1864 in the United Kingdom
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 1864 in the United Kingdom: |
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| 1862 1862 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1862 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Palmerston, Liberal-Events:* 6 January — French and British forces arrive in Mexico, beginning the French intervention in Mexico.... | 1863 1863 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1863 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Palmerston, Liberal-Events:* 8 January — Yorkshire County Cricket Club is founded at the Adelphi Hotel in Sheffield.... | 1864 | 1865 1865 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1865 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Viscount Palmerston, Liberal , Lord John Russell, Liberal-Events:... | 1866 1866 in the United Kingdom Events from the year 1866 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Lord John Russell, Liberal , Earl of Derby, Conservative-Events:... |
| Sport |
| 1864 English cricket season 1864 English cricket season The 1864 English cricket season was an important year in cricket history, as it saw the legalisation of overarm bowling and the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.-Inter-county cricket:... |
Events from the year 1864 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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Incumbents
- Monarch — Queen Victoria
- Prime Minister — Viscount PalmerstonHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
, LiberalLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Events
- 11 January — Charing Cross railway stationCharing Cross railway stationCharing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
opens. - 11 March — Great Sheffield FloodGreat Sheffield FloodNot to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke.- Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam :...
: the Dale Dike DamDale Dike ReservoirDale Dike Reservoir or Dale Dyke Reservoir , famous for causing the Great Sheffield Flood, is in the north-east Peak District, in the City of Sheffield South Yorkshire, England, a mile west of Bradfield, eight miles from the centre of Sheffield, on the Dale Dike, a tributary of the River...
bursts devastating SheffieldSheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. - 24 March — Britain cedes the Ionian IslandsIonian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
to GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. - 20 August — John Alexander Reina NewlandsJohn Alexander Reina NewlandsJohn Alexander Reina Newlands was an English chemist who invented the Periodic Table.Newlands was born in London and was the son of a scottish Presbyterian minister and his Italian wife....
produces the first periodic table of the chemical elementChemical elementA chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protons in its nucleus. Familiar examples of elements include carbon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, copper, gold, mercury, and lead.As of November 2011, 118 elements...
s. - 5–6 September — Bombardment of ShimonosekiBombardment of ShimonosekiThe Battles for Shimonoseki refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control Shimonoseki Straits by joint naval forces from the Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which took place off and on the...
: An AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, British, DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
alliance engages the powerful feudal Japanese warlord or daimyoDaimyois a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
Lord Mori Takachika of the Chōshū clan based in Shimonoseki, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. - 28 September — International Workingmen's AssociationInternational Workingmen's AssociationThe International Workingmen's Association , sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class...
founded in London. - 10 October — Quebec ConferenceQuebec Conference, 1864The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation.The 16 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had agreed at the close of the Charlottetown Conference to meet again at Quebec City October 1864...
to discuss plans for the creation of a Dominion of CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, begins. - 2 November — HMS Victoria (1859)HMS Victoria (1859)HMS Victoria was the last British wooden first-rate three-decked ship of the line commissioned for sea service.With a displacement of 6,959 tons, she was the largest wooden battleship which ever entered service...
, the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
’s last, largest and fastest wooden first-rateFirst-rateFirst rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...
three-decker ship of the lineShip of the lineA ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
to see sea service, enters active service. - 8 December
- The Clifton Suspension BridgeClifton Suspension BridgeBrunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. Brunel's colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds...
across the Bristol AvonRiver Avon, BristolThe River Avon is an English river in the south west of the country. To distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in Britain, this river is often also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon...
, designed by Isambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
and completed as a memorial to him, opens to traffic. - James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
presents his paper A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic FieldA Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field"A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" is the third of James Clerk Maxwell's papers regarding electromagnetism, published in 1865. It is the paper in which the original set of four Maxwell's equations first appeared...
to the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, treating light as an electromagnetic wave.
- The Clifton Suspension Bridge
Undated
- Ending of Second Anglo-Ashanti war.
- Oriel ChambersOriel ChambersOriel Chambers is the world's first metal framed glass curtain walled building. Designed by architect Peter Ellis and built in 1864, it comprises set over five floors...
, LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, the world's first metal-framed glass curtain wallCurtain wallA curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
ed building, designed by Peter Ellis (architect)Peter Ellis (architect)Peter Ellis was a Liverpudlian architect. He lived for a time at 40 Falkner Square, on which an English Heritage Blue Plaque is now sited....
, is built.
Publications
- John WisdenJohn WisdenJohn Wisden was an English cricketer who played 190 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex...
publishes the first edition of Wisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
. It goes on to become the major annual cricket publication. - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
's novel Our Mutual FriendOur Mutual FriendOur Mutual Friend is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining psychological insight with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, "money, money, money, and what money can make of life" but is also about human...
. - Amelia EdwardsAmelia EdwardsAmelia Ann Blanford Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist.Born in London to an Irish mother and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker, Edwards was educated at home by her mother, showing considerable promise as a writer at a young age...
' novel Barbara's History. - James PaynJames PaynJames Payn , was an English novelist.-Family:Payn's father, William Payn , was clerk to the Thames Commissioners and at one time treasurer to the county of Berkshire...
's novel Lost Sir Massingberd. - Anthony TrollopeAnthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
's novel The Small House at AllingtonThe Small House at AllingtonThe Small House at Allington is the fifth novel in Anthony Trollope's series known as the "Chronicles of Barsetshire", first published in 1864...
and Can You Forgive Her?Can You Forgive Her?Can You Forgive Her? is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It is the first of six novels in the "Palliser" series....
(serialisation). - John Henry Newman's spiritual autobiography Apologia Pro Vita SuaApologia Pro Vita SuaApologia Pro Vita Sua is the classic defence by John Henry Newman of his religious opinions, published in 1864 in response to what he saw as an unwarranted attack on him, the Catholic priesthood, and Roman Catholic doctrine by Charles Kingsley. The work quickly became a bestseller and has...
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Births
- 8 January — Prince Albert Victor, Duke of ClarencePrince Albert Victor, Duke of ClarencePrince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale was a member of the British Royal Family. He was the eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra, Princess of Wales , and the grandson of the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria...
(died 18921892 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1892 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch — Queen Victoria*Prime Minister — Robert Cecil, Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative , William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal-Events:...
) - 20 February — Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron RawlinsonHenry Rawlinson, 1st Baron RawlinsonGeneral Henry Seymour Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson, GCB, GCSI, GCVO, KCMG , known as Sir Henry Rawlinson, Bt between 1895 and 1919, was a British First World War general most famous for his roles in the Battle of the Somme of 1916 and the Battle of Amiens in 1918.-Military career:Rawlinson was...
, general (died 19251925 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1925 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George V*Prime Minister - Stanley Baldwin, Conservative-Events:...
) - 22 April — Phil May, caricaturist (died 19031903 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1903 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King Edward VII*Prime Minister - Arthur Balfour, Conservative-Events:* 1 January - Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India....
) - 14 September — Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of ChelwoodRobert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of ChelwoodEdgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, PC, QC , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom...
, politician and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
(died 19581958 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1958 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Harold Macmillan, Conservative Party-Events:...
) - 31 October — Cosmo LangCosmo LangWilliam Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth GCVO PC was an Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury . His rapid elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of his ordination, is unprecedented in modern Church of England history...
, Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(died 19451945 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1945 in the United Kingdom. This year sees the end of World War II and a landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI...
) - 26 November — Edward HigginsEdward HigginsEdward John Higgins was the third General of The Salvation Army .He was born in Highbridge, Somerset, England. His father became a much revered Commissioner in the Army's ranks, and travelled extensively in the interests of the organisation. His mother died when he was 8 years of age.He became an...
, the 3rd General of The Salvation ArmyThe Salvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
(died 19471947 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1947 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Prime Minister – Clement Attlee, Labour-Events:* January – One of the most severe winters on record in the UK....
)
Deaths
- 29 January — Lucy AikinLucy AikinLucy Aikin , born at Warrington, England into a distinguished literary family of prominent Unitarians, was a historical writer.-Family and education:...
, writer (born 17811781 in Great BritainEvents from the year 1781 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Lord North, Tory-Events:* 1 January - Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn....
) - 17 June — William CuretonWilliam Cureton-Life:He was born in Westbury, Shropshire. After being educated at the Adams' Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire and at Christ Church, Oxford, he took orders in 1832, became chaplain of Christ Church, sublibrarian of the Bodleian, and, in 1837, assistant keeper of manuscripts in the British Museum...
, Orientalist (born 18081808 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1808 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George III*Prime Minister - Duke of Portland, Tory-Events:* 1 January - Sierra Leone becomes a British Crown Colony....
) - 15 September — John Hanning SpekeJohn Hanning SpekeJohn Hanning Speke was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile.-Life:...
, explorer (born 18271827 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1827 in the United Kingdom.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King George IV*Prime Minister - Lord Liverpool, Tory , George Canning, coalition , Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, Tory...
) - 8 December — George BooleGeorge BooleGeorge Boole was an English mathematician and philosopher.As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science. Boole said,...
, mathematician and philosopher (born 18151815 in the United KingdomEvents from the year 1815 in the United Kingdom. 1815 marked the end of years of war between the United Kingdom and France when Duke of Wellington won a decisive victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Fighting in the War of 1812 between the UK and the United States also ceased...
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