Timeline / 1850 to 1900 / PORTUGAL Date Country Theme 1851 Portugal Economy And Trade Launch of an ambitious plan of modernisation and the stable Regeneration period mostly led by Minister Fontes Pereira de Melo (1819–87) (and named Fontism after him) Infrastructure building, industrial production and business laws are promoted. Porto wine production and trade thrives and exports increase until the 1860s. 1851 Portugal Rediscovering The Past Lendas e Narrativas published by Alexandre Herculano (1810–77), a collection of historical short stories set in the context of medieval times and the “Reconquista” process, the Iberian Christian military movement to recover Muslim-occupied territories (10th–15th centuries). 1851 - 1868 Portugal Political Context Regeneration, led mainly by Minister Fontes Pereira Melo (who gives the period name – Fontism) is a peaceful political cycle of global innovation started in 1851. The kingdom is tired of political unrest. Conditions are created for the middle classes and foreign investors to support economic expansion, the development of infrastructure and industrialisation. 1851 Portugal International Exhibitions At “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations“ in London, Portugal shows 1,293 products from almost all the regions. 1852 Portugal Great Inventions Of The 19th Century 13 December: Under the framework of the Regeneration modernisation, the adoption of the decimal metric system based on the legal mètre of France is decreed by Queen Maria II. This decree establishes a ten-year deadline for its full enforcement, but the whole process will take longer than that. 1852 Portugal Reforms And Social Changes Ato Adicional de 1852 (Additional Act) abolishes the death penalty for political crimes, which had not been enforced since 1834. In 1867, in the reign of King Luís I, the abolition of the death penalty is extended to all kinds of crime, except for those under military jurisdiction. Only in 1911 will total abolition be proclaimed by the Republican regime. 1853 Portugal Great Inventions Of The 19th Century 1 July: Portugal starts to use the first adhesive postal stamps on letters, postcards and parcels, in the reign of Queen Mary II. Bearing the Queen’ s effigy they are inspired by the first British stamp. 1855 Portugal International Exhibitions Portugal is present at “Exposition Universelle des Produits de l’Agriculture, de l’Industrie et des Beaux-Arts”, with 441 stands, exhibiting agricultural products and Date Country Theme commodities. King Pedro V (1837–61) has a pivotal role in boosting the national presence. 1856 Portugal Rediscovering The Past The Portugaliae Monumenta Historica is published. Acknowledged as a historian, Alexandre Herculano is commissioned by Academia das Ciências de Lisboa to compile this collection of old documents that are at risk of disappearing and being dispersed throughout convent archives. He undertook this task in 1853–54. 1856 Portugal Great Inventions Of The 19th Century Inauguration of the first Portuguese railway between Lisbon and Carregado, 36,454 km north of Lisbon, by King Pedro V and innumerable guests, transported in 14 wooden carriages pulled by two locomotives. The first train trip lasts 40 minutes. A steam engine is adapted to move the locomotives. 1857 Portugal Rediscovering The Past Creation of the Museum of the Geological Commission currently called the Museum of Geology of Portugal. It is established under the auspices of the Geological Commission from specimens collected by the Portuguese pioneers of geology Carlos Ribeiro, Nery Delgado, Pereira da Costa, Paul Choffat and others. 1857 Portugal Great Inventions Of The 19th Century The public telegraph service becomes available, one year after its first official connection between the Royal Palace and the Parliament. The Morse telegraph system is also used in the international connection to the telegraphic network in Spain, on the border of Elvas and Badajoz. 1860 Portugal Travelling Travelling became a great cultural and social phenomenon with Romanticism. The “Grand Tour” through the countries of the known world, namely around the Mediterranean, became a means of developing cultural and social skills. Travel became refined and even a simple journey to the countryside required such accessories as this travel case for meals. 1860 Portugal Reforms And Social Changes Under the liberal educational reforms, Lyceu Nacional de Aveiro (Aveiro High School) is the first school in Portugal to occupy a building designed specifically for this function. Previously schools occupied existing buildings, often old convents. The school had been created as Colégio de Aveiro in 1848. 1862 Portugal International Exhibitions The “International Exhibition on Industry and Art” in London distinguishes Portugal with 165 Medals of Honor and 240 mentions. 1863 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme Publication of the novel Amor de Perdição (Fatal Love) by Camilo Castelo-Branco (1825–90). Written very quickly, this romance has everything to be a major work of passion: tragic intensity, speed of action, balance of characters and simplicity of style. 1864 Portugal Economy And Trade Banco Nacional Ultramarino is established in Lisbon, as the issuing bank for Portuguese overseas territories. BNU has a significant role in supporting the economic development of the country and the former colonies. Its savings, investment and issuing role facilitates the currency circulation throughout them. 1864 Portugal Rediscovering The Past Creation of the Carmo Archaeological Museum by the Portuguese Association of Civil Architects, which in 1867 adopts the title of Royal Association of Civil Architects and Portuguese Archaeologists. The museum is located in the ruins of medieval Convento do Carmo, destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. 1864 Portugal Economy And Trade The unpopular tobacco monopoly is ended by parliamentary law. Hereafter tobacco will be auctioned and exploited by those offering the best price to the state. Some of the main tobacco companies merge into bigger companies to ensure its exploration. The Companhia Lisbonense de Tabacos, founded in 1865, becomes a major player. 1865 Portugal International Exhibitions “A Exposição Internacional”, in Porto, is the first international exhibition organised in Portugal. Designed by the English architect Thomas Dillen Jones, it follows the London model and was conceived to accommodate the Portuguese International Exhibition. 1865 Portugal Cities And Urban Spaces 1 May: Santa Apolónia Central Railway Station of Lisbon, connecting to the East and North Railways, is inaugurated. It is sited in the north bank of the Tagus River, close to Praça do Comércio in Lisbon. It is an example of 19th-century iron buildings. 1865 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Bom-senso e Bom-gosto (Good Sense and Good Taste) by Antero de Quental (1842–91) is an open letter published as pamphlet, replying to and ridiculing the poetry of António Feliciano de Castilho (1800–75) and urging young writers to take a revolutionary position instead. This controversy became known as the "Questão Coimbrã” (the Coimbra Question). 1865 Portugal Fine And Applied Arts The stuccoes of the corridor of the Monserrate Palace are inspired by those of Alhambra Palace in Granada. The profusion of columns is considered to recall those in the Hypostyle Hall of the Cordova Mosque. Date Country Theme 1867 Portugal Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Birth of the poet António Nobre (1867–1900). Só, written during his exile in Paris (1892), is the only work published in his lifetime. The nostalgia of this work, a landmark of the symbolist movement, is tempered by a certain self- irony, alternating a symbolist refined vocabulary with a more colloquial one. He influenced the work of the main Portuguese modernists. 1867 Portugal Reforms And Social Changes Foundling wheels for babies left anonymously to be cared for were used between the 15th and the 19th century. From 1867 they are gradually abolished and replaced by asylums for orphans, foundlings and abandoned older children. Organised childcare is promoted from 1870 through the foundation of childcare centres and public support for families. 1867 Portugal Great Inventions Of The 19th Century The opening of the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory, Portugal’s national observatory, which has legal responsibility for national timekeeping. It is located in the Tapada da Ajuda, a green area in the west of Lisbon. 1867 Portugal Reforms And Social Changes July: The first Portuguese major Civil Code is entrusted to António Luís Seabra (1798–1895), the first methodical code maker in Portugal. It is intended to meet the liberal need to regulate the juridical system as happened with French Napoleonic Code. One of its main concerns is the regulation of civil marriage. The Code will remain in force for nearly a century. 1867 - 1880 Portugal Economy And Trade Phylloxera Commission created by the government in order to protect vineyards from the disease. To combat the disease demands new methods of planting and production. New organisations of wine producers claim from central government the preservation of regional varieties as well as the definition and defence of Port and Douro wine “Denominação de Origem Controlada”. 1867 Portugal Economy And Trade First phylloxera disease reaches the Portugal countryside. Porto wine and Portuguese wine production in general is reduced dramatically. This disease causes economic, financial and social distress and leads