Explore 436 historical events from 1840–1849.
Joseph Blanco White, born José María Blanco y Crespo, was an Anglo-Spanish political thinker, theologian, and poet.
Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (born 1775)
Benedict Franz von Baader, born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mining engineer from Germany. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denou…
Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (born 1765)
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical scenes, portraits, includi…
David Wilkie, Scottish painter and academic (born 1785)
Konstantinos Agathophron Nikolopoulos was a Greek composer, philologist and colleague of Adamantios Korais.
Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, Greek composer, archaeologist, and philologist (born 1786)
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's …
Mikhail Lermontov, Russian poet and painter (born 1814)
Theodore Edward Hook was an English writer, intellectual, prankster and civil servant. One of the first writers of the English fashionable novel, he is best known for his practical…
Theodore Hook, English civil servant and composer (born 1788)
Dom Pedro II, known as "the Magnanimous", was the second and final emperor of the Empire of Brazil. He reigned from 1831 until his deposition in the military coup of 1889, presidin…
Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, was crowned at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.
John Ordronaux was a French-born privateer and businessman. Born in Nantes, Brittany, he eventually moved to the United States. During the War of 1812, Ordronaux captained two ship…
John Ordronaux, French-American soldier (born 1778)
Giselle, originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis, is a romantic ballet in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it…
Giselle (title role pictured), a ballet by the French composer Adolphe Adam, was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Aca
Thomas James Lempriere was a British colonial administrator in the Australian colony of Van Diemen's Land. He is known for his diaries depicting the convict period in Van Diemen's …
Thomas Lempriere and James Clark Ross carved a sandstone marker on Tasmania's Isle of the Dead, one of the oldest…
Thomas Cook was the founder of the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was born into a poor family in Derbyshire and left school at the age of ten to start work as a gardener's boy…
Thomas Cook, the founder of the British travel company Thomas Cook & Son, organised his first excursion, escorting…
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until…
The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until…
The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The 1840 Natchez tornado was a deadly tornado that hit Natchez, Mississippi, on Thursday, May 7, 1840. The tornado, while officially unrated, was the second-deadliest tornado in Un…
The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people
Penal transportation was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifica…
The penal transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished
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 receives the patent for the telegraph
An earthquake occurred on 2 July 1840 at 16:00 local time with an epicenter near Mount Ararat, where it triggered an eruption and caused a landslide that destroyed villages. An est…
A Ms 7.4 earthquake strikes present-day Turkey and Armenia; combined with the effects of an eruption on Mount Ararat,…
The European balance of power is a tenet in international relations that no single power should be allowed to achieve hegemony over a substantial part of Europe. During much of the…
The Great Powers of Europe conculde the convention of London in order to stabilise the Near East.
The Province of Canada was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Rep…
The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
Odilon Redon was a French Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
Odilon Redon, French painter and illustrator (died 1916)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote s…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and educator (died 1893)
The European balance of power is a tenet in international relations that no single power should be allowed to achieve hegemony over a substantial part of Europe. During much of the…
The Great Powers of Europe conclude the convention of London in order to stabilise the Near East.
Edward Whymper FRSE was an English mountaineer, explorer, illustrator, and author best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. Four members of his climbing party were…
Edward Whymper, English-French mountaineer, explorer, author, and illustrator (died 1911)
Alejandro Gorostiaga Orrego, was a Chilean military officer born in La Serena. He joined the Escuela Militar de Chile in 1857 until his retirement in 1878. Alejandro Gorostiaga was…
Alejandro Gorostiaga, Chilean colonel (died 1912)