Birthdays
George Gordon Meade
Turns 44 on this date
Jonathan Kenyon Peck
Turns 35 on this date
Noah Pinkney
Turns 13 on this date
Theodore Medad Pomeroy
Turns 35 on this date
Charles Shiels Wainwright
Turns 33 on this date
Alfred Newton Weir
Turns 19 on this date
Events
| Foreign | Napoleon III urges Pope Pius IX to give up the revolting Papal States | 12/31/1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating | The 36th U.S. Congress is in session in Washington, D.C. |
12/06/1859 to 06/24/1860 |
Documents
| Periodical | Boston (MA) Liberator, "John Brown is Dead!," December 31, 1859 | 12/31/1859 |