Calendar year
October 25 : Lord Cardigan sends 600 British cavalry "into the Valley of Death" on disastrousCharge of the Light Brigade ; 110 are killed and 162 wounded.1854 by topic Humanities By country Other topics Lists of leaders Birth and death categories Establishments and disestablishments categories Works category
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1854 .
1854 (MDCCCLIV ) was acommon year starting on Sunday of theGregorian calendar and acommon year starting on Friday of theJulian calendar , the 1854th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini 2nd millennium , the 54th year of the19th century , and the 5th year of the1850s decade. As of the start of 1854, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Calendar year
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January 4 – TheMcDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard theSamarang .January 6 – The fictional detectiveSherlock Holmes is perhaps born.[ 1] January 9 – TheTeutonia Männerchor inPittsburgh is founded to promote German culture.[ 2] January 20 – TheNorth Carolina General Assembly in the United States charters theAtlantic and North Carolina Railroad , to run fromGoldsboro throughNew Bern , to the newly createdseaport ofMorehead City , nearBeaufort .[ 3] January 21 – The ironclipper RMS Tayleur runs aground off the east coast of Ireland, on her maiden voyage out ofLiverpool , bound for Australia, with the loss of at least 300 out of 650 on board.February 11 – Major streets are lit bycoal gas for the first time by theSan Francisco Gas Company ; 86 such lamps are turned on this evening inSan Francisco, California .[where? February 13 – Mexican troops forceWilliam Walker and his troops to retreat toSonora .February 14 –Texas is linked bytelegraph with the rest of the United States, when a connection betweenNew Orleans andMarshall, Texas is completed.February 17 – The British recognize the independence of theOrange Free State in Southern Africa; its official independence is declared six days later in theOrange River Convention .February 27 – Britain sends Russia an ultimatum to withdraw from two Romanian provinces it has conquered,Moldavia andWallachia .March 1 March 3 – Australia's firsttelegraph line, linkingMelbourne andWilliamstown, Victoria , opens.[ 5] March 11 – ARoyal Navy fleet sails from Britain, underVice Admiral SirCharles Napier .March 20 – In the United States:March 24 – Slavery is abolished inVenezuela .March 27 –Crimean War : The United Kingdom declares war on Russia.March 28 – Crimean War: France declares war on Russia.March 31 – United States NavyCommodore Matthew C. Perry signs theConvention of Kanagawa with the Japanese government (theTokugawa shogunate ), opening the ports ofShimoda andHakodate to American trade.March – TheBritish East India Company annexesJhansi State in India under thedoctrine of lapse .November:Florence Nightingale arrives with 38-nurse team to provide care for Crimean War wounded. April 1 –Hard Times Charles Dickens ' magazine,Household Words April 16 – The United States packet shipPowhattan May 5 –15 – Hokkien–Teochew Riots inSingapore .May 18 – TheCatholic University of Ireland (forerunner ofUniversity College Dublin ) is founded.May 27 –Taiping Rebellion : United Statesdiplomatic minister Robert McLane arrives at the Heavenly Capital aboard theUSS Susquehanna .May 30 – TheKansas–Nebraska Act becomes law (replacing theMissouri Compromise of 1820), creating theKansas Territory and theNebraska Territory , west of theState of Missouri and theState of Iowa . The Kansas–Nebraska Act also establishes that these two new Territories will decide either to allow or disallowslavery , depending on balloting by their residents (these areas would have been strictly "free territory" under the Missouri Compromise, which allowed slavery in the State of Missouri but disallowed it in any other new state north of latitude 36° 30', which forms most of the southern boundary of Missouri. This prohibition of slavery extended all the way from the western boundary of Missouri to the Pacific Ocean).June 10 – The first class of theUnited States Naval Academy graduates atAnnapolis, Maryland .June 21 –Battle of Bomarsund inÅland off the coast of Finland: BritishRoyal Navy seaman's mateCharles Davis Lucas throws a live Russianartillery shell overboard by hand before it explodes, for which he is awarded the firstVictoria Cross in1857 .June – TheGrand Excursion takes prominent Eastern United States inhabitants fromChicago toRock Island, Illinois , by railroad, then up theMississippi River toSaint Paul, Minnesota , bysteamboat .July 4 –James Ambrose Cutting takes out the first of his three United Statespatents for improvements to thewet plate collodion process (Ambrotype photography).July 6 – InJackson, Michigan , the first convention of theU.S. Republican Party is held.July 7 – TheBombay Spinning and Weaving Company is established as the firstcotton mill in India by Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar and associates.July 13 –Mohamed Sa'id Pasha succeeds his nephewAbbas as theWāli ofEgypt andSudan , then a province of theOttoman Empire .July 17 – TheBienio progresista July 19 –Wood's despatch is sent byCharles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax toLord Dalhousie , Governor General of India, proposing radical improvements to the Indian educational system.[ 6] August 9 –Johann succeeds to thethrone of Saxony , on the death of his brother.August 16 –Battle of Bomarsund : Russian troops on the island of Bomarsund, inÅland , surrender to French–British troops.August 19 –John Lawrence Grattan leads 29 United States troops and a civilian interpreter in attack on Lakota village over dispute involving emigrant cow. Grattan's command was annihilated.August 27 – English lawyerAlfred Wills and party set out for the first ascent of theWetterhorn in Switzerland, regarded as the start of the "golden age of alpinism ".[ 7] August 31 –September 8 – An epidemic ofcholera in London kills over 10,000.Dr John Snow traces the source of one outbreak (that killed 500) to a singlewater pump , validating his theory thatcholera is water-borne, and forming the starting point forepidemiology .[ 8] Original map by DrJohn Snow showing theclusters ofcholera cases in the London epidemic of 1854 September 9 – BritishInman Line 'sSS City of Philadelphia (1854) is wrecked offCape Race (Newfoundland) on her maiden voyage without loss of life.September 20 –Crimean War :Battle of Alma – The French–British alliance wins the first major land engagement of the war.Battle of Alma September 27 –SSArctic disaster : The Americanpaddle steamer SS Arctic sinks after a collision with the much smaller French shipSS Vesta , 50 miles (80 km) off the coast ofNewfoundland , with approximately 320 deaths.October 1 – The watch company founded in1850 inRoxbury, Massachusetts , byAaron Lufkin Dennison , relocates toWaltham , to become theWaltham Watch Company , pioneer in theAmerican system of watch manufacturing .October 6 – Thegreat fire of Newcastle and Gateshead in England is ignited by a spectacular explosion.October 9 –11 – United States diplomats in Europe meet and draft theOstend Manifesto , setting out a rationale for the U.S. to acquireCuba from Spain.October 17 –The Age Melbourne , Australia.October 25 –Crimean War :Battle of Balaclava – The allies gain an overall victory, except for the disastrous cavalryCharge of the Light Brigade , from which only 200 of 700 men survive.October 25:Battle of Balaclava November 5 –Crimean War :Battle of Inkerman – The Russians are defeated.November 14 –Great Storm of 1854 in theBlack Sea : 19 British transport and other ships (plus 2 French) supporting theCrimean War are wrecked with the loss of at least 287 men.November 17 – InEgypt , theSuez Canal Company is formed.November December 3 – TheEureka Stockade Miners' Rebellion breaks out inBallarat ,Victoria (Australia) .December 8 –Pope Pius IX in theapostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus ex Cathedra thedogma ofImmaculate Conception , which holds that theBlessed Virgin Mary was conceived withoutoriginal sin .December 10 –Sa'id Pasha officially abolishes slavery in Egypt.Paul Ehrlich Emil von Behring Clara Louise Burnham Henri Poincaré Orrin Dubbs Bleakley Robert Laird Borden January 1 –James George Frazer , Scottish social anthropologist (d.1941 )January 8 –Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers , British occultist (d.1918 )January 9 –Lady Randolph Churchill , born Jennie Jerome, American-born British socialite and mother of Winston Churchill (d.1921 )January 12 January 14 –Nikolai Pavlovich Bobyr , Russian general (d.1920 )February 9 February 16 –Charles Webster Leadbeater , British theosophist (d.1934 )February 17 –Friedrich Alfred Krupp , German industrialist (d.1902 )February 26 –Mary M. Cohen , American social economist (d.1911 )March 4 –Tomás António Garcia Rosado , Portuguese general (d.1937 )March 10 March 11 –Jane Meade Welch , American historian (d.1931 )March 14 –Paul Ehrlich , German physician and scientist, recipient of the 1908Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.1915 )March 15 –Emil von Behring , German physiologist, winner of the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.1917 )March 18 –Nikolai Ruzsky , Russian general (d.1918 )March 30 –Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza , Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d.1924 )April 18 –Ludwig Levy , German architect (d.1907 )April 22 –Henri La Fontaine , Belgian lawyer, author, Nobel Prize laureate (d.1943 )April 28 –Hertha Ayrton , English engineer, mathematician and inventor (d.1923 )April 29 May 5 –Orrin Dubbs Bleakley , member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromPennsylvania (d.1927 )May 11 –Albion Woodbury Small , American sociologist (d.1926 )May 24 –John Riley Banister , American law officer,Texas Ranger (d.1918 )May 25 –Clara Louise Burnham , American novelist (d.1927 )June 2 –Adolf von Brudermann , Austro-Hungarian general (d.1945 )June 8 –Douglas Cameron , Canadian politician.Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d.1921 )June 14 –Dave Rudabaugh , American outlaw, gunfighter (d.1886 )June 17 –Robert Kekewich , British general (d.1914 )June 21 –Andrew Jackson Houston , American politician (d.1941 )June 26 –Robert Borden , Canadian lawyer and politician, 8thPrime Minister of Canada , leader inWorld War I (d.1937 )Oscar Wilde Queenie Newall July 2 –Sophia Braeunlich , American business manager (d.1898 )July 3 –Leoš Janáček , Czech composer (d.1928 )July 4 –Alexandru Marghiloman , 25th Prime Minister of Romania (d.1925 )July 12 –George Eastman , American photographic inventor (Kodak ) (d.1932 )July 27 –Takahashi Korekiyo , 11thPrime Minister of Japan (d.1936 )July 31 August 2 –Milan I of Serbia (d.1901 )August 23 –Moritz Moszkowski , Polish/German composer (d.1925 )September 1 –Engelbert Humperdinck , German composer (d.1921 )September 3 –Anna Sandström , Swedish social reformer (d.1931 )September 6 –Georges Picquart , French general, Minister of War (d.1914 )September 18 –Viktor Dankl von Krasnik , Austro-Hungarian general (d.1941 )October 3 –William C. Gorgas , American physician, Surgeon General (d.1920 )October 7 –Christiaan de Wet , Boer general, rebel leader, and politician (d.1922 )October 9 –Myron T. Herrick , American banker, diplomat, Republican politician and 42nd governor of Ohio (d.1929 )October 16 October 17 –Queenie Newall , British Olympic archer (d.1929 )October 20 –Arthur Rimbaud , French poet (d.1891 )October 26 –C. W. Post , American cereal manufacturer (d.1914 )October 28 –Mary G. Charlton Edholm , Americansocial purity andtemperance reformer (d.1935 )October 30 –Franz Rohr von Denta , Austro-Hungarian field marshal (d.1927 )November 3 –Carlo Fornasini , micropalaeontologist (d.1931 )November 5 –Paul Sabatier , French chemist,Nobel Prize laureate (d.1941 )November 6 –John Philip Sousa , American composer, conductor (Stars and Stripes Forever ) (d.1932 )November 8 –Johannes Rydberg , Swedish physicist (d.1919 )November 13 –George Whitefield Chadwick , American composer (d.1931 )November 17 –Hubert Lyautey , Marshal of France (d.1934 )November 19 –Danske Dandridge , Danish-born American poet, historian, and garden writer (d.1914 )November 21 –Pope Benedict XV (d.1922 )November 27 –Gerhard Louis De Geer , 17th Prime Minister of Sweden (d.1935 )November 30 –Paul Vinogradoff , born in Russia British legal historian (d.1925 )December 14 –John Kemp Starley , English bicycle inventor (d.1901 )December 16 –Austin M. Knight , American admiral (d.1927 )December 22 –Takamine Jōkichi , Japanese chemist (d.1922 )December 24 –Thomas Stevens , English cyclist (d.1935 )Eliza D. Keith Carl Adolph von Basedow Georg Ohm January 8 –William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford , British general and politician (b.1768 )February 10 –José Joaquín de Herrera , President of Mexico (b.1792 )February 17 –John Martin , English painter (b.1789 )February 25 –Ann Walker , English landowner and philanthropist (b.1803 )March 6 –Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (b.1778 )March 11 –Willard Richards , American religious leader (b.1804 )March 13 March 18 –Alexander Allan , Scottish businessman, founder ofAllan Line (b.1780 )March 19 –William Pope Duval , first civilian governor of Florida Territory (b.1784 )March 21 –Pedro María de Anaya , 2-timePresident of Mexico (b.1795 )[ 12] March 26 –Emilie Hammarskjöld , Swedish-born American musician (b.1821 )March 27 April 11 –Karl Adolph von Basedow , German physician (b.1799 )April 15 –Arthur Aikin , English chemist, mineralogist (b.1773 )April 22 April 29 –Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey , British general (b.1768 )June 7 –Charles Baudin , French admiral (b.1784 )June 13 –Rosina Regina Ahles , German actor (b.1799 )Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton July 6 –Georg Ohm , German physicist (b.1789 )July 16 –Abbas I , Pasha of Egypt (b.1813 )July 31 –Samuel Wilson , American thought to be the real-life basis forUncle Sam (b.1766 )August –Conquering Bear , Lakota chief (b. c.1800 )August 2 –Heinrich Clauren (b.1771 )August 3 –Qi Shan (b.1786 )August 9 –Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (b.1797 )August 14 –Carl Carl , Polish-born actor and theatre director (b.1787 )August 20 –Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling , German philosopher (b.1775 )August 21 –Thomas Clayton , American lawyer, politician (b.1777 )September 8 –Angelo Mai , Italian cardinal, philologist (b.1782 )September 12 –Jarvis W. Pike , former mayor ofColumbus, Ohio (b.1795 )September 29 –Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud , French general,Marshal of France ,Minister of War (b.1798 )October 1 –Martín Perfecto de Cos , General of theMexican Army (b.1800 )October 26 –Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen , queen consort of Bavaria (b.1792 )November 2 –George Mogridge (Old Humphrey) , British writer, poet (b.1787 )November 3 –Maxim Gauci , Maltese lithographer (b.1774 )November 9 –Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton , philanthropist, wife ofAlexander Hamilton (b.1757 )November 25 –John Gibson Lockhart , Scottish writer (b.1794 )December 9 –Almeida Garrett , Portuguese writer (b.1799 )December 11 –Matija Nenadović , Prime Minister of Serbia (b.1777 )December 15 –Kamehameha III ,King of Hawaii (b. c.1814 )^ Lee, Jennifer (January 6, 2009)."The Curious Case of a Birthday for Sherlock" .The New York Times . RetrievedJune 15, 2018 . ^ [1] .Archived January 17, 2012, at theWayback Machine "The Teutonia Männerchor was founded in 1854."^ CommunicationSolutions/ISI, "Railroad — Atlantic & North Carolina" ,North Carolina Business History , 2006, accessed 21 May 2015.^ "Revolución de Ayutla (Plan de Ayutla)" [The Revolution of Ayutla (Plan of Autla)] (in Spanish). October 14, 2014. RetrievedJune 8, 2019 .^ "160 years of Australian telecommunications | Telsoc" .telsoc.org . RetrievedJuly 17, 2025 .^ "Introduction to Wood Despatch of 1854" . Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University. 2011. RetrievedOctober 9, 2014 .^ "Wetterhorn during the golden and the post golden age" . summitpost.org. 2010. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2011 .^ Johnson, Steven (2006).The Ghost Map: a street, an epidemic and the two men who battled to save Victorian London ISBN 978-0-7139-9974-7 ^ Baly, Monica E. ;Matthew, H. C. G. (2004)."Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/35241 . RetrievedJune 20, 2011 .(Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.) ^ Dunn, Elwood D.; Beyan, Amos J.; Burrowes, Carl Patrick (2000).Historical Dictionary of Liberia ISBN 9781461659310 ^ "Oscar Wilde" .www.bl.uk . Archived fromthe original on November 12, 2022. RetrievedNovember 12, 2022 .^ "PEDRO MARÍA ANAYA" (in Spanish). Presidencia de la Republica. Archived fromthe original on May 30, 2019. RetrievedMay 30, 2019 .^ Ibarra, Marco (August 6, 2018)."Nicolás Bravo: Biografía y Aportes" [Nicolás Bravo: Biography and Accomplishments] (in Spanish). lifeder.com. RetrievedMay 30, 2019 . The Annual register of world events: Volume 96 (1855), highly detailed coverage of events in British Empire and worldwidefull text online 
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