1864 CE

The Russian Empire begins the Circassian genocide. More than 1.5 million Circassians are driven from their homeland to the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Circassian War. Battle of Brice's Crossroads – Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force, led by General Samuel D. Sturgis, in Mississippi. American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville – At Johnsonville, Tennessee, troops under the command of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest bombard a Union supply base with artillery, and destroy millions of dollars' worth of material.

In the 1860s, the 19th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 5 – The Transvaal Civil War ends with Paul Kruger's victory over Jan Viljoen's commando at the Crocodile River.South Africasource
  • January 16 – Denmark rejects an Austrian-Prussian ultimatum to repeal the Danish Constitution, which says that Schleswig-Holstein is part of Denmark.source
  • February 25 – The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia (the 500 prisoners had left Richmond, Virginia, seven days before).source
  • March 1 – Alejandro Mon y Menéndez takes office as Prime Minister of Spain.source
  • Charles Baudelaire moves to Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • May 2 – Under terms of the Treaty of London, the United Kingdom voluntarily cedes control of the United States of the Ionian Islands to the Kingdom of Greece.source
  • May 26 – Montana Territory is organized out of parts of Washington Territory and Dakota Territory.source
  • June 30 – Macdonald-Cartier "Great Coalition" government formed.Canadasource
  • 8 July – The Cabinet of Monrad is succeeded by the Cabinet of Bluhme.Denmarksource
  • August 22 – The First Geneva Convention, for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, is signed in Geneva by 12 European states, under the auspices of the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded (predecessor of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement).source
  • September 1 – Charlottetown Conference: Delegates from the Canadian colonies meet, to discuss Canadian Confederation.source
  • 29 September – Signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, on boundaries between Spain and PortugalPortugalsource
  • October 10 – The Quebec Conference begins, to discuss plans for the creation of a Dominion of Canada.source
  • 25 October – establishment of General Las Heras PartidoArgentinasource
  • 30 October – Treaty of Vienna, End of Second Schleswig WarGermanysource
  • October 31 – Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state.source
  • November 7 – The capital of Idaho Territory is moved from Lewiston to Boise; North Idaho declares the move illegal, and proposes secession.source
  • November 8 – 1864 United States presidential election: Abraham Lincoln is reelected, in an overwhelming victory over George B. McClellan.source
  • November 20 – The judicial reform of Alexander II is launched in the Russian Empire.source

Conflict & Security

  • 1 January – The Queensland Police Force is established and begins operations with approximately 143 employees.Australiasource
  • 1 February – Beginning of Second Schleswig WarGermanysource
  • 11 February: Major Charles Heaphy is recommended for the Victoria Cross. It was not awarded until 1867.New Zealandsource
  • April 12 – American Civil War: Battle of Fort Pillow – Confederate forces kill most of the African American soldiers who surrender at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.source
  • May 5 – American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.source
  • May 7 – American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.source
  • May 11 – Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.source
  • May 21 – The Russian Empire begins the Circassian genocide. More than 1.5 million Circassians are driven from their homeland to the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Circassian War.source
  • & May 15 – Battle of New Market – Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army, forcing Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.source
  • June 3 – 2nd Battle of AcapulcoMexicosource
  • June 19 – American Civil War: Battle of Cherbourg – Confederate States Navy CSS Alabama is sunk in a single-ship action with USS Kearsarge, in the English Channel off the coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, France.source
  • Battle of Brice's Crossroads – Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force, led by General Samuel D. Sturgis, in Mississippi.source
  • July 19 – The Third Battle of Nanking climaxes, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom capital of Nanking falls to an assault by Imperial Qing dynasty forces, in the last major action of the Taiping Rebellion in China. There are probably more than a million troops in the battle, and the Taiping army sustains at least 100,000 dead.source
  • July 20 – Battle of Peachtree Creek – Near Atlanta, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.source
  • July 1864 - Third Battle of Nanking, Fall of Tianjing, Taiping Rebellion mostly endsChinasource
  • August 10 – An undeclared Uruguayan War begins, when Uruguay refuses an ultimatum from the Empire of Brazil.source
  • August 18 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, forcing the Confederates to use wagons.source
  • August 31 – American Civil War: Union forces, led by General William T. Sherman, launch an assault on Atlanta.source
  • September 5–6 – Bombardment of Shimonoseki: An American, British, Dutch and French alliance engages the powerful feudal Japanese warlord or daimyō Lord Mōri Takachika, of the Chōshū clan, based in Shimonoseki, Japan.source
  • September 17 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Cabin Creek is fought in Indian Territory.source
  • October 1 – A calamity is narrowly averted in London at the Erith explosionsource
  • October 12 – Uruguayan War: Forces of the Empire of Brazil invade Uruguay, in support of Venancio Flores' Colorado Party.source
  • 16 October – Belgian Legion embark for Mexico to take part in the Second French intervention in MexicoBelgiumsource
  • October 30 – The Second Schleswig War is concluded. Denmark renounces all claim to Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, which come under Prussian and Austrian administration.source
  • November 4 – American Civil War: Battle of Johnsonville – At Johnsonville, Tennessee, troops under the command of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest bombard a Union supply base with artillery, and destroy millions of dollars' worth of material.source
  • November 22 – Sherman's March to the Sea – Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee, in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General Sherman from Georgia.source
  • November 29 – American Indian Wars: Sand Creek massacre – Colorado volunteers, led by Colonel John Chivington, massacre at least 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants at Sand Creek, Colorado (where they had been given permission to camp); many of the dead are subsequently mutilated.source
  • November 30 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Franklin – The Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by General Hood, mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions around Franklin, Tennessee (Hood loses 6 generals and almost a third of his troops).source
  • December 4 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops, led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler, from interfering with Union General Sherman's campaign of destroying a wide swath of the South, on his march to Savannah; Union forces suffer more than 3 times the casualties as the Confederates, however.source
  • 13 December – Paraguayan War: Paraguay declares war on Brazil; war with Argentina follows three months later.Argentinasource
  • December 15–16 – American Civil War: Battle of Nashville – Union forces decisively defeat the Confederate Army of Tennessee.source
  • Russia starts the Circassian genocide.Russiasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • June 18 – The Decree of Extended Freedom of Trade introduces complete freedom of trade in Sweden.source
  • June 18 – The Decree of Extended Freedom of Trade introduce complete freedom of trade in Sweden: unmarried women are granted the same rights within trade and commerce as men.Swedensource
  • August 13 – The first fish and chips shop perhaps opens in London.source
  • Bloemhof is founded on the banks of the Vaal River when diamonds are discovered in the area.South Africasource
  • 15 September – The explorer of Africa, John Hanning Speke, 37, accidentally shoots himself at Neston Park, his estate in Wiltshire.United Kingdomsource
  • October 30 – Helena, Montana, is founded, after four prospectors (the so-called Four Georgians) discover gold at Last Chance Gulch; it is their last and agreed final attempt for weeks, of trying to find gold in the northern Rockies.source
  • October 30 – Helena, Montana is founded after four prospectors (the so-called Four Georgians) discover gold at Last Chance Gulch; it is their last and agreed final attempt at weeks of trying to find gold in the northern Rockies.United Statessource
  • 19 December – Cape Western – Salt River to Wynberg, 6 mi.South Africasource
  • Asa Mercer travels from Seattle to the U.S. East Coast, and recruits 11 Mercer Girls, potential wives for men on the West Coast.source
  • The Dutch conquer southern Sumatra.source
  • The first Quanjude Peking Roast Duck restaurant opens on Qianmen Street in Peking, China.source
  • Up to 6000 miners come to the Wakamarina Valley in Marlborough after gold is discovered. Canvastown is founded at the river mouth. About 25,000 oz of gold is recovered in 1864, but the surface gold is quickly exhausted.New Zealandsource
  • R. D. Blackmore - Clara VaughanWalessource

Religion & Belief

  • April 22 – The phrase "In God We Trust" appears for the first time on the newly created two-cent piece.source
  • 21 May – Father Damien ordained in HonoluluBelgiumsource
  • June 5 – In Marseille, Notre-Dame de la Garde, the city's most famous landmark, is consecrated.source
  • 11 July – Federation of Catholic Circles and Conservative Associations formed (later to become the more formalised Catholic Party)Belgiumsource
  • September 1 – September 9: Charlottetown Conference, noted as the first step towards ConfederationCanadasource
  • September 16 – Pope Pius IX establishes the Diocese of Gozo.source
  • 1 October – The Australasian (later to be known as Australasian Post) is first published in Melbourne.Australiasource
  • December 8 – Syllabus errorum: Pope Pius IX condemns theological liberalism as an error, and claims the supremacy of Roman Catholic Church authority over civil society. He also condemns rationalism and socialism.source
  • Tsar Alexander II of Russia legislated church councils.Russiasource
  • Judicial Reform of Alexander II.Russiasource
  • Frances Williams-Wynn - Diaries of a Lady of Quality (posthumously published)Walessource
  • Daniel Silvan Evans (ed.) - Y Marchog Crwydrad: Hen Ffuglith GymreigWalessource

Economy & Finance

  • February 15 – Heineken Brewery is founded in the Netherlands.source
  • April 22 – The United States Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864, which makes privately issued Civil War tokens illegal. An additional law is passed on June 8 to include all private coinage.source
  • April 22 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.United Statessource
  • May 4 – Société Générale, a major financial group in France, is founded.source
  • 4 May – Société Générale bank established in Paris.Francesource
  • Yasudaya Currency Exchange Bank, as predecessor of Mizuho Financial Group, is founded in Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Japan.source
  • Merchants Bank of Halifax, as predecessor of Royal Bank of Canada, founded in Nova Scotia.source
  • Foundation of the Munster Bank, later rescued as the Munster & Leinster Bank, a constituent of Allied Irish Banks.Irelandsource
  • Banco Nacional Ultramarino establishedPortugalsource
  • The National Bank of Scotland becomes the first Scottish bank to open an office in London.Scotlandsource
  • The Skandinaviska Banken founded.Swedensource
  • Joseph Hepworth sets up his tailoring business in Leeds, predecessor of Next plc.United Kingdomsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 4 May – The first trout hatchery in the southern hemisphere is established at Plenty, Tasmania.Australiasource
  • June 23 - Aberystwyth is linked to the rail network for the first time.Walessource
  • June 29 – St-Hilaire train disaster : A train of newly arrived immigrants fails to stop at the open swing span near Beloeil, Canada East. The Grand Trunk Railway train runs into the Richelieu River, killing 99.Canadasource
  • August 1 – The Elgin Watch Company is founded in Elgin, Illinois.source
  • December 8 – The Clifton Suspension Bridge across the River Avon (Bristol) in England, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed as a memorial to him, opens to traffic.source
  • December 19 – A railway line to Wynberg, constructed with private capital, is opened to the public.South Africasource
  • Belgian State Railways Type 1 taken into useBelgiumsource
  • India Office Site Act (British statute)Indiasource
  • The Wairau Record starts publishing in Blenheim. The newspaper changed its name to The Marlborough News and General Advertiser in 1865 and then to just The Marlborough News. It folded in 1874.New Zealandsource
  • The newspaper Dagens Nyheter begins its publication.Swedensource

Science & Discovery

  • May 7 – The clipper ship City of Adelaide is launched in Sunderland, England. By the 21st century, she will be the world's oldest surviving clipper of only two (Cutty Sark being the other).source
  • June 30 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Yosemite Grant Act, precursor to Yosemite National Park.United Statessource
  • October 10 – October 27: Quebec Conference, identified 72 resolutions for the British North America Act, 1867Canadasource
  • 18 October – HDMS Peder Skram is launched at Nyholm in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • October 30 – An annular solar eclipse occurs, the 42nd solar eclipse of Solar Saros 131.source
  • December 8 – James Clerk Maxwell presents his paper, A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field, to the Royal Society in London, treating light as an electromagnetic wave.source
  • Lantern wins the Melbourne Cup.Australiasource
  • Hugo Erfurt invents Ingrain wallpaperGermanysource
  • Australian magpie introduced to New ZealandNew Zealandsource
  • Queen Louise and Princess Louise take lessons in ice skating from the pioneer Nancy Edberg, making ice skating socially acceptable for females.Swedensource
  • Alfred Russel Wallace - The Origin of Human Races and the Antiquity of Man Deduced from the Theory of Natural SelectionWalessource

Health & Medicine

  • April – Charles Baudelaire leaves Paris for Belgium in the hope of resolving his financial difficulties.Francesource
  • June – The United States Sanitary Commission's Sanitary Fair in Philadelphia takes place.source
  • 19 July – Chalmers Hospital opened in Banff, Aberdeenshire.Scotlandsource
  • July – President Abraham Lincoln signs a law that abolishes the commutation fee that could be paid to in lieu of conscription.United Statessource
  • The classic aperitif Hesperidina is invented by American immigrant Melville Sewell Bagley in Buenos Aires.Argentinasource
  • Husbands are forbidden to abuse their wives.Swedensource
  • The Llandudno Improvement Commissioners attempt to ban Punch and Judy shows. In this year, the town first receives the title "Queen of Welsh Resorts".Walessource

Crime & Justice

  • 14 May – Bushranger Frank Gardiner is sentenced to 32 years in prison, although he is later pardoned by Henry Parkes in 1874.Australiasource
  • May 20 – Australian bushranger Ben Hall and his gang escape from a shootout with police, after attempting to rob the Bang Bang Hotel in Koorawatha, New South Wales.source
  • 20 May – Bushranger Ben Hall and his gang escape from a shootout with police after attempting to rob the Bang Bang Hotel in Koorawatha, New South Wales.Australiasource
  • 21 June – last public execution in Edinburgh – George Bryce, the Ratho murderer.Scotlandsource
  • July 29 – Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops, and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.source
  • Twofold Bay Waltzes by Georgina Isabella O'Sullivan née Keon (1841-1927 daughter of George Plunkett Keon JP, niece of John PlunkettQC)Australiasource
  • Women students are admitted as students at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts without having to apply for a dispensation.Swedensource
  • The gymnastics profession is open to women.Swedensource
  • Huw Derfel - Llawlyfr Carnedd LlywelynWalessource
  • South Wales Cricket Club play Gentlemen of Sussex. The South Wales team includes W. G. Grace, who scores 170.Walessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 22 – the Stifone powder-magazine explosion near Narni, Italy, destroys much of the village of Stifone and kills 12 people.source
  • February 17 – The tiny Confederate hand-propelled submarine H. L. Hunley sinks the USS Housatonic, using a spar torpedo in Charleston Harbor, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship, although the submarine and her crew of eight are also lost.source
  • February 17 – American Civil War: The Confederate submarine Hunley torpedoes the USS Housatonic, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (the sub and her crew of 8 are also lost).United Statessource
  • 14 May – The Orgueil meteorite falls to earth.Francesource
  • 2 June – The schooner Waratah disappears between Sydney and Newcastle, claiming seven lives.Australiasource
  • June 29 – St-Hilaire train disaster, a passenger train operated by Grand Trunk Railway and travelling from Quebec City to Montreal is derailed at a swung open bridge after a signal passed at danger. The train also collapses onto a ship, sinking both ship and train. 99 people are killed and 100 injured making this the deadliest train accident in Canada's history.source
  • 18 October – abolition of squadron colours in the Royal Navy, reserving the White Ensign to the Navy, the Red Ensign to the Merchant Navy and the Blue Ensign to military vessels.United Kingdomsource
  • December 1 – The Great Fire of Brisbane breaks out in Australia.source
  • 1 December – Great Fire of BrisbaneAustraliasource
  • David Davies Llandinam takes a lease of coal in the Upper Rhondda Valley and sinks the Parc and Maindy pits.Walessource

Climate & Environment

  • March 11 – Great Sheffield Flood: A reservoir near Sheffield, England, bursts; 250 die.source
  • 11 March – Great Sheffield Flood: the Dale Dike Dam bursts devastating Sheffield.United Kingdomsource
  • October 3 – A destructive earthquake causes severe damage and 20 deaths southwest of Veracruz.Mexicosource
  • October 5 – A cyclone kills 70,000 people in and around Calcutta in India.source
  • 1 November - A massive cyclone and tidal wave destroys Masulipatnam and kills nearly 30,000 people.Indiasource
  • Dietrich Brandis set up Imperial Forest Department the earlier form of Indian Forest Service.Indiasource

Culture & Society

  • 1 January – The All England Eleven cricket team defeats the Victorian XXII at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Australiasource
  • 9 January - Scientific Society of Aligarh established as part of Aligarh Movement by Syed Ahmad Khan.Indiasource
  • January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dreamer" is published in March.source
  • February – John Wisden publishes The Cricketer's Almanack for the year 1864 in England; it will go on to become the major annual cricket reference publication.source
  • March 14 – Rossini's Petite messe solennelle is first performed, by twelve singers, two pianists and a harmonium player in a mansion in Paris.source
  • April 8 – Gallaudet University is founded in Washington, D.C., as the first university for the deaf and hard of hearing.source
  • 25 April – 25 June – London Conference of 1864Germanysource
  • 29 May – Princess Charlotte lands in Mexico to become Empress as consort of Maximilian I of MexicoBelgiumsource
  • June 15 – Arlington National Cemetery is established in the United States, when 200 acres of the grounds of Robert E. Lee's home (Arlington House) are officially set aside as a military cemetery, by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.source
  • June 15 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.8 km 2 ) of the grounds of Robert E. Lee's home Arlington House are officially set-aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.United Statessource
  • July 2 – Dimitri Atanasescu founds the first Romanian school in the Balkans for Aromanians in Trnovo, in the Ottoman Empire (modern-day North Macedonia). By the early 20th century, the number of these schools will have risen to 106.source
  • July 4 – The University of Bucharest in Romania is founded.source
  • September 28 – The International Workingmen's Association is founded in London.source
  • The Lyster Opera Company makes its first tour to New Zealand (possibly the first by a full opera company).New Zealandsource
  • Ja, vi elsker, composed by Rikard Nordraak, with lyrics by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, becomes the (de facto) Norwegian national anthem.Norwaysource
  • Bertha Valerius appointed official photographer of the royal court.Swedensource

Births

  • January 8 – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (died 1892)source
  • January 17 – Mehdi Qoli Hedayat, Prime Minister of Iran.Iransource
  • January 20 — Carmen Romero Rubio, second wife of President Porfirio Díaz (died 1944)Mexicosource
  • March 12 – W. H. R. Rivers, English psychiatrist (died 1922)source
  • April 21 – Max Weber, German sociologist (died 1920)source
  • May 5 – Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet, British field marshal, politician (died 1922)source
  • 6 June – Alfredo de Sá Cardoso, military officer and politician (died 1950)Portugalsource
  • June 11 – Richard Strauss, German composer (died 1949)source
  • July 12 – George Washington Carver, African-American botanist (died 1943)source
  • August 9 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (died 1939)source
  • August 23 – Eleftherios Venizelos, 7-time prime minister of Greece (died 1936)source
  • September 14 – Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, English politician, diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1958)source
  • October 8 – Kikunae Ikeda, chemist (died 1936)Japansource
  • October 9 – Reginald Dyer, British army officer, perpetrator of Jallianwala Bagh massacre (died 1927)source
  • October 31 – Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1945)source
  • November 1 – Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (died 1918)source
  • December 8 – Camille Claudel, French sculptor (died 1943)source
  • December 9 – Breaker Morant, Australian soldier (died 1902)source

Deaths

  • January 13 – Stephen Foster, American song composer (born 1826)source
  • 20 January - José Francisco Gana (born 1791)Chilesource
  • February 7 – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian linguist, major reformer of the Serbian language (born 1787)source
  • 10 March – Maximilian II of Bavaria, German king of Bavaria (born 1811)Germanysource
  • April 15 – Choe Je-u, founder of the Donghak Movement, is executed by beheading for sedition, at Daegu, Korea.source
  • May 2 – Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer (born 1791)source
  • May 12 – J. E. B. Stuart, Confederate general (in battle) (born 1833)source
  • May 19 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (born 1804)source
  • May 20 – John Clare, Northamptonshire peasant poet (born 1793)source
  • June 1 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel (born 1814)source
  • June 4 – Matías Ramón Mella, Dominican general (born 1816)source
  • August 19 – Trương Định, Vietnamese leader (suicide) (born 1820)source
  • August 31 – Ferdinand Lassalle, Prussian-German philosopher, socialist and politician (born 1825)source
  • October 12 – Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (born 1777)source
  • 30 October – Jonas Coe ("Comodoro Juan Coe"), US naval commander and supporter of Juan Manuel de Rosas (born 1805).Argentinasource
  • November 18 – Morteza Ansari, Iranian Shia jurist.Iransource
  • December 8 – George Boole, English mathematician, philosopher (born 1815)source
  • December 31 – George M. Dallas, U.S. Senator, 11th Vice President of the United States (born 1792)source