While Russia was outlawing serfdom, the London Underground began running
Progress moves at a different pace in each individual country. While the population of one region may be enjoying the benefits of new technological innovations, others elsewhere might still be fighting for fundamental rights, as was the case in 1861.
That was the year the first London Underground station opened in the United Kingdom, which ran from Paddington to Farringdon Street. Meanwhile, in Russia, serfdom was finally abolished. For almost 200 years, peasants had been practically enslaved by their landowners.