| January 22 | Earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands |
| January 26 | Michigan admitted as 26th U.S. state |
| February 8 | 1st Vice President chosen by Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren admin) |
| February 11 | American Physiological Society organizes in Boston |
| February 13 | Riot in New York over high price of flour |
| February 25 | 1st U.S. electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport |
| March 3 | Congress increases Supreme Court membership from 7 to 9 |
| March 3 | U.S. president Andrew Jackson and Congress recognizes Republic of Texas |
| March 4 | City of Chicago incorporates |
| March 4 | Martin Van Buren inaugrated as 8th president |
| March 4 | Weekly Advocate changes its name to the Colored American |
| March 24 | Canada gives blacks the right to vote |
| March 28 | Felix Mendelssohn marries Cecile Jeanrenaud |
| April 19 | Cheyney University forms as the Institute for Colored Youth |
| May 9 | "Sherrod" burns in Mississippi River below Natchez Miss; 175 dies |
| May 31 | Astor Hotel opens in New York City, it later becomes the Waldorf-Astoria |
| June 13 | 1st Mormon missionaries to British Isles leave Kirtland, Ohio |
| June 17 | Charles Goodyear obtains his 1st rubber patent |
| June 18 | Spain gets new Constitution |
| June 20 | England issues its 1st stamp, 1P Queen Victoria |
| June 20 | Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV Ruled for 63 years ending in 1901 |
| July 13 | Queen Victoria is 1st monarch to live in present Buckingham Palace |
| July 27 | U.S. Mint opens in Charlotte, North Carolina |
| August 5 | 1st ascent of Mount Marcy (5,344') highest in Adirondack, New York |
| August 28 | Pharmacists John Lea and William Perrins manufactures Worcester Sauce |
| September 6 | Oberlin Collegiate Institute of Ohio goes co-ed (4 women, 30 men) |
| September 21 | Charles Tiffany founded his jewelry and china stores |
| October 1 | "Racer's" Hurricane (Gulf of Mexico) |
| October 1 | Treaty with Winnebago Indians |
| October 9 | Steamboat "Home" sinks off Okracoke North Carolina killing 100 |
| October 31 | Collision of river boat Monmouth and Trement on Miss; 300 die |
| November 8 | Mount Holyoke Seminary in Mass-1st U.S. college founded for women |
| November 15 | Isaac Pitman introduces his steno system |
| November 19 | Floridsdorf-Deutsch Wagram railway in Austria opens |
| November 21 | Thomas Morris of Australia skips rope 22,806 times |
| December 5 | Hector Berlioz' "Requiem," premieres |
| December 5 | Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada |
| December 25 | Battle of Okeechobee-U.S. forces defeat Seminole Indians |
| December 29 | Canadian militia destroy Caroline, a U.S. steamboat docked at Buffalo |
| December 29 | Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine |
