Notable Historical Events - 1856
1856 Historical Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
Jan 8 |
Dr John A Veatch discovers borax, Tuscan Springs, Calif |
Jan 23 |
Steamer Pacific lost |
Jan 25 |
Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers & Indians |
Jan 29 |
Victoria Cross established to acknowledge valour in the face of the enemy (United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries) |
Feb 1 |
Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College. |
Feb 7 |
The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot. |
Feb 18 |
American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy |
Feb 18 |
The American Party (Know-Nothings) convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate its first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore. |
Feb 19 |
Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio |
Feb 20 |
John Rutledge, Liverpool-NY steamer, hits iceberg; many die |
Feb 22 |
1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh) |
Feb 29 |
Hostilities in Russo-Turkish War cease |
Mar 5 |
Covent Garden Opera House, London, destroyed in a fire |
Mar 5 |
Georgia becomes 1st state to regulate railroads |
Mar 9 |
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is founded in the Johnston Mansion House on the University of Alabama |
Mar 25 |
A E Burnside patents Burnside carbine |
Mar 26 |
NSW's 1st 1st-class game, v Victoria at Melbourne NSW won |
Mar 30 |
Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War |
Apr 3 |
Gunpowder in church explodes killing 4,000 in Rhodos |
Apr 10 |
The Theta Chi Fraternity is founded at Norwich University. |
Apr 11 |
Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats Wm Walker's invading Nicaraguans |
Apr 18 |
Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns |
Apr 29 |
Peace between Britain & Russia |
May 7 |
Argentina & Brazil sign a navigation pact |
May 15 |
2nd SF Vigilance Committee organized |
May 19 |
Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery |
May 21 |
Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and sacked by pro-slavery forces |
May 22 |
Violence in Senate, SC rep Brooks used a cane on Mass Sen Sumner |
May 24 |
Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas |
May 27 |
Doctor William Palmer found guilty of poisoning |
Jun 3 |
Cullen Whipple patents screw machine |
Jun 8 |
Pitcairn Islanders arrive on Norfolk Island |
Jun 9 |
500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. |
Jun 17 |
Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in Philadelphia |
Jul 15 |
Natal forms as a British colony separate from Cape Colony |
Jul 16 |
Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster unveiled in Haarlem |
Jul 17 |
The Great Train Wreck of 1856 between Camp Hill and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania kills over 60 people. |
Jul 31 |
Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city. |
Aug 6 |
The Great Bell is cast in the Great Clock of Westminster (Big Ben) |
Aug 10 |
Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana |
Aug 12 |
Anthony Fass patents accordion |
Aug 20 |
Wilberforce University forms in Ohio |
Aug 21 |
America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda. (Traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856) |
Sep 2 |
Tianjing's struggle Incident in Nanjing, China. |
Sep 14 |
Battle of San Jacinto at Hacienda San Jacinto, Nicaraguan forces defeat American filibusters |
Oct 7 |
Cyrus Chambers Jr patents folding machine that folds book & newspapers |
Oct 8 |
The Second Opium War or second Anglo-Chinese War: begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River. |
Oct 19 |
James Kelly & Jack Smith fight bareknuckle for 6h15m in Melbourne |
Oct 20 |
Arnhem-Oberhausen railway in Netherlands opens |
Oct 24 |
Constitution of South Australia adopted |
Nov 3 |
A British fleet bombards Canton. |
Nov 4 |
James Buchanan elected 15th US president |
Nov 16 |
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens |
Nov 17 |
On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase. |
Dec 9 |
The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces. |
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