1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1854th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 854th year of the 2nd millennium, the 54th year of the 19th century, and the 5th year of the 1850s decade. As of the start of 1854, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
The Crimean War was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between the Russian Empire and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom, and Sardinia-Piedmont.
William Henry Fox Talbot FRS FRSE FRAS was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. He was the holder of a controversial patent that affected the early development of commercial photography in Britain. He was also a noted photographer who contributed to the development of photography as an artistic medium. He published The Pencil of Nature (1844–1846), which was illustrated with original salted paper prints from his calotype negatives and made some important early photographs of Oxford, Paris, Reading, and York.
The year 1854 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The Battle of Bomarsund, in August 1854, took place during the Åland War, which was part of the Crimean War, when an Anglo-French expeditionary force attacked a Russian fortress. It was the only major action of the war to take place at Bomarsund in the Baltic Sea.
Rear Admiral Charles Davis Lucas was an Irish-born Royal Navy officer whose gallantry in 1854 was the earliest action that led to the award of the Victoria Cross, the highest British award, which is for gallantry in the face of the enemy. He reached the rank of rear admiral during his time in the navy.
General Sir James Yorke Scarlett was a British Army officer and hero of the Crimean War who led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854.
Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key, was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado in November 1845 during the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata and took part at the Battle of Bomarsund in August 1854 and the Bombardment of Sveaborg in August 1855 during the Crimean War. He also went ashore with the naval brigade to take part in the Battle of Canton in December 1857 during the Second Opium War. He later commanded a specially-formed Baltic Fleet created in February 1878 to intimidate Russia from entering Constantinople during the closing stages of the Russo-Turkish War. He became First Naval Lord in August 1879 in which role he was primarily interested in administration and technology rather than strategy: he kept the cost of running the Navy within budgets, sanctioned the construction of six Admiral-class battleships and ensured the Navy was properly prepared for the Panjdeh Incident in 1885 when Russian forces seized Afghan territory at Panjdeh.
The siege of Sevastopol lasted from October 1854 until September 1855, during the Crimean War. The allies landed at Eupatoria on 14 September 1854, intending to make a triumphal march to Sevastopol, the capital of the Crimea, with 50,000 men. Major battles along the way were Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Tchernaya, Redan, and, finally, Malakoff. During the siege, the allied navy undertook six bombardments of the capital, on 17 October 1854; and on 9 April, 6 June, 17 June, 17 August, and 5 September 1855.
Events from the year 1808 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1855 in the United Kingdom.
Events from the year 1841 in the United Kingdom.
The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 59th Regiment of Foot to form the East Lancashire Regiment in 1881.
Martin Laroche, born William Henry Silvester, was an early English professional photographer who successfully challenged William Fox Talbot's patent on the calotype and effected a liberalisation in professional practice, research and development that catalysed the development of photography in the nineteenth century.
Events from the year 1854 in France.
Field Marshal Lord William Paulet, was a senior British Army officer. During the Crimean War he served as Assistant Adjutant-General of the Cavalry Division, under Lord Lucan, at the Battle of Alma in September 1854, at the Battle of Balaklava in October 1854 and at the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 as well as at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He was then given command of the rear area, including the Bosphorus, Gallipoli and the Dardanelles before returning to England. He later became Commander of the 1st Brigade at Aldershot in 1856, General Officer Commanding South-West District in 1860 and finally Adjutant-General to the Forces in 1865.
Admiral Sir William Hutcheon Hall,, was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War and Crimean War. He was one of the first British officers to make a thorough study of steam engines. In China, he commanded the iron steamship Nemesis of the East India Company. Although it was not officially commissioned as a Royal Navy warship, the Admiralty enabled Hall to count his time in the Nemesis as if he had served in one of Her Majesty's Ships.
Events from the year 1854 in Russia
Charles Booth Brackenbury was a British major general and military correspondent, part of a Lincolnshire family whose members fought in nearly all of Britain's wars of the 19th century. He saw service in the Crimean War, and was present at the Battle of Königgrätz (1866) and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). He was one of the most extensive military writers in the mid to late 19th century.
