Explore 629 historical events from 1840–1849.
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the…
Charles, Austrian commander and duke of Teschen (born 1771)
Fanny Cäcilie Hensel née Mendelssohn was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era, also known as Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Her compositions number over 450, and i…
Fanny Hensel, German pianist and composer (born 1805)
Emmanuel de Grouchy, marquis de Grouchy was a French military leader who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the last Marshal of the Empire …
Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy, French general (born 1766)
Thomas Chalmers, was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, professor of theology, political economist, and a leader of both the Church of Scotland and of the Free Church of Scotland. H…
Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (born 1780)
Juan Larrea was a Spanish businessman and politician in Buenos Aires during the early nineteenth century. He headed a military unit during the second British invasion of the River …
Juan Larrea, Argentinian captain and politician (born 1782)
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditio…
John Franklin, English admiral and politician (born 1786)
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, duc de Reggio was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He is known to have been wounded 34 times in battle, being hit…
Nicolas Oudinot, French general (born 1767)
John Oliver Curran MRIA was an Irish physician, medical writer and reviewer. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College Dublin, trained at the Meath Hospital, Jerv…
John Oliver Curran, Irish physician (born 1819)
Vasil Evstatiev Aprilov was a Bulgarian educator, merchant, philanthropist, writer and a national activist. Aprilov was a leading figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. He contr…
Vasil Aprilov, Bulgarian educator, merchant and writer (born 1789)
Dom Afonso was the Prince Imperial and heir apparent to the throne of the Empire of Brazil. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the eldest child of Emperor Dom Pedro II and Dona Teresa …
Prince Afonso died at the age of two, leaving his father Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, without a male heir
On July 12, 1847, a riot occurred in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and Protestant members of the Orange Order. The violence resulted in the deaths of up to ten indivi…
Up to ten people died in a riot between Catholics and members of the Orange Order in Woodstock, New Brunswick.
Brigham Young was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877. He …
Brigham Young led the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, at the time a part of Mexico.
Monterey is a city on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of 8.645 sq mi (22.39 km2) an…
US troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the US conquest of California.
The Second Federal Republic of Mexico refers to the period of Mexican history involving a second attempt to establish a federal government in Mexico after the fall of the unitary C…
The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established.
Elias Howe Jr. was an American inventor best known for his creation of the modern lockstitch sewing machine.
Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine.
Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptun…
Astronomers Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
The Thornton Affair was a battle in 1846 between the military forces of the United States and Mexico 20 miles (32 km) west upriver from Zachary Taylor's camp along the Rio Grande. …
Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the Second…
The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple
The Cambridge Chronicle was a weekly newspaper that served Cambridge, Massachusetts. The newspaper was founded by Andrew Reid in May 1846. It ceased publication of its print editio…
The Cambridge Chronicle, America's oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Mass
William Thomas Green Morton was an American dentist who first publicly demonstrated the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic in 1846. He is credited with gaining the medic…
William T. G. Morton administers ether anesthesia during a surgical operation.
James C. Corrigan was a Canadian-American businessman active in the shipping, petroleum refining, iron ore mining and selling, and steel manufacturing industries. He made and lost …
James C
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz, also known by the pseudonym Litwos, was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as the Trilogy series and es…
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1916)
Oscar Hammerstein I was a German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled o…
Oscar Hammerstein I, American businessman and composer (died 1919)
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, was an invasion of Mexico by the United Stat…
Mexican–American War: American forces led by Zachary Taylor defeat a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first