1860

January 1

• Slavery ends of in Netherlands Indies. [1]

January 5

• Saint John Nepomucene Neumann first male US saint, dies. [1]

January 12

• Martinus J Niewindt bishop on Curaçao (christened slaves), dies at age 63. [1]

January 20

• Dutch troops conquer Watampone in Celebes. [1]

January 27

• Janó Bolyai Hungarian mathematician (parallel), dies at age 57. [1]

January 28

• Britain formally returns Mosquito Coast to Nicaragua. [1]

January 29

• American College established in Rome by Pope Pius IX. [1]

January 30

• Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto composer, dies at age 44. [1]

February 1

• First rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of New York City, New York. [1]

February 3

• Thomas Clemson takes office as first US superintendent of agriculture. [1]

February 9

• Edmond Willem van Dam van Isselt Dutch military/liberal politician, dies at age 63. [1]

February 10

• John Brahms' second Serenade in A, premieres. [1]

February 13

• King Basse Kajuara departs Boni South-Celebes. [1]

February 16

• Dutch Rochussen/Van Bosse government resigns. [1]

February 20

• Henry Drummond English banker/religious leader, dies at age 69. [1]

February 22

• Shoe-making workers of Lynn Mississippi, strike successfully for higher wages. [1]

March 9

• First Japanese ambassador arrives in San Francisco en route to Washington DC. [1]

March 12

• US Congress accepts Pre-emption Bill; free land in West for colonists. [1]

March 17

• Japanese embassy arrives aboard Candinmarruh [sic]. [1]

March 21

• US extradition treaty with Sweden. [1]

March 24

• Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York. [1]

March 27

• M L Byrn patents "covered gimlet screw with a 'T' handle" (corkscrew). [1]

March 28

• Johann Ludwig Bohner composer, dies at age 73. [1]

March 29

• Dion Boucicault's "Colleen Bawn" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

April 2

• First Italian Parliament met at Turin. [1]

April 3

• The first successful United States Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California begins. [1] [5] [129]

April 7

• Grand duke Frederik I liberalizes laws in Bathe. [1]

April 9

• In Paris, France, inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville makes the first (known) audio recording, ten seconds long, of a person singing a folk song. The recording is made on a phonautograph that scratches sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp. [35]

April 13

• First Pony Express reaches Sacramento, California. [1] [5]

April 14

• First Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco California from Saint Joseph Missouri. [1]

April 16

• Carolina duchess of Berry/daughter of crown prince of Naples, dies. [1]

April 18

• Count István Széchenyi statesman, commits suicide. [1]

April 28

• Isaac da Costa poet/writer (Réveil, Wachter!), dies at age 62. [1]

April 30

• Navaho Indians attack Fort Defiance (Canby). [1]

May 4

• Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek composer, dies. [1]

May 16

• Republican convention (Chicago) selects Abraham Lincoln candidate. [1]

May 18

• Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president. [1]

May 21

• Johannes Frederick Frohlich composer, dies at age 53. [1]

May 23

• Albert Richard Smith author/lecturer, dies. [1]

May 26

• Garibaldi occupies Palermo Italy. [1]

June 7

• Workmen start laying track for Market Street Railroad, San Francisco. [1]

June 15

• First White settlement in Idaho (Franklin). [1]

June 23

• US Congress establishes the Government Printing Office. [1]
• US Secret Service created. [1]

July 9

• Temperature hits 115 degrees F in Fort Scott and 112 degrees F in Topeka Kansas. [1]

July 19

• First railroad reaches Kansas. [1]

July 25

• First US intercollegiate billard match (Harvard versus Yales). [1]

August 3

• American Canoe Association founded at Lake George New York. [1]

August 8

• Queen of Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) arrives in New York City. [1]

August 11

• Nation's first successful silver mill (Virginia City, Nev). [1]

September 7

• Excursion steamer "Lady Elgin" drowns 340 in Lake Michigan. [1]

September 8

• Loss of steamer, "Lady Elgin". [1]

September 20

• First British royalty to visit US, Prince of Wales (King Edward VII). [1]

October 8

• Telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco opens. [1]

October 12

• British and French troops capture Peking. [1]
• Sir Henry G W Smith leader of British-Indian forces, dies at age 73. [1]

October 13

• First aerial photo taken in US (from a balloon), Boston. [1]

October 15

• 11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Lincoln, tells him to grow a beard. [1]

November 6

• Abraham Lincoln (Republican-Illinois-Representative) elected 16th President. [1]

November 11

• First Jewish wedding in Buenos Aires Argentina. [1]

December 7

• Constantine S Aksakov Russian historian/poet, dies at age 43. [1]

December 17

• Anaheim Township created in Los Angeles County. [1]

December 24

• Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle" premieres in New York City, New York. [1]

December 26

• Maiden voyage of first steamship owned by one man (C Vanderbilt). [1]

December 28

• Cornelius Broere Dutch Roman Catholic clergyman/poet, dies at age 57. [1]

1861

January 1

• Porfirio Diaz conquers Mexico City. [1]

January 2

• Death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV in Sanssoci Palace, Potsdam, Germany; King of Prussia (1840-61). [1] [37]
• Wilhelm I becomes the Prussian King. [37]

January 6

• New York City, New York mayor proposes New York become a free city, trading with N and S. [1]

January 11

• Mexico City captured by Juárez (Liberal) in War of the Reform. [1]

January 12

• Václav Hanka Czech author/translator/forger, dies at age 69. [1]

January 15

• Steam elevator patented by Elisha Otis. [1]

January 17

• Flush toilet (with separate water tank and a pull chain) patented by Mr Thomas Crapper (Honest!). [1]

January 23

• Agoston Haraszthy, first vintner in Sonoma Valley, imports 100,000 cuttings of 350 varieties from Europe. [1]

January 29

• Kansas becomes 34th state. [1]

January 31

• Franciscus J van Vree Dutch Catholic foreman, dies at age 53. [1]
• Friedrich Hebbel's "Siegfrieds Tod" premieres in Weimar. [1]
• State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans. [1]

February 1

• Dike breaks in Gelderland Netherlands. [1]

February 5

• First moving picture peep show machine is patented by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati. [1]
• Kinematoscope patented by Coleman Sellers, Philadelphia Pennsylvania. [1]

February 6

• English Admiral Robert Ritzroy issues first storm warnings for ships. [1]

February 10

• Francis Danby Exmouth, painter, dies. [1]

February 11

• President-elect Lincoln takes train from Spingfield Illinois to Washington DC. [1]

February 12

• Hippolyte-Andre-Baptiste Chelard composer, dies at age 72. [1]

February 13

• Abraham Lincoln declared President. [1]
• Colonel Bernard Irwin attacks and defeats hostile Chiricahua Indians. [1]

February 18

• King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes first king of Italy. [1]
• Louis C Luzac Dutch minister of Internal affairs, dies at age 74. [1]

February 19

• Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom. [1]

February 20

• Steeple of Chichester Cathedral blown down during a storm. [1]

February 21

• Navaho Indians elect Herrero Grande as chief. [1]

February 22

• On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln's inauguration. [1]

February 23

• Dutch Premier Floris A van Hall resigns. [1]
• President-elect Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington DC to take office. [1]

February 27

• US Congress authorizes first stamped newspaper wrappers for mailing. [1]
• Warsaw Massacre Russians fire on crowd demonstrating against Russian rule of Poland. [1]

February 28

• Territories of Nevada and Colorado created. [1]

March 2

• Government Printing Office purchases first printing plant, Washington DC. [1]
• US Congress creates Dakota and Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska and Utah territories. [1]

March 3

• Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom. [1]

March 4

• Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th President of the USA. [1] [129]
• US President Abraham Lincoln opens Government Printing Office. [1]

March 10

• Josepf François Snel composer, dies at age 67. [1]

March 14

• Abraham Louis Niedermeyer composer, dies at age 58. [1]

March 17

• Italy declares independence; Kingdom of Italy proclaimed. [1]
• Petter Conrad Boman composer, dies at age 56. [1]

March 22

• First US nursing school chartered. [1]

March 23

• London's first tramcars, designed by Mr Train of New York, begins operating. [1]

March 27

• Black demonstrators in Charleston staged ride-ins on street cars. [1]

April 8

• Elisha G Otis US elevator builder (Otis), dies at age 50. [1]

April 18

• Heinrich August Neithardt composer, dies at age 67. [1]

April 19

• Baltimore riots - four soldiers, 9 civilians killed. [1]

April 30

• President Abraham Lincoln ordered Federal Troops to evacuate Indian Territory. [1]

May 3

• Anthony Philip Heinrich composer, dies at age 80. [1]

May 8

• Láseló Teleki Hungarian earl/revolutionary, commits suicide. [1]

May 12

• Christian Heinrich Hohmann composer, dies at age 50. [1]

May 18

• Friedrich Hebbels "Kriemhildes Rache" premieres in Weimar. [1]

May 20

• Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle. [1]

May 24

• Elmer Ellsworth US warrior (Chicago Zouaves), shot to death at age 23. [1]
• James T Jackson US landlord (doodde EE Ellsworth), shot dead). [1]

May 25

• John Merryman is arrested under suspension of writ of habeas corpus it later sparks a supreme court decision protecting the writ. [1]

May 31

• Mint at New Orleans closes. [1]

June 19

• Anaheim Post Office established. [1]

June 28

• Leipzig Observatory discovers short-period (6.2 years) Comet d'Arrest. [1]

July 1

• First public schoolhouse opens at Washington and Mason Street, San Francisco. [1]

July 3

• Pony Express arrives in San Francisco with overland letters from New York. [1]

July 17

• US Congress authorizes paper money. [1]

July 20

• Confederate state's congress began holding sessions in Richmond, Virginia. [1]

August 5

• US Army abolishes flogging. [1]
• US levies its first Income Tax (3% of incomes over $800). [1]

August 8

• William Bateson, originator of term "genetics". [1]

September 17

• First day school for freedmen forms at Fortress Monroe Virginia. [1]

September 25

• Secretary of US Navy authorizes enlistment of slaves. [1]

October 24

• First transcontinental telegram sent ending the Pony Express. [1]

October 26

• The Pony Express officially ceases operations. [5]

November 4

• University of Washington founded in Seattle. [1]

November 26

• At Wheeling, a convention adopts a constitution for new state West Virginia. [1]

December 5

• Gatling gun patented. [1]

December 14

• Albert prince consort of England and husband of Queen Victoria, dies at age 42. [1]
• George HG earl of Aberdeen English Minister of Foreign affairs, dies at age 76. [1]
• Heinrich August Marschner composer, dies at age 66. [1]

December 15

• Gualtiero Sanelli composer, dies at age 45. [1]

December 16

• Karol Joseph Lipinski composer, dies at age 71. [1]

December 26

• In Tilsit, Germany, Emil Wiechert is born; pioneer in the science of seismology. [53]
• Philip Saint George Cocke Confederate Brigadier-General, commits suicide at age 52. [1]

December 30

• American banks stops payments in gold. [1]

December 31

• 22,990 mm of rain falls in Cherrapunji Assam in 1861, world record. [1]