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Congress reaches the Compromise of 1850, admitting California as a free state and passing the Fugitive Slave Act. Furthermore, California entered the Union as a free state and a territorial government was created in Utah.
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The Great Exhibition in 1851 was the first international exhibition of manufactured products. It was organised by Henry Cole and Prince Albert, and held in a purpose-built Crystal Palace in Hyde Park
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The National Party government organized the election on whether the then Union of South Africa should become a republic. The vote, which was restricted to whites, was approved by 52.29% of the voters.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin, a noble about slave life. This novel became very popular, particularly among white readers in the North
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Japan and the United States signed an agreement opening Japan to trade. The mainly wanted to trade with the western states
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Proslavery group attacks antislavery stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas. They burned the Free State Hotel, destroyed two printing presses, and ransacked homes and stores.
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The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes a law. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders.
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Uprising against British rule in India begins with the Sepoy Rebellion. The Sepoy rebellion was a complete surprise to the British, many of whom were "blind to the unrest that had been created, in part, by the rapid imposition of direct British control over two-thirds of India.
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In Harpers Ferry, Virginia, John Brown seizes the federal arsenal, He wanted to start a slave rebellion and to seize weapons at the federal arsenal.
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Russian serfs are emancipated. Russian emperor Alexander II that accompanied 17 legislative acts that freed the serfs of the Russian Empire
