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1863
January 1 - Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War making slavery's abolition in the rebel states an official war goal.
January 10 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to Farringdon Street).
January 21 - Adam Opel founded Opel AG.
April 30 - the Battle of Camarón in Mexico - 65 soldiers of the French Foreign Legion fight 2000 Mexicans - three of them survive the battle.
May 1 – May 4 - American Civil War: General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville with 13,001 Confederate casualties, among them Stonewall Jackson lost to friendly fire, and 17,500 Union casualties.
July 1 - 3 - American Civil War: Union forces under George G. Meade turn back a Confederate invasion by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the war. 28,000 Confederate casualties, 23,000 Union.
August 17 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until Thursday, December 31
October 15 - American Civil War: The first successful (?) submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.
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Forget trying to edit! :flare:
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1862
January 30 - The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
February 1 - Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is published for the first time (Atlantic Monthly).
February 6 - American Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant gives the United States its first victory of the war, by capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee, known as the Battle of Fort Henry.
February 15 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee and captures it the next day.
February 22 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis officially inaugurated in Richmond, Virginia, to a six-year term as president of the Confederate States of America.
March 7 - American Civil War: Confederates shut out of Missouri at The Battle of Pea Ridge.
March 8 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
March 9 - American Civil War: First battle between two ironclad warships USS Monitor v CSS Virginia
March 13 American Civil War: The US federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
March 28 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass - In New Mexico Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
April 5 - American Civil War: Battle of Yorktown - The battle begins when Union forces under General George McClellan close in on the Confederate capital Richmond, Virginia.
April 6 - American Civil War: In Tennessee, the Battle of Shiloh begins.
April 7 - American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh - Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederates near Shiloh, Tennessee.
April 12 - American Civil War: Andrew's Raid - Union The Great Locomotive Chase
May 11 - American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
May 15 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture (later renamed USDA).
May 20 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
June 1 - American Civil War: Battle of Fair Oaks ends - Both sides claim victory.
June 4 - American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
June 6 - American Civil War: Battle of Memphis - Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee from the Confederates
June 8 - American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys - Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George McClellan.
July 1 - Marriage of Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.
July 1 - United States president Abraham Lincoln signs into law the Pacific Railway Acts authorizing construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
July 2 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Morrill Land Grant Act into law, creating land-grant colleges to teach agricultural and mechanical sciences across the United States.
July 16 - American Civil War: David G. Farragut becomes the first United States Navy rear admiral.
July 19 - American Civil War: Morgan's Raid - At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men are captured while trying to escape across the Ohio River.
July 23 - American Civil War: Henry W. Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
August 2 - American Civil War: Skirmish at Taberville, MO -Union forces force Confederate troops to march south, near Taberville, Missouri
August 5 - American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge - Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate troops drive Union forces back into the city.
August 6 - American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with the USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
August 9 - American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain - At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
August 17 - Indian Wars: Lakota (Sioux) uprising begins in Minnesota as desperate Lakota attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. They will be overwhelmed by the US military six weeks later.
August 19 - Indian Wars: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
August 28-August 30 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run (If you're a Yankee, that's Manasas!)
......* September 1 - American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly - Confederate General Robert E. Lee leads his forces in an attack on retreating Union troops in Chantilly, Virginia, driving them away.
September 2 - American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Second Bull Run.
September 5 - American Civil War: In the Confederacy's first invasion of the North, General Robert E. Lee leads 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at White's Ford near Leesburg, Virginia, into Maryland.
September 12 - American Civil War: Battle of Harpers Ferry - Confederates capture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
September 17 - American Civil War: Battle of Antietam - Union forces defeat Confederate troops at Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the bloodiest day in U.S. history (with over 22,000 casualties). (Us Southerners never heard of Sharpsburg-- Antienam, we knew.)
September 19 - American Civil War: Battle of Iuka - Union troops under Major General William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Major General Sterling Price at Iuka, Mississippi.
September 22 - American Civil War: Preliminary announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln
October 8 - American Civil War: Battle of Perryville - Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky.
October 11 - American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.
November 5 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George McClellan as commander of the Union Army.
November 5 - Indian Wars: In Minnesota, more than 300 Santee Sioux are found guilty of rape and murder of white settlers and are sentenced to hang.
November 14 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln approves General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia (this led to a dramatic Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13).
November 28 - American Civil War: Battle of Cane Hill - Union troops led by General John Blunt push back Confederate forces commanded by General John Marmaduke into northwestern Arkansas' Boston Mountains.
December 2 - First US Navy hospital ships enter service
December 18 - General Order No. 11 is issued by General Ulysses S. Grant.
December 26 – William D. Duly hangs 38 Dakota Sioux in Minnesota
December 26 -December 29 - American Civil War: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.
December 30 - The USS Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (I go there on vacation, The Graveyard of the Atlantic!)
December 31 - American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union (thus dividing Virginia in two); meanwhile, the Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (We didn't mind!)
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1861
March 17: Victor Emmanuel recognised as King of Italy
June 6: Death of Count Cavour
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1860
1860 AD -2nd Maori War Begins -The Second Maori war was fought from 1860-1872 between British colonist and native New Zealanders on the North Island. At the end of the largely guerilla war the natives were granted half the island.
1860 Garibaldi's men invade Sicily.
May- J. M. Barrie, writer of Peter Pan, born
June- Great Eastern arrives in New York
August-Prince of Wales visits United States
November-Abraham Lincoln elected sixteenth president of United States
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1859
January 24 - Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza under the name Romania (see December 1, 1918 for the final unification, Transylvania and other regions were still missing at this time).
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February 14 - Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state.
February 27 - US congressman Daniel Sickles shoots Philip Barton Key for having an affair with his wife
March 26 - French amateur astronomer claims to have noticed a planet closer to the Sun than Mercury - later named Vulcan
April 25 - Ground is broken for the Suez Canal
May 21 - The bell Big Ben first activated
June 6 - The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales
July 6 - Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales.
July 11 - Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, faced with an expensive war against France and the Kingdom of Sardinia and potential revolution in Hungary, meets Napoleon III, who also worries at the costs of extending the war and fears the effects of Italian nationalism, at Villafranca. By the preliminary treaty signed there, hostilities cease. Lombardy is ceded to the French (who immediately cede it to Sardinia), while the Austrians keep Venetia and the French promise to restore the Central Italian rulers expelled in the course of the war. This brings the Austro-Sardinian War effectively to a close.
August 27 - Edwin Drake drills the first oil well in the United States, near Titusville, Pennsylvania
[September 2 - Peak of the great auroral storm seen nearly worldwide in the northern hemisphere.
September 18 - Joshua A. Norton proclaims himself "Emperor of These United States" (A very colorful character, well worth reading about!)
October 6 - Thomas Austin takes 24 rabbits and 5 hares to Australia in order to release them there as a game. They will multiply exponentially. (And how!)
October 12 - Self-described "Emperor of the United States" Joshua A. Norton 'orders' the U.S. Congress to dissolve.
October 16 - John Brown raids Harper's Ferry in Virginia, the signal for a general slave rebellion.
October 18 - Troops under Colonel Robert E. Lee overpower Brown at the Federal arsenal.
November 1 - The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse was lighted for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for nineteen miles.
November 24 - British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, a book which argues that organisms gradually evolve through natural selection. (It immediately sold out its initial print run.)
December 2 - Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harper's Ferry.
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1858 - July 29
The United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty
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1857 -
Great Indian Mutiny
Sir Charles Wheatstone (inventer of the accordion) introduces "ticker tape" for use with telegraph.
Jan 9: Earthquake in San Francisco
Feb 22: Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scout movement, born
Dec 3: Joseph Conrad born
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1856 - January 29
Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross
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1855 - The Great Train Robbery, in which several thousand pounds worth of gold, destined for the Crimean War, was stolen from a moving freight car on the Ashford-Folkestone rail line.
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1854
October 25 - Crimean War: The Battle of Balaclava occurs, overall a victory for the allies, but it included the disastrous cavalry Charge of the Light Brigade, from which only 200 of 700 men survive. (Somehow the poem says "600") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/fr...smiley-013.gif
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1853
Taiping Rebellion in China
US President Pierce arrested in office for running over old lady with his horse – case dropped for lack of evidence.
March 30: Vincent Van Gogh born
April : Harriet Tubman starts “underground railway” to liberate slaves.
Nov 30: Russians destroy Turkish fleet off Sinop
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1852
November 2 - Democrat Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire defeats Whig Winfield Scott of Virginia in the U.S. presidential election
Even most American's who read this will say "Who?" He was one of the most forgettable presidents we ever had. This except from his biography explains why to some extent:
His good looks and inoffensive personality caused him to make many friends, but he suffered tragedy in his personal life and as president subsequently made decisions which were widely criticized and divisive in their effects, thus giving him the reputation as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. Pierce's popularity in the North went down sharply after he came out in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repealing the Missouri Compromise and reopening the question of the expansion of slavery in the West. Pierce's credibility was further damaged when several of his foreign ministers issued the Ostend Manifesto. Historian David Potter concludes that the Ostend Manifesto and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were "the two great calamities of the Franklin Pierce administration.... Both brought down an avalanche of public criticism." More important says Potter, they permanently discredited Manifest Destiny and popular sovereignty. [Potter 1976 p 193]
Abandoned by his party, Pierce was not renominated at the 1856 presidential election and was replaced by James Buchanan. After losing the Democratic nomination, Pierce continued his lifelong struggle with alcoholism as his marriage to Jane Means Appleton Pierce fell apart. His reputation was further damaged when he declared support for the Confederacy and died in 1869 from cirrhosis.
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1851
Victor Hugo gives speech at the French national assembly and uses the phrase United States of Europe several times (why?)
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London is opened by Queen Victoria
The New York Times is founded
Reuters news service founded
Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" is published
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1851
January 11 - Taiping Rebellion: Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion.
January 23 - The flip of a coin determines whether a new city in Oregon is named after Boston, Massachusetts, or Portland, Maine, with Portland winning.
March 1 - Victor Hugo gives speech at the French national assembly and uses the phrase United States of Europe several times
March 27 - First reported case of white men seeing Yosemite Valley.
July - The immortal game, a famous chess game, is played.
July 1 - Colony of Victoria separates from New South Wales.
September 18 - The New York Times is founded.
October - Reuters news service founded.
November 14 - Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick is published in the U.S. by Harper & Brothers, New York - after it was first published on October 18, by Richard Bentley, London.
December 26-27 - Royal Navy warship bombards Lagos island; Oba Kosoko is wounded and flees to Epe.
December 29 - The first YMCA opens, in Boston, Massachusetts.
