The Adriatic Sea Tsunami

On June 16, 1846, Pius IX became the new pope.

That same day, at the Port of Venice in the Austrian Empire.

Benito Adams was a boatman, and today he was especially irritable because the little boat moored by the shore kept rocking.

The good mood he'd been in after a bountiful catch last night had long since vanished, replaced by the fury that came from lack of sleep.

"Acheli! Damn it, stop those little brats from jumping around in the boat! Get your ass out there and sell the catch! We've never hauled in this much before! If it spoils, I'll beat your ass black and blue!"

No one answered, but the little boat kept rocking.

Benito finally couldn't take it anymore. He stood up, ready to teach his ungrateful wife a lesson.

But when he got to his feet, he saw that his wife and children had already hauled the catch to the pier to set up their stall.

With nowhere to vent his frustration, Benito took another swig of "rotgut" and got ready to go back to sleep.

With the arrival of the Sicilians, life had changed drastically for the people of Northern Italy. Fishermen like Benito, who owned boats, had once counted as small-time bourgeois.

He'd fish, take the occasional tourist on a tour through the canals, while his wife and children begged beside a monastery. Every day, he could get dead drunk at the tavern with his friends.

(Here, "Sicilians" refers broadly to Italians from outside Northern Italy. Back then, many people hadn't even left their hometowns, let alone visited other countries.)

But after the Austrian Empire opened its doors to trade, vast amounts of capital and immigrants poured in. Add to that the construction of several large shipyards, and Venice's population grew sevenfold.

That