The 1840s

1846 180 years ago

The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright's rules on Hoboken, New Jers

The history of baseball in the United States dates to the 19th century, when boys and amateur enthusiasts played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using homemade equ…

The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played under Alexander Cartwright's rules on Hoboken, New Jers

1846 180 years ago

Samuel Johnson, Nigerian priest and historian (died 1901)

The Rev. Samuel Johnson was an Anglican priest, diplomat, and historian, as well as the great-grandson of Alaafin Abiodun, a powerful king of the Oyo Empire. He is most notable for…

Samuel Johnson, Nigerian priest and historian (died 1901)

1846 180 years ago

Achilles Alferaki, Russian composer and politician, Governor of Taganrog (died 1919)

Achilles Nikolayevich Alferaki was a Russian composer and politician of Greek descent. His brother was Sergei Alphéraky. He served as the mayor of Taganrog from 1880 to 1888.

Achilles Alferaki, Russian composer and politician, Governor of Taganrog (died 1919)

1846 180 years ago

Ángela Peralta, Mexican opera singer (died 1883)

Ángela Peralta was an operatic soprano of international fame and a leading figure in the operatic life of 19th-century Mexico. Called the "Mexican Nightingale" in Europe, she had a…

Ángela Peralta, Mexican opera singer (died 1883)

1846 180 years ago

Heinrich Rosenthal, Estonian physician and author (died 1916)

Heinrich Rosenthal was an activist of the Estonian national movement, doctor and author.

Heinrich Rosenthal, Estonian physician and author (died 1916)

1846 180 years ago

Léon Bloy, French author and poet (died 1917)

Léon Bloy was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer, and satirist, known additionally for his eventual defense of Catholicism and for his influence within French Cathol…

Léon Bloy, French author and poet (died 1917)

1846 180 years ago

Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer and physicist (died 1919)

Edward Charles Pickering was an American astronomer and physicist and the older brother of William Henry Pickering. Along with Carl Vogel, Pickering discovered the first spectrosco…

Edward Charles Pickering, American astronomer and physicist (died 1919)

1846 180 years ago

Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (died 1918)

Sophie Menter was a German pianist and composer who became the favorite female student of Franz Liszt. She was called l'incarnation de Liszt in Paris because of her robust, electri…

Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (died 1918)

1846 180 years ago

Isabel, Brazilian princess (died 1921)

Dona Isabel, known as "the Redemptress", was the Princess Imperial of Brazil and heir presumptive to the throne of the Empire of Brazil. She served as regent of the empire on three…

Isabel, Brazilian princess (died 1921)

1846 180 years ago

Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (born 1780)

Philip Konrad Marheineke was a German Protestant theologian and church leader within the Evangelical Church in Prussia.

Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (born 1780)

1846 180 years ago

Pope Gregory XVI (born 1765)

Pope Gregory XVI was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon entering the reli…

Pope Gregory XVI (born 1765)

1846 180 years ago

Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (born 1763)

Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso and composer with a three string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Republic of …

Domenico Dragonetti, Italian bassist and composer (born 1763)

1846 180 years ago

Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (born 1799)

Rodolphe Töpffer was a Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist. He is best known for his illustrated books, which are possibly the earliest European comics. He…

Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (born 1799)

1846 180 years ago

Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (born 1767)

Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès was a French geographer, author and translator, best remembered in the English speaking world for his translation of German ghost stories Fantasmagorian…

Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès, French geographer and author (born 1767)

1846 180 years ago

The Donner Party, an American pioneer group which became known for resorting to cannibalism when they became trapped in

The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of m…

The Donner Party, an American pioneer group which became known for resorting to cannibalism when they became trapped in

1846 180 years ago

Hamilton, Ontario (skyline pictured) is granted city status by the Parliament of the Province of Canada

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353 as of the 2021 Canadian census, and its census metropolitan area, which encompasse…

Hamilton, Ontario (skyline pictured) is granted city status by the Parliament of the Province of Canada

1846 180 years ago

Belgian musician Adolphe Sax patented his design of the saxophone (example pictured)

Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and s…

Belgian musician Adolphe Sax patented his design of the saxophone (example pictured)

1846 180 years ago

Settlers in Sonoma began rebelling against Mexico, later proclaiming the California Republic and raising a homemade fla

Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's W…

Settlers in Sonoma began rebelling against Mexico, later proclaiming the California Republic and raising a homemade fla

1846 180 years ago

The first officially recorded baseball game in U

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play …

The first officially recorded baseball game in U

1846 180 years ago

British soldier Frederick John White died after a flogging, leading to a campaign to end the practice in the British…

Frederick John White was a private in the British Army's 7th Hussars. While serving at the Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow, in 1846, White touched a sergeant with a metal bar during an …

British soldier Frederick John White died after a flogging, leading to a campaign to end the practice in the British…

1845

Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)

Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic Olympian Spring". His work includes both…

Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)

1845

Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)

Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States. In 1879, Mahoney was the first African American to gradu…

Mary Eliza Mahoney, American nurse and activist (died 1926)

1845

Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (died 1913)

Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy.

Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (died 1913)

1845

Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (died 1916)

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, gallicised and known in Western sources as Élie Metchnikoff, was a zoologist from the Russian Empire of Moldavian noble ancestry best known for his research …

Élie Metchnikoff, Russian zoologist (died 1916)