The main phase of the
New Zealand Wars between British colonials and the
Māori population begins with the
First Taranaki War in 1860. The most significant campaign is the
Invasion of the Waikato in 1863, which sees some 14,000 British and colonial troops engaged.
The
Kingdom of Prussia under
Bismarckinvaded Denmark in 1864, which ended in the division of Schleswig,
the location of a pro-German revolt, between Prussia and the
Austrian Empire. Though Prussia and Austria had both fought side by side in this war, Prussia later attacked Austria in
the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. The technological and logistical superiority of Prussia's armed forces obliterated Austria and its allies, the former also having to deal with
Prussia's ally Italy in Venice. By the end of these conflicts, Prussia was seen as the most powerful state in
Germany, and had total hegemony over the other German states. The
NGF was formed after the Austro-Prussian war, uniting the states of north Germany, and Prussia soon led it into another conflict with
France.
The Federal War was a
civil war (1859–1863) in
Venezuela between the
Conservative party and the
Liberal party over the monopoly the Conservatives held over government positions and land ownership, and their intransigence to granting any reforms. It was the biggest and bloodiest civil war that
Venezuela had since its
independence. Hundreds of thousands died in the violence of the war, or from
hunger or
disease, in a country with a population of just over a million people
Helium was first detected during the total
solar eclipse of August 18, 1868, in parts of
India. It was the first eclipse expedition in which a
spectroscope was used.
J. Norman Lockyer and
Pierre Janssen are honored for their discovery of the nature of the Sun's prominences. They were the first to notice bright spectral emission lines when viewing the limb of the Sun without the aid of a total solar eclipse.
Bahá'u'lláh declares his station as "the One whom God shall make Manifest", in the Garden of
Ridván.
Baháʼís see this as the beginning date of the
Baháʼí Faith.
The Cincinnati Redstockings became the first openly professional baseball team in 1869. They finished the same season with a perfect 58–0 record, thanks in large part to their Hall of Fame leader Harry Wright.
The
Victorian era and its culture largely thrived from 1860 until 1901.
The culture of the
Victorian era comes to America and remains in place until around the turn of the 20th century, where the year it ends is disputed as to whether it ended with the rise of
progressivism in 1896 or with the death of
Queen Victoria in 1901.