| January 7 | HMS Beagle anchors off Chonos Archipelago |
| January 25 | Opera "I Puritani," premieres in Paris |
| January 25 | Vincenzo Bellini's opera "I Puritani," premieres in Paris |
| January 30 | Richard Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington D.C. |
| February 20 | Concepcion, Chile destroyed by earthquake; 5,000 die |
| February 22 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin leave Valdivia Chile |
| February 24 | Siwinowe Kesibwi (Shawnee Sun) is 1st Indian lang monthly mag |
| February 28 | Dr. Elias L"nnrot publishes Finnish poem "Kalevala" |
| March 3 | Congress authorizes a U.S. mint at New Orleans Louisiana |
| March 4 | HMS Beagle moves into Bay of Concepcion |
| March 7 | HMS Beagle returns from Concepcion to Valparaiso |
| March 11 | HMS Beagle anchors off Valparaiso, Chile |
| March 13 | Charles Darwin departs Valparaiso for Andes crossing |
| March 18 | Charles Darwin departs Santiago Chile on his way to Portillo Pass |
| March 21 | Charles Darwin and Mariano Gonzales meet at Portillo Pass |
| March 23 | Charles Darwin reaches Los Arenales, in the Andes |
| April 10 | Charles Darwin returns to Santiago, Chile |
| April 18 | William Lamb Lord Melbourne forms British Government |
| April 26 | Frederic Chopins "Grand Polonaise Brillante," premieres in Paris |
| May 5 | King Leopold opens Brussels-Mechelen railway |
| May 6 | 1st edition of New York Herald (price 1 cents ) |
| May 12 | Charles Darwin visits copper mines in North Chile |
| May 13 | 1st foreign embassy in Hawaii forms |
| May 14 | Charles Darwin reaches Coquimbo in Northern Chile |
| June 1 | 6th national black convention in Philadelphia |
| June 2 | P. T. Barnum and his circus begin 1st tour of US |
| June 19 | New Orleans gives U.S. government Jackson Square to be used as a mint |
| June 25 | 1st building constructed at Yerba Buena (now SF) |
| July 8 | Liberty Bell cracks, again |
| July 9 | St. Etienne-Lyons railway opens in France |
| July 25 | Ibrahim Pasha's army attacks Jewish settlers of Hebron Palestine |
| July 26 | 1st sugar cane plantation started in Hawaii |
| August 11 | George B Airy begins 46-year reign as England's Astronomer Royal |
| August 17 | Solymon Merrick patents wrench |
| August 18 | Last Pottawatomie Indians leave Chicago |
| August 25 | N.Y. Sun publishes Moon hoax story about John Herschel |
| September 15 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin reache Galapagos Islands |
| September 17 | Charles Darwin lands on Chatham Galapagos-archipelago |
| September 23 | HMS Beagle sails to Charles Island in Galapagos archipelago |
| September 26 | Gaetano Donizetti's opera "Lucia di Lammermoor," premieres in Naples |
| October 8 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin reache James Island, Galapagos archipelago |
| October 20 | HMS Beagle leaves Galapagos Archipelago/sails to Tahiti |
| November 2 | 2nd Seminole War begins in Osceola |
| November 15 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin reach Tahiti |
| November 16 | Charles Darwin's voyage published in Cambridge Philosophical Society |
| November 18 | Charles Darwin travels to Tahiti |
| November 23 | Henry Burden patents Horseshoe manufacturing machine (Troy New York) |
| November 24 | Texas Rangers, mounted police force authorized by Texas Prov Government |
| November 26 | HMS Beagle leaves Tahiti for New Zealand |
| December 1 | Hans Christian Andersen published his 1st book of fairy tales |
| December 3 | 1st U.S. mutual fire insurance company issues 1st policy (RI) |
| December 7 | German railway Neurenberg-Furth opens |
| December 16 | Fire consumes over 600 buildings in New York City |
| December 19 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin approaches New Zealand |
| December 21 | HMS Beagle sails into Bay of Islands (New Zealand) |
| December 25 | Charles Darwin company celebrates Christmas in Pahia, New Zealand |
| December 30 | After gold discovery in Ga, Cherokees forced to move across Miss R |
| December 30 | HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin sail from New Zealand to Sydney |
