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The 1860s (pronounced "eighteen-sixties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1860 and ended on December 31, 1869.
The decade was noted for featuring numerous major societal shifts in the Americas. In North America, the election of Free Soiler Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860 in the United States led to the secession of eleven southern states as the Confederate States of America (CSA). The resulting American Civil War (1861–1865) would be among the first industrial wars, featuring advanced technology such as steel warships and machine guns. The victory of the Union and subsequent abolition of slavery would contribute to the decline of the global slave trade. Conflict in Mexico ensued after the French Empire installed Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico; former President Benito Suarez would regain his position in 1867 after a power struggle.
In South America, the Triple Alliance of the Empire of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in the Paraguayan War (1864–1870) would be among the bloodiest conflicts in the continent's history, leading to the death of almost 60% of the Paraguayan population.
In Europe, the formation of the union of Austria-Hungary in 1867 and the ongoing campaign to unify Italy by Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont would affect the European balance of power. The United Kingdom would continue engaging in a series of conflicts known as the New Zealand Wars with the indigenous Māori, with the New Zealand land confiscations beginning in 1863.
In Asia, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 would begin the process of transforming Japan into a global imperial power. The Qing Dynasty of China would experience decline following its defeat to the British in 1860 in the Second Opium War. In 1864, the Russian Empire would embark upon the Circassian genocide in the Caucasus, leading to the deaths or expulsion of at least 75% of the Circassian people.
The last living person from this decade was Nellie Spencer, who died in 1982.
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Prominent assassinations, targeted killings, and assassination attempts include:
Year | Date | Name | Position | Culprits | Country | Description | Image |
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1860 | March 24 | Ii Naosuke | Tairō of the Tokugawa Shogunate | 17 young samurai loyalists | Japan | While Naosuke was at staying at the Edo Castle a group of 17 loyalist ambushed and was decapitated. | ![]() |
1861 | October 23 | Jorge Córdova | president of Bolivia | Colonel Plácido Yáñez | Bolivia | Jorge was captured by Colonel Plácido Yáñez and executed along with 50 other prisoners. | ![]() |
1862 | January 11 | José Santos Guardiola | President of Honduras | unknown presidential guard | Honduras | Jose was sleeping with his wife Ana Arbizú y Flores when an unknown assassin shot him and fled. | ![]() |
1863 | May 12 | Radama II | King of Madagascar | Men led by Rainivoninahitriniony | Madagascar | Radama's absolutism in pursuing dramatic reforms in disregard of the advice of his ministers ultimately turned them against him. In a coup led by his prime minister, Rainivoninahitriniony, Radama II was strangled on May 12, 1863. | ![]() |
1863 | October 30 | Serizawa Kamo | chief of Shinsen-gumi | likely Hijikata, Okita, Yamanami Keisuke, Inoue, Harada or Tōdō and Saitō | Japan | While sleeping with a woman named Oume he was assassinated by an unknown assassin. | |
1865 | March 27 | Manuel Isidoro Belzu Humérez | President of Bolivia | A group of men led by Mariano Melgarejo | Bolivia | When Belzu entered the Palacio Quemado for a meeting with Mariano Melgarejo he was ambushed by Melgarejo and a group of men who murdered him. | ![]() |
1865 | April 14 | Abraham Lincoln | President of America | John Wilkes Booth | United States of America | On the night of April 14th of 1865, John Wilkes Booth sneaked into Ford's Theatre and assassinated the President whilst he watched Our America Cousin. | ![]() |
1868 | February 19 | Venancio Flores and Bernardo Prudencio Berro | President of Uruguay | Group of unknown assassins | Uruguay | Four days after stepping down as President, Flores and Berro were murdered by a group of unidentified assassins in Montevideo. | ![]() |
1868 | April 7 | Thomas D'Arcy McGee | Member of the Canadian Parliament for Montreal West | Patrick J. Whelan | Canada | McGee was entering a boarding house in Ottawa when he was shot in the head by a Catholic Fenian sympathizer. | ![]() |
1868 | October 22 | James M. Hinds | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 2nd district | George Clark | United States | En route to a campaign event for Grant near the village of Indian Bay in Monroe County, Clark shot Hinds and fellow Republican politician Joseph Brooks in the back with a shotgun. Brooks managed to stay on his horse and ride to the event to bring back assistance, before his death Hinds wrote a message to his wife revealing the killers identity as secretary of the Monroe County Democratic Party and local Klansman, George Clark. | ![]() |
1868 | December 10 | Sakamoto Ryōma and Nakaoka Shintarō | Japanese samurai and influential figure of the Bakumatsu | unknown assassin | Tokugawa Shogunate | Ryōma and Shintarō where eating in the Ōmiya Inn when an unknown broke in and killed the men and the bodyguards. | ![]() |
1869 | December 7 | Ōmura Masujirō | military leader and theorist | unknown assassin | Japan | Omura was stabbed in a Kyoto inn and died in Osaka. | ![]() |