1857
1857 was a
common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).
*
January 9 -
Earthquake at
Fort Tejon, California with an estimated magnitude of 7.9
*
February 16 - The
National Deaf Mute College (later renamed
Gallaudet University) is established in
Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education of the
deaf.
*
March 3 -
France and the
United Kingdom declare
war on
China in the
Second Opium War*
March 4 - End of term for
President of the United States Franklin Pierce. He is succeeded by
James Buchanan.
*
March 5 – In
London, ex-
solicitor James Towsend Saward is sentenced for transportation for forging number of cheques over the years.
*
March 6 - The
Supreme Court of the United States rules in the
Dred Scott v. Sandford case, driving the country further towards the
American Civil War.
*
March 21 -
Earthquake in
Tokyo,
Japan kills over 100,000.
*
March 23 -
Elisha Otis' first
elevator is installed (at 488
Broadway,
New York City)
*
May 10 -
Indian rebellion of 1857: In
India, the
Mutiny of
XI Native Cavalry of the
Bengal Army in
Meerut, revolt against the
British East India Company.
*
May 11 -
Indian combatants capture
Delhi from the
East India Company.
*
June 6 -
Sophia of Nassau marries the future
King Oscar II of
Sweden-Norway.
*
July 15 - Second
Cawnpore massacre during the
Indian rebellion of 1857.
* August -
Calcutta University established.
*
September 11 -
Mountain Meadows Massacre in
Utah.
*
October 24 -
Sheffield F.C., the world's first
football (soccer) team, is founded in
Sheffield,
England.
*
November 30 - End of term for
President of Mexico Ignacio Comonfort. He is succeeded by
Félix María Zuloaga.
*
December 16 - An
earthquake with an estimated
magnitude of 6.9 kills 11,000 people in
Naples,
Italy.
*
December 31 - Queen
Victoria chooses
Ottawa, Ontario as the capital of
Canada.
*
Divorce without
parliamentary approval becomes legal in
Britain* Speculation in
U.S. railway shares causes financial crisis in
Europe.
*
Russian
serfs emancipated.
* The
Mormons abandon
Las Vegas.
* Founding of
Hollywood.
* Restoration of the
Mexican republic (see
Mexico/History).
* Discovery of
La Tene culture artifacts in
Switzerland by
Hansli Kopp.
*
Philip Henry Gosse writes
Omphalos text elaborating a
Creationist school of thought.
*
University of Bombay established.
* The
Mughal Empire is finally destroyed by the
British Empire.
* The
city walls of
Vienna are demolished, allowing the construction of the
Ringstraße.
*
Sweden lifts its ban on
Danish language and
Danish books in the formerly
Danish provinces of
Blekinge,
Halland and
Scania - 214 respectively 199 years after the annexion.
*
William Daniel,
American politician proposes
Local Option for
prohibition.
*
January 4 -
Émile Courtet, French caricaturist and animator (d.
1938)
*
January 26 -
the 12th Dalai Lama (d.
1875)
*
February 12 -
Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d.
1943)
*
February 22 - Lord
Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of the
Scouting movement (d.
1941)
*
February 22 -
Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d.
1894)
*
March 7 -
Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1940)
*
March 8 -
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d.
1919)
*
March 30 -
Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (d.
1926)
*
April 5 -
Alexander of Battenberg, first Prince of Bulgaria (d.
1893)
*
May 7 -
William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia (d.
1930)
*
May 13 -
Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1932)
*
May 15 -
Williamina Fleming, Scottish astronomer (d.
1911)
*
May 19 -
John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist (d.
1938)
*
May 31 -
Pope Pius XI (d.
1939)
*
June 2 -
Edward Elgar, English composer (d.
1934)
*
June 2 -
Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1919)
*
July 23 -
Carl Meinhof, German linguist (d.
1944)
*
July 24 -
Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1943)
*
July 28 -
Ballington Booth,
Salvation Army Officer and co-founder of
Volunteers of America (d.
1940)
*
July 30 -
Thorstein Veblen, Norwegian economist (d.
1929)
*
September 5 -
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and inventor (d.
1935)
*
September 8 -
Georg Michaelis,
Chancellor of Germany (d.
1936)
*
September 13 -
Michał Drzymała, Polish peasant and revolutionary (d.
1937)
*
September 13 -
Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate manufacturer (d.
1945)
*
September 15 -
William Howard Taft, 27th
President of the United States (d.
1930)
*
October 24 -
Ned Williamson, American baseball player (d.
1894)
*
November 17 -
George Marchant, English-born inventor, manufacturer, and philanthropist (d.
1941)
*
November 26 -
Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (d.
1913)
*
November 27 -
Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1952)
*
November 28 - King
Alfonso XII of Spain (d.
1885)
*
November 30 -
Bobby Abel, English cricketer (d.
1936)
*
December 3 -
Joseph Conrad, Polish-British novelist (d.
1924)
*
Joseph Tabrar, British songwriter (d.
1931)
* Unknown date -
Lucy Bacon, Californian
Impressionist Painter {d.
1932}
*
February 10 -
David Thompson, British-Canadian explorer (b.
1770)
*
February 15 -
Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b.
1804)
*
May 2 -
Alfred de Musset, French poet (b.
1810)
*
May 11 -
Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal and private detective (b.
1775)
*
May 23 -
Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (b.
1789)
*
July 15 -
Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (b.
1791)
*
July 19 -
Stefano Franscini,
member of the Swiss Federal Council (b.
1796)
*
July 29 -
Charles Lucien Bonaparte, French naturalist and ornithologist (b.
1803)
*
August 3 -
Eugène Sue, French novelist (b.
1804)
*
September 3 -
John McLoughlin, Canadian trapper (b.
1784)
*
November 26 -
Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet (b.
1788)
*
December 3 -
Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (b.
1777)
*
December 15 -
Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer (b.
1773)
