1847

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1847 (MDCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (dominical letter C) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Julian calendar, the 1847th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 847th year of the 2nd millennium, the 47th year of the 19th century, and the 8th year of the 1840s decade. As of the start of 1847, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1918.

Events

January–March

• January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S government.
• January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.
• January 16 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• January 17 – St. Anthony Hall is founded at Columbia University, New York City.
• January 30 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
• February 5 – A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party. These California bound emigrants became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–47, and some had resorted to cannibalism to survive.
• February 11 – Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio
• February 22 – Mexican–American War – The Battle of Buena Vista: 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.
• March 1
  • The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.
  • Faustin Soulouque is elected the President of Haiti.
• March 4 – The 30th United States Congress is sworn into office.
• March 9 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.
• March 14 – Verdi's opera Macbeth premieres at Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Italy.
• March 29 – Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.

April–June

• April 5 – The world's first municipally-funded civic public park, Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead on Merseyside in England, is opened.^[1]
• April 15 – The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established.
• April 16 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief is accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign which continues until July 23.
• April 25 – The brig Exmouth carrying Irish emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec is wrecked off Islay with only three survivors from more than 250 on board.^[2][3]
• May – The Architectural Association School of Architecture is founded in London.
• May 7 – In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association (AMA) is founded.
• May 8 – In Japan, 1847 Zenkoji earthquake, according to official estimated, killing more than 8,600 person in central Honshu.^[4]
• May 31 – Second Treaty of Erzurum: the Ottoman Empire cedes Abadan Island to the Persian Empire.
• June – E.H. Booth & Co. Ltd, which becomes the northern England supermarket chain Booths, is founded when 19-year-old tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth opens a shop called "The China House" in Blackpool.
• June 1
  • The first congress of the Communist League is held in London.
• June 26 – Opening of the first passenger railway wholly within modern-day Denmark, from Copenhagen to Roskilde.^[5]

The first U.S. postage stamps have portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Though highly collectable, they are far from being the most valuable.

July–September

• July 1 – The United States issues its first postage stamps (pictured).
• July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.
• July 26 – Liberia gains independence.
• July 29 – The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of this year only 15 law schools exist in the United States.
• August 12 – U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Chalco and Xochimilco lakes in Mexico
• August 20 – U.S. troops defeat Mexican troops in the Battle of Churubusco
• August – Yale Corporation establishes the first graduate school in USA as "Department of Philosophy and the Arts" renamed as "Graduate School of Arts and Sciences" in 1892.
• September 14 – U.S. general Winfield Scott enters Mexico City, marking the end of organized Mexican resistance in the Mexican–American War.
• September 30 – The Vegetarian Society was formed in the United Kingdom. It remains the oldest in the world.

October–December

• October 12 – German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens AG & Halske.
• October 19 – Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell.
• October 31 – Theta Delta Chi is founded at Union College.
• November 3–29 – Sonderbund War, a civil war in Switzerland in which General Guillaume-Henri Dufour's federal army defeats the Sonderbund (an alliance of seven Catholic cantons) with a total of only 86 deaths.
• November 4–8 – James Young Simpson discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform and first uses it, successfully, on a patient, in an obstetric case in Edinburgh.^[6][7]
• November 10 – The first brew of Carlsberg Beer was finished.
• December 14 – Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë publish Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, respectively, in a 3-volume set under the pen names of Ellis Bell and Acton Bell.
• December 21 – Abdelkader surrenders and is imprisoned by the French.

Date unknown

• Great Famine continues in Ireland.
• The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town.
• Radley College, an English public school, is founded near Oxford.

Births

January–June

Thomas Alva Edison

Otto Wallach

• January 3 – Albert Bielschowsky, German historian (d. 1902)
• January 5
  • William Rose Bock, engraver, medallist, illuminator, stamp designer, lithographer, publisher (d. 1932)
  • Oku Yasukata, Japanese field marshal and a leading figure in the early Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1930)
• January 7 – Caspar F. Goodrich, American admiral (d. 1925)
• January 10 – Gustav Behrend, German dermatologist (d. 1925)
• January 11
  • Alpheus Michael Bowman, American politician (d. 1913)
  • Marion McKinley Bovard, American academic administrator (d. 1891)
• January 16 – John Cutting Berry, American physician and missionary (d. 1936)
• January 20 – William Baldock (Hampshire cricketer), English cricketer (d. 1923)
• January 23 – Elijah Bond, American lawyer and inventor (d. 1921)
• January 24 – Radomir Putnik, Serbian field marshal (d. 1917)
• January 28
  • Dorus Rijkers, Dutch naval hero (d. 1928)
  • William V. Allen, United States Senator (d. 1924)
• January 29
  • Thomas Bonacum, Catholic bishop (d. 1911)
  • Philip Diehl (inventor), German engineer and inventor (d. 1913)
• February 2 – Charles H. Baker, American politician (d. 1919)
• February 3 – Warington Baden-Powell (d. 1921)
• February 5
  • Mikhail Alekseyenko, Russian lawyer, professor of finance law, public figure (d. 1917)
  • João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos, 1st Count of Ameal, Portuguese politician (d. 1920)
• February 8 – Hugh Price Hughes, Methodist social reformer, first Superintendent of the West London Mission (d. 1902)
• February 11 – Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor (d. 1931)
• February 13 – Robert McAlpine, Scottish builder (d. 1930)
• February 15 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)
• February 16
  • Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)
  • Thomas Andrews (ironmaster) (d. 1907)
• February 17 – Otto Blehr, Norwegian attorney and politician representing the Liberal Party (d. 1927)
• February 19 – Josiah Howell Bagster, land agent and politician in the colony of South Australia (d. 1893)
• February 20 – Reginald Alexander, Physician (d. 1916)
• February 26 – William A. B. Branch, American politician (d. 1910)
• February 28 – William Heap Bailey (d. 1926)
• March 1 – Thomas Brock, English sculptor (d. 1922)
• March 2
  • Blanche Butler Ames, American politician (d. 1939)
  • Isaac Barr, Anglican clergyman and promoter of British colonial settlement schemes (d. 1937)
  • Cayetano Arellano, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines under the American Civil Government (d. 1920)
• March 3 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (d. 1922)
• March 4 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist (d. 1904)
• March 6
  • Cesare Arzelà, Italian mathematician who taught at the University of Bologna and is recognized for his contributions in the theory of functions (d. 1912)
  • Federico Andreotti, Italian painter (d. 1930)
• March 8
  • William Bosomworth, English County cricketer (d. 1891)
  • Anton Marius Andersen, American Lutheran minister (d. 1941)
  • John Lister, English politician (d. 1933)
• March 12 – George Hope Bertram, Canadian politician (d. 1900)
• March 14 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet (d. 1871)
• March 18 – William O'Connell Bradley (d. 1914)
• March 21 – Oscar Bielaski, Major League Baseball (d. 1911)
• March 22 – Alfred Bayliss, English American educator (d. 1911)
• March 23
  • Victor Besaucèle, French ornithologist (d. 1924)
  • Edmund Gurney, British psychologist (d. 1888)
• March 27
  • Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
  • Warren Ives Bradley, American writer (d. 1868)
  • Garret Barry (piper), Irish musician (d. 1899)
• April 2
  • Charles Frederic Moberly Bell, British journalist and editor (d. 1911)
  • Flora Annie Steel, English writer (d. 1929)
• April 7 – John Arthur (cricketer), Tasmanian cricket player (d. 1877)
• April 10 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born journalist and newspaper publisher (d. 1911)
• April 13 – J. Thompson Baker, American politician (d. 1919)
• April 15 – Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather (d. 1905)
• April 16 – Hans Auer, Austrian architect (d. 1906)
• April 27
  • Emma Irene Åström, Finnish teacher and Finland's first female university graduate (d. 1934)
  • Walter Simon Andrews, British policeman (d. 1899)
• April 29 – Joachim Andersen, Danish flutist, conductor and composer (d. 1909)
• May 1 – Hildegard Björck, First Swedish woman to gain a degree (d. 1920)
• May 7 – Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
• May 9 – Antoni Berezowski, Polish noble (d. 1916)
• May 14 – Frederick William Borden, Canadian politician (d. 1917)
• May 19 – Henry Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort (d. 1924)
• May 25 – John Green Brady, American politician who was the Governor of the District of Alaska from 1897 to 1906 (d. 1918)
• May 31 – Jules Bourgeois, French entomologist (d. 1911)
• June 5 – Eric Barrington, British civil servant (d. 1918)
• June 8
  • Oleksander Barvinsky (d. 1926)
  • Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (d. 1907)
• June 9
  • John Romilly Allen, British archaeologist (d. 1907)
• June 10 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and feminist (d. 1916)
• June 11 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)
• June 16 – Paul Alexis, Novelist, dramatist and journalist (d. 1901)
• June 19 – Robert Barker (footballer), English footballer (d. 1915)
• June 22 – Joseph Bolduc, Canadian politician (d. 1924)
• June 24 – Robert Bickersteth (MP), British politician (d. 1916)
• June 26 – Daniel V. Asay, Iceboat racer (d. 1930)
• June 29 – Brother Azarias, American educator (d. 1893)

July–December

Paul von Hindenburg

Bram Stoker

• July 1 – Eugène Boullet, French entomologist (d. 1923)
• July 2 – Marcel Alexandre Bertrand, French geologist (d. 1907)
• July 4
  • James Anthony Bailey (d. 1906)
  • Peter Anderson (Medal of Honor), Union Army Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1907)
• July 9 – Wong Fei-hung, Chinese healer and revolutionary (d. 1924)
• July 12 – Karl Heinrich Barth, German musician (d. 1922)
• July 13 – George Atkinson-Willes, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1921)
• July 14 – Noël Ballay, French auxiliary doctor of the French navy (d. 1902)
• July 19
  • Alexander Meyrick Broadley, British historian (d. 1916)
  • Oliver Ernesto Branch, American politician (d. 1916)
• July 20
  • Lord William Beresford (d. 1900)
  • Max Liebermann, German painter and printmaker (d. 1935)
• July 22 – Jean-Baptiste Bienvenu-Martin, French politician (d. 1943)
• July 23 – George Sydney Aldridge, Australian businessman (d. 1911)
• July 24
  • Evelyn Boscawen, 7th Viscount Falmouth (d. 1918)
  • Harry Anstey, metallurgist and gold prospector who led the prospecting expedition that discovered gold in the Southern Cross (d. 1927)
• July 25 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist and biologist (d. 1888)
• July 26 – András Bethlen, Hungarian politician (d. 1898)
• July 31
  • James Allen Harker, English entomologist (d. 1894)
  • Samuel Bridgeland, Canadian politician (d. 1903)
• August 3 – John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, Politician, Governor General of Canada (d. 1934)
• August 6 – Laurence George Bomford, British artist (d. 1926)
• August 7 – Guido Georg Wilhelm Brause, Botanist (d. 1922)
• August 11 – Harry Barron (d. 1921)
• August 12 – William Rankin Ballard, American businessman (d. 1929)
• August 13 – Alexander Theodorowicz Batalin, Russian botanist (d. 1896)
• August 14 – Karl Oskar Medin, Swedish scientist and pediatrician (1927)
  • Robert Comtesse, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1922)
• August 21 – Hale Johnson, American temperance movement leader (d. 1902)
• August 28 – Sir George Bonham, 2nd Baronet, British diplomat (d. 1927)
• August 30 – Morton Betts, English footballer (d. 1914)
• September 1 – Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa (d. 1938)
• September 3 – Charles Stillman Sperry, American admiral (d. 1911)
• September 5
  • Jesse James, American outlaw (d. 1882)
  • Joseph Bucklin Bishop, American journalist and publisher (d. 1928)
• September 10 – Franklin Bartlett, American politician (d. 1909)
• September 14 – William Edward Ayrton (d. 1908)
• September 15 – Tadeusz Browicz, Polish pathologist born in Lviv (d. 1928)
• September 16 – Arthur Bromley, Royal Navy officer who became Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard (d. 1909)
• September 17 – John I. Beggs, American businessman (d. 1925)
• September 22 – Enrique Almaraz y Santos, Cardinal (d. 1922)
• September 23 – Anandamohan Bose, Politician, Academic, Social reformer (d. 1906)
• September 24 – William Edward Briggs, British politician (d. 1903)
• September 25 – Edward Austin (cricketer), Cricketer (d. 1891)
• September 26 – Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin, German theologian (d. 1926)
• September 30 – Wilhelmina Drucker, Dutch feminist (d. 1925)
• October 1
  • Sophia Amirajibi, translator of poetry (d. 1906)
  • Annie Besant, English women's rights activist, writer and orator (d. 1933)
• October 2 – Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal, President of Germany (d. 1934)
• October 4 – Louis Henri Boussenard, French author of adventure novels (d. 1911)
• October 6 – Webb C. Ball, jeweler and watchmaker born in Fredericktown (d. 1922)
• October 9 – William Anderson Black, Canadian politician (d. 1934)
• October 11 – Alexander Bolton, Australian politician (d. 1918)
• October 13
  • Sir Arthur Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, Politician (d. 1926)
  • Maurice Bailloud, French general (d. 1921)
• October 14 – Wilgelm Vitgeft, Russian admiral (d. 1904)
• October 15 – Ralph Albert Blakelock, romanticist painter from the United States (d. 1919)
• October 16 – Gustav Baron, Croatian theologian (d. 1914)
• October 17
  • Jervoise Athelstane Baines, Civil servant in India (d. 1925)
  • Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian composer (d. 1935)
• October 20 – Mifflin E. Bell, American architect (d. 1904)
• October 21 – Edvard Brandes, Danish politician (d. 1931)
• October 22 – Koos de la Rey, Boer general (d. 1914)
• October 23 – Gottfried Blocklinger, United States admiral (d. 1930)
• October 24 – John Winfield Bonser (d. 1914)
• October 27 – George Armitstead (mayor), Latvian politician (d. 1912)
• October 30 – Charlie Bassett, American sheriff (d. 1896)
• October 31 – Wendell P. Bowman, American military officer (d. 1928)
• November 1 – Emma Albani (d. 1930)
• November 2 – Georges Sorel, French socialist (d. 1922)
• November 3 – George Thomas Baird, Canadian politician (d. 1917)
• November 4
  • Infante Augusto, Duke of Coimbra, Royal prince of Portugal (d. 1889)
  • William Allen (Congregationalist), English-born, Australian Congregational clergyman (d. 1919)
• November 6 – Ugo Balzani, Italian historian (d. 1916)
• November 7
  • Melvin O. Adams, Attorney and businessman (d. 1920)
  • Lotta Crabtree, American stage actress (d. 1924)
• November 8
  • Bram Stoker, creator of the Gothic novel Dracula (d. 1912)
  • Charles Alexander (cricketer, born 1847), Cricketer (d. 1902)
• November 9 – Carl Wilhelm Bøckmann Barth, Norwegian artist (d. 1919)
• November 10 – Frederick Arthur Bridgman, American artist (d. 1928)
• November 11
  • Otto Böhler, Austrian silhouette-artist (d. 1911)
  • Adam Carr Bell, Canadian politician (d. 1912)
• November 19 – Carl Friedländer, German pathologist and microbiologist (d. 1887)
• November 23
  • Joseph Ackroyd, American politician (d. 1915)
  • Walter Biggar Blaikie, British astronomer, engineer, historian and printer (d. 1928)
• November 25 – George W. Anson, British actor (d. 1920)
• November 26 – Dagmar of Denmark, empress of Tsar Alexander III of Russia (d. 1928)
• November 30 – Afonso Pena, Brazilian president (d. 1909)
• December 1 – Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
• December 3 – Arthur Ivan Allin, Musician (d. 1926)
• December 5 – Francis Baker (cricketer), English cricketer (d. 1901)
• December 6 – John Elmes Beale, British politician (d. 1928)
• December 7 – George Grossmith, English actor and comic writer (d. 1912)
• December 10
  • John M. Baillie, Canadian politician (d. 1913)
  • Harry Boyle, leading Australian Test cricketer of the late 1870s and early 1880s (d. 1907)
• December 15 – Rolf Andvord (consul), Norwegian ship-owner (d. 1906)
• December 18
  • Sir William Acland, 2nd Baronet, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1924)
  • Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
• December 17
  • Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
  • Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general during World War I (d. 1923)
• December 20 – Ferenc Bihar, Hungarian politician (d. 1920)
• December 21 – Fletcher S. Bassett, Founded the Chicago Folk-Lore Society (d. 1893)
• December 27 – Ferdinand Begg, Scottish stockbroker and politician (d. 1926)
• December 28 – Giuseppe Maria Giulietti, Italian explorer (d. 1881)
• December 29
  • Alexis-Xyste Bernard, Catholic bishop (d. 1923)
  • Sergey Andreyevsky, Russian writer, poet, literary critic and lawyer (d. 1918)
• December 30 – John Peter Altgeld, American politician and the 20th Governor of Illinois (d. 1902)
• December 31 – Wilson S. Bissell, American politician from New York (d. 1903)

Date unknown

• Bandō Kakitsu I, Japanese kabuki actor (d. 1893)

Deaths

January–June

• January 19 – Charles Bent, first Governor of New Mexico Territory (assassinated)
• March 9 – Mary Anning, British paleontologist (b. 1799)
• April 21 – Barbara Spooner Wilberforce, wife of British Abolitionist William Wilberforce (b. 1777)
• April 30 – Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general (b. 1771)
• May 14 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
• May 15 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician, who promoted the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (b. 1775)
• May 29 – Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (b. 1766)
• May 31 – Abbasgulu Bakikhanov, Azerbaijani writer (b. 1794)

July–December

Felix Mendelssohn

• July 16 – Karl Friedrich Burdach, German physiologist (b. 1776)
• September 4 – František Vladislav Hek, Czech patriot (b. 1769)
• September 13 – Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (b. 1767)
• October 3 – Charles Hatchett, English chemist (b. 1765)
• October 22 – Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa
• November 4 – Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)
• December 14 – Manuel José Arce, Central American politician (b. 1787)

References

• Historic Letters of 1847