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YEAR
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HISTORICAL EVENTS
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1840
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The Worldwide Anti-Slavery Convention is held in London. American
women walk out in protest when they are not permitted to take their seats
as delegates. As a result, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and others organize women's rights conferences.
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Queen Victoria of Great Britain marries Prince Albert.
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Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky is born (Russian composer).
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Claude Monet (French painter), Pierre Auguste Renoir (French impressionist
painter), and Auguste Rodin (French sculptor) are born.
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Ninepins becomes a very popular game in America.
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2816 miles of railroad in operation in U.S.; 1331 in England.
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1841
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Britain's assumes control of Hong Kong.
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William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as 9th president.
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President Harrison dies of pneumonia. John Tyler becomes the 10th
president.
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The U.S.S. "Creole," carrying slaves from Virginia to Louisiana, is
seized by the slaves and sails into Nassau where they become free.
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James Fenimore Cooper writes The Deerslayer.
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Scottish surgeon James Braid discovers hypnosis.
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English mechanical engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth proposes standard screw
threads.
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P. T. Barnum opens the "American Museum," an exhibition of freaks, curios,
etc. in New York City.
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American boxer Tom Hyer becomes the first recognized champion.
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Population statistics: Great Britain - 18.5 million; America 17 million;
Ireland 8 million.
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The first university degrees are granted to women in America.
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1842
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Massachusetts act establishes that children under 12 years old may work
no longer than 10 hours per day in factory labor.
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Poe writes The Masque of the Red Death.
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Austrian physicist C. J. Doppler publishes a paper on the Doppler effect.
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American physician Crawford W. Long uses ether as an anesthesia for
surgery.
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The polka (a Czech dance) comes into fashion.
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Boston and Albany are connected by railroad.
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1843
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Jefferson Davis (future President of the Confederacy) begins his political
career as delegate to the Democratic Convention in Alabama.
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Charles Dickens writes A Christmas Carol and Martin Chuzzlewit.
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Dorothea Dix reports on the horrible conditions of prisons and asylums
in Massachusetts.
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Samuel Morse receives a $30,000 grant from Congress to build the first
telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore.
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Siamese twins Chang and Eng marry Sarah and Adelaide Yates.
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Skiing becomes a sport (Norway).
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1844
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Alexandre Dumas writes The Count of Monte Cristo.
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Morse's telegraph is used for first time between Baltimore and Washington.
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The gasoline engine is patented by Stuart Perry.
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Paper made from wood pulp is invented by Friedrich Keller.
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The YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) is founded in England by
George Williams.
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The Baptist Church splits into the Northern and Southern conventions
as a result of the slavery issue.
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1845
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James K. Polk is inaugurated as 11th President.
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Florida becomes the 27th (slave) state.
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Texas becomes the 28th (slave) state.
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The Knickerbocker Baseball Club codifies the rules of baseball.
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The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland is opened.
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1846
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Iowa becomes the 29th (free) state.
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Congress declares war on Mexico.
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Brigham Young leads the Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois to Utah.
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The Opera in Paris has electric arc lighting.
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John Deere creates a plow with a steel moldboard.
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Elias Howe patents his sewing machine.
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In the first match baseball game, the New Yorks beat the Knickerbockers
23-1 in New Jersey.
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American dentist W. T. Morton uses ether as an anesthetic.
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Ireland suffers from famine caused by the potato crop failure (leads
to increased U.S. immigration).
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The Smithsonian Institution opens in Washington, D.C.
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1847
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The first official postage stamp is issued by the U.S. government (5-cent
and 10-cent stamps).
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Abraham Lincoln becomes a Congressman.
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New Hampshire passes a law limiting the work day to 10 hours.
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Vermont passes a law allowing a wife full ownership of real estate;
she needs her husband's consent to sell.
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Liberia (African country founded by freed U.S. slaves) is proclaimed
an independent republic.
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Charlotte Bronte writes Jane Eyre.
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Emily Bronte writes Wuthering Heights.
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William Makepeace Thackeray writes Vanity Fair.
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The Mormons found Salt Lake City.
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Thomas Alva Edison is born (American inventor of the lightbulb and phonograph,
to name a few).
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Alexander Graham Bell is born (Scottish-American inventor of the telephone).
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Gold is first discovered in California.
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1848
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The Mexican-American war ends; U.S. gets Texas, New Mexico, California,
Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
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Wisconsin becomes the 30th (free) state.
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The first medical school for women opens in Boston with 12 women enrolled.
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New York State allows women equal rights to property.
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The telegraph links New York City and Chicago.
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Marx and Engels publish their Communist Manifesto.
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