19th century

18th century - 19th century - 20th century

Decades: 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

Events:

• Napoleon conquers much of Europe, is ultimately defeated and the old European regimes are restored.
• Final phase of the Industrial Revolution, including Rail Transport, telegraph, and telephone.
• Discovery of the relationships between magnetism and electricity and light by Hans Christian Ørsted and James Maxwell. See History of Science and Technology.
• Mass migration from Europe to the United States.
• Political revolution and constitutional reform across Europe severely limits powers of monarchs, advances democracy.
• Slavery ended in British colonies and in America. See American Civil War. End of global slave trade enforced by British navy.
• Charles Darwin revolutionizes biology with his theories of evolution.
• Europeans colonize large parts of Africa and Asia
• [Meji Restoration]? in 1868 opens Japan to modern influences and returns the emperor to power
• Germany and Italy are formed as nations.

Significant persons:

• Otto von Bismarck
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Charles Darwin
• Benjamin Disraeli
• Abraham Lincoln
• Karl Marx
• Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)