Events in year of 1856
- 01-08Dr John A Veatch discovers borax, Tuscan Springs, California
- 01-23Steamer Pacific lost
- 01-25Battle of Seattle; skirmish between settlers and Indians
- 01-29Victoria Cross established to acknowledge bravery
- 02-18American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy
- 02-19Tin-type camera patented by Hamilton Smith, Gambier, Ohio
- 02-20John Rutledge, Liverpool-NY steamer, hits iceberg; many die
- 02-221st national meeting of the Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
- 02-29Hostilities in Russo-Turkish War cease
- 03-05Covent Garden Opera House destroyed in a fire
- 03-05Georgia becomes 1st state to regulate railroads
- 03-25A E Burnside patents Burnside carbine
- 03-26New South Wales 1st 1st-class game, vs. Victoria at Melbourne NSW won
- 03-30Russia signs Peace of Paris, ending the Crimean War
- 04-03Gunpowder in church explodes killing 4,000 in Rhodos
- 04-18Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns
- 04-29Peace between England and Russia
- 05-07Argentine and Brazilian sign a navigation pact
- 05-152nd SF Vigilance Committee organized
- 05-19Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery
- 05-21Lawrence Kansas captured, sacked by pro-slavery forces
- 05-22Violence in Senate, SC rep Brooks used a cane on Mass Sen Sumner
- 05-24Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas
- 05-27Doctor William Palmer found guilty of poisoning
- 06-03Cullen Whipple patents screw machine
- 06-08Pitcairn Islanders arrive on Norfolk Island
- 06-17Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in Philadelphia
- 07-15Natal forms as a British colony separate from Cape Colony
- 07-16Statue of Laurens Jansz Coster unveiled in Haarlem
- 07-17Sunday school excursion train collides killing 46 children (Philadelphia)
People born in year of 1856
- 01-06Giuseppe Martucci: Composer
- 01-09Anton Askerc: Slavic priest / poet (Primoz Trubar)
- 01-09Lizette Woodworth Reese: US poet (Branch of May, Tears)
- 01-09Stevan Mokranjac: Composer
- 01-11Christian August Sinding: Kongsberg, Norway -- Composer
- 01-12John Singer Sargent: United States -- Portrait painter (Wyndham Sisters)
- 01-18Daniel Nathan Hale Williams: Surgeon (1st open heart operation)
- 01-18John Hyatt Brewer: Composer
- 02-02Makar Grigori Ekmalyan: Composer
- 02-05Otto Brahm: German critic / founder (Neue Deutsche Rundschau)
- 02-14Frank Harris: England, United Kingdom -- Journalist / writer (My Life & Loves)
- 02-16Willem Kes: Dutch violinist / composer / conductor (Parkorkest Amsterdam)
- 02-21Hendrik P Berlage: Architect (Stock exchange Amsterdam)
- 03-01Florimond Fonteyne: Flemish priest / politician (Volkseeuw)
- 03-07Matilde Serao [Tuffolina]: Italian writer (Land of Cockayne)
- 03-16E Louis YY Napoleon Bonaparte: French / English Prince
- 03-20Frederick Winslow Taylor: Father of scientific management
- 03-26David Alfred Thomas: Glamorganshire, United Kingdom -- 1st Viscount Rhondda
- 04-05Booker Taliaferro Washington: Pioneer educator (1st black on US stamp)
- 04-11Constantly Lievens: Flemish Missionary in India
- 04-12William M Conway: English historian / explorer (Spitzbergen)
- 04-22[Marie] Louise Hens: Flemish actress (Two Orphans)
- 05-13Peter Henry Emerson: 1st to promote photography as an independent art
- 05-20Henri E Cross [Delacroix]: French painter
- 05-26George Templeton Strong: Composer
- 06-08Natalia Janotha: Composer
- 06-14Andrey Markov: Russia -- Mathematician (Markov Chain)
- 06-19Elbert Hubbard: United States -- Editor / publisher / author (Message to Garcia)
- 06-30Gerrit Kalff: Writer (history of Dutch writers)
- 07-06Edward Anseele: Belgian Minister of Rail / PTT
People died in year of 1856
- 01-17Thomas Attwood Walmisley: Composer, dies at 41
- 02-17Heinrich Heine: German poet, dies at 58 in Paris, France
- 02-17John Braham: Singer / composer, dies at 81
- 03-28Pyotr Ivanovich Turchaninov: Composer, dies at 76
- 05-03Adolfo Fumagalli: Composer, dies at 27
- 05-03Adolphe Charles Adam: French Composer / critic (Giselle), dies at 52
- 06-11Friedrich H von der Hagen: German germanist, dies at 76
- 06-15David Cox: English Painter (Treatise on Landscape Paint), dies at 73
- 07-04Istvan Ferenczi: Hungarian sculptor, dies at 64
- 07-15Margaretha J de Neufville: Author (The Kidnap), dies at 81
- 07-29Robert A Schumann: German pianist / Composer (Humoresque), dies at 46
- 08-04Johann Gottlieb Schneider: Composer, dies at 59
- 08-05Rubert Lucas Pearsall: Composer, dies at 61
- 08-14William Buckland: Dean (Westminister) / geologist
- 08-20Philipp Jakob Riotte: Composer, dies at 80
- 08-21Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner: Composer, dies at 64
- 09-24Henry: 1st viscount Hardinge of Lahore, Governor-General of India
- 10-10Michal Wielhorski: Composer, dies at 67
- 10-29Carel SW van Hogendorp: Colonial director, dies at 68
- 11-17William Knyvett: Composer, dies at 77
- 11-20Farkas / Wolfgang Bolyai: Hungarian mathematician, dies at 81
Events in year of 1857
- 01-06Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Penn
- 01-097.9 earthquake shakes Fort Tejon, California
- 01-151st first-class game in Sydney, NSW vs. Vic at The Domain
- 01-22National Association of Baseball Players founded, New York
- 02-16Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms (Washington, DC)
- 02-18Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo
- 02-21Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US
- 02-21US issues flying eagle cents
- 02-241st perforated US postage stamps delivered to government
- 02-24LA Vineyard Society organized
- 03-06Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court rules slaves cannot be citizens
- 03-07Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs
- 03-21Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die
- 03-25Frederick Laggenheim takes 1st photo of a solar eclipse
- 04-21Alexander Douglas patents the bustle
- 04-27Establishment of Jewish congregations in Lower Austria prohibited
- 04-29US Army, Pacific Division HQ permanently forms at Presidio (San Francisco)
- 04-30San Jose State University forms
- 05-01William Walker, Conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to US Navy
- 05-10Indian Mutiny begins with revolt of Sepoys of Meerut
- 05-10Sepoy-revolt in Meerutkazerne, Delhi
- 05-19William Francis Channing and Moses G Farmer patents electric fire alarm
- 06-02James Gibbs, Va, patents chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine
- 06-05Walter Woodbury and James Page open photo studio in Batavia (Djakarta)
- 06-10England passes an act putting Canada on the decimal currency system
- 06-15San Francisco Water Works organized
- 06-2662 receive Victoria Cross
- 06-26Cawnpore England massacre
- 06-29Battle at Chinhat (Indies rebel under Barkat Ahmed beat British)
- 07-16Sir Henry Havelock arrives at Battle of Cawnpore
People born in year of 1857
- 01-02Frederick Opper: Cartoonist (Maud, Alphonse & Gaston)
- 01-02Martha Carey Thomas: Educator / President (Bryn Mawr College)
- 01-09Henry B Fuller: American writer (Under the Skylights)
- 01-11Fred[erick J] Archer: English jockey (won 5 Derbys)
- 01-17Eugene Augustin Lauste: Developer (1st sound-on-film recording)
- 01-17Wilhelm Kienzl: Austrian composer (Evangelimann)
- 01-18Otto von Below: German Commandant (WWI)
- 01-23Andrija Mohorovicic: Croatian geologist (Moho discontinuity)
- 02-02Jan Six: Dutch art historian / art collector
- 02-09Johannes T de Visser: Theologist / Dutch 1st Minister of Education
- 02-17Samuel Sidney McClure: Irish-American newspaper editor / publisher
- 02-18Max Klinger: German graphic artist / painter / sculptor
- 02-21Jules de Trooz: Baron / Premier of Belgium (1907)
- 02-22Heinrich Hertz: Physicist, 1st to broadcast and receive radio waves
- 02-22Robert Baden-Powell: Founder (Boy Scouts, Girl Guides)
- 02-28Gustave Adolph Kerker: Composer
- 03-03Alfred Bruneau: Composer
- 03-07Julius Wagner von Jauregg: Austria -- Psychiatrist (Nobel 1927)
- 03-08Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Italian composer (I pagliacci / Zaza)
- 03-22Arnold Sauwen: Flemish poet (Along the Meuse)
- 03-22Paul Doumer: Governor-General of Indo-China / 13th President of France (1931-32)
- 03-23Fannie Farmer: Actress (namesake of a candy company)
- 03-27Karl Pearson: London, England -- Mathematician
- 03-27Pearson: Mathematician
- 04-05Alexander-Jozef von Battenberg: Ruler of Bulgaria (1879-86)
- 04-10Henry Ernest Dudeney: Mathematician / puzzle maker
- 04-14Edgar Stillman Kelley: Sparta, Wisconsin -- Composer (Gulliver)
- 04-18Clarence S Darrow: Defense attorney at Scopes monkey trial
- 04-19Lucien Levy-Bruhl: Philosopher
- 04-20Charles LP "Philip" Zilcken: Painter / author (HW Knife Day)
People died in year of 1857
- 01-20Edward Francis Fitzwilliam: Composer, dies at 32
- 01-27Dorothea von Benckendorff: Baltic Monarch of Lieven, dies at 72
- 02-14Johannes B van Bree: Dutch violinist / Composer / conductor, dies at 56
- 02-14John B van Bree: Violinist / Composer / conductor, dies at 56
- 02-15Mikhail Glinka: Composer
- 02-15Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka: Russian composer, dies at 53
- 02-16Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers: French engraver, dies at 77
- 02-16Elisha Kent Kane: Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
- 02-26Ole Andreas Lindeman: Composer, dies at 88
- 03-11Manuel Jose Quintana: Spanish Author / Poet (A la paz), dies at 84
- 03-17Adolph Trube: Composer, dies at 42
- 03-21Abraham J van der Aa: Lexicographer (Biograph dictionary), dies at 64
- 05-02LC Alfred the Musset: French Poet (Lesson caprices Marianne)
- 05-11E Francois Vidocq: French criminalogist / police officer, dies at 81
- 06-28Joseph Fischhof: Composer, dies at 53
- 07-15Carl Czerny: Austrian pianist / composer, dies at 66
- 07-25Joseph Napoleon Ney Moskova: Composer, dies at 54
- 07-29Charles LJL Bonaparte: Corsican / French Prince of Canino, dies at 54
- 08-01Charles Turner: Engraver
- 08-10John Wilson Croker: Politician
- 08-12William Daniel Conybeare: Geologist
- 09-03M Heinrich C Lichtenstein: German zoologist / explorer, dies at 77
- 09-18Karol Kazimierz Kurpinski: Composer, dies at 72
- 10-14Ignacy Marceli Komorowski: Composer, dies at 33
- 11-07Charles Heinrich Christoph Zeuner: Composer, dies at 62
- 11-26Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff: German Poet (That Freier), dies at 69
- 12-03Christian D Rauch: German sculptor, dies at 80
- 12-11Francois Henri Joseph Castil-Blaze: Composer, dies at 73
Events in year of 1858
- 01-01Canada begins using decimal currency system
- 01-14French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed
- 01-30William Wells Brown published 1st Black drama, "Leap to Freedom"
- 02-111st apparition of Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes France
- 02-13Sir Richard Burton and John Speake explore Lake Tanganyika, Africa
- 02-21Edwin T Holmes installs 1st electric burglar alarm (Boston, Massachusetts)
- 03-02Frederick Cook, New Orleans, patents a cotton-bale metallic tie
- 03-08Opera "I Pagliacci" is produced (Naples)
- 03-09Albert Potts of Philadelphia patents the street mailbox
- 03-18Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns
- 03-23Streetcar patented (E A Gardner of Philadelphia)
- 03-30Pencil with attached eraser patented (Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia)
- 04-121st US billiards championship (Michael J Phelan wins in Detroit)
- 04-15Battle of Azimghur, Mexicans defeat Spanish loyalists
- 05-08John Brown holds antislavery convention
- 05-11Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state
- 05-15Royal Italian Opera opens in Covent Garden London
- 06-16Abraham Lincoln says "A house divided against itself cannot stand"
- 06-21Louisiana chess prodigy Paul Morphy arrives in Europe
- 06-29Great fire in London harbor
- 06-29Treaty of Algun, China cedes north bank of Amur River to Russia
- 07-02Partial emancipation of Russian serfs
- 07-06Lyman Blake patents shoe manufacturing machine
- 07-20Fee 1st charged to see a baseball game (50 cents) (NY beats Brooklyn 22-18)
- 07-23Jewish Disabilities Removal Act passed by British Parliament
- 07-26Baron Lionel de Rothschild is 1st Jew elected to British Parliament
- 07-281st use of fingerprints as a means of identification is made by
- 07-28Nadar takes 1st airborne photo (in a balloon)
- 07-28William Herschel of the Indian Civil Service in India
- 07-291st commercial treaty between US and Japan signed
People born in year of 1858
- 01-05Gustaf af Geijerstam: Swedish author (Boken om Lillebror)
- 01-15Giovanni Segantini: Italy -- Painter
- 01-17Tomas Carrasquilla: Colombian author (Frutos de mi Tierra)
- 01-19Eugene Brieux: French playwright (Blanchette, Lesson Avaries)
- 01-22Beatrice Potter Webb: England, United Kingdom -- Economist
- 01-22Frederick Lugard: British captain / Baron (Congo)
- 01-25Giuseppi Radiciotti: Composer
- 02-14Charles Beach Hawley: Composer
- 02-15William Pickering: Boston, Massachusetts -- Astronomer (9th and 10th moons of Saturn)
- 02-16Laurence "Lon" Myers: United States -- Track star (top US miler)
- 02-17Ernest Ford: Composer
- 02-18Louise M A: Princess of Belgium
- 02-24Arnold Dolmetsch: Le Mans, France -- Musician
- 02-28Jacob P Vis: Dutch industrialist (founder NV Royal Salt Industries)
- 03-01Georg Simmel: German philosopher / sociologist
- 03-07Nikolai Artzibushev: Composer
- 03-13Maximilien Luce: French painter
- 03-15Liberty Hyde Bailey: US Botanist (Plantbreeding)
- 03-23Ludwig Quidde: German historian / politician (Nobel prize 1927)
- 03-27Peter Christian Lutkin: Composer
- 04-01Arnold Aletrino: Dutch physician-criminologist / author (From Life)
- 04-01Gaetano Mosca: Italian sociologist (Circulation of Elite)
- 04-03Matthew Ricketts: 1st Black man elected to Neb State Legislature
- 04-07Adrien H Gerhard: Dutch socialist politician (SDAP)
- 04-15Anton G O Ridder Van Rappard: Dutch painter / lithographer / etcher
- 04-15Emile Durkheim: French sociologist (Division du travail social)
- 04-19May Robson [Mary J Robison]: Melbourne, Victoria -- Actress (Apple Annie)
- 04-19Siegfried Ochs: Composer
- 04-20Auguste Chapuis: Composer
- 04-22Ethel Mary Smyth: Composer
People died in year of 1858
- 01-05Johann JWAFK Radetzky von Radetz: Austr Earl / field marshal, dies at 91
- 01-07Willem Broes: Vicar / Theologist (Textenrol), dies at 91
- 01-08Friedrich Karl Kuhmstedt: Composer, dies at 48
- 01-27Gerrit van der Linde Jz: Dutch "Principal", poet, dies at 49
- 02-16Georg F Creuzer: German philological / historian, dies at 86
- 02-19Alois Basil Nikolaus Tomasini: Composer, dies at 78
- 04-03Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm: Austrian composer, dies at 79
- 04-16Johann Baptist Cramer: German / British pianist / Composer / publisher, dies at 87
- 06-03Julius Reubke: Composer, dies at 24
- 06-12Cornelis Smit: Dutch ship builder / ship owner, dies at 74
- 06-12William Horsley: Composer, dies at 83
- 06-15Ary Scheffer: Painter / etcher / sculptor, dies at 63
- 07-06Jan Emmanuel Dulezalek: Composer, dies at 78
- 08-14George Combe: Phrenologist
- 09-05Moritz G [Moses] Saphir: Hungarian journalist, dies at 63
- 09-10Henry Wellington Greatorex: Composer, dies at 44
- 09-17Dred Scott: US slave (REV-decision Supreme court)
- 10-10Karl A Varnhagen von Ense: German Author / Poet / diplomat, dies at 73
- 10-12Ando Hiroshige: Japanese painter, dies at 61
- 10-26Isac Baker Woodbury: Composer, dies at 39
- 12-18Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees: Composer, dies at 81
- 12-27Alexandre Pierre Francois Boely: Composer, dies at 73