January 14 - Felice Orsini and his accomplices fail to assassinate Napoleon III in Paris but their bombs kill 156 bystanders. Because of the involvement of French émigrés living in Britain, there is a brief anti-British feeling in France but the emperor refuses to support it
August 5 - Cyrus West Field and others complete the first transatlantic Telegraph cable after several unsuccessful attempts. The service ends on September 1 due to weak current