American Life and Culture

Date Event
The first comic weekly paper in the United States is published in Philadelphia
Verdi's opera "Nabucco" has its United States premiere in New York City
- The first National Women's Rights Convention held in Worcester, Massachusetts
"Miss Leslie," America's most popular cooking writer, dies in New Jersey
Yale students and local volunteer firemen battle in New Haven and a young fireman is fatally shot
Admission charged to a Baseball Park for the first time
Louisiana Vigilance Committee forces disperse massed "Anti-Vigilance" outlaws at Bayou Tortue
New York City sleigh-riders complain that the salting of Broadway is ruining their outings after the snow-storm
The Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania opens
Congressman Daniel Sickles is acquitted in his trial for the murder of Philip Barton Key
Searing winds hit Santa Barbara, California, destroying birds, small animals, and all foliage in the town
Inmate burns the Massachusetts State Reform School at Westboro to the ground
- The touring All-England Cricket Team plays against a United States team in Hoboken
Famous trotting horse Flora Temple breaks world record for the mile in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Pennsylvania has a public debt of more than thirty-eight million dollars
Rabbi gives opening prayer in the House of Representatives for the first time
Continental Hotel, biggest in the land, opens for business in Philadelphia
The first official baseball game in California is played in San Francisco
Unindentified white men murder scores of Wiyot Indians in northern California
Christopher Spencer receives a patent for his magazine-fed, lever action rifle
California enacts law to protect young dancing girls
Last survivor of the 1778 Wyoming Massacre dies in Ohio
The Pony Express begins its first run
J. W. Richardson rides into St. Joseph, Missouri ending the first west to east run of the Pony Express
In Boston, Henry Longfellow completes his famous poem, "Paul Revere's Ride"
In New York, a clandestine prizefight on Ryker's Island ends in a sixty-one round draw
Angry mob of gamblers in Pennsylvania ransack the offices of the Scranton morning newspaper
Bret Harte publishes his first short story in San Francisco, California
The town of Olathe in Kansas plans a free meal for a thousand for the Fourth of July but two thousand show up
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Northwestern Mutual Life makes its first real estate loan
Harvard College graduates its largest ever class, watched by Stephen Douglas and Charles Sumner
In San Francisco, Emperor Norton I dissolves the United States republic and declares an absolute monarchy
On the California coast, J. C. Gore sells the ranch that will become Pebble Beach Golf Course
New York teachers debate the place of black children in the state's public schools
- Hurricane kills forty-seven people in Louisiana
T.D. Rice, black-face minstrel originator of the "Jim Crow" character, dies in New York City
Landing in Detroit, Prince Albert begins his historic visit to the United States
"Grizzly" Adams dies at his home in Neponset, Massachusetts
The wedding of Charles Stratton and Lavinia Warren in New York City makes headline news
The New York Yacht Club holds its annual regatta around Manhattan
Henry Ford, who will transform American industry and transportation, is born on a farm in Michigan
In New York York's Central Park, the cornerstone of the Shakespeare Monument is dedicated
- The German-American gymnastics movement, the Turn Verein, holds a large festival in New York
In a spectacular and destructive fire, P.T. Barnum's American Museum burns to the ground in New York City
- The ninth German-American Saengerfest, a massive week-long choral convention is held in New York City
On the Hudson River off Poughkeepsie, New York, a boat race for a purse of $6000 ends in controversy
In Springfield, Missouri, "Will Bill" Hickok duels with Davis Hutt in the town square, shooting him in the heart
- In Maryland, thousands of German-Americans are attending a three day "Schutzen Fest" held in Baltimore
In Philadelphia, the city's boat clubs, "the Schuylkill Navy," hold their first regatta since the outbreak of the Civil War
The annual North American festival of German-American "Turner" clubs is held in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Two New York yachts with very wealthy owners compete in an ocean race off Long Island
Sensational rumors of a church being haunted by demons causes turmoil in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Two four-man crews race on the Hudson River for a national rowing championship and two thousand dollars
Famous daredevil Harry Leslie performs while suspended from a balloon flying 2000 feet over New York City
Two heavy early afternoon tremors strike San Francisco, California but start no fires and cause no fatalities
At the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, the Atlantic baseball club defeats the Eckford Club 35-8
In Philadelphia, 20,000 firemen march in an unprecedented gala parade
A significant lunar eclipse of the Sun is visible in the morning over much of the eastern United States
Two of the country's best baseball clubs meet in Philadelphia with Brooklyn's "Atlantics" victorious
In New York's East River, Blackwell Island Asylum celebrates new buildings with a ball for the patients
In New York, newlyweds celebrate with a two hour balloon flight from Central Park to Mount Vernon
The third annual celebration of Thanksgiving Day takes place across the country
In Chicago, convicted murderers Patrick Fleming and William Corbett die on the gallows
The 1866 shipment of "Mercer Girls" departs New York City for Washington Territory
- Off New York City, naval engine designs compete in a race between the "Winooski" and the "Algonquin"
In New York City, John Deery defeats John McDevitt for the American National Billiards Championship final
New York City and New Jersey boat clubs hold a large regatta on the Hudson River
Newark, New Jersey celebrates the bicentennial of its founding with a large street parade.
- A massive fire destroys much of Portland, Maine, leaving 10,000 homeless but killing only two.
In Johnstown, Pennsylvania, disaster strikes for hundreds when a viewing platform collapses.
On the edge of the Bronx, the new Jerome Park Race Course opens with its first race meeting.
Crowding and spectator disturbances at the Philadelphia Athletics end with the game being called.
Mississippi steamboat catches fire in the middle of the night and forty-three people are drowned.
- In New York City, the English Rackets Champion wins an international match with leading U.S. player Frederick Foulkes.
Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery sponsors a day to decorate the graves of thousands of C.S.A. veterans buried there.
The first International Caledonian Games in North America is under way in New York City
- The Tenth National Saengerfest for German-American Choral Societies is held in Philadelphia.
- In New York, the summer horse racing meeting at Saratoga is under way.
On Long Island, the Queens Agricultural Society successfully completes its twenty-fifth annual exhibition.
Edward Payson Weston sets out to walk from Portland, Maine to Chicago in thirty days.
Along the Monongahela River, large crowds turn out to watch a five-mile sculling race for $2000.
In Lafayette, Indiana, a wood-sawing contest between baseball teams raises money for charity
Edward Payson Weston reaches Connecticut on his 1200 mile walk from Portland, Maine to Chicago.
In Madison, New Jersey, Drew Theological Seminary is formally opened
Edward Payson Weston reaches Chicago on his 1238 mile walk from Portland, Maine with a day to spare.
How to Cite This Page: "American Life and Culture," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/47565.