1851
1851 was 20 years before the founding of the City of Birmingham and the 32nd year of Alabama statehood.
Events
Business
- William Browne began mining coal in Shelby County.
Individuals
- January 17: Samuel Ullman, with his parents and siblings, arrived in America.
Births
- August 17: John Altman, attorney and politician
- Mel Drennen, businessman and mayor of Birmingham
=Deaths
- Mary Pullen, wife of William Pullen
Context
In 1851, Northwestern University was founded. The Great Flood of 1851 hit the Midwest. The yacht America won the first America's Cup race. The New York Times was founded. The Reuters news service was founded. Ariel and Umbriel, moons of Uranus, were discovered by William Lassell. Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick, was published. Western Union was founded. Louis Napoleon, president of France, dissolved the French National Assembly and declared a new constitution to extend his term. The largest fire in the Library of Congress' history destroyed 35,000 books.
Notable births in 1851 Léon Bourgeois, Arthur Evans, Doc Holliday, Melvil Dewey, and Asa Griggs Candler. Notable deaths included John James Audubon, Mary Shelley, Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, Sylvester Graham, James Fenimore Cooper, and J. M. W. Turner.
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