istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Stanley agrees to work for Leopold II in opening up the Congo river to commerce
The Ten Years' War ends in Cuba, with Spain promising extensive reforms including the abolition of slavery
A war of liberation against Turkey wins full independence for Serbia
Three British armies invade Afghanistan, beginning the second Anglo-Afghan War
English physicist Joseph Swan demonstrates a practical electric light bulb, using an incandescent carbon filament in a vacuum
21-year-old Joseph Conrad, a Polish subject, goes to sea with the British merchant navy
The British find a pretext to march into the territory ruled by Cetshwayo, thus launching the Zulu War
Zulu tribesmen surprise and annihilate a British army encamped near Isandhlwana
Immediately after Isandhlwana a tiny British garrison at Rorke's Drift fights off an overwhelming Zulu attack
George Eliot develops an emotional bond with her investment banker, John Walter Cross, whose beloved mother died a week after Lewes
Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, based on Pushkin's poem, has its premiere in Moscow
The young daughter of an amateur archaeologist discovers the first known example of prehistoric art, in a cave at Altamira in Spain
The ancient Irish game of hurling is formalized by the newly founded Irish Hurling Union
A congress in Paris, with Ferdinand de Lesseps as president, decides to construct a canal from coast to coast in Panama
English physicist Joseph Swan receives a patent for bromide paper, which becomes the standard material for printing photographs
George Goldie and British traders on the Niger form the United African Company (later the Royal Niger Company) to consolidate their interests
The British destruction of Cetshwayo's kraal at Ulundi ends the Zulu War
Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House signals a new direction in drama in its frank treatment of tensions within a marriage
An entire train, full of passengers, falls into the river Tay in Scotland when a bridge collapses in a winter gale
Henry James's story Daisy Miller, about an American girl abroad, brings him a new readership
George Eliot marries John Walter Cross, 20 years her junior, and begins calling herself Mary Ann Cross
George Eliot and her new husband move into a splendid new house in Cheyne Walk, beside the Thames in London
George Eliot dies, of a long-standing kidney disease, and a week later is buried beside G.H. Lewes in Highgate cemetery
For the second time Gladstone replaces Disraeli as Britain's prime minister, following a Liberal election victory over the Conservatives
On their honeymoon in Venice, George Eliot's husband develops depression and throws himself, or falls, from their hotel balcony into the Grand Canal
