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  • Kimberley, South Africa
    1866
    Second Boer War

    Diamonds were discovered at Kimberley

    Kimberley, South Africa
    1866

    In 1866 diamonds were discovered at Kimberley, prompting a diamond rush and a massive influx of foreigners to the borders of the Orange Free State.




  • Bohemia, Germany, Italy and Adriatic Sea
    1866
    Unification of Italy

    Austrian rule and allied itself with Prussia

    Bohemia, Germany, Italy and Adriatic Sea
    1866

    In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria contested with Prussia the position of leadership among the German states. The Kingdom of Italy seized the opportunity to capture Venetia from Austrian rule and allied itself with Prussia.




  • Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Adriatic Sea
    1866
    Unification of Germany

    Austro-Prussian War "German Civil War"

    Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Adriatic Sea
    1866

    German Civil War was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification. The Austro-Prussian War was part of the wider rivalry between Austria and Prussia, and resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states.




  • U.S.
    Feb, 1866
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Vetoing

    U.S.
    Feb, 1866

    In February 1866, Johnson vetoed legislation extending the Freedmen's Bureau and expanding its powers; Congress was unable to override the veto. Afterward, Johnson denounced Radical Republicans Representative Thaddeus Stevens and Senator Charles Sumner, along with abolitionist Wendell Phillips, as traitors.




  • Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
    Apr, 1866
    Memorial day

    Columbus women

    Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
    Apr, 1866

    A year after the war's end, in April 1866, four women of Columbus gathered together to decorate the graves of the Confederate soldiers. They also felt moved to honor the Union soldiers buried there and to note the grief of their families, by decorating their graves as well. The story of their gesture of humanity and reconciliation is held by some writers as the inspiration of the original Memorial Day despite it occurring last among the claimed inspirations.




  • Germany
    Monday Apr 16, 1866
    Unification of Germany

    Prussian representative in Florence signed a secret agreement with the Italian government

    Germany
    Monday Apr 16, 1866

    In April 1866, the Prussian representative in Florence signed a secret agreement with the Italian government, committing each state to assist the other in a war against Austria. The next day, the Prussian delegate to the Frankfurt assembly presented a plan calling for a national constitution, a directly elected national Diet, and universal suffrage.




  • Texas, U.S.
    Tuesday Jun 19, 1866
    Juneteenth

    Freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration

    Texas, U.S.
    Tuesday Jun 19, 1866

    Formerly enslaved people in Galveston celebrated after the announcement. Freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed slaves. Early independence celebrations often occurred on January 1 or 4.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1866
    Library of Congress

    Joseph Henry transferred the Smithsonian's non-scientific library to the Library of Congress

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1866

    Authorized by an act of Congress, Joseph Henry transferred the Smithsonian's non-scientific library of 40,000 volumes to the Library of Congress in 1866.


  • Italy
    Friday Jul 20, 1866
    Unification of Italy

    Regia Marina was defeated in the battle of Lissa

    Italy
    Friday Jul 20, 1866

    On 20 July the Regia Marina was defeated in the battle of Lissa. The following day, Garibaldi's volunteers defeated an Austrian force in the Battle of Bezzecca and moved toward Trento.


  • Bezzecca, Ledro, Trento, Italy
    Saturday Jul 21, 1866
    Unification of Italy

    Battle of Bezzecca

    Bezzecca, Ledro, Trento, Italy
    Saturday Jul 21, 1866

    The Battle of Bezzecca was fought on 21 July 1866 between Italy and Austria, during the Third Italian Independence War.


  • Italy
    Saturday Aug 4, 1866
    Unification of Italy

    Austria tried to persuade the Italian government to accept Venetia

    Italy
    Saturday Aug 4, 1866

    Austria tried to persuade the Italian government to accept Venetia in exchange for non-intervention. However, on 8 April, Italy and Prussia signed an agreement that supported Italy's acquisition of Venetia, and on 20 June Italy issued a declaration of war on Austria.


  • U.S.
    1866
    Elizabeth Blackwell

    7,000 patients were being treated per year

    U.S.
    1866

    By 1866, nearly 7,000 patients were being treated per year at the New York Infirmary, and Blackwell was needed back in the United States. The parallel project fell through, but in 1868, a medical college for women adjunct to the infirmary was established. It incorporated Blackwell's innovative ideas about medical education – a four-year training period with much more extensive clinical training than previously required.


  • Eberswalde, Germany
    1866
    Lothar Meyer

    Meyer accepted a post at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy

    Eberswalde, Germany
    1866

    In 1866, Meyer accepted a post at the Eberswalde Forestry Academy at Neustadt-Eberswalde but two years later was appointed to a professorship at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic.


  • Germany
    1866
    Lothar Meyer

    Marriage

    Germany
    1866

    Meyer married Johanna Volkmann in 1866.


  • Odisha, India
    1866
    Disasters with highest death tolls

    Orissa Famine of 1866

    Odisha, India
    1866

    The Orissa famine of 1866 affected the east coast of India from Madras northwards, an area covering 180,000 miles and containing a population of 47,500,000; the impact of the famine, however, was greatest in Orissa, now Odisha, which at that time was quite isolated from the rest of India. In Odisha, one third of the population died due to famine. In Odisha alone, at least 1 million people, a third of the population, died in 1866, and overall in the region approximately 4 to 5 million died in the two-year period


  • U.S.
    1866
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Civil Rights Act

    U.S.
    1866

    Johnson vetoed a Civil Rights Act and a second Freedmen's Bureau bill; the Senate and the House each mustered the two-thirds majorities necessary to override both vetoes, setting the stage for a showdown between Congress and the president.


  • Washington D.C., U.S.
    1866
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Tribune of the People

    Washington D.C., U.S.
    1866

    At an impasse with Congress, Johnson offered himself directly to the American public as a "tribune of the people".


  • U.S.
    1866
    Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

    Swing Around the Circle

    U.S.
    1866

    In the late-summer of 1866, the president embarked on a national "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour, where he asked his audiences for their support in his battle against the Congress and urged voters to elect representatives to Congress in the upcoming midterm election who supported his policies.


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