Charles Dickens publishes Pickwick Papers - instant fame. Charles Dickens publishes Oliver Twist - still one of his best known books. Queen Victoria marries her cousin Prince Albert. Penny post instituted. Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol - a sensational success.
Potato famine begins in Ireland.
Brunel builds the S.S Great Britain -first propeller driven steamship ever. Karl Marx and Frederich Engels publish the Communist Manifesto - summed up as the abolition of private property . Charles Dickens publishes David Copperfield - said to be his own favourite. Crimean war breaks out. Florence Nightingale goes to Crimea to organise nursing during the war.