Explore 629 historical events from 1840–1849.
Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of …
Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought" (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in th
YMCA, formerly known as the Young Men's Christian Association, is a worldwide youth organization based in Vernier, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million benefici…
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London
Joseph Smith Jr. was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smit…
Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are killed by a mob at the Carthage
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the Quorum of the Twelve is one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy organized by the movement's founder Joseph Smith and patterned af…
The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of the Church of Jesus…
Narciso José Anastasio Clavería y Zaldúa, 1st Count of Manila was a Spanish army officer who served as the Governor-General of the Philippines from July 16, 1844, to December 26, …
Governor-general of the Philippines Narciso Claveria signs a decree to reform the country's calendar by skipping…
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.
Oscar I of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
Anatole France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a m…
Anatole France, French journalist, novelist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1924)
Elijah J. McCoy was a Canadian-American engineer of African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines. Born free on the Ontario shore of Lake Erie to pare…
Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American engineer (died 1929)
Baptists are a Protestant tradition of Christianity distinguished by baptizing only believers and doing so by total immersion. Modern Baptist churches generally subscribe to the do…
The Millerites (followers of Baptist preacher William Miller) anticipate the end of the world in conjunction with the…
Lewis Thornton Powell was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gett…
Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a…
Richard D'Oyly Carte, English talent agent and composer (died 1901)
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier, a humorous description of his occupation as …
Henri Rousseau, French painter (died 1910)
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas…
Mary Cassatt, American painter and educator (died 1926)
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, born ʻAbbás, was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921.…
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (died 1921)
Félix Arnaudin was a French poet, photographer, and specialist in Haute-Lande folklore. In Gascony, M. Arnaudin created his collection of tales by attending gatherings, as well as …
Félix Arnaudin, French poet and photographer (died 1921)
Garret Augustus Hobart was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899, under President William McKinley. A member of the Republican Par…
Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (died 1899)
Baron Detlev von Liliencron born Friedrich Adolf Axel von Liliencron was a German poet and novelist from Kiel.
Detlev von Liliencron, German poet and author (died 1909)
Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt was a German Lutheran theologian, born in the Baltic German settlement of Wesenberg in the Russian Empire.
Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (died 1906)
John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish poet, journalist, author and activist. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was tra…
John Boyle O'Reilly, Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer (died 1890)
Peter I was King of Serbia from 15 June 1903 to 1 December 1918. On 1 December 1918, he became King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and he held that title until his death three …
Peter I of Serbia (died 1921)
Dankmar Adler was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential…
Dankmar Adler, German-born American architect and engineer (died 1900)
William Archibald Spooner was a British clergyman and long-serving Oxford don. He was most notable for his absent-mindedness, and for supposedly mixing up the syllables in a spoken…
William Archibald Spooner, English priest and scholar (died 1930)
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artis…
Thomas Eakins, American painter, sculptor, and photographer (died 1916)
Stefan Drzewiecki was a Polish scientist, journalist, engineer, constructor and inventor, known for designing and constructing the world's first electric-powered submarine. He work…
Stefan Drzewiecki, Ukrainian-Polish engineer and journalist (died 1938)