- April 6
- Battle of Shiloh in South-West Tennessee begins as Confederate Army of the Mississippi under General Albert Sidney Johnson (44,700) men surprises Ulyssee Grant's federals (44,700 men) at Shiloh at dawn. [1] [860.11] [888.48]
- April 7
- US Army General Ulysses Grant counterattacks and defeats Confederate Army at Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, CSA. By the end of the battle over 1700 men are dead from each army and 8000 from each side lay wounded. Confederate troops retreat to Corinth, Mississippi. [1] [860.12] [888.48] (total 23,500 dead or wounded [888.6])
- April 8
- John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser. [1]
- April 18
- Union ships begin assault on New Orleans, beginning with mortar shelling of forts Saint Philip and Fort Jackson. [1] [888.61]
- April 19
- Louis Powell Harvey, US Governor of Wisconsin, drowns. [1]
- May 1
- USA Army captain David Farragut recaptures New Orleans, Louisiana. [1] [516.93]
- May 5
- French army of 6000 men attack Puebla, México. They are defeated by the Mexican army. (This day is celebrated as Cinco de Mayo.) [1] [1072.36] [1443.31]
- May 7
- Much of Enschede, Netherlands destroyed by fire. [1]
- May 10
- Norfolk, Virginia is captured by US forces. Merrimack commander Josiah Tatnall has ship set afire to destroy it. [888.34]
- May 14
- Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patents the chronograph. [1]
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- May 16
- Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir builds first automobile. [1]
- May 24
- Westminster Bridge across Thames opens, England. [1]
- June 7
- William Mumford is first US citizen hanged for treason. [1]
- July 12
- US Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor, highest award for gallantry under fire. [1] [512.36]
- July 26
- Great Eastern ship departs New York for Liverpool with US$600,000 in specie aboard. [459.64]
- July 27
- Steamer Golden Gate burns and sinks off west coast of Mexico. [1]
- August 29
- Battle of Aspromonte: Italian royal forces defeat rebels. [1]
- August 30
- Second Battle of Manassas: US General John Pope defeated by CSA General Robert Lee; 13,824 casualties. [1] [888.67]
- September 17
- Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) - bloodiest day of the war between the USA and CSA, 22,000 killed and wounded on both sides. [437.80] [502.38] [549.72] [913.38]
- September 22
- US President Abraham Lincoln issues an executive order, declaring freedom for all slaves in any state in the Confederacy that did not return to USA control by January 1, 1863. [1] [505.70]
- October 7
- English Prime Minister Gladstone speaks at Newcastle about CSA's President Jefferson Davis having made a nation. [919.163]
- November 4
- Gatling gun is patented (to Richard J Gatling). [1]
- December 2
- Nicaragua issues its first postage stamps. [1135] [1367.1399]
- December 12
- Two electrically-detonated underwater torpedoes sink the USS Cairo ironclad battleship in the Yazoo River north of Vicksburg, Mississippi, CSA. [701.18,20]
- December 16
- Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution. [1]
- December 26
- 38 Santee Sioux Indians are hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, USA due to their uprising. [1]
- December 31
- USA ironclad ship Monitor sinks off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, CSA. 16 crew die, 47 are rescued. [1] [888.34] [1844.7]
1863
- January 1
- US President Abraham Lincoln issues an executive order, naming ten specific States where his order of September 22 would apply (freedom of slaves in Confederate states). [1] [505.70]
- January 4
- Four-wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton of New York, USA. [1]
- January 9
- First section of London Underground opens, the Metropolitan Railway from Paddington to King's Cross. [1017.120] (January 10 [1] [1084.36])
- January 10
- Uprising begins in Poland. [1]
- January 13
- Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet. [1]
- January 17
- Death of Muhammad Said Pasha at age 41 in his sleep; Egyptian viceroy. [1842.182]
- January 19
- General Mieroslawski appointed dictator of Poland. [1]
- January 21
- City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years. [1]
- February 17
- International Committee of the Red Cross is founded (Nobel Prize 1917, 1944, 1963). [1414.28]
- February 25
- US President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law, creating national banking system, comptroller of currency, allowing qualified banks to issue government-sponsored paper money in the banks' names. [421.156] [471.18] [473.86] [602.34]
- February 28
- Confederate raider Nashville sinks near Fort McAllister, Georgia. [1]
- March 30
- Danish prince Wilhelm Georg of Sleeswÿk-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg chosen as king George of Greece. [1]
- April 14
- William Bullock patents continuous-roll printing press. [1]
- April 21
- Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh; Bahá'í Feast of Ridván (Jalâl 13, 20). [1]
- May 1
- Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia (29,000 injured or died). [1]
- May 8
- Confederación Granadina becomes Estados Unidos de Colombia. [1]
- May 11
- (to June 11) The Paris Postal Conference is held in France, with representatives of 17 countries or cit ystates, to resolve difficulties of foreign mail handling. [1135]
- May 27
- CSS Chattahoochie explodes on Chattahoochie River, Georgia, 18 die. [1]
- May 31
- First horse race at Longchamps racecourse in France. [80.186]
- June 20
- West Virginia admitted as 35th US state. [1] [646.59]
- July 2
- Day two of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA: General James Longstreet leads the main Confederate attack, but USA forces retain control of their strategic positions. After three hours, the total number of dead at Gettysburg stand at 35,000. [129]
- July 3
- On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General George Pickett leads a 15,000-man column a mile toward USA positions at Cemetery Ridge, after an hour-long cannon bombardment. But USA artillery and infantry survive, and devastate the attacking force, killing or wounding 7,000 within an hour. [129] [701.20]
- July 4
- Confederate General Robert Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg, retreating to the South. The Battle of Gettysburg resulted in total casualties of about 48,000. [129]
- July 6
- Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia. [1]
- July 7
- First military draft by US (exemptions cost $100). [1]
- July 13
- Anti-draft mobs lynch blacks in New York City; about 1,000 die. [1]
- August 12
- First cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada area). [1]
- September 17
- Pope Pius IX encyclical On persecution in New Grenada. [1]
- September 22
- US President Abraham Lincoln makes his Emancipation Proclamation speech. [1]
- September 27
- The united kingdom of Italy is proclaimed. The Lotto is made a legal source of national income. [80.235] [187.87]
- October 3
- US President Abraham Lincoln designates last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. [1]
- October 6
- Dr Charles H Sheppard opens the first US public bath, in Brooklyn, New York. [1]
- November 19
- US President Abraham Lincoln delivers his famous Gettysburg Address during the dedication of a new national cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. [1] [129]
- November 23
- Patent granted for a process of making color photographs. [1]
- December 4
- Storm flood ravages Nethe coastal provinces. [1]
- December 8
- Jesuit Church of La Compana in Santiago, Chile, catches fire; 2,500 die in panic. [1]
- US President Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South. [1]
- December 21
- First national US bank note is issued, a $5 note, by the First National Bank of Washington, D.C. [463.42] [766.38]
1864
- January 11
- Charing Cross Station opens in London, England. [1]
- February 1
- Second German-Danish war begins. [1]
- Austrian/Prussian troops occupy Sleeswijk/Holstein. [1]
- February 15
- Fire in Rotterdam, Netherlands, damages Museum Boymans. [1]
- February 17
- Confederate submarine HL Hunley sinks USA ship Housatonic (first submarine to sink an enemy ship). [1]
- February 19
- Knights of Pythias form first lodge in Washington DC (12 members). [1]
- March 1
- Louis Ducos du Hauron patents movie machine (never built). [1]
- March 10
- Maximilian II Jozef, King of Bayern (1848-64), dies at age 52. [1]
- March 18
- Dale Dike on Humber River crumbles drowning some 240. [1]
- March 29
- Great Britain gives Isotope Islands back to Greece. [1]
- April 10
- Austrian Archduke Maximilian becomes emperor of México. [1] [1443.33]
- April 19
- Naval Engagement at Cherbourg, France: USS Kearsage versus CSS Alabama. [1]
- May 5
- Empress Maria Teresia of Austria-Hungary establishes the Order of Saint Stephen. [404.44]
- May 9
- Ship battle at Helgoland, Austria-Denmark. [1]
- May 28
- Maximilian and wife Carlota arrive in Veracruz, Mexico to no adoring crowds. [1443.33]
- June 19
- CSS Alabama sunk by USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, France. [1]
- (month unknown)
- The Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite meteorite (type CI1) falls in France. [523.90]
- August 5
- Spectrum of a comet observed for first time, by Giovanni Donati. [1]
- August 22
- Geneva Convention signed, by 12 nations. [1]
- August 29
- William Huggins discovers chemical composition of nebulae. [1]
- October 5
- Most of Calcutta destroyed by cyclone (approx 60,000 die). [1]
- October 14
- The New York Gold Exchange is organized. [553.36]
- October 31
- Nevada admitted as 36th US state. [1] [516.64] [818.2] [1078.1724]
- November 8
- Abraham Lincoln elected to his second term as US President. [1] [504.109]
- November 9
- First export of goods from Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada to a foreign country. [1]
- November 29
- Colorado militia kills 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians. [1]
- December 4
- Romanian Jews are forbidden to practice law. [1]
- December 8
- Pope Pius IX publishes encyclical Quanta cura ("Syllabus errorum"). [1]
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