1866
1866 is a common year starting on Monday.
Events January – June January 6 – Ottoman troops clash with men of a Maronite leader Karam in St. Doumit in Lebanon - Turks are defeatedJanuary 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 followFebruary 13 - Jesse James robs his first bankApril 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. May - Student Choen Blind fails to assassinate Otto von Bismarck in Unter den Linden in Berlin 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 Tuyuti - 32.000 soldiers of the Triple Alliance defeat 24.000 Paraguayan soldiers few miles north of the Parana - 18.000 dead June 8 - The Canadian Parliament meets for the first time in Ottawa. June 14 - Beginning of the Austro-Prussian War, when the Austrians and most of the medium German states declare war on Prussia.
July – December July 3 - Austro-Prussian War decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria. 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 - Naval battle at Lissa between Austria-Hungary and Kingdom of Italy. 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. Federalist revolts in ArgentinaIn 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
Births January 13 - Vasily Kalinnikov, composerJanuary 15 - Nathan Söderblom, Swedish Nobel Peace Prize laureateJanuary 29 - Romain Rolland, French writer, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1944) April 1 - Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1924) April 6 - Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (d. 1909)May 17- Erik Satie, French composerJuly 28 - Beatrix Potter, English children's authorAugust 12 - Jacinto Benavente, Spanish writer (d. 1954)September 1 - James J. Corbett, heavyweight boxing champion (d. 1933)September 7 - Tristan Bernard, French writer September 21 - H. G. Wells, English writerThomas Hunt Morgan, biologistSun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionaryRobert Broom, paleontologistLa Goulue, dancer (d. 1929)Kikujiro Ishii, diplomatJeppe Aakjaer, Danish poet and novelist {d. 1930)
Deaths January 31 - Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages (b. 1788)May 29 - Winfield Scott, American general and presidential candidate (b. 1786)November 26 - Jean-Jacques Willmar, Luxembourg politician (b. 1792)Bernhard Riemann, mathematicianRikard Nordraak, Norwegian composerJanuary - Thomas Baldwin Marsh - early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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