Conference smurf::civil_war

    I'll bite.....how about the Homestead Act?  Think it was about that
    time.

In 1863, Bill Fairweather and his partner found gold at Alder Gulch in
Montana Territory, triggering a gold rush nearly as big as the rush to
California in 1849.  In 1863 Virginia City, Montana, was founded.  The
town was very nearly named Varina City, after Jeff Davis' wife;
partisanship was heavy out there.  In '63 and '64, sheriff Henry Plummer
of Bannack operated a gang of highwaymen who stole literally tons of
gold from stagecoaches.  A Vigilance Committee from Virginia City, led
by X. Biedler, caught and hanged more than 20 of the highwaymen,
including Plummer himself.  (I know this stuff because I grew up in
Montana and was fascinated by it as a boy.)

In 1864, Napoleon III of France took advantage of America's internecine
squabbles to place Maximilian of Austria on the throne of Mexico.  The
Mexican people didn't care a whole lot for old Max, and in 1867 France
abandoned him to a firing squad.

Rasputin was born in 1864.

Victor Hugo wrote _Les Miserables_ in 1862.

-dick

         Other Significant Events 1860-1865
         
         1859-1869 Building of the Suez Canal.
         
         1860 	   Garibaldi lends in Sicily, the beginnings of the modern 
              	   Italy.
              	   Russia acquires the Vladivostok area from China.
         
         1861 	   The creation of the Kingdom of Italy, with II. Victor 
              	   Emanuel as king.
              	   Serfdom is abolished in Russia.
              	   The creation of the Kingdom of Romania.
         
         1861-1867 The French expedition to Mexico.
         
         1862 	   The four stroke gasoline engine is invented!
         
         1863 	   The London subway system opens.
              	   The invention of the rotating press.
              	   The first pedal-powered bicycle is invented.
              	   In Switzerland the Red Cross is organized.
         
         1863-1864 An unsuccessful uprising in Poland.
         
         1864 	   The Austro-Prussian war against Denmark.(Denmark looses 
              	   Schleswig-Holsteint)

    
    One event that took place in the 1860's that is not mentioned above
    is that in this decade James Clerk Maxwell published the equations
    governing the behaviour of electromagnetic radiation. These equations
    now bear his name.
    
    The great American physicist, Richard Feynmann, claimed that in 
    future centuries the 1860's will be remembered as the decade of
    Maxwell, rather than for the American Civil War.
    
    From Maxwell's equations sprang modern communications technology
    (among other effects), which has probably influenced the world
    far more than the ACW has.
    
    On the other hand, was Feynmann comparing like with like?
    
    Toby

    
    Just to add to the preceding note, another milestone scientific
    publication of this era was Darwin's "Origin of Species" which 
    came out in 1859.
    
    Toby

    1) Plebiscites in Tuscany, Emilia, Parma & Modena favor union with
    Sardinia.
    
    2) Treaty of Turin cedes Nice & Savoy to France; first Italian
    Parliament convenes at Turin.
    
    3) Garibaldi and his 1000 redshirts ("i Mille") sail from Genoa; reach
    Marsala; take Palermo and Naples.
    
    4) Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia invades Papal States and
    defeats them.
    
    5) Garibaldi proclaims Victor Emmanuel II King of Italy.
    
    6) 2nd Maori war begins, lasts to 1870.
    
    7) Anglo-French troops defeat Chinese at Pa-li-Chau; Treaty of Peking.
    

    
    
    1) Frederick William IV of Prussia dies and is succeeded by William I.
    
    2) King of Naples surrenders to Garibaldi at Gaeta; Italy proclaimed a
    kingdom by Parliament with Victor Emmanuel as king.
    
    3) Warsaw massacre-troops fire at demonstrators protesting Russian
    rule.
    
    4) Emancipation of Russian serfs.
    
    5) Sultan Abdul Mejid of Turkey dies; succeeded by his brother Abdul
    Aziz.
    
    6) Pedro V of Portugal dies, succeeded by Louis I

    1) Monaco sells Menton and Roquebrune to France.
    
    2) Bismarck becomes Prussian Prime Minister.
    
    3) King Otto I of Greece resigns after military revolt.

    1) Mohammed Said, Khedive of Egypt dies; succeeded by Ismail.
    
    2) William, Prince of Denmark, becomes George I, King of Greece.
    
    3) Civil war breaks out in Afghanistan after death of Dost Mohammed.
    
    4) Schleswig incorporated into Denmark.
    
    5) Frederick VII, King of Denmark dies; succeeded by Christian IX.
    
    6) Saxon & Hanoverian troops enter Holstein.
    
    7) French capture Mexico and proclaim Archduke Maximillian of Austria
    emperor.

    1) Bismark and Napoleon III meet at Biarritz.
    
    2) OUtbreak of war between Boers of Orange Free State and Basutos.
    
    3) Lord John Russell become British Prime Minister upon death of Lord
    Palmerston.
    
    4) King Leopold I of Belgium dies; succeeded by son Leopold II.
    
    5) Wellington becomes capital of New Zealand.
    
    6) Completion of Atlantic cable.
    
    7) First oil pipeline in Pennsylvania.
    
    8) Klu Klux Klan founded in Pulaski, Tennessee.

    re .4
    
    It was not comparing like with like, but then again all sorts of
    disparate things are going on in the world. I concur with Feynman, in
    the long run the work Maxwell did had more influence on the world than
    any war of the time.