World History 1832

About the history of the world in 1832, the Reform Bill is passed in England, Samuel Morse invents the telegraph, Goethe publishes Faust.

TWO CENTURIES OF WORLD HISTORY: 1778-1978

1832

* The popular Reform Bill, introduced by Lord John Russell, became law, giving the middle classes a strong influence upon elections in Britain. Initial opposition in the House of Lords was overcome when the cabinet forced King William IV to agree to create enough new peers to produce a favorable majority. Henceforth the House of Lords was without real power.

* Samuel F.B. Morse, a penniless artist returning from Europe on the ship Sully, got the idea for the telegraph at a shipboard dinner. Hearing talk of a recent discovery that men could send electricity over any length of wire, he spent the rest of the voyage making notes and drawing diagrams. When he left the ship, he told the captain, "Well, Captain, when you hear of the telegraph one of these days as the wonder of the world, remember the discovery was made on the good ship Sully."

Mar. 22 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 82, died a few months after finishing his greatest work, Faust, on which he had expended 58 years of labor. Known for its subtle characterization and poetic beauty, Faust had a profound influence upon world literature. Faust pledges his soul to the devil in return for all knowledge and all experience, but the devil is denied the soul as Faust is saved by God's grace and consideration of Faust's noble aim, perfection.

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