1837 CE

Richard Johnson becomes the only vice president of the United States chosen by the United States Senate. Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels. The first missionaries sent abroad by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints land from the United States at Liverpool. On 30 July, apostle Heber C. Kimball baptises the first English converts (George D. Watt and 8 others) in the River Ribble near Preston, Lancashire.

In the 1830s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States.source
February 8 – Richard Johnson becomes the only vice president of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.United States source
June 5 – The city of Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.source
13 June – Parliamentary electionsBelgium source
June 18 - Spanish Constitution of 1812 was repealed, and is replaced by the Spanish Constitution of 1837Spain source
17 November - The Treaty of Paucarpata is signed, temporarily ending the War of the Confederation.Chile source
December 16 – William Lyon MacKenzie occupies Navy Island and proclaims the short-lived Republic of Canada.Canada source
December 23 – The Slave Compensation Act is signed into law by the government of the United Kingdom. This pays a substantial amount of money, constituting 40% of the Treasury’s tax receipts at the time, to former enslavers but nothing to those formerly enslaved.source
The New Zealand Association is formed.New Zealand source
Major reforms to the Russian imperial bureaucracy include provisions for the creation of newspapers in Russian's 42 European provinces.Russia source
Piet Retief and his followers leave the Cape Colony.South Africa source

Conflict & Security

February 4 – Seminoles attack Fort Foster in Florida.source
April - Peasants from Sullia and Puttur carried out Amara Sullia Rebellion against British Raj and took over South Canara administration for two weeks under the leadership of Kedambadi Ramaiah Gowda.India source
May 10 – The Panic of 1837 begins in New York City.source
3 June - Chilean Army officer Jose Antonio Vidaurre attempts to overthrow the Prieto government. The coup fails and Vidaurre is later executed.Chile source
June 11 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, Massachusetts, fueled by ethnic tensions between the Irish and the Yankees.source
July – Morrison incident: A US ship is fired on by cannon when entering Tokyo Bay while attempting to repatriate castaway Japanese citizens.Japan source
August 16 – The Dutch colonial forces sack the fortress of Bonjol, Indonesia, ending the Padri War.source
August 24 - Battle of Villar de los NavarrosSpain source
September 19 – First Carlist War: Battle of Aranzueque – The liberal forces loyal to Queen Isabel II of Spain are victorious, ending the Carlist campaign known as the Expedición Real.source
October 13 – The French army under Sylvain Charles Valée captures the city of Constantine in French Algeria after a siege of three days.source
October 21 – General Thomas Jesup captures Seminole leader Osceola under pretext of negotiations.United States source
November 6 Louis-Joseph Papineau begins the Lower Canada Rebellion in the Quebec city of Montreal.source
November 23 – Patriotes defeat British army at St. Denis, Lower Canada. At St. Denis, Col. Gore, with five companies of regulars, fails to dislodge rebel Dr. Nelson, with 200 men, behind walls.Canada source
December 4 – Samuel Lount begins the Upper Canada Rebellion by marching with rebel followers to Toronto, one month after a similar rebellion against British rule had begun in Lower Canada.source
December 29 – The Caroline Affair, on the Niagara River, becomes the basis for the Caroline test for anticipatory self-defence in international relations.source
The Anglican mission at Tauranga closes because of intertribal Maori wars. (see also 1835 & 1838)New Zealand source
Potgieter and Uys attack Mzilikazi, driving him and the AmaNdebele beyond the Limpopo into present-day Zimbabwe.South Africa source

Exploration & Expansion

19 March – The first permanent European settlement in Canterbury. Prussian whaling captain George Hempleman (var. Hemplemann) establishes a whaling station at Peraki Bay, Banks Peninsula. Hempleman and his wife are the first German settlers in New Zealand.New Zealand source
1 June - First inner-city land sale in Melbourne.Australia source
10 June - The first whale is caught in Western Australia.Australia source
July – Charles W. King sets sail on the American merchant ship Morrison. In the Morrison incident, he is turned away from Japanese ports with cannon fire.source
4 September – HMS Terror, badly damaged during an Arctic expedition, is beached at Lough Swilly to save her.Ireland source
24 October – George Hempleman occupies Peraki Bay under licence from Clayton. Later, after Clayton leaves for Sydney, Hempleman is forces to make further payments for the right to occupy the land. (for the occupation at Peraki Bay see History of Canterbury, New Zealand#Whalers and sealers)New Zealand source
Messrs. Papineau, Lafontaine, Girouard and Morin go through the country, exciting the inhabitants.Canada source
Tsar Nicholas I is the first reigning Russian monarch to tour the Caucuses region since Peter I, 115 years earlier.Russia source
The voortrekkers under the leadership of Piet Retief arrived in Natal over the Drakensberg mountains after trekking overland from the Cape Colony during the Great Trek.South Africa source

Religion & Belief

March 1 – The Congregation of Holy Cross is formed in Le Mans, France, by the signing of the Fundamental Act of Union, which legally joins the Auxiliary Priests of Blessed Basil Moreau, CSC, and the Brothers of St. Joseph (founded by Jacques-François Dujarié) into one religious association.source
19 July – The first missionaries sent abroad by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints land from the United States at Liverpool. On 30 July, apostle Heber C. Kimball baptises the first English converts (George D. Watt and 8 others) in the River Ribble near Preston, Lancashire.United Kingdom source
November 20 – The Prussian king has Clemens August Droste zu Vischering, archbishop of Cologne, arrested over differences concerning the treatment of mixed protestant-catholic marriages. The archbishop remains in custody for over a year.source
28 December – Pastoral letter of Belgian bishops deprecates Catholic membership of masonic lodges.Belgium source
The Roman Catholic Bishop Lartigue, of Montreal, preaches obedience to authority, as a cardinal rule of the Church.Canada source
B. S. Ingemann publishes Morgensange for Børn with seven morning songs for children as well as Foraarssang ("Storken sidder paa Bondens Tag;"),Denmark source
At Le Mans, Father Basil Moreau founds the Congregation of Holy Cross, by joining the Brothers of St. Joseph and the Auxiliary Priests of Le Mans.France source
A decree on New Year's day moved administrative control of the Russian Greek Catholic Church from Russia's interior ministry to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church's chief procurator. This would set the stage for full union two years laterRussia source
Major reconstruction of Dornoch Cathedral by William Burn for the Duchess of Sutherland is completed.Scotland source
Robert Edwards – Caersalem (hymn tune), published in Peroriaeth HyfrydWales source

Economy & Finance

13 February – Rowland Hill's government inquiry into postal reform discusses the idea of carrying letters in a separate sheet which folds to become an envelope and the idea of "a bit of paper" which could be affixed to a letter to flag that postage had been prepaid.United Kingdom source
1 April – John Josiah Guest is elected the first chairman of the Merthyr "board of guardians", formed to obtain an act of Parliament for the incorporation of Merthyr.Wales source
April 12 – The conglomerate of Procter & Gamble has its origins, when British-born businessmen William Procter and James Gamble begin selling their first manufactured goods (soap and candles) in Cincinnati, Ohio.source
May 10 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.United States source
October 31 – In what will become the world's leading consumer goods brand, Procter & Gamble is founded in Ohio in the United States.source
Revolts in Upper and Lower Canada. Small businessmen and farmers against merchant elites who, as political leaders, are raising property taxes, tariffs and freight rates to raise money for canals.Canada source
The artist Emil Bærentzen founds his own printing business as Em. Bærentzen & Co.'s Lithografiske Institut.Denmark source
Luxury goods manufacturer Hermès is established in Paris by Thierry Hermès.France source
Shaw's Bank merges with the Royal Bank of Ireland (later to become one of the Allied Irish Banks).Ireland source
The Little, Brown and Company publishing house opens its doors in Boston.United States source

Technology & Infrastructure

February 25 – Thomas Davenport obtains the first United States patent on an electric motor.United States source
28 March - The Hoddle Grid of streets for the central business district is surveyed by Robert Hoddle.Australia source
3 April – the Paisley and Renfrew Railway is opened, a 4 ft 6 in gauge railway providing passenger services hauled by steam locomotives.Scotland source
May – W. F. Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patent an electrical telegraph system.source
21 August – Victor Hugo travels by train for the first time while visiting Belgium.Belgium source
September 28 – Samuel Morse files a caveat for a patent for the telegraph.source
October 30 – The Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the first in the Russian Empire, opens between Saint Petersburg Tsarskoselsky station and Tsarskoye Selo (modern-day Pushkin), engineered by Franz Anton von Gerstner.source
The first electric locomotive built is a miniature battery locomotive constructed by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and powered by galvanic cells (batteries).source
Atlanta is fixed as the terminal of the Western and Atlantic Railroad; it is originally named Marthasville.source
In the course of this year, steam is adopted as the motive power, on the Champlain & St. Lawrence Railway.Canada source
Jessop & Company complete construction of the first iron bridge in British India, Loha-ka-Pul over River Gomti at Lucknow, 1812-1840India source
Joseph Price, a representative of the Weller brothers, sets up a whaling station at Patiti Point, Timaru . (other sources suggest 1839)New Zealand source
Major reconstruction of Penrhyn Castle in north Wales by Thomas Hopper (architect) is largely completed.Wales source

Science & Discovery

7 February – Samuel Marsden arrives in New Zealand on his last visit.New Zealand source
February – Charles Lever begins publishing his fictional The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer in Dublin University Magazine.Ireland source
8 April - Low-water mark datum measured at Poolbeg Lighthouse by the Ordnance Survey.Ireland source
4 July – Samuel Marsden leaves New Zealand for the final time.New Zealand source
19 July – The Isambard Kingdom Brunel-designed steamship SS Great Western is launched in Bristol.United Kingdom source
October – Alleged first sighting of a Spring-heeled Jack, in London.United Kingdom source
15 November – Isaac Pitman publishes Pitman Shorthand.United Kingdom source
Louis Daguerre develops the daguerreotype.source
Peter Chaadev publishes Apology of a Madman.Russia source

Health & Medicine

January–February – Serious influenza outbreak.United Kingdom source
Among the malcontents are Dr. Nelson, Messrs. Papineau, Wilson, Viger, Lacoste, Brown, and Girod.Canada source
Alarmed at the length excitement has carried him, Mr. Papineau now inclines to the constitutional remedy of ceasing to trade with England, but Dr. Nelson declares that the time for action has come.Canada source
T.S. Brown and Dr. O'Callaghan cross the Line.Canada source
The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus urogallus) is reintroduced to Scotland (Perthshire) from Sweden.Scotland source
Piet Retief orders Erasmus Smit to be ordained as a minister of the Voortrekkers, but meets with opposition because they consider him as being too old and sickly at 59.South Africa source
c. June – Smallpox epidemic of 1837–40 breaks out.United Kingdom source

Crime & Justice

January - The cause célèbre murder of Catharina Ulrika Hjort af Ornäs shocked the country.Sweden source
February – Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist begins publication in serial form in London.source
1 October – The Punishment of Offences Act and other acts coming into force on this day remove capital punishment as a penalty for crimes including burglary, arson, forgery and "shooting at".United Kingdom source
18 October – William Perrie is hanged in Paisley for uxoricide.Scotland source
November 6 – In Montreal, the Doric Club come to blows with "Sons of Liberty."Canada source
November 7 – In Alton, Illinois, abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy is shot and killed by a pro-slavery mob while he attempts to protect his printing shop from being destroyed a fourth time.United States source
The 5th century B.C. Berlin Foundry Cup is acquired, for the Antikensammlung Berlin in Germany.Germany source
Dorcas Allen kills two of her four children while imprisoned in a District of Columbia slave pen.United States source
Charles James Apperley – The Chace, the Road, and the TurfWales source

Disasters & Accidents

January 2 – Wreck of the Mexico kills 115 immigrants off the coast of Long Island.United States source
April 24 – The great fire in Surat, a city of India, begins. Over a three-day period, the fire kills more than 500 people and destroys more than 9,000 houses.source
May 8 – The steamboat Ben Sherod catches fire and explodes on the Mississippi River, killing approximately 175 people.United States source
1 July – Isle of May disaster: A rowing boat carrying an excursion party from Cellardyke capsizes with the loss of 13 lives.Scotland source
October 31 – The steamboat Monmouth disaster on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge kills over 300 Muscogee and Black slaves who are being transported to the Indian Territory.United States source
December 17 – Fire breaks out in the Winter Palace, in Saint Petersburg, Russia killing 30 guards.source
December 29 – The Patriot steamer "Caroline" is burned in the Niagara River at Niagara Falls.Canada source
An effigy of the Governor is burnt.Canada source
Fire destroys the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.Russia source

Climate & Environment

January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes thousands of deaths in Ottoman Syria.source
1 March–31 May – At only 5.63 °C Central England temperature, the coolest English spring on record; this remains the last recorded coolest traditional season in the CET series.United Kingdom source
21 March – Flooding in Burcht and Stabroek.Belgium source
August – following a very cold summer there is widespread failure of the potato crop, as in 1836, leading to famine later in the year.Ireland source
September 26 – The destructive "Racer's hurricane" sweeps across the Caribbean, northeastern Mexico, the Republic of Texas and the Gulf Coast of the United States and lasts until October 9, after killing at least 105 people.source
November 17 – An earthquake in Valdivia, south-central Chile, causes tsunamis that led to significant destruction along Japan's coast.source
17 November - The 1837 Valdivia earthquake is felt from Concepción to Chonos Archipelago.Chile source
Tenpō famine which began in 1833 comes to an end.Japan source
From beginning – Highland Destitution: 2 years of harvest failure leave many in the Highlands and Islands requiring aid.Scotland source

Culture & Society

February 25 – In Philadelphia, the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) is founded, as the first institution for the higher education of black people in the United States.source
7 April - C.A. Reitzel publishes Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection. Third Booklet (Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Første Samling. Tredie Hefte. 1837) containing fairytales such as The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes.Denmark source
May – 1837 Newfoundland general election.Canada source
June 20 – Queen Victoria, 18, accedes to the throne of the United Kingdom, on the death of her uncle King William IV without legitimate heirs (she will reign for more than 63 years). Under Salic law, the Kingdom of Hanover passes to William's brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, ending the personal union of Britain and Hanover which has persisted since 1714.source
June 20 – Queen Victoria, 18, accedes to the throne of the United Kingdom, on the death of her uncle William IV without legitimate heirs (she will reign for more than 63 years). Under Salic law, the Kingdom of Hanover passes to William's brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, ending the personal union of Britain and Hanover which has persisted since 1714.Germany source
July 13 – Queen Victoria moves from Kensington Palace into Buckingham Palace, the first reigning British monarch to make this, rather than St James's Palace, as her London home.source
4 October – Société Civile pour l'Agrandissement et l'Embellissement de Bruxelles established, to develop the Leopold Quarter in Brussels.Belgium source
November 8 – Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, later Mount Holyoke College, is founded in South Hadley, Massachusetts.source
November 8 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which will later become Mount Holyoke College.United States source
30 December – William Colenso completes the New Testament in Māori. He produces 5000 copies of this edition.New Zealand source
The Olney Friends School is founded in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.source
Strömberg Theatre re-opened under the name Christiania Theatre.Norway source
Voortrekker leader Piet Retief publishes his Manifesto which sets out the reasons the Voortrekkers are leaving the Cape Colony.South Africa source

Births

January 2 – Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (died 1910)source
March 18 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (died 1908)source
April 17 – J. P. Morgan, American financier, banker (died 1913)source
May 27 – Wild Bill Hickok, American gunfighter (died 1876)source
June 22 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (died 1884)source
June 28 – Petre P. Carp, 2-time prime minister of Romania (died 1919)source
July 18 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian revolutionary (died 1873)source
August 1 – (bapt.) Mary Harris Jones ("Mother Jones"), Irish-American labor leader (died 1930)source
16 September – Pedro V of Portugal, king (died 1861)Portugal source
September 24 – Mark Hanna, United States Senator from Ohio (died 1904)source
October 10 – Robert Gould Shaw, Union Army general in the American Civil War, social reformer (k. 1863)source
28 October – Tokugawa Yoshinobu, 15th and last Tokugawa shogunate (died 1913)Japan source
November 1 – John Leary, American businessman, politician, and civic leader (died 1905)source
December 24 – Cosima Wagner, wife of German composer Richard Wagner (died 1930)source
December 24 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I (died 1898)source
December 26 – George Dewey, American admiral (died 1917)source
? – Sayyed Muhammad Tabatabei Fesharaki, shia Islam jurist.Iran source
Miguel Villalba Hervás, politician, lawyer, journalist and historian (died 1899)Spain source

Deaths

January 20 – John Soane, British architect (born 1753)source
January 23 – John Field, Irish composer (born 1782)source
February 7 – Gustav IV Adolf, deposed King of Sweden (born 1778)source
February 10 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author, wound received in duel (born 1799)source
March 31 – John Constable, English painter (born 1776)source
June 14 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian writer (born 1798)source
June 20 – King William IV of the United Kingdom and Hannover (born 1765)source
June 20 - William IV King of Hannover (born 1765)Germany source
June 29 – Nathaniel Macon, American politician (born 1757)source
July 27 - Pablo Morillo, military officer (born 1775)Spain source
4 October - José Antonio Vidaurre (born 1798)Chile source
October 10 – Charles Fourier, French philosopher (born 1772)source
October 12 – Charles-Marie Denys de Damrémont, French governor-general of French Algeria (killed during the siege of Constantine) (born 1783)source
October 17 – Peter Lebeck, French trapper and namesake of Lebec, California (birth unknown)source
October 17 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Austrian composer (born 1778)source
November 7 – American abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah Lovejoy is killed by a pro-slavery mob, at his warehouse in Alton, Illinois.source
November 7 – Elijah P. Lovejoy, American abolitionist (born 1802)source
Domingos Sequeira, painter (born 1768).Portugal source