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Today is September13, 2026 Sunday.

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The World in 1868 the year the shoguns ran out of road

The Senate voted 35 to 19 to remove President Johnson. Removal takes two thirds, or 36 votes. One more senator and the country would have had a new president.

Life back then

Japan changed shape in a few months. A boy emperor was put back at the head of the country, the last shogun gave up, and the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo and made the capital. Within a few years samurai lost the right to wear swords in the street. American girls that autumn were passing round a new book about four sisters called Little Women. It sold out so quickly that the publisher had Louisa May Alcott writing a second part by Christmas.

The year in 8 events

• 🏯Jan 3 Court nobles in Kyoto proclaim the emperor's rule restored, ending 250 years of shogun government.
• ⚖️May 16 The Senate falls one vote short of throwing President Andrew Johnson out of office.
• 📜Jul 9 The 14th Amendment is ratified, making everyone born in the United States a citizen.
• 🔭Aug 18 Astronomers watching an eclipse from India find a yellow line in the sun. The unknown gas is later named helium.
• 👑Sep 18 A revolt starts at Cadiz and drives Queen Isabella of Spain into exile in France.
• ⛓️Oct 10 Planters and freed slaves at Yara in eastern Cuba take up arms against Spain. The war lasts ten years.
• 🗳️Nov 3 Ulysses S. Grant is elected president of the United States.
• 🚦Dec 9 The world's first traffic signal is lit outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

Who Was in Charge?

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