1840

January 3

• First deep sea sounding. [1]

January 5

• Records show 95,820 licensed public houses in England on this date. [1]

January 10

• Penny Post mail system started. [1]

January 18

• Electro-Magnetic Intelligencer, first US electrical journal, appears. [1]

January 19

• Antarctica discovered, Charles Wilkes expedition (US claim). [1]

January 20

• Dumont D'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica. [1]
• Dutch King Willem II crowned. [1]

February 1

• Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, first in US, incorporated. [1]

February 6

• The ship Britannia is launched by the shipbuilder at Greenock, Scotland. The ship is named by Isabella Napier, relative of the contractor. [274.7]
• Waitangi Day; treaty signed between Britain and Maoris of New Zealand. [1]

February 10

• British queen Victoria marries her cousin Albert von Saksen-Coburg. [1]

February 11

• Gaetano Donizetti's Opera "La Fille du Regiment" premieres in Paris. [1]

February 12

• Housatonic Railroad opens. [1]

February 16

• American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica. [1]

March 2

• Heinrich Olbers German astronomer (discoverer of comets and asteroids), dies at age 81. [1]

March 14

• José Zorilla's "El Zapatero y el Rey" premieres in Madrid. [1]

March 23

• Draper takes first successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype). [1]

March 28

• Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier Swiss mathematician, dies at age 89. [1]

March 30

• George (Beau) Brummell Dandy, dies. [1]

April 25

• Siméon-Denis Poisson French mathematician (Poisson verdeling), dies. [1]

May 1

• First adhesive postage stamps ("Penny Blacks" from England) issued. [1] [269.369]

May 5

• Gottlob Benedikt Bierey composer, dies at age 67. [1]
• Matthaus Fischer composer, dies at age 76. [1]

May 7

• Tornado strikes Natchez Mississippi, kills 317. [1]

May 8

• Alexander Wolcott patents Photographic Process. [1]

May 17

• Niccolo Paganini composer, dies at age 57. [1]

May 21

• New Zealand became a British colony. [1]

May 27

• Niccolò Paganini composer/violinist, dies at age 57. [1]

May 30

• Dominique J de Eerens Governor-General of Dutch-Indies, dies at age 59. [1]

July 4

• Cunard Line 700-ton wooden paddlewheeler Britannia first sets out from Liverpool, England, bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end. [5] [89.35] [150.35] [274.7]

August 27

• William Kneass third US chief engraver (1824-40), dies in office. [1]

September 5

• Giuseppe Verdi's Un giorno di regno premieres at La Scala of Milan. [5]

September 27

• Birth of Thomas Nast political cartoonist of late 1800s America. [1]

October 8

• First Hawaiian constitution proclaimed. [1]

December 2

• Gaetano Donizetti's opera "La Favorita" premieres in Paris. [1]
• William H Harrison elected President of US, John Tyler Vice-President. [1]

1841

January 3

• Wilhelmus Kist writer/director of Dutch (Official) Gazette, dies at age 82. [1]

January 5

• James Clark Ross (United Kingdom) is first to enter pack ice near Ross Ice Shelf. [1]

January 20

• China cedes Hong Kong to the British. [1]

January 26

• Hong Kong proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain. [1]

February 11

• J H Ferdinand Olivier German painter, dies at age 55. [1]

February 13

• Thomas Ainsworth English/Dutch industrialist, dies at age 45. [1]

February 14

• Antun Sorkocevic composer, dies at age 65. [1]

February 15

• Sibrand Acker Stratingh Dutch doctor/chemist (electrical car), dies at age 53. [1]

February 17

• Dutch ex-king Willem I marries Henriette d'Oultremont de Wégimont. [1]
• Ferdinando Carulli composer, dies at age 70. [1]

February 18

• First continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11. [1]

March 4

• Dion Boucicault's "London Assurance" premieres in London. [1]
• Longest inauguration speech (8,443 words), William Henry Harrison. [1]

March 9

• US Supreme Court rules Negroes are free (Amistad Incident). [1]

March 16

• Félix Savart French surgeon/physicist, dies at age 49. [1]

March 22

• Cornstarch patented (Orlando Jones). [1]

March 27

• First US steam fire engine tested, New York City, New York. [1]

March 31

• First performance of Robert Schumann's first Symphony in B. [1]

April 4

• William Henry Harrison becomes first US President to die in office, at age 68. [1]

April 6

• Cornerstone laid for second Mormon temple, Nauvoo Illinois. [1]

April 10

• New York "Tribune" begins publishing under editor Horace Greeley. [1]

April 14

• Edgar Allen Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue", published. [1]

April 26

• "Bombay Gazette" begins publishing on silk. [1]

April 27

• Imakita Kosen, first Zen teacher of D T Suzuki, found the awakening. [1]

April 29

• A Bertrand writer, dies. [1]

May 1

• First emigrant wagon train leaves Independence Missouri for California. [1]

May 3

• Cornelis T Elout Dutch minister of Finance/Navy/Colonies, dies at age 74. [1]

May 6

• John Thomson composer, dies at age 35. [1]

May 20

• Joseph Blanco White theological writert, dies. [1]

May 23

• Franz Xaver von Baader German philosopher/theologist, dies at age 76. [1]

June 14

• First Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario. [1]

June 24

• Fordham University (then Saint John's College), opens in the Bronx. [1]

July 3

• John Couch Adams decides to determine the position of an unknown. [1]

July 5

• Thomas Cook opens first travel agency. [1]

July 17

• British humor magazine "Punch" first published. [1]

August 21

• John Hampson first patents the Venetian blind in the United States. [1] [5]

September 9

• Great Lakes steamer "Erie" sinks off Silver Creek New York, kills 300. [1]

September 24

• Sarawak obtained by Britain from Sultan of Brunei. [1]

October 10

• Antonio López de Santa Anna becomes President (6th time) of Mexico. [118.61]

October 16

• Queens University in Kingston is chartered. [1]

November 2

• Akbar Khan successfully revolts against Shah Shuja in Afghanistan. [1]

November 13

• James Braid first sees a demonstration that leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnosis. [5]

November 16

• N.E. Guerin of New York patents cork-filled life preserver. [1]

November 25

• 35 Amistad survivors return to Africa. [1]

November 26

• First date in James Clavell's novel Tai-Pan. [1]

December 6

• Robert Schumann's 4th Symphony in D, premieres. [1]

December 7

• Johann Daniel Ferstenberg composer, dies at age 83. [1]

December 18

• Felice Blangini composer, dies at age 60. [1]

December 29

• King/grand duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon. [1]

December 31

• Alabama becomes first state to license dental surgeons. [1]

1842

January 1

• First illustrated weekly magazine in US publishes first issue, New York City, New York. [1]

January 2

• First US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania. [1]

January 6

• 4,500 British and Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India. [1]

January 7

• Gioacchino Rossini's opera "Stabat Mater" premieres in Paris. [1]

January 8

• Dutch King Willem II charters Technical College Delft. [1]
• Pierre Earl the Cambronne, French General (Waterloo, Elba), dies at age 71. [1]

January 12

• Franciscan nuns begin missionary work on Netherlands Antilles. [1]

January 16

• Thomas Freanby Norwegian landscape painter, dies. [1]

January 31

• John Tyler's daughter Elizabeth marries in the White House. [1]

February 15

• First adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), New York City, New York. [1]

February 21

• First known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington DC. [1]
• Wojciech Zywny composer, dies at age 85. [1]

March 3

• First US child labor law regulating working hours passed (Massachusetts). [1]
• First performance of Felix Mendelssohn's third "Scottish" Symphony. [1]

March 7

• Christian Theodor Weinlig composer, dies at age 61. [1]

March 9

• Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Nabucco" premieres in Milan. [1]

March 15

• Maria Luigi C Z S Cherubini Italian composer (Dies Irae), dies at age 81. [1]

March 17

• Indians land in Ohio, a 12 square-mile area in Upper Sandusky. [1]

March 23

• Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle], French author (Lamiel), dies at age 59. [1]

March 24

• Stendhal [Marie-H Beyle] French writer (The Love), buried at age 59. [1]

March 30

• First surgical operation using ether as anaesthetic (to remove a neck cyst), performed by Dr. Crawford Long on James Venable, in Jefferson, Georgia, USA. [1] [55.18]

April 7

• Henrik A Bjerregaard Norwegian writer/poet (Fjeldeventyret), dies at age 50. [1]

April 11

• John England bishop of Charleston Carolina, dies. [1]

April 13

• Lord Rosse successfully casts 72" (183-cm) mirror for a telescope. [1]

May 5

• City-wide fire burns for over 100 hours (Hamburg Germany). [1]

May 8

• Versailles to Paris train catches fire; 50 die. [1]

May 14

• First edition of London Illustrated News. [1]

May 15

• Emanuel Count de las Cases French historian (Napoleon), dies at age 76. [1]

May 23

• José de Espronceda y Delgado Spanish revolutionary/poet, dies at age 34. [1]

May 30

• John Francis attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria. [1]

August 9

• US-Canada border defined by Webster-Ashburton Treaty. [1]

August 14

• Seminole War ends; Indians removed from Florida to Oklahoma. [1]

August 31

• US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress. [1]

September 4

• Work on Köln cathedral recommences after 284-year hiatus. [1]

September 10

• Letitia Tyler President Tyler's wife, dies at age 51. [1]

October 26

• Antonio López de Santa Anna resigns (6th time) as President of Mexico. [118.61]

November 4

• Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois. [1]

November 17

• Fugitive slave George Latimer, captured in Boston. [1]
• The opera "Linda di Chamounix" is produced (London). [1]

November 22

• Mount Saint Helens in Washington, erupts. [1]

December 1

• Philip Spencer first US naval officer condemned for mutiny, hanged. [1]

December 5

• MJ Auguste Vestrius French ballet dancers, dies at age 82. [1]

December 7

• New York Philharmonic's first concert. [1]

December 9

• Saint M Glinka's opera "Russlan Ludmilla" premieres in Petersburg. [1]

December 19

• US recognizes independence of Hawaii. [1]

December 25

• Bedrich Divis Weber composer, dies at age 76. [1]

1843

January 2

• Richard Wagner's opera "Der Fliegende Holländer" premieres, Dresden. [1] [37]

January 4

• Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale" premieres in Paris. [1]
• Petronella Moens Frisian author/poetess, dies at age 80. [1]
• Royal Academy (Technical Hague court) Delft opens. [1]

January 5

• In Marked Tree, Arkansas, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs. Strongest to occur in the region since the 1811-12 sequence. Damage was severe at Memphis, Tennessee; the earth sank in places near New Madrid, Missouri. [53]

January 7

• Franz Schoberlechner composer, dies at age 45. [1]

January 9

• Caroline Herschel "first lady of astronomy", dies at age 98 in Germany. [1]

January 11

• Francis Scott Key composer (Star Spangled Banner), dies at age 63. [1]

February 2

• US and British settlers in Oregon Country choose governmental committee. [1]

February 11

• Giuseppe Verdi's Opera "I Lombardi" premieres in Milan. [1]

March 3

• US Congress appropriates $30,000 "to test the practicability of establishing a system of electro-magnetic telegraphs" by the US. [1]

March 4

• Antonio López de Santa Anna becomes President (7th time) of Mexico. [118.61]

March 7

• First Catholic Governor in US, Edward Kavanagh of Maine, takes office. [1]

March 14

• Boston conducts its first town meeting (Faneuil Hall). [1]

March 16

• Anton R Falck Dutch minister of Education/Colonies, dies at age 65. [1]

March 21

• Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicts the world will end today. [1]

April 14

• Joseph Franz Karl Lanner Austria, composer/violist, dies at age 42. [1]

April 28

• William Wallace Scottish mathematician (rights of Wallace), dies. [1]

May 4

• Great Britain annexes Natal. [1]

May 12

• Johann Georg Lickl composer, dies at age 74. [1]

May 18

• United Free Church of Scotland forms. [1]

May 22

• A massive wagon train of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle sets off down the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri. The Great Emigration finally arrives in October, completing the 2,000-mile journey in five months. [1] [5] [129]

May 28

• Noah Webster lexicographer (Webster's Dictionary), dies at age 84. [1]

June 1

• It snows in Buffalo and Rochester New York and Cleveland Ohio. [1]
• Sojourner Truth leaves New York to begin her career as antislavery activist. [1]

July 2

• An alligator falls from the sky during a Charleston South Carolina thunderstorm. [1]

July 5

• Committee of 9 appointed to establish civil government in Oregon Country. [1]

July 19

• SS Great Britain is launched by Prince Albert from Bristol, England. The ship is the largest to date, the first ocean-going ship built of iron. [272.637]

August 8

• Natal (in South Africa) is made a British colony. [1]

August 15

• National black convention meets (Buffalo New York). [1]

August 16

• Opening of Kursaal casino in Homburg. Operators François and Louis Blanc run roulette with one zero instead of two, and also with improved players' odds at trente-et-quarante.
  • Today, you can play online roulette on the Internet.
  [187.208]

October 4

• Antonio López de Santa Anna resigns (7th time) as President of Mexico. [118.61]

October 13

• B'nai B'rith founded in New York. [1]

October 14

• British arrest Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell for conspiracy. [1]

November 13

• Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts. [1]

November 27

• The opera "The Bohemian Girl" is produced (London). [1]

December 1

• First chartered mutual life insurance company opens. [1]

December 4

• Manila paper (made from sails, canvas and rope) patented, Massachusetts. [1]
• Robert Schumann's "Das Paradies und die Peri" premieres in Leipzig. [1]

December 6

• Amsterdam-Utrecht railway opens. [1]

December 12

• Willem I Frederik King of Netherlands (1814-40), dies at age 71. [1]

December 13

• "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold. [1]

December 19

• Charles Dickens publishes "A Christmas Carol" in England. [1]

December 25

• First theatre matinee (Olympic Theatre, New York City, New York). [1]

1844

January 1

• First edition of New Rotterdam's Daily (3x per week). [1]

January 15

• Joseph Mazzinghi composer, dies at age 78. [1]
• University of Notre Dame receives its charter in Indiana. [1]

January 25

• Recontre between Representatives Weller and Shriver, US House of Representatives. [1]

February 3

• Hector Berlioz' "Carnaval Romain" premieres in Paris. [1]

February 4

• Willem de Clerq Dutch merchant/literary, dies at age 49. [1]

February 15

• Henry Addington Lord Sidmouth British premier (1801-04), dies at age 86. [1]

February 27

• Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (National Day). [1]
• Nicholas Biddle US lawyer/diplomat/statesman/financier, dies at age 85. [1]

February 28

• 12-inch gun aboard USS Princeton explodes. [1]
• Abel P Upshur Secretary of State, dies in explosion on USS Princeton. [1]
• Thommas W Gilmer Navy Secretary, dies in explosion on USS Princeton. [1]

February 29

• Thaddaus Weigl composer, dies at age 67. [1]

March 9

• Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Hernani" premieres in Venice. [1]

March 21

• Leopold F J J J van Sassen Ysselt Dutch politician, dies at age 65. [1]
• Origin of Bahá'í Era-Bahá'í calendar starts here (Bahá 1, 1). [1]

March 28

• José Zorilla's "Don Juan Tenorio" premieres in Madrid. [1]

April 4

• Charles Bulfinch first US pro architect (Massachusetts State House), dies at age 80. [1]

April 8

• Ignaz Franz von Mosel composer, dies at age 72. [1]

April 12

• Texas became a US territory. [1]

April 22

• Henri-Montan Berton composer, dies at age 76. [1]

May 1

• Samuel Morse sends first telegraphic message. [1]
• Whig convention nominates Henry Clay as presidential candidate. [1]

May 6

• Johan Thorbecke argue general right to vote. [1]

May 8

• Charles XIV Johan [Jean B Bernadotte] King of Sweden/Norway, dies. [1]

May 21

• Guiseppi Baini composer, dies at age 68. [1]

May 23

• Declaration of the Báb (Bahá'í festival) ('Azamat 7, 1). [1]

May 24

• Samual FB Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (first telegraph message). [1]

May 25

• First telegraphed news dispatch is published in Baltimore Patriot. [1]

May 27

• Samuel F.B. Morse completes first telegraph line. [1]

May 29

• William Crockford, clubman/gambler, dies, leaving a fortune worth US$5 million. [80.298] (May 24 [1])

June 4

• Antonio López de Santa Anna becomes President (8th time) of Mexico. [118.61]

June 6

• The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London, England. [1] [5]

June 15

• Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber. [1]

June 27

• Joseph and Hyrum Smith Mormon leaders killed by a mob in Carthage Illinois. [1]

July 23

• Christian Gobrecht fourth US chief engraver (1840-44), dies in office. [1]

July 27

• Fire destroys the US mint at Charlotte, North Carolina. [1]

July 29

• New York Yacht Club forms. [1]

July 30

• First US yacht club organized, New York Yacht Club. [1]

August 8

• Brigham Young chosen Mormon Church head following Joseph Smith death. [1]

September 12

• Antonio López de Santa Anna resigns (8th time) as President of Mexico. [118.61]

November 6

• Spain grants Dominican Republic independence. [1]

December 3

• Roman Catholic Society Apostole of Prayer forms. [1]

December 4

• James K Polk elected 11th President of US, George M Dallas Vice President. [1]

December 11

• First dental use of nitrous oxide, Hartford Connecticut. [1]

December 30

• The opera "Stradella" is produced (Hamburg) after being rewritten. [1]