Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
Apr
05
Apr
09
Apr
25
At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction.
Apr
30
On April 30, 1859, the first chapter of Charles Dickens’ serialized novel, A Tale of Two Cities, is published in Dickens’ circular, All the Year Round. It rolls out over 31 weekly installments, with the last one appearing that November.
May
22
May
31
The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high Elizabeth Tower, begins ticking over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on May 31, 1859. The great bell's strikes are first heard a few weeks later, on July 11.
In this This Day in History video, take a look at May 31, the day in 1859 when the Big Ben clock tower was set up in St. Stephen’s tower above the British House of Commons, and also the day in 1961 when South Africa became an independent republic and withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2005 on this day, Mark Felt made himself known as the secret deep throat source in Watergate.
Jun
30
Jean Francois Gravelet, a Frenchman known professionally as Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. The feat, which was performed 160 feet above the Niagara gorge just down river from the Falls, was witnessed by some 5,000 spectators. Wearing pink tights and a yellow tunic, Blondin crossed a cable about two inches in diameter and 1,100-feet long with only a balancing pole to protect him from plunging into the dangerous rapids below.
Oct
16
Nov
23
The infamous Western outlaw known as “Billy the Kid” is mostly likely born in a poor Irish neighborhood on New York City’s East Side on November 23, 1859. (Much about his early life is unknown or unverified.) Before he was shot dead at age 21, Billy reputedly killed at least nine people in the American West.
Nov
24
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England on November 24, 1859. Darwin’s theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called “natural selection.” In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.
A First Edition Of Charles Darwin'S Groundbreaking Origin Of Species Goes On Display At Christie'S King Street, The Book, Which Was Published 150 Years Ago, Is Expected To Fetch Somewhere In The Region Of £50K. Christie'S London. (Photo by John Phillips/UK Press via Getty Images)
UK Press via Getty Images
Dec
02
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