April. Vasilii Vereshchagin exhibits his Turkestan Series in the Crystal Palace in London. His introductory article in the exhibition catalogue justified the Russian conquest of Central Asia by the necessity to 'civilise' its 'barbarian' population and attempted 'to dispel the doubts of the English public concerning their real friends and neighbours in Central Asia'. The Turkestan Series acquainted the British public with an area which had so far been unknown and was reviewed in The Times, Pall Mall Gazette, Saturday Review, Spectator and other periodicals.