Events
January–March
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
–
Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and
Qishan of the
Qing dynasty, agree to the
Convention of Chuenpi.
*
January 26 – Britain occupies
Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the island records a population of about 7,500.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
– The active
volcano Mount Erebus in Antarctica is discovered, and named by
James Clark Ross.
*
January 28 – Ross discovers the "Victoria Barrier", later known as the
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...
. On the same voyage, he discovers the
Ross Sea,
Victoria Land and
Mount Terror.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
– A fire ruins and destroys two-thirds of the villa (modern-day city) of
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
– First known reference to
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...
in North America, in the diary of a James Morris.
*
February 10 – The
Act of Union (''British North America Act'',
1840
Events
January–March
* January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded.
* January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom.
* Janua ...
) is proclaimed in Canada.
*
February 11
Events Pre-1600
*660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
* 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– The two colonies of
the Canadas are merged, into the
United Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
.
*
February 18 – The first ongoing
filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
in the
United States Senate begins, and lasts until
March 11.
*
February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...
–
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
proclaims itself an independent republic, bringing an end to the (already ''de facto'' defunct)
Federal Republic of Central America.
*
March 4 –
William Henry Harrison is
sworn in
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
as the ninth President of the United States.
*
March 9 – ''
United States v. The Amistad
''United States v. Schooner Amistad'', 40 U.S. (15 Pet.) 518 (1841), was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of Africans on board the Spanish schooner ''La Amistad'' in 1839.. It was an unusual freedom suit that in ...
'': The
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
rules in the case, that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into
slavery illegally.
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– , commanded by legendary captain
Richard Roberts ("I'd Go to Sea in a Bathtub"), founders in rough seas, with all passengers and crew lost.
April–June
*
April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
– President
William Henry Harrison dies of
pneumonia, aged 68, becoming the first President of the United States to die in office, and at one month, the American president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by Vice President
John Tyler, who becomes the tenth President of the United States.
*
April 6 – President John Tyler is
sworn in
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
.
*
May – The
Sino-Sikh War begins.
*
May 3 –
New Zealand becomes a separate British colony,
having previously been administered as part of the
Colony of New South Wales
The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
.
*
May 22 – The Georgian province of
Guria
Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital.
Geography
...
revolts
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
against the
Russian Empire.
*
June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
– The
United Kingdom Census
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 (during the Second World War), Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931,https://www.nisra.gov. ...
is held, the first to record names and approximate ages of every household member, and to be administered nationally.
*
June 21
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).
* 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mo ...
– St. John's College (later
Fordham University
Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...
) is founded in
The Bronx, by the
Society of Jesus.
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
* 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul at the battle of Antioch.
* 1360 – Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid king of Granada after killing his brother-in-law Ismail II.
* 1461 – ...
– The
ballet ''
Giselle
''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...
'' is first presented by the
Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, at the
Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France.
July–September
*
July – Scottish
missionary David Livingstone arrives at
Kuruman in the
Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...
, his first posting in Africa.
*
July 5 –
Thomas Cook arranges his first railway excursion, in England.
*
July 17 – The first edition of the humorous magazine ''
Punch'' is published in London.
*
July 18 (Sunday)
** Emperor
Pedro II of Brazil
Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...
is
crowned in
Rio de Janeiro.
** The sixth bishop of
Calcutta,
Daniel Wilson, and Dr. James Taylor, Civil Surgeon at
Dhaka, establish the first modern educational institution on the Indian subcontinent,
Dhaka College.
*
July 20 – The Mercantile Agency (ancestor of
Dun & Bradstreet
The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk and financia ...
) is founded in New York City, by Lewis Tappan.
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
–
Frederick Douglass speaks in front of the
Anti-Slavery Convention
The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The exclus ...
in
Nantucket, Massachusetts.
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdan ...
– U.S. President
John Tyler vetoes a
bill which called for the re-establishment of the
Second Bank of the United States. Enraged
Whig Party members riot outside the
White House, in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
*
August 20–
October 16 – The
Niger expedition of 1841 The Niger expedition of 1841 was mounted by British missionary and activist groups in 1841-1842, using three British iron steam vessels to travel to Lokoja, at the confluence of the Niger River and Benue River, in what is now Nigeria. The British ...
begins sailing up the
Niger River by
paddle steamers, under the auspices of the British Society for the Extinction of the Slave Trade and the Civilisation of Africa; it is largely abortive, due to the high incidence of disease among the crews.
*
September 24 –
Sarawak is broken away from
Brunei, and
James Brooke is appointed
Rajah.
October–December
*
October 10 –
First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
:
Battle of Chinhai – British capture a Chinese garrison.
*
October 13 – First Opium War: British occupy
Ningbo.
*
October 16 –
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to:
*Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
*Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
**Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950)
**Queen's University of Belfast ...
is founded in
Kingston, Ontario, by
Rev.
The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...
Thomas Liddell, who carries a
Royal Charter from
Queen Victoria, and becomes the school's first
principal.
*
October 30 – A fire at the
Tower of London destroys its Grand Armoury and causes a quarter of a million pounds' worth of damage.
*
November
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...
– The settlement of
Dallas,
Texas, is founded by
John Neely Bryan
John Neely Bryan (December 24, 1810 – September 8, 1877) was a Presbyterian farmer, lawyer, and tradesman in the United States and founder of the city of Dallas, Texas.
Early life
Bryan was born to James and Elizabeth (Neely) Bryan in Faye ...
.
*
November 13 – Scottish surgeon
James Braid first sees a demonstration of ''animal magnetism'' by Charles Lafontaine in Manchester, which leads to his study of the phenomenon that he (Braid) eventually calls ''hypnotism''.
* December 20 – The first multilateral treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade, the Treaty for the Suppression of the African Slave Trade, signed in London by the representatives of Austrian Empire, Austria, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, July Monarchy, France, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and Russian Empire, Russia.
* December 23 – First Anglo-Afghan War: At a meeting with the Afghanistan, Afghan general Wazir Akbar Khan, Akbar Khan, British diplomat Sir William Hay Macnaghten is shot dead at close quarters.
Date unknown
* John Augustus develops the concept of probation in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ongoing
*
First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
(1839–42)
* First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42)
Births
January–June
* January 8
** Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, Muslim scholar, 1st Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam (d. 1914)
** Kate Stone, American diarist (d. 1907)
* January 14 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (d. 1895)
* January 15 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English-Canadian politician, soldier (d. 1908)
* January 23 – Benoît-Constant Coquelin, French actor, ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' (d. 1909)
* January 25 – John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, British admiral (d. 1920)
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
– Alexandru Candiano-Popescu, Romanian general, lawyer, journalist, and poet (d. 1901)
*
January 28 – Henry Morton Stanley, Sir Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh explorer, journalist (d. 1904)
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
– Félix Faure, President of France (d. 1899)
* February 2 – François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (d. 1912)
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
– Clément Ader, French engineer, inventor, and airplane pioneer (d. 1926)
*
February 10 – Alfred Heaver, English property developer (d. 1901)
* February 15 – Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, 4th President of Brazil (d. 1913)
* February 16 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter, lithographer (d. 1927)
* February 24 – Carl Gräbe, German chemist (d. 1927)
* February 25 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (d. 1919)
* March 1 – Luigi Luzzatti, Italian financier, economist, philosopher, and jurist, 20th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1927)
* March 8 – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1935)
* March 15 – Pietro Bonilli, Italian Roman Catholic priest and blessed (d. 1935)
* April 3 – Hermann Carl Vogel, German astrophysicist, astronomer (d. 1907)
* April 9 – William George Aston, British consular official (d. 1911)
* April 13 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (d. 1905)
* May 10 – James Gordon Bennett Jr., American newspaper publisher (d. 1918)
* May 14 – Sir Squire Bancroft, English actor (d. 1926)
* May 15 – Clarence Dutton, American geologist (d. 1912)
* June 1 – Edward Lyon Buchwalter, Union captain in the American Civil War, businessman, and banker (d. 1933)
July–December
* July 2 – Alexander Mikhaylovich Zaytsev, Russian chemist (d. 1910)
*
July 5 – Mary Arthur McElroy, ''de facto'' First Lady of the United States (d. 1917)
* August 6 – Florence Baker, Hungarian-born explorer (d. 1916)
* August 14 – Joaquín Vara de Rey y Rubio, Spanish general (d. 1898)
* August 24 – Anna Hierta-Retzius, Swedish women's rights activist (d. 1924)
* August 25 – Emil Theodor Kocher, Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1917)
* August 28 – Louis Le Prince, French inventor, ''Father of Cinematography'' (d. 1890)
* September 8
** Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (d. 1904)
** Charles J. Guiteau, American lawyer, assassin of James A. Garfield (d. 1882)
* September 10 – Yamaji Motoharu, Japanese general (d. 1897)
* September 28 – Georges Clemenceau, French statesman (d. 1929)
* October 4 – Prudente de Morais, 3rd President of Brazil (d. 1902)
* October 7 – King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
*
October 16 – Prince Itō Hirobumi, 4-time prime minister of Japan (d. 1909)
* November 6
** Nelson W. Aldrich, Senator from Rhode Island (d. 1915)
** Armand Fallières, 9th President of France (d. 1931)
* November 9 – King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1910)
*
November 13 – Edward Burd Grubb Jr., American Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General (d.1913)
* November 20 – Wilfrid Laurier, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1919)
* November 25 – Ernst Schröder (mathematician), Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (d. 1902)
* December 6 – Frédéric Bazille, French painter (d. 1870)
* December 20 – Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)
Date unknown
* Arousyak Papazian, Armenian actress, writer (d. 1907)
Deaths
January–June
* January 15 – Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot, Baltic-German naturalist, traveller (b. 1792)
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish adventurer (b. 1780)
* February 12 – Astley Cooper, Sir Astley Cooper, British surgeon and anatomist (b. 1768)
* February 17 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian guitarist (b. 1770)
* March 1 – Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French marshal (b. 1764)
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
* 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
–
Richard Roberts, captain of (b. 1803)
* March 16 – Félix Savart, French physicist (b. 1791)
*
April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 – ...
–
William Henry Harrison, American military officer and politician, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)
* April 10 – William Lloyd (Methodist minister), William Lloyd, Welsh Anglican priest turned schoolteacher, Methodist preacher (b. 1771)
* April 28 – Peter Chanel, French Roman Catholic priest, missionary, and saint (martyred) (b. 1803)
* April 30 – Peter Andreas Heiberg, Danish author, philologist (b. 1758)
* May 13 – Maria Madeline Taylor, Australian stage actor (b. 1805)
* May 16 – Marie Boivin, French midwife, inventor, and obstetrics writer (b. 1773)
* May 20 – Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)
* May 23 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher, theologian (b. 1765)
* June 1
** Nicolas Appert, French inventor (b. 1749)
** David Wilkie (artist), David Wilkie, Scottish artist (b. 1785)
July–December
*
July – Mary Rogers ("Beautiful Cigar Girl"), American murder victim (b. c. 1820)
*
August 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs.
* 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdan ...
– Fernando Errázuriz Aldunate, Chilean politician, President of Chile (b.c 1777)
* August 24 – Theodore Edward Hook, English author (b. 1788)
* September 25 – John Chandler, American politician (b. 1762)
* October 9 – Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German architect (b. 1781)
* November 18 – Agustín Gamarra, Peruvian general and politician, 10th and 14th President of Peru (b. 1785)
* December 4 – David Daniel Davis, British physician (b. 1777)
* December 23 – William Hay Macnaghten, Anglo-Indian diplomat (b. 1793)
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:1841
1841,