Battle of Solferino, (June 24, 1859), last engagement of the second War of Italian Independence. It was fought in Lombardy between an Austrian army and a Franco-Piedmontese army and resulted in the annexation of most of Lombardy by Sardinia-Piedmont, thus contributing to the unification of Italy.
The National Assembly that met in May 1848 in Frankfurt's St. Paul's Church failed in its attempt to establish a German nation-state. But on the 175th anniversary, there are calls to commemorate it as Democracy Day.