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19th Century

19th century

:Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) The 19th century lasted from 1801 to 1900 in the Gregorian calendar (using the Common Era system of year numbering). Historians sometimes define a "Nineteenth Century" historical era stretching from 1815 (The Congress of Vienna) to 1914 (The outbreak of the First World War).

Europe

For Europe, the period is marked with revolution, social upheaval, and the emergence of a united conservatism from the monarchs of Europe in response to the emerging republican firestorm spreading from revolutionary France. There were many revolutions in Europe in 1848. Furthermore, the later end of the century was dominated by what many call the New Imperialism, which was the rapid aquisition of colonies worldwide by European powers, most noteworthy is the Scramble for Africa. Many countries in Europe underwent an Industrial Revolution, especially Britain and Germany, that spread elsewhere by the end of the century, with factories and railway lines built all over the continent. The start of the 19th century there was a struggle between France and Britain and their allies for control of Europe and the world during the Napoleonic Wars, with Napoleon being finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815. During the rest of the century, the British empire became the largest and most powerful empire in history, during the period known as the Pax Britannica.

Americas

In the Americas, the United States slowly grew economically, militarily, and politically, but nevertheless faced dramatic changes domestically, best seen in the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the expansion across the American continent known as Manifest Destiny. Industrially, America will explode following the Civil War, and would eventually begin expansion outward across the Pacific Ocean and in Latin America.

Other countries

For the rest of the world, there were few places not influenced by the West in some fashion, whether through colonialism, imperialism, or war. European powers gained increasing influence in China, where Qing control had weakened, and wars were fought by the western powers against China, such as the first and the second Opium wars and Sino-French War. Japan, which was forcibly opened to Western trade, began a rapid industrialisation. Africa which was largely free from European control at the start of the century, was almost completely dominated by Europe at the end of it, with the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s. Large European settlement, especially British, of colonies such as Australia, New Zealand and the Cape Colony continued during the nineteenth century.

Events

- 1801: The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merge to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1803: The United States buys out France's territorial claims in North America via the Louisiana Purchase.
- 1804-06: Americans Meriwether Lewis and William Clark lead an expedition to the Pacific Coast and back.
- 1805-48: Muhammad Ali modernizes Egypt.
- 1806: Holy Roman Empire dissolved as a consequence of the Treaty of Lunéville.
- 1809: Napoleon strips the Teutonic Knights of their last holdings in Bad Mergentheim.
- 1813-1917: The contest between the British Empire and Imperial Russia for control of Central Asia is referred to as the Great Game.
- 1815: Congress of Vienna redraws the European map.
- 1815: Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo brings a conclusion to the Napoleonic Wars and marks the beginning of a Pax Britannica which lasts until 1870.
- 1816: Year Without a Summer
- 1816-28: Shaka's Zulu kingdom becomes the largest in Southern Africa.
- 1819: The modern city of Singapore is established by the British East India Company.
- 1820: Liberia founded by the American Colonization Society for freed American slaves.
- 1830: France invades and occupies Algeria.
- 1830: The Belgian Revolution in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands led to the creation of Belgium.
- 1833: Slavery Abolition Act bans slavery throughout the British Empire.
- 1834: Spanish Inquisition officially ends.
- 1835-36: The Texas Revolution in Mexico resulted in the short-lived Republic of Texas.
- 1837-1901: Queen Victoria's reign is considered the apex of the British Empire and is referred to as the Victorian era.
- 1845-49: Irish Potato Famine
- 1848: The Communist Manifesto published.
- 1848: Revolutions of 1848 in Europe
- 1848-58: California Gold Rush
- 1850: The Little Ice Age ends around this time.
- 1851-60s: Victorian gold rush in Australia
- 1851-64: The Taiping Rebellion in China
- 1854: The Convention of Kanagawa formally ends Japan's policy of Sakoku.
- 1855: Bessemer process enables steel to be mass produced.
- 1856: World's first oil refinery in Romania
- 1857-58: Indian rebellion of 1857
- 1859: The Origin of Species published.
- 1864-67: French intervention in Mexico
- 1865-77: Reconstruction in the United States
- 1866: Successful transatlantic telegraph cable follows an earlier attempt in 1858.
- 1866: Creation of the North German Confederation and the Austrian-Hungarian Dual Monarchy.
- 1866-69: Meiji Restoration in Japan
- 1867: The United States purchased Alaska from Russia.
- 1867: Canadian Confederation formed.
- 1869: First Transcontinental Railroad completed in United States.
- 1869: The Suez Canal opens linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
- 1870-71: Unifications of Germany and Italy.
- 1871-1914: Second Industrial Revolution
- 1870s-90s: Long Depression in Western Europe and North America
- 1872: Yellowstone National Park created.
- 1874: The British East India Company is dissolved.
- 1877: Great Railroad Strike in the United States may have been the world's first nationwide labor strike.
- 1877-78: The Balkans are freed from the Ottoman Empire after another Russo-Turkish War.
- 1878: First commercial telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1880-1902: Great Britain conquers Dutch settlers in South Africa in two Boer Wars.
- 1882: First electrical power plant and grid in Manhattan.
- 1884-85: The Berlin Conference signals the start of the European Scramble for Africa. Attending nations also agree to ban trade in slaves.
- 1885: Unification of Bulgaria
- 1890: The Wounded Knee Massacre is the last battle in the American Indian Wars.
- 1894-95: After the First Sino-Japanese War, China cedes Taiwan to Japan and grants Japan a free hand in Korea.
- 1895-1896: Ethiopia defeated Italy in the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
- 1896: Olympic games revived in Athens.
- 1896: Klondike Gold Rush in Canada
- 1898: The United States gains control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.
- 1898-1900: The Boxer Rebellion in China is suppressed by an Eight-Nation Alliance.

Wars

List of wars 1800–1899
- 1799-1815: Napoleonic Wars.
- 1801-15: Barbary Wars between the United States and the Barbary States of North Africa.
- 1806-12: Russo-Turkish War
- 1810-21: Mexican War of Independence.
- 1810s-20s: South American Wars of Independence.
- 1812-15: War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.
- 1821-32: Greek War of Independence.
- 1828-29: Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829
- 1833-76: Carlist Wars in Spain.
- 1839-60: After two Opium Wars, Great Britain, France, the United States and Russia gain many concessions from China.
- 1854-56: Crimean War between Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.
- 1861-65: American Civil War between the Union and seceding Confederacy.
- 1866: Austro-Prussian War.
- 1877-78: Russo-Turkish War.
- 1879: Anglo-Zulu War in South Africa.
- 1879-84: War of the Pacific between Peru, Bolivia and Chile.
- 1880-81: First Boer War.
- 1894-95: First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1895-96: First Italo-Abyssinian War.
- 1899-13: The Philippine-American War.

Significant people

- Gilbert and Sullivan, playwright, composer
- William Gilbert Grace, English cricketer
- Baron Haussmann, civic planner
- Sándor Körösi Csoma, explorer of the Tibetan culture
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow, writer and explorer
- Florence Nightingale, nursing pioneer
- Ignaz Semmelweis, founder of hygiene
- Dr. John Snow, the founder of epidemiology
- F R Spofforth, Australian cricketer

Science

- Henri Becquerel, physicist
- Charles Darwin, biologist
- Thomas Alva Edison, inventor
- Michael Faraday, scientist
- Gottlob Frege, mathematician, logician and philosopher
- Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, physicist, astronomer
- James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist
- Gregor Mendel, biologist
- Louis Pasteur, biologist
- Nikola Tesla, inventor
- Amedeo Avogadro, physicist
- Johann Jakob Balmer, mathematician, physicist
- Pierre Curie, physicist
- Christian Doppler, physicist, mathematician

Philosophy and Religion

- Bahá'u'lláh, Persian religious leader and founder of Bahá'í Faith
- Báb, Persian prophet and founder of Bábísm
- Nikolai of Japan, religious leader who introduced Eastern Orthodoxy into Japan.
- Mikhail Bakunin, anarchist
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher
- Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
- Karl Marx, political philosopher and economist
- John Stuart Mill, philosopher
- Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher
- Joseph Smith, Jr., religious leader, founder of Mormonism
- Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Hindu mystic
- Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher
- Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, founder of French socialism
- Brigham Young, Mormon religious leader
- William Morris, social reformer

Politics

- Otto von Bismarck, German chancellor
- Napoleon Bonaparte, French general, first consul and emperor
- Guiseppe Garibaldi, unifier of Italy and Piedmontese soldier
- Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. general and president
- Theodor Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. general and president
- Thomas Jefferson, American statesman, philosopher, and president
- Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian governor; leader of the war of independence
- Hong Xiuquan, revolutionary, self-proclaimed Son of God
- Benjamin Disraeli, novelist and politician
- Libertadores, Latin American liberators
- Robert E. Lee, Confederate general
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president; led the nation during the Civil War
- Mutsuhito, Japanese emperor
- István Széchenyi, aristocrat, leader of the Hungarian reform movement
- Queen Victoria, British monarch
- Klemens von Metternich, Austrian Chancellor

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

List of 19th century inventions
- Department stores
- Electromagnetism
- Epidemiology
- Mail order businesses
- Philology
- Postage stamps
- Public busses
- Subway
- The invention of the telegraph connected the world like never before, leading to quicker communication and interaction.
- One of the more devestating technologies emerging from this period is the machine gun, first used during the Civil War (considered the first modern war)

Decades and years

Category:19th century Category:Centuries Category:Romanticism als:19. Jahrhundert zh-min-nan:19 sè-kí ko:19세기 ja:19世紀 simple:19th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 19

Nineteenth Century (periodical)

Nineteenth Century was a literary magazine founded in 1877 by Sir James Knowles. In 1901, the title was changed to Nineteenth Century and After. It was famously asserting shortly before the outbreak of World War I in 1914 that 'the only court in which nations' issues can and will be tried is the court of God, which is war.' Category:Literary magazines

1801

.]] 1801 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 1 - Legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- January 1 - Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first (and largest) asteroid Ceres.
- January 20 - John Marshall is appointed Chief Justice of the United States.
- February 3 - William Pitt the Younger resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- February 9 - The Treaty of Lunéville ends the war (Second Coalition) between France and Austria.
- February 17 - An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
- February 27 - Washington, DC is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
- March 4 - Thomas Jefferson succeeds John Adams as the President of the United States of America.
- March 21 - Second Battle of Abukir: a British army under Ralph Abercromby defeats the French troops.
- March 23 - The Russian Tsar Paul I is murdered. He is succeeded by his son Alexander I of Russia.
- April 2 - First Battle of Copenhagen - The British fleet under Admiral Hyde Parker, along with Admiral Horatio Nelson, attack Copenhagen. Armed Neutrality of the North dissolved.
- May - The pascha of Tripoli declares war on United States by having the flagpole on the consulate chopped down.
- June 27 - Cairo falls to British troops.
- July 6 - Battle of Algeciras: The French fleet beats the British fleet.
- July 18 - Napoleon signs the Concordat of 1801 with the pope.
- November 16 - First edition of New York Evening Post
- Aachen is officially annexed by France.
- A census in London revealed it to have 860,035 residents
- First census in France
- Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a loom where the pattern being woven was controlled by punch cards.
- The ultraviolet radiation is discovered by Johann Wilhelm Ritter

Ongoing events

- French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)-Second Coalition/Egyptian Campaign
- Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)-Second Coalition/Egyptian Campaign

Births

- January 3 - Gijsbert Haan, Dutch-American religious leader (d. 1874)
- February 1 - Thomas Cole, American artist (d. 1848)
- February 21 - John Henry Newman, English Roman Catholic Cardinal (d. 1890)
- May 11 - Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
- June 1 - Brigham Young, American religious leader and colonizer (d. 1877)
- June 4 - James Pennethorne, English architect (d. 1871)
- June 14 - Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (d. 1868)
- June 30 - Frederic Bastiat, French philosopher (d. 1850)
- July 5 - David Farragut, American naval commander (d.1870)
- July 29 - George Bradshaw, English publisher (d. 1853)
- October 12 - Friedrich Frey-Herosé, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1873)
- November 3 - Karl Baedeker, German author and publisher (d. 1859)
- November 3 - Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (d. 1835)
- November 10 - Vladimir Dal, Russian lexicographer (d. 1872)
- December 11 - Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German writer (d. 1836)

Deaths

- February 7 - Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
- March 21 - Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer (b. 1741)
- March 23 - Tsar Paul of Russia (b. 1754)
- March 25 - Novalis, German poet (b. 1772)
- March 28 - Ralph Abercromby, British general (b. 1734)
- April 2 - Thomas Dadford Junior, British engineer
- April 7 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (b. 1724)
- May 17 - William Heberden, English physician (b. 1710)
- June 4 - Frederick Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (b. 1750)
- September 19 - Johann Gottfried Koehler, German astronomer (b. 1745)
- October 3 - Philippe Henri, marquis de Ségur, Marshal of France (b. 1724)
- November 4 - William Shippen, American physician and Continental Congressman (b. 1712)
- November 24 - Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy, Austrian field marshal (b. 1725) Category:1801 ko:1801년 ms:1801 simple:1801

1900

1900 (MCM) is a common year starting on Monday.

Events

January

- January 1 - Chris Smith Born in 1972
- January 2 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
- January 2 - Chicago Canal opens.
- January 5 - Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
- January 6 - It is reported that millions are starving in India.
- January 6 - Boers attack Ladysmith - over 1000 people were killed.
- January 8 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
- January 13 - Kaiser of Germany declares that German is the command language in the German army
- January 14 - Premier presentation of opera Tosca in Rome - actors have received death threats and nameless letters.
- January 16 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands.
- January 24 - Battle of Spion Kop in Second Boer War.
- January 24 - The governments in London and Pretoria begin negotiations to end the Boer Wars.
- January 27 - Boxer rebellion: Foreign diplomats in Peking China demand that the Boxer rebels be disciplined.
- January 29 - The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs is organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 8 founding teams.
- January 30 - United Kingdom forces fighting Boers in South Africa ask for reinforcements.

February

South Africa
- February 3 - Gubernatorial candidate William Goebel is assassinated in Frankfort, Kentucky. Former-Secretary of State Caleb Powers was later found guilty in a conspiracy to kill Goebels.
- February 7 - The British Labour Party is formed.
- February 8 - British troops are defeated by Boers at Ladysmith, South Africa.
- February 9 - Richard Wigginton Thompson, U.S. congressman, dies.
- February 14 - Russia responds to international pressure to free Finland by tightening imperial control over the country.
- February 14 - Boer War: In South Africa, 20,000 British troops invade the Orange Free State.
- February 17 - Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War
- February 22 - Hawaii officially becomes a territory of the United States.
- February 23 - Boer War: Battle of Hart's Hill - In South Africa the Boers and British troops battle.
- February 27 - Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronje.
- February 27 - Ramsay MacDonald appointed secretary of newly formed British Labour Party.

March

- March 3 - Mining strike ends in Germany.
- March 6 - A coal mine explosion in West Virginia traps 50 coal miners.
- March 9 - Women in Germany demand right to participate in university entrance exams
- March 11 - Boer War: Boer leader Paul Kruger's peace overtures are rejected by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Lord Salisbury.
- March 13 - Boer War: British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State.
- March 13 - In France, length of a workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law
- March 14 - The Gold Standard Act is ratified placing United States currency on the gold standard.
- March 16 - Sir Arthur Evans discovers the ruins of Knossos on Crete
- March 24 - New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

April

- April 1 - Every French policeman is assigned to carry a gun.
- April 1 - Irish Guards formed by Queen Victoria
- April 4 - Anarchist shoots at the Prince of Wales during his visit to Belgium in the birthday celebrations of the king of Belgium.
- April 14 - Paris World Exhibition opens.

May

- May 1 - Explosion of blasting powder in coal mine in Scofield, Utah kills 200
- May 2 - Oscar II, King of Sweden, declares support for Britain at the time of the Boer War.
- May 17 - Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking
- May 17 - Boxers destroy three villages near Peking and kill 60 Chinese Christians
- May 18 - Boer delegation travels to USA to ask for assistance
- May 18 - The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
- May 21 - Russia invades Manchuria
- May 23 - Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (awarded for heroism in the Battle of Fort Wagner during the American Civil War).
- May 24 - Boer War: British annex Orange Free State as Orange River Colony.
- May 25 - Boer soldiers vote for the continuance of the war
- May 28 - Boxers attack Belgian personnel in the Fengtai railway station
- May 29 - Chinese government condemns Boxers
- May 30 - Boxers occupy Tientsin
- May 31 - Peacekeepers from various European countries arrive in China
- May 31 - British under Lord Robert occupy Johannesburg

June

- June 1 - Carrie Nation demolishes 25 saloons in Medicine Lodge
- June 5 - Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria, South Africa.
- June 14 - The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy.
- June 20 - The Boxers gather about 20,000 people near Peking and kill hundreds of European citizens, including the German ambassador.
- June 30 - Piers of North German Lloyd Steamship line burned in Hoboken, New Jersey - 326 dead

July

Hoboken, New Jersey
- July 2 - First zeppelin flight on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany
- July 5 - Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passes British Parliament
- July 9 - Queen Victoria gives royal assent to Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
- July 13 - Boxer Rebellion: In China, Tientsin is retaken by European Allies from the rebelling Boxers
- July 29 - In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by Italian-born anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
- July 30 - The Duke of Albany becomes Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as Carl Eduard following the death of his uncle, Duke Alfred

August

- August 14 - An international contingent of troops, under British command, invades Peking and frees the Europeans taken hostage.
- August 27 - British defeat Boer commandos at Bergendal

September

- September 8 - Galveston Hurricane of 1900: a powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
- September 17 - Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.

October

- October - The Norwegian inventor Johann Vaaler demands a patent for his invention, the paperclip.

November

- November 3 - the first automobile show in the United States opened at New York's Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.
- November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1900: Republican incumbent William McKinley is reelected by defeating Democrat challenger William Jennings Bryan.

Births

January

- January 5 - Yves Tanguy, French painter (d. 1955)
- January 26 - Karl Ristenpart, German conductor (d. 1967)
- January 27 - Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)

February

- February 4 - Jacques Prévert, French lyricist and author (d. 1977)
- February 5 - Adlai Stevenson, American politician (d. 1965)
- February 11 - Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher (d. 2002)
- February 12 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1983)
- February 19 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- February 22 - Luis Buñuel, Spanish film director (d. 1983)
- February 28 - Wolfram Hirth, German pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1959)

March

- March 9 - Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer (d. 1973)
- March 19 - Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1958)
- March 23 - Erich Fromm, German-born psychologist and philosopher (d. 1980)
- March 29 - John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
- March 31 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)

April-June

- April 2 - Roberto Arlt, Argentinian writer (d. 1942)
- April 5 - Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
- April 25 - Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- April 26 - Charles Richter, American geophysicist and inventor (d. 1985)
- April 30 - Cecily Lefort, English World War II heroine (executed) (d. 1945)
- May 1 - Ignazio Silone, Italian author (d. 1978)
- May 12 - Helene Weigel, Austrian actress (d. 1971)
- May 28 - Tommy Ladnier, American jazz trumpeter (heart attack) (d. 1939)
- June 3 - Rolland Fisher, American temperance movement leader (d. 1982)
- June 5 - Dennis Gabor, Hungarian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- June 15 - Paul Mares, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1949)
- June 29 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (d. 1944)

July-September

- July 13 - George Lewis, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1969)
- July 29 - Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
- August 3 - Ernie Pyle, American journalist (d. 1945)
- August 4 - Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, queen of King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
- August 6 - Cecil H. Green, British-born geophysicist and businessman (d. 2003)
- August 10 - Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)
- August 15 - Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (d. 1966)
- August 22 - Sergei Ozhegov, Russian lexicographer (d. 1964)
- August 25 - Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1981)
- August 26 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (d. 1980)
- September 3 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (d. 1986)
- September 6 - W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (d. 1979)

October-December

- October 6 - Stan Nichols, English cricketer (d. 1961)
- October 7 - Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official and leader of the SS (d. 1945)
- October 30 - Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1991)
- November 5 - Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (d. 1972)
- November 8 - Charlie Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
- November 8 - Margaret Mitchell, American writer (d. 1949)
- November 11 - Halina Konopacka, Polish athlete (d. 1989)
- November 14 - Aaron Copland, American composer (d. 1990)
- December 3 - Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (d. 2004)
- December 3 - Richard Kuhn, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- December 12 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (d. 1988)

Deaths

- January 20 - John Ruskin, English writer and social critic (b. 1819)
- March 6 - Gottlieb Daimler, German inventor and automotive pioneer (b. 1834)
- April 5 - Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician (b. 1822)
- April 24 - George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, British politician (b.1823)
- April 30 - Casey Jones, American train wreck victim (b. 1864)
- May 18 - Jean Gaspard Felix Ravaisson-Mollien, French philosopher (b. 1813)
- June 3 - Mary Kingsley, English explorer and writer (b. 1862)
- June 5 - Stephen Crane, American author (b. 1871)
- June 11 - Belle Boyd, American Confederate spy and actress (b.1843)
- July 29 - Umberto I, King of Italy (assassinated) (b. 1844)
- July 30 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844)
- August 10 - Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, Lord Chief Justice of England (b.1832)
- August 12 - Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-born chess player (b. 1836)
- August 16 - Eça de Queirós, Portuguese writer (b. 1845)
- August 25 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher and writer (b. 1844)
- August 25 - Kuroda Kiyotaka, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1840)
- September 23 - William Marsh Rice, American philanthropist and university founder (murdered) (b. 1816)
- September 29 - Samuel Fenton Cary, American politician and temperance movement leader (b. 1814)
- October 15 - Zdeněk Fibich, Czech composer (b. 1850)
- October 22 - John Sherman, American politician (b.1823)
- November 22 - Sir Arthur Sullivan. English composer (b. 1842)
- November 30 - Oscar Wilde, Irish writer (b. 1854)

Month/day unknown

- Henry D. Cogswell, American philanthropist and temperance movement pioneer (b. 1820)

Notes

- 1900 is not a leap year even though the number is divisible by 4. It is one of the dropped leap years of the Gregorian Calendar.
- ko:1900년 ms:1900 ja:1900年 simple:1900 th:พ.ศ. 2443

Common Era

The Common Era (CE), also known as the Christian Era and sometimes the Current Era, is the period beginning with the year 1 onwards. The term is used for a system of reckoning years that is chronologically equivalent to the anno Domini (AD) (Latin for "in the year of [our] Lord") system, but with less overt religious implications. Although common era was a term first used by some Christians in an age when Christianity was the common religion of the West, it is now a term preferred by some as a religiously neutral alternative. It has its equivalents in other languages. For example, Chinese uses its literal translation, gōngyuán (公元), for date notation.

Chronology and notation

The calendar practice prompting the coining of the term common era is the system of numbering and naming years using the presumed (although incorrect) birth year of Jesus as a starting point. This system was devised by the monk Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525, and used the label anno Domini to identify the year. Two centuries later the monk Bede introduced a Latin term that is roughly equivalent to the English term before Christ to identify years in the era preceding anno Domini. Both Dionysius and Bede regarded anno Domini as beginning at the incarnation or conception of Jesus, not his birth nine months later. Anno Domini was in widespread use by the ninth century, but the Latin equivalent of before Christ did not become widespread until the late fifteenth century (neither was abbreviated in Latin). The term "common era" refers to the time period since the year 1 in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars. By convention, for most purposes except astronomical use, year zero is not used. Instead, 1 BCE (or 1 BC) immediately precedes 1 CE (or AD 1). The Gregorian calendar is the de facto standard calendar system. Thus, according to this calendar, the French Revolution occurred in the year 1789, and human beings first walked on the Moon in the year 1969. Users of common era nomenclature consider these events to have occurred in years "of the common era". When used as a replacement for BC/AD notation, the common era is abbreviated as CE and is the direct chronological equivalent of AD. Similarly, the time before the common era is written as BCE and is the direct chronological equivalent of BC. Both abbreviations are written following the year, thus Aristotle was born in 384 BCE (or 384 BC), and Genghis Khan died in 1227 CE (or AD 1227). On (rare) [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22Era+Vulgaris%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta= occasions], one may find the abbreviation "e.v." or "EV" instead of "CE"; this stands for "Era Vulgaris", the Latin translation of "Common Era".

Origins

According to Peter Daniels (a Cornell University and University of Chicago trained linguist):

CE and BCE came into use in the last few decades, perhaps originally in Ancient Near Eastern studies, where (a) there are many Jewish scholars and (b) dating according to a Christian era is irrelevant. It is indeed a question of sensitivity.

However, the term "common era" has earlier antecedents. A 1716 book by English Bishop John Prideaux says, "The vulgar era, by which we now compute the years from his incarnation." In 1835, in his book Living Oracles, Alexander Campbell, wrote "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ, the first of which was but eight days." In its article on Chronology, the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia uses the sentence: "Foremost among these (dating eras) is that which is now adopted by all civilized peoples and known as the Christian, Vulgar or Common Era, in the twentieth century of which we are now living." "Vulgar" comes from the Latin word vulgāris (from vulgus, the common people), meant "of or belonging to the common people, everyday," and acknowledges that the date was commonly used, even by people who did not believe that Jesus was divine. By the late 1800s, however, vulgar had come to mean "crudely indecent" and the Latin word was replaced by its English equivalent, "common". The first known Jewish use of this practice is from an inscription on a gravestone in a Jewish cemetery in Plymouth, England:

Here is buried his honour Judah ben his honour Joseph, a prince and honoured amongst philanthropists, who executed good deeds, died in his house in the City of Bath, Tuesday, and was buried here on Sunday, 19 Sivan in the year 5585. In memory of Lyon Joseph Esq (merchant of Falmouth, Cornwall). who died at Bath June AM 5585/VE 1825. Beloved and respected.

This inscription, like most, uses the Jewish calendar (5585), but ends by providing the common year (1825); presumably the "VE" means "Vulgar Era", and presumably VE was used instead of AD in order to avoid the Christian implications.

Usage

Jewish and Christian scholars have developed the BCE/CE terms for the benefit of cross-cultural dialogue.[http://www.torontoareamennonites.ca/danforth/dmc_notes/witmer10.htm]. Some Islamic scholars and others outside the Judeo-Christian religious traditions have used the system. Some Christians have used the term CE to mean "Christian era." Many non-religious academics in the fields of history, theology, archaeology and anthropology have also in recent decades begun using this system. More visible uses of common era notation have recently surfaced at major museums in the English-speaking world: Canada's Royal Ontario Museum adopted BCE/CE in 2002 [http://www.rom.on.ca/ossuary/ossuary_intro.html], and the Smithsonian Institution also prefers common era usage, though individual museums are not required to use it.[http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/field_trips/standards/world_history_standards.html] As well, many style guides now prefer or mandate its usage. [http://www.egyptstudy.org/OstraconGuidelines.html][http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/pomstyle.html][http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/american_journal_of_philology/guidelines.html][http://www.sagepub.com/journalManuscript.aspx?pid=10754][http://www.yorku.ca/topia/docs/styleguide] Some style guides for Christian churches even mandate its use; for example, that of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.[http://www.ang-md.org/mcn/style-guide.pdf (pdf)] "CE" is growing in usage in textbooks. It is used by the College Board in its history tests.

Support

Supporters of common era notation promote it as a religiously neutral notation suited for cross-cultural use. Arguments given for standardizing common era notation include:
- The calendar used by the West has become a global standard — one built into every computer's hardware. It should be religiously and culturally neutral out of consideration for those cultures compelled to use it out of necessity. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3176345]
- It has been largely used by academic and scientific communities for over a century now, and is not a completely unfamiliar dating system. [http://www.answers.com/topic/common-era]
- Dating years according to Christian theology has the potential to be culturally divisive in worldwide use. Dating months and days based on Roman and Norse gods, however, is of little concern because the Roman and Norse religions are virtually extinct, and because the names can just as easily be seen as coming from the names of the planets and other celestial objects. People in other cultures are free to name the months and days of the week as they wish in their own language, but years are just numbers and it is quite easy to make them less overtly culturally specific. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A3176345]
- It promotes ecumenical standards and Christian Era is an interchangeable meaning for the acronym CE.
- It is simple to change BC/AD to BCE/CE terminology, since the years are exactly equal, regardless of which terminology is used. No conversion of the numbers is required. Documents with years that do not have AD designation do not need to be changed. (example: 1066 remains 1066 in AD and in CE systems)
- The label Anno Domini is likely inaccurate because Christ's birth probably occurred no later than 4 BC, the year of Herod the Great's death.
- It avoids confusion over whether "AD" should come before or after the year. (This is important for the in-house manuals of style of periodicals.)
- Stylistic rules which require that AD precede the year are justified by saying that "In the year of our Lord 2005" is correct syntax, and "2005 in the year of our Lord" is incorrect. Such statements belie the claim that AD has lost its religious meaning.
- The intensity with which some Christians protest any switch from BC/AD to BCE/CE indicates that, despite any claims to the contrary, BC/AD has not become "removed from its religious connotations".

Opposition

Changing dates expressed in BC terminology to BCE has given rise to some opposition. Arguments against the common era designation include:
- BC and AD have been used for such a length of time as to have become somewhat removed from their religious connotations.
- The newer BCE/CE system has not been used widely enough so as to have become commonly understood.
- "BCE" and "CE" are so similar that they may confuse readers.
- The names for the months and days of the week derive respectively from Roman and Nordic religious traditions, so naming eras based on the Christian tradition should not be seen as objectionable.
- It downplays the prominence of Jesus in societies that have a Christian heritage.
- Some object to the common era's retention of the year 1 as its epoch because it preserves a Christocentric worldview at the expense of a religiously neutral timekeeping system. Examples of this opposition include:
- When BC was changed to BCE in one examination question in New South Wales, Australia in early 2005, it prompted questions and protestations of offence in both chambers of the State Parliament, and the State Education Minister stated in Parliament that the change should not have been made.
- When the teaching of what BCE/CE meant was introduced into the English National Curriculum in 2002, it prompted confused letters to national newspapers.
- When the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada changed from using BC to using BCE, it was subjected to derision as well as complaints expressed in the national Canadian press.

Other calendars in use

Several major calendar systems exist in addition to the Western calendar.
- The Hindu calendar constitutes four eras and the epoch of the present (fourth) era, the Kali Yuga, is BCE 3102 January 23 on the proleptic Gregorian calendar, making the current year (2005) 5107.
- The Hebrew calendar dates from the Creation (according to which the year beginning in the northern autumn of 2000 was 5761 AM);
- Most Chinese do not assign numbers to the years of the Chinese calendar, but the few that do (expatriate Chinese and Westerners) date from the Yellow Emperor (three different systems are in use, which caused the Chinese years 4637, 4697, or 4698 to begin in early 2000).
- The Buddhist calendar dates from the birth of the Buddha (making 2000, 2543 under this calendar, but only in Thailand);
- The Indian national calendar (also the Saka calendar) is the official civil calendar in use in India. Years are counted in the Saka Era, which starts its year 0 in 78. The current year is 1927.
- The Islamic calendar dates from the Hijra in 622 using a lunar year of about 354 days (so the Western year 2000 contains parts of 1420 AH and 1421 AH);
- The Bahá'í calendar dates from the year of the declaration of the Báb. Years are counted in the Bahá'í Era (BE), which starts its year 1 from March 21, 1844.

External links

- [http://www.ucc.org/ucnews/jan03/asiseeit.htm Whatever happened to B.C. and A.D., and why?] (United Church of Christ)
- [http://www.religioustolerance.org/ce.htm The use of "CE" and "BCE" to identify dates] (Religious Tolerance.org) Category:Calendars

Year numbering

Year numbering is the assignment of integers to calendar years for the purpose of uniquely identifying the years. A calendar defines, among many other things, the length of each year. Calendars with different year lengths must use different numbering systems. However, within a single calendar it is possible to have several year numbering systems. This occurs for the Gregorian calendar currently in common use and also for the Julian calendar which preceded it. Calendars with identical year lengths can share a numbering system, as for several proposed reformed calendars based on Gregorian years.

Gregorian calendar

The average year length of the Gregorian calendar is almost exactly one tropical year. There are several systems of year numbering, and several different names for the most common system.
- The numbering system devised by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525 is still the most common, which is based on the year he assigned to the birth of Jesus, although it is now believed that Christ was born four to eight years earlier.
- AD stands for Anno Domini, Latin for in the year of the Lord. The letters AD were originally placed before the year number (e.g., AD 1960), but now are increasing placed after the year number (e.g., 1960 AD).
- BC stands for Before Christ marking the period before the Christian era. The letters BC are placed after the year number (e.g., 10 BC). The years are numbered in reverse order, 2 BC preceding 1 BC.
- There is no year 0 in this numbering system and the year AD 1 immediately follows 1 BC.
- CE stands for the Common Era and nowadays is being accepted as an alternative for AD. It and BCE are preferred by those, Christian or otherwise, who think the link between the standard calendar and a particular religion is inappropriate. The letters CE are placed after the year number (e.g., 1960 CE).
- BCE stands for Before the Common Era and is identical to BC. The letters BCE are placed after the year number (e.g., 10 BCE). The numbering is again identical to BC.
- BCE has also been claimed to stand for Before the Christian Era, but this is generally regarded as a religiously motivated attempt to defeat the intention of the use of CE and BCE.
- NS stands for New Style and identifies Gregorian dates for events that took place while the Julian calendar was in use, which continued in some places into the 20th century. See Julian calendar below, also proleptic Gregorian Calendar.
- Astronomical year numbering is the same as AD for positive year numbers, but includes a year zero immediately preceding AD 1 to simplify arithmetic calculations, so there is a one year difference for years BC.
- BP stands for Before Present (specifically, before 1950), and is used for ages determined by radiocarbon dating. See Anno Domini for a discussion of the arguments for and against various terms.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar was in use from 45 BC to AD 1582, and in the British Empire until AD 1752, Russia until AD 1918, Greece until AD 1923 and Turkey until AD 1926. It has a slightly longer average year length than the Gregorian calendar, and therefore falls slowly out of step with the solar year. It is still used by Orthodox Churches for reckoning the date of Easter, but no longer for year numbering.
- AUC stands for Ab Urbe Condita, Latin for from the foundation of the city (meaning Rome). Today, Varro's epoch of 1 AUC = 753 BC is usually implied, but this method of identifying years was rarely used by the Romans themselves. The dominant Roman method of identifying years was to name the two consuls who held office that year.
- OS stands for Old Style and marks a Julian date, as opposed to NS for New Style which marks a Gregorian date.
- AD and BC are authentic for Julian OS dates, and their synonyms will also be encountered. The meanings are the same as for similarly-marked Gregorian year numbers.
- The Era of the Caesars (or, in modern texts, the Spanish Era) numbers the years of the Julian calendar from January 1, 38 BC. Thus it has the same day and month as the corresponding Julian AD date, but a year 38 greater. Although this epoch presumably represents Augustus's settlement of Spain, the reason for the exact choice is unclear. In the period in which the Julian calendar was in official use, the similarly-marked Julian and Gregorian year numbers for a particular date will either be equal or the Julian year number will be one less than the Gregorian (and of course the day of the month and perhaps the month will differ, but the day of the week will be the same). Within the Christian era, there are two reasons for the difference. Firstly, as Gregorian dates were set to be identical to Julian in AD 325, the differing year length meant that by AD 1582 a ten day difference had accumulated. Secondly and more significantly, while the Julian year originally started on January 1, early in church history the numbered year began on March 25 or December 25, the traditional dates for Christ's Incarnation and Nativity. This is quite confusing for modern readers. For example, March 30, AD 901 is almost a year before March 20, AD 901 if a specific year number began on March 25. To eliminate this problem, modern authors often give the date in the equivalent historical year, which is our modern January 1 to December 31 year projected back to the date in question. Sometimes these two will be seen combined. For example, Francis Bacon's birth-date could be given as January 22nd, 1560/61 (OS). This style of year also gives a clue that a Julian date is probably intended. Julian dates are often encountered for events before the calendar's first regular year of AD 1. Although the Julian calendar was implemented in 45 BC, the first regularly recurring Julian leap year (every four years thereafter) was AD 4, thus the first regular Julian year was AD 1. Dates before AD 1 are usually given in the proleptic Julian calendar, which is the regular Julian calendar projected back in time, regardless of the calendar within which the dates were originally recorded.

External links

- [http://www.geocities.com/calendopaedia/gregory.htm Dates of adoption of the Gregorian calendar]
- [http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/calfacts.htm Specification of the Julian calendar]
- [http://www.bibletime.com/bt/tools/specs/julian/ Complications of the beginnings of years]
- [http://www.dome-igm.com/convers.htm Julian-Gregorian conversion summary]

Proposed reformed calendars

New calendar proposals based on the Gregorian year length, such as the World calendar, the International Fixed Calendar and the Positivist calendar, are compatible with Gregorian numbering, or could use their own schemes.

Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and has a normal year length of about 354 days, significantly shorter than the solar year, so there is no simple conversion between Gregorian and Islamic year numbers. Moreover, the end of each month of the Islamic calendar depends on local observations, so different countries can and do follow different calendars.
- AH stands for Anno Hegirae, Latin for in the year of the Hijra. In AH 17, the year AH 1 was assigned to the year during which Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to the city of Medina.
- BH refers to years before AH 1. There is no year zero. The 1st day of Muharram (the 1st month of the year) AH 1 was the 16th of July AD 622 in the Julian calendar. The 1st of January 2000 in the Gregorian calendar corresponded to the 24th day of Ramadan (the 9th month) AH 1420 in the tabular Islamic calendar.

Hebrew Calendar

The Jewish or Hebrew calendar is lunisolar. Its year length varies from 353 to 385 days. Its average year length is close to the average Gregorian year length.
- AM stands for Anno Mundi meaning in the year of the world. It is placed before the number. The Hebrew year begins in September or October of the Gregorian year, with AM 1 beginning in October, 3761 BC. Allowance must also be made for the absence of a year 0 from the normal Gregorian numbering.

French Revolutionary Calendar

The French Revolutionary Calendar was a solar calendar in force in France for a little more than 12 years from late 1793 to the end of 1805 and again briefly in 1871. Years were numbered with the roman numerals I-XIV, with each year commencing on the northern autumnal equinox. Year I was assigned to the year beginning September 22, AD 1792, over one year before the calendar was implemented.

Other calendars

Summaries still to be prepared.
- Chinese calendar
- Japanese calendar
- Mayan calendar Category:Calendars Category:Years

1815

1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 2 - Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke, Seaham, County Durham.
- January 3 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
- January 8 - War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans
- February 3 - The first commercial cheese factory is founded in Switzerland
- February 4 - Netherlands, Foundation of the first dutch student association, the Groninger Studenten Corps, Vindicat atque Polit. The first rector of the senate was B.J. Winters.
- February 6 - New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to a John Stevens.
- February 26 - Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba
- March 1 - Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
- March 16 - Willem I becomes King of the Netherlands
- March 20 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000 beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
- April 5-April 12 - Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies blows its top during an eruption event. 92,000 are killed during this eruption. The event is the cause of 1816 becoming known as the Year Without a Summer.
- April 23- Second Serbian Uprising against Ottoman rule takes place in Takovo, Serbia. By the end of the year Serbia had been acknowledged as a semi-independent state. Ideals of the First Serbian Uprising have thus been temporarily achieved.
- June 9 - End of the Congress of Vienna: new European political situation is set.
- June 18 - Battle of Waterloo ends the Napoleonic wars.
- June 22 - Napoleon abdicates again, restoration of Louis XVIII as King of France
- July 8 - Louis XVIII returns to Paris
- July 17 - In France, Napoleon surrenders at Rochefort to British forces.
- October 15 - Napoleon I of France begins his exile on St. Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
- October 21 - Humphry Davy patents the miner's safety lamp for use in coal mining
- Austria, Prussia and Russia sign a Holy Alliance to uphold the European status quo.
- British missionaries arrive in New Zealand
- In Britain, use of pillory is limited to punishment for perjury
- Second wave of Amish immigration to North America
- First-class cricket begins.

Ongoing events

- Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)-Seventh Coalition/Hundred Days
- War of 1812 (1812-1815)
- Congress of Vienna (1814 - 1815)

19th century

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Decades and years

Nineteenth Century (periodical)

1801

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1900

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Month/day unknown

Notes

Common Era

Chronology and notation

Origins

Usage

Support

Opposition

Other calendars in use

External links

Year numbering

Gregorian calendar

Julian calendar

External links

Proposed reformed calendars

Islamic calendar

Hebrew Calendar

French Revolutionary Calendar

Other calendars

1815

Events

Ongoing events

Births