Paraguayan War
The bloodiest war in Latin American history
Dictator Francisco Solano López drew Paraguay into war against the Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. For six years the Paraguayans fought to the bitter end; the war ended only with López's death at Cerro Corá on 1 March 1870. By various estimates the country lost between a quarter and more than half of its population, including most adult men.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 19th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 1845–1852 Great Famine in Ireland — 19 years earlier
- 1859 Darwin's On the Origin of Species — 5 years earlier
- 1861 Unification of Italy — 3 years earlier
- 1886 Benz's first automobile — 22 years later
- 1889 Eiffel Tower — 25 years later
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1853–1856 Crimean War — 11 years earlier
- 1861 Emancipation of the serfs in Russia — 3 years earlier
- 1867 Alaska Purchase — 3 years later
- 1869 Tolstoy's War and Peace — 5 years later
- 1877 Premiere of Swan Lake — 13 years later
Middle East
- 1839 The Edict of Gülhane opens the Tanzimat — 25 years earlier
- 1839–1842 First Anglo-Afghan War — 25 years earlier
- 1876–1878 The first Ottoman constitution — 12 years later
Africa
- 1847 Liberia declares independence — 17 years earlier
- 1869 Opening of the Suez Canal — 5 years later
- 1879 Battle of Isandlwana — 15 years later
- 1885 The Mahdists take Khartoum — 21 years later
- 1885–1908 The Congo Free State — 21 years later
Asia
- 1853–1854 Commodore Perry's Black Ships — 11 years earlier
- 1868 Meiji Restoration — 4 years later
- 1876–1878 Great Famine in India — 12 years later
- 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa — 19 years later
- 1885 Founding of the Indian National Congress — 21 years later
Oceania
- 1851 The Australian gold rushes — 13 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Charles Darwin (aged 55)
- Abraham Lincoln (aged 55)
- Karl Marx (aged 46)
- Queen Victoria (aged 45)
- Fyodor Dostoevsky (aged 43)
- Leo Tolstoy (aged 36)
- Dmitri Mendeleev (aged 30)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (aged 24)
- Thomas Edison (aged 17)
- Vincent van Gogh (aged 11)