1866
1866 (
MDCCCLXVI) is a
common year starting on Monday of the
Gregorian calendar or a
common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower
Julian calendar.
January – June
*
January 6 –
Ottoman troops clash with men of a
Maronite leader Karam in St. Doumit in
Lebanon - Turks are defeated
*
January 12 -
Royal Aeronautical Society is formed (
London)
*
January 28 - 800 Maronite troops clash with Ottoman troops in
Karem Saddah, modern-day
Lebanon - more battles between nationalist Maronites and Ottoman army follow
*
February 13 - The first daylight robbery in United States history during peacetime takes place in
Liberty, Missouri. This is considered to be the first robbery committed by
Jesse James and his gang, although James's role is disputed.
*
February 26 - The
Calaveras Skull is discovered. Purported to be evidence of humans during the
Pliocene Age, it turns out to be a
hoax.
*
March 27- Andrew Rankin patents the urinal.
*
April 4 -
Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of
Kiev. A design for a city gate to commemorate his escape was the inspiration for
Mussorgsky's The Great Gate of Kiev from
Pictures at an Exhibition.
*
April 10 - The
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by
Henry Bergh.
* May - Student
Choen Blind fails to assassinate
Otto von Bismarck in
Unter den Linden in
Berlin*
May 2 Battle of Estero Bellaco. Paraguayan forces attack the vanguard of the Triple Alliance Army (
Brazil,
Argentina and
Uruguay)
War of the Triple Alliance.
*
May 2 - Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the
Battle of Callao.
*
May 11 - London bank
Overend, Gurney and Company collapses precipitating a
financial crisis.
*
May 16 - The
U.S. Congress eliminates the half
dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or
nickel.
*
May 16 -
Charles Elmer Hires invents
root beer.
*
May 24 -
Battle of Tuyutí - 32.000 soldiers of the
Triple Alliance defeat 24.000 Paraguayan soldiers few miles north of the
Paraná, Argentina - 16.000 casualties.
*
June 2 -
Fenian forces skirmish with Canadian militia at
Ridgeway and
Fort Erie*
June 5 - Calculations indicate
Pluto reached its most recent
aphelion (furthest point from
Sun) on this day. The next aphelion will occur in
August 2113.
*
June 8 - The
Canadian Parliament meets for the first time in
Ottawa.
*
June 11 -
Agra High Court established (later shifted to
Allahabad High Court.
*
June 14 - Beginning of the
Austro-Prussian War, when the Austrians and most of the medium German states declare war on Prussia.
*
June 20 - The Kingdom of
Italy declares war on
Austria.
*
June 24 - At the
Second Battle of Custozza, the Austrian army under
Archduke Albrecht defeats the main Italian army, commanded by King
Victor Emmanuel.
*
June 27-
June 29 - The Prussians defeat the
Hanoverian army at the
Battle of Langensalza.
July – December
*
July 3 - At the
Battle of Königgratz, the
Prussian army under
King Wilhelm and
Helmuth von Moltke defeats the Austrian army of
Ludwig von Benedek, leading to a decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War.
*
July 5 - Marriage of
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, third daughter of
Queen Victoria to
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg*
July 20 - At the Naval
Battle of Lissa, the Austrian fleet under
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff defeats the Italian fleet of
Carlo di Persano.
*
July 24 -
Reconstruction:
Tennessee becomes the first
U.S. state to be readmitted to the
Union following the
American Civil War.
*
July 25 - The
U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of
General of the Army (now called "5-star general") Lieutenant General
Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.
*
July 27 - The
Atlantic Cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic
telegraph communication for the first time.
*
July 28 - The
Metric Act of 1866 becomes law and legalizes the standardization of
weights and measures in the
United States.
*
August 23 -
Treaty of Prague ends the
Austro-Prussian War*
September 22 -
Paraguay successfully defends
Curupaity against the
Triple Alliance, scoring more than 5000 with just about 50 casualties.
*
October 12 - The
Treaty of Vienna ends the war between
Austria and
Italy. It formalizes the annexation of
Venetia by Italy.
*
October 14 - French troops under the command of Rear Admiral Gustav Roze land at
Ganghwa Island, Korea as part of a punitive expedition against that kingdom for the execution of French
Jesuit priests. It is the first military contact between Korea and a Western force.
*
December 21 -
Fetterman's massacre - Sioux ambush and wipe out 79 cavalrymen under lieutenant colonel
William J. Fetterman*
Federalist revolts in
Argentina*In
Sweden the
Riksdag of the Estates is replaced by an elected two chamber assembly, the
Riksdag.
*
Alfred Nobel invents
dynamite.
* First historical mention of
gerbils, "yellow rats" sent to Museum of Natural History (Musée d'Histoire Naturelle) in Paris, by father
Armand David from northern China
* First use of the term
Ecology*
January 13 -
Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (d.
1901)
*
January 15 -
Nathan Söderblom, Swedish archbishop, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (d.
1931)
*
January 29 -
Romain Rolland, French writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1944)
*
March 30 -
George Van Haltren, baseball player (d.
1945)
*
April 1 -
Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d.
1924)
*
April 13 -
Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (d.
1909)
*
April 17 -
Ernest Starling, British physiologist (d.
1927)
*
May 5 -
Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (d.
1938)
*
May 17 -
Erik Satie, French composer (d.
1925)
*
June 4 -
Miina Sillanpää, Finnish politician (d.
1952)
*
June 26 -
George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English financier of Egyptian excavations (d.
1923)
*
July 28 -
Beatrix Potter, English children's author (d.
1943)
*
August 12 -
Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1954)
*
September 1 -
James J. Corbett, American boxer (d.
1933)
*
September 7 -
Tristan Bernard, French writer (d.
1947)
*
September 10 -
Jeppe Aakjaer, Danish poet and novelist (d.
1930)
*
September 21 -
Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1936)
*
September 21 -
H. G. Wells, English writer (d.
1946)
*
September 27 -
Eurosia Fabris, Italian Catholic
Blessed (d.
1932)
*
September 25 -
Thomas Hunt Morgan, American geneticist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1945)
*
October 12 -
Ramsay MacDonald,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.
1937)
*
November 12 -
Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary (d.
1925)
*
November 30 -
Robert Broom, Scottish paleontologist (d.
1951)
*
December 12 -
Alfred Werner, German chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1919)
*
December 16 (
December 4 O.S.) -
Wassily Kandinsky, Russian-born painter (d.
1944)
*
Ethna Carbery, Northern Irish poet (d.
1902)
*
Charles Mangin, French general (d.
1925)
*
La Goulue, French dancer (d.
1929)
*
Kikujiro Ishii, Japanese diplomat (d.
1945)
*
William D. Upshaw, American politician and
temperance movement leader (d.
1952)
*
January 31 -
Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages (b.
1788)
*January -
Thomas Baldwin Marsh, American religious leader (b.
1799)
*
March 4 -
Alexander Campbell, Irish/US founder of the
Disciples of Christ (b.
1788)
*
March 20 -
Rikard Nordraak, Norwegian composer (b.
1842)
*
May 29 -
Winfield Scott, American general and presidential candidate (b.
1786)
*
June 7 -
Chief Sealth, Native American whom
Seattle is named for (b. circa
1786)
*
July 20 -
Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (b.
1826)
*
November 26 -
Jean-Jacques Willmar, Luxembourg politician (b.
1792)
