Main events	United States Civil War Mexican War Emancipation of serfs in Russia
In Paris	Building of Paris Opéra begins Courbet opens atelier Achille Fould made Minister of Finance Wagner's Tannhauser booed off stage
Literature	Dickens: Great Expectations Eliot: Silas Marner
Science / Invention	San Francisco to New York telegraph opens
May 5th: Goldschmidt discovers asteroid Panopaea Also: believes he has discoverd 9th moon of Saturn, but not believed.