of evolution by natural selection in November 1859. Epidemiology begins when John Snow traces the source of an outbreak of cholera in London to a contaminated water pump. Discovery of Neanderthal fossils in Neanderthal, Germany. Solar flares discovered by Richard Christopher Carrington. University of Sydney established in 1850. Economics Distinction between coats and jackets begins to blur Production of steel revolutionized by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transpacific telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Railroads begin to supplant canals in the United States as a primary means of transporting goods. First commercially successful sewing machine made by Isaac Singer Environment Ukrainian settlers bring Carniolan honeybees to the Primorsky Krai Society The word girlfriend first appears in writing in 1855. The word boyfriend first appears in writing in 1856. Popular culture Literature Charles Dickens publishes Bleak House, Hard Times, Little Dorrit and A Tale of Two Cities Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter in 1850 Herman Melville publishes Bartleby, the Scrivener in 1853 Charlotte Brontë publishes Villette in 1853 Elizabeth Gaskell publishes North and South in 1854 External links American texts from the 1850s American speeches from the 1850s