Tensions over greased rifle cartridges rumored to contain cow and pig fat intensified among sepoys in Bengal, fueling grievances that erupted into the Indian Rebellion weeks later.

Indian soldiers in the Bengal Army at Meerut rose up against British officers, sparking the Indian Rebellion of 1857 that would convulse the subcontinent.

The Great Bell of Westminster, known as Big Ben, was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, destined for the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster.

British forces tightened their siege around Delhi during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, as rebel sepoys and the aging Mughal emperor held the city against colonial reconquest.

Polish-born sailor and novelist Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness, was born in Berdychiv, in the Russian Empire's Ukrainian provinces.