Ireland in the 19th century was engaged in an epic struggle marked by a series of open revolts and sustained protests against British rule. A trend in revolutionary activity in Ireland which began in the late 1790s essentially lasted until Irish independence was achieved in the early 1920s.

As St. Patrick's Day draws close, it's a fine time to review Ireland's century of rebellion, which began with Robert Emmett's rebellion in 1803, continued through the age of the great Irish patriot Daniel O'Connell, and reached its zenith with the Land League and the era of "Ireland's Uncrowned King," Charles Stewart Parnell.

The unrest in Ireland even spilled over to America, as emigrants determined to return and free their homeland fought in the famed Irish Brigade during the American Civil War. The 19th century was a fascinating time in Ireland, as it was truly a century of rebellion.

Illustration: Charles Stewart Parnell/Library of Congress

The Denny's Restaurant chain drew criticism this past week for running TV spots which offered free French fries and pancakes in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Great Famine in Ireland. As you might imagine, people were outraged by what seemed to be a joking approach toward a monumental human tragedy.

A blog item in the New York Times mentioned that the Ancient Order of Hibernians as well as the Irish news media criticized Denny's. Utterly missing the point that a famine simply isn't funny, a spokesperson for Denny's said the company "has a history of using humor in its television advertising."

A story at the Irish Central news site notes that a page on Facebook is urging people to boycott Denny's.

Today marks the anniversary of President Ulysses S. Grant, with a stroke of the pen, designating Yellowstone as the first National Park. On March 1, 1872 Grant signed a remarkable piece of legislation which resulted from Congress being motivated by what an astounding government expedition had discovered.

Rumors about spectacular scenery in the American west were verified as much more than the tall tales of mountain men when Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden led a hardy and brainy group into the wilderness in 1871. Mapmakers, scientists, and even an official photographer for the expedition explored the region called Yellowstone, and were stunned by what they saw.

The discoveries galvanized people back east thanks to the work of William Henry Jackson, who took a series of brilliant stereoscopic photographs of the Yellowstone expedition. Jackson's work impressed members of Congress, who used viewers that made the images appear three-dimensional, and they decided the vast tract of wilderness had to be protected for future generations.

Eighteen years later, thanks to John Muir and others, California's Yosemite was declared the second National Park. And the creation of America's National Parks stands as one of the 19th century's greatest gifts to us.

Image: Ferdinand V. Hayden, who led the Yellowstone Expedition/Library of Congress

The news coverage of the earthquake in Chile, and the subsequent tsunami warnings, often included a mention of one of the great cataclysms of recorded history, the eruption of the volcano at Krakatoa, an island in the Pacific Ocean, in 1883.

The massive destructive power unleashed at Krakatoa, in which the island essentially blew itself apart, triggered tidal waves that killed tens of thousands of people. Accounts of the horrendous events in the Pacific were transmitted by telegraph, making the event one of the world's first global media events. Astoundingly, citizens of New York and London were reading newspaper reports of the great volcano's eruptions within hours of the blasts.

The news traveled fast, but the effects of Krakatoa lingered for a long time. People around the world were spooked by bizarre red sunsets for more than a year, a result of tons of pumice thrown into the earth's atmosphere by the volcano. And to this day the eruption at Krakatoa is a yardstick against which all natural disasters are measured.

Illustration: The volcano at Krakatoa/Library of Congress