Timeline August 1857

Events in August 1857 4

• 1804 – 1857 Eugene Sue (1804-1857) Died 3 August 1857, aged 53 Sue was a French novelist best known for The Mysteries of Paris and The Wandering Jew, serialized novels that were immensely popular and helped establish the genre of the newspaper serial. His sympathetic portrayal of Paris's poor gave his fiction a strong social and political dimension. He died in exile after Napoleon III's coup.
• 1857 Panic of 1857 Global financial crisis triggered by a US bank failure The failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company in August 1857 set off a financial panic that spread through the United States and across the Atlantic to Britain and continental Europe. Railroad overexpansion and falling grain prices had left banks overextended, and the ensuing credit collapse caused widespread bankruptcies and unemployment. It is considered the first worldwide economic crisis.
• 1857 Obscene Publications Act passed in Britain First British statute criminalising obscene material The British Parliament passed the Obscene Publications Act, giving courts the power to seize and destroy obscene books and images. It was the country's first legislation specifically targeting obscenity rather than blasphemy or libel. The act remained the basis of British obscenity law for over a century.
• 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act passed in Britain Civil divorce introduced in England and Wales The British Parliament passed the Matrimonial Causes Act, creating a civil court for divorce and ending the Church of England's exclusive jurisdiction over marriage dissolution. Previously, divorce had required a private Act of Parliament, available only to the wealthy. The law made divorce, though still difficult, accessible to a much wider public.