1839
Daguerreotype Announced
Louis Daguerre revealed his process for fixing an image on a silvered copper plate in a glimmer of mercury vapor.
Lin Zexu Burns Opium
Qing commissioner Lin Zexu, sent to Canton to stop the opium traffic, confiscated twenty thousand chests of British opium and destroyed them in a trench…
Tanzimat Edict
At Gulhane Park in Istanbul, the young Sultan Abdulmecid's foreign minister read out a proclamation promising equality before the law, security of life…
First Anglo-Afghan War
Nervous about Russian designs, the British marched an Army of the Indus through the Bolan Pass, took Kabul, and installed an unpopular shah on the throne.
Ranjit Singh Dies
The one-eyed lion of the Punjab, who had built a Sikh empire from Kashmir to Peshawar, died in Lahore aged fifty-eight.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1839?
Saeculum lists 5 events from 1839. The most significant is Daguerreotype Announced: Louis Daguerre revealed his process for fixing an image on a silvered copper plate in a glimmer of mercury vapor.
What era was 1839 part of?
1839 falls within the Industrial Age (1801-1900). Steam, empire, and the unmaking of the old order.
Which regions saw notable events in 1839?
The events from 1839 span Europe, East Asia, Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.