Timeline February 1856

Events in February 1856 3

• 1792 – 1856 Nikolai Lobachevsky (1792-1856) Died 24 February 1856, aged 63 Lobachevsky, a Russian mathematician, died in Kazan after developing non-Euclidean geometry independently of Janos Bolyai. His work challenged Euclid's parallel postulate and laid groundwork for later developments in mathematics and physics. He spent much of his career as rector of Kazan University.
• 1797 – 1856 Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) Died 17 February 1856, aged 58 Heine, one of the most influential German poets of the 19th century, died in Paris after years of illness that had confined him to bed. His works, including Buch der Lieder, were set to music by composers such as Schubert and Schumann. He spent his final decades in exile in France due to censorship of his politically radical writing.
• 1856 Islahat Edict -- equality for non-Muslims The Reform Edict (Islahat Hatt-ı Hümayunu, 18 February 1856), issued under British and French pressure during the Crimean War, extends and deepens the Gülhane promises: it explicitly guarantees equality before the law for all subjects regardless of religion, abolishes the jizya (poll tax on non-Muslims), opens public offices to non-Muslims, and promises reform of the court system, prisons and taxation. The edict is partly the price of Allied support in the Crimean War. It provokes a violent reaction from Muslim Ottomans who see it as an attack on Islamic privilege -- and from Christian communities who use their new legal status to press for further autonomy.