- 1850
| Jan 05 | The California Exchange opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 22 | The Alta California becomes a daily paper, the first such in California. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 29 | Henry Clay introduced in the Senate a compromise bill on slavery which included the admission of CA into the Union as a free state. | Ref: 70 |
| Mar 07 | In a three-hour speech to the US Senate, Daniel Webster endorsed the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 12 | First US $20 gold piece issued. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 18 | Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 31 | US population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%)). | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 04 | The city of Los Angeles is incorporated. | Ref: 5 |
| May 07 | In a three-hour speech to the US Senate, Daniel Webster endorsed the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union. | Ref: 6 |
| Aug 31 | California pioneers organized at Montgomery & Clay Streets. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 09 | (new state) California is admitted as the 31st state. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 09 | Territories of New Mexico & Utah created. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 28 | Flogging in US Navy & on merchant vessels abolished. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 29 | Mormon leader Brigham Young is named the first governor of the Utah Territory. | Ref: 2 |
- 1851
| Feb 20 | US $50 gold pieces are minted for the first time. They are made by the Moffat Assay Office in Mount Ophir, CA. (XDG, p 4A, 2/20/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 03 | Congress authorizes smallest US silver coin (3¢ piece). | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 02 | Maine becomes the first state to enact a law prohibiting alcohol. | Ref: 70 |
| Aug 10 | The president and the vice-president of the National Capital Building and Loan Association of North America are arrested by U.S. Post Office authorities for swindling. | |
| Dec 09 | First Young Men's Christian Association in North America (MontrTal). | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 24 | Fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington DC, destroying about 35,000 volumes. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 29 | The first American Young Men's Christian Association was organized, in Boston. | Ref: 70 |
- 1852
| Mar 13 | "Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 19 | California Historical Society forms. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 03 | Congress authorizes US's 2nd mint (San Francisco, Calif). | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 23 | First interment in US National Cemetary at Presidio. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 31 | The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 11 | Olympia Columbian is first newspaper published north of Columbia R. | Ref: 5 |
- 1853
| Jan 01 | First practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 08 | A bronze statue of Andrew Jackson on a horse is unveiled in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC. The statue was the work of Clark Mills. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 21 | US authorizes minting of $3 gold pieces. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 02 | Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Territory. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 03 | US Assay Office in New York NY authorized. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 01 | Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first US city to pay its firefighters a regular salary. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 17 | US Marine Hospital at Presidio (San Francisco) established. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 08 | An expedition led by Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Yedo (Tokyo) Bay, Japan, on a mission to seek diplomatic and trade relations with the Japanese. | Ref: 70 |
| Jul 14 | The Japanese government agrees to accept letters from President Filmore to establish relations with the US. | Ref: 3 |
| Nov 28 | Olympia established as capital of Washington Territory. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 30 | James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settles the dispute over the exact location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, and establishes the final boundaries of the southern United States. | Ref: 2 |
- 1854
| Jan 18 | Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 30 | First election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 04 | Alvan Bovay proposes the name "Republican Party", Ripon WI. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 28 | A meeting is held in the First Congregational Church of Ripon WI and plans were drawn up to establish a new national political party that would challenge the Democrats and attempt to stop the spread of slavery into the western territories, and eventually abolish the practice throughout the entire nation. This party would shortly become the Republican Party. Ref | |
| Mar 08 | US Commodore Matthew C. Perry makes his second landing in Japan. Within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 17 | First park land purchased by a US city, Worcester MA. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | In a one story schoolhouse in Ripon WI, 54 citizens, including three women, dissolve their local committees and choose five men to serve as the committee of the new party: , Jebediah Bowen, Amos Loper, Abram Thomas and Jacob Woodruff. Said Mr. Bovay, "We went into the little meeting Whigs, Free Soilers and Democrats. We came out as the first Republicans in the Union." Ref | |
| Mar 31 | In Tokyo, Japan, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S. government, signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakotade to American trade and permitting the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Japan. | Ref: 3 |
| May 30 | Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed Missouri Compromise opens north slavery and establishes the Kansas and Nebraska territories. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 10 | The US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD graduated its first class on this day. Midshipmen still attend classes and graduate from the same locale, not far from the Chesapeake Bay. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 29 | Congress ratifies Gadsden Purchase, adds parts of New Mexico, Arizona to the US. | Ref: 62 |
| Jul 06 | The first official Republican meeting takes place in Jackson, Michigan. The name "Republican" is chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. At the Jackson convention, the new party adopted a platform and nominated candidates for office in Michigan. Ref | |
| Jul 13 | US forces shell & burn San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 06 | Congress passes Confiscation Act. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 24 | National emigration convention meets in Cleveland. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 10 | US Assay Office in New York City, NY opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 04 | A lighthouse is established on Alcatraz Island. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | The first street cleaning machine was put into operation, in Philadelphia. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 30 | Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, first in US, incorporated in New York NY. | Ref: 5 |
- 1855
| Feb 03 | Wisconsin Supreme Court declares US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 10 | US citizenship laws are amended so that all children of US parents born abroad are granted US citizenship. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 24 | President Franklin Pierce signs a law creating a court (US Court of Claims) for the investigation of claims against the United States. (XDG, p 4A, 2/24/2001) | Ref: 83 |
| Mar 03 | Congress approves $30,000 to test camels for military use. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 24 | Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston KS. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 05 | Anti-foreign anti-Roman Catholic Know-Nothing Party's first convention. | Ref: 5 |
- 1856
| Feb 18 | American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 22 | The first national meeting of the Republican Party occurs in Pittsburgh). | Ref: 5 |
-
| May 21 | Lawrence KS captured, sacked by pro-slavery forces. | Ref: 5 |
| May 22 | Senator Preston Brooks of South Carolina strikes Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for Sumner's earlier condemnation of slavery. | Ref: 2 |
| May 24 | Pottawatomie Massacre took place in KS. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 17 | Republican Party opens its first national convention in Philadelphia PA. John C Fremont and William L. Dayton (Sen-NJ) are nominated as the President and Vice-presidential candidates. Ref | |
| Aug 21 | The Charter Oak in Hartford , where Connecticut colonial charter hidden in 1687, falls to ground. | Ref: 10 |
- 1857
| Feb 21 | US issues flying eagle cents. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 21 | Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in US. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 29 | Headquarters for the US Army, Division of the Pacific, is permanently established at the Presidio. | Ref: 5 |
| May 01 | William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to US Navy. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 24 | The Panic of 1857 hit when the New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company hit the skids and took the economy with it. The Ohio Life closing was neither a surprise nor the sole reason for crisis. | |
| Sep 30 | US occupies Sand, Baker, Howland & Jarvis Is. south of Hawaii. | Ref: 5 |
- 1858
| May 08 | John Brown holds antislavery convention | Ref: 2 |
| May 11 | (new state) Minnesota entered the United States of America this day as the Union’s 32nd state. Although its state bird is the common loon, there’s nothing common about Minnesota, whose Dakota-Sioux Indian name means sky-tinted water. The North Star State’s capital is St. Paul, which has a twin city, Minneapolis. The state flower is the lovely lady’s slipper. | Ref: 4 |
| May 19 | A pro-slavery band led by Charles Hameton executes unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border. | Ref: 2 |
| May 30 | Hudson Bay Company's rights to Vancouver Island revoked. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | Japan signs a treaty of commerce and friendship with the United States; US citizens allowed to live anywhere in Japan. | Ref: 2 |
- 1859
| Feb 14 | (new state) Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 21 | Zoological Society of Philadelphia, first in US, incorporated. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 06 | US recognizes Liberal government in Mexico's War of the Reform. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 27 | Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful U.S. oil well near Titusville, Pa. (Also Ref 77) | Ref: 70 |
| Oct 17 | Robert E. Lee's federal troops hit Harper's Ferry; John Brown arrested for treason; 10 men die. | Ref: 10 |
| Dec 29 | YMCA (Young Men's Christian Organization) organized in Boston, 15 years after Britain. | Ref: 10 |
- 1985
| Jun 01 | According to a study released on this day, Southerners (those from the southern U.S.) did more hugging than their counterparts from up north. It was also reported that women were more willing than men to hug. | Ref: 4 |
|
US History 1850 to 1859 Chronology