Birthdays
Manning Ferguson Force
Turns 35 on this date
Joseph Henry
Turns 62 on this date
James Thadeus Holtzclaw
Turns 26 on this date
Samuel Jones
Turns 40 on this date
Frederick West Lander
Turns 38 on this date
John O'Neill
Turns 37 on this date
William Gaston Steele
Turns 39 on this date
Delia Ann Webster
Turns 42 on this date
Events
| Crime/Disasters | Danish Royal Palace at Frederiksborg gutted by fire |
12/16/1859 to 12/17/1859 |
| Slavery/Abolition | Georgia legislature passes law enabling the sale into slavery of free blacks indicted for vagrancy | 12/17/1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The 36th U.S. Congress is in session in Washington, D.C. |
12/06/1859 to 06/24/1860 |
Documents
| Newspaper | Atchison (KS) Freedom’s Champion, “The Admission of Kansas,” December 17, 1859 | 12/17/1859 |
| Newspaper | Washington (DC) National Intelligencer, “The Carlisle Kidnapping Case,” December 17, 1859 | 12/17/1859 |