Just finished my first run through of what went on in 1848. Since those were all world and NOT a U.S. revolution I was generally unfamiliar with them.
I think 2020 has been unique because of so many unexpected, impactful events occurring during the year. I will now reread 1848 and put those which I might consider equivalent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1848
It is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the political and philosophical landscape and had major ramifications throughout the rest of the century.
January 24 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California.
February 2
Mexican–American War – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Mexico cedes virtually all of what becomes the Southwestern United States to the U.S. The unincorporated California Territory becomes a provisional official possession; it is never organized by the United States Congress as a territory, but directly passes the requirements for statehood in 1850.
February 21 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei) in London.
April 27 – The second abolition of slavery in France and its colonies initiated by Victor Schœlcher.
August 19 – California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States that there is a gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
August 28 – Louisy Mathieu becomes the first black member to join the French Parliament, as a representative of Guadeloupe.
November 7 – 1848 United States presidential election: Whig Zachary Taylor of Louisiana defeats Democrat Lewis Cass of Michigan, in the first U.S. presidential election held in every state on the same day.
November 24 – Pope Pius IX flees Rome in disguise for Naples.
December 2 – Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicates in favor of his nephew, Franz Joseph, who will serve as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia, until his death in 1916.
December 10 – Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte is elected first president of the French Second Republic.
In sum, tons of violence that year with a lot of political upheaval. On a scale of 1-10 that year had to be an 11 while this year in that regard is probably at a 1!
Vinny