What Happened in 1858 — Events, Births & Deaths

British forces finally defeat Rajab Ali Khan of Chittagong.

Napoleon III of France escapes an assassination attempt made by Felice Orsini and his accomplices in Paris.

The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.

Bernadette Soubirous's first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurs in Lourdes, France.

After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonnes (32,000 lb) bell for the Palace of Westminster, had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonnes (30,300 lb) bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is dissolved.

The Bawani Imli massacre, where 52 Indian freedom fighters are hanged to death on a tamarind tree by British colonial forces.

Minnesota becomes the 32nd U.S. state.

Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.

Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.

The last apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France.

The Government of India Act 1858 replaces Company rule in India with that of the British Raj.

The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College.

The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.

The first of the Lincoln–Douglas debates is held in Ottawa, Illinois.

George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora.

Approximately 20 people die in Bradford, England, UK, after being poisoned from ingesting sweets that had been accidentally adulterated with arsenic trioxide.

Modified Julian Day zero.