On This Day

June 1859 in History

Events in History


Victory in battleVictory in Battle

Jun 4 Second Italian War of Independence: Battle of Magenta, results in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III over the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai

Emperor of France Napoleon III
Emperor of France
Napoleon III
  • Jun 6 Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
  • Jun 12 Comstock Silver Lode in Nevada discovered, first major silver discovery in the US
  • Jun 15 Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers

Victory in battleVictory in Battle

Jun 24 Battle of Solferino, Northern Italy: a French Army under Napoleon III and a Sardinian Army under Victor Emmanuel II overcomes the Austrian Army under Emperor Franz Joseph I

King of Sardinia and Italy Victor Emmanuel II
King of Sardinia and Italy
Victor Emmanuel II
Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I
Austro-Hungarian Emperor
Franz Joseph I
Emperor of France Napoleon III
Emperor of France
Napoleon III
  • Jun 28 1st dog show held, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
  • Jun 30 French acrobat Charles Blondin is 1st to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope

Birthdays in History

  • Jun 8 Smith Wigglesworth, British religious figure, born in Menston, Yorkshire, England (d. 1947)
  • Jun 10 Jacques Perk, Dutch poet (Iris, Wood Song), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands (d. 1881)

Person of interestThomas J. Walsh

Jun 12 Thomas J. Walsh, United States Senator (Montana), born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin (d. 1933)

Lawyer and Politician Thomas J. Walsh
Lawyer and Politician
Thomas J. Walsh
  • Jun 21 Henry Ossawa Tanner, American artist, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1937)
  • Jun 23 Florentinus M Wibaut, Amsterdams social alderman (building of houses)

Weddings in History


LoveWedding of Interest

Jun 13 Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (37) weds Mary Cleveland

Landscape Architect and Writer Frederick Law Olmsted
Landscape Architect and Writer
Frederick Law Olmsted

Deaths in History

  • Jun 7 David Cox, English painter (Treatise on Landscape Paint), dies at 73

Person of interestWalter Hunt

Jun 8 Walter Hunt, American inventor (safety pin, sewing machine), dies at 62

Inventor Walter Hunt
Inventor
Walter Hunt
  • Jun 27 Jean Chrétien Baud, Dutch gov-gen of Dutch-Indies (1834-36), dies at 69