1842 CE

Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution. The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty between the United Kingdom and Qing dynasty China, ends the First Opium War, and establishes Hong Kong as a British colony (later a British dependent territory until 1997). The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana is established by Father Edward Sorin of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.

In the 1840s, the 19th century.

1842 at a glance

World population
about 1.23 billion Our World in Data
United States
John Tyler (President) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931
United Kingdom
Victoria (Queen); Robert Peel (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931
Russian Empire
Nicholas I (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931
Qing dynasty
Daoguang (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931
July Monarchy of France
Louis Philippe I (King); Jean-de-Dieu Soult (Prime minister) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931
Tokugawa shogunate of Japan
Ninkō (Emperor) Wikipedia rev. 1360994931

Who led every country in 1842 →

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March – Commonwealth v. Hunt: The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that labor strikes and the formation of labor unions are both legal in the United States.source
  • May : Wellington becomes a Borough.New Zealandsource
  • June 18 – Education in Sweden: A primary school system is established in Sweden.source
  • August 9 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed between the United States and United Kingdom, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.source
  • August 9 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty ends the Aroostook War, settling once and for all the Maine–New Brunswick border dispute.Canadasource
  • August 9 – The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.United Statessource
  • 21 August – Hobart Town is proclaimed a city.Australiasource
  • August 29 – The Treaty of Nanking, an unequal treaty between the United Kingdom and Qing dynasty China, ends the First Opium War, and establishes Hong Kong as a British colony (later a British dependent territory until 1997).source
  • 29 August — The First Opium war officially ends with the signing of the Treaty of Nanking.Chinasource
  • September 16–17 – The Treaty of Chushul ends the Dogra–Tibetan war (Sino-Sikh War).source
  • 23 September – Education Act stipulates that each local authority must maintain at least one primary school.Belgiumsource
  • The New Zealand seat of government moves from Russell to Auckland.source
  • The Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Tahuata are declared a protectorate of France.source
  • Porsgrunn was granted full city status. Limited city status was granted in 1807.Norwaysource
  • Cape Governor George Napier issues a proclamation against Boer incursions into Basotho and Griqua territories after appeals from Adam Kok III and Dr. John Philip.South Africasource

Conflict & Security

  • January 6–13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, by Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammad Khan.source
  • January 10 – Governor General of Canada Sir Charles Bagot arrives at Kingston, Ontario.Canadasource
  • February 7 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.source
  • February 1842 — the Nemesis saw action at Taisam in, in a successful skirmish associated with repulse of a much larger Chinese attack on Ningbo.Chinasource
  • March 5 – Mexican troops led by Ráfael Vásquez invade the Republic of Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution.source
  • March 5 – Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio, and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution.Mexicosource
  • April 13 – First Anglo-Afghan War: Battle of Jellalabad – British troops are victorious.source
  • May 19 – Dorr Rebellion: Militiamen supporting Thomas Wilson Dorr attack the arsenal in Providence, Rhode Island, but are repulsed.source
  • June 4 – In South Africa, hunter Dick King rides into a British military base in Grahamstown, to warn that the Boers have besieged Durban (he had left 11 days earlier). The British army dispatches a relief force.source
  • 4 June – In South Africa, hunter Dick King rides into the British military base in Grahamstown to warn that Boers have besieged Durban. He had set out eleven days earlier. The British Army dispatches a relief force.United Kingdomsource
  • 21 June – Norfolk Island convict rebellionAustraliasource
  • August 4 – The Armed Occupation Act is signed, providing for the armed occupation and settlement of the unsettled part of the Peninsula of East Florida.source
  • August 14 – American Indian Wars: United States general William J. Worth declares the Second Seminole War to be over.source
  • 30 August – Sir William Nott defeats the Afghans at Ghazni.Walessource
  • War breaks out between the British and the Boers in Natal in the Battle of Congella.South Africasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 23 – Antarctic explorer James Clark Ross, charting the eastern side of James Ross Island, reaches a Farthest South of 78°09'30"S.source
  • 1 February: The first settlers arrive in Nelson aboard the Fifeshire.New Zealandsource
  • March 9 – First documented discovery of gold in California, by Francisco Lopez at Placerita Canyon in Rancho San Francisco, sparking a small-scale gold rush, mainly of Mexicans from Sonora.United Statessource
  • 1 September – Queen Victoria arrives by sea at Granton, Edinburgh, to start her first visit to Scotland.Scotlandsource
  • 20 October – Races are held on the beach at Petone.New Zealandsource
  • The Sons of Temperance is founded in New York City.source
  • Ivar Aasen commenced his research on rural dialects all across NorwayNorwaysource
  • Pioneering allotments are established in Nottingham: St Ann's Allotments and Bagthorpe Gardens.United Kingdomsource
  • The Merchants Fund organization in PhiladelphiaUnited Statessource
  • John Cory and his family move to the docks area of Cardiff and open a ship's chandlery business.Walessource

Religion & Belief

  • February – J. H. Newman, the controversial Anglican cleric, withdraws to Littlemore, outside Oxford, and establishes a semi-monastic community, "the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Littlemore".United Kingdomsource
  • March 17 – The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, forerunner to the philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is formally organized.source
  • May – the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland makes a "Claim of Rights" (drafted by Alexander Colquhoun-Stirling-Murray-Dunlop) asserting the church's independence of state control in spiritual matters.Scotlandsource
  • Michael Alexander takes office, as the first appointee to the Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem.source
  • American medical student William E. Clarke of Berkshire Medical College becomes the first person to administer an inhaled anesthetic, to facilitate a surgical procedure. After Clarke uses a towel and ether to anesthetize a patient identified as "Miss Hobbie", Dr. Elijah Pope pulls her tooth.source
  • Dzogchen Monastery, in Sichuan, China, is almost completely destroyed by an earthquake.source
  • The Norwegian Missionary Society was founded in Stavanger.Norwaysource
  • A Calvinistic Methodist mission to "the Welsh people in France" is established by Rev James Williams and his wife in Brittany.Walessource
  • Missionary Thomas Jones produces his first Khasi Reader and his translation of a Welsh-language work Rhodd Mam ("A Mother's Gift") into the Khasi language.Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • May 11 – The Income Tax Act establishes the first peacetime income tax in the United Kingdom; 7 pence in the pound, for incomes over 150 pounds.source
  • 11 May – Income Tax Act 1842 establishes the first peacetime income tax in Britain; 7 pence on the pound, for incomes over 150 pounds.United Kingdomsource
  • 16 July – "Linen convention" exempts Belgian textiles from French protectionist measures in return for a reduction in the Belgian tariff on French wines.Belgiumsource
  • John Kilner & Co., glass manufacturers, established in Castleford, Yorkshire, to produce the Kilner jar.United Kingdomsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 21 February – Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway opened.Scotlandsource
  • March 31 – The Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch Railway line is opened up to Werneth in North West England.source
  • April: The Auckland Standard begins publication. It folds on 28 August, after four months.New Zealandsource
  • June 13 – Queen Victoria becomes the first reigning British monarch to travel by train, on the Great Western Railway between Slough and London Paddington station.source
  • 13 June – Queen Victoria makes the first train journey by a reigning British monarch, on the Great Western Railway (Slough to Paddington).United Kingdomsource
  • June – James Nasmyth patents the steam hammer in the United Kingdom.source
  • 23 July – Hørsholm Textile Factory is established in Hørsholm.Denmarksource
  • October 5 – Josef Groll brews the first pilsner light lager beer in the city of Pilsen, Bohemia (the modern-day Czech Republic).source
  • 10 October – The Town Dock at Newport is opened.Walessource
  • Pickelhaube helmet introduced in the Prussian Army.source
  • The first Railway in Nova Scotia is begun.Canadasource
  • Jørgen Ernst Meyer establishes the nation's first lacquerware company.Denmarksource
  • The Garden Society of Gothenburg is opened.Swedensource

Science & Discovery

  • 24 February: The Bay of Islands Observer begins publishing. The newspaper publishes its last issue on 27 October 1842.New Zealandsource
  • July 8 – The total solar eclipse of July 8, 1842 is visible from Asia.source
  • Julius von Mayer proposes that work and heat are equivalent.source
  • English palaeontologist Richard Owen coins the name Dinosauria, hence the Anglicized dinosaur.source
  • Linguistic purism in Icelandic: Jónas Hallgrímsson publishes a translation of a textbook on astronomy (Stjörnufræði) which became exemplary for later translations of scientific literature.Icelandsource
  • New pattern musket with percussion cap produced to replace the flintlock in the British Army.United Kingdomsource
  • Paleontologist Richard Owen coins the term name Dinosauria, hence the Anglicised dinosaur.United Kingdomsource
  • John Orlando Parry – Anticipations of SwitzerlandWalessource

Health & Medicine

  • March 30 – American physician and pharmacist Crawford Long administers an inhaled anesthetic (diethyl ether) to facilitate a surgical procedure, performing the removal of a neck tumor.source
  • Beecham's Pills (a laxative) is first marketed in Lancashire, England, by Thomas Beecham, forming the basis of the Beecham Group and GSK plc pharmaceutical companies.source
  • The Conventicle Act was repealed.Norwaysource
  • Beecham's Pills (a laxative) first marketed in St Helens, Lancashire by Thomas Beecham, forming the basis of the Beecham Group and GSK plc pharmaceutical companies.United Kingdomsource
  • The Rebecca Riots, which had seen sporadic outbreaks in 1839, begin in earnest.Walessource

Crime & Justice

  • 20 January – Orla Lehmann is convicted of having criticized the absolute monarchy in his radical Falster Speech (delivered in 1834). Hof- og Stadsretten had only sentenced him to a fine of DKK 500.Denmarksource
  • March – Commonwealth v. Hunt: the Massachusetts Supreme Court makes strikes and unions legal in the United States.United Statessource
  • April–September – 1842 general strike spreads across England's industrial districts, driven by Chartism. Includes the Preston Strike and Pottery Riots. Protestors are killed by the military in several places.source
  • 13 June – The half farthing coin is made legal tender in the U.K.United Kingdomsource
  • November 10 & 19 – London debtor's prisons the Fleet Prison and Marshalsea are closed and inmates transferred to Queen's Bench Prison. Pentonville Prison for criminals is completed in north London this year.source
  • Silvestre De León, soldier and third Alcalde of Victoria murdered in Victoria (born 1802)Mexicosource
  • The Witchcraft Act (Trolldomslov) is abolished.Norwaysource
  • A velocipede rider from Dumfriesshire, perhaps Kirkpatrick Macmillan, knocks down a pedestrian in the Gorbals district of Glasgow.Scotlandsource
  • Rosen på Tistelön by Emilie Flygare-Carlén.Swedensource
  • Henry Hussey Vivian takes over the management of the Liverpool branch of the firm of Vivian and Sons.Walessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 5–8 – The Great fire of Hamburg in Germany destroys around one-third of the city centre and kills 51.source
  • May 8 – Versailles rail accident: A train traveling between Versailles and Paris, France derails, due to a broken locomotive axle, and catches fire, killing at least 55 passengers in the locked carriages.source
  • 8 May – Versailles train crash at Meudon, results in the deaths of at least 55 passengers.Francesource
  • August 10 – The Mines and Collieries Act 1842 in the United Kingdom makes it illegal for women and girls of any age, and boys under ten years, to work underground.source
  • 10 August – Mines and Collieries Act 1842 makes it illegal for women and girls of any age, and boys under ten years, to work underground, following the Children's Employment Commission (Mines) report produced in response to the 1838 Huskar Pit disaster (which resulted in the deaths by drowning of 26 children aged 7 to 17).United Kingdomsource
  • August – Workers at Cyfarthfa and Penydarren ironworks join the general strike.Walessource
  • The Great fire of Hamburg began early on May 5, 1842, in Deichstraße and burned until the morning of May 8, destroying about one third of the buildings in the Altstadt.Germanysource
  • Russian ship of the line Ingermanland sinks outside the coast of Jæren.Norwaysource
  • The Waterloo is wrecked in Table Bay with great loss of life.South Africasource
  • Two explosions at the Blackvein Colliery in Crosskeys result in a total of five deaths.Walessource

Climate & Environment

  • October 29 – The Iberian Peninsula is struck by a category 2 hurricane.source
  • A severe drought in the Eastern Cape Colony leads to cattle theft by settlers and AmaXhosa, weakening the Stockenström's 1836 treaty system.South Africasource

Culture & Society

  • 1 January: The Government begins publication of a monthly magazine in Māori, Te Karere o Nui Tireni (The Messenger of New Zealand). It publishes until 1846, and is revived as The Maori Messenger and Te Manuhiri Tuarangi between 1849 and 1863.New Zealandsource
  • January 8 – Delft University of Technology is established by William II of the Netherlands, as a 'Royal Academy for the education of civilian engineers'.source
  • February 1 – The modern-day Willamette University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the western United States, is established in Salem, Oregon as "The Oregon Institute". The first students begin classes begin on August 13, 1844.source
  • March 2 – Gaylad, ridden by Tom Olliver, wins the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in England.source
  • March 9 – Giuseppe Verdi's third opera Nabucco premieres at La Scala in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost operatic composers.source
  • March 28 – The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, founded by Otto Nicolai, performs its first concert.source
  • 29 March – August Bournonville's ballet Napoli receives its world premiere at the Royal Danish Theatre.Denmarksource
  • 28 May - Inauguration of the Mindre teatern, the first theater to be active within the city borders of Stockholm since the introduction of the monopoly of the Royal Dramatic Theatre 44 years earlier.Swedensource
  • 12 June – The first Welsh language service in Waukesha County, USA, is held at Bronyberllan, home of Richard "King" Jones.Walessource
  • July 13 – The Tri-Kap fraternity is founded at Dartmouth College (the oldest local fraternity in the United States).source
  • September – Wesleyan University is established in Ohio.source
  • October 16 – Queen's University is foundedCanadasource
  • November 26 – The University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana (United States) is established by Father Edward Sorin, of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.source
  • November 26 – The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana is established by Father Edward Sorin of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.United Statessource
  • December 7 – The New York Philharmonic, founded by Ureli Corelli Hill, performs its first concert.source
  • December 20 – The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, is established.source
  • Indiana University Maurer School of Law at Indiana University Bloomington.source
  • Villanova University (in Villanova, Pennsylvania by the Augustinian order).source
  • Cumberland University (in Lebanon, Tennessee).source
  • Hollins University (as Valley Union Seminary in Roanoke, Virginia by Charles Cocke).source
  • Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium founded.Belgiumsource
  • The Walhalla is a hall of fame that honours laudable and distinguished people in German history – "politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue" completed in 1842.Germanysource

Births

Deaths

  • March 4 – James Forten, African American abolitionistsource
  • March 6 – Constanze Mozart, German-born wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b.1762)source
  • March 15 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer (born 1760)source
  • March 23 – Stendhal, French novelist (born 1783)source
  • March 30 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (born 1755)source
  • May 8 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (born 1790)source
  • June 9 – Maria Dalle Donne, Bolognese physician (born 1778)source
  • July 13 – Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, French prince (born 1810)source
  • July 25 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (born 1766)source
  • September 10 – William Hobson, Irish-born officer in the British Royal Navy, first Governor-General of New Zealand and co-author of Treaty of Waitangi (born 1792)source
  • 10 September: William Hobson, first Governor of New ZealandNew Zealandsource
  • September 15 – Francisco Morazán, Honduran-born politician, President of Federal Republic of Central America (born 1792)source
  • October 2 – William Ellery Channing, American Unitarian theologian, minister (born 1780)source
  • October 8 – Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, historian and Nahuatl scholar was born in Veracruz, Veracruz (died 1916)Mexicosource
  • October 20 – Grace Darling, English heroine (born 1815)source
  • October 24 – Bernardo O'Higgins, first Chilean head of state after independence (b.1778)source
  • 24 October-Bernardo O'Higgins (born 1778)Chilesource
  • ? – Set Khan Astvatsatourian, Persian diplomat.Iransource