1865

The bloodiest war in American history ends with Union preserved and slavery abolished—but victory turns to tragedy as the Great Emancipator falls to an assassin’s bullet.

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🌍 Key World Events

Date	Event	Why It Matters
Apr 9	Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House	Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending American Civil War after four years and 620,000 deaths.
Apr 14	Abraham Lincoln assassinated	President shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre, dying next morning and becoming martyr for Union cause.
May 26	Last Confederate forces surrender	Trans-Mississippi army surrenders in Texas, formally ending Civil War hostilities.
Dec 6	13th Amendment ratified	Constitutional amendment abolishes slavery throughout United States, completing Lincoln’s Emancipation vision.
Dec 24	Ku Klux Klan founded in Tennessee	Confederate veterans create white supremacist terrorist organization that will terrorize freed slaves during Reconstruction.

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🧪 Science & Technology

• Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory published — James Clerk Maxwell unifies electricity and magnetism, revolutionizing physics and predicting radio waves.
• Mendel’s laws of inheritance published — Gregor Mendel’s pea plant experiments establish genetics, though work remains largely unrecognized until 1900.
• First transcontinental telegraph line completed, enabling instant coast-to-coast communication in U.S.
• Joseph Lister develops antiseptic surgery techniques, dramatically reducing post-surgical infections and deaths.

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🎨 Culture & Society

• “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” published (Jul 4) — Lewis Carroll’s fantastical tale becomes instant children’s literature classic.
• Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog” published — Story launches Twain’s literary career and establishes American humor tradition.
• Salvation Army founded by William Booth in London as Christian mission organization serving the poor.
• First train robbery in U.S. — Outlaws steal $10,000 from Ohio & Mississippi train, beginning era of Western banditry.

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👶 Notable Births

Name	Born	Legacy
Rudyard Kipling	Dec 30	British author of “The Jungle Book” and Nobel laureate.
Jean Sibelius	Dec 8	Finnish composer and national cultural icon.

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⚰️ Notable Deaths

• Abraham Lincoln (Apr 15) — 16th U.S. President, age 56, assassinated day after Lee’s surrender.
• John Wilkes Booth (Apr 26) — Lincoln’s assassin shot by Union soldiers while fleeing, age 26.
• Hundreds of thousands — Civil War’s final battles and disease claim thousands more lives before peace.

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📚 Quick Facts & Trivia

• Civil War Toll: 620,000 Americans died—more than all other U.S. wars combined until Vietnam.
• Lincoln’s Last Words: President reportedly said “She won’t think anything about it” referring to wife holding his hand before Booth fired.
• Assassination Conspiracy: Booth led plot to simultaneously kill Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and Secretary of State Seward to decapitate government.
• 13th Amendment’s Language: Amendment includes exception allowing slavery “as punishment for crime,” leading to convict leasing system in South.
• Appomattox Generosity: Grant allowed Confederate soldiers to keep horses for farming and prohibited taking them as prisoners of war.
• End of an Era: Lincoln’s assassination came five days after Lee’s surrender, just as nation prepared to celebrate peace.