Key events from 1854

1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act opens new territories to slavery through popular sovereignty, leading to “Bleeding Kansas” and escalating tensions toward civil war.
Florence Nightingale arrives in the Crimea, revolutionizing battlefield medicine and establishing modern nursing as a profession.
The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava epitomizes tragic miscommunication in the Crimean War.
The Convention of Kanagawa forces Japan to open its ports to American trade, ending centuries of Japanese isolationism.

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