1846

Events in 1846 51

• 1760 – 1846 Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) Died 26 September 1846, aged 86 Clarkson was an English abolitionist and a founder of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. His research and campaigning helped pass the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the abolition of slavery across the British Empire.
• 1765 – 1846 Pope Gregory XVI (1765-1846) Died 1 June 1846, aged 80 Gregory XVI was pope from 1831. He was a firm opponent of liberalism and modern innovations in the Papal States, and he strongly promoted Catholic missions.
• 1778 – 1846 Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846) Died 25 July 1846, aged 67 Louis was a younger brother of Napoleon and King of Holland from 1806 to 1810. He abdicated after clashing with Napoleon over Dutch interests. His son became Emperor Napoleon III.
• 1784 – 1846 Friedrich Bessel (1784-1846) Died 17 March 1846, aged 61 Bessel was a German astronomer and mathematician. In 1838 he made the first reliable measurement of the distance to a star, 61 Cygni, using parallax. The Bessel functions are named after him.
• 1786 – 1846 Benjamin Haydon (1786-1846) Died 22 June 1846, aged 60 Haydon was an English painter of large historical canvases and a friend of Keats and Wordsworth. He is best remembered for his diaries. Debt and public neglect led to his suicide in London.
• 1789 – 1846 Friedrich List (1789-1846) Died 30 November 1846, aged 57 List was a German economist who argued for a national system of protective tariffs and for railway building. His ideas influenced the Zollverein and industrial policy in Germany and the United States.
• 1800 – 1846 Emperor Ninkō (1800-1846) Died 21 February 1846, aged 45 Ninkō was the 120th Emperor of Japan and reigned from 1817. He founded the Gakushūin court school in Kyoto. His son Kōmei succeeded him.
• 1842 – 1846 Anesthesia in surgery Operations become painless — modern surgery begins In 1842-1846, Crawford Long, Horace Wells, and William Morton independently demonstrated the use of ether and nitrous oxide as surgical anesthetics. Morton's public demonstration at Massachusetts General Hospital on 16 October 1846 is considered the birth of modern anesthesia. Surgery was transformed from a terrifying, often fatal ordeal into a controlled medical procedure.
• 1845 – 1846 Le Verrier and Adams predict Neptune mathematically Invisible disturbances in Uranus's orbit reveal a hidden planet Independently in 1845-1846, Urbain Le Verrier of France and John Adams of England calculated the position of an unknown planet whose gravity was perturbing Uranus's orbit. When Galle pointed his telescope to Le Verrier's predicted position, Neptune was found within 1 degree. The first planet discovered by pure mathematics.
• 1846 – 1917 Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917) Died 10 January 1917, aged 70 William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was an American army scout and bison hunter who became world-famous touring with his Wild West show. His death in Denver, Colorado marked the passing of one of the most recognizable figures of the American frontier myth.
• 1846 – 1891 Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) Died 6 October 1891, aged 45 Irish nationalist leader who led the Irish Parliamentary Party and campaigned for Home Rule. His political career collapsed after a divorce scandal split the nationalist movement. He remains a defining figure in the history of Irish nationalism.
• 1846 Neptune discovered by mathematical prediction An invisible planet found by pure calculation In 1846, Johann Galle of Berlin observed Neptune exactly where Urbain Le Verrier of France had predicted it must lie, based entirely on mathematical analysis of perturbations in Uranus's orbit. It was the first planet discovered by prediction rather than observation, a triumph of Newtonian mechanics. John Adams of England had independently made the same prediction months earlier.
• 1846 – 1920 Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920) Died 24 September 1920, aged 74 Russian jeweller famed for the ornate Faberge eggs he created for the Russian imperial family. He fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and died in exile in Switzerland. His firm's work remains among the most celebrated in the history of decorative arts.
• 1846 – 1929 Wilhelm Maybach (1846-1929) Died 29 December 1929, aged 83 German engine designer and a partner of Gottlieb Daimler. He designed the first Mercedes car of 1901 and founded the Maybach engine company.
• 1846 Dostoevsky publishes Poor Folk Debut novel makes Dostoevsky's name Fyodor Dostoevsky's first novel, an epistolary story of poverty in St Petersburg, appeared in the Petersburg Miscellany. The critic Vissarion Belinsky praised it highly and its young author became famous overnight.
• 1846 Dickens launches the Daily News New Liberal London daily edited by Charles Dickens The first issue of the Daily News appeared in London with Charles Dickens as editor. Dickens left after a few weeks, but the paper went on to become one of Britain's leading Liberal newspapers.
• 1846 Battle of Aliwal British defeat Sikh army on the Sutlej British forces under Sir Harry Smith defeated a Sikh army at Aliwal during the First Anglo-Sikh War. The victory removed the Sikh threat to Ludhiana and set up the war's final battle.
• 1846 Mormon exodus from Nauvoo begins Latter-day Saints start their trek west Facing mob violence in Illinois, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began crossing the frozen Mississippi from Nauvoo. Led by Brigham Young, the migration eventually brought them to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
• 1846 Battle of Sobraon Decisive British victory ends the First Anglo-Sikh War British and East India Company forces under Sir Hugh Gough stormed the Sikh entrenchments at Sobraon on the Sutlej. Thousands of Sikh soldiers died in the battle and the retreat across the river, and the road to Lahore lay open.
• 1846 Kraków Uprising Polish nationalist revolt in the Free City of Kraków Polish nationalists rose in Kraków in an attempt to start a wider insurrection for independence. Austrian troops crushed the revolt within days, and in neighbouring Galicia peasants turned on the Polish nobility in the massacres known as the Galician slaughter.
• 1846 Treaty of Lahore Sikh Empire cedes territory to the British The treaty ended the First Anglo-Sikh War. The Sikh state gave up the Jullundur Doab, agreed to pay a large indemnity and accepted a British Resident at Lahore.
• 1846 Treaty of Amritsar Britain sells Kashmir to Gulab Singh The East India Company transferred Kashmir and neighbouring territories to Gulab Singh of Jammu for 7.5 million rupees. The treaty created the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• 1846 Thornton Affair Skirmish on the Rio Grande triggers war Mexican cavalry attacked a US patrol under Captain Seth Thornton in disputed territory north of the Rio Grande. President Polk used the clash to ask Congress for a declaration of war.
• 1846 Battle of Palo Alto First major battle of the Mexican-American War Zachary Taylor's army defeated Mariano Arista's larger Mexican force near present-day Brownsville, Texas. American artillery won the battle, and the Americans won again at Resaca de la Palma the next day.
• 1846 United States declares war on Mexico Start of the Mexican-American War Congress approved President James K. Polk's request for war after the clashes along the Rio Grande. The war ended in 1848 with Mexico ceding about half its territory to the United States.
• 1846 Louis-Napoleon escapes from Ham Future emperor flees prison disguised as a labourer Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the fortress of Ham, where he had been held since his failed coup of 1840. He walked out disguised as a workman and fled to England.
• 1846 Bear Flag Revolt American settlers proclaim the California Republic American settlers seized the Mexican garrison at Sonoma and raised a flag with a grizzly bear and a star. The short-lived California Republic ended within weeks when US forces took control.
• 1846 Oregon Treaty Britain and the US divide the Oregon Country The treaty set the boundary between British North America and the United States at the 49th parallel, from the Rockies to the Pacific, with Vancouver Island going to Britain. It settled years of dispute over the Oregon Country.
• 1846 Election of Pope Pius IX Start of the longest papacy in Church history Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti was elected pope after a short conclave following the death of Gregory XVI. His reign of nearly 32 years saw the end of the Papal States and the First Vatican Council.
• 1846 First recorded baseball game under the Knickerbocker rules Early organised baseball at Hoboken The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the New York Nine at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, using Alexander Cartwright's written rules. The New York Nine won 23 to 1.
• 1846 Repeal of the Corn Laws Britain abolishes protective tariffs on grain The Importation Act received royal assent and phased out the duties on imported grain. Robert Peel pushed repeal through against most of his own Conservative Party, a turning point for free trade in Britain.
• 1846 Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone New family of wind instruments The Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax received a French patent for the saxophone. The instrument combined a single reed with a conical metal body and was later central to military bands and jazz.
• 1846 Resignation of Robert Peel Conservative government falls after Corn Law repeal On the night the Corn Laws were repealed, protectionist Conservatives helped defeat Peel's government on an Irish coercion bill. Peel resigned and Lord John Russell formed a Whig government.
• 1846 US Navy seizes Monterey, California American annexation of California proclaimed Commodore John D. Sloat landed sailors and marines at Monterey and claimed California for the United States. The landing ended the Bear Flag Republic and began the American conquest of Alta California.
• 1846 Biddle expedition to Edo Bay US warships fail to open trade with Japan Commodore James Biddle anchored two US warships off Uraga and asked for a trade treaty with Japan. The shogunate refused and Biddle left peacefully, seven years before Perry's expedition.
• 1846 Walker Tariff enacted US sharply lowers import duties The Walker Tariff, named after Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker, cut the high rates of the 1842 tariff. It was one of the lowest tariffs in American history before the Civil War.
• 1846 Wilmot Proviso introduced Proposal to ban slavery in land taken from Mexico Congressman David Wilmot proposed banning slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. It never passed the Senate, but the fight over it deepened the sectional split that led to the Civil War.
• 1846 Smithsonian Institution established Congress founds a national institution of learning President Polk signed the act creating the Smithsonian Institution, funded by the bequest of the British scientist James Smithson. It grew into the world's largest complex of museums and research centres.
• 1846 Kearny occupies Santa Fe US Army takes New Mexico without a fight Stephen W. Kearny's Army of the West entered Santa Fe after the Mexican governor withdrew. Kearny declared New Mexico US territory and moved on toward California.
• 1846 Premiere of Mendelssohn's Elijah Oratorio first performed at the Birmingham Festival Felix Mendelssohn conducted the first performance of his oratorio Elijah at Birmingham Town Hall. The work was a huge success and became one of the most popular oratorios of the 19th century.
• 1846 Elias Howe patents the lock-stitch sewing machine Key invention for mechanised sewing Elias Howe received a US patent for a sewing machine using an eye-pointed needle and a shuttle to form a lock stitch. He later won royalties from Isaac Singer and other manufacturers in patent suits.
• 1846 Kot massacre Jung Bahadur Rana seizes power in Nepal Dozens of nobles and officials were killed in the palace armoury courtyard in Kathmandu. Jung Bahadur Kunwar took power after the massacre and founded the Rana dynasty of hereditary prime ministers, which ruled Nepal until 1951.
• 1846 Battle of Monterrey Taylor captures the city of Monterrey Zachary Taylor's army fought street by street into Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo León. The Mexican garrison surrendered under an armistice that let it withdraw.
• 1846 Affair of the Spanish Marriages Royal weddings strain Anglo-French relations Queen Isabella II of Spain married her cousin Francisco de Asís, and her sister Luisa Fernanda married the Duke of Montpensier, son of Louis-Philippe. Britain saw the double wedding as a French dynastic manoeuvre, and the Entente Cordiale broke down.
• 1846 Discovery of Triton Neptune's largest moon found The English astronomer William Lassell found Triton just 17 days after Neptune itself was discovered. It is the only large moon in the Solar System that orbits in the direction opposite to its planet's rotation.
• 1846 Donner Party trapped in the Sierra Nevada Emigrant wagon train snowbound A group of California-bound emigrants was stopped by early snow near Truckee Lake in the Sierra Nevada. Nearly half died over the winter, and some survivors resorted to cannibalism.
• 1846 Austria annexes the Free City of Kraków Last remnant of independent Poland is absorbed After the failed uprising, Austria, Prussia and Russia agreed to end the Free City of Kraków. Austria annexed the city and incorporated it into its province of Galicia.
• 1846 Battle of San Pasqual Californios check Kearny's advance Andrés Pico's Californio lancers struck Stephen Kearny's exhausted dragoons near present-day San Diego. The Americans lost more than 20 men killed and had to be rescued by a relief force.
• 1846 Premiere of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust Berlioz's dramatic legend fails in Paris Hector Berlioz staged the first performance of La Damnation de Faust at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. It drew small audiences and lost him a lot of money, but later became one of his most performed works.
• 1846 Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty US guarantees transit across the Isthmus of Panama New Granada gave the United States right of way across the Isthmus of Panama. In return the US guaranteed the isthmus's neutrality and New Granada's sovereignty there.
• 1846 Iowa admitted to the Union Iowa becomes the 29th US state President Polk signed the act admitting Iowa as a state. It was the first free state formed from the Louisiana Purchase west of the Mississippi.