Explore 436 historical events from 1840–1849.
Thomas C. Dula was a former Confederate soldier who was convicted of murdering Laura Foster. National publicity from newspapers such as The New York Times turned Dula's story into …
Tom Dula, American soldier (died 1868)
Richard John Seddon was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Ze…
Richard Seddon, English-New Zealand politician, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1906)
Thomas John Barnardo was an Irish, Christian philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 18…
Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (died 1905)
Tristan Corbière, born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean in Brittany, where he lived most of his life before dying of tuberculosis at the ag…
Tristan Corbière, French poet (died 1875)
André Bessette, C.S.C., commonly known as Brother André and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant…
André Bessette, Canadian saint (died 1937)
Abai Qūnanbaiūly was a Kazakh poet, composer and Hanafi Maturidi theologian philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultures on the basis of enligh…
Abai Qunanbaiuli, Kazakh poet, composer, and philosopher (died 1904)
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, a…
Walter Crane, English artist and book illustrator (died 1915)
Jonas Ferdinand Gabriel Lippmann was a French applied physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1908 for his invention of the Lippmann plate, a method of photographicall…
Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1921)
Dr. Henry Cadwalader Chapman was an American physician and naturalist.
Henry Cadwalader Chapman, American physician and naturalist (died 1909)
Albert Chmielowski – born Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski – was a Polish Franciscan tertiary, painter, and disabled veteran of the Uprising of 1863. He was founder of both the Albe…
Albert Chmielowski, Polish saint, founded the Albertine Brothers (died 1916)
William Lewis Douglas was an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He served as the 42nd governor of Massachusetts from 1905 until 1906. He also founded and overs…
William Lewis Douglas, American businessman and politician, 42nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1924)
James Calhoun was a soldier in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Black Hills War. He was the brother-in-law of George Armstrong Custer and was killed alo…
James Calhoun, American lieutenant (died 1876)
Ludwig II, also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King, was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886.
Ludwig II of Bavaria, King of Bavaria (died 1886)
Ödön Lechner was a Hungarian architect, one of the prime representatives of the Hungarian Szecesszió style, which was related to Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe, including the Vi…
Ödön Lechner, Hungarian architect, designed the Museum of Applied Arts and the Church of St Elisabeth (died 1914)
Friedrich Fromhold Martens, or Friedrich Fromhold von Martens, was a diplomat and jurist in service of the Russian Empire who made important contributions to the science of interna…
Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (died 1909)
János Batsányi was a Hungarian poet.
János Batsányi, Hungarian poet and academic (born 1763)
Braulio Evaristo Carrillo Colina was the Head of State of Costa Rica during two periods: the first between 1835 and 1837, and the de facto between 1838 and 1842.
Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, Head of State of Costa Rica (born 1800)
Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as…
Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian linguist, poet, and playwright (born 1808)
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey was a British Whig politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. His government enacted the Reform Acts of 1832, whic…
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1764)
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He rose to fame as a U.S. Army general and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. His politica…
Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (born 1767)
Thomas Ruffin Gray was an American attorney, diplomat, and author. He represented several slaves during their trials in the wake of Nat Turner's Rebellion in Southampton County, Vi…
Thomas R. Gray, American author and diplomat (born 1800)
Wisconsin is a state in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michiga…
A long-running feud between two towns in Wisconsin came to a head when a schooner crashed into a bridge; they later merg
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditio…
Captain John Franklin (pictured) departed Greenhithe, England, on an expedition to the Canadian Arctic in search of the
The Great New York City Fire of 1845 broke out on July 19, 1845, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The fire started in a whale oil and candle manufacturing establishment and quick…
A fire in Manhattan, New York, destroyed 345 buildings, killed 30 people, and caused at least $5 million in damage.