The 19th Century is having a moment
1800
1802
Beethoven first performs ”Moonlight” Sonata
1803
Louisiana Purchase
1812
War of 1812 begins
1813
Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice
1815
Battle of Waterloo
1825
First public railway opens in England
1815-1832 Les Misérables
Key Struggle
Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) tries to shake his criminal past while class warfare erupts in France.
Wildest Costume
Madame Thénardier’s crazy-quilt getup, seen below. (Helena Bonham Carter never does anything halfway.)
Coolest Facial Hair
Valjean’s fulsome prison beard.
In theaters 12/25
1826
First photograph is printed
1836
Battle of the Alamo
1841
The word dinosaur is coined
1843
Charles Dickens publishes A Christmas Carol
1848
First women’s-rights convention in U.S.
1849
Invention of the safety pin and the gas mask
1851
Ex-slave Sojourner Truth gives abolitionist speech in Akron, Ohio
1859
Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
1859
Django Unchained
Key Struggle
A freed slave (Jamie Foxx) attempts to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Wildest Costume
A cape-y coat (or is it coat-y cape?) worn by Christoph Waltz’s bounty hunter.
Coolest Facial Hair
Don Johnson’s Colonel Sanders-ish combo platter.
In theaters 12/25
1861
Civil War begins
1863
Gettysburg Address
1865
Lincoln
Key Struggle
Abolishing slavery. (What have you done lately?)
Wildest Costume
Mary Todd Lincoln’s (Sally Field) puffy wedding-cake gown.
Coolest Facial Hair
Tough call! Abe’s wiry, mustache-free beard?
Now in theaters
1867
Karl Marx writes Das Kapital
1867
U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia
1873
First pair of blue jeans made
1874
Anna Karenina
Key Struggle
A rich Russian wife (Keira Knightley) chooses her heart over her conscience. Backlash ensues.
Wildest Costume
Pretty much any of Anna’s lavishly fur-trimmed, jewel-encrusted numbers.
Coolest Facial Hair
Matthew Macfadyen’s whisk brush of a mustache. Well played, sir!
Now in theaters
1879
Thomas Edison invents the lightbulb
1887
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publishes first Sherlock Holmes story
Early 1890s
The Man with the Iron Fists
Key Struggle
The Blacksmith (RZA) uses iron fists to defend a village from warring clans in feudal China.
Wildest Costume
Rick Yune’s porcupine armor.
Coolest Facial Hair
Daniel Wu’s windswept eyebrows (above).
Now in theaters
1899
type |
|
mpaa | |
runtime |
|
director |
Comments