Events in year of 1853
- 01-011st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service
- 01-081st US bronze equestrian statue (of Andrew Jackson) unveiled, Washington
- 01-21Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester, Massachusetts
- 02-21US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces
- 03-02Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Ter
- 03-03Transcontinental railroad survey is authorized by Congress
- 03-03US Assay Office in NYC authorized
- 03-04Pope Pius IX recovers Catholic hierarchy in the Netherlands
- 03-04William Rufus de Vane King (D) sworn in as 13th US VP
- 04-01Cincinnati became 1st US city to pay fire fighters a regular salary
- 04-14Harriet Tubman began her Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape
- 04-15Protestant church questions King Willem III RC bishops
- 04-17Thorbecke government resigns
- 04-17US Marine Hospital at Presidio (San Francisco) forms
- 04-181st train in Asia (Bombay to Tanna, 36 km)
- 04-19Netherlands Van Hall government forms
- 04-20Harriet Tubman starts Underground Railroad
- 04-26Dutch King William III disbands 2nd Chamber
- 04-29Comet C / 1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth
- 05-061st major US rail disaster kills 46 (Norwalk, Connecticut)
- 05-14Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk
- 05-17Thorbeckes liberals win 2nd-Parliamentary election
- 05-19Dutch Prince Henry marries Princess Amalia of Saxony-Weimar
- 05-23Buenos Aires gains independence from Argentina (reunited 1859)
- 07-03Commodore Matthew Perry reach Japan
- 07-06National Black convention meets (Rochester NY)
- 07-06William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel, " 1st novel by black American
- 07-08Commodore Matthew Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay
- 07-09Adm Perry and US Navy visit Japan
- 07-14Commodore Perry requests trade relations with Japan
People born in year of 1853
- 01-01Hans Koessler: Composer
- 01-03Iwan Knorr: Composer
- 01-07Nikolai Arkas: Composer
- 01-11Gustav Falke: German author / poet (Der Mann im Nebel)
- 01-12Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro: Italian mathematician (tensor analysis)
- 01-16Johnston Forbes-Robertson: English actor / theater director (Kathleen)
- 02-09Leander Starr Jameson: Prime Minister of South African Cape colony
- 02-12Bertram Luard-Selby: Composer
- 02-14Jan van Rijswijck: Flemish journalist / Mayor (Antwerp)
- 03-05Arthur W Foote: Salem, Massachusetts -- Organist / composer (Suite for Strings in E)
- 03-05Howard Pyle: Illustrator / painter / author (King Stork)
- 03-08Edward Hubertus Joannes Keurvels: Flemish composer (Parisina)
- 03-20George Godfrey: Chelsea, Massachusetts -- Heavyweight boxer (Old Chocolate)
- 03-28Rudolf Kittel: German theologist (Psalms)
- 04-05Alfonso Randano: Composer
- 04-21Charles-Theodore Malherbe: Composer
- 04-22Alphonse Bertillon: France -- Anthropologist - devised crime ID system
- 04-30Alfred v Berger: Writer
- 05-02Marie Verstraete: Actress (Louise-Frou Frou)
- 05-08Charles Lee Williams: Composer
- 05-26Monroe A Althouse: Composer
- 05-30Karl Fritjof Valentin: Composer
- 06-16Johan Gustaf Emil Sjogren: Composer
- 06-28Edwin Arthur Jones: Composer
- 07-05Cecil John Rhodes: South Africa -- Politician / diamond Merchant
- 07-07Albert Vandal: French Earl / historian (Le Pacha Bonneval)
- 07-17Francesco Fanciulli: Composer
- 07-18Hendrik Antoon Lorentz: Holland, Netherlands -- Physicist (Nobel 1902)
- 07-20Geo[rge] Poggenbeek: Dutch water colors painter
- 07-22Victor Roger: Composer
People died in year of 1853
- 01-03Theodor Uhlig: Composer, dies at 30
- 01-09Juan N Gallego: Spanish Poet / interpreter (El dos de Mayo), dies at 75
- 03-05Georg A Kestner: German art collector / diplomat, dies at 75
- 03-17Christian Doppler: Physicist
- 04-08Jan W Pieneman: Historical Painter (Battle at Waterloo), dies at 73
- 04-11Louis Emmanuel Eadin: Composer
- 04-15Johann Leopold Fuchs: Composer, dies at 67
- 04-18William King: US VP, dies a month after his inauguration
- 04-23Auguste Laurent: Chemist
- 04-25William Beaumont: Physiologist
- 04-28Ludwig Tieck: Writer, dies at 79
- 05-08Joannes P Roothaan: 1st Dutch lt Colonel-General of Jesuits, dies at 67
- 05-09Johann Philipp Samuel Schmidt: Composer, dies at 73
- 06-12John C de Jonge: Dutch Historian / archivist, dies at 60
- 06-18Branko Radicevic: Serbian Poet (1st Serbian Uprising)
- 07-25Joaquin Murietta: Chilian / Us military man, murdered
- 08-06Josif Josifovich Genishta: Composer, dies at 57
- 08-15Giovanni Battista Polledro: Composer, dies at 72
- 08-18Peter Lichtenthal: Composer, dies at 73
- 09-04Jonathan Blewitt: Composer, dies at 71
- 10-02D Francois J Arago: French astronomer / physicist (chromosome)
- 10-03Andre Georges Louis Onslow: Composer, dies at 69
- 10-29Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann: Composer, dies at 68
- 10-29William Richard Bexfield: Composer, dies at 29
- 10-30Pietro Raimondi: Italian Composer (Potifar, Giacobbe), dies at 66
- 11-04Alexander Stadtfeld: Composer, dies at 27
- 11-23Francisco Andrevi y Castellar: Composer, dies at 67
- 11-23Johann Christian Friedrich Schneider: Composer, dies at 67
- 12-05Johann Peter Heuschkel: Composer, dies at 80
Events in year of 1854
- 01-01Lincoln University, a black college, chartered (Oxford, Penn)
- 01-05Steamship San Francisco wrecked-300 die
- 01-09Astor Library opens in New York City
- 01-13Anthony Foss patents accordion
- 01-301st election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast
- 01-31Dutch KNMI established (Royal Meteorological Institute)
- 02-02Pope Pius IX encyclical "On persecution of Armenians"
- 02-04Alvan Bovay proposes name "Republican Party, " Ripon, Wisc
- 02-06Composer R Schumann is saved from suicide attempt into the Rhine
- 02-11Major streets lit by coal gas for 1st time
- 02-16Franz Liszts symphony "Orpheus, " premieres
- 02-17British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)
- 02-221st meeting of the Republican Party (Michigan)
- 02-23Great-Britain and Orange Free state sign Convention of Bloemfontein
- 02-27Composer Robert Schumann saved from suicide attempt in Rhine
- 02-28Republican Party formally organized at Ripon, Wisc
- 03-01SS City of Glasgow leaves Liverpool harbor and is never seen again
- 03-07Charles Miller patents 1st US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes
- 03-171st park land purchased by a US city, Worcester, Massachusetts
- 03-28During the Crimean War, Britain and France declare war on Russia
- 03-31Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to opens ports to US
- 04-16San Salvador destroyed by earthquake
- 04-16Steamer "Long Beach" sinks off Long Beach NY, 311 die
- 05-01Amsterdam begins transferring drinking water out of the dunes
- 05-05English pirate Plumridge robs along pro-English Finnish coast
- 05-24Anthony Burns, slave, arrested by US Deputy marshals in Boston
- 05-24Lincoln University, Penn, 1st Black college in US forms by Prebyts
- 05-27Marine Telegraph from Ft Point to SF completed
- 05-30Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed Missouri Compromise opens north slavery
- 05-30Territories of Kansas and Nebraska created
People born in year of 1854
- 01-01James Frazer: Britain -- Anthropologist / author (The Golden Bough)
- 01-10Peter Gast: Composer
- 01-18Thomas A Watson: Needed by Bell, inventor assistant (Telephone)
- 01-29Willem PC Knuttel: Dutch bibliographer / librarian
- 02-09Edward Carson: 1st Baron Carson, lawyer / leader (Irish Unionist Party)
- 02-16Oscar Fetras: Composer
- 02-17Friedrich A Krupp: German arms manufacturer
- 02-20Louis F M van Westerhoven: Actor / singer / opera director (Youth)
- 02-24Franz Courtens: Flemish painter (Golden Rain)
- 02-28Juliusz Zarebski: Composer
- 03-14Paul Ehrlich: Germany -- Bacteriologist (Nobel-1908)
- 03-14Thomas Riley Marshall: (D) 28th VP (1913-21)
- 03-23Alfred Milner: Giessen, Germany -- British Governor (Cape colony)
- 03-26Braulio Dueno Colon: Composer
- 03-31Dugald Clerk: Inventor (2-stroke motorcycle engine)
- 04-05Vicente Goicoechea Errasti: Composer
- 04-09Seaborn M Denson: Composer
- 04-10Jozef M T Orelio: Baritone
- 04-13Richard T Ely: US economist (Hard Times)
- 04-21Eusapia Palladino: Napolitanse with parergische phenomenons
- 04-21Wladyslaw Rzepko: Composer
- 04-22Henri-Marie Lafontaine: Belgium -- International lawyer (Nobel 1913)
- 05-05Antonio Smareglia: Composer
- 05-11Ottmar Mergenthaler: Hachtel, Germany -- Inventor (linotype)
- 05-13Louis H Chrispijn: Dutch director (Lost & Found, Silvia Silombra)
- 05-13Paul Klengel: Composer
- 05-18Bernard Zweers: Dutch composer (To my Fatherland)
- 05-24Louis Mountbatten: Admiral (WWI)
- 05-27Georges Eekhoud: Belgian writer (Jeune Belgium)
- 06-09Gerardus J P J Bolland: Dutch philosopher (Bolland Society)
People died in year of 1854
- 01-09Filippo Traetta [Philip Trajetta]: Ital composer, dies at 77
- 01-18Juda Turo: American philanthropist
- 02-04Carl Ludwig Cornelius Westenholz: Composer, dies at 66
- 02-17Hugues F R de Lamennais: French priest / writer, dies at 71
- 03-06Caspar GC Reinwardt: German / Dutch biologist, dies at 80
- 04-06William Strickland: US architect
- 04-11Karl Adolph von Basedow: German DR (Ziekte van Basedow), dies at 55
- 04-17Gottlob Wiedebein: Composer, dies at 74
- 04-18Joseph Antoni Frantiszek Elsner: Composer, dies at 84
- 05-03William Beale: Composer, dies at 70
- 05-31Vatroslav Lisinski: Composer, dies at 34
- 07-04Karl F Eichhorn: German law historian, dies at 72
- 07-15Wincenty Studzinski: Composer, dies at 39
- 07-18Abbas Hilmi I: Viceroy of Egypt, dies at about 41
- 08-09Frederik Augustus II: King of Saxon (1836-54), dies at 57
- 08-16Duncan Phyfe: Furniture maker
- 08-20Friedrich WJ von Schelling: German philosopher, dies at 79
- 10-22J Gotthelf: Writer, dies at 57
- 10-28James P Carrell: Composer, dies at 67
- 11-05Soimonov: Russian General, dies in battle of Inkermann
- 11-19Alberich Zwyssig: Composer, dies at 46
- 11-25John G Lockhart [scorpion]: English biographer, dies at 60
- 11-26Matthijs Siegenbeek: Literature (Defeated German Spelling)
Events in year of 1855
- 01-09Clipper Guiding Star disappears in Atlantic, 480 dies
- 01-31Western railroads blocked by snow
- 02-03Wisconsin Supreme Ct declares US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional
- 02-04Soldiers shoot Jewish families in Coro, Venezuela
- 02-05British government of Palmerston forms
- 02-10US citizenship laws amended all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship
- 02-24US Court of Claims forms for cases against government
- 03-02Aleksandr Romanov becomes tsar of Russia
- 03-03Congress approves $30,000 to test camels for military use
- 03-03Congress authorizes registered mail
- 03-06Gustave Flaubert writes goodbye to Louise Colet
- 03-081st train crosses 1st US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls
- 03-15Louisiana establishes 1st health board to regulate quarantine
- 03-24Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston, Kansas
- 03-27Abraham Gesner patents kerosene
- 04-26Composer Gioacchino Rossini leaves Italy
- 04-281st veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston
- 05-03Antwerp-Rotterdam railway opens
- 05-05New York City regains Castle Clinton, to be used for immigration
- 06-01US adventurer Wm Walker conquers Nicaragua, reestablishes slavery
- 06-17Heavy French / British bombing of Sebastopol, 2000+ killed
- 06-20Commissioners appointed to lay out SF streets west of Larkin
- 07-201st train from Rotterdam to Utrecht in the Netherlands
- 08-01Castle Clinton in NYC opens as 1st US receiving station for immigrants
- 08-03Rotterdam-Gouda railway opens
- 08-04John Bartlett publishes "Familiar Quotations"
- 08-09Battle of Acapulco during Mexican Liberal uprising
- 09-08Crimean war - assault of Malakof Tower under Mac-Mahon)
- 10-09Isaac Singer patents sewing machine motor
- 10-09Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass patents 1st calliope
People born in year of 1855
- 01-10Peter J Blok: Dutch historian (History of the Dutch People)
- 01-20Amedee-Ernest Chausson: Composer
- 01-21John M Browning: United States -- Weapons manufacturer
- 01-22Ernst Kullak: Composer
- 01-26Arthur Hervey: Composer
- 01-28William Seward Burroughs: New York, United States -- Inventor (recording adding machine)
- 02-15Gustav Hollaender: Composer
- 02-17Otto Liman von Sanders: German General in Turkey (WWI)
- 02-21Alice Freeman Palmer: Educator (Hall of Fame)
- 03-13Percival "Percy" Lowell: US astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto)
- 03-24Andrew W Mellon: Founder (Mellon Bank) / US Secretary of Treasury
- 03-24Olive Schreiner: South African writer (Portrait of a South African Woman)
- 04-09Gyula Reviczky: Hungarian author / poet
- 04-18Abraham Bredius: Dutch art historian (Jan Steen)
- 04-18Josef Gruber: Composer
- 04-29Edmund van der Straeten: Composer
- 05-02Theodore Moses Tobani: Composer
- 05-09Julius Rontgen: Composer
- 05-11Anatol Konstantinovich Lyadov: Russian composer (Bewitched Lake)
- 05-15Eduard Earl of Keyserling: German writer (Dritte Stiege)
- 05-15Graf Keyserling: Writer
- 05-21Emile A G Verhaeren: Belgian poet / writer (Les Flammes Hautes)
- 05-24Arthur Wing Pinero: British playwright
- 06-14Robert Marion La Follette: Wisconsin, United States -- Presidential Candidate (Progressive)
- 06-17Fritz Steinbach: Composer
- 06-23Maude Valerie White: Composer
- 07-03Piotr Maszynski: Composer
- 07-09Johann P Zilcher: German composer
- 07-14Richard Samuel Hughes: Composer
- 07-16Charles Francis Abdy Williams: Composer
People died in year of 1855
- 01-10Mary Russell Mitford: Engl playwright / Poet (Julian), dies at 67
- 01-25Dorothy Wordsworth: Writer, dies at 83
- 02-20Joseph Hume: Social reformer
- 02-23Carl Friedrich Gauss: Mathematician
- 03-02Nicholas I Pavlovitch: Tsar of Russia (1825-55), dies at 58
- 03-17Ramon Carnicer y Batlle: Composer, dies at 65
- 04-18Jean-Baptiste Isabey: Painter
- 04-24Walenty Karol Kratzer: Composer, dies at 75
- 04-30Henry Rowley Bishop: British Composer / conductor, dies at 68
- 05-04Camille Pleyel: Austria piano builder / composer, dies at 66
- 05-15Jan Mazereeuw: Frisian farmer / Sect Leader, dies at 75
- 05-27Nikolaj A Bestoezjev: Russ writer / Painter (Account of Holland)
- 06-28Giovanni Agostino Perotti: Composer, dies at 86
- 08-27Francisco Eduardo da Costa: Composer, dies at 36
- 09-24Alexandre Stievenard: Composer, dies at 86
- 10-06August L Crelle: Inventor / Mathematician (Rechentafeln), dies at 75
- 10-13Gottfried Rieger: Composer, dies at 91
- 10-25Willem F Earl van Bylandt: Military, dies at 84
- 11-26Adam B Mickiewicz: Polish Poet (Polish Legion), dies at 56