1839 Print Of Lenox, MA
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Events


January–March

*
January 2 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor. * 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Emp ...
– The first photograph of the Moon is taken, by French photographer
Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( ; ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a France, French scientist, artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of th ...
. *
January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
Night of the Big Wind The Night of the Big Wind () was a powerful European windstorm that swept across what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning on the afternoon of 6 January 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred d ...
: Ireland is struck by the most damaging
cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...
in 300 years. *
January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. * 1038 – An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimate ...
– The
French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
announces the
daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...
photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
process. *
January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to '' Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surren ...
– The British
Aden Expedition The Aden Expedition was a naval operation that the British Royal Navy carried out in January 1839. Following Britain's decision to invade the Port of Aden as a coaling station for the steamers sailing the new Suez-Bombay route, the Sultan of ...
captures Aden. *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. *1156 – Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry (bishop of Finland), Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Köyliönjärvi, Lake Köyli ...
Battle of Yungay The Battle of Yungay (or Yungai) was the final battle of the War of the Confederation, fought on January 20, 1839, near Santo Domingo de Yungay, Yungay, Peru. The United Restoration Army, led by Chilean General Manuel Bulnes, consisting mainly ...
:
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
defeats the
Peru–Bolivian Confederation The Peru–Bolivian Confederation () was a short-lived state that existed in South America between 1836 and 1839. The country was a loose confederation made up of three states: North Peru and South Peru—states that arose from the division of th ...
, leading to the restoration of an independent
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. *
January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...
– The first
parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...
measurement of the distance to
Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri (, α Cen, or Alpha Cen) is a star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus (constellation), Centaurus. It consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus (), Toliman (), and Proxima Centauri (). Proxima Centauri ...
is published by Thomas Henderson. *
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 comin ...
– The
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
is established, becoming the first public university west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. *
February 24 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. * 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence. ...
William Otis William Smith Otis (September 20, 1813 – November 13, 1839) was an American inventor of the steam shovel. Otis received a patent for his creation on February 24, 1839. In 1839 William Smith Otis, civil engineer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ...
receives a U.S.
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
for the
steam shovel A steam shovel is a large steam engine, steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as Rock (geology), rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in ...
. *
March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Easte ...
Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1839 as Farmville Female Seminary and colloquially known as Longwood or Longwood College, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of ...
is founded in
Farmville, Virginia Farmville is a town in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Prince Edward and Cumberland County, Virginia, Cumberland counties in the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County, Virginia, Prince Edward County. ...
. *
March 7 Events Pre-1600 * 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius. * 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cobl ...
Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a classical liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C ...
, the third public high school in the United States, is established in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. *
March 9 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, Posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the Annals of Quedlinburg, annals of the mo ...
** The Anti-Corn Law League is founded in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, England. ** The
Pastry War The Pastry War (; ), also known as the first French intervention in Mexico or the first Franco-Mexican war (1838–1839), began in November 1838 with the naval blockade of some Centralist Republic of Mexico, Mexican ports and the capture of the ...
between
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
ends. **
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
imposes the Child Labor Law of 1839, becoming the first nation in the world to place restrictions on
child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...
. *
March 23 Events Pre-1600 * 1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. * 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the las ...
**An earthquake in the Kingdom of Burma kills more than 400 people and destroys three cities, as well as heavily damaging the capital at Ava. **The ''
Boston Morning Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before its final shutdown in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Groz ...
'' first records the use of "O.K." ( oll korrect). *
March 26 Events Pre-1600 * 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. * 624 – First Eid al-Fitr celebration. * 1021 – The death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret ...
– The first
Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...
is held on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
in England.


April–June

*
April 9 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, ...
– The world's first commercial electric telegraph line comes into operation, alongside the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
line in England, from
London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by ...
to
West Drayton West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and from 1929 was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The s ...
. *
April 19 Events Pre-1600 *AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Pisonian conspiracy, Piso's plot to kill the Roman emperor, Emperor Nero and all of the List of conspiracies (political), conspirators are arrested. * 531 – Battle of Callini ...
– The Treaty of London establishes
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
as a kingdom, with its independence and neutrality guaranteed by the
great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
s of Europe. Half of the Limburg province of
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
is added to the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, giving rise to a Belgian Limburg and Dutch Limburg (the latter being joined (from September 5) to the
German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...
). *
April 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty). * 1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy ...
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
is established as the Newbury Biblical Institute in Vermont. *
May 7 Events Pre-1600 * 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch. * 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I im ...
11 – The
Bedchamber Crisis The Bedchamber crisis was a constitutional crisis that occurred in the United Kingdom between 1839 and 1841. It began after Whig politician William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne declared his intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United Ki ...
in the United Kingdom: Following the announcement by Prime Minister
Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...
that he intends to resign,
Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...
asks (for political reasons) that
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
dismiss some of her personal attendants,
Ladies of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. A lady of the bedchamber would gi ...
, as a condition for his forming a government. Victoria refuses to accept the condition and Melbourne is persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister. * 13 May – First
Rebecca Riots The Rebecca Riots () took place between 1839 and 1843 in West and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to levels of taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took ...
targeted against turnpikes in Wales, at Efailwen in
Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...
. *
May 12 Events Pre-1600 * 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism. * 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the ...
– Socialist activist
Louis Auguste Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist, political philosopher and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first impris ...
and the ''Société des Saisons'' begin an uprising against the government of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The insurrection is suppressed, but not before 50 people are killed and 190 wounded. Blanqui is imprisoned until
1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
. *
May 22 Events Pre-1600 * 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu. * 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. * 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt. ...
– Former British statesman Lord Durham, as President of the
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...
, formally asks the British government for permission to colonize
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and to establish a colonial government under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. *
May 23 Events Pre-1600 * 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured at the Siege of Compiègne by troops from the Burgundian faction. * 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy. *1533 – The marriage of King Henry ...
– Turkish troops cross the
Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
River and invade Syria, but are defeated in battle in June. *
June 3 Events Pre-1600 * 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators. * 713 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Philippikos Ba ...
Destruction of opium at Humen The destruction of opium at Humen began on 3June 1839, lasted for 23 days, and involved the destruction of 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) of illegal opium seized from British traders under the aegis of Lin Zexu, an Imperial Commissioner of Qin ...
begins, ''
casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...
'' for Britain to open the 3-year
First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...
against
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
China. A rapid rise in the sale of opium in China to over 40,000 chests (~ per annum) has caused the Chinese government to dispatch scholar-official
Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty ...
to
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
to deal with the growing problem of opium addiction. *
June 22 Events Pre-1600 *217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. *168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Roman Republic, Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Luciu ...
Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( ; ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a France, French scientist, artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of th ...
receives a patent for his camera (commercially available by September at the price of 400 francs). *
June 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded. * 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England. * 1499 – Amerigo Vespucci sights what is now Amapá State in B ...
– The
emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
of the
Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...
,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl ...
, dies at 58.


July–September

*
July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and ...
** Slaves aboard the '' Amistad'' rebel, and capture the ship. **
Abdülmecid I Abdülmecid I (, ; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdülmecid's ...
(1839–
1861 This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire. Events January * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico Ci ...
) succeeds
Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
(
1808 Events January–March * January 1 ** The importation of slaves into the United States is formally banned, as the 1807 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect. However Americans still continue the slave trade by transpor ...
–1839) as
Ottoman Emperor The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its height, the Ottoman Empire spa ...
. *
July 23 Events Pre-1600 * 811 – Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum's treasury. *1319 – A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a Battle of Chi ...
First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War () was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad Khan ( Bara ...
:
Battle of Ghazni The Battle of Ghazni took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, 23 July 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War. Prelude In the 1830s, the British were firmly entrenched in India but by 1837, feared a Russian invasio ...
– British forces capture the fortress city of Ghazni in Afghanistan. * August 8 – The Fraternity of Beta Theta Pi is founded by John Reily Knox at Miami University. * August 19 – The French government gives the
daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...
"for the whole world". * August 31 – The First Carlist War (Spain) ends with the Convenio de Vergara, also known as the Abrazo de Vergara ("the embrace in Vergara"; Bergara in Basque), between liberal general Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara, Baldomero Espartero, Count of Luchana and Carlist General Rafael Maroto. * September 4 – Battle of Kowloon: British vessels open fire on Chinese war Junk (ship), junks enforcing a food sales embargo on the British community in China in the first armed conflict of the
First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...
.


October–December

* October 3 – A railway between Naples and Portici () in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies is inaugurated by Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, King Ferdinand II of House of Bourbon, Bourbon as the first line in the Italian Peninsula. * October 15 – Emir Abdelkader declares a jihad against the France, French. * November 4 – Newport Rising: Between 5,000 and 10,000 Chartism, Chartist sympathisers march on Newport, Monmouthshire, to liberate Chartist prisoners; around 22 are killed when troops fire on the crowd. This is the last large-scale armed civil rebellion against authority in mainland Britain and sees the most deaths. * November 11 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia. * November 17 – Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, ''Oberto (opera), Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio'', opens in Milan. * November 25 – A disastrous
cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...
hits India with terrible winds and a giant 40-foot storm surge, wiping out the port city of Coringa, Andhra Pradesh, Coringa; 300,000 people die. * November 27 – The American Statistical Association is founded in Boston, Massachusetts. * December 6 – The Whig Party (United States), at its first ever 1839 Whig National Convention, national convention, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, nominates former U.S. Army General William Henry Harrison to be its candidate for President of the United States in the 1840 election. Although Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky has received 103 of the 128 necessary votes on the first ballot, he obtains only 90 on the final vote, while Harrison gets 148. Former U.S. Senator John Tyler is unanimously nominated for vice president. * December 26 – Heinola in the Grand Duchy of Finland is granted town rights by Czar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I.


Date unknown

* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, backed by the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire, compels July Monarchy France to abandon Muhammad Ali of Egypt, and forces him to return Syria and Arabia to the Ottoman Empire. * Khalid bin Saud Al Suad usurps the throne from Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud, who assumed power of Nejd in 1834, and is sent to Cairo as prisoner. Omar bin Ofaysan, the Amir Faisal's governor in the Eastern Province seeks asylum in Bahrain, but Khalid the pretender demands his surrender and the surrender of the fort at Dammam; then under the control of the Al Khalifa of Bahrain. * Khorshid Pasha vows to attack Bahrain to exert Egyptian rule over Bahrain, but his attack is prevented after Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed of Bahrain pays tribute. * A quarrel breaks out between the Chief of Abu Dhabi of the Beniyas tribe, Shaikh Khalifa bin Shakboot, and the fugitives who settled there after their departure from Bahrain, the Al Binali tribe. Under the command of their leader, Isa bin Tureef Al Binali, they relocate to Kenn Island where they exercise depredations over the Bahrain and other Gulf vessels. Their motive is to restore their belongings which they abandoned upon leaving Bahrain. * ''Tanzimat'' starts in the Ottoman Empire. * Emperor Minh Mạng renames Việt Nam to Đại Nam. * In the United States, the first state law permitting women to own property is passed in Jackson, Mississippi. * Michael Faraday publishes ''Experimental Researches in Electricity'', clarifying the true nature of electricity. * Charles Goodyear Vulcanization, vulcanizes rubber. * Valley Falls Company, a predecessor of Berkshire Hathaway, a Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and Holdings company, holdings company in the United States, is founded in Rhode Island. * Chattanooga, Tennessee, is incorporated as a town. * Galveston, Texas, is incorporated. * Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) is founded in Alexandria, Virginia, as the first high school in Virginia. * Archaeological excavation at the Mayan site of Copán begins.


Births


January–June

*
January 2 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor. * 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Emp ...
– Gustave Trouvé, French electrical engineer, inventor (d. 1902) * January 8 – William A. Clark, American politician, entrepreneur (d. 1925) *
January 9 Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. * 1038 – An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimate ...
– John Knowles Paine, American composer (d. 1906) *
January 19 Events Pre-1600 * 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to '' Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. * 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surren ...
– Paul Cézanne, French painter (d. 1906) * January 26 – Rachel Lloyd (chemist), Rachel Lloyd, American chemist (d. 1900) * February 6 – Caroline Testman, Danish women's rights activist (d. 1919) *
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 comin ...
** Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist, chemist (d. 1903) ** Almon Brown Strowger, American telecommunications engineer (d. 1902) * February 15 – Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (d. 1877) * February 18 – Pascual Cervera y Topete, Spanish admiral (d. 1909) * February 22 – Francis Pharcellus Church, American editor, publisher (d. 1906) * March 3 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian Parsi businessman (d. 1904) * March 8 – Josephine Cochrane, American inventor of the first commercially successful dishwasher (d. 1913) * March 15 – Daniel Ridgway Knight, American artist (d. 1924) * March 16 ** Sully Prudhomme, French poet, critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907) ** John Butler Yeats, Irish artist (d. 1922) * March 21 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer (d. 1881) *
March 23 Events Pre-1600 * 1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. * 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the las ...
– Julius von Hann, Austrian meteorologist (''The father of modern meteorology'') (d. 1921) * March 25 ** Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist), Carlo Pellegrini, Italian caricaturist (d. 1889) ** Marianne Hainisch, founder, leader of the Austrian women's movement (d. 1936) * March 27 – John Ballance, 14th Premier of New Zealand (d. 1893) * April 3 – Karl, Freiherr von Prel, German philosopher (d. 1899) * April 8 – Belle L. Pettigrew, American teacher, missionary (d. 1912) * April 12 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian explorer (d. 1888) * April 16 – Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, 12th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1908) * April 23 – Tom Allen (boxer), Tom Allen, English boxer (d. 1903) * April 30 ** Floriano Peixoto, 2nd President of Brazil (d. 1895) ** Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Yoshitoshi, Japanese artist (d. 1892) * May 21 – Mary of the Passion, French Roman Catholic religious sister, missionary, and blessed (d. 1904) * June 1 – Abdyl Frashëri, Albanian politician (d.1892) * June 10 – Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1912) * June 17 – Arthur Tooth, Anglican clergyman prosecuted for Ritualism in the Church of England, Ritualist practices in the 1870s (d. 1931) * June 21 – Machado de Assis, Brazilian author (d. 1908)


July–December

* July – Baba Jaimal Singh, Founder of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (d. 1903) * July 6 – Édouard Pottier, French admiral (d. 1903) * July 8 – John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist, philanthropist (d. 1937) * July 17 – Ephraim Shay, American inventor of the Shay locomotive (d. 1916) * July 18 – James Surtees Phillpotts, English author (d. 1930) * July 22 – Jacob Hägg, Swedish admiral and painter (d. 1931) * July 28 – Isabelle Gatti de Gamond, Italo-Belgian educationalist, feminist, and politician (d. 1905) * July 31 – Ignacio Andrade, 37th President of Venezuela (d. 1925) * August 4 – Walter Pater, English essayist, critic (d. 1894) * August 8 – Nelson A. Miles, American general (d. 1925) * August 15 – Antonín Petrof, Czech piano maker (d. 1915) * September 2 – Henry George, American writer, politician, and political economist (d. 1897) * September 7 – Patricio Montojo y Pasarón, Spanish admiral (d. 1917) * September 8 – Gregorio Luperón, Dominican soldier, activist and general (d. 1897) * September 9 – Maria Swanenburg, Dutch serial killer (d. 1915) * September 10 – Charles Sanders Peirce, American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist (d. 1914) * September 12 – Mary H. Graves, American minister, literary editor, writer (d. 1908) * October 2 – Oscar de Négrier, French general (d. 1913) * October 9 ** Georges Leclanché, French electrical engineer, inventor (d. 1882) ** Winfield Scott Schley, American admiral (d. 1911) * October 11 – Jeanne Merkus, Dutch deaconess, guerilla soldier, and political activist (d. 1897) * October 30 – Alfred Sisley, French Impressionist landscape painter (d. 1899) * November 1 – Pál Luthár, Slovene writer in Hungary (d. 1919) * November 12 – Frank Furness, American architect, soldier (d. 1912) * November 18 – Emil Škoda, Czech engineer, industrialist (d. 1900) * November 20 – Christian Wilberg, German painter (d. 1882) * November 30 – Catherine Amanda Coburn, American journalist, newspaper editor (d. 1913) * December 5 – George Armstrong Custer, American cavalry officer (d. 1876) * December 7 – Redvers Buller, Sir Redvers Buller, British general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1908) * December 21 – Sherman Conant, American soldier and politician (d. 1890)


Date unknown

* Avis Crocombe, English cook at Audley End House


Deaths


January–June

*
January 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will ...
– Princess Marie of Orléans (1813–1839), Princess Marie of Orléans, French princess, artist, and duchess (b. 1813) * January 7 – Jacquette Löwenhielm, Swedish noble, lady-in-waiting, and Mistress (lover), mistress of Oscar I of Sweden (b. 1797) * January 12 ** Edward Coleman (gangster), Edward Coleman, gangster and founder of the Forty Thieves (New York gang), Forty Thieves ** Joseph Anton Koch, Austrian painter (b. 1768) * January 14 – John Wesley Jarvis, American painter (b. 1780/1781) * January 24 – Michele Cachia, Maltese architect, military engineer (b. 1760) * January 28 – William Beechey, British portraitist (b. 1753) * February 7 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799) * February 8 – William Williams (Weymouth MP), William Williams, English politician (b. 1774) * February 10 – Pedro Romero, Spanish torero (b. 1754) * February 12 – Moulvi Syed Qudratullah, Bengali judge (b. 1750) * February 26 – Sybil Ludington, alleged heroine during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1761) * March 2 – Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon I of France (b. 1802) * March 19 – Rachel Plummer, American writer, daughter of James W. Parker, and the cousin of Quanah Parker (b. 1819) * March 20 – Caspar Voght, German businessman (b. 1752) * March 28 – Giuseppe Siboni, Italian operatic tenor, opera director, choir Conducting, conductor, and voice teacher (b. 1780) * April 1 – Benjamin Pierce (governor), Benjamin Pierce, American politician (b. 1757) * April 2 – Hezekiah Niles, American editor, publisher (b. 1777) * April 4 – Queen Kaahumanu II of Hawaii * April 5 – John Tipton, American politician (b. 1786) * April 8 – Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon, Du Pré Alexander, Irish peer, landlord and colonial administrator (b. 1777) * April 11 – John Galt (novelist), John Galt, List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist (b. 1779) * April 15 – Christoph August Gabler, German classical composer (b. 1767) * April 22 ** Denis Davydov, Russian general, poet (b. 1784) ** Samuel Smith (Maryland politician), American politician (b. 1752) ** Pär Aron Borg, Swedish language, Swedish educator and a pioneer in the education for the Blindness, blind and deaf (b. 1776) * May 3 ** Pehr Henrik Ling, pioneer of physical education in Sweden (b. 1776) ** José Antonio Mexía, 19th-century Mexican general and politician (b. 1800) * May 6 – John Batman, Australian Pastoral farming, grazier, entrepreneur, and explorer (b. 1801) * May 11 ** Thomas Cooper (American politician, born 1759), Thomas Cooper, American political philosopher (b. 1759) ** William Farquhar, First British Resident and Commandant of colonial Singapore (b. 1774) ** Thomas Cooper (American politician, born 1759), Thomas Cooper, Anglo-Americans, Anglo-American economist, college president, and political philosopher (b. 1759) * May 16 – Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis, Edward Clive, British politician who sat in the House of Commons (b. 1754) * May 17 – Archibald Alison (author), Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757) * May 24 – Anna Pak Agi, Korean Martyrs, Korean Martyr (b. 1782) * May 27 – Barbara Yi, Korean Martyrs, Korean Martyr (b. 1825) * June 10 – Jacob Munch, Norwegian military officer and painter (b. 1776) * June 19 – Joseph Paelinck, painter from the Southern Netherlands (b. 1781) * June 23 – Lady Hester Stanhope, English archaeologist (b. 1776) *
June 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded. * 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England. * 1499 – Amerigo Vespucci sights what is now Amapá State in B ...
** Ranjit Singh, Maharaja of The Punjab (
Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...
) (b. 1780) ** Allan Cunningham (botanist), Allan Cunningham, English Botany, botanist and List of explorers, explorer (b. 1791) * June 30 – Johan Olof Wallin, Swedish minister, orator, poet and later Archbishop (b. 1779)


July–December

*
July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and ...
Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
, Ottoman sultan (b. 1785) * July 5 – Lady Flora Hastings, British aristocrat and lady-in-waiting (b. 1806) * July 8 – Fernando Sor, Spanish guitarist, composer (b. 1778) * July 15 – Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician, poet (b. 1802) * July 16 – The Bowl (Cherokee chief), Chief Bowles, Cherokee leader (b. ~1756) * July 19 – Maurice de Guérin, French poet (b. 1810) * July 20 – John Baptist Yi Kwang-nyol, Korean Martyrs, Korean Martyr (b. c.1800) * July 22 – John Birdsall (politician, born 1802), John Birdsall, American lawyer and politician (b. 1802) * July 24 – Richard Spencer (Royal Navy officer), Richard Spencer, captain of the Royal Navy (b. 1779) * July 26 – Mervyn Archdall (died 1839), Mervyn Archdall, Irish officer in the British Army and Member of Parliament for Fermanagh (UK Parliament constituency), County Fermanagh (b. 1763) * August 3 – Dorothea von Schlegel, German novelist and translator (b. 1764) * August 7 – Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier, politician and first regent of Belgium (b. 1769) * August 10 – Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, English fossil collector (b. 1758) * August 18 – Bendix Frantz Ludwig Schow, member of the nobility of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1778) * August 22 – Benjamin Lundy, American abolitionist (b. 1789) * August 28 – William Smith (geologist), William Smith, English geologist, cartographer (b. 1769) * September 4 – Hermann Olshausen, German Theology, theologian (b. 1796) * September 10 – James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale, Scottish politician (b. 1759) * September 18 – Jeanne-Charlotte Allamand, Switzerland, Swiss-born Canadian pioneer, educator and artist (b. 1760) * September 21 – Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert, French Roman Catholic saint (b. 1796) * September 22 – Paul Chong Hasang, Korean Martyrs, Korean Roman Catholic saint and martyr (b. 1794/1795) * September 28 – William Dunlap, producer, playwright, actor, and historian (b. 1766) * September 29 – Friedrich Mohs, German geologist, mineralogist (b. 1773) * October 2 – Mary Ann Rundall, British educational writer * October 6 – William Light, British Army colonel, first Surveyor-General of South Australia (b. 1786) * October 8 – Ee-mat-la, Seminole chief during the Second Seminole War (b. 1739) * October 9 – James Oatley, Great Britain, British-born History of Australia (1788–1850), colonial Australian watch and clock maker (b. 1769) * October 11 – Leonor de Almeida Portugal, 4th Marquise of Alorna, Portuguese painter, poet (b. 1750) * October 24 – William Charles Ellis, pioneer in treatment of mental illness (b. 1780) * October 27 – Frederik Hauch, Danish government official (b. 1754) * October 28 – Makea Pori Ariki, sovereign of the Cook Islands and one of three Tribal chief, High Chiefs of Rarotonga#Demographics and settlements:~:text=or vaka.-,Te Au O Tonga,-on the northern, Te Au O Tonga (b. * October 31 – Peter Yu Tae-chol, Peter Yu Tae-cholm, Korean Martyrs, Korean Martyr (b. 1826) * November 15 – William Murdoch, Scottish inventor (b. 1754) * November 18 – Hans Blackwood, 3rd Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, Hans Blackwood, Irish peer and politician (b. 1758) * November 22 – Vénérande Robichaud, Canadian businesswoman (b. 1753) * December 2 – Andreas Landmark, Norwegian politician and civil servant (b. 1769) * December 3 – Frederick VI of Denmark, Frederick VI, King of Denmark, ex-King of Norway (b. 1768) * December 4 – John Leamy (merchant), John Leamy, Irish–American merchant (b. 1757) * December 15 – Ignaz Aurelius Fessler, Hungarian court councillor, minister to Alexander I (b. 1756) * December 21 – Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest, saint, and martyr (b. 1795) * December 26 – Laurent Jean François Truguet, French admiral (b. 1752)


Date unknown

* Thomas Plunket, Irish soldier (b. 1785) * Walter Jones (Irish politician), Walter Jones, Irish politician (b. 1754) * Pierre le Pelley III, Seigneur of Sark from 1820 to 1839 (b. 1799) * George Scholey, banker who served as Lord Mayor of London * Otto Christian von Rohr, Prussian Army, Prussian army officer during the Napoleonic Wars * John D'Arcy (1785–1839), John D'Arcy, founder of the town of Clifden (b. 1785) * Jean-François Allard, French soldier and adventurer (b. 1785) * Edmund Lodge, England, English Officer of Arms, officer of arms and a writer on Heraldry, heraldic subjects and short biographies (b. 1756) * Sankara Varman, astronomer-mathematician (b. 1774) * William Francklin, English Oriental studies, orientalist and army officer (b. 1763) * Mattheus Ignatius van Bree, Belgian painter (b. 1773)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1839 1839,