After months of grievances over poor treatment under an existing treaty,  a thousand Navajo warriors attacked Fort Defiance in New Mexico Territory.  In one of the only instances of a sustained Indian attack on a U.S. Army fort, a day-long battle resulted in the Navajo being driven off with around twenty killed.  The three companies of the Third Infantry Regiment defending the fort suffered one man dead and three wounded.  (By John Osborne)

The United States became the second country to recognize the newly unified Kingdom of Italy.  Britain had preceded the United States on March 31, and France followed on June 25.  (By John Osborne)  

Under the Liberal Government of Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell, Britain became the first power to recognize the newly unified Kingdom of Italy.  The United States followed on April 13, and France on June 25.  (By John Osborne)  

In Pittsylvania County, Virginia, a messy divorce case turned into a deadly confrontation during the taking of depositions at a neighborhood general store.  Captain Vincent Witcher, the grandfather of Victoria Smith Clement, the plaintiff in the case, along with two of her brothers, objected to a particular proceeding and a gun and knife fight broke out in the store.  By its conclusion, the three Clement brothers, including James, the husband in the divorce case, had been killed or fatally wounded. (By John Osborne)

British authorities in New Zealand were in a land dispute with the native Maori in the Taranaki area on the north island.  Governor Thomas Gore Browne had declared martial law and ordered Colonel Charles E. Gold with his men of the local militia to fortify the disputed block of land. Open warfare broke out between the British and the Maori with the militia's attack on a fortified Maori position at Te Kohea built to block access to the area.  (By John Osborne) 

British authorities in New Zealand were in a land dispute with the native Maori in the Taranaki area west of Auckland on the north island.  Governor Thomas Gore Browne declared martial law in the area and ordered Colonel Charles E. Gold with his men of the local militia to fortify the disputed block of land. Open warfare broke out between the British and the Maori two weeks later and the war lasted for almost a year.  (By John Osborne) 

Abraham Lincoln addressed a demanding audience at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City in a speech that helped him win the Republican nomination for president.  (By John Osborne)  

The first official baseball game in California history was played at Centre's Bridge in San Francisco between the San Francisco Base Ball Club and the San Francisco Red Rovers.  With the game tied at 33 runs each, a dispute over pitching ended with the Red Rovers refusing to continue and forfeiting the contest. (By John Osborne)  

The Dutch governing coalition of Jan-Jacob Rochussen and Peter Van Bosse resigned after the Dutch legislature narrowly rejected their plans to improve and expand the nation's railway system.   F.A. van Hall was charged with forming a new government on February 22, 1860.  (By John Osborne)