first published. 1845 The Irish famine begins. Within five years it would become the UK's worst human disaster, with starvation and emigration reducing the population of Ireland itself by over 50%. The famine permanently changed Ireland's and Scotland's demographics and became a rallying point for nationalist sentiment that pervaded British politics for much of the following century. 1846 Repeal of the Corn Laws opens era of free trade. 1848 Death of 2,000 people a week in a cholera epidemic. 1850 Restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales. (Scotland followed in 1878.) 1851 The Great Exhibition (the first World's Fair) is held at the Crystal Palace, with great success and international attention. The Victorian gold rush. In ten years the Australian population nearly tripled. 1854 Crimean War: Britain, France and Turkey declare limited war on Russia. Russia loses, but very high British casualties makes the work of the nurses led by Florence Nightingale famous. 1857 The Indian Mutiny, a concentrated revolt in northern India against the rule of the privately owned British East India Company, is sparked by sepoys (native Indian soldiers) in the company's army. The rebellion, involving not just sepoys but many sectors of the Indian population as well, is largely quashed within a year. The East India Company is replaced by the British government beginning the period of the British Raj. 1858 The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, responds to the Orsini plot against French Emperor Napoleon III, the bombs for which were purchased in Birmingham, by attempting to make such acts a felony; the resulting uproar forces him to resign. 1859 Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, which leads to various reactions. Victoria and Albert's first grandchild, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, is born – he later became William II, German Emperor. John Stuart Mill publishes On Liberty, a defence of the famous harm principle. 1861 Death of Prince Albert; Queen Victoria refuses to go out in public for many years, and when she did she wore a widow's bonnet instead of the crown. 1865 Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published. 1866 An angry crowd in London, protesting against John Russell's resignation as Prime Minister, is barred from Hyde Park by the police; they tear down iron railings and trample on flower beds. Disturbances like this convince Derby and Disraeli of the need for further parliamentary reform. 1867 The Constitution Act, 1867