PreviousDays✦THE WIKI
← All historyTHE ARCHIVE · 5 STORIES

The 19th century

Industry, invention and voices for change.

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MOMENTS FROM THIS ERA

Meet the moments.

5 illustrated stories · growing daily
A Victorian woman carrying a small leather satchel beside a steamship gangway.Cars & transport

Nellie Bly begins her around-the-world journey in 1889

On 14 November 1889, journalist Nellie Bly sailed from Hoboken to attempt a journey around the world in fewer than eighty days. Her famously small luggage made a practical argument against the claim that a woman could not travel quickly and independently.

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A woman in Victorian travelling clothes stands beside a three-wheeled motor car while two teenage boys inspect its engine.Cars & transport

Bertha Benz’s long-distance drive and pharmacy fuel stop

On 5 August 1888, Bertha Benz set out from Mannheim with her sons in a Patent-Motorwagen. Her journey to Pforzheim tested the automobile beyond short demonstrations and included a fuel purchase at a pharmacy in Wiesloch.

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A small steam passenger train crosses a stone-faced embankment in Tokyo Bay beside fishing boats and low shoreline buildings.Cars & transport

Opening of Japan’s Shimbashi–Yokohama railway in 1872

Formally opened on October 14, 1872, Japan’s first railway linked the capital with Yokohama. Its sea embankment reveals how land access and political resistance shaped the engineering.

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Nineteenth-century steamships proceed through a narrow canal between sandy Egyptian banks.Cars & transport

The Suez Canal opens to international shipping in 1869

The Suez Canal was inaugurated on 17 November 1869. By joining the Mediterranean and Red Sea, the Egyptian waterway altered shipping routes and strengthened the commercial advantages of steam-powered vessels.

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A small steam locomotive passes harbour cargo and dock workers, with sailing ships in the background at Durban.Cars & transport

Opening of the Point–Durban steam railway in 1860

The Natal Railway Company opened a short steam railway on June 26, 1860. Its link between the waterfront and central Durban shows how a major transport network could begin with local cargo handling.

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