1868

Events in 1868 49

• 1603 – 1868 Edo period Tokugawa peace, isolation and a flourishing culture For over two and a half centuries the Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo (Tokyo), enforcing rigid social order and near-total isolation from the outside world (sakoku). The long peace allowed cities, commerce and a vibrant popular culture to flourish — kabuki theatre, ukiyo-e woodblock prints and haiku poetry.
• 1791 – 1868 James Buchanan 15th President — only bachelor president James Buchanan (Apr 23, 1791 – Jun 1, 1868) was the 15th President 1857-1861 and the only president never to marry. He failed to prevent the secession of Southern states and is often ranked among the worst presidents.
• 1792 – 1868 Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) Died 13 November 1868, aged 76 Rossini was an Italian composer renowned for operas including The Barber of Seville and William Tell. He retired from opera composition in his thirties but remained a celebrated figure in Parisian musical society. He died at his villa in Passy near Paris.
• 1792 – 1868 Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) Died 11 August 1868, aged 76 Stevens was a US Congressman from Pennsylvania and a leading Radical Republican who championed abolition and Reconstruction. He led the impeachment prosecution against President Andrew Johnson earlier that year. He was buried in a racially integrated cemetery by his own request.
• 1809 – 1868 Kit Carson (1809-1868) Died 23 May 1868, aged 58 Carson was an American frontiersman, trapper, and soldier famed for guiding western expeditions and later for military campaigns against Native American tribes including the Navajo. He served as a Union brigadier general during the Civil War. He died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, of an aortic aneurysm.
• 1825 – 1868 Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868) Died 7 April 1868, aged 42 McGee was an Irish-Canadian politician, journalist, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. He was assassinated in Ottawa hours after delivering a speech in Parliament, likely in retaliation for his denunciation of the Fenian movement. His killing was Canada's only assassination of a federal politician.
• 1868 – 1928 Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) Died 10 December 1928, aged 60 Scottish architect and designer, a leading figure of the Glasgow Style. His best-known building is the Glasgow School of Art. His furniture and interiors influenced European modernism.
• 1868 – 1927 Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) Died 15 July 1927, aged 59 Constance Markievicz was an Irish revolutionary and a commander in the 1916 Easter Rising. In 1918 she became the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, though she did not take her seat. She was later one of the first women in the world to hold a cabinet post.
• 1868 – 1941 Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) Died 11 January 1941, aged 72 Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player who held the World Championship for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, longer than anyone else. He was also a mathematician and died in New York.
• 1868 – 1934 Fritz Haber (1868-1934) Died 29 January 1934, aged 65 German chemist who won the Nobel Prize for synthesising ammonia, the basis of artificial fertiliser. He also directed Germany's chemical weapons programme in the First World War. He died in exile in Basel after leaving Nazi Germany.
• 1868 – 1936 Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936) Died 28 April 1936, aged 68 Fuad I became Sultan of Egypt in 1917. In 1922 he became the country's first king after Britain granted Egypt nominal independence. His son Farouk succeeded him.
• 1868 – 1927 Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) Died 15 April 1927, aged 58 Gaston Leroux was a French journalist and novelist. He wrote The Phantom of the Opera and the locked-room mystery The Mystery of the Yellow Room.
• 1868 – 1938 George Ellery Hale (1868-1938) Died 21 February 1938, aged 69 Hale was an American solar astronomer who founded the Yerkes and Mount Wilson observatories. He also launched the project that built the 200-inch Palomar telescope.
• 1868 – 1926 Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) Died 12 July 1926, aged 57 Gertrude Bell, the British writer, archaeologist and political officer who helped draw the borders of the modern state of Iraq, died in Baghdad from an overdose of sleeping pills. She had been one of the few women with real influence over British policy in the Middle East after the First World War.
• 1868 – 1938 Harvey Firestone (1868-1938) Died 7 February 1938, aged 69 Firestone founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tyres.
• 1868 – 1943 Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943) Died 26 June 1943, aged 75 Karl Landsteiner was an Austrian-American pathologist who discovered the ABO blood groups, which made safe blood transfusion possible. He received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He later co-discovered the Rh factor.
• 1868 – 1943 Lin Sen (1868-1943) Died 1 August 1943, aged 75 Lin Sen was chairman of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China from 1931. The post was largely ceremonial. Chiang Kai-shek succeeded him as chairman after his death.
• 1868 – 1935 Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) Died 14 May 1935, aged 67 Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist who campaigned early for homosexual and transgender rights. The Nazis destroyed his Institute for Sexual Science, and he died in exile in Nice on his birthday.
• 1868 – 1934 Marie Dressler (1868-1934) Died 28 July 1934, aged 65 Canadian-born actress who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Min and Bill in 1931. She was one of the biggest box-office stars of the early sound era.
• 1868 – 1936 Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) Died 18 June 1936, aged 68 Maxim Gorky was a Russian writer known for The Lower Depths and the novel Mother. He was an early advocate of socialist realism and a major figure in Soviet literary life. His city of birth, Nizhny Novgorod, was renamed Gorky in his honour.
• 1868 – 1918 Nicholas II of Russia (1868-1918) Died 17 July 1918, aged 50 Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, was executed along with his family by Bolshevik forces in Yekaterinburg following his abdication in 1917. His reign was marked by military defeats, the 1905 Revolution, and growing unrest that culminated in the fall of the monarchy. He was later canonized as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.
• 1868 – 1955 Paul Claudel (1868-1955) Died 23 February 1955, aged 86 Paul Claudel was a French poet, playwright and diplomat whose Catholic-inspired dramas influenced twentieth-century French theater. He served as a career diplomat, including as ambassador to the United States and Japan. He died in Paris.
• 1868 – 1935 Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (1868-1935) Died 3 December 1935, aged 67 Victoria was the unmarried daughter of Edward VII and a favourite sister of George V. Her death is said to have deeply affected the King, who died seven weeks later.
• 1868 – 1912 Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) Died 29 March 1912, aged 43 Robert Falcon Scott led the Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole, arriving five weeks after Roald Amundsen. He and his four companions died of cold and starvation on the return journey; their bodies and diaries were found by a search party eight months later.
• 1868 – 1917 Scott Joplin (1868-1917) Died 1 April 1917, aged 48 Scott Joplin was an African American composer and pianist known as the "King of Ragtime" for works including "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer". His music laid groundwork for jazz and later saw a major popular revival decades after his death.
• 1868 – 1933 Stefan George (1868-1933) Died 4 December 1933, aged 65 German Symbolist poet who led an influential circle of writers and scholars. He left Germany after refusing honours from the Nazi regime and died in Switzerland.
• 1868 – 1928 Theodore William Richards (1868-1928) Died 2 April 1928, aged 60 American chemist who won the 1914 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was the first American to receive it. He made highly precise measurements of the atomic weights of many elements.
• 1868 – 1963 W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) Died 27 August 1963, aged 95 W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian and civil rights leader who co-founded the NAACP and championed Pan-Africanism. He spent his final years in Ghana after growing disillusioned with racial progress in the United States. He died in Accra on the eve of the March on Washington.
• 1868 – 1940 Édouard Vuillard (1868-1940) Died 21 June 1940, aged 71 French painter of the Nabis group, known for intimate domestic interiors. He died in La Baule while fleeing the German advance.
• 1868 Meiji Restoration Imperial rule restored in Japan Emperor Meiji was proclaimed sovereign ruler of Japan, ending over two centuries of Tokugawa shogunate rule. The restoration triggered sweeping modernization reforms that transformed Japan into an industrial power. It also sparked the Boshin War against shogunate loyalists.
• 1868 Battle of Toba-Fushimi Opening battle of the Boshin War Forces loyal to the new Meiji government defeated troops of the Tokugawa shogunate near Kyoto. The battle marked the start of the Boshin War, a civil conflict that ended shogunate rule entirely by 1869. It confirmed the imperial court's military superiority over the old regime.
• 1868 Impeachment of Andrew Johnson First impeachment of a sitting US president The House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson, chiefly over his violation of the Tenure of Office Act in dismissing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The Senate trial concluded in May with Johnson acquitted by a single vote. It was the first impeachment of a sitting US president.
• 1868 Cro-Magnon remains discovered Early modern human fossils found in France Workmen building a railway near Les Eyzies in southwestern France uncovered ancient human skeletal remains in a rock shelter later named Cro-Magnon. Geologist Louis Lartet's excavation identified the remains as anatomically modern humans from the Upper Paleolithic. The find gave its name to the "Cro-Magnon" type long used for early modern Europeans.
• 1868 Basutoland becomes British protectorate Britain annexes the Basotho kingdom At the request of Basotho king Moshoeshoe I, Britain declared Basutoland a protectorate to shield it from encroachment by Orange Free State Boers. The territory was administered separately from the Cape Colony. It later became the independent state of Lesotho in 1966.
• 1868 – 1946 George Arliss (1868-1946) English actor, the first British winner of the Oscar for Best Actor, for Disraeli.
• 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie US-Sioux treaty establishes the Great Sioux Reservation The United States government and Lakota Sioux leaders signed a treaty establishing the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, and guaranteeing Sioux hunting rights in surrounding territory. It ended Red Cloud's War over the Bozeman Trail forts. The treaty was later violated after gold was found in the Black Hills.
• 1868 Last public execution in Britain Michael Barrett hanged outside Newgate Prison Michael Barrett was hanged outside Newgate Prison for his role in the Clerkenwell explosion, becoming the last person publicly executed in Britain. Public executions were abolished shortly afterward under the Capital Punishment Amendment Act. Executions thereafter took place inside prison walls.
• 1868 First Trades Union Congress British trade unions form a national body Delegates from trade unions across Britain met in Manchester for the first Trades Union Congress, establishing a permanent national body to coordinate labor interests. The TUC went on to become the leading federation of British trade unions. It marked a significant step in organized labor's political influence.
• 1868 Typewriter patented Sholes and Glidden typewriter receives US patent Christopher Latham Sholes received a US patent for a practical typewriter, developed with Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule. The machine introduced the QWERTY keyboard layout still used today. It was later manufactured commercially by E. Remington and Sons.
• 1868 Fourteenth Amendment ratified US Constitution grants citizenship and equal protection The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteeing equal protection under the law. It reversed the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision and became a cornerstone of later civil rights litigation. It is one of the Reconstruction Amendments following the Civil War.
• 1868 Edo renamed Tokyo Japan's imperial capital renamed The Meiji government issued an edict renaming the city of Edo to Tokyo, meaning "Eastern Capital." The emperor formally relocated there later that year, ending Kyoto's centuries-long role as imperial seat. The renaming symbolized Japan's political transformation under the new imperial government.
• 1868 Discovery of helium New element identified in the Sun's spectrum French astronomer Pierre Janssen observed an unknown yellow spectral line in the Sun's chromosphere while studying a total solar eclipse from India. English astronomer Norman Lockyer confirmed the observation and named the new element helium. It was the first element discovered in space before being found on Earth.
• 1868 Spanish Revolution of 1868 Uprising overthrows Queen Isabella II A coalition of liberal generals and admirals launched an uprising known as "La Gloriosa," defeating loyalist forces and forcing Queen Isabella II to flee to France. The revolution ended Bourbon rule and opened a period of political experimentation that led to a short-lived republic. It began a six-year period of instability known as the Sexenio Democratico.
• 1868 Grito de Lares Puerto Rican uprising against Spanish rule Puerto Rican rebels declared independence from Spain in the town of Lares, proclaiming a short-lived republic. Spanish colonial forces crushed the uprising within days and arrested hundreds of participants. The revolt became a lasting symbol of Puerto Rican nationalism.
• 1868 – present Little Women The March sisters, 1868 to today Louisa May Alcott's novel of the four March sisters, published in two parts in 1868 and 1869 and never out of print since — adapted for stage, film, television, opera and anime.
• 1868 Little Women is published Roberts Brothers, Boston Written in about ten weeks at the request of her publisher Thomas Niles, who wanted a book for girls, the first part is an immediate success.
• 1868 Grito de Yara Cuban rebellion against Spain begins the Ten Years' War Planter Carlos Manuel de Cespedes freed his slaves and declared Cuban independence from Spain at his sugar estate, an act known as the Grito de Yara. The declaration ignited the Ten Years' War, Cuba's first major war of independence. The conflict lasted until 1878 and reshaped Cuban society.
• 1868 Ulysses S. Grant elected president Union war hero wins the US presidency Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the Union Army during the Civil War, was elected the eighteenth President of the United States. He ran as a Republican promising to consolidate Reconstruction gains. Grant took office in March 1869.
• 1868 First traffic light installed Gas-powered signal installed outside Parliament A gas-lit revolving signal designed by railway engineer J.P. Knight was installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London to control horse-drawn traffic. It used semaphore arms by day and red and green gas lamps by night. The signal exploded weeks later after a gas leak, and traffic signals were not widely readopted until the automobile era.