January •
January 1 •
Benito Juárez captures
Mexico City. • The first steam-powered
carousel is recorded, in
Bolton, England. •
January 2 –
Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies, and is succeeded by
Wilhelm I.
American Civil War: •
January 3 –
Delaware votes not to secede from the
Union. •
January 9 –
Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union. •
January 10 –
Florida secedes from the Union. •
January 11 –
Alabama secedes from the Union. •
January 12 – Major
Robert Anderson sends dispatches to Washington. •
January 19 –
Georgia secedes from the Union. •
January 21 –
Jefferson Davis resigns from the
United States Senate. •
January 26 –
Louisiana secedes from the Union. •
January 29 –
Kansas is admitted as the 34th
U.S. state, being admitted as a free state. •
January 31 –
Kukis raid the
Chhagalnaiya plains in eastern
Bengal, murdering and kidnapping hundreds of people, particularly women.
February American Civil War: •
February 1 –
Texas secedes from the Union. •
February 4 – In
Montgomery, Alabama, the
Provisional Confederate States Congress is formed by representatives from the first seven break-away
states. •
February 8 – The
Confederate States of America are formed, comprising the first seven break-away States. •
February 9 – Jefferson Davis is elected Provisional President of the
Confederate States of America, by the Weed Convention at Montgomery, Alabama. •
February 11 •
American Civil War: The U.S. House unanimously passes a resolution, guaranteeing non-interference with slavery in any state. • About 850 convicts at
Chatham Dockyard in England take over their prison in a riot. •
February 13 –
Unification of Italy: The
Siege of Gaeta, stronghold of the Neapolitan King
Francis II, is ended by Piedmontese forces. Francis goes into exile. •
February 18 –
American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America. •
February 20 – In Britain, storms damage the
Crystal Palace and cause the collapse of the steeple of
Chichester Cathedral. •
February 21 –
Mariehamn, the capital of
Åland, is founded. •
February 23 – President-elect
Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. in light of
suspicions of a conspiracy in Baltimore to kill him. •
February 24 –
Battle of Ky Hoa: the French and the Spanish defeat the Vietnamese. •
February 27 – Russian troops fire upon a crowd in
Warsaw protesting Russian rule over Poland, killing 5 protesters. •
February 28 –
Colorado is organized as a
United States territory. •
March 2 •
Nevada is organized as a
United States territory. •
American Civil War: Texas is admitted to the Confederate States of America.
March •
March 3 (
February 19 O.S.) –
Emancipation reform of 1861:
Alexander II abolishes
serfdom in the
Russian Empire. :
Lincoln inaugurated :
Confederate flag •
March 4 •
Abraham Lincoln is
sworn in as the 16th president of the United States. •
American Civil War: The "
Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the
Confederate States of America. •
March 10 –
El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of
Ségou, destroying the
Bamana Empire of
Mali. •
March 11 –
American Civil War: The
Constitution of the
Confederate States of America is adopted. •
March 13 –
Tsushima incident: The Russian corvette
Posadnik arrives at
Tsushima Island in the
Korea Strait, Japan, provoking a reaction from the Japanese Shogunate. •
March 17 –
Unification of Italy: The
Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed by the new Parliament, with
Victor Emmanuel II of
Piedmont-Sardinia becoming its
king. •
March 19 – The
First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand. •
March 20 •
Unification of Italy: The surrender of
Civitella del Tronto ends the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. •
An earthquake completely destroys
Mendoza, Argentina. •
March 21 –
Alexander Stephens,
Vice President of the Confederacy, gives the infamous
Cornerstone Speech in
Savannah, Georgia, in which he declares that slavery is the natural condition of blacks, and the foundation of the
Confederacy. •
March 28 –
Confederate Arizona: A convention in modern-day Tucson ratifies the ordinance of secession of the southern part of
New Mexico Territory. •
March 30 –
Discovery of the chemical elements: British chemist
William Crookes announces his discovery of
thallium.
April •
April 7 – A population
census is taken in the United Kingdom. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.
American Civil War: •
April 12 – The
American Civil War begins with
the bombardment of Fort Sumter,
South Carolina. •
April 13 –
Fort Sumter surrenders to Southern forces.–
13:
Fort Sumter •
April 15 – President Abraham Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 men to confront in the South, "combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary way". •
April 17 –
Virginia secedes from the Union. •
April 20 –
Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army, in order to command the forces of the state of
Virginia. •
April 24 (N.S.) –
Bezdna unrest: Bezdna in Russia is the scene of a peasant uprising; the military open fire and about 90 are killed. •
April 25 –
American Civil War: The
Union Army arrives in Washington, D.C. •
April 26 –
Giovanni Schiaparelli discovers the
asteroid 69 Hesperia. •
April 27 –
American Civil War: President
Abraham Lincoln suspends the
writ of habeas corpus in the United States.
May American Civil War: •
May 6 –
Arkansas secedes from the
Union. •
May 7 –
Tennessee secedes from the
Union. •
May 8 –
Richmond, Virginia, is named the capital of the
Confederate States of America. •
May 10 – The
Royal Seminary is granted its constitution as the first
public institution of higher academic learning open to women in Sweden. •
May 13 •
North Star affair: The British merchant ship
North Star leaves Hong Kong for Nagasaki, Japan. Chinese pirates board the vessel, kill an officer, and escape with a large quantity of gold. •
American Civil War:
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of
neutrality", which recognizes the
breakaway states as having belligerent rights. •
Comet C/1861 J1 (the "Great Comet of 1861") is discovered from Australia.:
Great Comet •
May 14 – The Canellas meteorite, an 859
gram chondrite type
meteorite, strikes Earth near
Barcelona, Spain. •
May 17 • A 7-day working men's
package holiday to
Paris, organised by
Thomas Cook, sets out from
London Bridge station. • Scottish-born physicist
James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography in a lecture at the
Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by
Thomas Sutton. •
May 20 –
American Civil War: •
Kentucky proclaims its
neutrality, which lasts until
September 3, when
Confederate forces enter the state. •
North Carolina secedes from the
Union. •
May 21 – Russian sailors clash with a group of Japanese samurai and farmers at
Tsushima Island. •
May 23 –
American Civil War: The state of
Virginia's ordinance of secession from the
United States is ratified in a referendum. •
May 29 – The
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is established. •
May 31 – The
Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship is signed
between Bahrain and the United Kingdom.
June •
June 9 –
Règlement Organique: With the approval of European powers, the
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate is established as a semi-autonomous sub-division separate from the
Sidon Eyalet. An Ottoman Armenian, Davud Pasha, is appointed
Mutasarrıf by the Ottoman Sultan. •
June 15 –
Benito Juárez is formally elected President of Mexico; he temporarily stops the payments of
foreign debt. •
June 22 –
Tooley Street fire breaks out and takes the life of
James Braidwood, first superintendent of the
London Fire Brigade. •
June 25 –
Abdülmecid I,
Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire (
1839–1861) dies and is succeeded by
Abdülaziz (1861–
1876).:
Abdülaziz •
June 30 –
Lambing Flat riots: White miners attack Chinese in the Australian goldfields.
July •
July 1 • The first issue of the
Vatican's newspaper ''
L'Osservatore Romano'' is published. •
Taiping Rebellion:
Battle of Shanghai – French and
Imperial Chinese troops defeat Taiping forces. • In
Cologne, the
Wallraf–Richartz Museum of art opens. •
July 2 –
Ivan Kasatkin lands on
Hakodate, and introduces the
Eastern Orthodox Church into Japan. •
American Civil War: •
July 12 – The Confederate States sign a
Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws in
Indian Territory. •
July 13 – The
Battle of Corrick's Ford takes place in western Virginia. •
July 21 –
First Battle of Bull Run – At
Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war ends in a
Confederate victory. •
July 25 – The
Crittenden–Johnson Resolution is passed by the
U.S. Congress, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union, and not to end
slavery. •
July 26 –
George B. McClellan assumes command of the
Army of the Potomac, following the disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
August •
August 1 – The first public
weather forecast: measured and predicted correctly by Admiral
Robert FitzRoy in Britain. •
August 5 –
American Civil War: • In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first
income tax as part of the
Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in
1872). • The U.S. Army abolishes
flogging. •
August 6 –
Lagos Treaty of Cession between the
British Empire and
Dosunmu,
Oba of Lagos, by which the latter, under threat of military bombardment, cedes
Lagos Island to Britain, whilst retaining his title and powers, subject to English law, and allowing the British Royal Navy's
West Africa Squadron to have a base there to prevent the slave trade. •
August 10 – American Civil War: The first major battle west of the
Mississippi River, the
Battle of Wilson's Creek, is fought, with a
Confederate victory. •
August 15 – First description of
Archaeopteryx, based on a feather found in
Bavaria; in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near
Langenaltheim in Germany. •
August 19 –
Weisshorn, the fifth highest summit in the Alps, is first ascended. •
August 20–
22 – The first modern
Welsh National Eisteddfod takes place in
Aberdare. •
August 27 –
Martin Doyle is the last person
executed in Britain for
attempted murder.
September •
American Civil War: •
September 3 –
Confederate General
Leonidas Polk invades neutral
Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance. •
September 6 – Forces under Union General
Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture
Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control of the mouth of the
Tennessee River. •
September 17 –
Argentine Civil War:
Battle of Pavón: Victory of
Buenos Aires over the
Argentine Confederation, and the re-unification of
Argentina.
October :
Battle of Santa Rosa Island •
October 9 –
American Civil War:
Battle of Santa Rosa Island – Confederate forces are defeated in their effort to take the island. •
October 17 –
Australian frontier wars:
Cullin-la-ringo massacre – 19 white settlers are murdered by
indigenous Australians, following which more than 300 of the latter are killed in retaliation. •
October 21 –
American Civil War:
Battle of Ball's Bluff –
Union forces under Colonel
Edward Baker are defeated by
Confederate troops, in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of
Abraham Lincoln, is also killed in the fighting. •
October 24 • , the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armored battleship, is completed and commissioned into the British
Royal Navy. •
Western Union completes the
first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States. •
October 25 – The
Toronto Stock Exchange is established in Canada. •
October 26 – The
Pony Express American transcontinental mail service announces its closure. •
American Civil War: •
October 28 – The
Missouri legislature takes up a bill for
Missouri's secession from the Union. •
October 30 – The bill for Missouri's secession from the Union is passed. •
October 31 • The Spanish, French and British governments sign a tripartite agreement to intervene in Mexico, in the hope of recovering unpaid debts. • The
Missouri secession bill is signed by Governor Jackson. •
American Civil War: Citing failing health, 75-year-old Union General
Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the
United States Army.
November •
November 1 – U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln appoints
George B. McClellan as commander of the
Union Army, replacing Winfield Scott. •
November 2 –
American Civil War: Western Department Union General
John C. Frémont is relieved of command and replaced by
David Hunter. •
November 4 – The
University of Washington is founded in Seattle. •
November 5 – The first
Melbourne Cup horse race is held in
Melbourne, Australia. •
American Civil War: •
November 6 –
Jefferson Davis is elected president of the
Confederate States of America. •
November 7 –
Battle of Belmont – In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General
Ulysses S. Grant (in his first combat leadership role) overrun a
Confederate camp, but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive. •
November 8 –
Trent Affair – The stops the United Kingdom mail ship
Trent, and arrests two
Confederate envoys,
James Mason and
John Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S. •
November 10 – Death of French explorer
Henri Mouhot, following which his servant Phrai begins shipping his diaries and specimens back to the west; they include accounts of Mouhot's discovery of
Angkor Wat. •
November 11 – The
Tongzhi Emperor succeeds to the throne of China at the age of 5. His mother,
Empress Dowager Cixi, becomes co-regent and will be the power behind the imperial throne for almost 50 years. •
American Civil War: •
November 19 –
Battle of Round Mountain in
Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). •
November 21 –
Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints
Judah P. Benjamin Secretary of War. •
November 25 • At a battle in the
Sundarbans of Bengal, the house of
Rahimullah of Baraikhali is attacked and he and 33 others are killed. • A
tenement collapses in the
Old Town, Edinburgh (Scotland), killing 35 people, while 15 others survive. •
November 28 – Acting on the ordinance passed by the Jackson government, the Confederate Congress admits
Missouri as the 12th Confederate state.
December •
December 1 –
American Civil War:
Trent Affair – The British government dispatches its response, partly drafted by
Albert, Prince Consort (a fortnight before his death). •
December 10 •
American Civil War: A rebel government representing
Kentucky is accepted into the
Confederate States of America, although Kentucky officially remains part of the United States. • In southern
French Indochina, resistance forces led by
Nguyễn Trung Trực ambush, board and sink the French
lorcha (boat) ''L'Esperance'' on the Nhat Tao canal. •
December 21 –
Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln.
Undated • The first industrial
meat packing plant in Uruguay is established, at
Fray Bentos. • Statistically, this year is considered the end of the
whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the
petroleum oil industry. == Births ==