World History 1841

About the history of the world in 1841, the saxophone is invented, Poe writes the first modern detective story, James Fenimore Cooper writes the Deerslayer.

TWO CENTURIES OF WORLD HISTORY: 1778-1978

1841

* Antoine Joseph Sax, son of a musical instrument maker in Brussels, invented the saxophone, but did not live to know its success in modern bands.

* With Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe created the modern detective story, a form which soon had imitators in England and France. Poe's detective was C. Auguste Dupin, a Frenchman so insightful that he seemed to tune in on his companions' thoughts.

* With publication of The Deerslayer James Fenimore Cooper finished his Leatherstocking Tales, a series in which he created the first western hero, Natty Bumppo (also called Leatherstocking, Hawkeye, Deerslayer, and Pathfinder), whose literary descendants wear cowboy dress instead of deerskin. Cooper originated such western conventions as shifty Indians, captured heroines, sharpshooting heroes, and last-minute rescues by the army. Even before the completion of the series, their popularity made western novels internationally famous; 34 European publishers were reprinting them.

July 5 Thomas Cook, father of the guided tour, arranged his first excursion: a special train between Leicester and Loughborough, England, for those who wished to attend a temperance meeting.

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