On This Day

What Happened in March 1854

Historical Events

  • Mar 1 SS City of Glasgow leaves Liverpool harbour with approximately 480 passengers and crew; she was never seen again
  • Mar 1 German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.
  • Mar 1 16th Grand National: John Tasker wins aboard race favourite Bourton at 4/1
  • Mar 7 Charles Miller patents 1st US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Mar 8 US Commodore Matthew C. Perry's second trip to Japan

Commodore of the US Navy Matthew C. Perry
Commodore of the US Navy
Matthew C. Perry
  • Mar 17 1st park land purchased by a US city, Worcester, Massachusetts
  • Mar 28 Britain and France declare war on Russia during the Crimean War
  • Mar 31 Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to opens ports to US

Famous Birthdays

  • Mar 4 Sir Napier Shaw, British meteorologist (d. 1945)
  • Mar 8 Tom Horan, Australian cricketer (Ireland Pioneering Aust all-rounder), born in Midleton, Ireland (d. 1916)
  • Mar 14 Paul Ehrlich, German bacteriologist and physician (Chemotherapy, Nobel Prize 1908), Strehlen, Lower Silesia, German Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1915)
  • Mar 14 Thomas Riley Marshall, 28th Vice President of U.S. (1913-21), born in North Manchester, Indiana (d. 1925)
  • Mar 14 Alexandru Macedonski, Romanian writer, born in Bucharest (d. 1920)
  • Mar 14 John Lane, British publisher (The Bodley Head), born in Devon (d. 1925)
  • Mar 15 Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician; Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
  • Mar 21 Alick Bannerman, Australian cricketer (28 Tests for Australia 1878-93, 1108 runs), born in Paddington, New South Wales (d. 1924)
  • Mar 23 Alfred Milner, Giessen Germany, British governor (Cape colony)
  • Mar 26 Braulio Dueno Colon, Puerto Rican composer, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico (d. 1934)
  • Mar 31 Dugald Clerk, inventor (2-stroke motorcycle engine)

Famous Deaths

  • Mar 6 Caspar GC Reinwardt, German/Dutch biologist, dies at 80
  • Mar 6 Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, British soldier and politician (b. 1778)
  • Mar 11 Willard Richards, American physician and religious leader, dies at 49


What Happened in 1854