Ireland

Vere Foster, philanthropist and educationist, is born in Copenhagen

Vere Foster, philanthropist and educationist, is born in Copenhagen on April 25, 1819. Deeply committed to social reform in Ireland, he is best known for pioneering the use of copybooks that helped standardize handwriting instruction in Irish schools, remaining in use until the 1950s. Foster also played a key role in promoting emigration support, teachers’ training, and school infrastructure, making him one of the most influential figures in Irish educational history.

Birth of opera singer Catherine Hayes in Limerick

Theatre Royal, Glasgow, became the first theatre in Britain to be lit by gas.

Birth in Dublin of scientist and Alpine traveller, John Ball

First recorded inter-club golf match between Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society and Bruntsfield Links Golf Club.

John Foley, sculptor, is born in Dublin

Bernardo OHiggins defeats the Spanish at the battle of Maipo River, Chile

Mayne Reid, pseudonym of Thomas Mayne; soldier, journalist, and writer of boys stories, is born

Thomas Mayne Reid (4 April 1818 – 22 October 1883) was an British novelist who fought in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). His many works on American life describe colonial policy in the American colonies, the horrors of slave labour, and the lives of American Indians. “Captain” Reid wrote adventure novels akin to those by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. They were set mainly in the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica. He was an admirer of Lord Byron. His novel Quadroon (1856), an anti-slavery work, was later adapted as a play entitled The Octoroon (1859) by Dion Boucicault and produced in New York.

The Iberno-Celtic Society is founded to preserve and publish the best ancient Irish literature

The Iberno-Celtic Society, founded in the early 19th century, was part of a broader movement to preserve, study, and publish ancient Irish literature. This society was one of several institutions and initiatives in Ireland and the United Kingdom dedicated to the revival and preservation of Irish culture, language, and history.

Admiral William Bligh Cornishman of Mutiny on the Bounty fame, died

Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a British officer in the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. He is best known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty, which occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command.