1859

1859 was 12 years before the founding of the City of Birmingham and the 40th year of Alabama statehood.

Events

• East Alabama Male College opened with a student body of eighty and a faculty of ten.

Business

• Sewanee Furnace Company was sold to New York investors and reorganized as the Tennessee Coal and Rail Company.
• Tannehill Furnace No. 1 was blown in.

Religion

• John Quinlan became Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Mobile.

Individuals

• Richard Hudson became Jefferson County Sheriff again.
• Alburto Martin was elected to the Alabama Legislature.

Births

• April 10: Dolphus Shields, carpenter and church deacon
• August 17: Mitchell A. Porter, attorney and politician
• November 17: John Gillespy, physician
• November 19: Martin Eagan, Birmingham Police Chief (1914–1917)

Deaths

• July 8: John Gillespy, Sr, pioneer

Context

In 1859, Oregon was admitted to the U.S. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was published. Ground was broken for the Suez Canal. The Great Clock at the Palace of Westminster, London housing Big Ben was started. The first oil well in the U.S. was drilled. John Brown raided the Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia. Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species.

Notable births in 1859 included Victor Herbert, Kenneth Grahame, Pierre Curie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Billy the Kid. Notable deaths included Horace Mann, Washington Irving, and John Brown (executed).

1850s

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