1842 CE
Education in Sweden: A primary school system is established in Sweden. 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 Notre Dame, Indiana (United States) is established by Father Edward Sorin, of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross.
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
- 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 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
- September 16–17 – The Treaty of Chushul ends the Dogra–Tibetan war (Sino-Sikh War).source
- 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
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
- February 7 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.source
- 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
- 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
- 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
Exploration & Expansion
Religion & Belief
- 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
- 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
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
Technology & Infrastructure
- March 31 – The Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch Railway line is opened up to Werneth in North West England.source
- 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
- June – James Nasmyth patents the steam hammer in the United Kingdom.source
- October 5 – Josef Groll brews the first pilsner light lager beer in the city of Pilsen, Bohemia (the modern-day Czech Republic).source
- Pickelhaube helmet introduced in the Prussian Army.source
Science & Discovery
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
Crime & Justice
- 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
- 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
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
- 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
Climate & Environment
- October 29 – The Iberian Peninsula is struck by a category 2 hurricane.source
Culture & Society
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
Births
- January 11 – William James, American psychologist, philosopher (d. 1910)source
- January 15 – Mary MacKillop, first Australian saint (d. 1909)source
- February 23 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)source
- February 25 – Karl May, German writer (d. 1912)source
- April 2 – Dominic Savio, Italian adolescent student of John Bosco (d. 1857)source
- June 24 – Ambrose Bierce, American writer, satirist (d. ca. 1914)source
- September 10 – Henry Granger Piffard (d. 1910), New York dermatologist and author of the first systematic treatise on dermatology in Americasource
- October 27 – Giovanni Giolitti, 5-time prime minister of Italy (d. 1928)source
- October 28 – Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, American orator (d. 1932), younger sister of journalist Susan E. Dickinsonsource
- November 12 – Ōyama Iwao, Japanese field marshal, a founder of the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1916)source
- November 12 – John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)source
- December 2 – C. W. Alcock, English footballer, football official (d. 1907)source
- December 3 – Ellen Swallow Richards, American chemist (d. 1911)source
- December 9 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (d. 1921)source
Deaths
- March 6 – Constanze Mozart, German-born wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b.1762)source
- March 13 – Samuel Eells, American founder of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity (b. 1810)source
- March 23 – Stendhal, French novelist (b. 1783)source
- March 30 – Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, French painter (b. 1755)source
- May 8 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (b. 1790)source
- June 9 – Maria Dalle Donne, Bolognese physician (b. 1778)source
- July 13 – Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, French prince (b. 1810)source
- July 25 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (b. 1766)source
- August 24 – Leona Vicario, leader of Mexican War of Independence and wife of Andrés Quintana Roo (b. 1789)source
- September 10 – Letitia Christian Tyler, First Lady of the United States 1841–1842 (b. 1790)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 (b. 1792)source
- September 15 – Francisco Morazán, Honduran-born politician, President of Federal Republic of Central America (b. 1792)source
- October 2 – William Ellery Channing, American Unitarian theologian, minister (b. 1780)source
- December 1 – Philip Spencer, American founder of Chi Psi fraternity, midshipman aboard the , hanged for mutiny.source