WORLD HISTORY · 19TH CENTURY 日本語
Events of the 1840s1840–1849
What happened in the 1840s?
In the 1840s (1840–1849), the Opium War broke out between Qing China and Britain, and revolutions such as Paris's February Revolution swept Europe. In Japan, Takashima Shuhan staged Western-style military drills, the American commodore Biddle arrived at Uraga, and Emperor Komei ordered stronger coastal defenses.
- British expedition starts the Opium WarAsia
- Takashima Shuhan holds Western-style drills at TokumarugaharaAsia
- World's first telegraph service starts in BritainEurope
- American commodore Biddle arrives at UragaNorth America
- Galle discovers Neptune using calculationsEurope
- Emperor Komei orders stronger coastal defensesAsia
- February Revolution in Paris; revolutions sweep EuropeEurope
- Cowpox vaccine reaches NagasakiAsia
Summaries are written by the site editors.
The 1840s in AP history courses
| AP World History | Unit 5–6 (Revolutions; Consequences of Industrialization) |
|---|---|
| AP U.S. History | Periods 4–5 |
Events of the 1840s (timeline · 232)
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The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
A Ms 7.4 earthquake strikes present-day Turkey and Armenia; combined with the effects of an eruption on Mount Ararat, kills 10,000 people.
The Great Powers of Europe conclude the convention of London in order to stabilise the Near East.
An Anglo-Turkish force captures Beirut with the help of bombardment by an English fleet.
The Maronite leader Bashir Shihab II surrenders to the Ottoman Empire and later is sent to Malta in exile.
Gordon Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United States v. The Amistad case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and setting the record for the briefest administration. Vice President John Tyler succeeds Harrison as President.
U.S. President John Tyler is sworn in, two days after having become president upon William Henry Harrison's death.
Thomas Lempriere and James Clark Ross carve a marker on the Isle of the Dead in Van Diemen's Land to measure tidal variations, one of the earliest surviving benchmarks for sea level rise.
Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia conclude the London Straits Convention, which forbids warships to cross the Bosporus and Dardanelles in times of war.
U.S. President John Tyler vetoes a bill which called for the re-establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism by Charles Lafontaine, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnotism.
Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera composers.
The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.
The first edition of The Illustrated London News, the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine, is published.
The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.
John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet affair.
The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
Treaty of Nanking comes into effect; Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British "in perpetuity".
Brunel's steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.
Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
The Greek Army rebels (OS date: September 3) against the autocratic rule of king Otto of Greece, demanding the granting of a constitution.
The crew of schooner Ancud, led by John Williams Wilson, takes possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of the Chilean government.
In New York City, B'nai B'rith, the oldest Jewish service organization in the world, is founded.
Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell is arrested by the British on charges of criminal conspiracy.
William Rowan Hamilton invents quaternions, a three-dimensional system of complex numbers.
Ka Lā Hui (Hawaiian Independence Day): The Kingdom of Hawaii is officially recognized by the United Kingdom and France as an independent nation.
The discovery of octonions by John T. Graves, who denoted them with a boldface O, was announced to his mathematician friend William Hamilton, discoverer of quaternions, in a letter on this date.
The first issue of the Swedish-languaged Saima newspaper founded by J. V. Snellman is published in Kuopio, Finland.
A gun explodes on board the steam warship USS Princeton during a pleasure cruise down the Potomac River, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel Upshur. President John Tyler, who is also on board, is not injured from the blast.
The Baháʼí calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Baháʼí calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Baháʼí Faith as the Baháʼí New Year or Náw-Rúz.
One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros.
Báb: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Baháʼí Faith.
Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought" (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Governor-general of the Philippines Narciso Claveria signs a decree to reform the country's calendar by skipping Tuesday, December 31, as a solution to anomalies that had existed since Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521.
The treaty of Tangier ends the Franco-Moroccan War, which Morocco lost, and forces it to recognise the French possessions in Algeria.
The Millerites (followers of Baptist preacher William Miller) anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the Second Advent of Christ. The following day becomes known as the Great Disappointment.
The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers commences business at its cooperative in Rochdale, England, starting the Cooperative movement.
The Philippines skipped this date in order to align the country with the rest of Asia, as the trading interest switched to China, Dutch East Indies and neighboring territories after Mexico gained independence from Spain on 27 September 1821. In the islands, Monday, 30 December 1844 was immediately followed by Wednesday, 1 January 1845.
The Philippines moves its national calendar to align with other Asian countries' calendars by skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. The change has been ordered by Governor–General Narciso Claveria to reform the country's calendar so that it aligns with the rest of Asia. Its territory has been one day behind the rest of Asia for 323 years since the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines on March 16, 1521.
"The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe.
United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hōne Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororāreka, New Zealand.
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.
New Zealand Legislative Council pass the first Militia Act constituting the New Zealand Army.
Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition depart from Greenhithe, England.
The Fatel Razack, coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country.
Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau's account of his two years there, Walden, will become a touchstone of the environmental movement.
Great New York City Fire of 1845: The last great fire to affect Manhattan begins early in the morning and is subdued that afternoon. The fire kills four firefighters and 26 civilians and destroys 345 buildings.
In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 students.
Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
Having coined the phrase "manifest destiny" the previous July, journalist John L. O'Sullivan argued in his newspaper New York Morning News that the United States had the right to claim the entire Oregon Country.
Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Jefferson, Georgia.
After the Milwaukee Bridge War, the United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee.
The first Mormon pioneers make their exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, westward towards Salt Lake Valley.
First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
In Austin, Texas, the newly formed Texas state government is officially installed. The Republic of Texas government officially transfers power to the State of Texas government following the annexation of Texas by the United States.
Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.
Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.
Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion.
Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright's rules on Hoboken, New Jersey's Elysian Fields with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23–1. Cartwright umpired.
Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experience a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.
Astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.
The world's first "Mercy" Hospital is founded in Pittsburgh, United States, by a group of Sisters of Mercy from Ireland; the name will go on to grace over 30 major hospitals throughout the world.
Westward expansion of the United States: John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
Mexican–American War: The Battle of Buena Vista: Five thousand American troops defeat 15,000 Mexican troops.
Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
Mexican–American War: The first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S. history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.
Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
Shooting of a Māori by an English sailor results in the opening of the Wanganui Campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire determine their international boundary in the second treaty of Erzurum.
A riot occurs in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and members of the Orange Order that results in up to ten deaths.
After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.
Liberia declares its independence from the United States. France and the United Kingdom are the first to recognize the new nation.
Mexican–American War: Six teenage military cadets known as Niños Héroes die defending Chapultepec Castle in the Battle of Chapultepec. American troops under General Winfield Scott capture Mexico City in the Mexican–American War.
Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish medical doctor, discovers the anaesthetic properties of chloroform.
The passenger ship Stephen Whitney is wrecked in thick fog off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 92 of the 110 on board. The disaster results in the construction of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse.
The Sonderbund is defeated by the joint forces of other Swiss cantons under General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.
Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.
The Palermo rising takes place in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.
Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
A revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the reform party.
Revolutions of 1848: A rebellion arises in Milan which in five days of street fighting drove Marshal Radetzky and his Austrian soldiers from the city.
The premiere of William Henry Fry's Leonora in Philadelphia is the first known performance of a grand opera by an American composer.
The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
The boar-crested Anglo-Saxon Benty Grange helmet is discovered in a barrow on the Benty Grange farm in Derbyshire.
Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
Mexican–American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.
In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new republican government.
A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism.
Governor-General Peter von Scholten emancipates all remaining slaves in the Danish West Indies.
The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is established by Nelson Dewey, first Governor of Wisconsin.
Great Famine of Ireland: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
Pica Law (Legge Pica), a form of martial law, is established as the Italian government passes this anti-brigandage law to suppress resistance to the Unification of Italy.
California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives an iron rod 1+1⁄4 inches (3.2 cm) in diameter being driven through his brain; the reported effects on his behavior and personality stimulate discussion of the nature of the brain and its functions.
The Battle of Pákozd is a stalemate between Hungarian and Croatian forces and is the first battle of the Hungarian Revolution.
In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with the Boston University School of Medicine), opens.
A greatly revised Dutch constitution, which transfers much authority from the king to his parliament and ministers, is proclaimed.
California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
French presidential election: Having won the popular vote in a landslide, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is inaugurated in the chamber of the National Assembly as the first (and only) president of the French Second Republic.
Second Anglo-Sikh War: The Siege of Multan ends after nine months when the last Sikh defenders of Multan, Punjab, surrender.
Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, New York, becoming the United States' first female doctor.
The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized.
In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States of America and Millard Fillmore, 12th Vice President, did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
Lajos Kossuth presents the Hungarian Declaration of Independence in a closed session of the National Assembly.
The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 22 and injuring over 120.
Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats, making him the only U.S. president to ever hold a patent.
Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established.
The Charleston Workhouse Slave Rebellion begins in Charleston, South Carolina, United States.
The first air raid in history occurs; Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice.
Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Joven Daniel wrecks at the coast of Araucanía, Chile, leading to allegations that local Mapuche tribes murdered survivors and kidnapped Elisa Bravo.
Passaleão incident: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral, the governor of Portuguese Macau, is assassinated by a group of Chinese locals, triggering a military confrontation between China and Portugal at the Battle of Passaleão three days later.
President Faustin Soulouque of the First Republic of Haiti has the Senate and Chamber of Deputies proclaim him the Emperor of Haiti, abolishing the Republic and inaugurating the Second Empire of Haiti.
Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire: After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
Boilers of the steamboat Louisiana explode as she pulls back from the dock in New Orleans, killing more than 150 people.
A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his sentence is later commuted to hard labor.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.