December 27 – Charles Dickens gives the first of his public readings of his own works, in Birmingham Town Hall (England) to the Industrial and Literary Institute, repeated three days later to an audience of working people and including an adaptation of A Christmas Carol; these are very successful and Dickens continues public readings until the year of his death.[4][5][6][7]
Alexander Ostrovsky – The Poor Bride (Бедная невеста, Bednaya nevesta)<ref">Revyakin, A.I. (1949). "The Poor Bride. Commentary". The Complete A.N. Ostrovsky. Volume 1. Plays 1847-1854. Khudozhestvennaya literature Publishers, 1949. Retrieved 2012-03-01.</ref>
^Its full title is Nouvelle Biographie Générale, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours, avec les renseignements bibliographiques et l'indication des sources a consulter ("New General Biography, from earliest times to the present, with bibliographic information and details of sources to consult").