1862

January 1

• First US income tax (3 percent of incomes > $600, 5 percent of incomes > $10,000). [1]

January 5

• Joseph Frohlich composer, dies at age 81. [1]

January 10

• Samuel Colt inventor (6 shot revolver), dies at age 47. [1]

January 20

• General Felix Zollicoffer killed after mistakenly riding into union lines. [1]

January 21

• Bozena Nemcová [Barnora Panklová], Czechoslovakian author, dies at age 41. [1]

January 24

• James McIntosh US confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle at about age 33. [1]
• Romania principality arises under King Alexander Cuza. [1]

January 31

• Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius. [1]

February 1

• Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of the Republic". [1]

February 3

• Jean-Baptiste Biot French physicist/astronomer, dies at age 87. [1]

February 7

• Frantisek Jan Skroup composer, dies at age 61. [1]

February 8

• Dion Boucicault's opera "The Lily of Killarney" is produced (London). [1]

February 10

• Dutch second government of Thorbecke forms. [1]

February 21

• Justinus A C Kerner German family doctor/poet/writer, dies at age 75. [1]

February 24

• Bernard S Ingemann Danish author (Holger Danske), dies at age 72. [1]

February 25

• US Congress establishes the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. [1]

February 27

• Gabriele dell' Addolorata patron of Italian Catholic youth, dies at age 23. [1]

February 28

• The opera "La Reine de Saba" premieres (Paris). [1]

March 2

• Frederick West Lander US Union Brigadier-General/poet, dies at age 40. [1]

March 7

• Ben McCulloch US Confederate Brigadier-General (KIA), dies at age 50. [1]
• John Baillie McIntosh US General-Major (Union Army), dies at age 32. [1]
• William Slack US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle. [1]

March 8

• Adrien de La Fage composer, dies at age 56. [1]
• Nat Gordon last pirate, hanged in New York City, New York for stealing 1,000 slaves. [1]

March 10

• Great Britain and France recognizes independence of Zanzibar. [1]
• US issues first paper money ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1000). [1]

March 17

• Fromental Halevy [Elie Levy], French opera composer, dies at age 62. [1]

March 19

• F Wilhelm von Schadow German painter (Modern Vasari), dies at age 73. [1]

March 22

• San Marino and Italy conclude treaty of friendship and cooperation. [1] [501.154]

March 23

• Karl Robert von Nesselrode German chancellor, dies at age 81. [1]

April 3

• James Clark Ross Arctic explorer, dies. [1]

April 4

• Harmen S Sytstra Dutch poet/editor (Iduna), dies at age 45. [1]

April 6

• Adley Hogan Gladden Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 51. [1]
• Albert Sidney Johnston US Confederate General, dies in battle at age 59. [1]

April 7

• Sydney Nelson composer, dies at age 62. [1]

April 8

• John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser. [1]

April 9

• George W Johnson US planter/Confederate (Governor-Kentucky), dies at about age 50. [1]

April 10

• William Harvey Lamb Wallace US lawyer/Brigadier-General, dies at age 40. [1]

April 19

• Louis Powell Harvey US Governor of Wisconsin, drowns. [1]
• Simon Fraser Canadian explorer, dies. [1]

April 21

• Ellen Price Wood's "East Lynne, premieres in Boston. [1]

April 25

• Charles Ferguson Smith US Union General-Major, dies of infection at age 55. [1]

May 5

• French army intervenes in Puebla México: Cinco de Mayo. [1]

May 6

• Henry David Thoreau, American writer/pacifist (Walden Pond), dies at age 44. [1] [5]

May 7

• Much of Enschede Netherlands destroyed by fire. [1]

May 14

• Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patents the chronograph. [1]

May 15

• Department of Agriculture created. [1]
• General Benjamin F Butler issues "Woman's Order" - women of New Orleans to be treated as whores as a result of their treatment of Union soldiers. [1]

May 16

• Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir builds first automobile. [1]
• Lev A Ms Russian nobleman/poet, dies at age 40. [1]

May 18

• William H Keim US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 48. [1]

May 19

• Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West. [1]

May 20

• Homestead Act provides cheap land for settlement of the West. [1]

May 24

• Westminster Bridge across Thames opens. [1]

May 25

• Johann N Nestroy Austria; actor (Einmal Keine Sorgen Haben), dies at age 60. [1]

May 29

• Franciszek Wincenty Mirecki composer, dies at age 71. [1]

May 31

• Robert Hatton Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at about age 34. [1]

June 7

• William Mumford first US citizen hanged for treason. [1]

July 1

• US Congress outlaws polygamy (first time); bad news for Utah. [1]
• Lincoln appoints Isaac Newton sec of agriculture. [1]

July 2

• Lincoln signs act granting land for state agricultural colleges. [1]

July 4

• Lewis Carroll creates Alice in Wonderland for Alice P Liddell. [1]

July 7

• Land Grant Act endows state colleges with federal land. [1]

July 12

• US Congress authorizes Medal of Honor. [1]

July 16

• David G Farragut became first rear admiral in US Navy. [1]

July 17

• US army authorized to accept blacks as laborers. [1]

July 26

• Great Eastern departs New York for Liverpool with US$600,000 in specie aboard. [459.64]

July 27

• Steamer "Golden Gate" burns and sinks off west coast of Mexico. [1]

August 14

• Lincoln receives first group of blacks to confer with US president. [1]

August 28

• Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, DC. [1]

August 29

• Battle of Aspromonte-Italian royal forces defeat rebels. [1]
• US Bureau of Engraving and Printing begins operation. [1]

September 1

• Oliver Tilden of the Bronx, killed in the Civil War in Virginia. [1]

September 4

• North Beach and Mission Railway Company organized in San Francisco. [1]

November 4

• Gatling gun patented (Richard J Gatling). [1]

November 6

• NY-San Francisco direct telegraphic link established. [1]

November 11

• The opera "La Forza Del Destino" is produced (Saint Petersburg Russia). [1]

December 6

• US President Abraham Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians. [1]

December 7

• Sylvester Churchill US Union Brigadier-General, dies. [1]

December 13

• Conrad Feger Jackson US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 49. [1]
• Maxcy Gregg US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 48. [1]
• Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 39. [1]

December 14

• George Dashiell Bayard Union Brigadier-General, dies at age 27. [1]

December 16

• Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution. [1]

December 18

• Johnson Kelly Duncan architect/Confederate Brigadier-General, dies at age 35. [1]

December 24

• Joseph Funk composer, dies at age 84. [1]

December 26

• First US navy hospital ship enters service. [1]
• 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato Minnesota, due to their uprising. [1]

December 28

• Joaquim Casimiro Junior composer, dies at age 54. [1]

December 31

• James Edward Rains lawyer/Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 29. [1]
• Joshua Woodrow Sill US Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 31. [1]

1863

January 1

• First homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice Nebraska. [1]
• Franz Schuberts "Missa Solemnis" premieres in Leipzig. [1]
• Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by US President Abraham Lincoln. [1]

January 2

• Roger Weightman Hanson Confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle at age 35. [1]

January 9

• Ferdinand Huber composer, dies at age 71. [1]

January 10

• First underground railway opens in London. [1]
• January-uprising begins in Poland. [1]

January 13

• Chenille manufacturing machine patented by William Canter, New York City, New York. [1]
• Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet. [1]

January 15

• First US newspaper printed on wood-pulp paper, Boston Morning Journal. [1]

January 17

• E J Horace Vernet French painter, dies at age 73. [1]

January 19

• General Mieroslawski appointed dictator of Poland. [1]

January 21

• City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years. [1]

January 26

• 54th Regiment (Black) infantry forms. [1]

January 29

• Battle at Bear River Washington: US Army versus Indians. [1]

February 2

• Samuel Clemens becomes Mark Twain for first time. [1]

February 9

• Fire extinguisher patented by Alanson Crane. [1]

February 10

• First US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane, Virginia. [1]
• PT Barnum stages wedding of Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren (New York City, New York). [1]

February 24

• Arizona Territory created. [1]

February 25

• US President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law, creating national banking system, comptroller of currency, allowing qualified banks to issue government-sponsored paper money in the banks' names. [1] [421.156] [471.18] [473.86]

March 2

• US Congress authorizes track width of 4 feet 8.5 inches for Union Pacific railroad. [1]

March 3

• Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences. [1]
• Free city delivery replaces zone postage; 449 letter carriers hired. [1]
• Gold certificates (currency) authorized by US Congress. [1]
• Idaho Territory forms. [1]

March 4

• Territory of Idaho established. [1]

March 17

• John Pelham US Confederate artillery major, dies in battle at age 24. [1]

March 21

• Edwin Vose Sumner US Union-General-Major (Fair Oaks), dies at age 66. [1]
• Naval Engagement at Havana Cuba-USS Henrick Hudson versus BR Wild Pigeon. [1]

March 25

• First Army Medal of Honor awarded. [1]

March 27

• President Davis calls for this to be a day of fasting and prayer. [1]

March 28

• James Cooper US attorney/senator/Union-Brigadier-General, dies at age 52. [1]

March 30

• Danish prince Wilhelm Georg of Sleeswÿk-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg chosen as king George of Greece. [1]

April 2

• Bread revolt in Richmond Virginia. [1]

April 8

• Joseph Netherclift composer, dies at age 70. [1]

April 10

• Giovanni B Amia Italian astronomer/physicist/botanist, dies at age 77. [1]

April 13

• Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled in New York is first orthopedic hospital. [1]

April 14

• William Bullock patents continuous-roll printing press. [1]

April 15

• Jan Nepomuk Kanka composer, dies at age 90. [1]

April 17

• Daniel Smith Donelson Confederate General/cousin of Andrew Jackson, dies at age 61. [1]

April 21

• Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh; Bahá'í Feast of Ridván (Jalâl 13, 20). [1]

May 8

• Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia. [1]

May 14

• Emile Racine Gauthier Prudent composer, dies at age 46. [1]

May 22

• War Department establishes Bureau of Colored Troops. [1]

May 28

• First black regiment (54 Massachusetts) leaves Boston to fight in Civil War. [1]
• Edmund Kirby Jr Union-Brigadier-General, dies of injuries at age 23. [1]

May 31

• First horse race at Longchamps racecourse in France. [80.186]

June 13

• Samuel Butler publishes first part of "Erewhon," Christchurch, New Zealand. [1]

June 17

• Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford chartered (first accident insurer). [1]

June 20

• First bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa). [1]

June 29

• Very first First National Bank opens in Davenport, Iowa. [1]

July 1

• Free city delivery of mail begins in 49 US cities; postage 3 cents per ounce. [1]

July 3

• On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General George Pickett leads a 15,000-man column a mile toward Union positions at Cemetery Ridge, after an hour-long cannon bombardment. But Union artillery and infantry survived, and devastate the attacking force, killing or wounding 7,000 within an hour. [129]

July 4

• Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho). [1]

July 6

• Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia. [1]

July 10

• Clement Clarke Moore ('Twas the Night Before Xmas), dies at age 83. [1]

July 26

• Sam Houston, president of Texas, dies at age 70. [1]

August 3

• Governor Seymour asks Lincoln to suspend draft in New York. [1]
• Saratoga Racetrack (New York) opens. [1]

August 12

• First cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada area). [1]

September 1

• Railroad and ferry connection between San Francisco and Oakland inaugurated. [1]

September 17

• Pope Pius IX encyclical On persecution in New Grenada. [1]

September 27

• The united kingdom of Italy is proclaimed. The Lotto is made a legal source of national income. [80.235] [187.87]

September 29

• The opera "Pescatori di Perle", more properly known as "Les Pêcheurs de Perles", is produced (Paris). [1]

October 3

• US President Abraham Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. [1]

October 6

• Dr Charles H Sheppard opens the first public bath, in Brooklyn. [1]

October 15

• Cliff House opens in San Francisco (first of many on the site). [1]

October 26

• Worldwide Red Cross organized in Geneva. [1]

October 29

• International Committee of the Red Cross founded (Nobel Prize 1917, 1944, 1963). [1]

November 1

• Fortifications built on Angel Island (San Francisco Bay) by troops. [1]

November 23

• Patent granted for a process of making color photographs. [1]

December 4

• Storm flood ravages Nethe coastal provinces. [1]

December 8

• Jesuit Church of La Compana in Santiago Chile catches fire, 2,500 die in panic. [1]

December 13

• Friedrich Hebbel writer, dies at age 50. [1]

December 22

• Michael Corcoran Union Brigadier-General, dies at age 36. [1]

December 24

• W M Thackeray writer, dies at age 52. [1]

1864

January 4

• Mateo Ferrer composer, dies at age 75. [1]

January 8

• Victor-Charles-Paul Dourlen composer, dies at age 83. [1]

January 11

• Charing Cross Station opens in London. [1]

January 13

• Stephen Foster composer (My Old Kentucky Home), dies in a New York hospital at age 37. [1]

January 16

• Anton Schindler German violinist/biographer (Beethoven), dies at age 68. [1]

January 23

• Michele Puccini composer, dies at age 50. [1]

January 24

• Otto Jonas Lindblad composer, dies at age 54. [1]
• Stephen Gardner Champlin Brigadier General (Union), dies at about age 36. [1]

January 27

• Franz von Klenze German architect (palace Leuchtenberg), dies at age 59. [1]

January 31

• Hamilton Rowan Gamble US judge/Governor of Missouri (1861-64), dies. [1]

February 1

• Second German-Danish war begins. [1]
• Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein. [1]

February 15

• Fire in Rotterdam Netherlands damages Museum Boymans. [1]
• Israel Zangwill writer/Zionist/philanthropist, dies. [1]
• William Dyce painter, dies. [1]

February 16

• Vaclav Jindrich Veit composer, dies at age 58. [1]

February 19

• Knights of Pythias form first lodge in Washington DC (12 members). [1]
• William Edwin Baldwin US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies. [1]

February 21

• First US Catholic parish church for blacks dedicated, Baltimore Maryland. [1]
• Jeffery Forrest US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle. [1]

March 1

• Louis Ducos du Hauron patents movie machine (never built). [1]

March 3

• Ulric Dahlgren Union Colonel, dies in battle at age 21. [1]

March 4

• Thomas Starr King Unitarian clergyman (Christianity and Humanity), dies. [1]

March 5

• First track meet between Oxford and Cambridge. [1]

March 10

• Maximilian II Jozef King of Bayern (1848-64), dies at age 52. [1]

March 14

• Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" premieres in Paris France. [1]

March 17

• Alexandre Calamo Swiss painter/etcher/lithographer, dies at age 53. [1]

March 18

• Dale Dike on Humber River crumbles drowning some 240. [1]

March 19

• Charles François Gounod's opera "Mireille" is produced (Paris France). [1]

March 29

• Great Britain gives Isotope Islands back to Greece. [1]

March 30

• Louis Alexander Balthasar Schindelmeisser composer, dies 52. [1]

April 10

• Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes emperor of México. [1]

April 12

• Thomas Green, US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at age 50. [1]

April 13

• Johann Schneider composer, dies at age 74. [1]

April 17

• Bread revolt in Savannah Georgia. [1]

April 29

• Charles-Julien Brianchon math (Brianchon's theorem), dies at age 80. [1]

April 30

• New York becomes first state to charge a hunting license fee. [1]

May 2

• Giacomo Meyerbeer composer, dies at age 72. [1]

May 5

• Empress Maria Teresia of Austria-Hungary establishes the Order of Saint Stephen. [404.44]

May 9

• Ship battle at Helgoland, Austria-Denmark. [1]

May 16

• Lean Bear Cheyenne chief, murdered. [1]

May 17

• N Hawthorne writer, dies at age 59. [1]

May 19

• Nathaniel Hawthorne US, writer (Scarlet Letter), dies. [1]

May 20

• John Clare English poet (Little Trotty Wagtail), dies at age 70. [1]

May 26

• Ch Sealsfield writer, dies at age 71. [1]
• Territory of Montana is formed. [1]

May 29

• Mexican Emperor Maximilian arrives at Vera Cruz. [1]

June 7

• Abe Lincoln renominated for President by Republican Party. [1]

June 11

• 300' (90 m) of Meigg's Wharf washed away in storm. [1]

June 29

• Grand Trunk Railway accident; 100 killed. [1]

July 2

• Statuary Hall in US Capitol established. [1]

August 2

• Second Saratoga Racetrack (New York) opens. [1]

August 5

• Spectrum of a comet observed for first time, by Giovanni Donati. [1]

August 8

• Red Cross Anniversary. [1]

August 22

• Geneva Convention signed, by 12 nations. [1]

August 25

• Combination rail and ferry service available from San Francisco to Alameda. [1]

August 29

• William Huggins discovers chemical composition of nebulae. [1]

September 4

• Bread riots in Mobile, Alabama. [1]

October 4

• National black convention meets (Syracuse New York). [1]

October 5

• Most of Calcutta destroyed by cyclone (approx 60,000 die). [1]

October 11

• Slavery abolished in Maryland. [1]

October 12

• Roger Taney Supreme Court Chief Justice, dies at age 87. [1]

October 30

• Helena, Montana's capital, founded. [1]

October 31

• Nevada admitted as 36th state. [1]

November 3

• Antonio Gonsalves Dias Brazilian national poet, dies at sea. [1]

November 8

• Abraham Lincoln elected to his second term as President. [1]

November 9

• First export of goods from Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada to a foreign country. [1]

November 10

• Austrian Archduke Maximilian became emperor of Mexico. [1]

November 15

• First US mines school opens in basement of Columbia University, New York. [1]

November 29

• Colorado militia kills 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians. [1]

December 4

• Romanian Jews are forbidden to practice law. [1]

December 8

• Pope Pius IX publishes encyclical Quanta cura ("Syllabus errorum"). [1]

December 21

• William Henry Fry composer, dies at age 51. [1]

December 29

• Fire Department celebrates first annual ball. [1]