Brady]], Self-portrait, {{Circa|1875}}
File:Alfred Lord Tennyson 1869.jpg|[[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]]
File:Thomas Nast - Brady-Handy.jpg|[[Thomas Nast]], {{Circa|1860}}–1875, photo by [[Mathew Brady]] or Levin Handy
File:Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad2.jpg|[[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]]
File:Bakunin.png|[[Mikhail Bakunin]]
File:Kierkegaard.jpg|[[Søren Kierkegaard]]
File:Solomon Northup 001 (cropped).jpg|[[Solomon Northup]]
File:Dred Scott photograph (circa 1857).jpg|[[Dred Scott]]
File:Madame CJ Walker.gif|[[Madam C. J. Walker]]
File:Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant.jpg|[[Claude Monet]]'s ''[[Impression, Sunrise]]'', 1872, gave the name to [[Impressionism]]
File:Paul Cézanne 159.jpg|[[Paul Cézanne]], [[self-portrait]], 1880–1881
File:Scott Joplin.jpg|[[Scott Joplin]]
File:NiccoloPaganini.jpeg|[[Niccolò Paganini]], {{Circa|1819}}
File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 043.jpg|[[Frédéric Chopin]], 1838
File:John D. Rockefeller, Sr.jpg|[[John D. Rockefeller]]
</gallery>

==See also==

*[[Timelines of modern history]]
*[[Long nineteenth century]]
*[[19th century in film]]
*[[19th century in games]]
*[[19th-century philosophy]]
*[[Nineteenth-century theatre]]
*[[International relations (1814–1919)]]
*[[List of wars: 1800–1899]]
*[[Victorian era]]
*[[France in the long nineteenth century]]
*[[History of Spain (1808–1874)]]
*[[History of Russia (1855–1892)]]
*[[Slavery in the United States]]
*[[Timeline of 19th-century Muslim history]]
*[[Timeline of historic inventions#19th century|Timeline of historic inventions]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Langer, William. ''An Encyclopedia of World History'' (5th ed. 1973); highly detailed outline of events [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo00lang online free]
* Morris, Richard B. and Graham W. Irwin, eds. ''Harper Encyclopedia of the Modern World: A Concise Reference History from 1760 to the Present'' (1970) [https://archive.org/details/harperencycloped00morr online frr]
* ''New Cambridge Modern History'' (13 vol 1957–79), old but thorough coverage, mostly of Europe; strong on diplomacy
**Bury, J. P. T. ed. ''The New Cambridge Modern History: Vol. 10: the Zenith of European Power, 1830–70'' (1964) [https://archive.org/stream/iB_CMH/10#page/n3/mode/1up online]
**Crawley, C. W., ed. ''The New Cambridge Modern History Volume IX War and Peace In An Age of Upheaval 1793–1830'' (1965)  [https://archive.org/stream/iB_CMH/09#page/n4/mode/1up online]
**Darby, H. C.  and H. Fullard ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 14: Atlas'' (1972)
**Hinsley, F.H., ed. ''The New Cambridge Modern History, vol. 11, Material Progress and World-Wide Problems 1870–1898'' (1979) [https://archive.org/stream/iB_CMH/11#page/n3/mode/1up online]

===Diplomacy and international relations===
{{Main|International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)}}
* {{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24729-5|title=Greater France|year=1996|last1=Aldrich|first1=Robert|isbn=978-0-333-56740-1}}
* {{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-24958-9|title=Peace, War and the European Powers, 1814–1914|year=1996|last1=Bartlett|first1=C. J.|publisher=Macmillan Education UK |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-62001-4}}
* Bridge, F. R. & Roger Bullen. ''The Great Powers and the European States System 1814–1914'', 2nd Ed. (2005)
* {{cite journal|doi=10.2307/3014586|jstor=3014586|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.86299|title=History of Modern Europe, 1878-1919|year=1923|last1=Gooch|first1=G. P.|journal=Journal of the British Institute of International Affairs|volume=2|issue=6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.86299/page/n277 266]}}
* Herring, George C. ''Years of Peril and Ambition: U.S. Foreign Relations, 1776–1921'' (2017)
* [[Paul Kennedy|Kennedy, Paul]]. [[The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers|''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500–2000'']] (1987), stress on economic and military factors
* Langer, William.  ''European Alliances and Alignments 1870–1890'' (1950); advanced history [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.237096 online]
* Langer, William. ''The Diplomacy of Imperialism 1890–1902'' (1950); advanced history [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177815 online]
* Mowat, R.B. ''A history of European diplomacy, 1815–1914'' (1922) [https://archive.org/details/historyofeuropea00mowauoft online free]
* {{cite book|doi=10.1515/9781400849949|title=The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century|year=2014|last1=Osterhammel|first1=Jürgen|isbn=9781400849949|url=http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780691147451.pdf }}
* Porter, Andrew, ed. ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume III: The Nineteenth Century'' (2001)
* Sontag, Raymond. ''European Diplomatic History: 1871–1932'' (1933), basic summary; 425 pp [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.503351/2015.503351.european-diplomatic_text.pdf online]
* Taylor, A.J.P. ''[[The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848–1918]]'' (1954) 638 pp; advanced history and analysis of major diplomacy; [https://archive.org/details/struggleformaste00ajpt online free]
* Taylor, A.J.P.  "International Relations" in F.H. Hinsley, ed., ''The New Cambridge Modern History: XI: Material Progress and World-Wide Problems, 1870–98'' (1962): 542–66. [https://archive.org/stream/iB_CMH/11#page/n3/mode/1up online]
* {{cite book|doi=10.4324/9781315844503|title=The European Colonial Empires|year=2015|last1=Wesseling|first1=H. L.|isbn=9781315844503}}

===Europe===
* Anderson, M. S. ''The Ascendancy of Europe: 1815–1914'' (3rd ed. 2003)
* Blanning, T. C. W. ed. ''The Nineteenth Century: Europe 1789–1914'' (Short Oxford History of Europe) (2000) 320 pp
* Bruun, Geoffrey. ''Europe and the French Imperium, 1799–1814 '' (1938) [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.183653/2015.183653.Europe-And-The-French-Imperium-1799-1814_text.pdf online].
* Cameron, Rondo. ''France and the Economic Development of Europe, 1800–1914: Conquests of Peace and Seeds of War'' (1961), awide-ranging economic and business history.
* Evans, Richard J. ''The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815–1914'' (2016), 934 pp
* Gildea, Robert. ''Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800–1914'' (3rd ed. 2003) 544 pp,  [https://www.questia.com/read/55547824/barricades-and-borders-europe-1800-1914 online 2nd ed, 1996]
* {{cite book|doi=10.1007/978-1-4039-3757-5|title=Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe|year=2003|last1=Grab|first1=Alexander|publisher=Macmillan Education UK |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-68275-3}}
* Mason, David S. ''A Concise History of Modern Europe: Liberty, Equality, Solidarity'' (2011), since 1700
* Merriman, John, and J. M. Winter, eds. ''Europe 1789 to 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire'' (5 vol. 2006)
* Steinberg, Jonathan. ''Bismarck: A Life'' (2011)
* Salmi, Hannu. ''19th Century Europe: A Cultural History'' (2008).

===Asia, Africa===
* Ajayi, J. F. Ade, ed. ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. VI, Abridged Edition: Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s'' (1998) 
* {{cite book|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139644594|title=Africa's Development in Historical Perspective|year=2014|isbn=9781139644594|editor1-last=Akyeampong|editor1-first=Emmanuel|editor2-last=Bates|editor2-first=Robert H|editor3-last=Nunn|editor3-first=Nathan|editor4-last=Robinson|editor4-first=James A}}
* [[Chamberlain. M.E.]] ''The Scramble for Africa'' (3rd ed. 2010)
* Collins, Robert O. and James M, Burns, eds. ''A History of Sub-Saharan Africa''. 
*[[Basil Davidson|Davidson, Basil]] ''Africa In History, Themes and Outlines''. (2nd ed. 1991). 
* {{cite book|doi=10.1017/9781316340356|title=A History of East Asia|year=2017|last1=Holcombe|first1=Charles|isbn=9781107118737|s2cid=140138294 }}
* Ludden, David. ''India and South Asia: A Short History'' (2013).
* McEvedy, Colin. ''The Penguin Atlas of African History'' (2nd ed. 1996). [https://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Atlas-African-History-Revised/dp/0140513213/ excerpt]
* Mansfield, Peter, and Nicolas Pelham, ''A History of the Middle East'' (4th ed, 2013).
* {{cite book|doi=10.4324/9781315509495|title=A History of Asia|year=2016|last1=Murphey|first1=Rhoads|isbn=9781315509495}}
* Pakenham, Thomas. ''The Scramble for Africa: 1876 to 1912'' (1992)

===North and South America===
*Bakewell, Peter, ''A History of Latin America'' (Blackwell, 1997)
*  Beezley, William,  and Michael Meyer, eds. ''The Oxford History of Mexico'' (2010)
* {{cite book|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521232234|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America|year=1984|isbn=9781139055161|editor1-last=Bethell|editor1-first=Leslie}}
* Black, Conrad. ''Rise to Greatness: The History of Canada From the Vikings to the Present'' (2014)
* Burns, E. Bradford, ''Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History'', paperback, Prentice Hall 2001, 7th edition
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2009), Pulitzer Prize
* Kirkland, Edward C. ''A History Of American Economic Life'' (3rd ed. 1960) [https://archive.org/download/in.ernet.dli.2015.223513/2015.223513.A-History.pdf online]
* Lynch, John, ed. ''Latin American revolutions, 1808–1826: old and new world origins'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1994)
* McPherson, James M. ''Battle Cry of Freedom The CIvil War Era'' (1988) Pulitzer Prize for US history
* Parry, J.H.  ''A Short History of the West Indies'' (1987)
* Paxson, Frederic Logan. ''History of the American frontier, 1763–1893''  (1924)  [https://web.archive.org/web/20160202142001/https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/47065/ttu_hfwc01_000001.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y online], Pulitzer Prize
* White, Richard. ''The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896'' (2017)

===Primary sources===
* de Bary,  Wm. Theodore, ed. ''Sources of East Asian Tradition, Vol. 2: The Modern Period'' (2008), 1192 pp
* Kertesz, G.A. ed ''Documents in the Political History of the European Continent 1815–1939'' (1968), 507 pp; several hundred short documents

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Wikiquote}}

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