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 1861 in the United Kingdom: |
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Events from the year 1861 in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
Incumbents
- Monarch - Victoria of the United Kingdom
- Prime Minister - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Liberal
Events
- 20 February - Storms damage the Crystal Palace in London and caused the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral.1
- 21 March to 26 March - Major fire in Southwark destroys several buildings.2
- 30 March - Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of Thallium (see Discovery of the chemical elements).
- 13 May - British government pledges to remain neutral in the American Civil War.2
- 17 May - Thomas Cook runs the first package holiday from London to Paris.1
- 31 July - Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act codifies company law.2
- 27 August - Last execution in Britain for attempted murder — Martin Doyle in Chester.
- 16 September - Post Office Savings Bank opens.2
- 24 October - The HMS Warrior, the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armored battleship was completed and commissioned.
- 25 November - Tenement collapses in the Old Town of Edinburgh and buries 50 — rescuers find 15 of them alive.
Undated
- James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of three-colour photography (see picture).3
- The death penalty is limited to murder, embezzlement, piracy and to acts of arson perpetrated upon docks or ammunition depots.
- British Empire establishes bases in Lagos to stop the slave trade.
Publications
- Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management published.
- George Eliot's novel Silas Marner.
- Anthony Trollope's novel Framley Parsonage.
Births
- 12 June - William Attewell, cricketer (died 1927)
- 19 June - Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, soldier (died 1928)
- 20 June - Frederick Hopkins, biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (died 1947)
- 23 September - Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, poet and novelist (died 1907)
- 16 October - J. B. Bury, historian (died 1927)
Deaths
- 29 January - Catherine Gore, novelist and dramatist (born 1799)
- 16 March - Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent and mother of Queen Victoria (born 1786, Germany)
- 29 June - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (born 1806)
- 14 December - Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria (born 1819)
References
- ^ a b (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ a b c d Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd, 282-283. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ (1999) The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
See also
