References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1855 January 9 Clipper Guiding Star disappears in Atlantic, 480 dies. [1] January 10 Mary Russell Mitford English playwright/poet (Julian), dies at age 67. [1] January 23 In Wellington, New Zealand, a magnitude 8.0 - 8.2 earthquake occurs. Four people died, one in Wellington and three in Wairarapa. [53] January 25 Dorothy Wordsworth writer, dies at age 83. [1] January 26 Gérard de Nerval [Labrunie], French poet/writer, dies at age 46. [1] January 31 Western railroads blocked by snow. [1] February 3 Wisconsin Supreme Court declares US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional. [1] February 4 Soldiers shoot Jewish families in Coro, Venezuela. [1] February 5 British government of Palmerston forms. [1] February 20 Joseph Hume social reformer, dies. [1] February 23 Carl Friedrich Gauss mathematician, dies. [1] February 24 US Court of Claims established for cases against the government. [1] March 2 Aleksandr Romanov becomes tsar of Russia. [1] Nicholas I Pavlovitch tsar of Russia (1825-55), dies at age 58. [1] March 3 US Congress approves $30,000 to test camels for military use. [1] Registration of letters authorized byUS Congress. [1] March 6 Gustave Flaubert writes goodbye to Louise Colet. [1] March 8 First train crosses first US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls. [1] March 15 Louisiana establishes first health board to regulate quarantine. [1] March 17 Ramon Carnicer y Batlle composer, dies at age 65. [1] March 24 Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston KS. [1] March 27 Abraham Gesner patents kerosene. [1] March 31 Charlotte Brontë English author (Jane Eyre), dies at age 38. [1] April 18 Jean-Baptiste Isabey painter, dies. [1] April 24 Walenty Karol Kratzer composer, dies at age 75. [1] April 26 Composer Gioacchino Rossini leaves Italy. [1] April 28 First veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston. [1] April 30 Henry Rowley Bishop British composer/conductor, dies at age 68. [1] May 3 Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens. [1] May 4 Camille Pleyel Austria piano builder/composer, dies at age 66. [1] May 5 New York City regains Castle Clinton, to be used for immigration. [1] May 15 Jan Mazereeuw Frisian farmer/sect leader, dies at age 75. [1] May 27 Nikolaj A Bestoezjev Russian writer/painter (Account of Holland), dies. [1] June 1 US adventurer Wm Walker conquers Nicaragua, reestablishes slavery. [1] June 5 Anti-foreign anti-Roman Catholic Know-Nothing Party's first convention. [1] June 13 The opera "Les Vêpres Sicilenne" is produced (Paris). [1] August 9 Battle of Acapulco during Mexican Liberal uprising. [1] Antonio López de Santa Anna resigns (11th and last time) as President of Mexico. [118.61] October 9 Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass patents first calliope. [1] October 17 Bessemer steelmaking process patented. [1] 1856 January 5 Pierre J David [David d'Angers], French sculptor, dies at age 67. [1] January 8 Dr John A Veatch discovers borax, Tuscan Springs California. [1] January 11 Nikolai I Nadezjdin Russian archaeologist, dies. [1] January 12 L'udovít Stúr Slovaaks author/linguistic (Das Slawentum), dies at age 40. [1] January 17 Thomas Attwood Walmisley composer, dies at age 41. [1] January 23 Steamer Pacific lost. [1] January 25 Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers and Indians. [1] January 29 Victoria Cross established to acknowledge bravery. [1] February 17 Heinrich Heine German poet, dies at age 58 in Paris. [1] John Braham singer/composer, dies at age 81. [1] February 18 American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy. [1] February 19 Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier Ohio. [1] February 20 John Rutledge, Liverpool-New York steamer, hits iceberg; many die. [1] February 22 First national meeting of the Republican Party (Pittsburgh). [1] February 29 Hostilities in Russo-Turkish War cease. [1] March 5 Covent Garden Opera House destroyed in a fire. [1] Georgia becomes first state to regulate railroads. [1] March 19 The Electoral Act of the Colony of Victoria (Australia) enacts the first law requiring parliamentary election by secret ballot vote. [55.22] March 25 A E Burnside patents Burnside carbine. [1] March 28 Pyotr Ivanovich Turchaninov composer, dies at age 76. [1] March 30 Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War. [1] April 3 Gunpowder in church explodes killing 4,000 in Rhodos. [1] April 11 Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats Wm Walker's invading Nicaraguans. [1] April 18 Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns. [1] April 21 First railroad bridge across Mississippi River, Rock Island IL-Davenport IA. [1] April 29 End of Crimean War. [1] May 3 Adolfo Fumagalli composer, dies at age 27. [1] Adolphe Charles Adam French composer/critic (Giselle), dies at age 52. [1] May 6 William Hamilton metaphysicist, dies. [1] May 7 Argentine and Brazilian sign a navigation pact. [1] May 15 Second San Francisco Vigilance Committee organized. [1] May 19 Senator Charles Sumner, Massachusetts, spoke out against slavery. [1] May 21 Lawrence Kansas captured, sacked by pro-slavery forces. [1] May 22 Violence in Senate, South Carolina Representative Brooks used a cane on Massachusetts Senator Sumner. [1] May 24 Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas. [1] May 27 Doctor William Palmer found guilty of poisoning. [1] June 17 Republican Party opens its first national convention in Philadelphia. [1] July 15 Natal established as a British colony separate from Cape Colony. [1] July 17 Sunday school excursion train collides killing 46 children (Philadelphia). [1] August 10 Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana. [1] August 27 The first parliamentary election by secret ballot is held for the Victoria Leguislature. [55.22] September 14 Battle of San Jacinto, Nicaragua defeats invaders. [1] October 19 James Kelly and Jack Smith fight bareknuckle for 6h15m in Melbourne. [1] October 24 Constitution of South Australia adopted. [1] 1857 January 2 Birth of Frederick Opper cartoonist (Willie and His Papa, Maud the Mule, Alphonse and Gaston). [1] January 6 Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Pennsylvania. [1] January 8 Dion Boucicauly's "Poor of NY" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] January 9 In Fort Tejon, California, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs on the San Andreas fault, which ruptured a distance of about 300 kilometers. [1] [53] January 20 Edward Francis Fitzwilliam composer, dies at age 32. [1] January 27 Dorothea von Benckendorff Baltic monarch of Lieven, dies at age 72. [1] February 7 Félix PBOG Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War, dies at age 65. [1] February 14 Johannes B van Bree Dutch violinist/composer/conductor, dies at age 56. [1] February 15 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka Russian composer, dies at age 53. [1] February 16 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers French engraver, dies at age 77. [1] Elisha Kent Kane Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at age 37. [1] Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms (Washington DC). [1] February 18 Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo. [1] February 21 US Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US. [1] US issues flying eagle cents. [1] February 24 First perforated US postage stamps delivered to the government. [1] Los Angeles Vineyard Society organized. [1] February 26 Ole Andreas Lindeman composer, dies at age 88. [1] March 6 Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court rules slaves cannot be citizens. [1] March 11 Manuel José Quintana Spanish author/poet (A la paz), dies at age 84. [1] March 12 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Simon Boccanegra" premieres in Venice. [1] March 17 Adolph Trube composer, dies at age 42. [1] March 21 Abraham J van der Aa lexicographer (Biograph dictionary), dies at age 64. [1] Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die. [1] March 23 Elisha Otis' first elevator installed (488 Broadway, New York City). [1] March 25 Frederick Laggenheim takes first photo of a solar eclipse. [1] April 12 Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" published. [1] April 21 Alexander Douglas patents the bustle. [1] April 27 Establishment of Jewish congregations in Lower Austria prohibited. [1] April 29 US Army, Pacific Division headquarters is permanently established at Presidio (San Francisco). [1] April 30 San Jose State University forms. [1] May 1 William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to US Navy. [1] May 2 LC Alfred the Musset French poet (Lesson caprices Marianne), dies. [1] May 10 Indian Mutiny begins with revolt of Sepoys of Meerutkazerne, Delhi. [1] May 11 E François Vidocq French criminalogist/police officer, dies at age 81. [1] May 19 William Francis Channing and Moses G Farmer patents electric fire alarm. [1] June 2 James Gibbs, Virginia., patents chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine. [1] June 15 San Francisco Water Works organized. [1] June 27 H Goldschmidt discovers asteroid #45 Eugenia. [1] September 12 423 die when "Central America" sinks off Cape Romain South Carolina. [1] September 16 Typesetting machine patent. [1] September 30 US occupies Sand, Baker, Howland and Jarvis Is. south of Hawaii. [1] October 6 American Chess Association organized; first major US chess tournament (New York City). [1] October 10 American Chess Association formed (New York City). [1] December 3 Christian D Rauch German sculptor, dies at age 80. [1] December 8 First production of Dion Boucicaults "Poor of New York". [1] December 11 François Henri Joseph Castil-Blaze composer, dies at age 73. [1] December 16 Birth of Edward Emerson Barnard Tennesee, astronomer (Jupiter's 5th satellite). [1] In Naples, Italy, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs. 11,000 dead. [1] [53] December 29 Franz Liszt's "Die Hunnenschlacht" premieres in Weimar. [1] December 31 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada. [1] 1858 January 1 Canada begins using decimal currency system. [1] January 3 Rachel [Elisabeth Rachel-Félix], French singer/actress (Muse), dies at age 36. [1] January 5 Johann Radetzky von Radetz Austrian earl/field marshal, dies at age 91. [1] January 7 Willem Broes vicar/theologist (Textenrol), dies at age 91. [1] January 8 Friedrich Karl Kuhmstedt composer, dies at age 48. [1] January 10 Birth of Heinrich Zille German cartoonist (Cheerful Blätter, Simplicissimus). [1] January 14 French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed. [1] January 25 Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" first played, at wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia. [1] January 27 Gerrit van der Linde Jz Dutch "Principal", poet, dies at age 49. [1] January 28 John Brown organized raid on Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. [1] January 30 Charles Hallé founds Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. [1] William Wells Brown published first Black drama, "Leap to Freedom". [1] February 11 First apparition of Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes France. [1] February 13 Sir Richard Burton and John Speake explore Lake Tanganyika, Africa. [1] February 16 Georg F Creuzer German philological/historian, dies at age 86. [1] February 19 Alois Basil Nikolaus Tomasini composer, dies at age 78. [1] February 21 Edwin T Holmes installs first electric burglar alarm (Boston Massachusetts). [1] February 22 Dion Boucicault's "Jessie Brown" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] March 2 Frederick Cook, New Orleans, patents a cotton-bale metallic tie. [1] March 3 József Bajza Hungarian author/poet/critic, dies at age 54. [1] March 8 Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci" is produced (Naples). [1] March 9 Albert Potts of Philadelphia patents the street mailbox. [1] March 18 Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns. [1] March 23 Streetcar patented (Eleazer A Gardner of Philadelphia). [1] March 30 Pencil with attached eraser patented (Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia). [1] April 3 Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm Austrian composer, dies at age 79. [1] April 7 Anton Diabelli Austria publisher/composer, dies at age 76. [1] April 8 Anton Diabelli Austrian composer/publisher, dies at age 76. [1] April 12 First US billiards championship is held in Detroit (Michael J Phelan wins). [1] April 15 Battle of Azimghur, Mexicans defeat Spanish loyalists. [1] April 16 Johann Baptist Cramer German/British pianist/composer/publisher, dies at age 87. [1] May 4 War of the Reform (México); Liberals establish capital at Vera Cruz. [1] May 8 John Brown holds antislavery convention. [1] May 11 Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state. [1] May 15 Royal Italian Opera opens in Covent Garden London. [1] May 22 Confederación Granadina (now Colombia) forms. [1] May 24 Birth of Johan C Braakensiek political cartoonist (Green Amsterdammer). [1] May 28 Dion Boucicault's "Foul Play" premieres in London. [1] May 30 Hudson Bay Company's rights to Vancouver Island revoked. [1] June 2 Donati Comet first seen named after its discoverer. [1] June 21 Louisiana chess prodigy Paul Morphy arrives in Europe. [1] June 29 Treaty of Algun, China cedes north bank of Amur River to Russia. [1] July 2 Partial emancipation of Russian serfs. [1] July 29 First commercial treaty between US and Japan signed. [1] US citizens allowed to live anywhere in Japan. [1] July 31 In Dublin, Ireland, Richard Dixon Oldham is born; geologist and seismologist, discovered the evidence for the existence of the Earth's core. [53] August 2 First street mailboxes-Boston, Massachusetts [1] August 5 Cyrus W Field completes first transatlantic telegraph cable. [1] August 15 Regular mail to the Pacific coast begins. [1] August 16 Britain's Queen Victoria telegraphs President James Buchanan. [1] August 17 First bank in Hawaii opens. [1] August 21 First Lincoln-Douglas debate (Illinois). [1] September 1 First transatlantic cable fails after less than one month. [1] September 8 Lincoln makes a speech about when you can fool people. [1] September 16 First overland mail for California. [1] September 28 Donati's comet becomes the first to be photographed. [1] October 27 RH Macy and Co opens first store, (6th Ave-New York City) Gross receipts $1106. [1] November 9 First performance of New York Symphony Orchestra. [1] November 17 Origin of Modified Julian Period. [1] December 12 First Canadian coins circulated (1, 5, 10, and 20 cent pieces). [1] December 16 Dutch government decides to vacate Schokland Island. [1] Richard Bright British Dr (Bright's disease/nephritis), dies at age 69. [1] December 18 Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees composer, dies at age 81. [1] Passy, at Paris: first "Samedi soir" i/d villa of lovers Rossini. [1] December 27 Alexandre Pierre François Boely composer, dies at age 73. [1] 1859 January 5 First steamboat sails, Red River. [1] January 8 Antoine GB Schayes Belgian historian/archaeologist, dies at age 50. [1] January 20 B v Arnim writer, dies at age 73. [1] Bettina Brentano composer, dies at age 73. [1] January 22 Brahms' first piano concerto (in D minor) premieres, Hanover. [1] January 27 Carl A Agardh Swedish botanist/bishop of Karlstad, dies at age 74. [1] February 6 Johannes Josephus Viotta composer, dies at age 45. [1] February 10 General Horsford defeats Begum of Oude and Nana Sahib in Indian mutiny. [1] February 14 Oregon admitted as 33rd state of the USA. [1] February 17 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Un Ballo in maschera" premieres at the Apollo Theatre in Rome. [1] February 19 Dan Sickles is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity first time this defense is successfully used. [1] February 25 First use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence. [1] February 26 Ferdinand Lukas Schubert composer, dies at age 64. [1] Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins. [1] February 28 Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery. [1] March 1 Josef Theodor Krov composer, dies at age 61. [1] Present seal of San Francisco adopted (its second). [1] March 18 Vera Cruz besieged by Miramón (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform. [1] March 19 Charles François Gounod's opera "Faust" premieres in Paris France. [1] March 21 Scottish National Gallery opens in Edinburgh. [1] Zoological Society of Philadelphia, first in US, incorporated. [1] March 26 First sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury. [1] March 28 First performance of John Brahms' first Serenade for orchestra. [1] April 4 The opera "Dinorah" is produced (Paris France). [1] April 6 US recognizes Liberal government in México's War of the Reform. [1] April 12 Hibernia Savings and Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates. [1] John Emde German evangelist, dies at about age 84. [1] April 14 Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" published. [1] April 25 Ground broken for Suez Canal. [1] April 27 "Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard. [1] April 30 Paul Morphy returns from 10-month chess tour of Europe, retires. [1] Sergei T Aksakov Russian writer (Bagrova-vnuka), dies at age 67. [1] May 5 Peter G L Dirichlet German mathematician, dies at age 53. [1] May 6 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander explorer/scientist, dies. [1] May 10 Johan archduke of Austria (Firechief and Housewife), dies. [1] May 22 Ferdinand II [Re Bomba] Dutch King of Sicily, dies at age 49. [1] May 31 The tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of St. Stephen's Tower, rings out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time. [129] June 11 Comstock silver load discovered near Virginia City, Nevada. [1] June 12 Comstock Silver Lode in Nevada discovered. [1] June 28 First dog show held (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England). [1] June 30 Charles Blondin is first to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. [1] July 1 Balloon covers a record 809 miles over Saint Louis. [1] July 5 Captain NC Brooks discovers Midway Islands. [1] July 12 Paper bag manufacturing machine patented by William Goodale, Massachusetts [1] August 27 First successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn. [1] August 28 A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe and as far afield as Japan. [5] September 1 First pullman sleeping car in service. [1] RC Carrington and R Hodgson make first observation of solar flare. [1] September 2 Gas lighting introduced to Hawaii. [1] September 20 Patent granted on the electric range. [1] September 29 Great auroral display in US. [1] October 19 Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope. [1] November 12 At the Cirque Napoléon in Paris, Jules Leotard performs the first Flying Trapeze circus act. [1] [55.39] November 24 Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species". [1] December 2 John Brown US abolitionist, hanged in Charles Town West Virginia at age 59. [1] December 5 Dion Boucicault's "Octaroon" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] Louis Poinsot French mathematician/instrument maker, dies at age 82. [1] December 15 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun. [1] December 16 Wilhelm Grimm writer (Grimm's Fairy Tales), dies at age 73. [1] December 19 Grading started for Market Street railroad. [1] December 21 Nicolaas C Kist Dutch church historian/archivist, dies at age 66. [1] December 28 Thomas Babington Macaulay English essayist/historian, dies. [1] December 31 Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves. [1] Luigi Ricci composer, dies at age 54. [1]