French explorer, naturalist, and anthropologist Henri Mouhot died aged thirty-five of fever in the Laotian jungle and was buried at a French mission near Naphan.  His notebooks reached France, however, and became the catalyst for the opening to the western imagination of the vast 400 square kilometer religious complex at Angkor  and its main temple Angkor Wat.  Mouhot had reached the area in January 1860 and spent weeks sketching and writing. (By John Osborne) 

Imperial China, struggling with an internal revolt by anti-foreign elements and also coming to terms with defeat by British and French forces, established the Zongli Yamen, or Office for the Management of Business of All Foreign Countries, in the capital.  A forerunner of the modern Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it set up foreign language schools and began enquiries into the international diplomatic methods of Western nations.  (By John Osborne)

In order to countered the reported conversion of the Confederate's Merrimac into an ironclad, the Navy put out contracts for a ship to match her.  John Ericsson won the contract with a controversial design and, at Greenpoint, New York, the keel had been laid on the Monitor.  The first U.S. Navy vessel to built from scratch as an ironclad, she was built in a remarkable three months and five days and turned over to the navy on February 19, 1861. She was commissioned March 4, 1862 and  famously saw action on March 9, 1862.  (By John Osborne) 

To counter the reported conversion of the Confederate's Merrimack into an ironclad, the Navy put out bids for a ship to match her.  John Ericsson won the contract with a controversial design and on October 28, 1861, the keel of the Monitor was laid at Greenpoint, New York.  The first deep-water U.S. Navy vessel to be built from scratch as an ironclad, she was completed in a remarkable three months and five days and turned over to the navy on February 19, 1862. She was commissioned and famously saw action on March 9, 1862.  (By John Osborne) 

To counter the reported conversion of the Confederate's Merrimac into an ironclad, the Navy had put out contracts for a ship to match her.  John Ericsson won the assignment with a controversial design and on October 28, 1861, at Greenpoint, New York, the keel had been laid on the Monitor.  The first sea-going U.S. Navy vessel designed from scratch as an ironclad, she was built in a remarkable three months and five days and turned over to the navy on this day. She was commissioned March 4, 1862 and  famously saw action on March 9, 1862.  (By John Osborne) 

Jem Mace fought Sam Hurst for the unofficial, and illegal, bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing championship of England and a purse of £400 on an island in the River Medway in Kent.  Mace won after 39 minutes of fighting when Hurst failed to "come up to scratch" in the eighth round.  Mace defended his championship the following year against Tom King on January 28, 1862 and in 1870 beat Tom Kenner in Louisana to become the "last bare-knuckle champion of the world."  (By John Osborne) 

Clara Schumann was the pianist when Johannes Brahms' Quartet No. 1 for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello in G Minor, Opus 25 made its concert debut In Hamburg, Germany. The composer himself performed the work exactly a year later in Vienna.  (By John Osborne)   

Fire destroyed Craig's Woolen Mills at Twelfth Street and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia and damaged several surrounding buildings.  The overall cost of the damage was more than a hundred thousand dollars.  No serious injuries were reported.  (By John Osborne) 

After visiting an army camp near Washington under the auspices of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and hearing soldiers singing the popular marching song "John Brown's Body," Julia Ward Howe, by her own account, awoke in her Washington DC hotel room in the early hours of the next morning and wrote down a new set of words she had been composing since.  This "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was published anonymously in the February 1862 edition of the Atlantic Monthly and soon became popular across the Northern states.  (By John Osborne)