The Knickerbocker Club of New York played the New York Baseball Club, under the new code adopted the previous year, at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey. The Knickerbockers, with their club president Alexander Jay Cartwright serving as umpire, lost in four innings by a score of twenty-three to one. (By John Osborne)

A fly casting tournament, the first in the nation, was held at Utica, New York under the auspices of the New York State Sportsman's Association. Local angler George Lennebacker was the winner. (By John Osborne)

The first accident insurance company in the United States was chartered in Hartford, Connecticut. James Goodwin Batterson's "Traveller's Insurance Company" insured only against travel accidents until 1864 when the company expanded its coverage to all accidents. (By John Osborne)

The first Republican Party National Convention opened at the Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia. It nominated John Charles Fremont for president and William Lewis Dayton for vice-president. (By John Osborne)

Townsend Glover is appointed as the first federal entomologist.  His reports will appear under the auspices of the the U.S. Patent Office. (By John Osborne)

The United States Naval Academy opened as a four year institution in Annapolis, Maryland.  It had earlier been known as the Naval School and had graduated short duration classes since July 1846. (By John Osborne)