View source for 1861

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2011}}
{{Year dab|1861}}
{{Year nav|1861}}
{{C19 year in topic}}{{Year article header|1861}}
This year saw significant progress in the [[Unification of Italy]], the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], and the [[Emancipation reform of 1861|emancipation reform]] abolishing [[serfdom]] in the [[Russian Empire]].
{{TOC limit|2}}

== Events ==

=== January ===
* [[January 1]]
** [[Benito Juárez]] captures [[Mexico City]].
** The first steam-powered [[carousel]] is recorded, in [[Bolton]], England.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fairground Rides - A Chronological Development |url=http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html |work=National Fairground Archive |publisher=University of Sheffield |year=2007 |access-date=2011-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811021142/https://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html |archive-date=August 11, 2011 }}</ref>
* [[January 2]] &ndash; [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia]] dies, and is succeeded by [[Wilhelm I of Germany|Wilhelm I]].<ref name=DHM>{{cite web |url=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/biografie-wilhelm-i.html |title=Biografie Wilhelm I |language=German |publisher=Deutsches Historisches Museum |access-date=12 June 2013 }}</ref> 

[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[January 3]] &ndash; [[Delaware]] votes not to secede from the [[United States|Union]].
** [[January 9]] &ndash; [[Mississippi in the American Civil War|Mississippi]] becomes the second state to secede from the Union.
** [[January 10]] &ndash; [[Florida in the American Civil War|Florida]] secedes from the Union.
** [[January 11]] &ndash; [[Alabama in the American Civil War|Alabama]] secedes from the Union.
** [[January 12]] &ndash; Major [[Robert Anderson (Union officer)|Robert Anderson]] sends dispatches to Washington.
** [[January 19]] &ndash; [[Georgia in the American Civil War|Georgia]] secedes from the Union.
** [[January 21]] &ndash; [[Jefferson Davis]] resigns from the [[United States Senate]].
** [[January 26]] &ndash; [[Louisiana in the American Civil War|Louisiana]] secedes from the Union.

* [[January 29]] &ndash; [[Kansas]] is admitted as the 34th [[U.S. state]], being admitted as a free state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS - Kansas |url=https://www.senate.gov/states/KS/timeline.shtml |access-date=2025-07-18 |website=www.senate.gov}}</ref>
* [[January 31]] &ndash; [[Kuki people|Kuki]]s raid the [[Chhagalnaiya Upazila|Chhagalnaiya plains]] in eastern [[Bengal]], murdering and kidnapping hundreds of people, particularly women.<ref name=webster>{{cite book|last1= Webster|first1=John Edward|title=Eastern Bengal and Assam District Gazetteers|volume=4. Noakhali|year=1911|publisher=The Pioneer Press|page=30|chapter=History|location=[[Prayagraj|Allahabad]]|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/noakhali00webs/page/30/mode/2up}}</ref>

=== February ===
[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[February 1]] &ndash; [[Texas in the American Civil War|Texas]] secedes from the Union.
** [[February 4]] &ndash; In [[Montgomery, Alabama]], the [[Provisional Confederate States Congress]] is formed by representatives from the first seven break-away [[U.S. state|states]].
** [[February 8]] &ndash; The [[Confederate States of America]] are formed, comprising the first seven break-away States.
** [[February 9]] &ndash; Jefferson Davis is elected Provisional President of the [[Confederate States of America]], by the Weed Convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
* [[February 11]]
** [[American Civil War]]: The U.S. House unanimously passes a resolution, guaranteeing non-interference with slavery in any state.
** About 850 convicts at [[Chatham Dockyard]] in England take over their prison in a riot.<ref>''BBC History Magazine'' (February 2011) p. 11.</ref>
* [[February 13]] &ndash; [[Unification of Italy]]: The [[Siege of Gaeta (1860)|Siege of Gaeta]],  stronghold of the Neapolitan King [[Francis II of the Two Sicilies|Francis II]], is ended by Piedmontese forces. Francis goes into exile.
* [[February 18]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America.
* [[February 20]] &ndash; In Britain, storms damage the [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]] and cause the collapse of the steeple of [[Chichester Cathedral]].<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[February 21]] &ndash; [[Mariehamn]], the capital of [[Åland]], is founded.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Union of the Baltic Cities|editor=Żaboklicki, Paweł|first=Robert|last=Mann|title=Mariehamn Celebrates|page=34|publisher=The UBC Bulletin|number=1|year=2011}}</ref>
* [[February 23]] &ndash; President-elect [[Abraham Lincoln]] arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. in light of [[Baltimore Plot|suspicions of a conspiracy in Baltimore to kill him]].
* [[February 24]] &ndash; [[Battle of Ky Hoa]]: the French and the Spanish defeat the Vietnamese.<ref>[http://www.historynet.com/1861-french-conquest-of-saigon-battle-of-the-ky-hoa-forts.htm Weider History Group: 1861 French Conquest of Saigon: Battle of the Ky Hoa Forts]. Accessed 11 March 2013</ref>
* [[February 27]] &ndash; Russian troops fire upon a crowd in [[Warsaw]] protesting Russian rule over Poland, killing 5 protesters.
* [[February 28]] &ndash; [[Colorado Territory|Colorado]] is organized as a [[United States territory]].
* [[March 2]]
** [[Nevada Territory|Nevada]] is organized as a [[United States territory]].
** [[American Civil War]]: Texas is admitted to the Confederate States of America.

=== March ===
* [[March 3]] ([[February 19]] O.S.) &ndash; [[Emancipation reform of 1861]]: [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] abolishes [[serfdom]] in the [[Russian Empire]].
[[File:Abraham Lincoln inauguration 1861.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[March 4]]: [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] inaugurated]]
[[File:CSA FLAG 4.3.1861-21.5.1861.svg|thumb|165px|right| [[March 4]]: [[Confederate flag]]]]
[[File:Map of American Civil War in 1861.svg|thumb|200px|right|1861: [[American Civil War]]]]
* [[March 4]] 
** [[Abraham Lincoln]] is [[First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln|sworn in]] as the 16th president of the United States.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11358/ |title = The Lincoln Bible |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1853 |access-date = 2013-09-02 }}</ref>
**[[American Civil War]]: The "[[Stars and Bars (flag)|Stars and Bars]]" is adopted as the flag of the [[Confederate States of America]].
* [[March 10]] &ndash; [[El Hadj Umar Tall]] seizes the city of [[Ségou]], destroying the [[Bamana Empire]] of [[Mali]].
* [[March 11]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The [[Constitution of the Confederate States|Constitution]] of the [[Confederate States of America]] is adopted.
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[Tsushima incident]]: The Russian corvette ''Posadnik'' arrives at [[Tsushima Island]] in the [[Korea Strait]], Japan, provoking a reaction from the Japanese Shogunate.
* [[March 17]] &ndash; [[Unification of Italy]]: The [[Kingdom of Italy]] is proclaimed by the new Parliament, with [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]] of [[Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia|Piedmont-Sardinia]] becoming its [[Monarch|king]].
* [[March 19]] &ndash; The [[First Taranaki War]] ends in New Zealand.
* [[March 20]]
** [[Unification of Italy]]: The surrender of [[Civitella del Tronto]] ends the [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]].
** [[1861 Mendoza earthquake|An earthquake]] completely destroys [[Mendoza, Argentina]].
* [[March 21]] &ndash; [[Alexander Stephens]], [[Vice President of the Confederate States of America|Vice President of the Confederacy]], gives the infamous ''[[Cornerstone Speech]]'' in [[Savannah, Georgia]], in which he declares that slavery is the natural condition of blacks, and the foundation of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]].
* [[March 28]] &ndash; [[Confederate Arizona]]: A convention in modern-day Tucson ratifies the ordinance of secession of the southern part of [[New Mexico Territory]]. 
* [[March 30]] &ndash; [[Discovery of the chemical elements]]: British chemist [[William Crookes]] announces his discovery of [[thallium]].

=== April ===
* [[April 7]] &ndash; A population [[1861 United Kingdom census|census]] is taken in the United Kingdom. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.
[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[April 12]] &ndash; The [[American Civil War]] begins with [[Battle of Fort Sumter|the bombardment of]] [[Fort Sumter]], [[South Carolina]].
** [[April 13]] &ndash; [[Fort Sumter]] surrenders to Southern forces.[[File:Bombardment of Fort Sumter, 1861.png|thumb|200px|right| [[April 12]]–[[April 13|13]]: [[Fort Sumter]]]]
** [[April 15]] &ndash; President Abraham Lincoln issues a Proclamation calling for 75,000 men to confront in the South, "combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary way".
** [[April 17]] &ndash; The state of [[Virginia in the American Civil War|Virginia]] secedes from the Union.
** [[April 20]] &ndash; [[Robert E. Lee]] resigns his commission in the United States Army, in order to command the forces of the state of [[Virginia]].
* [[April 24]] (N.S.) &ndash; [[Bezdna unrest]]: Bezdna in Russia is the scene of a peasant uprising; the military open fire and about 90 are killed.<ref>[http://education.cambridge.org/media/577146/history_for_the_ib_diploma__imperial_russia__revolutions_and_the_emergence_of_the_soviet_state_1853%E2%80%93_samples.pdf http://education.cambridge.org/media/577146 "Imperial Russia, revolutions_and_the_emergence_of_the_Soviet_state"]. Accessed 11 March 2013</ref>
* [[April 25]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The [[Union Army]] arrives in Washington, D.C.
* [[April 26]] &ndash; [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]] discovers the [[asteroid]] [[69 Hesperia]].
* [[April 27]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: President [[Abraham Lincoln]] suspends the [[writ of habeas corpus]] in the United States.

=== May ===
[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[May 6]] &ndash; [[Arkansas in the American Civil War|Arkansas]] secedes from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].
** [[May 7]] &ndash; [[Tennessee in the American Civil War|Tennessee]] secedes from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].
** [[May 8]] &ndash; [[Richmond, Virginia]], is named the capital of the [[Confederate States of America]].
* [[May 10]] &ndash; The [[Royal Seminary]] is granted its constitution as the first [[Public education|public]] [[Tertiary education|institution of higher academic learning]] open to women in Sweden.
* [[May 13]]
** [[North Star affair|''North Star'' affair]]: The British merchant ship ''North Star'' leaves Hong Kong for Nagasaki, Japan. Chinese pirates board the vessel, kill an officer, and escape with a large quantity of gold.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sellick|first=Douglas R. G.|title=Pirate Outrages: True Stories of Terror on the China Seas|year=2010|publisher=Fremantle Press|isbn=978-1-921696-07-7}}</ref>
** [[American Civil War]]: [[Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of [[Neutral country|neutrality]]", which recognizes the [[Confederate States of America|breakaway states]] as having belligerent rights.
** [[Comet]] [[C/1861 J1]] (the "Great Comet of 1861") is discovered from Australia.[[File:Great Comet 1861.jpg|thumb|200px|right| [[May 13]]: [[C/1861 J1|Great Comet]]]]
* [[May 14]] &ndash; The Canellas meteorite, an 859 [[gram]] chondrite type [[meteorite]], strikes Earth near [[Barcelona]], Spain.
* [[May 17]]
** A 7-day working men's [[package holiday]] to [[Paris]], organised by [[Thomas Cook]], sets out from [[London Bridge station]].<ref>{{cite news|first=K. A.|last=Frost|title=Thomas Cook's great expedition of 1861|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/24/thomas-cook-expedition-travel-archive-1861|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=2016-05-24|accessdate=2025-05-10}}</ref>
** Scottish-born physicist [[James Clerk Maxwell]] demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography in a lecture at the [[Royal Institution]] in London using a photograph captured by [[Thomas Sutton (photographer)|Thomas Sutton]].<ref>{{cite web|title=1861 - The first colour photograph|website=Photo Museum Ireland|url=https://timeline.photomuseumireland.ie/timeline/the-first-colour-photograph-as-opposed-to-a-painted-black-and-white-photo-was-created-by-james-clerk-maxwell-and-thomas-sutton/|accessdate=2025-10-23}}</ref>
* [[May 20]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: 
**[[Kentucky]] proclaims its [[neutral country|neutrality]], which lasts until [[September 3]], when [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces enter the state. 
**[[North Carolina in the American Civil War|North Carolina]] secedes from the [[United States|Union]].
* [[May 21]] &ndash; Russian sailors clash with a group of Japanese samurai and farmers at [[Tsushima Island]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael R. Auslin|title=Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bS3w6tGiraEC&pg=PA77|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02031-3|page=77}}</ref>
* [[May 23]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The state of [[Virginia in the American Civil War#Secession|Virginia's]] ordinance of secession from the [[United States]] is ratified in a referendum.
* [[May 29]] &ndash; The [[Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce]] is established.
* [[May 31]] &ndash; The [[Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship]] is signed [[Bahrain–United Kingdom relations|between Bahrain and the United Kingdom]].

=== June ===
* [[June 9]] &ndash; [[Règlement Organique (Mount Lebanon)|Règlement Organique]]: With the approval of European powers, the [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]] is established as a semi-autonomous sub-division separate from the [[Sidon Eyalet]]. An Ottoman Armenian, Davud Pasha, is appointed [[Mutasarrıf]] by the Ottoman Sultan.
* [[June 15]] &ndash; [[Benito Juárez]] is formally elected President of Mexico; he temporarily stops the payments of [[foreign debt]].
* [[June 22]] &ndash; [[1861 Tooley Street fire|Tooley Street fire]] breaks out and takes the life of [[James Braidwood (firefighter)|James Braidwood]], first superintendent of the [[London Fire Brigade]].
* [[June 25]] &ndash; [[Abdülmecid I]], [[Ottoman dynasty|Sultan]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] ([[1839]]–1861) dies and is succeeded by [[Abdülaziz]] (1861–[[1876]]).[[File:Abdul-aziz.jpg|thumb|140px|right| [[June 25]]: [[Abdülaziz]]]]
* [[June 30]] &ndash; [[Lambing Flat riots]]: White miners attack Chinese in the Australian goldfields.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schamberger|first=Karen|title=Difficult History in a Local Museum: The Lambing Flat Riots at Young, New South Wales|journal=Australian Historical Studies|year=2017|volume=48|issue=3 |pages=436–441|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2017.1331693}}</ref>

=== July ===
* [[July 1]] 
** The first issue of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]'s newspaper ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'' is published.
** [[Taiping Rebellion]]: [[Battle of Shanghai (1861)|Battle of Shanghai]] &ndash; French and [[Qing dynasty|Imperial Chinese]] troops defeat Taiping forces.
** In [[Cologne]], the [[Wallraf–Richartz Museum]] of art opens.
* [[July 2]] &ndash; [[Nicholas of Japan|Ivan Kasatkin]] lands on [[Hakodate]], and introduces the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] into Japan.
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[July 12]] &ndash;  The Confederate States sign a [[Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws]] in [[Indian Territory in the American Civil War|Indian Territory]]. 
** [[July 13]] &ndash;  The [[Battle of Corrick's Ford]] takes place in western Virginia.
** [[July 21]] &ndash;  [[First Battle of Bull Run]] &ndash; At [[Manassas Junction, Virginia]], the first major battle of the war ends in a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] victory.
** [[July 25]] &ndash;  The [[Crittenden–Johnson Resolution]] is passed by the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]], stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union, and not to end [[slavery in the United States|slavery]].
** [[July 26]] &ndash;  [[George B. McClellan]] assumes command of the [[Army of the Potomac]], following the disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.

=== August ===
* [[August 1]] &ndash; The first public [[weather forecast]]: measured and predicted correctly by Admiral [[Robert FitzRoy]] in Britain.
* [[August 5]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: 
**  In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first [[income tax]] as part of the [[Revenue Act of 1861]] (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in [[1872]]).
** The U.S. Army abolishes [[flogging]].
* [[August 6]] &ndash; [[Lagos Treaty of Cession]] between the [[British Empire]] and [[Dosunmu]], [[Oba of Lagos]], by which the latter, under threat of military bombardment, cedes [[Lagos Island]] to Britain, whilst retaining his title and powers, subject to English law, and allowing the British Royal Navy's [[West Africa Squadron]] to have a base there to prevent the slave trade.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Robert S.|title=The Lagos Consulate 1851–1861|year=1978|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|isbn=978-0-33324053-3}}</ref>
* [[August 10]] &ndash; American Civil War: The first major battle west of the [[Mississippi River]], the [[Battle of Wilson's Creek]], is fought, with a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] victory.
* [[August 15]] &ndash; First description of ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'', based on a feather found in [[Bavaria]];<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Meyer|first1=Hermann von|author-link=Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer|title=Vogel-Federn und Palpipes priscus von Solenhofen|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde|date=1861-08-15|page=561|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RAFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA561}}</ref> in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near [[Langenaltheim]] in Germany.<ref>[[Natural History Museum, London]] BMNH 37001. {{cite book|last=Chiappe|first=Luis M.|title=Glorified Dinosaurs|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2007|location=Sydney|pages=118–146|isbn=978-0-471-24723-4}}</ref>
* [[August 19]] &ndash; [[Weisshorn]], the fifth highest summit in the Alps, is first ascended.
* [[August 20]]&ndash;[[August 22|22]] &ndash; The first modern [[Welsh National Eisteddfod]] takes place in [[Aberdare]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museum.wales/collections/eisteddfodau/national/1860/|title=Establishing a National Body, 1860|website=National Museum Wales}}</ref>
* [[August 27]] &ndash; [[Martin Doyle (convict)|Martin Doyle]] is the last person [[Execution (legal)|executed]] in Britain for [[attempted murder]].

=== September ===
* [[American Civil War]]: 
** [[September 3]] &ndash;  [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General [[Leonidas Polk]] invades neutral [[Kentucky]], prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
** [[September 6]] &ndash;  Forces under Union General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] bloodlessly capture [[Paducah, Kentucky]], which gives the Union control of the mouth of the [[Tennessee River]].
* [[September 17]] &ndash; [[Argentine Civil War]]: [[Battle of Pavón]]: Victory of [[State of Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires]] over the [[Argentine Confederation]], and the re-unification of [[Argentina]].

=== October ===
[[File:Fort-pickens.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[October 9]]: [[Battle of Santa Rosa Island]]]]
* [[October 9]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]:  [[Battle of Santa Rosa Island]] &ndash; Confederate forces are defeated in their effort to take the island.
* [[October 17]] &ndash; [[Australian frontier wars]]: [[Cullin-la-ringo massacre]] &ndash; 19 white settlers are murdered by [[indigenous Australians]], following which more than 300 of the latter are killed in retaliation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57324601|title=Cullin-La-Ringo Massacre Recalled |newspaper=Morning Bulletin|issue=29,625|location=Rockhampton, Queensland|date=1954-09-04|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|accessdate=2024-08-14}}</ref>
* [[October 21]] &ndash;   [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Ball's Bluff]] &ndash; [[United States|Union]] forces under Colonel [[Edward D. Baker|Edward Baker]] are defeated by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops, in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of [[Abraham Lincoln]], is also killed in the fighting.
* [[October 24]]
** {{HMS|Warrior|1860|6}}, the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armored battleship, is completed and commissioned into the British [[Royal Navy]]. 
** [[Western Union]] completes the [[first transcontinental telegraph]] line across the United States.
* [[October 25]] &ndash; The [[Toronto Stock Exchange]] is established in Canada.
* [[October 26]] &ndash; The [[Pony Express]] American transcontinental mail service announces its closure.
* [[American Civil War]]: 
** [[October 28]] &ndash;  The [[Missouri]] legislature takes up a bill for [[Missouri secession|Missouri's secession]] from the Union.
** [[October 30]] &ndash;  The bill for Missouri's secession from the Union is passed.
* [[October 31]]
** The Spanish, French and British governments sign a tripartite agreement to intervene in Mexico, in the hope of recovering unpaid debts.<ref>[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/FrenchIntervention US Department of State - Office of the Historian: Milestones: 1861-1865] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023110311/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/FrenchIntervention |date=October 23, 2013 }}. Accessed 11 March 2013</ref>
** The [[Missouri secession]] bill is signed by Governor Jackson.
**  [[American Civil War]]: Citing failing health, 75-year-old Union General [[Winfield Scott]] resigns as Commander of the [[United States Army]].

=== November ===
* [[November 1]] &ndash;  U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] appoints [[George B. McClellan]] as commander of the [[Union Army]], replacing Winfield Scott.
* [[November 2]] &ndash;   [[American Civil War]]: Western Department Union General [[John C. Frémont]] is relieved of command and replaced by [[David Hunter]].
* [[November 4]] &ndash; The [[University of Washington]] is founded in Seattle.
* [[November 5]] &ndash; The first [[Melbourne Cup]] horse race is held in [[Melbourne]], Australia.

* [[American Civil War]]: 
** [[November 6]] &ndash;  [[Jefferson Davis]] is elected president of the [[Confederate States of America]].
** [[November 7]] &ndash;  [[Battle of Belmont]] &ndash; In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] (in his first combat leadership role) overrun a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] camp, but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.
**[[November 8]] &ndash;  [[Trent Affair|''Trent'' Affair]] &ndash; The {{USS|San Jacinto|1850|6}} stops the United Kingdom mail ship ''Trent'', and arrests two [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] envoys, [[James Murray Mason|James Mason]] and [[John Slidell]], sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.
* [[November 10]] &ndash; Death of French explorer [[Henri Mouhot]], following which his servant Phrai begins shipping his diaries and specimens back to the west; they include accounts of Mouhot's discovery of [[Angkor Wat]].
* [[American Civil War]]: 
** [[November 19]] &ndash;  [[Battle of Round Mountain]] in [[Indian Territory]] (modern-day Oklahoma). 
** [[November 21]] &ndash;  [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] President Jefferson Davis appoints [[Judah P. Benjamin]] Secretary of War.
* [[November 25]]
** At a battle in the [[Sundarbans]] of Bengal, the house of [[Rahimullah of Baraikhali]] is attacked and he and 33 others are killed.<ref>{{Cite book|editor1=[[Subodh Chandra Sengupta]]|editor2=Basu, Anjali|volume=1|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান|publisher=Sahitya Sangsad|year=2002|pages=463|language=bn}}</ref>
** A [[tenement]] collapses in the [[Old Town, Edinburgh]] (Scotland), killing 35 people, while 15 others survive.
* [[November 28]] &ndash; Acting on the ordinance passed by the Jackson government, the Confederate Congress admits [[Confederate government of Missouri|Missouri]] as the 12th Confederate state.

=== December ===
* [[December 1]] &ndash;  [[American Civil War]]: [[Trent Affair|''Trent'' Affair]] &ndash; The British government dispatches its response, partly drafted by [[Albert, Prince Consort]] (a fortnight before his death).<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferris|first=Norman B.|title=The Trent Affair: a Diplomatic Crisis|year=1977|isbn=0-87049-169-5|pages=52–53|publisher=University of Tennessee Press }}</ref>
* [[December 10]]
** [[American Civil War]]:  A rebel government representing [[Confederate government of Kentucky|Kentucky]] is accepted into the [[Confederate States of America]], although Kentucky officially remains part of the United States.
** In southern [[French Indochina]], resistance forces led by [[Nguyễn Trung Trực]] ambush, board and sink the French [[lorcha (boat)]] ''L'Esperance'' on the Nhat Tao canal.
* [[December 21]] &ndash; [[Medal of Honor]]: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by U.S. [[President Abraham Lincoln]].

=== Undated ===
* The first industrial [[Meat packing industry|meat packing plant]] in Uruguay is established, at [[Fray Bentos]].
* Statistically, this year is considered the end of the [[whale oil]] industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the [[petroleum oil]] industry.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kaiser|first=Brooks|title=The transition from whale oil to petroleum|url=https://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/institutter/miljo/energycenter/brooks+kaiser.pdf}}</ref>

== Births ==

=== January&ndash;June ===
[[File:Helen Herron Taft.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Helen Herron Taft]]]]
[[File:Rabindranath Tagore unknown location.jpg|thumb|145x145px|[[Rabindranath Tagore]]]]
* [[January 5]] &ndash; [[Robert Lee Bullard]], American general (d. [[1947]])
* [[January 6]] &ndash; [[Victor Horta]], Belgian architect and designer (d. [[1947]])
* [[January 10]] &ndash; [[Germogen (Maximov)]], Russian Orthodox Metropolitan (d. [[1945]])
* [[January 14]] &ndash; [[Mehmed VI]], [[Ottoman Sultan]] (d. [[1926]])
* [[January 27]] &ndash; [[Constantin Prezan]], Romanian general, [[Marshal of Romania]] (d. [[1943]]) 
* [[January 28]]
** [[Julián Felipe]], Filipino musician, bandleader (d. [[1944]]) 
** [[Ramón Meza y Suárez Inclán]], Cuban literary critic, historian, professor and author (d. [[1911]]) 
* [[January 30]] &ndash; [[Charles Martin Loeffler]], American composer (d. [[1935]])
* [[February 12]] &ndash; [[Lou Andreas-Salomé]], Russian-born author (d. [[1937]])
* [[February 15]]
** [[Charles Édouard Guillaume]], French physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate (d. [[1938]])
** [[Alfred North Whitehead]], English mathematician and philosopher (d. [[1947]])
* [[February 17]] &ndash; [[Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont]], Duchess of Albany, German-born member of the British royal family (d. [[1922]])
* [[February 19]] &ndash; [[Henry Horne, 1st Baron Horne]], British general (d. [[1929]])
* [[February 22]]
** [[Lewis Akeley]], American academic (d. [[1961]])
** [[Mabelle Biggart]], American elocutionist (unknown year of death)
** [[Katō Tomosaburō]], Imperial Japanese Navy officer, 12th [[Prime Minister of Japan]] (d. [[1923]])
* [[February 26]] &ndash; King [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]] (d. [[1948]])
* [[February 27]] &ndash; [[Rudolf Steiner]], Austrian philosopher, social reformer and author (d. [[1925]])
* [[March 2]] &ndash; [[Nikola Ivanov]], Bulgarian general (d. [[1940]])
* [[March 21]] &ndash; [[Charles Swickard]], German-American film director (d. [[1929]])
* [[April 6]] &ndash; [[Stanislas de Guaita]], French poet (d. [[1897]])
* [[April 8]] &ndash; [[Son Byong-hi]], [[Korean independence activist]] (d. [[1922]])
* [[April 15]] &ndash; [[Bliss Carman]], Canadian poet (d. [[1929]])
* [[April 22]] &ndash; [[István Tisza]], 2-time prime minister of Hungary (d. [[1918]])
* April 22 &ndash; [[Hinke Bergegren]], Swedish anarchist and birth control agitator (d. 1936)
* [[April 23]] &ndash; [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby]], British soldier, administrator (d. [[1936]])
* [[April 26]] &ndash; [[Rudolf Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten]], Austro-Hungarian general and politician (d. [[1921]])
* [[May 5]] &ndash; [[Peter Cooper Hewitt]], American electrical engineer, inventor (d. [[1921]])
* [[May 7]] &ndash; [[Rabindranath Tagore]], Poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist, story-writer, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, educationist, linguist, grammarian, and [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] laureate for the collection of poems ''[[Gitanjali]]''. (d. [[1941]])
* [[May 11]] &ndash; [[Frederick Russell Burnham]], American scouter (d. [[1947]])
* [[May 14]] &ndash; [[Harro Magnussen]], German sculptor (d. [[1908]])
* [[May 16]] &ndash; [[Herman Webster Mudgett]] (alias H. H. Holmes), American serial killer (d. [[1896]])
* [[May 24]] &ndash; [[Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland|Gerald Strickland]], 4th prime minister of Malta, 23rd Governor of New South Wales, 15th Governor of Western Australia and 9th Governor of Tasmania (d. [[1940]])
* [[June 2]] &ndash; [[Helen Herron Taft]], First Lady of the United States (d. [[1943]])
* [[June 19]] &ndash; [[José Rizal]], Filipino national hero (d. [[1896]])
* [[June 20]] &ndash; [[Frederick Gowland Hopkins]], English biochemist, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (d. [[1947]])
* [[June 22]] &ndash; [[Maximilian von Spee]], German admiral (d. [[1914]])
* [[June 27]] &ndash; [[Fanny Davies]], Guernesiaise pianist (d. [[1934]])

=== July&ndash;December ===
[[File:Kate M. Gordon.png|thumbnail|110px|[[Kate M. Gordon]]]]
[[File:Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt by Frances Benjamin Johnston.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Edith Roosevelt]]]]
[[File:Myra Belle Martin.png|thumb|110px|[[Myra Belle Martin]]]]
[[File:James Naismith with a basketball.jpg|thumb|110px|[[James Naismith]]]]
*[[July 7]] – [[Nettie Stevens]], American geneticist credited with the discovery of [[sex chromosomes]] (d. 1912)
*[[July 14]] &ndash; [[Kate M. Gordon]], American suffragette (d. [[1932]])
**[[July 18]] &ndash; [[Kadambini Ganguly]], first Indian female doctor (d. [[1923]])<ref>{{cite book|title=The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AuQrAQAAIAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Institute of Historical Studies|page=38}}</ref>
* [[August 2]] &ndash; [[Edith Cowan]], Australian social reformer and politician (d. [[1932]])
* [[August 4]]
**[[Henry Head]], English neurologist (d. [[1940]])
**[[Daniel Edward Howard]], 16th president of Liberia (d. [[1935]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunn|first1= Elwood D.|last2=Beyan|first2=Amos J.|last3=Burrowes|first3=Carl Patrick|author-link= |date=2000|title=Historical Dictionary of Liberia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qt0_RrW8ghkC|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9781461659310|pages=167–168}}</ref>
* [[August 6]] &ndash; [[Edith Roosevelt]], [[First Lady of the United States]] (d. [[1948]])
* [[August 7]] &ndash; [[Spencer S. Wood]], United States Navy rear admiral (d. [[1940]])
* [[August 10]] &ndash; [[Almroth Wright]], British bacteriologist, immunologist (d. [[1947]])
* [[August 24]] &ndash; [[Simon de Graaff]], Dutch civil servant, politician (d. [[1948]])<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher=[[Parlementair Documentatie Centrum]]
 |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09llj9fau3/
 |date=
 |access-date = 9 May 2024
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191031190744/https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09llj9fau3/
 |archive-date=31 October 2019
|title=S. (Simon) de Graaff
 |language=Dutch
}}</ref>
* [[September 2]] &ndash; [[Henrietta Crosman]], American stage, film actress (d. [[1944]])
* [[September 7]] &ndash; Patriarch [[Ambrosius of Georgia]] (d. [[1927]])
* [[September 10]] &ndash; [[Niels Hansen Jacobsen]], Danish sculptor, ceramist (d. [[1941]])
* [[September 11]]
**[[Juhani Aho]], Finnish author, journalist (d. [[1921]])
**[[Erich von Falkenhayn]], German general (d. [[1922]])
* [[September 15]]
**[[M. Visvesvaraya]], Indian civil engineer (d. [[1962]])
* [[September 23]] 
** [[Robert Bosch]], German industrialist, engineer and inventor (d. [[1942]])
** [[Mary Elizabeth Coleridge]], British poet, novelist (d. [[1907]])
* [[September 30]]
**[[Morgan Robertson]], American author (d. [[1915]])
**[[William Wrigley Jr.]], American chewing gum industrialist (d. [[1932]])
* [[October 4]] &ndash; [[Frederic Remington]], American cowboy artist, sculptor (d. [[1909]])
* [[October 6]] &ndash; [[Myra Belle Martin]], American financier (d. [[1936]])
* [[October 10]] &ndash; [[Fridtjof Nansen]], Norwegian explorer, scientist and humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate (d. [[1930]])
* [[October 16]] &ndash; [[J. B. Bury]], British historian (d. [[1927]])
* [[October 24]] &ndash; [[Alexey Kaledin]], Russian general (d. [[1918]])
* [[October 30]] &ndash; [[Antoine Bourdelle]], French sculptor (d. [[1929]])
* [[November 4]]
**[[Dimitrios Ioannou]], Greek general (d. [[1926]])
**[[Alice Gossage]], American journalist (d. [[1929]])
* [[November 6]] &ndash; [[James Naismith]], Canadian inventor of basketball (d. [[1939]])
* [[November 14]]
**[[William Allardyce]], British colonial governor (d. [[1930]])
**[[Frederick Jackson Turner]], American historian (d. [[1932]])
* [[November 16]] &ndash; [[Georgina Febres-Cordero]], Venezuelan nun (d. [[1925]])
* [[November 23]] &ndash; [[Clara H. Hazelrigg]], American author, educator and reformer (d. [[1937]])
*[[November 24]] &ndash; [[August Bier]], German surgeon (d. [[1949]])<ref>{{cite web | url=https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/august-karl-gustav-bier-1861-1949 | title=August Karl Gustav Bier (1861–1949) &#124; the Embryo Project Encyclopedia }}</ref>
* [[December 4]]
**[[Lillian Russell]], American singer, vaudeville star (d. [[1922]])
**[[Hannes Hafstein]], 1st [[Prime Minister of Iceland]] (d. [[1922]])
* [[December 5]] &ndash; [[Armando Diaz]], Italian general, Marshal of Italy (d. [[1928]])
* [[December 7]] &ndash; [[Henri Mathias Berthelot]], French general (d. [[1931]])
* [[December 8]]
** [[Aristide Maillol]], French sculptor (d. [[1944]])
** [[Georges Méliès]], French film director (d. [[1938]])
* [[December 15]] &ndash; [[Pehr Evind Svinhufvud]], [[Prime Minister of Finland|Prime Minister]] and [[President of Finland]] (d. [[1944]])
* [[December 16]] &ndash; [[Antonio de La Gándara]], French painter (d. [[1917]])
* [[December 20]] &ndash; [[Ivana Kobilca]], Slovenian painter (d. [[1926]])
* [[December 29]] &ndash; [[Kurt Hensel]], German mathematician (d. [[1941]])

=== Date unknown ===
* [[Dixie Haygood]], American magician (d. [[1915]])
* [[Kallirhoe Parren]], founder of the Greek women's movement (d. [[1940]])
* [[Victoire Jean-Baptiste]], Haitian politician  (d. [[1923]])
* [[Abba Jifar II]], king of the [[Gibe region|Gibe]] [[Kingdom of Jimma]] (d. [[1932]])

== Deaths ==

=== January&ndash;June ===
[[File:FWIV.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Frederick William IV of Prussia]]]]
[[File:Sultan Abdülmecid - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Abdülmecid I]]]]
* [[January 2]] &ndash; King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]] (b. [[1795]])
* [[January 17]] &ndash; [[Lola Montez]], Irish-born dancer, mistress of King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] (b. [[1821]])
* [[January 19]] &ndash; [[Albert Niemann (chemist)|Albert Niemann]], German chemist (b. [[1834]])
* [[February 5]] &ndash; [[Pierre Bosquet]], French general, [[Marshal of France]] (b. [[1810]])
* [[February 26]] &ndash; [[Wojciech Chrzanowski]], Polish general (b. [[1793]])
* [[March 10]] &ndash; [[Taras Shevchenko]], [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] poet (b. [[1814]])
* [[March 16]] &ndash; [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld|Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent and Strathearn]], mother of [[Queen Victoria]] (b. [[1786]])
* [[April 8]] &ndash; [[Elisha Otis]], American engineer, Founder of [[Otis Elevator Company|Otis]] (b. [[1811]])
* [[April 15]] &ndash; [[Isaiah Stillman]], U.S. Army Major in the [[Black Hawk War]] (b. [[1793]])
* [[May 29]] &ndash; [[Joachim Lelewel]], Polish nationalist historian (b. [[1786]])
* [[June 3]] &ndash; [[Stephen A. Douglas]], American senator from Illinois, Democratic presidential candidate (b. [[1813]])
* [[June 6]] &ndash; [[Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour]], 1st prime minister of Italy (b. [[1810]])
* [[June 13]] &ndash; [[Richard Lawrence (failed assassin)|Richard Lawrence]], failed assassin of [[Andrew Jackson]] (b. [[1800]])
* [[June 25]] &ndash; [[Abdülmecid I]], [[Ottoman sultan]] (b. [[1823]])
* [[June 26]] &ndash; [[Pavel Jozef Šafárik]], Slovak philologist (b. [[1795]])
* [[June 29]] &ndash; [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning]], English poet (b. [[1806]])

=== July&ndash;December ===
[[File:《咸丰皇帝朝服像》.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Xianfeng Emperor]]]]
[[File:Ernst Anschütz.jpg|thumb|110px|upright|[[Ernst Anschütz]]]]
* [[July 22]] &ndash; [[Barnard Elliott Bee Jr.]], Confederate general (b. [[1824]])
* [[July 25]] &ndash; [[Jonas Furrer]], member of the [[Swiss Federal Council]] (b. [[1805]])
* [[August 10]] &ndash; [[Nathaniel Lyon]], first [[Union Army]] General to die in combat in the American Civil War (b. [[1818]])
* [[August 12]] &ndash; [[Eliphalet Remington]], American gunsmith, founder of [[Remington Arms]] (b. [[1793]])
* [[August 17]] &ndash; [[Alcée Louis la Branche]], American politician (b. [[1806]])
* [[August 22]] &ndash; [[Xianfeng Emperor]], 9th emperor of the [[Qing Dynasty]] (b. [[1831]])
* [[August 24]] &ndash; [[Pierre Berthier]], French geologist (b. [[1782]])
* [[August 28]] &ndash; [[William Lyon Mackenzie]], Scottish journalist, 1st Mayor of Toronto (b. [[1795]])
* [[September 7]] &ndash; [[Willie Person Mangum]], American politician (b. [[1792]])
* [[October 4]] &ndash; [[Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton]], British politician (b. [[1812]])
* [[October 5]] &ndash; [[Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski]], Polish bishop (b. [[1778]])
* [[October 10]] &ndash; [[Phoebe Hinsdale Brown]], American hymnwriter (b. [[1783]])
* [[October 26]] &ndash; [[Edward "Ned" Kendall]], American bandleader, instrumentalist (keyed bugle) (b. [[1808]])
* [[October 31]] &ndash; [[Guillermo Miller|Guillermo (William) Miller]], English-born military leader in Peru (b. [[1795]])
* [[November 7]] &ndash; [[Isobel Gunn]], Scottish business person  (b. [[1780]])
* [[November 11]] &ndash; King [[Pedro V of Portugal]] (b. [[1837]])
* [[November 13]] &ndash; [[Arthur Hugh Clough]], English poet (b. [[1819]])
* [[November 25]] &ndash; [[Shahid Rahimullah|Rahimullah]], Bengali rebel leader<ref name="rahim">{{Cite book|editor1=[[Subodh Chandra Sengupta]]|editor2=Basu, Anjali|volume=1|title=সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান|publisher=Sahitya Sangsad|year=2002|pages=463|language=bn}}</ref>
* [[December 14]] &ndash; [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], husband of [[Queen Victoria]] (b. [[1819]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Albert, Prince Consort {{!}} Biography, Children, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Prince-Consort |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=10 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[December 18]] &ndash; [[Ernst Anschütz]], German teacher, organist, poet and composer (b. [[1780]])

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=7t_an-gkYa4C ''American Annual Cyclopaedia for 1861'' (N.Y.: Appleton's, 1864)], an extensive collection of reports on each country in the world and each American state, Congress, and US Civil War; and many other topics

{{DEFAULTSORT:1861}}
[[Category:1861| ]]