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

Last updated: 2008 April 30.

1845 January 10 Poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning begin corresponding. [1] January 23 Francesco Ruggi composer, dies at 77. [1] Uniform US election day for President and Vice President authorized. [1] January 29 Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" first published (New York City New York). [1] February 15 William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, first uses 72" (183 cm) reflector. [1] February 20 Pavel Ivanovich Dulgorukov composer, dies at 57. [1] March 1 President Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas. [1] March 3 First US law overriding a Presidential veto (John Tyler's). [1] US Congress authorizes ocean mail contracts for foreign mail delivery. [1] Florida becomes 27th state. [1] March 4 James K Polk inaugrated as 11th President of the United States. In his inaugural address, Polk states that the US claim to "the country of the Oregon" is "clear and unquestionable". [1] [66.19] March 5 US Congress appropriates $30,000 to ship camels to western US. [1] March 11 Agronomist John Chapman [Johnny Appleseed] dies in Allen County, Indiana, USA. [1] (1847 [5]) British citizen Henry Jones invents self-raising flour. [5] (March 17 [1]) March 14 -5.3 degrees F (-20.7 degrees C) in Groningen. [1] March 17 Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London. [1] March 19 George Augustus Kollmann composer, dies at 56. [1] March 22 Franz Joseph Volkert composer, dies at 67. [1] March 26 Joseph Francis, New York City, New York, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat. [1] Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precusor of bandaid. [1] March 28 Mexico drops diplomatic relations with US. [1] April 2 H L Fizeau and J Leon Foucault take first photo of Sun. [1] April 10 More than 1,000 buildings damaged by fire in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. [1] April 12 Henry M baron the Kock officer/politician, dies at 65. [1] April 18 Nicholas T the Saussure Swiss chemist/botany, dies at 77. [1] April 25 Thomas Duncan painter, dies. [1] April 29 Macon B Allen and Robert Morris Jr, first blacks to open law practice. [1] May 2 August Pauly German writer (Real Encyclopedia), dies at 48. [1] Domingo Sarmiento publishes "Civilización y Barbarie". [1] May 3 First black lawyer (Macon B Allen) admitted to the bar (Massachusetts). [1] Fire kills 1,600 in popular theater in Canton China. [1] May 11 Karoly Filtsch composer, dies at 14. [1] May 12 August Wilhelm Schlegel German poet/interpreter/critic, dies at 77. [1] May 14 Utrecht-Arnhem Railway opens. [1] May 15 Samuel I Wiselius Dutch lawyer/businessman/writer, dies at 76. [1] May 17 Rubber band patents. [1] May 19 Maria EJ Versfelt mistress of General Moreau/marshal Ney, dies at 68. [1] May 20 First legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii. [1] May 28 Fire in Québec Canada, 1,500 houses destroyed. [1] June 1 Homing pigeon completes 11,000 km trip (Namibia-London) in 55 days. [1] June 12 George Abernethy becomes first governor of Oregon Country. [1] July 4 Texas Congress votes for annexation to US. [1] Thoreau moves into his shack on Walden Pond. [1] July 14 First postmasters' provisional stamps issued, New York City. [1] July 16 New York Yacht Club holds its first regatta. [1] August 28 Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue. [5] October 10 The Naval School (now called US Naval Academy) opens at Annapolis. [1] October 13 Texas ratifies a state constitution. [1] October 19 Wagner's opera Tannhäuser performed for first time. [1] October 20 The opera "Tannhäuser" is produced (Dresden). [1] November 4 First nationally observed uniform election day in US. [1] November 15 The opera "Maritana" is produced (London). [1] December 2 Johannes Simon Mayr composer, dies at 82. [1] December 27 Ether first used in childbirth in US, Jefferson GA. [1] December 29 Texas admitted as the 28th state. [1] 1846 January 1 Yucatan declares independence from México. [1] January 10 Etienne P de Senancour French writer (De l'Amour), dies at 75. [1] January 21 First edition of Charles Dickens' "Daily News". [1] January 28 Battle of Allwal, Brits beat Sikhs in Punjab (India). [1] February 3 Joseph Weigl Austria composer/conductor (Waisenhaus), dies at 79. [1] February 4 Mormons leave Nauvoo Missouri for settlement in the west. [1] February 5 "Oregon Spectator" is first newspaper to be published on the West Coast. [1] February 9 Henry Gally Knight architect/writer, dies. [1] February 10 Beginning of Mormon march to west US. [1] British defeat Sikhs in battle of Sobraon, India. [1] February 14 Cornelis F van Maanen Dutch supreme court justice, dies at 76. [1] February 16 Battle of Sobraon ends first Sikh War in India. [1] February 18 Giovanni Liverati composer, dies at 73. [1] February 19 Texas state government formally installed in Austin. [1] February 20 British occupy Sikh citadel of Lahore. [1] February 21 First US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell Massachusetts. [1] February 22 Carolus Antonius Fodor composer, dies at 77. [1] Nikoli A Poveloi Russian writer/publisher, dies at 49. [1] February 23 Polish revolutionaries march on Cracow, but are defeated. [1] March 6 Nikoli A Poveloi Russian writer/publisher, dies at 49. [1] March 13 Friedrich Hebbel's "Maria Magdalena" premieres in Königsberg. [1] March 17 Friedrich W Bessel German astronomer (Bessel Functions), dies at 61. [1] April 16 Domenico Dragonetti composer, dies at 83. [1] May 1 Ida Pfeiffer (48) begins trip around world. [1] May 3 Mexican army surrounds fort in Texas. [1] May 4 US state of Michigan ends death penalty. [1] May 8 First major battle of Mexican War fought at Palo Alto Texas. [1] Giacomo Cordella composer, dies at 59. [1] May 9 Battle of Resaca de la Palma-US sends México back to Rio Grande. [1] May 13 US declares war on México, two months after fighting begins. [1] May 17 Saxophone is patents by Antoine Joseph Sax. [1] May 18 US troops attack Rio Grande occupying Matamoros. [1] May 21 First steamship arrives in Hawaii. [1] May 24 General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey in Mexican War. [1] June 10 Robert Thomson obtains an English patent on a rubber tire. [1] June 14 California (Bear Flag) Republic proclaimed in Sonoma. [1] June 15 Oregon Treaty signed, setting US-British boundary at 49 degrees N. [1] July 7 US annexs California. [1] July 9 Captain Montgomery claims Yerba Buena (San Francisco) for US. [1] July 21 Mormons found first English settlement in California (San Joaquin Valley). [1] August 5 Oregon country divided between US and Britain at 49th parallel. [1] August 10 US Congress charters the "nation's attic," the Smithsonian Institution. [1] August 14 Henry David Thoreau jailed for tax resistance. [1] August 17 US takes Los Angeles. [1] August 18 General Stephen W Kearney's US forces captures Santa Fe, NM. [1] August 22 US annexes New Mexico. [1] August 26 W A Bartlett appointed first US mayor of Yerba Buena (San Francisco). [1] September 10 Elias Howe patents the sewing machine. [1] September 19 Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning elopes. [1] September 23 Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest find Neptune. [1] September 30 Anesthetic ether used for first time (Dr Wm Morton extracts a tooth). [1] October 10 Neptune's moon Triton discovered by William Lassell. [1] October 15 Dr William Thomas Green Morton first public use of ether. [1] October 16 Dentist William T Morton demonstrated the effectiveness of ether. [1] December 5 C F Schoenbein obtains patent for cellulose nitrate explosive. [1] December 6 The opera "La Damnation de Faust" is produced (Paris). [1] December 8 Hector Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" premieres. [1] December 28 Iowa becomes 29th state. [1] 1847 January 1 Michigan is first state to abolish capital punishment. [1] Netherlands Haarlem's Current newspaper starts publishing. [1] January 3 California town of Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco. [1] January 9 First San Francisco newspaper published (California Star). [1] January 11 Caroline von Wolzogen [von Lengefeld] German author, dies at 83. [1] January 14 Conspiracy in New Mexico against US. [1] Governor Bent five others in US occupation, killed by revolt in New Mexico. [1] January 15 First Swedish magazine in US, Skandinavia, published in New York City, New York. [1] January 22 Georges-Julien Sieber composer, dies at 71. [1] January 24 1,500 New Mexican Indians and Mexicans defeated by US Colonel Price. [1] January 30 Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco. [1] February 4 First US telegraph company established in Maryland. [1] February 17 William Collins landscape painter, dies. [1] February 23 Battle of Buena Vista, México; Zachary Taylor defeats Mexican army. [1] February 25 State University of Iowa is approved. [1] February 28 US defeats México in battle of Sacramento. [1] March 1 Michigan becomes first English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state). [1] March 3 Post Office Department authorized to issue postage stamps. [1] March 7 US General Scott occupies Vera Cruz Mexico. [1] March 10 First money minted in Hawaii. [1] March 17 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Macbeth" is produced (Florence). [1] March 18 First Dutch public telegram. [1] March 25 Pope Pius IX encyclical "On aid for Ireland". [1] March 28 Mariano Rodriguiz de Ledesma composer, dies at 67. [1] March 29 12,000 US troops capture Vera Cruz, Mexico. [1] Auguste De Polignac premier France, dies at 66. [1] April 14 Persia and Osmaanse sign second Treaty of Erzurum. [1] April 23 Erik Gustaf Geijer composer, dies at 64. [1] April 28 George B Vashon becomes first black to enter New York State Bar. [1] April 30 Charles archduke of Austria/Governor-General (Austria-Netherlands), dies. [1] May 2 Sabbath famine. [1] May 4 New York State creates a Board of Commissioners of Emigration. [1] May 5 American Medical Association organized (Philadelphia). [1] May 7 American Medical Association organizes (Philadelphia). [1] May 8 Robert Thompson patents rubber tire. [1] May 14 Fanny Cacilia Mendelssohn Hensel composer, dies at 41. [1] May 16 Kaspar Ett German organist/composer, dies at 59. [1] May 20 Mary Lamb writer, dies. [1] May 31 Rotterdam-Hague Railway opens. [1] June 14 Bunson invents a gas burner. Lab teachers celebrate worldwide. [1] June 22 Doughnut created. [1] July 1 First US postage stamps go on sale, 5-cent Franklin and 10-cent Washington, New York City. [1] Amateur astronomer M Hencke discovers second asteroid Hebe. [1] K L Hencke discovers asteroid #6 Hebe. [1] July 2 Envelope bearing the first US 10-cent stamps, still exists today. [1] July 10 Urbain J.J. Leverrier and John Couch Adams, codiscoverers of Neptune. [1] July 24 Rotary-type printing press patented by Richard March Hoe, New York City. [1] July 26 Liberia declares independence from American Colonization Society. [1] September 10 First theater opens in Hawaii. [1] September 14 US troops under General Scott enter Mexico City. [1] October 1 Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet. [1] October 20 Little William Nelman poisons his grandpa. [1] November 21 Steamer "Phoenix" is lost on Lake Michigan, kills 200. [1] November 25 The opera "Marta" is produced (Vienna). [1] November 29 Indians kill Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, 11 settle in Walla Walla Ore. [1] December 3 Frederick Douglass publishes first issue of his newspaper "North Star". [1] December 11 Moritz Grave von Strachwitz German poet, dies at 25. [1] December 29 William Crotch composer, dies at 72. [1] 1848 January 1 Britain takes Mosquito Coast from Nicaragua. [1] January 5 Ferdinando Orlandi composer, dies at 73. [1] January 8 Austrian soldiers kill 10 students, Pavia. [1] January 9 Death of Caroline Lucretia Herschel in Hannover, Germany; discovered three nebulae and eight comets, given a gold medal by the British Astronomical Society. [37] First commercial bank in San Francisco established. [1] People's uprising in Palermo Sicily. [1] January 24 James Marshall finds gold in Sutter's Mill in Coloma California. [1] January 28 King of Naples grants his subjects a constitution. [1] January 29 Sicily accepts new Constitution (choose parliament/freedom of press). [1] February 2 First shipload of Chinese arrive in San Francisco. [1] Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican War; US acquires Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for $15 million. [1] February 12 Ballet "Faust" premieres, Milan. [1] February 14 James K Polk became first President photographed in office (Matthew Brady). [1] February 15 Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. [1] February 17 Toscane gets liberal Constitution. [1] February 20 [Willem] Alexander prince of Netherlands/General-Major, dies at 29. [1] February 23 John Quincy Adams 6th US President (1825-1829), dies of a stroke at 80. [1] February 24 Frans van Campenhout Belgian singer/composer (Brabançonne), dies at 69. [1] King Louis-Philippe abdicates, second French republic declared. [1] February 26 Second French Republic forms. [1] Marx and Engels publish "The Communist Manifesto". [1] February 29 Neufchatel declares independence of Switzerland. [1] March 3 Heinrich Olivier German painter, dies. [1] March 4 Sardinia-Piemonte gets new Constitution. [1] March 7 In Hawaii, Great Mahele (division of lands) signed. [1] March 12 Second republic established in France. [1] March 20 Abraham des Amorie van der Hoeven Dutch theologist/poet, dies at 27. [1] King Louis I of Bayern abdicates to marry dancer Lola Montez. [1] March 24 State of siege proclaimed in Amsterdam. [1] March 27 John Parker Paynard originates medicated adhesive plaster. [1] March 29 John Jacob Astor chartered American Fur Company, dies at 84. [1] Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam. [1] April 3 Thomas Douglas becomes first San Francisco public teacher. [1] April 6 Jews of Prussia granted equality. [1] April 8 First battle at Gioto Sardinia-Piemonte beats Austrians. [1] Battle at Xaquixaguana, Peru Pedro de la Gasca beats Gonzalo Pizarro. [1] Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti Italian composer, dies at 50. [1] April 10 Godert AGP baron van Capellen Governor-General of Dutch-Indies, dies at 69. [1] April 11 Hungary becomes constitutional monarchy under king Ferdinand of Austria. [1] April 24 François van Campenhout Belgian composer (Brabançonne), dies at 69. [1] April 28 Free last slaves in French colonies. [1] April 30 Friedrich Freiherr Gagern German/Dutch army commandant, dies at 53. [1] May 6 Otto Tank ends slavery in Suriname colony. [1] May 7 Prussians stop insurrection in Varsovia. [1] May 17 Premier Earl Schimmelpenninck resigns. [1] May 18 William A Leidesdorf black, dies at 38 in San Francisco. [1] May 19 México gives Texas to US, ending the war. [1] May 23 Otto Lilienthal, pioneer aviator. [1] May 24 A V Droste-Hülshoff writer, dies at 51. [1] May 29 Battle at Curtazone: Austrians beat Sardinia-Piemonte. [1] Wisconsin becomes 30th state. [1] May 30 Second battle at Gioto: Sardinia-Piemonte beats Austrians. [1] México ratifies treaty giving US New Mexico, California and parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado in return for $15 million. [1] William G Young patents ice cream freezer. [1] June 10 First telegraph link between New York City and Chicago. [1] June 22 Barnburners (anti-slavery) party nominates Martin Van Buren for President. [1] June 23 Bloody insurrection of workers in Paris. [1] July 4 Francois Rene de Chateaubriand French novelist/politician, dies. [1] July 19 First women's rights convention (Seneca Falls, New York). [1] July 26 First Woman's Rights Convention (Senecca Falls New York). [1] August 9 Barnburners (anti-slavery) party merges with the Free Soil Party nominating Martin Van Buren for president. [1] August 14 Oregon Territory created. [1] September 6 National Black Convention meets (Cleveland). [1] September 14 Alexander Stewart opens the first US dept store. [1] September 19 Bond (US) and Lassell (England) independently discover Hyperion, moon of Saturn. [1] October 16 First US homeopathic medical college opens in Pennsylvania. [1] November 1 First US women's medical school opens (Boston). [1] November 9 Post office at Clay and Pike opens. [1] November 21 Cincinatti Turngemeinde founded. [1] November 23 Female Medical Educational Society founded in Boston. [1] December 2 Franz Josef I becomes emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. [1] December 5 President Polk triggers Gold Rush of '49, confirms California gold discovery. [1] December 19 Adam van Duyn governor of South Holland, dies at 77. [1] December 25 Johann Erik Nordblom composer, dies at 60. [1] New Haven Railroad opens. [1] December 26 First gold seekers arrive in Panamá en route to San Francisco. [1] William and Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia. [1] December 29 Gas lights first installed at White House (Polk's administration). [1] December 31 Oliver Shaw composer, dies at 69. [1] 1849 January 9 Jan Kops Dutch agriculturist/vicar, dies at 83. [1] January 13 Vancouver Island granted to Hudson's Bay Co. [1] January 16 Wilhelm M L de Wette German theologist, dies at 69. [1] January 23 Mrs Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first woman physician in US. [1] Patent granted for an envelope-making machine. [1] January 26 Thomas Lovell Beddoes English poet (Death's Jest-Book), suicide at 45. [1] January 31 Corn Laws abolished in Britain. [1] February 4 University of Wisconsin begins in one room with 20 students. [1] February 8 France Preseren Slovenian poet (Sonetni Venec), dies at 48. [1] François-Antoine Habeneck composer, dies at 68. [1] February 9 Corneille Vander Planken composer, dies at 76. [1] Roman Republic declared. [1] February 13 Christian Rummel composer, dies at 61. [1] February 15 Pierre F Verhulst Belgian mathematician (logistic curve), dies at 44. [1] February 18 First regular steamboat service to San Francisco California starts: gold rush prospectors from east coast. [1] February 22 Alexander Ernst Fesca composer, dies at 28. [1] March 3 US Gold Coinage Act authorizes $20 Double Eagle gold coin. [1] Territory of Minnesota is organized. [1] US Department of the Interior established by Congress. [1] March 4 US had no President, Polk's term ends on a Sunday, Taylor couldn't be sworn-in, Senator David Atchison (pres pro tem) term ended March third. [1] March 5 Zachary Taylor sworn in as 12th President. [1] March 9 Carl Nikolais opera "Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor" premieres. [1] March 10 Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent; only US President to do so. [1] March 12 First gold seekers arrive in Nicaragua en route to California. [1] March 17 Willem II Frederik GL King of Netherlands (1840-49), dies at 56. [1] March 23 Battle of Novara (King Charles Albert vs Italian republic). [1] March 27 Joseph Couch patents steam-powered percussion rock drill. [1] March 28 Dutch princess Marianne and Prince Albert of Prussia separate. [1] Stephan L Endlicher Austrian priest/botany, dies at 44. [1] March 29 Britain formally annexs Punjab after defeat of Sikhs in India. [1] March 31 Colonel John W Geary arrives as first postmaster of San Francisco. [1] April 3 Juliusz Slowacki Pol poet (Father of the Plague-Patient), dies at 39. [1] April 6 Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "Le Prophète", premieres in Paris France. [1] April 10 Safety pin patented by Walter Hunt (New York City, New York); sold rights for $100. [1] April 13 Hungarian Republic proclaimed. [1] April 16 The opera "Il Profeta" premieres (Paris France). [1] May 2 David H Chassé Baron/General (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), dies at 84. [1] May 10 Katsushika Hokusai Japanese painter, dies at 89. [1] Pack destroys Astor Place opera house in New York City (22 killed). [1] May 11 Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai composer/conductor, dies at 38. [1] May 12 Willem Alexander PFL crowned king Willem III in Amsterdam. [1] May 15 Philadelphia Turngemeinde founded. [1] May 17 Fire destroy Centrum in Saint Louis Missouri. [1] May 22 Abraham Lincoln patents a buoying device. [1] May 25 Andreas Michiels Dutch Military Governor of West Sumatra, dies in battle at 52. [1] May 28 Anne Bronté novelist, dies. [1] Princess WFLC Marianne and Albrecht of Prussia separate. [1] May 29 Lincoln says "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and of people some of time, but you can't fool all of the people all of time". [1] Patent for lifting vessels granted to Abraham Lincoln. [1] May 31 Last edition of Orange sheet "Journal de La Haye". [1] Léonard du Bus de Gisignies Governor-General of Netherlands-Indies, dies at 69. [1] June 5 Danish National Day-Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy. [1] June 12 Gas mask patented by Lewis Haslett, Louisville, Ky. [1] June 15 James Knox Polk the 11th US Pres, dies in Nashville, Tenn. [1] June 22 Stephen C Massett opens courthouse using only piano in California. [1] July 8 Saint Paul's Place in the Bronx named. [1] July 28 Memmon is first clipper to reach SF, 120 days out of New York. [1] August 9 Hungarian Republic crushed by Austria and Russia. [1] September 1 California Constitutional Convention held in Monterey. [1] September 3 California State Constitutional Convention convenes in Monterey. [1] September 13 First US prize fight fatality (Tom McCoy). [1] September 19 First commercial laundry established, in Oakland, California. [1] September 29 First passenger train service to Peekskill New York (New Haven Railroad). [1] October 7 Edgar Allen Poe poet, dies in Baltimore at 40. [1] October 16 Avery College establishes in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. [1] British seize Tigre Island in Gulf of Fonseca from Honduras. [1] George Washington Williams Penns, first major black historian. [1] October 19 Elizabeth Blackwell became first woman in US to receive medical degree. [1] November 13 Peter Burnett elected first governor of California. [1] November 15 First US poultry show opens in Boston. [1] December 6 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland. [1] December 8 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Luisa Miller" premieres in Naples. [1] December 14 First chamber music group in US gives their first concert (Boston). [1] Conradin Kreutzer composer, dies at 69. [1] December 18 William Bond obtains first photograph of Moon through a telescope. [1] December 28 M Jolly-Bellin discovers dry-cleaning, he accidentally upset lamp containing turpentine and oil on his clothing and sees cleaning effect. [1]