Today in History for Year 1838

Months in Year 1838: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 42 of 42

Jan 1st - 1st official horse race in South Australia-Adelaide
Jan 8th - 1st telegraph message sent using dots & dashes (NJ)
Jan 8th - Rebellion at Amherstburg, Ontario breaks out
Jan 26th - Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States
Feb 16th - Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions
Feb 16th - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
Feb 25th - London pedestrian walks 20 miles backward then forward in 8 hours
Feb 28th - Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec)
Mar 3rd - Rebellion at Pelee Island, Ontario Canada
Mar 6th - Franz Grillparzer's "Weh dem, der Lugt," premieres in Vienna
Mar 8th - US mint in New Orleans begins operation (producing dimes)
Apr 8th - Steamship "Great Western" maiden voyage (Bristol England to NYC)
Apr 9th - National Gallery re-opens in its new dedicated building in Trafalgar Square London
Apr 18th - Wilkes' expedition to South Pole sails
Apr 22nd - English steamship "Sirius" docks in NYC after Atlantic crossing
Apr 23rd - English steamship "Great Western" crossing Atlantic docks in NYC
Apr 27th - Fire destroys half of Charleston
Apr 30th - Nicaragua declares independence from Central American federation
Jun 10th - Myall Creek Massacre in Australia: 28 Aboriginal Australians are murdered.
Jun 11th - Iowa Territory is organized
Jun 12th - Hopkins Observatory, dedicated in Williamstown, Mass
Jun 12th - Iowa Territory forms
Jun 28th - Coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey, London
Jul 4th - Huskar Colliery Mining Disaster in Silkstone England: Mining pit floods during a rainstorm drowning 26 children, leads to the 1842 commission on the employment of children and women in mines which resulted in the banning of female and child labour underground
Jul 7th - Central American federation is dissolved
Jul 8th - Arabs attack Jewish community of Safed
Aug 1st - Apprenticeship system abolished in most of the British Empire. Former slaves no longer indentured to former owners.
Aug 18th - 1st US marine expedition
Aug 23rd - Mt Holyoke Female Seminary (South Hadley, Mass) 1st graduating class
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass Sep 3rd - Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor
Sep 5th - Central Museum opens in Utrecht Netherlands
Sep 10th - Hector Berlioz' opera "Benvenuto Cellini," premieres in Paris
Sep 18th - Anti-Corn Law League established by Richard Cobden
Sep 19th - Ephraim Morris patents railroad brake
Sep 24th - Anti-Corn-Law League forms to repeal English Corn Law
Oct 1st - Civil Code enforced (- Jan 1, 1992)
Oct 27th - Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated.
Nov 3rd - The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.
Nov 5th - Honduras declares independence of Central American Federation
Nov 8th - Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas," premieres in Paris
Nov 30th - Mexico declares war on France
Dec 16th - Boers beat Zulu chieftain Dingaan in South Africa

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 95 of 95

Jan 1st - William Hugh Young, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
Jan 4th - Charles Stratton, [General Tom Thumb] (famous short person)
Jan 5th - Camille Jordan, French mathematician (d. 1922)
Jan 6th - Max Bruch, Koln (Cologne), Germany, composer
Jan 16th - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
Feb 6th - Henry Irving, [John H Brodribb], Engld, knighted 1895/actor (Hamlet)
Feb 6th - Yisrael Meir Kagan, Chofetz Chayim (d. 1933)
Feb 12th - Charles Carroll Walcott, Bvt Mjr Gen (Union volunteers), died in 1898
Feb 14th - Margaret Knight, inventor, "the female Thomas Edison"
Feb 16th - Arnoldus Pannevis, South African ship's doctor/linguist
Feb 16th - Henry Adams, Boston Mass, historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams)
Feb 18th - Ernst Mach, Chirlitz-Turas Austria, physicist/philosopher/psychologist
Feb 20th - James Barbour Terrill, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
Feb 22nd - Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen, discoverer of hydrogen in Sun
Feb 23rd - Gilbert Moxley Sorrel, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
Feb 24th - Thomas Benton Smith, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1923
Feb 26th - Wendelin Weissheimer, composer
Feb 28th - Maurice Lévy, French engineer (d. 1910)
Mar 1st - Gabriele dell' Addolorata, [Francesco Possenti], Italian priest
Mar 2nd - David Duffle Wood, composer
Mar 3rd - George William Hill, US astronomer (calculated Moon's orbit)
Mar 4th - Paul Lacome, composer
Mar 12th - William Perkin, inventor (1st artificial dye)
Mar 15th - Alice Cunningham Fletcher, ethnologist (Stranger in Her Native Land)
Mar 15th - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (d. 1889)
Mar 18th - Jan B Stobbaerts, Flemish painter
Mar 18th - Randal Cremer, Britain, trade unionist, pacifist (Nobel 1903)
Mar 31st - Leon Dierx, French poet
Apr 3rd - Leon Michel Gambetta, French attorney/premier (1881-82)
Apr 5th - Alpheus Hyatt, US, invertebrate paleontologist
Apr 11th - Joseph Leopold Rockel, composer
Apr 12th - John Shaw Billings, US, librarian/army physician
Apr 16th - Karel Bendl, composer
Apr 18th - Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, French scientist (d. 1912)
Apr 21st - John Muir, US, naturalist/discoverer (glaciers in High Seirras)
Apr 21st - Nat Thompson, cricketer (1st batsman dismissed in a Test match)
Apr 23rd - Alfred J Verwee, Flemish painter
Apr 28th - Tobias M Carel Asser, Holland, advocate of world law (Nobel 1911)
May 6th - Alfred Humphreys Pease, composer
May 10th - James, 1st Viscount Bryce, historian/statesman
Assassin John Wilkes Booth (May 10th) May 10th - John Wilkes Booth, American stage actor and assassin (President Lincoln)
May 11th - Walter Goodman, British painter, illustrator and author (d. 1912)
May 20th - Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
May 24th - Paul Laband, German lawyer
May 28th - Basil Wilson Duke, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1916
May 31st - Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (Wife at University)
Jun 2nd - Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (d. 1900)
Jun 4th - Servaas Daems, [Peeter Klein], Flemish writer (Lute & Flute)
Jun 10th - Meyer E van Beem, actor (Black Venus)
Jun 16th - Cushman Davis, American politician (d. 1900)
Jun 17th - Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya/Chatterjee, Bengali writer and poet (Vande Mataram)
Jun 23rd - Edwin Henry Stoughton, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1868
Jun 24th - Gustav von Schmoller, German economist (Lectern Socialism)
Jun 27th - Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Bengali novelist (Anandamath)
Jun 27th - Paul von Mauser, German weapon designer (d. 1914)
Jul 6th - Vatroslav Jagic, Croatian scholar (d. 1923)
Inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin (Jul 8th) Jul 8th - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Baden Germany, inventor (rigid dirigibles), (d. 1917)
Jul 11th - John Wanamaker, merchant (Wanamakers Dept Store)
Jul 19th - Joel Asaph Allen, US zoologist (Rule of Allen)
Jul 20th - Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
Jul 20th - George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
Jul 23rd - Edouard [Judas] Colonne, composer/violinist
Jul 30th - Eugen Richter, German parliament member (Liberal)
Aug 12th - Joseph Barnby, conductor/academic principal
Sep 2nd - Liliuokalani, [Lydia Paki], last queen of Hawaii (1891-93)
Sep 6th - Samuel Arnold, Lincoln conspirator (d. 1906)
Sep 11th - John Ireland, Irish/US archbishop of St Paul
Sep 14th - John Pelham, Major (Confederate Army), died in 1863
Sep 16th - James J Hill, Canada, RR entrepreneur (Great Northern Railroad)
Sep 18th - Anton Mauve, painter/graphic artist/cousin of Vincent Van Gogh
Sep 23rd - Victoria Chaflin Woodhull, Ohio US, feminist/reformer
Sep 27th - Antony E J Modderman, Dutch minister of Justice (1879-83)
Sep 29th - Henry Hobson Richardson, St James LA, Romanesque revival architect
Oct 6th - Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Italian patriot and writer (d. 1910)
Oct 8th - John Milton Hay, politician (Union), died in 1905
Oct 22nd - Carl Fuchs, composer
Composer Georges Bizet (Oct 25th) Oct 25th - Georges Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, France, composer (Carmen)
Oct 27th - John Davis Long, 32nd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1915)
Oct 31st - King Louis of Portugal (d. 1889)
Nov 6th - John Grant Mitchell, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1894
Nov 7th - Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, French writer (d. 1889)
Nov 13th - Joseph F Smith, 6th pres of Mormon church
Nov 14th - August Senoa, Croatian author (Zlatarevo zlato)
Nov 22nd - Jose Augusto da Ferreira Veiga, Viscount d' Arneiro, composer
Nov 29th - Aeneas Mackay, Baron/Dutch minister of interior/Colonies
Dec 3rd - Cleveland Abbe, US, meteorologist (Father of Weather Bureau)
Dec 3rd - Octavia Hill, British reformer, leader of open-space movement
Dec 4th - Melesio Morales, composer
Dec 11th - Emil Rathenau, German industrialist (AEG)
Dec 11th - Whitney Eugene Thayer, composer
Dec 12th - Sherburne W Burnham, US, astronomer (binary stars)
Dec 13th - Marie-Alexis Castillon de Saint-Victor, composer
Dec 17th - Berthold Tours, composer
Dec 20th - Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
Dec 31st - Emile Loubet, premier/president of France (1892, 1899-1906)

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 1 of 1

Nov 11th - Emma Wedgwood accepts Charles Darwin's marriage proposal (English Naturalist later author of Origin of the Species)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 38 of 38

Jan 13th - Ferdinand Ries, German composer dies at 53
Jan 16th - Aleksandr I Polezjajev, Russian poet (Sasjka), dies at 33 [OS]
Jan 20th - Pierre-Louis Hus-Desforges, composer, dies at 64
Jan 23rd - Arnold A Buyskes, Dutch vice-admiral/colonial director, dies at 67
Jan 28th - Aleksandr I Polezjajev, Russian poet (Sasjka), dies at 33 [NS]
Jan 30th - Osceola, chief of Seminole indians, dies in jail
Feb 1st - Abraham de Veer, Dutch gov-gen of Suriname (1822-28), dies at 71
Feb 5th - Philippe Libon, composer, dies at 62
Feb 22nd - Friedrich Johann Eck, composer, dies at 70
Mar 16th - Nathaniel Bowditch, astronomer/navigation expert, dies at 64
Mar 22nd - Hendrik Fagel, Dutch/English baron, dies at 73
Mar 24th - Thomas Attwood, composer, dies at 72
Apr 3rd - Francesco Antommarchi, Napoleon's physician on St Helena, dies at 57
Apr 6th - Jose B de Andrada e Silva, premier of Brazil (1822-23), dies at 74
Apr 11th - Pieter L Uys, South African pioneer (Great Pull), murdered at 40
Apr 17th - J Schopenhauer, writer, dies at 71
Apr 23rd - John W Janssens, gov-gen of Cape Colony/Dutch-Indies, dies at 75
May 17th - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, French diplomat (b. 1754)
May 17th - René Caillé, French explorer (b. 1799)
May 23rd - John W Janssens, gov-gen (Cape Colony), dies at 75
May 28th - Thomas Busby, composer, dies
Jun 25th - François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo, French general (b. 1774)
Jul 10th - Willem earl van Hogendorp, Dutch colonial governor, dies at about 43
Jul 17th - John Whites, hydraulic engineer, dies at 82
Jul 19th - Frederic Nicolas Duvernoy, composer, dies at 72
Jul 28th - Bernhard Henrik Crusell, composer, dies at 62
Jul 29th - Jonathan Huntington, composer, dies at 66
Aug 21st - A v Chamisso, writer, dies at 57
Sep 1st - William Clark, 2nd lt of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 68
Sep 5th - Charles Percier, French architect (b. 1764)
Sep 7th - Joseph Panny, composer, dies at 43
Sep 8th - Pietro Rovelli, composer, dies at 45
Oct 1st - Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and industrialist (b. 1768)
Oct 3rd - Black Hawk (chief), Leader of the Sauk Native American tribe (b. 1767)
Oct 4th - Eleanore Sophia Maria Westenholz, composer, dies at 79
Oct 19th - Henry Fagel, baron/court clerk of States-General/diplomat, dies at 73
Nov 24th - Karl Ludwig Hellwig, composer, dies at 65
Dec 14th - Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician and Patriote (b. 1806)