History: what happened in the same years

22 projects overlap the chosen period.

Bars show periods discussed in the projects. A point marks a single year. Sharing a time does not imply sharing a cause.

• 1858The Great Stink ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Great Stink — the summer the Thames became a sewer (London, 1858) — June 1858: the Thames sinks, the heat bakes the banks, and Parliament's curtains soak in chloride of lime. Stand at Crossness at high water and open the sluice gates: a tide's worth of London sets off downriver on the ebb. In Romanian and English.

• 1858–1875Bazalgette’s sewers ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Run it downhill — the Great Stink and Bazalgette's sewers, 1858–1875 — Run one drop of sewage through the 1858 city, then the interceptors: seven junctions with report-sourced refusals, two dated proof rails, and the verdict — the money, not the plan.

• 1857Ploiești oil ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Ploiești 1857: what did the world's first oil statistic actually count? — 275 tonnes of crude in 1857 — the first oil statistic in the world, two years before Drake's well. What the figure counted, who counted it, and what is left of Ploiești's three world firsts once you change the meaning of “first”.

• 1859Union of the Principalities ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The 1859 union — How Moldavia and Wallachia united — On 5 January 1859, Iași elects Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince. On 24 January, Bucharest elects the same man. The story of the 19 days that united Moldavia and Wallachia.

• 1859–2026Cerdà’s courtyards ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Eixample, Barcelona: what was built in Cerdà's courtyards, block by block — In 1859 Cerdà drew blocks built along their edges with open middles. Spain's cadastre, building by building: across 470 blocks, 73.8% of the ground is built at street level and only 54.7% from the first floor up. The Eixample in three dimensions, cut at any floor, and the rules that roofed the courtyards, from 1859 to today.

• 1854Cholera & the pump ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Broad Street pump, 1854: John Snow, cholera and the pump handle — Soho, 1854: 616 cholera deaths around one pump. The handle came off when new cases had fallen from 143 a day to 12; the proof came from a clergyman who expected to prove Snow wrong.

• 1854–1869Two “first” railways ↗
  Where the date comes from

  First railway in Romania: 1854 or 1869? Oravița–Baziaș, Bucharest–Giurgiu and the three meanings of “first” — The press calls two different lines “the first railway in Romania”. Choose what “first” means and watch the answer change, then ride the real 1854 track, which leaves today’s Romania and comes back.

• 1864Land for peasants ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Who gave the peasants land? 1864 — The 2 May coup, the plebiscite and the August rural law: 406,429 dependent peasants endowed by oxen category — fruntași, mijlocași, codași — redeemed until 1884.

• 1851Crystal Palace ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Crystal Palace — the leaf that held a little girl and the glass house that held over six million people (London, 1851) — In November 1849, a giant waterlily leaf at Chatsworth held an eight-year-old girl. The gardener who weighed it sketched on blotting paper, at Derby, the most extensive building in Europe — and over six million people walked through it. Load the leaf yourself, until it holds Annie. In Romanian and English.

• 1865–1888Building the Athenaeum ↗
  Where the date comes from

  “Dați un leu pentru Ateneu!” The palace raised by public subscription, 1865–1888 — The palace raised by subscription: the 467,427.35-lei lottery, 221,858.65 lei of donations, and the 1887 accounts showing what the leu paid for.

• 1866Carol I arrives ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The king who arrived incognito: Carol I, May 1866 — The Karl Hettingen passport, Salzburg customs, the 2 days stuck at Bazias. 17 checkpoints from Düsseldorf to the 22 May oath.

• 1866Cuza’s abdication ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The night Cuza left: 11 February 1866 — Eight officers enter the palace at 5 a.m., the abdication is signed, and by dawn three lieutenants rule. 6 stations from evening to dawn.

• 1867–2005Reforms of the leu ↗
  Where the date comes from

  One birth and three deaths: the leu, 1867–2005 — The lion thaler, the law of 22 April 1867 and three deaths: a currency's life in 17 stops and eight loaves.

• 1848Revolutions of 1848 ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The year 1848: three countries, one summer — Iași, Blaj, Islaz — At Iași they petitioned the prince, at Blaj the nation gathered, at Islaz a new country was proclaimed: 35, 16 and 22 points face to face, on one map.

• 1868–1880The Strousberg affair ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Strousberg Affair: the railway that shook Carol I, 1868–1880 — 915 km promised, 7.5% state-guaranteed, a bankruptcy and an abdication that never came. The concession map and its audit, 1868–1880.

• 1847Bucharest’s fire ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Great Fire of 1847 — Easter Sunday, 1847: from a house by Sf. Dumitru, fire burned a 2.1 km strip of Bucharest out to the vineyards. The April 1847 burn plan fitted to today's streets: type an address to see whether the fire reached it, in what order places burned, and what building rules followed.

• 1871–1893Chicago after the fire ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Chicago after the 1871 fire: from ruins to the 1893 fair — About 36 hours of fire (8–10 October) from the O'Leary barn: about 200 dead, 17,000 buildings, 100,000 homeless. Then the 1872 ordinance, the Palmer House, the first skyscraper and the 1893 fair. In Romanian and English.

• 1877–1878Plevna & independence ↗
  Where the date comes from

  What did Plevna actually win? 1877–1878 — May 1877, Grivitsa 30 August, MacGahan's dispatches, Berlin 13 July 1878: the mechanism behind the independence slogan.

• 1882The Mociu meteorite ↗
  Where the date comes from

  The Mocs meteorite (Mociu, 1882): the stone shower on Koch's map and the 35.70 kg stone — On 3 February 1882, after a fireball crossed the sky near Cluj, thousands of stones fell: small ones at one end, giants at the other. Watch them fall again on the map drawn at the time, and weigh the famous “56 kg stone” back into 102 stones. English and Romanian.

• 1883–2009Orient Express ↗
  Where the date comes from

  What was the Orient Express doing in Romania? 1883–2009 — Giurgiu 1883, Bucharest sleepers, the 1977 farewell. Three lines to Istanbul and the Express's Romanian century.

• 1652–1860London coffee houses ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Work the morning — London coffeehouses, 1652–1860 — Tick twelve slips across three coffeehouse tapes — brokers’ talk at Jonathan’s, ship news at Lloyd’s, the auction hammer at Garraway’s — then judge what emptied the houses, on two dated proof rails.

• 1133–1855Smithfield’s fair ↗
  Where the date comes from

  Bill the fair, bury the fair — Smithfield, 1133–1855 — Bill each century's fair — 1400, 1600, 1700, 1850 — from 27 sourced acts, then judge what closed the field after the last proclamation: 722 years of fair at Smithfield on two dated proof rails.

No selected period overlaps here. Widen the interval or search the complete collection.

92 dated projects in this selection. All the others remain in the collection below.