Directory

1860 CE

A year defined by the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, South Carolina's secession from the Union, Garibaldi's dramatic unification campaign in Italy, and the conclusion of the Second Opium War in China.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Abraham Lincoln won the United States presidential election on November 6, becoming the first Republican candidate to win the presidency.
  • South Carolina became the first state to secede from the United States on December 20, declaring its separation from the Union in response to Lincoln's election.
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi launched the Expedition of the Thousand from Genoa in May, leading a volunteer force to Sicily to overthrow Bourbon rule and advance Italian unification.
  • Garibaldi's forces captured Palermo in June and crossed to the Italian mainland in August, rapidly conquering the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
  • The Treaty of Turin ceded the County of Nice and the Duchy of Savoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia to France in exchange for French support of Italian unification.
  • The Convention of Peking ended the Second Opium War, forcing China to cede Kowloon Peninsula to Britain and open additional treaty ports.
  • Russia founded the city of Vladivostok on the Pacific coast as a military outpost, strengthening its presence in the Far East.
  • The Maori Wars intensified in New Zealand as British colonial forces clashed with Maori tribes over land rights in the Taranaki region.
  • Spain launched a military intervention in Morocco following border disputes near Ceuta, resulting in the Treaty of Wad Ras that granted Spain territorial concessions.
  • The young prince Victor Emmanuel II met Garibaldi at Teano on October 26, where Garibaldi famously handed over his conquests to the Sardinian king.

Conflict & Security

  • The Battle of Volturno on October 1 was the largest engagement of Garibaldi's campaign, as his volunteers defeated the Neapolitan army north of Naples.
  • British and French forces occupied Beijing during the Second Opium War and destroyed the Old Summer Palace in October as retaliation for the imprisonment and torture of envoys.
  • The Taranaki War erupted in New Zealand in March when British troops attacked the Maori pa at Waitara, beginning years of conflict in the North Island.
  • Bedouin and Druze forces attacked Maronite Christian communities in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, killing thousands in sectarian violence.
  • French Emperor Napoleon III sent troops to Syria in August to intervene in the massacres of Christians, establishing a temporary international presence in Lebanon.
  • The Battle of Castelfidardo on September 18 saw Piedmontese forces defeat the Papal army, annexing most of the Papal States to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
  • The Siege of Gaeta began in November as Piedmontese forces besieged the last stronghold of the Bourbon King Francis II of the Two Sicilies.
  • Comanche and Kiowa warriors raided settlements across the Texas frontier, leading to retaliatory campaigns by the Texas Rangers.
  • Chinese Taiping rebels continued their war against the Qing Dynasty, with the conflict devastating large areas of southern and central China.
  • Paiute warriors fought United States forces in the Pyramid Lake War in the Nevada Territory, one of the significant conflicts between Native Americans and settlers in the Great Basin.

Economy & Finance

  • The Cobden-Chevalier Treaty between Britain and France reduced tariffs between the two nations, promoting free trade and establishing the most-favored-nation principle in European commerce.
  • The Pony Express began mail delivery between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, in April, drastically reducing cross-country communication time.
  • Japanese ports at Yokohama and Nagasaki expanded international trade following the forced opening of Japan, with silk and tea becoming major exports.
  • Cotton production in the American South reached record levels, with the crop accounting for the majority of United States export earnings.
  • The global whaling industry continued to thrive, with American whaling fleets operating across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
  • Gold mining operations expanded in Australia and the western United States, driving immigration and economic development in remote regions.
  • The British economy continued its industrial expansion, with textile manufacturing, iron production, and coal mining driving global trade.
  • Russia's economy remained largely agrarian, with serfdom constraining agricultural productivity and industrial development.
  • Railroad construction accelerated across Europe, with France, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary expanding their rail networks to connect major cities and industrial centers.
  • The Commercial Bank of India was established, reflecting growing British financial investment in the Indian subcontinent.

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Pony Express established relay stations across the American West, enabling mail delivery between Missouri and California in approximately ten days.
  • Construction of the London Underground began, with work starting on the Metropolitan Railway beneath the streets of central London.
  • Oliver Winchester reorganized the New Haven Arms Company, which began production of the Henry repeating rifle that would see extensive use in the American Civil War.
  • Etienne Lenoir patented the first commercially successful internal combustion engine in Paris, powered by coal gas.
  • The SS Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world, completed its maiden transatlantic voyage from England to New York in June.
  • Frederick Walton invented linoleum flooring in England, creating a durable and affordable floor covering that became widely popular.
  • Telegraph lines continued to expand across North America and Europe, with efforts under way to connect the eastern and western United States by wire.
  • The first successful oil refinery in the world began operations in Ploiesti, Romania, processing crude oil into kerosene for lighting.
  • Iron-hulled warships began replacing wooden vessels in the navies of Britain and France, marking a transition in naval architecture.
  • The Bessemer process for mass-producing steel continued to spread through British and European foundries, lowering the cost of steel production.

Science & Discovery

  • Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff developed spectroscopy and demonstrated that each chemical element produces a unique spectral signature when heated.
  • Burke and Wills led the first European expedition to cross the Australian continent from south to north, departing Melbourne in August.
  • Gustav Kirchhoff formulated Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation, establishing the relationship between emission and absorption of radiation by a body in thermal equilibrium.
  • The first fossil of Archaeopteryx, a feathered dinosaur linking reptiles to birds, was discovered in a limestone quarry in Bavaria, Germany.
  • Louis Pasteur continued his experiments on fermentation and spontaneous generation, advancing the germ theory of disease.
  • The British Association for the Advancement of Science hosted a famous debate at Oxford between Thomas Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce over Darwin's theory of evolution.
  • Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species continued to generate scientific and public debate across Europe and North America following its publication in late 1859.
  • The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel began experimenting with nitroglycerin in his father's factory in Stockholm.
  • The discovery of cesium by Bunsen and Kirchhoff using their new spectroscopic methods marked the first element identified through spectral analysis.
  • Jean Joseph Lenoir demonstrated his gas-fired internal combustion engine to the French Academy of Sciences, opening new possibilities for mechanical power.

Health & Medicine

  • Florence Nightingale established the Nightingale Training School for nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in London, professionalizing the field of nursing.
  • Florence Nightingale published Notes on Nursing, which became a foundational text in public health and nursing education.
  • Louis Pasteur's experiments with fermentation provided crucial evidence against the theory of spontaneous generation, advancing understanding of microbial contamination.
  • The Great Stink of previous years prompted continued construction of London's modern sewage system under the direction of engineer Joseph Bazalgette.
  • Cholera outbreaks continued to affect communities across Asia and Europe, with limited understanding of waterborne transmission impeding effective prevention.
  • The use of chloroform as an anesthetic during surgery became increasingly widespread in European and American hospitals.
  • Sanitary reform movements gained momentum in British cities, with public health advocates campaigning for clean water supplies and improved waste disposal.
  • The United States Sanitary Commission was not yet formed but early civilian volunteer efforts to support military health were beginning to organize.
  • Quinine remained the primary treatment for malaria, with European colonial powers relying on it to support military and civilian operations in tropical regions.
  • German physician Rudolf Virchow continued to advance cellular pathology, establishing the principle that all cells arise from preexisting cells.

Climate & Environment

  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 286 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.
  • A major drought struck the Indian subcontinent, reducing crop yields and contributing to food shortages in several provinces.
  • Deforestation accelerated across the eastern United States as timber was harvested for railroad construction, fuel, and building materials.
  • The Little Ice Age was drawing to a close, with average global temperatures beginning a gradual warming trend.
  • Volcanic activity at Mount Vesuvius produced minor eruptions, reminding inhabitants of the Campania region of the volcano's ongoing threat.
  • Widespread land clearing in Australia's interior for pastoral agriculture altered native vegetation patterns and displaced indigenous wildlife.
  • Coal burning in industrial cities across Britain and Europe contributed to persistent urban smog and poor air quality.
  • The expansion of cotton plantations in the American South continued to transform the landscape of the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast regions.
  • Overhunting of bison on the American Great Plains began to accelerate as commercial hunters targeted the herds for hides and meat.
  • Flooding along the Rhine River in Europe caused significant damage to agricultural land and riverside communities in the spring.

Culture & Society

  • The world population was approximately 1.321 billion.
  • The first organized baseball game under modern rules was played, as the sport grew in popularity across the northeastern United States.
  • Charles Dickens published Great Expectations in serial form, which became one of his most celebrated novels.
  • George Eliot published The Mill on the Floss, establishing herself as one of the leading novelists of the Victorian era.
  • The Olympic Club, one of the oldest athletic clubs in the United States, was founded in San Francisco.
  • The abolitionist movement in the United States intensified as the presidential election brought the issue of slavery to the forefront of national debate.
  • The first British Open golf championship was held at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland on October 17, won by Willie Park Sr.
  • Japanese culture began a period of transformation as increased contact with Western nations introduced new ideas and technologies.
  • The Maori people of New Zealand developed the King Movement to unite tribes under a single monarch as a means of resisting British land acquisition.
  • Harriet Tubman continued her work on the Underground Railroad, guiding enslaved people to freedom in the northern United States and Canada.