1860s

Centuries: 18th century – 19th century – 20th century
Decades: 1830s 1840s 1850s – 1860s – 1870s 1880s 1890s
Years: 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869

Events and trends

The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States is built in the six year period between 1863 and 1869.

James Clerk Maxwell publishes his equations that quantify the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and shows that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation
Gregor Mendel formulates Mendel's laws of inheritance, the basis for genetics
Dmitri Mendeleev discovers the periodic table

Italian unification under King Victor Emmanuel II. Wars for expansion and national unity continue until the incorporation of the Papal States (March 17, 1861 – September 20, 1870).
American Civil War fought between the remaining United States of America under President Abraham Lincoln and the self-declared Confederate States of America under President Jefferson Davis (April 12, 1861 – April 9, 1865). Beginning of the Reconstruction era under President Andrew Johnson (1865 – 1869).
French occupation of Mexico (1863 – 1867). Replacement of President of Mexico Benito Juárez (1861 – 1863) at first with Juan Nepomuceno Almonte (1863 – 1864) and then by Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (1864 – 1867). Benito Juárez eventually manages to recover his position (1867 – 1872).
Meiji Restoration in Japan (1866 – 1869). Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th and last of the Tokugawa shoguns loses control to the Meiji Emperor. A series of reforms follows. The samurai class fails to survive while the Daimyo turn to politics.
Canada becomes an independent nation
U.S. president Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, April 15, 1865.

In Catholicism, reaction against higher criticism and the liberal movement in Europe
The Football Association is formed in the United Kingdom, paving the way for Association football to become the world's predominant spectator sport

Categories: 1860s