25 April 1859Construction of Suez CanalFerdinand de Lesseps
Opens construction work at Port Said, beginning the excavation of the Suez Canal.
Historical records for France in 1859, rendered directly from the World History Database and ordered by month, day and event.
Opens construction work at Port Said, beginning the excavation of the Suez Canal.
Work starts on the shore of the future Port Said
Work starts on the shore of the future Port Said. The excavation takes some 10 years using forced labor (corvee) of Egyptian workers, sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that thousands of laborers died
France declares war Austria
French victory at Magenta is followed by the French liberation of Milan
Birth of Pierre Curie in Paris.
Appointed Marshal after the Battle of Magenta
Created Duke of Magenta, after the Battle of Magenta
Transforms the battle into a French victory. MacMahon is created Duke of Magenta for his role in this battle, and later serves as President of the French Republic. French victory at Magenta is followed by the French liberation of Milan
Napoleon IIIs army crossed the Ticino River and outflanked the Austrian right forcing the Austrian army under General Gyulai to retreat
The Austrians are defeated by the French & Sardinians
France & Austria agree an armistice
Henri Bergson is born in Paris to a Polish father and an English mother.
Under the peace of Villafranca Parma & Lombardy are ceded to France
Under the peace of Villafranca Parma & Lombardy are ceded to France
Under the peace of Villafranca Parma & Lombardy are ceded to France
The Treaty of Zurich confirms the peace of Villafranca
The Treaty of Zurich confirms the peace of Villafranca
Birth of George's Surat
Allies with Sardinia against Austria
Allies with Italian States in gaining unity
Reports the unexplained advance of Mercury's perihelion, later explained by general relativity.
Le Verrier was the first to report that the slow precession of Mercurys orbit around the Sun could not be completely explained by Newtonian mechanics and perturbations by the known planets
This page is generated from stored World History Database records matching the exact country and year shown above. Exact duplicate display records are collapsed. Records without a month are listed after the monthly sections. Source provenance varies by record; formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.