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.

1855 January 9 Clipper Guiding Star disappears in Atlantic, 480 dies. [1] January 10 Mary Russell Mitford English playwright/poet (Julian), dies at 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 83. [1] January 26 Gérard de Nerval [Labrunie], French poet/writer, dies at 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 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 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 38. [1] April 18 Jean-Baptiste Isabey painter, dies. [1] April 24 Walenty Karol Kratzer composer, dies at 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 68. [1] May 3 Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens. [1] May 4 Camille Pleyel Austria piano builder/composer, dies at 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 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] 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 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 40. [1] January 17 Thomas Attwood Walmisley composer, dies at 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 58 in Paris. [1] John Braham singer/composer, dies at 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 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 27. [1] Adolphe Charles Adam French composer/critic (Giselle), dies at 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 15 First first-class game in Sydney, New South Wales vs Victoria at The Domain. [1] January 20 Edward Francis Fitzwilliam composer, dies at 32. [1] January 27 Dorothea von Benckendorff Baltic monarch of Lieven, dies at 72. [1] February 7 Félix PBOG Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War, dies at 65. [1] February 14 Johannes B van Bree Dutch violinist/composer/conductor, dies at 56. [1] February 15 Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka Russian composer, dies at 53. [1] February 16 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers French engraver, dies at 77. [1] Elisha Kent Kane Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 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 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 84. [1] March 12 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Simon Boccanegra" premieres in Venice. [1] March 17 Adolph Trube composer, dies at 42. [1] March 21 Abraham J van der Aa lexicographer (Biograph dictionary), dies at 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 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 80. [1] December 8 First production of Dion Boucicaults "Poor of New York". [1] December 11 François Henri Joseph Castil-Blaze composer, dies at 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 36. [1] January 5 Johann Radetzky von Radetz Austrian earl/field marshal, dies at 91. [1] January 7 Willem Broes vicar/theologist (Textenrol), dies at 91. [1] January 8 Friedrich Karl Kuhmstedt composer, dies at 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 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 86. [1] February 19 Alois Basil Nikolaus Tomasini composer, dies at 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 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 79. [1] April 7 Anton Diabelli Austria publisher/composer, dies at 76. [1] April 8 Anton Diabelli Austrian composer/publisher, dies at 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 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 69. [1] December 18 Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees composer, dies at 81. [1] Passy, at Paris: first "Samedi soir" i/d villa of lovers Rossini. [1] December 27 Alexandre Pierre François Boely composer, dies at 73. [1] 1859 January 5 First steamboat sails, Red River. [1] January 8 Antoine GB Schayes Belgian historian/archaeologist, dies at 50. [1] January 20 B v Arnim writer, dies at 73. [1] Bettina Brentano composer, dies at 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 74. [1] February 6 Johannes Josephus Viotta composer, dies at 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 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 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 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 67. [1] May 5 Peter G L Dirichlet German mathematician, dies at 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 49. [1] 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 59. [1] December 5 Dion Boucicault's "Octaroon" premieres in New York City, New York. [1] Louis Poinsot French mathematician/instrument maker, dies at 82. [1] December 15 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun. [1] December 16 Wilhelm Grimm writer (Grimm's Fairy Tales), dies at 73. [1] December 19 Grading started for Market Street railroad. [1] December 21 Nicolaas C Kist Dutch church historian/archivist, dies at 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 54. [1]