Timeline May 1842

Events in May 1842 9

• 1842 Gogol publishes Dead Souls A landmark novel of Russian literature appears Nikolai Gogol published the first part of Dead Souls, a satirical novel about a swindler who buys the names of dead serfs. The censors forced its title to be changed to The Adventures of Chichikov. It became one of the foundational works of Russian prose.
• 1842 Mayer states conservation of energy Julius Robert von Mayer publishes the mechanical equivalent of heat German physician Julius Robert von Mayer published a paper in Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie arguing that heat and mechanical work can be converted into each other. He gave an estimate of the mechanical equivalent of heat. The paper is one of the founding statements of the law of conservation of energy.
• 1842 Second Chartist petition rejected Parliament refuses to hear a petition with over three million signatures The Chartists presented their second national petition to the House of Commons, calling for universal male suffrage and other reforms. The House voted by a large majority not to hear the petitioners. The rejection added to the unrest that summer.
• 1842 Great Fire of Hamburg Fire destroys about a third of the old city A fire broke out on Deichstraße and burned for four days, destroying about a third of Hamburg's old town. Around 51 people died and some 20,000 were left homeless. The rebuilding brought a modern sewer system designed by William Lindley.
• 1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake Earthquake devastates northern Haiti A powerful earthquake and the tsunami that followed struck northern Haiti, destroying much of Cap-Haïtien and other towns. Thousands of people were killed. It was one of the most destructive earthquakes in the history of Hispaniola.
• 1842 Versailles rail accident France's first major railway disaster A train returning from Versailles to Paris derailed near Meudon when a locomotive axle broke, and the carriages caught fire. Passengers locked inside could not escape, and at least 55 people died, including the explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville. After the disaster, the practice of locking passengers into carriages was abandoned.
• 1842 Dorr Rebellion attack on Providence arsenal Rhode Island's suffrage dispute turns to arms Thomas Dorr, who led a rival government formed to widen voting rights, tried to seize the state arsenal in Providence. The attack failed, and his movement collapsed within weeks. The crisis led Rhode Island to adopt a new constitution that broadened the vote.
• 1842 Battle of Congella Boers and British clash at Port Natal British troops under Captain Thomas Smith attacked the Boer camp at Congella near Port Natal and were driven back. Dick King then rode about 960 kilometres to Grahamstown to get help. Reinforcements lifted the siege, and Natal was later annexed by Britain.
• 1842 Doppler effect proposed Christian Doppler links frequency to relative motion Austrian physicist Christian Doppler presented a paper in Prague arguing that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative motion of its source and the observer. He used the idea to explain the colours of binary stars. The Doppler effect later became basic to astronomy, radar and medical imaging.