Events in History
- Feb 8 1st US Vice-President chosen by Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren admin)
- Feb 10 Russian poet Alexander Pushkin is fatally injured in a duel with French officer Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès (1/29 OS)
- Feb 11 American Physiological Society organizes in Boston
- Feb 13 Riot in New York due to a combination of poverty and increase in the cost of flour
Event of Interest
Feb 17 Charles Lyell makes his presidential address to the Geographical Society, London and announces that Richard Owen has concluded from Darwin's fossils that extinct species were related to current species in the same locality
Charles Lyell
Event of Interest
Mar 3 US President Andrew Jackson and Congress recognize the Republic of Texas
Andrew Jackson
President Inaugurated
Mar 4 Martin Van Buren inaugurated as the 8th President of the United States
Martin Van Buren
Event of Interest
May 6 US blacksmith John Deere creates the first steel plough in Grand Detour, Illinois
John Deere
- May 9 "Sherrod" burns in the Mississippi River below Natchez, Mississippi; 175 die
- May 10 Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- May 25 The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.
- May 31 Astor Hotel opens in NYC, it later becomes the Waldorf-Astoria
- Jun 11 The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans
- Jun 13 1st Mormon missionaries to British Isles leave Kirtland, Ohio
Historic Invention
Jun 17 Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent
Charles Goodyear
- Jun 18 Spain gets new Constitution
Event of Interest
Jun 20 Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV. She rules for 63 years till 1901
Queen Victoria
- Jul 4 Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool
- Jul 13 Queen Victoria is 1st monarch to live in present Buckingham Palace
Opening of Euston Station
Jul 20 Euston railway station opens in London as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), the city's 1st intercity railway station
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- Jul 25 The first commercial use of an electric telegraph successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London
- Jul 27 US Mint opens in Charlotte, North Carolina
- Aug 5 1st ascent of Mt Marcy (5,344') highest in Adirondack, NY
- Aug 28 Pharmacists John Lea & William Perrins manufacture Worcestershire Sauce
Event of Interest
Aug 31 Ralph Waldo Emerson gives his famous "The American Scholar" speech to Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, declares American literary independence from Europe
Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Sep 6 Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio goes co-ed (4 women, 30 men)
Event of Interest
Sep 18 Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young co-found a "stationery and fancy goods emporium" in New York City, later renamed in 1853 as "Tiffany & Co."
Charles Lewis Tiffany
- Oct 1 "Racer's" Hurricane (Gulf of Mexico)
- Oct 1 Treaty with Winnebago Indians
- Oct 9 Steamboat "Home" sinks off Okracoke, North Carolina, killing 100
- Oct 9 Meeting at the U.S. Naval Academy establishes the U.S. Naval Institute.
- Oct 31 Collision of river boat Monmouth & Trement on Mississippi; 300 die
- Nov 7 In Alton, Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy shot dead (age 34) by pro-slavery mob while attempting to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a third time.
- Nov 8 Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts founded - 1st US college founded for women
Pitman Shorthand: An Invention of Note
Nov 15 Isaac Pitman introduces his shorthand system of writing
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Historic Publication
Nov 18 Letter by Göttingen Seven published protesting abolition of constitution of Kingdom of Hanover, by seven professors including Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Jacob Grimm
Wilhelm Grimm
- Nov 19 Floridsdorf-Deutsch Wagram railway in Austria opens
- Nov 21 Thomas Morris of Australia skips rope 22,806 times
- Dec 5 Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada
- Dec 25 Battle of Okeechobee-US forces defeat Seminole Indians
- Dec 29 Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo
- Dec 29 Steam-powered threshing machine patented in Winthrop, Maine
Birthdays in History
- Jan 5 Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet & writer [or Apr 5], born in London, United Kingdom (d. 1909)
- Jan 16 James Phillip Simms, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1887)
- Jan 19 William Williams Keen, surgeon (brain)
- Jan 20 David Josiah Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1910)
- Feb 5 Dwight Lyman Moody, American evangelist (Student Volunteer Movement)
- Feb 7 James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (Oxford English Dictionary), born in Denholm, Scotland (d. 1915)
- Feb 9 Jose Burgos, Filipino Catholic priest, born in Vigan, Philippines
- Feb 17 Francis Jay Herron, American Major General (Union Army), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1902)
- Feb 17 Sam[uel] van Houten, Dutch (lib) minister (child labor laws)
- Feb 24 Rosalía de Castro, Santiago de Compostela Galician writer and poet ('Séculos Escuros') (d. 1885)
- Feb 26 Charles Woeste, Belgian count, Minister of Justice, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1922)
- Mar 1 Ion Creanga, Romanian fairy tale author (Amintiti the Copilarie)
- Mar 1 William Dean Howells, American novelist/critic/editor (Atlantic)
- Mar 7 Henry Draper, American astronomer (Moon, Orion Nebula), born in Prince Edward County, Virginia (d. 1882)
- Mar 14 Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (Expansive classification), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1903)
Grover Cleveland
Mar 18 Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th US President (1885-89, 1893-97), born in Caldwell, New Jersey (d. 1908)
Grover Cleveland
- Mar 19 Robert Daniel Johnston, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1919)
- Mar 24 Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and son of Leopold I, born in Royal Castle of Laeken, Belgium (d. 1905)
- Mar 31 Robert Ross McBurney, 1st paid secretary of the YMCA
- Apr 3 John Burroughs, American writer and nature enthusiast (Burroughs Medal namesake), born in Delaware County, New York (d. 1921)
- Apr 5 Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet (Atalanta in Calydon), born in London (d. 1909)
- Apr 10 Forceythe Willson, American poet (The Old Sergeant), born in Little Genesee, New York (d. 1867)
- Apr 11 Elmer E. Ellsworth, American soldier who was the 1st Union officer killed in the American Civil War, born in Malta, New York (d. 1861)
- Apr 15 Horace Porter, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (d. 1921)
J. P. Morgan
Apr 17 J. P. Morgan, Sr. [John Pierpont], American financier and banker (General Electric, Steel Corporation, AT&T), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1913)
J. P. Morgan
- Apr 21 Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician, feminist and pacifist politician (Nobel 1908), born in Næstved, Denmark (d. 1922)
- Apr 24 Friedrich von Holstein, German civil servant (head of the political department of the German Foreign Office), born in Schwedt, Brandenburg, Germany (d. 1909)
- Apr 29 Georges Boulanger, French general and politician, born in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, France (d. 1891)
- May 2 Henry Martyn Robert, American soldier and parliamentarian (Robert's Rules of Order), born in Robertville, South Carolina (d. 1927)
- May 10 Pinckney B S Pinchback, Lt gov (Louisiana)
- May 23 James Sanks Brisbin, American educator, lawyer, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1892)
Wild Bill Hickok
May 27 "Wild Bill" Hickok [James Butler], American cowboy and scout, born in Troy Grove, Illinois (d. 1876)
Wild Bill Hickok
- May 27 Robert Hoke, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Lincolnton, North Carolina (d. 1912)
- May 27 Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and art critic, born in Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1887)
- May 28 George Ashlin, Irish architect noted for his work on churches and cathedrals, born in County Cork, Ireland (d. 1921)
- May 28 Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1908)
- May 29 Alexander de Savornin Lohman, Dutch minister and party leader (CHU), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1924)
- May 31 Ernest Daudet, French journalist and writer (White Terror), born in Nîmes, France (d. 1921)
- May 31 William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Arlington House, Virginia (d. 1891)
- May 31 Stephen Dodson Ramseur, American general and the youngest West Pointer to be Major General, born in Lincolnton, North Carolina (d. 1864)
- Jun 7 Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler, born in Strones, Waldviertel, Austrian Empire (d. 1903)
- Jun 8 Moritz Heyne, German germanist (Beowulf), born in Weissenfels, Germany (d. 1906)
- Jun 16 Eli Long, Bvt Major General (Union Army), (d. 1903)
- Jun 17 Strong Vincent, American army officer (died famously at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg), born in Waterford, Pennsylvania (d.1863)
- Jun 26 Martin Davis Hardin II, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Jacksonville, Illinois (d. 1923)
- Jun 26 Victor Girardey, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Lauw, France (d. 1864)
- Jul 15 Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, queen of Portugal (d. 1859)
- Jul 18 Vasil Levski, Bulgarian revolutionary, born in Karlovo, Rumelia, Bulgaria (d. 1873)
- Jul 30 Elon John Farnsworth, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Green Oak, Michigan (d. 1863)
- Jul 31 William Quantrill, American guerrilla leader in the Confederate Army, born in Canal Dover, Ohio (d. 1865)
- Aug 11 Marie François Sadi Carnot, President of France (1887-94), born in Limoges, France (d. 1894)
- Aug 16 Emile A. H. Seipgens, Dutch priest, writer and beer brewer, born in Roermond, Netherlands (d. 1837)
- Aug 30 Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, US 1st Lady (1881-85), born in Culpeper Court House, Virginia (d. 1880)
- Sep 2 James Harrison Wilson, American topographic engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Shawneetown, Illinois (d. 1925)
- Sep 14 Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician, born in Georgia, Russian Empire (d. 1903)
- Sep 16 Pedro V van Alcantara, King of Portugal (1853-61), born in Lisbon (d. 1861)
- Sep 18 Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos, Portuguese Roman Catholic Archbishop of Goa, born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal (d. 1880)
- Oct 14 Ellison Capers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1908)
- Oct 18 Friedrich Wilhelm Mengelberg, German-Dutch sculptor and architect of church interiors, born in Cologne (d. 1919)
- Oct 26 James Lawlor Kieran, Irish-American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Mountbellew, County Galway (d. 1869)
- Oct 28 Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th and last shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, born in Edo, Japan (d. 1913)
- Oct 29 Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1901-05), born in Maassluis, Netherlands (d. 1920)
- Oct 29 Harriet Powers, African-American slave and quilt maker (Bible Quilt 1886), born in Clarke County, Georgia (d. 1910)
- Nov 2 Émile Bayard, French artist and illustrator, born in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Seine-et-Marne, France (d. (1891)
- Nov 9 Gerrit Jan van Heek, Dutch textile manufacturer and politician, born in Enschede, Netherlands (d. 1915)
- Nov 13 James T. Rapier, African-American politician, born in Florence, Alabama (d. 1883)
- Nov 17 David Capriles, director of psychiatry of Monte Christo, Curacao
Johannes van der Waals
Nov 23 Johannes van der Waals, Dutch physicist (Nobel 1910, Liquid and Gas States), born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1923)
Johannes van der Waals
- Nov 28 John Wesley Hyatt, American inventor who simplified the production of celluloid, born in Starkey, New York (d. 1920)
- Dec 2 Charles Garrison Harker, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Swedesboro, New Jersey (d. 1864)
- Dec 14 William Wells, American businessman, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Waterbury, Vermont (d. 1892)
- Dec 18 A Adolf Daens, Belgian priest/Dutch party founder (CVP)
- Dec 19 John Carpenter Carter, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1864)
- Dec 24 Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1898)
George Dewey
Dec 26 George Dewey, American admiral, naval hero in Battle of Manila Bay, born in Montpelier, Vermont (d. 1917)
George Dewey
Deaths in History
- Jan 20 John Soane, English architect (Book of Designs, Soane Museum), dies at 84
- Feb 7 Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden (1792-1809), dies at 58
- Feb 10 Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and writer (Eugene Onegin), killed in a duel at 37
- Feb 12 Ludwig Borne [Loeb Baruch], German-Jewish writer, dies at 50
- Feb 13 Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and writer (b. 1809
- Feb 19 Georg Büchner, German playwright (b. 1813)
- Mar 13 Nikita P Panin, Russian diplomat and minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 66
- Mar 29 Maria Fitzherbert, morganatic wife of King George IV, dies
- Mar 31 John Constable, English landscape painter (Hay Wain), dies at 60
- Apr 17 Edouard viscount de Walckiers, South Netherland banker and politician, dies at 78
- May 8 Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman, dies at 66
Joseph Grimaldi
May 31 Joseph Grimaldi, English pantomimist and the "greatest clown in history", dies at 57
Joseph Grimaldi
- Jun 14 Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (The Poems of Leopardi), dies at 38
- Jun 19 Aleksander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, Russian author, dies in battle at 39
- Jun 20 William IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1830-37), dies at 71
- Jul 24 Charles Hodges, English/Dutch portrait painter
- Aug 1 Walter Geikie, Scottish painter, dies at 41
- Aug 9 Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b. 1787)
- Sep 30 Tsultrim Gyatso, 10th Dalai Lama, dies at 21
- Oct 1 Robert Clark, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from New York (1819-21), dies at 60
- Oct 5 Hortense de Beauharnais, French Queen of Holland (1806-10), dies at 54
- Oct 9 Charles Fourier, French utopian socialist (Harmony universal), dies
- Oct 12 Frederica Louisa Wilhelmina, Queen of Netherlands, dies at 62
- Oct 12 Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (1815-37), dies at 62
- Oct 15 Ivan Dmitriev, Russian statesman and poet, dies at 77
- Nov 4 Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert, French dermatologist, dies at 69
- Nov 7 Elijah Parish Lovejoy, American newspaper publisher and abolitionist, murdered at 34
- Nov 30 Deaf Smith, American frontiersman and revolutionary, dies at 50
- Dec 13 Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox hermit (b. 1756)
- Dec 26 Martinus van Marum, chemist/physicist (giant salamander), dies at 87