| Year Summary | <strong>In the UK</strong> Monarch is Queen Victoria. Prime Minister is Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (Liberal). The July General Election is won by Lord Palmerston, but the Prime Minister from 29 October is John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (Liberal). Lewis Carroll publishes <em>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</em>. James Clerk Maxwell publishes his <em>Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field</em>; and Joseph Lister discovers carbolic acid has a sterilising effect.<br /><strong>In USA</strong> it is a horrid year. With the American Civil War dominating the headlines, President Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois) is assassinated on April 15 by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Andrew Johnson (D-Tennessee) takes over as President. The U.S. Secret Service is founded. |
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