Events from the year 1841 in the United States. It was the first calendar year to have three different presidents, which would only occur again in

1881 Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The ...

Incumbents

Federal Government

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

: ** until March 4:

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

( D- New York) ** March 4–April 4:

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

( W-

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

) ** starting April 4:

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...

( W/ I-

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

) *

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

: ** until March 4: Richard M. Johnson ( D-

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

) ** March 4–April 4:

( W-

) ** starting April 4: ''vacant'' * Chief Justice:

Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney (; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Although an opponent of slavery, believing it to be an evil practice, Taney belie ...

(

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

) * Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter ( W-

) (until March 4), John White ( W-

) (starting May 31) *

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

: 26th (until March 4),

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

(starting March 4)

Events

William Henry Harrison daguerreotype edit

* January 30 – A fire destroys 300 of the 500 housing units in

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

. * February 18–March 11 – First ongoing filibuster in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. * February 24 – Richland County is chartered by the Illinois General Assembly. * March 4 –

is sworn in as the ninth

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, and

is sworn in as

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

. * March 9 – '' Amistad'': The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the case that the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

ns who seized control of the ship had been taken into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

illegally. * April 4 – President

dies of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, becoming the first

to die in office and at one month, the president with the shortest term served. He is succeeded by

, who becomes the tenth President of the United States. * April 6 – President

is sworn in. * April 20 –

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Du ...

" is published in ''

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and Ju ...

'' (

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

) (of which he became editor in February). The story will be recognized as the first significant work of detective fiction. * June 21 – Fordham University is opened in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

by the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

as St. John's College. * July 28 –

Mary Rogers Mary Cecilia Rogers (born c. 1820 – found dead July 28, 1841) was an American murder victim whose story became a national sensation. Rogers was a noted beauty who worked in a New York tobacco store, which attracted the custom of many distingui ...

, the "Beautiful Cigar Girl", is found murdered in New York City. * August 16 – U.S. President

vetoes a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

which called for the re-establishment of the

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836.. The Bank's formal name, ...

. Enraged Whig Party members riot outside the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history. * September 17 –

John C. Colt John Caldwell Colt (March 1, 1810 – November 18, 1842), the brother of Samuel Colt of Colt firearm fame, was an American fur trader, bookkeeper, law clerk, and convicted murderer. He served briefly as a U.S. Marine, forging a letter to g ...

murders Samuel Adams in an argument over a business debt in New York City. * c. November – The city of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in Texas is founded by John Neely Bryan. *

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

speaks at the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society Convention. * Iconic chocolate company

Whitman's Whitman's is one of the largest and oldest brands of boxed chocolates in the United States. Whitman's confections have been produced since 1842, originally by Stephen Whitman in Philadelphia and currently by Kansas City, Missouri-based Ru ...

is established when Stephen F. Whitman opens a small retail "confectionery and fruiterer shop" at Third and Market Streets in Philadelphia. * P. T. Barnum purchases

Scudder's American Museum Scudder's American Museum was a museum located in New York City from 1810 to 1841, when it was purchased by P.T. Barnum and transformed into the very successful Barnum's American Museum. Before Scudder The roots of the museum date back to 1791 ...

in New York City. *

John Augustus John Augustus (1785-June 21, 1859) was a Boston boot maker who is called the "Father of Probation" in the United States because of his pioneering efforts to campaign for more lenient sentences for convicted criminals based on their backgrounds. ...

develops the concept of

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts, by standing bail for lesser offenders. * The first steam self-propelled

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...

in the U.S. is completed by

Paul Rapsey Hodge Paul Rapsey Hodge (15 July 1808 – 21 October 1871) was an English-American inventor and mechanical engineer. He invented technological improvements used by railroad companies. He also invented a device that ground wheat and other grains into f ...

for use in New York City.

Ongoing

* Second Seminole War (1835–1842)

Births

* March 1 –

Blanche Bruce Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841March 17, 1898) was born into slavery in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and went on to become a politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881. He was ...

, U.S. Senator from Mississippi from 1875 to 1881 (died

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

) * March 10 –

Ina Coolbrith Ina Donna Coolbrith (born Josephine Donna Smith; March 10, 1841 – February 29, 1928) was an American poet, writer, librarian, and a prominent figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary community. Called the "Sweet Singer of California", sh ...

, poet (died

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

) * May 10 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr., newspaper publisher (died 1918) * April 8 – William J. Babcock,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient (died

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

) * May 15 **

James Henderson Berry James Henderson Berry (May 15, 1841 – January 30, 1913) was a United States Senator and served as the 14th governor of Arkansas. Early life James Henderson Berry was born in Jackson County, Alabama, to Isabella Jane (née Orr) and James McF ...

, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1885 to 1907 (died

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

) **

Clarence Dutton Clarence Edward Dutton (May 15, 1841 – January 4, 1912) was an American geologist and US Army officer. Dutton was born in Wallingford, Connecticut on May 15, 1841. He graduated from Yale College in 1860 and took postgraduate courses there until ...

, geologist (died 1912) * June 1 –

Edward Lyon Buchwalter Capt. Edward Lyon Buchwalter (June 1, 1841 – October 4, 1933) was a Union (American Civil War), Union Captain (United States), Captain in the American Civil War, corporate figure, banker and farmer. He served in the 114th Ohio Infantry as lieutena ...

, businessman (died 1933) * July 5 –

Mary Arthur McElroy Mary McElroy (; July 5, 1841 – January 8, 1917) was the sister of the 21st president of the United States, Chester A. Arthur, and served as a hostess (acting as the first lady) for his administration (1881–1885). She assumed the ...

, ''de facto'' First Lady of the United States from 1881 to 1885 (died

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

) * July 11 – James A. Barber,

recipient (died

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

) * September 8 – Charles J. Guiteau, assassin of President

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

(executed

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...

) * October 12 –

Joseph O'Dwyer Joseph O'Dwyer (October 12, 1841 – January 7, 1898) was an American physician. He developed a valuable system of intubation in diphtheria cases. O'Dwyer is often cited as the "father of laryngeal intubation in croup". Life Joseph P. O'Dwyer was ...

, physician (died 1898) * October 18 –

Bishop W. Perkins Bishop Walden Perkins (October 18, 1841June 20, 1894) was a United States representative and United States Senate, Senator from Kansas. Born in Rochester, Ohio, he attended the common schools and Knox College (Illinois), Knox College (Galesburg, ...

, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1892 to 1893 (died

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

) * October 29 –

William Harris William or Will or Willie Harris may refer to: Politicians and political activists *William Harris (born 1504) (1504–?), MP for Newport, Cornwall *William Harris (died 1556), MP for Maldon (UK Parliament constituency), Maldon *William Harris (MP ...

, U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1897 to 1903 (died

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

) * November 6 –

Nelson W. Aldrich Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (/ ˈɑldɹɪt͡ʃ/; November 6, 1841 – April 16, 1915) was a prominent American politician and a leader of the Republican Party in the United States Senate, where he represented Rhode Island from 1881 to 1911. By the 1 ...

, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island from 1881 to 1911 (died

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". * January ...

) * November 13 – Edward Burd Grubb, Jr.,

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

Union Brevet Brigadier General (died 1913) * December 8 – Thomas R. Bard, U.S. Senator from California from 1900 to 1905 (died 1915) * Jennie de la Montagnie Lozier, physician (died

)

Deaths

* February 25 – Philip P. Barbour, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1836 to 1841 (born

1783 Events January–March * January 20 – At Versailles, Great Britain signs preliminary peace treaties with the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. * January 23 – The Confederation Congress ratifies two October 8, ...

) * April 4 –

, ninth

from March to April 1841 (born

1773 Events January–March * January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as '' Amazing Grace'', at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Bucki ...

) * September 25 –

John Chandler John Chandler (February 1, 1762September 25, 1841) was an American politician and soldier of Maine. The political career of Chandler, a Democratic-Republican, was interspersed with his involvement in the state militia during both the American R ...

, politician (born 1762) * October 6 –

George Childress George Campbell Childress (January 8, 1804 – October 6, 1841) was a lawyer, politician, and a principal author of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Early life Childress was born on January 8, 1804, in Nashville, Tennessee, to John Camp ...

, lawyer and politician (born

1804 Events January–March * January 1 – Haiti gains independence from France, and becomes the first black republic, having the only successful slave revolt ever. * February 4 – The Sokoto Caliphate is founded in West Africa. * Februa ...

) * October 21 – John Forsyth, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1818 to 1819 and 1829 to 1834 (born

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...

)

References

External links

* {{Year in North America, 1841 1840s in the United States

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Years of the 19th century in the United States