What is 1850s?
{{decadebox|185}} The '''1850s''' was the decade that began on January 1, 1850 and ended on December 31, 1859. It is distinct from the decade known as the <nowiki>'''186st decade'''</nowiki> which began on January 1, 1851. and ended on December 31, 1860. == Events == * Production of [[steel]] revolutionised by invention of the [[Bessemer process]] * [[Benjamin Silliman]] fractionates [[petroleum]] by [[distillation]] for the first time * First transatlantic [[telegraph]] cable laid * First safety [[elevator]] installed by [[Elisha Otis]] * [[Charles Darwin]] publishes ''[[The Origin of Species]]'', putting forward the theory of [[evolution]] by natural selection * [[Epidemiology]] begins when [[John Snow]] traces the source of an outbreak of [[cholera]] in London to a contaminated water pump. * Discovery of [[Neandertal]] fossils in [[Neanderthal, Germany]] * [[Solar flare]]s discovered by [[Richard Christopher Carrington]] * [[Crimean War]] ([[1854]]–[[1856]]) fought between [[Imperial Russia]] and an alliance consisting of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], the [[Second French Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Sardinia]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The majority of the conflict takes place around Crimea, on the northern coasts of the [[Black Sea]]. * The [[Indian Mutiny]]: revolt against the [[East India Company]]'s British rule in [[India]] * Dissolution of the [[Mughal Empire]] by the British. * 156 are killed in [[Paris]] in a failed [[assassination]] attempt on [[Napoleon III of France|Napoleon III]], Emperor of [[France]] * [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] are unified and form [[Romania]]. * [[Gideon T. Stewart]] attempts to create a [[Prohibition Party]]. == World leaders == * Emperor [[Franz Josef of Austria|Franz Josef]] ([[Austria-Hungary]]) * Emperor [[Napoleon III of France|Napoleon III]] ([[Second French Empire]]) * King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Frederick William IV]] ([[Germany]]) * [[Pope Pius IX]] * Queen [[Maria II of Portugal|Maria II]] ([[Portugal]]) * King [[Peter V of Port