1849

Events in 1849 29

• 1768 – 1849 Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) Died 22 May 1849, aged 81 Anglo-Irish novelist celebrated for works such as Castle Rackrent, considered a pioneer of the regional and historical novel. She was widely admired by contemporaries including Walter Scott and Jane Austen. She died at her family home in Edgeworthstown, Ireland.
• 1777 – 1849 Juliette Recamier (1777-1849) Died 11 May 1849, aged 71 French socialite whose Paris salon was a famous gathering place for writers and politicians during and after the Napoleonic era. She was renowned for her beauty and immortalized in Jacques-Louis David's portrait of her reclining on a chaise longue. She died in Paris during a cholera epidemic.
• 1795 – 1849 James K. Polk 11th President — expanded US to Pacific James K. Polk (Nov 2, 1795 – Jun 15, 1849) was the 11th President 1845-1849. He oversaw the greatest territorial expansion in US history through the Mexican-American War, adding California and the Southwest. He died just 103 days after leaving office.
• 1804 – 1849 Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) Died 25 September 1849, aged 45 Austrian composer and violinist known as the father of the waltz, famous for works including the Radetzky March. He died in Vienna during a scarlet fever epidemic. His son Johann Strauss II would eclipse him as the "Waltz King".
• 1809 – 1849 Edgar Allan Poe American writer and poet Poe pioneered horror and detective fiction, creating psychologically intense and Gothic narratives.
• 1810 – 1849 Frédéric Chopin Romantic piano poet Polish-French composer who wrote almost exclusively for the piano. His nocturnes, études, ballades and mazurkas define Romantic piano music.
• 1820 – 1849 Anne Bronte (1820-1849) Died 28 May 1849, aged 29 English novelist and poet, youngest of the Bronte sisters, known for the novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. She died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Scarborough, where she had traveled hoping the sea air would aid her recovery.
• 1840 – 1849 William II King during constitutional reform William II accepted major constitutional reforms that transformed the Netherlands into a parliamentary democracy.
• 1848 – 1849 German Revolutions of 1848 Liberal and nationalist uprisings Revolutionary movements across the German states demanded constitutional government and national unification.
• 1849 – 1912 August Strindberg (1849-1912) Died 14 May 1912, aged 63 August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright and novelist whose works, including "Miss Julie" and "The Father", helped shape modern drama. He died of stomach cancer in Stockholm.
• 1849 California Gold Rush migration peaks Tens of thousands of "forty-niners" flood into California Following the 1848 discovery of gold, roughly 90,000 prospectors and settlers poured into California in 1849, traveling overland and by sea from around the world. The influx transformed California's population and economy and hastened its path to statehood. San Francisco grew from a small settlement into a boomtown within months.
• 1849 – 1887 Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) Died 19 November 1887, aged 38 Emma Lazarus was an American poet best known for her sonnet "The New Colossus," written to help raise funds for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Its closing lines, including "Give me your tired, your poor," later became closely associated with American immigration. She was also an early advocate for Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Russia.
• 1849 – 1936 Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Died 27 February 1936, aged 86 Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who won the 1904 Nobel Prize for his work on digestion. He is best known for discovering classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. His work had a strong influence on behavioural psychology.
• 1849 – 1895 Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895) Died 24 January 1895, aged 45 Lord Randolph Churchill was a British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and led the party's populist "Tory Democracy" faction. His political career collapsed after he resigned from the cabinet in 1886 in a failed gambit for greater influence. He was the father of Winston Churchill.
• 1849 – 1940 Saionji Kinmochi (1849-1940) Died 24 November 1940, aged 91 Japanese statesman who served twice as Prime Minister and was the last of the genrō, the elder advisers to the emperor. He was a leading moderate voice against militarism.
• 1849 – 1919 William Osler (1849-1919) Died 29 December 1919, aged 70 Osler was a Canadian physician regarded as one of the founders of modern medical education, emphasizing bedside clinical training for students. He helped establish Johns Hopkins Hospital's medical school before becoming Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford.
• 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell earns first US medical degree awarded to a woman Geneva Medical College graduates America's first female physician Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York, becoming the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. She had been admitted only after the all-male student body voted, as a joke, to accept her. She went on to found medical institutions for women.
• 1849 Battle of Gujrat Decisive British victory ends the Second Anglo-Sikh War British East India Company forces defeated the Sikh army at Gujrat, breaking organized Sikh resistance. The victory led directly to the annexation of the Punjab weeks later. It was one of the last major battles of British territorial expansion in India.
• 1849 – 1890 William III King of the Netherlands William III ruled during a period of modernization and colonial expansion.
• 1849 Battle of Novara Austria crushes Piedmont-Sardinia, ending the First Italian War of Independence Austrian forces under Marshal Radetzky decisively defeated the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia near Novara. The defeat forced King Charles Albert to abdicate in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel II the following day. The battle ended the First Italian War of Independence in Austria's favor.
• 1849 Annexation of the Punjab The British East India Company absorbs the Sikh Empire After victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the East India Company formally annexed the Punjab, ending the Sikh Empire. The young Maharaja Duleep Singh was deposed and the Koh-i-Noor diamond was sent to Queen Victoria. The annexation completed British dominance over the Indian subcontinent.
• 1849 Safety pin patented Walter Hunt patents the modern coiled safety pin New York inventor Walter Hunt patented the safety pin, a single piece of wire with a clasp and coiled spring. He reportedly sold the patent rights for 400 dollars to pay off a debt. The design remains essentially unchanged in everyday use today.
• 1849 Hungarian Declaration of Independence Hungary's parliament formally deposes the Habsburgs Meeting in Debrecen, the Hungarian National Assembly declared the House of Habsburg dethroned and Hungary independent under Lajos Kossuth as governor-president. The declaration came amid the wider revolutionary war against Austrian rule. Austrian and allied Russian forces crushed the revolution within months.
• 1849 – 1944 Bertha Benz The investor who was not allowed to be one Bertha Ringer put her dowry into Carl Benz's failing workshop in 1870, while still unmarried and therefore still legally able to invest. On marrying him in 1872 she lost that standing under the law of Baden, and continued funding him anyway. She wound ignition coils, argued down the doubters, and in August 1888 took the Patent-Motorwagen and her two sons on an unauthorised hundred-kilometre drive that invented the brake lining, exposed the need for a lower gear, and turned an unsellable curiosity into a product. She was ninety-five when she died, and still driving into old age.
• 1849 Astor Place Riot A theater rivalry turns deadly in New York City A dispute between fans of rival actors Edwin Forrest and William Macready escalated into a riot outside the Astor Place Opera House in Manhattan. Militia called in to control the crowd opened fire, killing more than twenty people. It remains one of the deadliest civil disturbances in New York City history.
• 1849 Fall of the Roman Republic French troops storm Rome and restore papal rule A French expeditionary force besieged and captured Rome, overthrowing the short-lived Roman Republic proclaimed earlier that year. Giuseppe Garibaldi had led the republic's defense before retreating with his volunteers. The intervention restored Pope Pius IX to temporal power over the city.
• 1849 Surrender at Világos Hungarian forces capitulate, ending the Hungarian Revolution The main Hungarian army surrendered to Russian forces at Világos after Tsar Nicholas I intervened to help Austria suppress the revolution. The surrender effectively ended the Hungarian War of Independence. Austrian reprisals against revolutionary leaders followed in the months after.
• 1849 Harriet Tubman escapes slavery Tubman flees a Maryland plantation to freedom Harriet Tubman escaped enslavement in Maryland and made her way north to Pennsylvania. She would go on to return to the South repeatedly as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, guiding dozens of enslaved people to freedom. Her escape marked the beginning of her career as an abolitionist.
• 1849 Execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad Thirteen Hungarian generals are executed after the failed revolution Following the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution, Austrian authorities executed thirteen rebel generals at Arad for their role in the uprising. The executions became a lasting symbol of Hungarian national martyrdom. The date is still commemorated in Hungary as a national day of mourning.