1861 CE

This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire.

In the 1860s, the 19th century.

1861 at a glance

World population: about 1.30 billion Our World in Data
U.S. president: James Buchanan, then Abraham Lincoln (from March 4) Wikidata
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, head of state: Victoria Wikidata

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 9 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union.source
January 10 – Florida secedes from the Union.source
February 1 – Texas secedes from the Union.source
February 4 – In Montgomery, Alabama, the Provisional Confederate States Congress is formed by representatives from the first seven break-away states.source
March 4 – Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16th president of the United States.source
March 11 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.source
March 17 – Unification of Italy: The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed by the new Parliament, with Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia becoming its king.source
March 21 – Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy, gives the infamous Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Georgia, in which he declares that slavery is the natural condition of blacks, and the foundation of the Confederacy.source
March 28 – Confederate Arizona: A convention in modern-day Tucson ratifies the ordinance of secession of the southern part of New Mexico Territory.source
April 17 – Virginia secedes from the Union.source
22 April - Legislative election.Portugal source
May 6 – Arkansas secedes from the Union.source
May 7 – Tennessee secedes from the Union.source
May 7 – Liberian constitutional referendum, 1861Liberia source
May 13 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality", which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.source
May 20 – Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which lasts until September 3, when Confederate forces enter the state.source
May 20 – North Carolina secedes from the Union.source
May 23 – American Civil War: The state of Virginia's ordinance of secession from the United States is ratified in a referendum.source
May 31 – The Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship is signed between Bahrain and the United Kingdom.source
6 June – German Progress Party (Deutsche Fortschrittspartei) is founded as Germany's first modern political party by liberal members of the Prussian House of Representatives in opposition to Bismarck.Germany source
July 12 – The Confederate States sign a Treaty with Choctaws and Chickasaws in Indian Territory.source
16 July - Chilean presidential election, 1861Chile source
August 6 – Lagos Treaty of Cession between the British Empire and Dosunmu, Oba of Lagos, by which the latter, under threat of military bombardment, cedes Lagos Island to Britain, whilst retaining his title and powers, subject to English law, and allowing the British Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron to have a base there to prevent the slave trade.source
August 15 – Sir Robert Wynyard becomes acting Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa.South Africa source
October 28 – The Missouri legislature takes up a bill for Missouri's secession from the Union.source
October 31 – The Missouri secession bill is signed by Governor Jackson.source
October – Robertson land acts passed by Parliament of New South Wales.Australia source
November 8 – Trent Affair – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent, and arrests two Confederate envoys, James Mason and John Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.source
November 11 – The Tongzhi Emperor succeeds to the throne of China at the age of 5. His mother, Empress Dowager Cixi, becomes co-regent and will be the power behind the imperial throne for almost 50 years.source
December 10 – American Civil War: A rebel government representing Kentucky is accepted into the Confederate States of America, although Kentucky officially remains part of the United States.source
establishes the Zongli Yamen after the Convention of PekingChina source
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar was named as crown prince. He was also appointed as governor of Azerbaijan and sent to Tabriz.Iran source

Conflict & Security

February 11 – About 850 convicts at Chatham Dockyard in England take over their prison in a riot.source
February 13 – Unification of Italy: The Siege of Gaeta, stronghold of the Neapolitan King Francis II, is ended by Piedmontese forces. Francis goes into exile.source
February 23 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C. in light of suspicions of a conspiracy in Baltimore to kill him.source
March 4 – American Civil War: The "Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.source
March 10 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.source
March 20 – Unification of Italy: The surrender of Civitella del Tronto ends the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.source
April 12 – The American Civil War begins with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina.source
April 27 – American Civil War: President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in the United States.source
21 May – Russian sailors clash with Japanese samurai and farmers at Tsushima island.Russia source
30 June – Lambing Flat riots of Lambing Flat (Young), New South WalesAustralia source
July 1 – Taiping Rebellion: Battle of Shanghai – French and Imperial Chinese troops defeat Taiping forces.source
14 July – Osckar Becker attempts assassination of William I of Prussia in Baden-Baden.Germany source
18 July - South Wales Cricket Club defeat MCC at Lord's.Wales source
July 21 – First Battle of Bull Run – At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war ends in a Confederate victory.source
July 25 – The Crittenden–Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union, and not to end slavery.source
July 26 – George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, following the disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.source
August 10 – American Civil War: The first major battle west of the Mississippi River, the Battle of Wilson's Creek, is fought, with a Confederate victory.source
September 3 – Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.source
September 6 – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, which gives the Union control of the mouth of the Tennessee River.source
September 17 – Argentine Civil War: Battle of Pavón: Victory of Buenos Aires over the Argentine Confederation, and the re-unification of Argentina.source
October 9 – American Civil War: Battle of Santa Rosa Island – Confederate forces are defeated in their effort to take the island.source
October 21 – American Civil War: Battle of Ball's Bluff – Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops, in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is also killed in the fighting.source
October 31 – American Civil War: Citing failing health, 75-year-old Union General Winfield Scott resigns as Commander of the United States Army.source
November 2 – American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Frémont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.source
November 7 – Battle of Belmont – In Belmont, Missouri, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant (in his first combat leadership role) overrun a Confederate camp, but are forced to retreat when Confederate reinforcements arrive.source
November 8 – The Trent Affair: British packet steamer Trent stopped by United States warship in international waters. Two Confederate diplomats taken off and imprisoned in Boston.Canada source
November 8 – American Civil War – Trent Affair: The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, James Mason and John Slidell, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.K. and U.S.United States source
November 19 – Battle of Round Mountain in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma).source
November 21 – Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Judah P. Benjamin Secretary of War.source
December 1 – American Civil War: Trent Affair – The British government dispatches its response, partly drafted by Prince Albert (a fortnight before his death).source
December - Occupation of AraucaníaChile source
Xinyou Coup, Cixi seizes powerChina source

Exploration & Expansion

June – first modern excavation of the Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave of Maeshowe on Orkney.Scotland source
July – The archaeological excavations at the Jelling Stones are resumed under supervision of Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae and later that month visited by King Frederik VII personally.Denmark source
17 September – the SS Great Eastern, with a badly damaged rudder, anchors in Cork Harbour for temporary repairs.Ireland source
Charles-Philogène Tschaggeny, The Ardennes Mail Coach.Belgium source
Ferdaminni fraa Sumaren 1860 (A remembrance of a journey in the summer 1860) was written by Aasmund Olavsson Vinje.Norway source
Griffith John becomes the first Christian missionary to penetrate into central China.Wales source

Religion & Belief

1 January – Franco-Belgian Tirailleurs renamed Papal Zouaves.Belgium source
February 20 – In Britain, storms damage the Crystal Palace and cause the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral.source
20 February – storms damage the Crystal Palace in London and cause the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral.United Kingdom source
July 2 – Ivan Kasatkin lands on Hakodate, and introduces the Eastern Orthodox Church into Japan.source
25 August – St. John's Church in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen is consecrated at a ceremony attended by King Frederik VII. It is first church to be built outside the city's old fortification ring when it was decommissioned.Denmark source
13 September – The Church Association for the Inner Mission in Denmark is founded.Denmark source
7 October – the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, Manchester in Salford is consecrated as the oldest purpose-built Greek Orthodox Church in England.United Kingdom source
Edinburgh and Glasgow Bible Societies merged to form the National Bible Society of Scotland.Scotland source
Thomas Rees - History of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales: From Its Rise to the Present TimeWales source
Jane Williams (Ysgafell) - The Literary Women of EnglandWales source

Economy & Finance

15 April – Watchmaker Junghans is founded.Germany source
May 29 – The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce is established.source
31 July – Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act codifies company law.United Kingdom source
August 5 – In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government issues the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872).source
6 August – Coinage Offences Act, codifying the law on counterfeiting of coins.United Kingdom source
October 25 – The Toronto Stock Exchange is established in Canada.source
The Maritime and Commercial Court is established.Denmark source
East India Loan Act (British statute)India source
William Morris founds the influential furnishing company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.United Kingdom source
Alonzo E. Deitz founds the A. E. Deitz lock company in Brooklyn, New York.United States source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 1 – The first steam-powered carousel is recorded, in Bolton, England.source
16 February: The Southern News and Foveaux Strait's Herald publishes its first issue. The paper will become daily by 1875 and change its name to The Southland Daily News. It continues until 1968.New Zealand source
11 March – the Portpatrick Railway opens to Stranraer Town railway station, providing a connection from Dumfries.Scotland source
May 17 – A 7-day working men's package holiday to Paris, organised by Thomas Cook, sets out from London Bridge station.source
17 May – A 7-day working men's package holiday to Paris, organised by Thomas Cook, sets out from London Bridge station.United Kingdom source
10 June - The Oswestry and Newtown Railway is completed throughout by opening of the section between Abermule and Newtown, giving through rail communication from England to Llanidloes.Wales source
September 16 – Roman Rock Lighthouse at the entrance to Simon's Town begins operating after taking 4 years to build.South Africa source
October 24 – HMS Warrior, the world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled armored battleship, is completed and commissioned into the British Royal Navy.source
October 24 – Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States.source
6 November – First message sent via the newly completed Sydney to Brisbane telegraph line.Australia source
The first industrial meat packing plant in Uruguay is established, at Fray Bentos.source
The Cariboo Gold Rush starts in British Columbia.Canada source
A decision is taken to construct Strandvägen in Stockholm.Sweden source

Science & Discovery

13 March – Tsushima incident: the Russian corvette Posadnik arrives at Tsushima Island in the Korea Strait, Japan, provoking a reaction from the Japan.Russia source
March 30 – Discovery of the chemical elements: British chemist William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.source
30 March – William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.United Kingdom source
April 26 – Giovanni Schiaparelli discovers the asteroid 69 Hesperia.source
May 13 – Comet C/1861 J1 (the "Great Comet of 1861") is discovered from Australia.source
13 May – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales.Australia source
May 17 – Scottish-born physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography in a lecture at the Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by Thomas Sutton.source
17 May – Scottish-born physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of three-colour photography in a lecture at the Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by Thomas Sutton.United Kingdom source
June 9 – Règlement Organique: With the approval of European powers, the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate is established as a semi-autonomous sub-division separate from the Sidon Eyalet. An Ottoman Armenian, Davud Pasha, is appointed Mutasarrıf by the Ottoman Sultan.source
August 1 – The first public weather forecast: measured and predicted correctly by Admiral Robert FitzRoy in Britain.source
August 15 – First description of Archaeopteryx, based on a feather found in Bavaria; in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near Langenaltheim in Germany.source
15 August – First description of Archaeopteryx, based on a feather found in Bavaria; in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near Langenaltheim.Germany source
August 19 – Weisshorn, the fifth highest summit in the Alps, is first ascended.source
Foreign Law Ascertainment Act (British statute)India source

Health & Medicine

April 7 – A population census is taken in the United Kingdom. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.source
7 April – United Kingdom census. The population is more than double that of 1801 and those living in urban areas are in a majority.United Kingdom source
April 27 – President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland.United States source
19 May – Association "Vlamingen Vooruit!" organises mass meeting in BrusselsBelgium source
July – outbreak of yellow fever onboard paddle frigate HMS Firebrand in the West Indies kills 52.United Kingdom source
24 August – Mater Misericordiae Hospital is opened in Dublin by the Sisters of Mercy (architect: John Bourke).Ireland source
Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott becomes the first Canadian-born Black to graduate from medical school.Canada source
Domicile Act (British statute)India source

Crime & Justice

January 31 – Kukis raid the Chhagalnaiya plains in eastern Bengal, murdering and kidnapping hundreds of people, particularly women.source
May 13 – North Star affair: The British merchant ship North Star leaves Hong Kong for Nagasaki, Japan. Chinese pirates board the vessel, kill an officer, and escape with a large quantity of gold.source
6 July – Robert Palin is hanged in Western Australia following the use of Ordinance 17 Victoria Number 7 to secure the capital punishment of a convict for a crime not normally punishable by death.Australia source
6 August – Criminal Law Consolidation Acts (drafted by Charles Sprengel Greaves) granted Royal Assent, generally coming into effect on 1 November. The death penalty is limited to murder, embezzlement, piracy, high treason and to acts of arson perpetrated upon docks or ammunition depots; the age of consent is codified as twelve. The Home Secretary takes over the power to reprieve or commute sentences from the judiciary and Privy Council.United Kingdom source
August 27 – Martin Doyle is the last person executed in Britain for attempted murder.source
27 August – last execution in Britain for attempted murder – Martin Doyle in Chester.United Kingdom source
The Delhi Department of Police is founded.India source
Malicious Damages Act (British statute)India source
Excavation of Long Hole Cave in Glamorgan reveals prehistoric flint artefacts.Wales source
Griffith Jones (Glan Menai) - Hywel WynWales source
David Owen (Brutus) - Cofiant y Diweddar Barch. Thomas WilliamsWales source

Disasters & Accidents

7 February – François Robyn (Br Hugo in religion) sentenced to death at the Court of assizes in Mons for arson at Scourmont Priory the previous October.Belgium source
June 7/8 - Shipwreck of the "Prince of Wales" in Rio Grande do Sul.Brazil source
June 22 – Tooley Street fire breaks out and takes the life of James Braidwood, first superintendent of the London Fire Brigade.source
June 30 – Lambing Flat riots: White miners attack Chinese in the Australian goldfields.source
November 25 – A tenement collapses in the Old Town, Edinburgh (Scotland), killing 35 people, while 15 others survive.source
25 November – a tenement collapses in the Old Town, Edinburgh, killing 35 with 15 survivors.United Kingdom source
December 10 – In southern French Indochina, resistance forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực ambush, board and sink the French lorcha (boat) L'Esperance on the Nhat Tao canal.source
21 to 26 March – the Tooley Street fire in Southwark destroys several buildings.United Kingdom source

Climate & Environment

March 20 – An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.source
21 March: The Auckland Examiner, which started in 1856, ceases publication.New Zealand source
12 April – American Civil War breaks out, leading to the Lancashire Cotton Famine (1861–1865).United Kingdom source
April 14 – A major flood hits MontrealCanada source
May 14 – The Canellas meteorite, an 859 gram chondrite type meteorite, strikes Earth near Barcelona, Spain.source
October 26 – The Pony Express American transcontinental mail service announces its closure.source
Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry.source

Culture & Society

February 21 – Mariehamn, the capital of Åland, is founded.source
March 3 (February 19 O.S.) – Emancipation reform of 1861: Alexander II abolishes serfdom in the Russian Empire.source
May 10 – The Royal Seminary is granted its constitution as the first public institution of higher academic learning open to women in Sweden.source
14 June – The 1861 Danish Folketing election is held. Carl Christian Hall remains Prime Minister following the elections.Denmark source
29 June: Confirmation of the richness of Gabriel Read's gold discovery at Gabriel's Gully on the Tuapeka River is published in Dunedin and the Otago gold rush is on.New Zealand source
July 1 – The first issue of the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano is published.source
July 1 – In Cologne, the Wallraf–Richartz Museum of art opens.source
7 August – Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein founded by Franz Liszt and Franz Brendel.Germany source
August 20–22 – The first modern Welsh National Eisteddfod takes place in Aberdare.source
November 4 – The University of Washington is founded in Seattle.source
November 5 – The first Melbourne Cup horse race is held in Melbourne, Australia.source
7 November – The first Melbourne Cup is held. It is won by Archer. (List of Melbourne Cup winners).Australia source
Auguste Chauvin, The Banquet of JupilleBelgium source
1861 Newfoundland general electionCanada source
Self-Strengthening Movement beginsChina source
Girls' High School & College, Allahabad, is founded.India source

Births

January 14 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman Sultan (died 1926)source
21 January - Roberto Landell de MouraBrazil source
February 15 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947)source
February 26 – King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (died 1948)source
February 27 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher, social reformer and author (died 1925)source
April 18 - Rafael Yglesias Castro, President 1894-1902 (died 1924)Costa Rica source
April 22 – István Tisza, 2-time prime minister of Hungary (died 1918)source
April 23 – Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, British soldier, administrator (died 1936)source
May 7 – Rabindranath Tagore, Poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist, story-writer, composer, painter, philosopher, social reformer, educationist, linguist, grammarian, and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate for the collection of poems Gitanjali. (died 1941)source
May 11 – Frederick Russell Burnham, American scouter (died 1947)source
June 19 – José Rizal, Filipino national hero (died 1896)source
August 4 – Daniel Edward Howard, President of Liberia (1912–1920), in Buchanan (died 1935)Liberia source
August 6 – Edith Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (died 1948)source
10 August - Rafael Valentín Errázuriz (died 1923)Chile source
October 4 – Frederic Remington, American cowboy artist, sculptor (died 1909)source
October 10 – Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, scientist and humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1930)source
November 6 – James Naismith, Canadian inventor of basketball (died 1939)source
December 8 – Georges Méliès, French film director (died 1938)source

Deaths

January 2 – King Frederick William IV of Prussia (born 1795)source
2 January – Frederick William IV of Prussia dies and is succeeded by Wilhelm I.Germany source
January 17 – Lola Montez, Irish-born dancer, mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria (born 1821)source
March 10 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet (born 1814)source
April 24 (N.S.) – Bezdna unrest: Bezdna in Russia is the scene of a peasant uprising; the military open fire and about 90 are killed.source
June 3 – Stephen A. Douglas, American senator from Illinois, Democratic presidential candidate (born 1813)source
June 6 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, 1st prime minister of Italy (born 1810)source
June 25 – Abdülmecid I, Ottoman sultan (born 1823)source
June 25 – Abdülmecid I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1839–1861) dies and is succeeded by Abdülaziz (1861–1876).source
June 29 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (born 1806)source
August 28 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish journalist, 1st Mayor of Toronto (born 1795)source
October 17 – Australian frontier wars: Cullin-la-ringo massacre – 19 white settlers are murdered by indigenous Australians, following which more than 300 of the latter are killed in retaliation.source
23 October - José María Linares (born 1808)Chile source
November 10 – Death of French explorer Henri Mouhot, following which his servant Phrai begins shipping his diaries and specimens back to the west; they include accounts of Mouhot's discovery of Angkor Wat.source
11 November – Pedro V of Portugal, king (born 1837)Portugal source
22 November (in Grafton, New South Wales): William Edward Vincent, printer and publisherNew Zealand source
November 25 – At a battle in the Sundarbans of Bengal, the house of Rahimullah of Baraikhali is attacked and he and 33 others are killed.source
December 14 – Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria (born 1819)source