* John Austin ( legal philosopher ) ( 1790 – 1859 ), English jurist

In 1859, Nobel's father left his factory in the care of the second son, Ludvig Nobel ( 1831 – 1888 ), who greatly improved the business.

* 1859 – Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well.

* 1779 – Carl Ritter, German geographer ( d. 1859 )

* 1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English author ( d. 1859 )

* 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball player and manager ( d. 1931 )

* 1859 – The Tuscan National Assembly formally deposes the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

* 1859 – Katharine Lee Bates, American poet ( d. 1929 )

* Alexander John Cuza, prince of Romania ( 1859 – 1866 )

* 1859 – A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far away as Japan.

* 1859 – Matilda Howell, American archer ( d. 1938 )

* 1917 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish creator of Esperanto ( b. 1859 )

* 1859 – Knut Hamsun, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate ( d. 1952 )

* 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.

* 1944 – William Stephens, American politician ( b. 1859 )

* 1803 – James Curtiss, American politician, Mayor of Chicago ( d. 1859 )

* 1859 – Walter Camp, American football player, coach, and writer ( d. 1925 )

* 1943 – Alexandre Millerand, French politician, President of France ( b. 1859 )

Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936 ), usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad.

* Page, Norman, ‘ Housman, Alfred Edward ( 1859 – 1936 )’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004 )

His siblings included Sarah ( 1802 – 1859 ), Naphtali ( 1807 ), Ralph ( 1809 – 1898 ), and James ( 1813 – 1868 ).

The Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister 1855 – 58, 1859 – 65

Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan " Viva VERDI " was used as an acronym for Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re

* Vittorio Italico Zupelli ( 1859 – 1945 ), general, minister

In order to give Italy an extensive reference atlas modelled on foreign examples such as Stieler's Atlas ( Stielers Handatlas ) in Germany, shortly after World War I preparatory work to this end began under the direction of Luigi Vittorio Bertarelli ( founder of the TCI, 1859 – 1926 ) with collaboration of Olinto Marinelli as scientific editor and Pietro Corbellini as chief cartographer.

Vittorio Alinari ( 1859 – 1932 ) was an Italian photographer.

Corsican was long the vernacular language alongside Italian, official language in Corsica until 1859, then it was replaced by French owing to the conquest of the island by France in 1768.

In 1859 the Second Italian War of Independence broke out between the northern Italian kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and Austria.

In reality Bismarck was sidelined from events in Germany, watching impotently as France drove Austria out of Lombardy during the Italian War of 1859.

Bismarck, Roon and Moltke took charge at a time when relations among the Great Powers — Great Britain, France, Austria and Russia — had been shattered by the Crimean War of 1854 – 55 and the Italian War of 1859.

* January 18 – Giovanni Capurro, Italian poet ( b. 1859 )

* Second War of Italian Independence ( 1859 ), also known as Franco-Austrian War, or Austro-Sardinian War.

Also there, on February 21, 1859, together with 151 republicans he signed a manifesto against the alliance between Piedmont and the King of France which resulted in the Second War of Italian Independence and the conquest of Lombardy.

In Italy a state-run school system has existed since 1859, when the Legge Casati ( Casati Act ) mandated educational responsibilities for the forthcoming Italian state ( Italian unification took place in 1861 ).

In 1815, it again passed under Austrian administration until the Second War of Italian Independence ( 1859 ) and the unification of Italy one year later.

Apart from a few years under Napoleon and during the 1848 revolution, the ghetto lasted until Italian unification in 1859.

Pages from an 1859 libretto for Ernani, with the original Italian lyrics, English translation, and musical notation for one of the arias Libretti have been made available in several formats, some more nearly complete than others.

In April – July 1859, Napoleon III made a secret agreement with Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont, for France to assist in expelling Austria from the Italian Peninsula and bringing about a united Italy, in exchange for Piedmont ceding Savoy and the Nice region to France.

The Austrian Empire was forced to cede most of its claim to Lombardy – Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia following the conclusion of the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, and the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866.

Within the context of Italian unification, the Austro-Prussian war is called Third Independence War, after the First ( 1848 ) and the Second ( 1859 ).

A brief war against Austria in 1859 largely brought an end to the process of Italian unification.

In April – July 1859 Napoleon made a secret deal with Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont, for France to assist in expelling Austria from the Italian peninsula and bringing about a united Italy, or at least a united northern Italy, in exchange for Piedmont ceding to France Savoy and the Nice region ( which was destined to become the so-called French Riviera ).

The Soulages collection of Italian and French Renaissance objects was acquired between 1859 and 1865, and includes several cassone.

The last major commission of Barry's was Halifax Town Hall ( 1859 – 62 ), in a North Italian Cinquecento style, and a grand tower with spire, the interior includes a central hall similar to that at Bridgewater House, the building was completed after Barry's death by his son Edward Middleton Barry.

Zita's father had lost his throne as a result of the movement for Italian unification in 1859 when he was still a child.

The Battle of Magenta was fought on June 4, 1859 during the Second Italian War of Independence, resulting in a French-Sardinian victory under Napoleon III against the Austrians under Marshal Ferencz Gyulai.

In the 16th century, most of these were seized by the Papal States, but the territories of Parma, Piacenza, and Modena remained independent until Emilia – Romagna became part of the Italian kingdom between 1859 and 1861.