- 1840
| Mar 04 | America's first commercial photographic studio opens in New York City. | Ref: 10 |
- 1841
| Feb 18 | The first continuous filibuster in the U.S. Senate began. It lasted until March 11th. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 10 | The first issue of the New York Tribune is printed. The publisher was Horace Greeley. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 20 | Edgar Allen Poe's story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", first appears in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine. The tale is generally considered to be the first detective story. | Ref: 3 |
| Aug 16 | Former Whig ally President John Tyler vetos a bill that would have established the Second Bank of the United States. The move sparked the worst riot ever outside the White House. As a result, the government formed the District of Columbia’s police force. | |
- 1842
| Mar 17 | Indians land in Ohio, a 12˛-mile area in Upper Sandusky. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 14 | Seminole War ends; Indians removed from Florida to Oklahoma. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 26 | The U.S. Congress established the fiscal year, which begins on July 1st. | Ref: 4 |
| Aug 31 | The US Naval Observatory is authorized by an act of Congress. | Ref: 5 |
- 1843
| Feb 02 | US & British settlers in Oregon Country choose governmental committee. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Congress appropriates $30,000 "to test the practicability of establishing a system of electro-magnetic telegraphs" by the US. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 07 | First Catholic Governor in US, Edward Kavanagh of Maine, takes office. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 14 | Boston conducts its first town meeting (Faneuil Hall). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 05 | Committee of 9 appointed to establish a civil govt in Oregon Country. | Ref: 5 |
- 1844
| Jan 25 | Recontre between Representatives Weller & Shriver, US House of Representatives. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | American ambassador Caleb Cushing successfully negotiates a commercial treaty with China. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 27 | Fire destroys the US mint at Charlotte, NC. | Ref: 5 |
- 1845
| Jan 23 | Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. | Ref: 70 |
| Jan 29 | The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, is published for the first time in the New York Evening Mirror. Poe took the pen name, Quarles, in signing the poem. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 03 | (new state) Florida is admitted as the 27th state. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 03 | The U.S. Congress passed legislation overriding a President’s veto. It was the first time Congress had done so. President John Tyler was in office at the time. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 05 | Congress appropriates $30,000 to ship camels to western US. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 12 | George Abernethy becomes first governor of Oregon Country. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Texas Congress votes for annexation to US. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 28 | Washington, D.C.: Scientific American starts publication. | |
| Oct 10 | The Naval School (now called US Naval Academy) opens at Annapolis. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | Texas ratifies a state constitution. | Ref: 70 |
| Nov 04 | First nationally observed uniform election day in US. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 29 | (new state) Texas (comprised of the present state of Texas and part of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming) is admitted as the 28th state of the Union, with the provision that the area (389,166 square miles) should be divided into no more than five states "of convenient size." | Ref: 2 |
- 1846
| Feb 05 | "Oregon Spectator" is first newspaper to be published on the West Coast. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 23 | The Liberty Bell tolls for the last time, to mark George Washington's birthday. | Ref: 2 |
| Jun 14 | A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 15 | The United States and Britain signed a treaty settling a boundary dispute between Canada and the United States in the Pacific Northwest. | Ref: 70 |
| Jun 27 | The Smithsonian Institution is created by an act of Congress. (The History Magazine, p 63, May/June 2003) | |
| Jul 21 | Mormons found first English settlement in Calif (San Joaquin Valley). | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 03 | Abraham Lincoln is elected to the House of Representatives | |
| Aug 05 | Oregon country divided between US & Britain at 49th parallel. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 10 | Congress chartered the Smithsonian Institution, named after English scientist James Smithson, whose bequest of half a million dollars had made it possible. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 28 | (new state) Exactly one year and one day after the 28th state entered the Union, the United States of America grew one state larger by adding IA. The 29th state’s name is derived from an American Indian word meaning ‘the beautiful land’. It is widely thought that IA’s nickname, the Hawkeye State, is in honor of Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief who led the Sauk and Fox tribes against the IA area settlers in the Black Hawk War of 1832. IA City was the first capital of IA. 11 years later, Des Moines, the state’s largest city, became the permanent capital. The IA state bird is the eastern goldfinch, the state flower, the wild rose, and the state motto: “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.” | Ref: 4 |
- 1847
| Jan 14 | Conspiracy in New Mexico against US. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 14 | Governor Bent 5 others in US occupation, killed by revolt in New Mexico. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 04 | First US telegraph company established in Maryland. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC is formally dedicated. | Ref: 17 |
| May 04 | New York State creates a Board of Commissioners of Emigration. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 24 | The first members of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) arrive in Utah, settling in present-day Salt Lake City. Trailing the Mormons. | Ref: 2 |
| Jul 24 | Brigham Young names territory 'State of Desert.' Later, US government changes it to Utah. | Ref: 10 |
- 1848
| May 29 | (new state) Wisconsin became the 30th state of the union. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | First telegraph link between NYC & Chicago. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 04 | Construction begins on the Washington Monument, a 555-foot Egyptian obelisk when a private citizens' group, the Washington National Monument Society, raised enough money to begin the project. | Ref: 2 |
| Aug 14 | The U.S. Congress creates the Oregon Territory, made up of today’s Oregon, Washington, Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 14 | Alexander Stewart opens the first US dept store. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 26 | First gold seekers arrive in Panama en route to San Francisco. | Ref: 5 |
- 1849
| Feb 18 | First regular steamboat service to San Francisco CA starts: gold rush prospectors from east coast. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Congress creates the Minnesota Territory. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | Gold Coinage Act authorizes $20 Double Eagle gold coin. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | The Home Department, forerunner of the Interior Department, is established. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 12 | First gold seekers arrive in Nicaragua en route to California. | Ref: 5 |
| May 15 | Philadelphia Turngemeinde founded. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 22 | Stephen C. Massett opens at the courthouse as the first professional entertainer, using the (allegedly) only piano in California. | Ref: 62 |
| Jul 24 | Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. presented its first Doctor of Music Degree -- to Professor Henry Dielman. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 01 | California Constitutional Convention held in Monterey. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 03 | Calif State Constitutional Convention convenes in Monterey. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 19 | First commercial laundry established, in Oakland, CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 13 | The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey.
The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey. | Ref: 2 |
| Nov 13 | Peter Burnett elected first governor of CA. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 15 | First US poultry show opens in Boston. | Ref: 5 |
- 1884
| May 24 | Anti-Monopoly party & Greenback Party form People's Party in the US. | Ref: 5 |
- 1984
| Aug 11 | President Reagan joked during a voice test for a paid political radio address that he had "signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." | Ref: 70 |
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US History 1840 to 1849 Chronology