Six million visitors attend what would become the first World’s Fair, before it closes in October.ĭec. May 1, 1851: The brainchild of Prince Albert, the Great Exhibition opens in London’s Crystal Palace, with 10,000-plus exhibitors displaying the world’s technological wonders-from false teeth to farm machinery to telescopes. September 1845: Ireland’s potato crop begins to rot, causing the four-year Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, that lead to 1 million deaths and caused 1 million people to emigrate from the country, landing in various cities throughout North America and Great Britain.
