1868

From top left, clockwise: A series of devastating earthquakes strike Ecuador (left) and southern Peru (centre), killing a culminative estimate of 95,000 people; the first identified skeletons of Cro-Magnons, the earliest modern humans to occupy Europe, are discovered in Dordogne in France; the Meiji Restoration occurs in Japan after the Tokugawa shogunate is defeated in the Boshin War; Māori general Tītokowaru wages an initially successful war against the British and the New Zealand colonial government in South Taranaki; the Spanish Glorious Revolution leads to the deposition and exile of Isabella II; Helium is named by English astronomer Norman Lockyer two months after contemporary Pierre Jannsen accidentally discovers it; the expensive British expedition to Abyssinia is successful in rescuing hostages of Emperor Tewodros II.

1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1868th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 868th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1860s decade. As of the start of 1868, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.