- May 10
- Panic of 1837 begins, as US banks in New York refuse to pay out gold and silver in exchange for deposit notes; beginning of economic depression. [404.44] [408.32] [455.73] [626.46]
- May 31
- Astor Hotel (most elaborate in US) opens in New York City. (It later becomes the Waldorf-Astoria.) [1]
- June 17
- Charles Goodyear obtains his first rubber patent. [1]
- June 20
- King William IV of England dies. [1]
- Queen Victoria at age 18 ascends British throne following death of King William IV. [1] [309.85] [414.56]
- England issues its first postage stamp, one pence Queen Victoria. [1]
- July 4
- Grand Junction Railway - the world's first long-distance railway - opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, England. [5]
- July 25
- Between Euston and Camden Town in London, England, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone successfully demonstrate the first commercial use of an electric telegraph. [5]
- September 1
- Peninsular Steam Navigation Company ship Don Juan founders and wrecks on rocks off Tarifa in fog. [915.43]
- October 9
- Steamboat Home sinks off Okracoke, North Carolina killing 100. [1]
- November 7
- Abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy is murdered by a mob at Alton, Illinois. [1]
- December 5
- Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada. [1]
- December 25
- Battle of Okeechobee: US forces defeat Seminole Indians. [1]
- December 29
- Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a US steamboat docked at Buffalo, New York. [1]
- Steam-powered threshing machine patented, in Winthrop, Maine, USA. [1]
- December 31
- The Chamber of Deputies of France bans all games of chance. All gambling clubs in the country close. [187.91,105,185,192] [811.101]
1838
- January 1
- First official horse race in South Australia-Adelaide. [1]
- January 6
- Samuel Morse's telegraph system is demonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works in Morristown, New Jersey, USA. [1] [129]
- January 8
- In New Jersey, Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (a forerunner of Morse code). [1] [5]
- Rebellion at Amherstburg, Ontario breaks out. [1]
- March 3
- Rebellion at Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada. [1]
- April 9
- National Galley opens in London, England. [1]
- April 30
- Nicaragua declares independence from Central American federation. [1]
- June 12
- Hopkins Observatory is dedicated in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
- June 28
- Britain's Queen Victoria is crowned in Westminster Abbey. [1]
- July 7
- Central American federation is dissolved. [1]
- August 1
- Emancipation of British slaves on Bahamas. [1]
- September 24
- Anti-Corn-Law League forms to repeal English Corn Law. [1]
- November 5
- Honduras declares independence of Central American Federation. [1]
- November 27
- French Admiral Baudin with fleet off Veracruz, Mexico, opens fire on fort of San Juan de Ulúa, killing 64, wounding 147. Mexican generals surrender the fort and Veracruz. French install 3000-man occupation force. [118.58]
- December 5
- 1500 French marines row ashore to Veracruz, Mexico, seize the fort's bastions, pack the fortress with gunpowder, and blow it up, retreating back to ships. Antonio López de Santa Anna is shot in the leg. Both sides lose about 8 dead and 60 wounded. [118.60]
- December 16
- Boers beat Zulu chieftain Dingaan in South Africa. [1]
1839
- January 2
- First photo taken of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre). [1]
- January 6
- Two-day storm off Irish and English coast immortalized as "The Big Wind". [1]
- January 7
- Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre announces Daguerrotype photo process at French Academy of Science. [500.S8.2]
- January 10
- Tea from India first arrives in United Kingdom. [1]
- January 11
- Earthquake at Martinique destroys half of Port Royal; 700 die. [1]
- January 15
- Texas adopts the silver and gold coins of the USA as their official monetary standard. [400.94]
- January 19
- Aden conquered by British East India Company. [1]
- January 24
- Charles Darwin is elected member of British Royal Society. [1]
- February 12
- Boundary dispute between Maine and New Brunswick leads to Aroostook. [1]
- February 24
- Steam shovel patented by William Otis, in Philadelphia. [1]
- March 9
- Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours. [1]
- March 20
- Antonio López de Santa Anna becomes President (5th time) of Mexico. [118.61]
- March 23
- The letters "O.K." are first published in The Boston Morning Post, as an abbreviation for "oll korrect," a slang misspelling of "all correct". [1] [129]
- April 17
- Guatemala forms republic. [1]
- April 19
- Treaty of London constitutes Belgium an independent kingdom and Luxembourg a Grand Duchy. [1]
- June 7
- Hawaiian Declaration of Rights is signed. [1]
- (month unknown)
- American paddlewheeler Sirius crosses the Atlantic in 17 days, the first to use only steam power. [260.9]
- July 2
- 53 African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad. [5] (July 30 [1])
- July 10
- Antonio López de Santa Anna resigns (5th time) as President of Mexico. [118.61]
- August 19
- Jacque Daguerre's new photographic process is presented to the French Academy of Sciences. [5]
- September 9
- John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph. [1]
- November 3
- First opium war: two British frigates engage several Chinese junks. [1]
- December 3
- Frederik VI, king of Denmark (1808-39), Norway (1803-14), dies at age 71. [1]
- December 18
- First celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper, New York City, New York. [1]
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