1867

Society

1867. The British North America Act unites Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the Dominion of Canada with its capital at Ottawa.

1867. Alaska is ceded to the U.S. by the Russian czar Aleksandr II. Critics ridicule "Seward's Icebox."

1867. The first U.S. elevated railway begins operation at New York on a single track.

1867. Howard University for Negroes is founded by white Congregationalists outside Washington, D.C. The founders propose to admit students of all ages, male or female, married or single, informed or ignorant.

1867. Milwaukee printer Christopher Sholes invents the first practical "writing machine." He will call his machine a "typewriter."

1867. A paperback edition of Goethe's Faust in Leipzig pioneers paperback book publishing.

1867. Baseball's curve ball pitch is invented by Brooklyn, NY, pitcher, William Arthur Cummings.

1867. Marquis of Queensberry rules for boxing are formulated by English athlete John Chambers.

1867. More than half of all U.S. working people are employed on farms.

Literature

Peer Gynt. Henrik Ibsen. Norwegian. 1867. Poetic Drama. Boastful, capricious, irresponsible Peer has no personality, no true self. Saved by someone in whose mind he existed as a real personality.

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed." Walt Whitman. American. 1867. Poetry. With the return of lilacs in the spring, the poet mourns the death of Abraham Lincoln. Death is the "great strong deliveress."

Smoke. Ivan Turgenev. Russian. 1867. Novel. Love triangle with the message that Russia needs to turn West for civilization.

"Dover Beach." Matthew Arnold. British. 1867. Poetry. Pessimism regarding the future of the modern world; urges personal fidelity as a substitute for ebbing faith.

Maria. Jorge Isaacs. Colombia. 1867. Novel. Romantic idyll; ill-starred love affair; life in Colombia's Cauca Valley.

Das Kapital. Karl Marx. German. 1867/94. Nonfiction. Systematic, critical study of capitalist economy.