1851
| File:Decade.png ( 1850s: ) 1851 link | |
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 The Crystal Palace Exhibition opens in London |
Events
- January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion.
- February 12 – Edward Hargraves claims to have found gold in Australia.
- March 30 – A population census is taken in the United Kingdom. The population reaches 21 million. 6.3 million live in cities of 20,000 or more in England and Wales, and cities of 20,000 or more account for 35% of the total English population.
- May 1 – The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London is opened by Queen Victoria (it runs until October 15).
- May 15 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.
- Alpha Delta Pi sorority, the first secret society for women, is founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia (U.S.)
- August 3 – The filibustering Lopez Expedition sails from New Orleans, Louisiana heading to seize Spanish-ruled Cuba.
- August 12 – Isaac Singer is granted a United States patent for his improved sewing machine.
- September 1 – Narciso López was executed in Havana following the failure of his expedition in Cuba.
- September 18 – The New York Times is founded in New York City.
- October – The Reuters news service is founded in London.
- November 1 – Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway officially opened in Russia.
- The first protected submarine telegraph cable is laid, across the English Channel.
- December 2 – French coup of 1851: In what amounts to a coup, President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte of France dissolves the French National Assembly, and declares a new constitution to extend his term. A year later he declares himself as Emperor Napoleon III, ending the Second Republic.