-
Tsar Alexander I of Russia dies
Alexander was the son of Grand Duke Paul Petrovich Romanov, later Tsar Paul I, and his wife, the German princess Maria Feodorovna, daughter of the Duke of Württemberg. He was also the grandson of Catherine the Great. He grew up in the free-thinking atmosphere of his grandmother's court and was instructed in the principles of Jean-Jacques Rousseau by his Swiss tutor, Frédéric-César de La Harpe. -
Pope Leo XII dies
Leo XII was in ill health from the time of his election to the papacy to his death less than 6 years later, though he was noted for enduring pain well. He was a deeply conservative ruler, who enforced many controversial laws, including one forbidding Jews to own property. Though he raised taxes, the Papal States remained financially poor. -
Francis II of Austria dies
-
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is born
Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (Seville, February 17, 1836 – Madrid, December 22, 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, was a Spanish poet and writer who belonged to the Romantic movement. As a late Romantic, he has also been associated with the post-Romantic movement. Although he already achieved a degree of fame during his lifetime, it was only after his death and after the publication of his entire body of writing that he achieved the prestige he enjoys today. -
Economic crisis in France
From 1845 onwards, France began to suffer an economic crisis: factories closed, unemployment increased and hunger became widespread.[3] The petite bourgeoisie and students joined the workers' protests, so that when the government tried to use the police and the armed forces, they refused, forcing King Louis Philippe of Orleans to abdicate. In this way, a provisional government was created, which would give way to the Second French Republic. -
First elections in France by universal suffrage
The French presidential elections of 1848 were held on December 10 of that year to elect the first president of the Second French Republic. The elections were historic, as they were the first direct presidential election in French history. -
Coup d'état in France
Faced with the prospect of having to leave office in 1852, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte) staged the coup in order to stay in power and implement his reform programs; these included the restoration of universal male suffrage previously abolished by the legislature. The continuation of his authority and the power to produce a new constitution were approved days later by a constitutional referendum, resulting in the Constitution of 1852. -
Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species"
On November 24, 1859, British naturalist Charles Robert Darwin published his most important work: “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Existence,” in which he compiled the scientific evidence collected during the exploration. -
The telephone is invented
It was invented by the Italian Antonio Meucci, who built his first prototype in 1854, although he did not formalize his patent due to financial difficulties, presenting only a brief description of his invention to the United States Patent Office in 1871. -
A vaccine against cholera is invented
The Spanish physician Jaime Ferrán (1852-1929) developed the first cholera vaccine, used during the Spanish epidemic of 1885, primarily in Valencia. Ferrán was self-taught, a distant disciple of Pasteur.