January 5 1st steamboat sails, Red River January 22 Brahms' 1st piano concerto (in D minor) premieres, Hanover February 10 General Horsford defeats Begum of Oudh and Nana Sahib in Indian mutiny February 14 Oregon admitted as 33rd state February 17 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Un Ballo in maschera" premieres in Napoli February 19 Dan Sickles is acquitted of murder on grounds of temporary insanity 1st time this defense is successfully used February 25 1st use of "insanity plea" to prove innocence February 26 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins February 28 Arkansas legislature requires free blacks to choose exile or slavery March 1 Present seal of San Francisco adopted (its 2nd) March 18 Vera Cruz besieged by Miramon (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform March 19 Opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod premieres in Paris March 21 1st Zoological Society incorporates in Philadelphia Scottish National Gallery opens in Edinburgh Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 1st in U.S., incorporated March 26 1st sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury March 28 1st performance of John Brahms' 1st Serenade for orchestra April 4 Opera "Dinorah" is produced (Paris) April 6 U.S. recognizes Liberal government in Mexico's War of Reform April 12 Hibernia Savings and Loan Society of San Francisco incorporates April 14 Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" published April 25 Ground broken for Suez Canal April 27 "Pomona" sinks in North Atlantic drowning all 400 aboard April 30 Paul Morphy returns from 10-month chess tour of Europe, retires May 31 Philadelphia A's organize to play "town ball" became baseball 20 years later June 11 Comstock silver load discovered near Virginia City, Nevada June 12 Comstock Silver Lode in Nevada discovered June 24 Battle of Solferino, N-Italy: France/Sardinia-Austria June 28 1st dog show held, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England June 30 Charles Blondin is 1st to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope July 1 1st intercollegiate baseball game, Amherst beats Williams 66-32 Balloon covers a record 809 miles over St. Louis July 5 Captain N. C. Brooks discovers Midway Islands July 11 Charles Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities" is published July 12 Paper bag manufacturing machine patents by William Goodale, Massachusetts July 22 V E Walker takes 10-74 in an innings for England vs. Surrey August 9 Elevator patented August 17 1st air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette Ind August 27 1st successful oil well drilled, near Titusville, Penn by Edwin Drake September 1 1st Pullman sleeping car in service R C Carrington and R Hodgson make 1st observation of solar flare September 2 Gas lighting introduced to Hawaii September 16 Lake Nyasa, which forms Malawi's boundary with Tanzania and Mozambique discovered by British explorer David Livingstone September 17 Man in San Francisco claims himself Norton I, emperor of America September 20 George Simpson patents electric range September 29 Great auroral display in US October 16 John Brown leads 20 in raid on federal arsenal, Harper's Ferry, Va October 19 Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope October 25 Merchant vessel Royal Charter runs aground at Liverpool, 459 die November 12 Jules Leotard performs 1st Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris) He also designed garment that bears his name November 16 Aleksandr Ostrovsky's "Groza," premieres in Moscow November 24 Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species" December 5 Dion Boucicault's "Octaroon," premieres in New York City December 15 GR Kirchoff describes chemical composition of Sun December 18 South Carolina declared an "independent commonwealth" December 19 Grading started for Market Street RR December 31 Dutch colony in Dutch Indies counts 4,800 slaves
