Year by year · 19th century

1866

1866 in world history: 27 events, 16 births, 14 deaths, 1 state founded and 10 that came to an end. 1,021 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 12 January

    Aeronautical Society of Great Britain founded

    The society, later the Royal Aeronautical Society, was founded in London to study flight decades before the first aeroplane. It is the oldest aeronautical society in the world.

    London

  2. 20 July

    Austria defeats Italy at Lissa, the first great ironclad battle

    Admiral Tegetthoff's Austrian fleet defeated a larger Italian force off the island of Lissa in the Adriatic. The ramming of the Italian flagship convinced navies to fit rams to warships for decades.

    Austria

  3. 21 September

    H. G. Wells is born in Bromley

    Herbert George Wells was born in Kent to a shopkeeper's family. His novels The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds helped found modern science fiction.

  4. War

    Austro-Prussian War

    The Austro-Prussian War was a short war fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and Prussia, with their allies, for leadership in Germany.

  5. Battle

    Battle of Königgrätz

    The Battle of Königgrätz, or Sadowa, was fought on 3 July 1866 near Hradec Králové in Bohemia and was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War.

  6. Treaty · Peace

    Peace of Prague (1866)

    The Peace of Prague, signed on 23 August 1866, ended the Austro-Prussian War.

  7. Battle

    Battle of Callao

    The Battle of Callao was fought on 2 May 1866 between a Spanish naval squadron under Casto Méndez Núñez and the coastal fortifications of Callao, Peru's main port, during the Chincha Islands War.

  8. Battle

    Battle of Curupayty

    The Battle of Curupayty was fought on 22 September 1866 in southern Paraguay, when allied Argentine and Brazilian troops under Bartolomé Mitre assaulted Paraguayan entrenchments near Humaitá.

  9. Battle

    Battle of Langensalza (1866)

    The Battle of Langensalza was fought on 27 June 1866 in Thuringia during the Austro-Prussian War.

  10. Battle

    Battle of Custoza (1866)

    The Battle of Custoza was fought on 24 June 1866 near Verona during the Third Italian War of Independence, part of the Austro-Prussian War.

  11. Battle

    Battle of Kissingen

    The Battle of Kissingen was fought on 10 July 1866 at Bad Kissingen in Lower Franconia during the Austro-Prussian War.

  12. Battle

    Battle of Laufach

    The Battle of Laufach was fought on 13 July 1866 at Laufach and Frohnhofen in the Spessart hills of Lower Franconia during the Main campaign of the Austro-Prussian War.

  13. Battle

    Battle of Tauberbischofsheim

    The Battle of Tauberbischofsheim was fought on 24 July 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War, when Prussian troops of the Army of the Main defeated the Württemberg division of the Federal VIII Army Corps at the crossing of the River Tauber.

  14. War

    Third Italian War of Independence

    The Third Italian War of Independence was fought in 1866 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire, alongside the Austro-Prussian War.

  15. Event

    Nova Reforma

    The Nova Reforma, or New Reform, was a reform of the institutions of Andorra approved by its co-princes in 1866 and led by the syndic Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit.

  16. Treaty · Peace

    Treaty of Thaba Bosiu

    The Treaty of Thaba Bosiu was signed in April 1866 between Moshoeshoe I of the Basotho and the Orange Free State, ending the war of 1865–1866.

ProfileState875 states with a known seat in 1866Open the atlas at 1866 →

In the profiles

Wars and longer events

Born in 1866 16

Died in 1866 14

States founded 1

States that came to an end 10

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1866. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1866
MLA
“1866.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1866. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1866.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1866.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1866’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1866 (Accessed: ).