1851 The Great Exhibition is held in England with the encourgement of Prince Albert. One of its main attractions is the Crystal Place, a glass and iron building.
1852 Louis Napoleon establishes the Second Empire as Napoleon III.
Henir Giffard builds the first steam powered dirigible.
E.G. Otis invents the safety elevator.
1853 to 1856 The Crimean War: Russia is defeated by the Ottoman Empire and its allies Great Britain and France.
1853 Colonel Samuel Colt begins manufacturing revolvers.
Alexander Wood invents the hypodermic syringe.
Chloroform gains acceptence when give to Queen Victoria during the birth of her eighth child.
1854 Matthew Perry opens Japan to Western trade.
George Boole develops mathematical logic.
1856 The first Neanderthal remains are discovered.
W.H. Perkin produces aniline purple, the first synthetic dye.
Henry Bessemer develops a process for making steel in large quantities.
“Big Ben” is cast in the Whitechapel Bell Factory.
1857 to 1858 The Indian Mutiny leads to direct administration of India by the British government.
1857 Speculation in U.S. railways shares causes European financial crisis.
The Russian serfs are emancipated.
1858 Darwin and Wallace communicate the theory of evolution by natural selection to the Linnaean Society.
Launching of the Great Eastern, the largest ship of the time (27,000 tons).
1859 The Suez Canal is built in Egypt.
R.L.G. Plante invents the first practical storage battery.
