Important Events in 1857
- Jan 24 University of Calcutta founded as the first full-fledged university in South Asia
- Mar 3 Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China
- Mar 6 Dred Scott Decision: US Supreme Court rules Africans cannot be US citizens
- May 10 Indian mutiny against rule by the British East India Company begins with the revolt of the Sepoy soldiers in Meerut
- Jun 26 The first 62 recipients are awarded the Victoria Cross for valour in the Crimean war by Queen Victoria
More Historical Events
Did You Know?
Did You Know?James Gibbs of Virginia, patents the chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine
On June 2, 1857
Edward Elgar
Joseph Conrad
Milton S. Hershey
Robert Baden-Powell
Tim Keefe
William Howard TaftFamous People in 1857
Charles Dickens
Novelist- Giuseppe Verdi
Composer
Charles Dickens
Giuseppe VerdiWorld Leaders in 1857
- Henry John Temple
British Prime Minister - James Buchanan
15th US President
Henry John Temple
James BuchananWould You Believe?
Mountain Meadows Massacre, Mormons dressed as Indians murder 120 colonists in Utah
On September 11, 1857
Famous Weddings in 1857
- Jan 10 Novelist Jules Verne (28) weds Honorine de Viane Morel
- Jun 6 Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway
- Jul 16 Confederate general Thomas Jackson (33) weds Mary Anna Morrison in Lincoln County
More Weddings & Divorces
Famous People Who Died in 1857
- Jan 20 Edward Francis Fitzwilliam, English composer, dies at 32
- Jan 27 Dorothea von Benckendorff, Baltic monarch of Lieven, dies at 72
- Feb 7 Félix de Merode, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War and Finance, dies at 65
- Feb 9 Dionysios Solomos, Greek poet of the Greek national anthem, dies at 58
- Feb 10 David Thompson, English-Canadian explorer (Columbia River), dies at 86
More Famous Deaths
1857 in Articles and Photos
The Indian Mutiny
Mutineers are executed by the Bengal Horse Artillery, in a painting by Orlando Noire
May 10, 1857Fort Knox-style Security for Folger Library
In 2020 a First Folio of William Shakespeare’s works was sold at auction in New York for nearly ten million dollars. And the Folger Library has 82 of them.
June 18, 1857
