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1851 - 18601851 March 30: Second full British Census – improvements in data compared
with the first On May 1, 1851, Queen Victoria opened a vast
exhibition of "the Works of Industry of all Nations" in the specially
constructed Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. Inspired and organised chiefly by her
beloved husband, Prince Albert, the Great Exhibition, as it became known, was a showcase
for the achievements of progress and the Industrial Revolution, but also for
Britain’s manufacturing strength and imperial might. Some six million visitors saw
the different stands of the participating nations, the exhibits were judged by
international juries (with most of the prizes going to Britain). The Crystal Palace
itself, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, was an innovative and influential construction of
iron and glass; it was subsequently dismantled and rebuilt in Sydenham, south-east London,
where a fire destroyed it in 1936. The income from the Exhibition helped pay for other new
educational ventures such as London’s museums in South Kensington and the Royal
Albert Hall. The Great Exhibition lasted until October, and marked the beginning of
Britain’s High Victorian period of progress and confidence, epitomising Victorian
faith in technology, education, and commercial wealth. Photography is popularised by introduction of "wet collodion"
process Gold discovered in Australia 1852 First voyage of 'Great Britain' to Australia 1854 September 14: Allied armies land in Crimea Cigarettes introduced into Britain In 1854 Florence Nightingale, an English
nurse, organised a group of 38 nurses to serve in the Crimean War. When she arrived at the
British hospital at Üsküdar, in Turkey, she found that more soldiers were dying from
disease than bullets. She introduced sanitary regulations, ordered a healthy diet for the
troops, and provided clean linen. As a result, the death rate fell from 45 per cent to 2
per cent. Upon returning to England, she established a nursing school in 1860. In 1907
Nightingale became the first woman to receive the British Order of Merit. 1855 January 1: Registration of births, marriages & deaths made compulsory
in Scotland First London pillar boxes Cellulose nitrate, first synthetic plastic material, invented by
Alexander Parkes 1857 Transatlantic cable laid London postal districts introduced 1857-8 the Indian soldiers
(sepoys)
serving in the Bengal army of the British East India Company mutinied against their
British masters. 1858 January: Legally proved Wills start to be entered into an index (Eng
& W) – taken out of ecclesiastical jurisdiction January 31: 'Great Eastern' launched East India Company dissolved 1859 Charles Darwin published a book commonly known as On The Origin of Species, one of the most influential books ever written. In this and a subsequent volume, The Descent of Man (1871), Darwin set out his theory of evolution by natural selection, which held that the complex life forms we see today developed from simpler organisms and, most controversially, that human beings themselves were descended from the apes. From his study of the birds and animals of the Galápagos
Islands, and many other observations he had made during his voyages around the world on
the HMS Beagle, Darwin boldly suggested that species slowly change through a
process called natural selection. According to this process, some of the naturally
occurring variations within a species provide advantages for the survival of the animal or
plant concerned (for example, a particular colouring may provide better camouflage against
predators). Greater numbers of such advantaged creatures are likely to survive, passing on
the same trait to their offspring. Eventually, most of the population of the species would
consist of individuals with the advantageous trait. A change in environment would result
in different traits proving advantageous. By this means, Darwin argued, species are
constantly evolving to become better suited to their environment. Darwin's insight is all
the more remarkable for the relatively small amount of evidence on which it was based.
Subsequently, much more evidence has accumulated to support the theory.
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