On This Day

December 1848 in History

Events in History


Event of interestEvent of Interest

Dec 2 Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia

Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I
Austro-Hungarian Emperor
Franz Joseph I

InventionScientific Discovery

Dec 5 US President James K. Polk triggers Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California

11th US President James Knox Polk
11th US President
James Knox Polk
  • Dec 25 New Haven Railroad opens
  • Dec 26 1st gold seekers arrive in Panama en route to San Francisco
  • Dec 26 William & Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia
  • Dec 26 The Phi Delta Theta fraternity is founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
  • Dec 29 Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration)

Birthdays in History

  • Dec 9 Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (created Uncle Remus stories), born in Eatonton, Georgia (d. 1908)
  • Dec 15 Edwin Blashfield, American painter who decorated the dome of Library of Congress, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1936)

Deaths in History

  • Dec 18 Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1781)
  • Dec 19 Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam, Dutch governor (South Holland), dies at 77

Person of interestEmily Brontë

Dec 19 Emily Brontë, English novelist (Wuthering Heights), dies of tuberculosis at 30

Writer Emily Brontë
Writer
Emily Brontë