Explore the major historical events, famous births, and notable deaths that occurred in the year 1856. This year saw 51 significant events. 11 notable figures were born. 1 notable figure passed away.
Colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation, the Electoral Act of 1856, anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot
Republican Party holds its first national meeting in Pittsburgh
The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War
American industrialist and firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt (41) weds American philanthropist Elizabeth Hart Jarvis (29) at Christ Episcopal Church in Middleton, Connecticut, until his death in 1862
Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa, and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts
Republican Party opens its first national convention as party members meet in Philadelphia
The First Opium War, also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1842.
American Gail Borden is issued a patent for technology related to his invention of condensed milk
Dr John Veatch discovers large disports of borax at Tuscan Springs, California
American sidewheel steamer SS Pacific leaves Liverpool, England on what becomes her final voyage; lost at sea enroute to New York with 186 on board
Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers & Indians
Victoria Cross is established to acknowledge valor in the face of the enemy (United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries)
Auburn University (informally known as AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
The steam packet-ship John Rutledge, en route from Liverpool to New York, hits an iceberg and sinks with the loss of 120 passengers and 19 crew; only one survivor (Thomas Nye of New Bedford)
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is founded in the Johnston Mansion House on the University of Alabama
18-year-old English chemist William Perkin accidentally produces the first synthetic aniline dye ‘mauveine’ (purple) during his Easter holiday [1]
A E Burnside patents Burnside carbine
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west.
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes badly damaged by gunpowder explosion, kills 4,000 on island of Rhodes
Theta Chi (ΘΧ) is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont.
Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats William Walker's invading Nicaraguans
Russian Chancellor Count Nesselrode resigns
Argentina and Brazil sign a navigation pact
2nd San Francisco Vigilance Committee organized
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachesetts speaks out against slavery
The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J.
Violence in the US Senate, South Carolina rep Brooks uses a cane on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner
William Palmer (6 August 1824 – 14 June 1856), also known as the Rugeley Poisoner or the Prince of Poisoners, was an English doctor and murderer.
Cullen Whipple patents a machine for making screws
Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to as Pitkerners and Pitcairnese, are the native inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, a British Overseas Territory including people whose families were previously...
The Cape Colony (Dutch: Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope.
Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster unveiled in Haarlem
The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill station (known as Sandy Run, Camp Hill, Sellwick and finally Fellwick station before being closed in...
Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
Hurricane washes away 200-300 revelers on Last Island, Louisiana
Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is granted a second patent for improvements to the accordion (Patent No. 15511A)
Wilberforce University (WU) is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War.
America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda (traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856)
Tianjing Incident begins in Nanjing, China, as an internal political conflict within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that contributes to the failure of the Taiping Rebellion
Battle of San Jacinto at Hacienda San Jacinto, Nicaraguan forces defeat American filibusters
Cyrus Chambers Jr. patents a folding machine that folds books and newspapers
The Oberhausen–Arnhem railway (also known in German as the Hollandstrecke, meaning "Holland line") is a two-track, electrified main line railway running close to the lower Rhine from Oberhausen via...
British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by...
A British fleet bombards Canton
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens
On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
Irishman James Kelly (24) and British soldier Jack Smith (34) fight longest bareknuckle boxing bout - 6 hours and 15 minutes, at Fiery Creek, Victoria, Australia [1] [2]
Bushehrɾ] ) is a port city in the Central District of Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county and the district.
Frederick Winslow Taylor, American mechanical engineer, known for american mechanical engineer, was born on 1856-03-20.
Henry Ossian Flipper, American soldier, known for american soldier, was born on 1856-03-21.
Booker T. Washington is born
Philippe Pétain, French general, known for french general, was born on 1856-04-24.
Sigmund Freud, Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, known for founder of psychoanalysis, was born on 1856-05-06.
L. Frank Baum, American author, known for american author, was born on 1856-05-15.
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, critic, and polemicist, known for irish playwright, critic, and polemicist, was born on 1856-07-26.
Alfred Deakin is born
Timothy Thomas Fortune is born
Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist, known for german psychiatrist, was born on 1856-02-15. Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H.
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg is born
Amedeo Avogadro, Italian scientist, known for italian scientist, died on 1856-07-09.
Colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the first piece of legislation, the Electoral Act of 1856, anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot
Republican Party holds its first national meeting in Pittsburgh
The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War
American industrialist and firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt (41) weds American philanthropist Elizabeth Hart Jarvis (29) at Christ Episcopal Church in Middleton, Connecticut, until his death in 1862
Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa, and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah, carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts
Republican Party opens its first national convention as party members meet in Philadelphia
The First Opium War, also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1842.
American Gail Borden is issued a patent for technology related to his invention of condensed milk
Dr John Veatch discovers large disports of borax at Tuscan Springs, California
American sidewheel steamer SS Pacific leaves Liverpool, England on what becomes her final voyage; lost at sea enroute to New York with 186 on board
Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers & Indians
Victoria Cross is established to acknowledge valor in the face of the enemy (United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries)
Auburn University (informally known as AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States.
Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
The steam packet-ship John Rutledge, en route from Liverpool to New York, hits an iceberg and sinks with the loss of 120 passengers and 19 crew; only one survivor (Thomas Nye of New Bedford)
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is founded in the Johnston Mansion House on the University of Alabama
18-year-old English chemist William Perkin accidentally produces the first synthetic aniline dye ‘mauveine’ (purple) during his Easter holiday [1]
A E Burnside patents Burnside carbine
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west.
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes badly damaged by gunpowder explosion, kills 4,000 on island of Rhodes
Theta Chi (ΘΧ) is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont.
Battle of Rivas; Costa Rica beats William Walker's invading Nicaraguans
Russian Chancellor Count Nesselrode resigns
Argentina and Brazil sign a navigation pact
2nd San Francisco Vigilance Committee organized
Senator Charles Sumner of Massachesetts speaks out against slavery
The sacking of Lawrence occurred on May 21, 1856, when pro-slavery settlers, led by Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J.
Violence in the US Senate, South Carolina rep Brooks uses a cane on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner
William Palmer (6 August 1824 – 14 June 1856), also known as the Rugeley Poisoner or the Prince of Poisoners, was an English doctor and murderer.
Cullen Whipple patents a machine for making screws
Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to as Pitkerners and Pitcairnese, are the native inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, a British Overseas Territory including people whose families were previously...
The Cape Colony (Dutch: Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope.
Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster unveiled in Haarlem
The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, between Camp Hill station (known as Sandy Run, Camp Hill, Sellwick and finally Fellwick station before being closed in...
Christchurch, New Zealand, is chartered as a city
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
Hurricane washes away 200-300 revelers on Last Island, Louisiana
Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is granted a second patent for improvements to the accordion (Patent No. 15511A)
Wilberforce University (WU) is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War.
America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda (traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856)
Tianjing Incident begins in Nanjing, China, as an internal political conflict within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that contributes to the failure of the Taiping Rebellion
Battle of San Jacinto at Hacienda San Jacinto, Nicaraguan forces defeat American filibusters
Cyrus Chambers Jr. patents a folding machine that folds books and newspapers
The Oberhausen–Arnhem railway (also known in German as the Hollandstrecke, meaning "Holland line") is a two-track, electrified main line railway running close to the lower Rhine from Oberhausen via...
British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by...
A British fleet bombards Canton
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens
On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
Irishman James Kelly (24) and British soldier Jack Smith (34) fight longest bareknuckle boxing bout - 6 hours and 15 minutes, at Fiery Creek, Victoria, Australia [1] [2]
Bushehrɾ] ) is a port city in the Central District of Bushehr County, Bushehr province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county and the district.
Frederick Winslow Taylor, American mechanical engineer, known for american mechanical engineer, was born on 1856-03-20.
Henry Ossian Flipper, American soldier, known for american soldier, was born on 1856-03-21.
Booker T. Washington is born
Philippe Pétain, French general, known for french general, was born on 1856-04-24.
Sigmund Freud, Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, known for founder of psychoanalysis, was born on 1856-05-06.
L. Frank Baum, American author, known for american author, was born on 1856-05-15.
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, critic, and polemicist, known for irish playwright, critic, and polemicist, was born on 1856-07-26.
Alfred Deakin is born
Timothy Thomas Fortune is born
Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist, known for german psychiatrist, was born on 1856-02-15. Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin was a German psychiatrist. H.
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg is born