Phileas Fogg's race was made possible by 1869.
In May the US transcontinental railroad was completed, in November the Suez Canal opened, and three years later Jules Verne sent his hero round the world in 80 days.
The events
- First transcontinental railroad1869 · Promontory Summit, Utah, USA. On 10 May 1869 the tracks of the Central Pacific, built from the west, and the Union Pacific, built from the east, met in Utah, and a ceremonial golden spike was driven in. The line across the Sierra Nevada was laid mainly by thousands of Chinese workers. Crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific shrank from months to about a week.
- Opening of the Suez Canal1869 · Port Said. On 17 November 1869 the Suez Canal, built under Ferdinand de Lesseps, was opened. Linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, it spared ships the voyage around Africa and dramatically shortened the route from Europe to Asia.
More amazing facts
- 1869 1869: in March Mendeleev presented his periodic table, and in November the Suez Canal opened.
- 1869 · 1871 Aida was not written for the opening of the Suez Canal.
- 1869 The biggest gold nugget ever found lay just 3 cm below the surface.
- 1869 · 1886 The owner of Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired Disney, lived there for just 172 days.
- 1869 P. T. Barnum exhibited a fake of a fake.
- 1869 Margarine was invented for a prize offered by Napoleon III. The emperor wanted cheap butter for the army and the poor, and in 1869 the chemist Mège-Mouriès won with oleomargarine made from beef fat.