1849 (original) (raw)

Table of contents
1 Events [2 Year in topic](#Year in topic) 3 Births 4 Deaths

Events

January 23 - Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.
January 31 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom
February 14 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
February 28 - Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay. The California left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America, and arrived at San Francisco, California after the 4 month 21 day journey.
March 3 - Minnesota becomes a United States territory.
March 3 - The United States Department of the Interior is established.
March 3 - The United States Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
March 29 - The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab
June 5 - Denmark becomes constitutional monarchy
November 16 - A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group, but his execution is canceled at the last minute.
Joseph Fry makes the first chocolate bar
Zachary Taylor succeeds James Knox Polk as President of the United States of America (with David Rice Atchison serving for a single day between the two as Taylor refused to be sworn in on the Sabbath)