January 26 in Victorian History
What the Victorians were up to on this date, year by remarkable year.
1885
Khartoum falls; Gordon is killed
After a ten-month siege, the Mahdi's forces storm Khartoum and General Charles Gordon is speared on the steps of the governor's palace. The relief expedition under Wolseley arrives two days too late. Britain mourns its Christian hero, and Gladstone's government never recovers from the blame.