Pretender to the Spanish throne, Don Carlos, Count of Montemolin, and his wife Countess Maria died at Trieste in north-eastern Italy within hours of each other.  Don Carlos fell ill on January 11, 1861 and died the next day, his wife succumbed the day after that, reportedly from scarlet fever.  The fact that the pretender's brother had died only a few days before led to some speculation, however.  All three were buried in Trieste.  (By John Osborne)

Born Eliza Rosanna Gilbert in Ireland the daughter of a British army officer, she later became a professional dancer under the stage name, "Lola Montez, the Spanish Dancer" in 1843.  She carried on a series of high profile affairs, most notoriously with Ludvig I of Bavaria, who made her a countess.  She married several times, moved to the United States, performed in the Australian gold fields, and finally settled in New York City, where she died at age forty of pneumonia while recovering from a stroke.  She is buried in Brooklyn.  (By John Osborne)

Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, died in Potsdam at the age of sixty-five.  He had reigned since 1840 but from January, 1858 his government had largely been in the hands of his brother William, acting as Regent, after a stroke in 1857 had left him paralyzed and mentally impaired.  On Frederick's death, William became King William I.  Frederick William was buried in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, traditional place of Prussian kings.  (By John Osborne)

A meeting took place at the courthouse in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with leading citizens from all parties in attendance, to debate the Crittenden Compromise. Frederick Watts and James Hamilton spoke in favor of the proposal to allow the permanent extension of slavery into the southern territories, while Lemuel Todd, R.M. Henderson, and Judge Watt's own son, William Watts spoke against.  All men but the younger Watts were Dickinson College alumni.    (By John Osborne)

 More than a hundred leading citizens of Carlisle, Pennsylvania had signed a call for a meeting supporting the Union.  That meeting took place at the courthouse with citizens from all parties in attendance.  County Judge James H. Graham offered a resolution that the law denied any right of any state to secede, local lawyers like Lemuel Todd, James Hamilton, and R.M. Henderson, all Dickinson College graduates, as was Graham, spoke for it, and the proposal was passed by acclamation.  (By John Osborne)