| January 1 | William Lloyd Garrison publishes 1st issue of abolitionist journal |
| January 2 | Liberator, abolitionist newspaper, begins publishing in Boston |
| January 3 | 1st U.S. building and loan association organized, Frankford, Penn |
| January 15 | 1st U.S. railroad honeymoon trip, Mr. and Mrs. Pierson, Charleston, SC |
| January 15 | 1st US-built locomotive to pull a passenger train makes 1st run |
| January 22 | Charles Darwin takes his Bachelors of Art exam |
| February 5 | Jan van Speijk blows up his gunboat in Antwerp, killing about 30 |
| February 7 | Belgium adopts it's Constitution |
| February 19 | 1st practical U.S. coal-burning locomotive makes 1st trial run, Pennsylvania |
| February 20 | Polish revolutionaries defeat Russians in battle of Growchow |
| March 2 | John Frazee becomes 1st U.S. sculptor to receive a federal commission |
| March 6 | Bellini's opera "La Sonnambula," premieres in Milan |
| March 6 | Edgar Allen Poe removed from West Point military academy |
| March 6 | Vincenzo Bellini's opera "La Sonnambula," premieres in Milan |
| March 19 | 1st U.S. bank robbery (City Bank, New York/$245,000) |
| March 31 | Mainzer Rijnvaart Convention ends |
| March 31 | Quebec and Montreal incorporated |
| April 7 | Dom Pedro abdicates to son, Dom Pedro II crowned emperor of Brazil |
| April 9 | Robert Jenkins loses an ear, starts war between Britain and Spain |
| June 4 | National Congress selects Leopold von Saksen-Coburg as King of Belgium |
| June 6 | 2nd national black convention, Philadelphia |
| July 1 | Admiral James C Ross reaches magnetic North Pole |
| July 21 | Belgium gains independence from Netherlands, Leopold I made king |
| August 1 | London Bridge opens to traffic |
| August 2 | Ten day campaign begins, Dutch army occupies Belgium |
| August 8 | Battle of Hasselt - Dutch army drives out Belgian Army |
| August 9 | 1st U.S. steam engine train run (Albany to Schenectady, New York) |
| August 10 | Former slave Nat Turner leads uprising against slavery |
| August 10 | Hurricane hits Barbados; about 1,500 die |
| August 12 | Dutch troops conquer Leuven |
| August 12 | Netherlands and Belgium sign peace treaty |
| August 13 | Nat Turner leads uprising of slaves in Virginia |
| August 24 | John Henslow asks Charles Darwin to travel with him on HMS Beagle |
| August 29 | Michael Faraday demonstrates 1st electric transformer |
| August 30 | Charles Darwin refuses to travel with HMS Beagle |
| September 1 | Charles Darwin travels aboard HMS Beagle |
| September 11 | Charles Darwin meets with Captain Fitzroy at Plymouth |
| September 26 | Robert Montgomery Bird's "Gladiator," premieres in New York City |
| October 17 | Felix Mendelssohn's 1st Piano concert in G, premieres |
| November 7 | State Gran Colombia disbands |
| November 22 | Opera "Robert Le Diable" is produced (Paris) |
| December 1 | Erie Canal closes for entire month due to cold weather |
| December 5 | Former President John Quincy Adams takes his seat as member of House of Representatives |
| December 10 | "Spirit of the Times" begins publishing (weekly horse racing sheet) |
| December 25 | Louisiana and Arkansas are 1st states to observe Christmas as holiday |
| December 26 | Vincenzo Bellini's opera "Norma," premieres in Milan |
| December 27 | Darwin begins his voyage on board HMS Beagle |
| December 27 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin depart England for South America |
