Directory

1847 CE

Verdi's opera Macbeth premieres at the Teatro della Pergola, in Florence, Italy. The , carrying Irish emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec, is wrecked off Islay, with only three survivors from more than 250 on board. E. H. Booth & Co. Ltd, which becomes the northern England supermarket chain Booths, is founded when tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth, 19, opens a shop called "The China House" in Blackpool.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.source
  • January 16 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.source
  • March 1 – Faustin Soulouque is elected President of Haiti.source
  • March 4 – The 30th United States Congress is sworn into office.source
  • May 8 – Bahrain's ruler, Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, signs a treaty with the British to prevent and combat the slave trade in the Arabian Gulf.source
  • May 31 – Second Treaty of Erzurum: the Ottoman Empire cedes Abadan Island to the Persian Empire.source
  • July 26 – The nation of Liberia, founded as a haven for freed African-American slaves, becomes independent.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 22 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.source
  • March 9 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.source
  • March 29 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.source
  • April 16 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief is accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign (which continues until July 23).source
  • July 12 – A riot occurs in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and members of the Orange Order that results in up to ten deaths.source
  • August 12 – Mexican–American War: U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco in Mexico.source
  • August 20 – Mexican–American War – Battle of Churubusco: U.S. troops defeat Mexican forces.source
  • September 14 – Mexican–American War: U.S. general Winfield Scott enters Mexico City, marking the end of organized Mexican resistance.source
  • November 3–29 – Sonderbund War: In Switzerland, General Guillaume-Henri Dufour's Federal Army defeats the Sonderbund (an alliance of seven Catholic cantons) in a civil war, with a total of only 86 deaths.source
  • November 17 – The Battle of Um Swayya Spring takes place near a spring in Qatar, after a Bahraini force under Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Deputy Ruler of Bahrain defeats the Al Binali tribe. The chief of the Al Binali, Isa bin Tureef, is slain in battle with over 70 fatalities from his side.source
  • December 21 – Emir Abdelkader surrenders to the French in Algeria.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City in what becomes Utah.source
  • December 14 – Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë publish Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, respectively, in a 3-volume set under the pen names of Ellis Bell and Acton Bell in England.source

Economy & Finance

  • June – E. H. Booth & Co. Ltd, which becomes the northern England supermarket chain Booths, is founded when tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth, 19, opens a shop called "The China House" in Blackpool.source
  • Cartier, a luxury brand in France, is founded.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government.source
  • June 26 – The first passenger railway wholly within modern-day Denmark opens, from Copenhagen to Roskilde.source
  • July 1 – The United States issues its first postage stamps.source
  • October 12 – German inventors and industrialists Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske found Siemens & Halske to develop the electrical telegraph.source
  • November 10 – The first brew of Carlsberg beer is finished in Copenhagen.source
  • The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town.source

Science & Discovery

  • March – The first known publication of the classic joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" occurs in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine.source
  • October 19 – Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell in England.source

Health & Medicine

  • February 5 – A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party of California-bound migrants who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada earlier this winter. Some have resorted to survival by cannibalism.source
  • November 4–8 – James Young Simpson discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform and first uses it, successfully, on a patient, in an obstetric case in Edinburgh.source
  • Welfare in Sweden takes its first step with the introduction of the 1847 års fattigvårdförordning.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 1 – The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • April 25 – The , carrying Irish emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec, is wrecked off Islay, with only three survivors from more than 250 on board.source
  • December 20 – British Royal Navy steam frigate is wrecked on the Sorelle Rocks in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of 246 lives and only eight survivors.source

Climate & Environment

  • May 8 – The Nagano earthquake leaves more than 8,600 people dead in Japan.source
  • October – The last volcanic eruption of Mount Guntur in West Java occurs.source
  • The Great Famine continues in Ireland.source

Culture & Society

  • January 17 – St. Anthony Hall fraternity is founded at Columbia University, New York City.source
  • January 30 – Yerba Buena, California, is renamed San Francisco.source
  • February 25 – State University of Iowa is founded in Iowa City, Iowa.source
  • March 14 – Verdi's opera Macbeth premieres at the Teatro della Pergola, in Florence, Italy.source
  • April 5 – The world's first municipally-funded civic public park, Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead on Merseyside, England, is opened.source
  • April 15 – The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established in India.source
  • May 7 – In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association (AMA) is founded.source
  • May – The Architectural Association School of Architecture is founded in London.source
  • June 1 – The first congress of the Communist League is held in London.source
  • June 9 – Radley College, an English public school, is founded near Oxford as a High Anglican institution.source
  • July 29 – The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University, in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of this year, only 15 law schools exist in the United States.source
  • August – Yale Corporation establishes the first graduate school in the United States, as Department of Philosophy and the Arts (renamed Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1892).source
  • October 31 – Theta Delta Chi is founded as a social fraternity at Union College, Schenectady, New York.source

Births

  • February 11 – Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor (d. 1931)source
  • March 11 – Sidney Sonnino, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1922)source
  • March 14 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet (d. 1871)source
  • March 18 – William O'Connell Bradley, American politician from Kentucky (d. 1914)source
  • April 10 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born journalist, newspaper publisher (d. 1911)source
  • May 7 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)source
  • June 8 – Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady of the United States (d. 1907)source
  • July 20 – Max Liebermann, German painter, printmaker (d. 1935)source
  • November 8 – Bram Stoker, Irish author of the Gothic novel Dracula (d. 1912)source
  • November 26 – Dagmar of Denmark, empress of Tsar Alexander III of Russia (d. 1928)source
  • November 30 – Afonso Pena, Brazilian president (d. 1909)source
  • December 9 – George Grossmith, English comic writer and performer (d. 1912)source
  • December 17 – Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general during World War I (d. 1923)source
  • December 30 – John Peter Altgeld, American politician, 20th Governor of Illinois (d. 1902)source

Deaths

  • January 19 – Charles Bent, first Governor of New Mexico Territory (b. 1799) (assassinated)source
  • February 5 – Luis José de Orbegoso, Peruvian general and politician, 11th and 12th President of Peru (b. 1795)source
  • March 3 – Charles Hatchett, English chemist (b. 1765)source
  • March 9 – Mary Anning, British paleontologist (b. 1799)source
  • April 21 – Barbara Spooner Wilberforce, wife of British abolitionist William Wilberforce (b. 1777)source
  • May 14 – Fanny Hensel, German composer, pianist (b. 1805)source
  • May 15 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician who promoted the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (b. 1775)source
  • May 29 – Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (b. 1766)source
  • June 11 – Sir John Franklin, British explorer (b. 1786)source
  • June 11 – Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil (b. 1845)source
  • July 7 – Thomas Carpenter, American glassmaker (b. 1752)source
  • October 2 – Vasil Aprilov, Bulgarian educator, merchant and writer (b. 1789)source
  • October 22 – Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa (b. c. 1795)source
  • November 18 – Zebulon Crocker, American congregationalist pastor (b. 1802)source