| Battles/Soldiers |
|
In Charleston, South Carolina militia seize the federal arsenal and begin issuing arms and ammunition |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
President Buchanan replies to the South Carolina's commissioners as "private gentlemen" |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Secretary of Navy orders U.S.S. Brooklyn to prepare to sail from Hampton Roads in Virginia |
| Business/Industry |
|
Railroad deaths in 1860 down by more than half compared to 1859 |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
In the U.S. Senate, packed galleries cheer Senator Benjamin of Louisiana's defiant speech |
| Crime/Disasters |
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|
Several nights of heavy gales wreak havoc on shipping around coasts of Britain and northern France |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
South Carolina redefines treason, to be punished with "death without benefit of clergy" |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Governor Pickens declares South Carolina waters, especially Charleston Harbor, off-limits to U. S. vessels |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Alabama's secession commissioner warns Delaware of slave insurrection under Republican rule |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
General Winfield Scott orders Captain Charles Stone to put the District of Columbia Militia under arms |
| US/the World |
|
In Prussia, King Frederick William IV dies at his palace in Potsdam |
| Settlers/Immigrants |
|
Fifty-six free blacks sail from the United States for a new life as emigrants to Haiti |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
President-Elect Lincoln meets Alexander McClure in Springfield, Illinois |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Captain Charles Stone takes up his duties at the head of the District of Columbia Militia |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Delaware state legislature votes overwhelmingly to stay in the Union |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
In North Carolina, Governor Ellis orders his state militia to occupy key federal forts |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
The Florida state convention on secession assembles in Tallahassee |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
On the Senate floor, Stephen Douglas warns of the danger of the moment and calls for compromise |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
Steamboat snags and sinks in Arkansas |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Alabama state troops seize the massive arsenal at Mount Vernon in Mobile County |
| Education/Culture |
|
National day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer" takes place throughout the United States |
| Campaigns/Elections |
|
In Alabama, voting underway to elect delegates to the state's secession convention |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
Three fatal railway accidents occur around England on the same day |
| Battles/Soldiers |
|
Chartered steamship sails from New York City bound for Charleston and the resupply of Fort Sumter |
| Women/Families |
|
In Charleston, South Carolina, Eliza Anderson pays a surprise visit to her husband at Fort Sumter |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
American ship sinks in mid-Atlantic and forty-eight are set adrift thousands of miles from land |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
An explosion of sulphur gas kills seven in a coal mine in central England |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Alabama's secession convention assembles in Montgomery |
| Lawmaking/Litigating |
|
Mississippi's Secession Convention assembles in Jackson, the state capital |
| Crime/Disasters |
|
Lions kill one of their keepers at the most popular circus in London |
