1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1848th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 848th year of the 2nd millennium, the 48th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1848, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
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 political and philosophical landscape and had major ramifications throughout the rest of the century.
Contents
Events
January–March
January 3 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Republic of Liberia.
January 12 – Sicilian revolution of 1848: The Palermo rising erupts in Sicily against the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
January 24 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California.
January 31 – In the United States:
Construction of the Washington Monument begins in Washington, D.C.
John C. Frémont is court-martialed on grounds of mutiny and disobeying orders. The verdict is set aside by U.S. President James K. Polk, but Frémont retires to California Territory.
February 2
Mexican–American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico cedes virtually all of what becomes the Southwestern United States to the U.S. The unincorporated California Territory becomes a provisional official possession; it is never organized by the United States Congress as a territory, but directly passes the requirements for statehood in 1850.
John Henry Newman founds the first Oratory in the English-speaking world, when he establishes the Birmingham Oratory at 'Maryvale', Old Oscott, England.
February 17 – John Bird Sumner is nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
February 21 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei) in London.
February 23 – French Revolution of 1848: François Guizot, Prime Minister of France, resigns; 52 people from the Paris mob are killed by soldiers guarding public buildings.
April–June
April 3 – The Chicago Board of Trade is founded by 82 Chicago merchants and business leaders.
April 10
A Chartist 'Monster Rally' is held in Kennington Park London, headed by Feargus O'Connor. A petition demanding the franchise is presented to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Illinois and Michigan Canal is completed.
April 11 – The first Hungarian national government is formed, under the leadership of Lajos Batthyány. The April Laws, the first democratic revolutionary laws in Hungary, are promulgated, putting an end to the feudal privileges of the nobility and serfdom; proclaiming the freedom of religion, freedom of the press and foundation of the Hungarian National Bank; and organising the first democratic election in Hungary based in popular representation, a national guard and reunion of Transylvania with Hungary. The Habsburg emperor, and Hungarian king Ferdinand I of Austria, ratify these laws, which form the basis of modern Hungary.
April 18 – The Second Anglo-Sikh War breaks out in the Punjab.
April 25 – Captain Francis Crozier and Commander James Fitzjames of the Royal Navy deposit the final formal record ever recovered from the Franklin Expedition in a cairn on King William Island, after deserting their ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with their surviving 105 crew members on April 22 to attempt to march to the mainland of North America.
April 27 – The second abolition of slavery in France and its colonies initiated by Victor Schœlcher.
April 29 – Pope Pius IX publishes an allocution announcing his refusal to support Piedmont-Sardinia in its war with Austria, and dispelling hopes that he might serve as ruler of a pan-Italian republic. The allocution, by which Pius is seen to withdraw his moral support for the Italian unification movement, is a key first step in the soon-to-be crushing reaction against the revolutions of 1848.
July–September
July – The Public Health Act establishes Boards of Health across England and Wales, the nation's first public health law, giving cities broad authority to build modern sanitary systems.
July 3 – Governor-General Peter von Scholten emancipates all remaining slaves in the Danish West Indies
July 5 – The Hungarian national revolutionary parliament starts to work.
July 11 – Waterloo railway station in London opens.
July 19 – Seneca Falls Convention: The 2-day women's rights convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York; "Bloomers" are introduced.
July 26
The Matale Rebellion breaks out against British rule in Sri Lanka.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is founded.
July 29 – Young Irelander Rebellion: A nationalist revolt in County Tipperary, against British rule, is put down by the Irish Constabulary.
August 6 – HMS Daedalus reports a sighting of a sea serpent.
August 14 – American President James K. Polk annexes the Oregon Country, and renames it the Oregon Territory as part of the United States.
August 17 – The Independent Republic of Yucatán officially unites with Mexico, in exchange for Mexican help in suppressing a revolt by the indigenous Maya population.
August 19 – California Gold Rush: The New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States that there is a gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
October–December
October 2 – The National Defence Committee (Országos Honvédelmi Bizottmány), led by Lajos Kossuth, becomes the executive power in Hungary, after the resignation of the Lajos Batthyány government.
October 3 – General Anton Puchner, commander of the Austrian armies of Transylvania, declares insurrection against Hungary, and, together with Karl von Urban in the north and the Romanian insurgents led by Avram Iancu, attacks and chases away the Hungarian armed forces occupying Transylvania.
October 18 – Elizabeth Gaskell's first novel, Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life, is published anonymously in London.
October 24 – Romanian bands massacre 640 Hungarian civilians at the town of Zlatna, Transylvania. The massacre continues into 1849.
October 28 – In Catalonia, Spain, the Barcelona–Mataró railroad route (the first to be constructed in the Iberian Peninsula) is inaugurated.
October 30 – Battle of Schwechat: Hungarian forces which crossed the Austrian border, in order to unite with the Viennese revolutionaries, are defeated by the imperial army, led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz and Josip Jelačić.
October 31 – Vienna is occupied by the imperial forces led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, who crushes the revolution here.
November 1 – In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, the Boston Female Medical School (which later merges with Boston University School of Medicine), opens.
November 3 – A new Constitution of the Netherlands (drafted by Johan Rudolph Thorbecke), severely limiting the power of the monarchy and introducing representative democracy, is proclaimed.
November 4 – France ratifies a new constitution. The French Second Republic is set up, ending the state of temporary government.
Date unknown
British, Dutch, and German governments lay claim to New Guinea.
Admiral Nevelskoy demonstrates that the Strait of Tartary is a strait.
Labuan is made a British Crown colony.
The city of Joensuu is founded in North Karelia, Finland by Czar Nicholas I of Russia.
The University of Mississippi admits its first students.
Geneva College (Pennsylvania) is founded as Geneva Hall in Northwood, Logan County, Ohio.
Rhodes College is founded in Clarksville, Tennessee, as the Masonic University of Tennessee.
The Shaker song "Simple Gifts" is written by Joseph Brackett in Alfred, Maine.
Richard Wagner begins writing the libretto that will become Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung").
Watch brand Omega is founded by Louis Brandt in Switzerland.
Ongoing events
Great Famine (Ireland) (1845–52).
Births
January–March
January 4 – Katsura Tarō, 6th prime minister of Japan (d. 1913)
January 6 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1876)
January 21 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
January 24 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
January 27 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
February 5
Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (d. 1907)
Belle Starr, American outlaw (d. 1889)
February 13 – Hermann von Eichhorn, German field marshal (d. 1918)
February 14 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934)
February 16
Octave Mirbeau, French art critic, novelist (d. 1917)
Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (d. 1935)
February 18 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)
February 24
Grant Allen, Canadian author (d. 1899)
Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian jurist and politician (d. 1907)
February 25 – King William II of Württemberg (d. 1921)
April–June
April 3 – Arturo Prat, Chilean lawyer and navy officer (d. 1879)
April 7 – Randall Davidson, British Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1930)
April 10 – Hubertine Auclert, French feminist (d. 1914)
April 27 – King Otto of Bavaria (d. 1916)
May 3 – Francisco Teixeira de Queiroz, Portuguese writer (d. 1919)
May 10 – Sir Thomas Lipton, Scottish retailer and yachtsman (d. 1931)
May 20 – Howard Vernon, Australian actor (d. 1921)
May 23
Otto Lilienthal, German engineer, aviation pioneer (d. 1896)
May 25
Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, German general (d. 1916)
June 7
Paul Gauguin, French artist (d. 1903)
Dolores Jiménez y Muro, Mexican revolutionary and educator (d. 1925)
June 13 – Cornélie Huygens, Dutch writer, social democrat and feminist (d. 1902)
June 15 – Sol Smith Russell, American stage comedian (d. 1902)
June 19 – Mary R. Platt Hatch, American author (d. 1935)
June 25 – Thomas Henry Tracy, Canadian architect and alderman (d. 1925)
July–September
July 3 – Lothar von Trotha, German military commander (d. 1920)
July 6 – Gábor Baross, Hungarian statesman (d. 1892)
July 7 – Rodrigues Alves, 5th president of Brazil (d. 1919)
July 9 – Robert I, Duke of Parma, last ruling Duke of Parma (d. 1907)
July 10 – Anatoly Stessel, Russian baron and general (d. 1915)
July 15 – Vilfredo Pareto, Italian economist (d. 1923)
July 18 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer (d. 1915)
July 22
Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1914)
Winfield Scott Stratton, American miner (d. 1902)
July 25 – Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
July 31 – Jean-Baptiste Olive, French painter (d. 1936)
August 6 – Susie Taylor, African American nurse and first nurse in the Black Army (d. 1912)
August 15 – António Enes, Portuguese writer and politician (d. 1901)
August 19 – Gustave Caillebotte, French painter (d. 1894)
August 24 – Kate Claxton, American actress (d. 1924)
October–December
October 3 – Henry Lerolle, French painter (d. 1929)
October 5 – Liborius Ritter von Frank, Austro-Hungarian general (d. 1935)
October 15 – Harmon Northrop Morse, American chemist (d. 1920)
November 8 – Gottlob Frege, German logician (d. 1925)
November 11 – Zinovy Rozhestvensky, Russian admiral (d. 1909)
November 12 – Eduard Müller, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1919)
November 13 – Albert I, Prince of Monaco (d. 1922)
November 14 – Sándor Wekerle, 3-time prime minister of Hungary (d. 1921)
November 20 – James M. Spangler, American inventor (d. 1915)
November 24 – Zhang Peilun, Chinese naval commander and government official (d. 1903)
November 25 – Margaret Abigail Cleaves, American physician and writer (d. 1917)
November 27 – Maximilian von Prittwitz, German general (d. 1917)
November 29 – Paul Pau, French general (d. 1932)
December 6 – Johann Palisa, Austrian astronomer (d. 1925)
December 17 – William Wynn Westcott, British freemason (d. 1925)
Date unknown
Alexander Bedward, Jamaican preacher (d. 1930)
Alice Williams Brotherton, American author (d. 1930)
Maryana Marrash, Syrian writer, salonist (d. 1919)
Mírzá Mihdí, youngest child of Baháʼí founder Baháʼu'lláh (d. 1870)
Viktor Sakharov, Russian general (d. 1905)
Mary Thomas (labor leader), (d. 1905)
Deaths
January–June
January 9 – Caroline Herschel, German astronomer (b. 1750)
January 17 – Petrobey Mavromichalis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1765)
January 19 – Isaac D'Israeli, English author (b. 1766)
January 20 – Christian VIII, King of Denmark (b. 1786)
February 15 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian field marshal (b. 1771)
February 22 – Wilhelmine Reichard, first German woman balloonist (b. 1788)
February 23 – John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States, son of John Adams and Abigail Adams (b. 1767)
March 29 – John Jacob Astor, American businessman (b. 1763)
April 8 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
April 10 – Godert van der Capellen, Dutch colonial governor (b. 1778)
May 24 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)
June 11 – Parashuramrao Shrinivas I (b. 1777)
June 23 – Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este (b. 1776)
June 27 – Denis Auguste Affre, Archbishop of Paris (b. 1793)
July–December
July 4 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer, diplomat (b. 1768)
July 9 – Jaime Balmes, Spanish philosopher, theologian (b. 1810)
July 10 – Karoline Jagemann, German actor (b. 1777)
July 20 – Francis R. Shunk, American politician (b. 1788)
August 3 – Edward Baines, British newspaperman, politician (b. 1774)
August 5 – Pedro Vélez, Mexican politician (b. 1787)
August 7 – Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (b. 1779)
August 8 – Puran Appu, Sri Lankan hero who led the Matale rebellion against the British (b. 1812)
August 9 – Frederick Marryat, British novelist (b. 1792)
August 12 – George Stephenson, English locomotive pioneer (Locomotion No. 1 & Rocket) (b. 1781)
August 14 – Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, English hymnwriter (b. 1805)
August 30 – Simon Willard, celebrated American horologist (b. 1753)
September 18 – Hans Adolf Erdmann von Auerswald, Prussian general and politician, (b. 1792)
September 18 – Felix Lichnowsky, German politician (b. 1814)
September 24 – Branwell Brontë, English painter, poet, brother of novelists Charlotte, Emily and Anne (b. 1817)