Year by year · 19th century

1858

1858 in world history: 16 events, 26 births, 14 deaths, 1 work, 6 states founded and 3 that came to an end. 1,060 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 14 January

    Felice Orsini attempts to assassinate Napoleon III

    The Italian nationalist Orsini and his accomplices threw bombs at the Emperor's carriage outside the Paris Opéra, killing eight people. Napoleon III escaped and soon backed Piedmont against Austria.

    French EmpireNapoleon IIIAustriaParis

  2. 25 January

    Queen Victoria's eldest daughter marries Prince Frederick of Prussia

    Victoria, the Princess Royal, married the future German Emperor Frederick III at St James's Palace. Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' played as they left, starting a fashion for it at weddings.

  3. 11 February

    Bernadette Soubirous sees her first vision at Lourdes

    The 14-year-old miller's daughter reported seeing a lady in white in the grotto of Massabielle. Lourdes grew into one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world.

  4. 16 June

    Lincoln delivers his 'House Divided' speech

    Accepting the Illinois Republican nomination for the Senate, Abraham Lincoln warned that the nation could not endure 'permanently half slave and half free'. The speech raised his national profile.

  5. 5 August

    The first transatlantic telegraph cable is completed

    Cable ships landed the ends of the first telegraph line across the Atlantic in Ireland and Newfoundland. It carried messages for just three weeks before failing, but proved the idea possible.

    Newfoundland

  6. 21 August

    Lincoln and Douglas hold their first debate

    Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas met in Ottawa, Illinois, for the first of seven debates on the spread of slavery. Lincoln lost the Senate race but won national attention.

  7. Treaty

    Harris Treaty

    The Harris Treaty of 1858, formally the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, was concluded between the United States and Japan through the American consul Townsend Harris.

  8. Battle

    Battle of Grahovac

    The Battle of Grahovac was fought in May 1858 at Grahovac in western Montenegro, where Montenegrin forces under Grand Duke Mirko Petrović-Njegoš defeated an Ottoman army.

  9. Treaty

    Plombières Agreement

    The Plombières Agreement was a secret understanding reached on 21 July 1858 by Napoleon III and Cavour at the spa town of Plombières-les-Bains in France.

  10. Treaty

    Paris Convention of 1858

    The Paris Convention of 1858 was an agreement of the great powers, signed on 19 August 1858, that reorganised the Danubian Principalities after the Crimean War.

  11. War

    Fraser Canyon War

    The Fraser Canyon War was a conflict in August 1858 between gold miners of the Fraser River gold rush, many of them Americans, and the Nlaka'pamux people of the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia.

ProfileState902 states with a known seat in 1858Open the atlas at 1858 →

In the profiles

  • Mughal EmpireThe British exile Bahadur Shah II, the last emperor, to Rangoon
  • Nguyen dynastyA Franco-Spanish expedition attacks Da Nang
  • British RajThe Government of India Act transfers the East India Company’s territories to the Crown

Wars and longer events

Born in 1858 26

Show all 26

Died in 1858 14

Works 1

States founded 6

States that came to an end 3

All years → The 19th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1858. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1858
MLA
“1858.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1858. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1858.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1858.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1858’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1858 (Accessed: ).