March 1861 in History

Events in History

Emancipation of the Serfs

Mar 3 Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them the full rights of free citizens [O.S. Feb 19]

Peasants Reading the Emancipation Manifesto, an 1873 painting by Grigory Myasoyedov

President Inaugurated

Mar 4 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th US President

Mar 4 Confederate States adopt "Stars & Bars" flag (US Civil War)
Mar 4 US President Abraham Lincoln opens Government Printing Office
Mar 6 Provisionary Confederate Congress establishes Confederate Army
Mar 8 St Augustine Florida surrenders to Union armies
Mar 9 Us Confederate currency authorized - $50, $100, $500, $1,000
Mar 10 West African political leader El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Segou, destroying the Bambara Empire of Mali
Mar 11 Confederate convention in Montgomery adopts constitution (US Civil War)
Mar 16 Arizona Territory votes to leave the Union (US Civil War)
Mar 16 Confederate government appoints commissioners to Britain

Sam Houston Evicted

Mar 16 Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who is evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy (US Civil War)

Unification of Italy

Mar 17 Italy is unified into a single kingdom under Victor Emmanuel II following the campaigns led by Giuseppe Garibaldi

Mar 19 The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand
Mar 20 An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina
Mar 22 1st US nursing school chartered
Mar 23 London's 1st tramcars, designed by Mr Train of NY, begins operating
Mar 31 Confederacy takes over mint at New Orleans (US Civil War)

Birthdays in History

Mar 19 Lomer Gouin, Quebec politician (d. 1929)
Mar 23 Uchimura Kanzō, Japanese religious writer and pacifist (How I Became a Christian), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1930)
Mar 30 Gratton Hanley "Grat" Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (The Dalton Gang), born in Lawrence, Kansas (d. 1892)