What happened in 1846

27 events　World 1, Japan 1, North America 12, Europe 9, Asia 3, Latin America 1

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Highlights of 1846

World1

  • The Great Famine continues in Ireland. The first deaths from hunger take place early in the year and Phytophthora infestans almost totally destroys the summer potato crop.

Japan1

  • Mar 10Prince Osahito, fourth son of deceased Emperor Ninkō of Japan, becomes Emperor Kōmei.

North America12

  • Feb 19Texas annexation: United States president James K. Polk's annexation of the Republic of Texas is finalized by Texas president Anson Jones in a formal ceremony of transfer of sovereignty. The newly formed Texas state government is officially installed in Austin.
  • Apr 25Mexican–American War: Open conflict begins, over the disputed border of Texas.
  • May 8Mexican–American War – Battle of Palo Alto: Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande at Palo Alto, Texas in the first major battle of the war.
  • May 11The University at Buffalo is founded by future United States Vice President and President, Millard Fillmore.
  • May 13Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
  • MayThe Associated Press is founded in New York.
  • Jun 10Mexican–American War: The California Republic declares independence from Mexico.
  • Jun 14Bear Flag Revolt: American settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
  • Jun 15The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
  • Jul 7Mexican–American War: Battle of Monterey – Acting on instructions from Washington, D.C., Commodore John Drake Sloat orders his troops to occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States annexation of California.
  • Nov 4The Donner Party, a wagon train of 87 settlers traveling to California, is stranded in the Sierra Nevada mountains by the first of several snowstorms. By the time a relief party reaches the starving settlers three months later, only 48 survivors are left, many of whom have survived by cannibalism.
  • Fort Wayne Female College is founded in Indiana as a Methodist institution; it will later be renamed Taylor University.

Europe9

  • Feb 18The Galician Peasant Uprising of 1846 begins in Austria.
  • Feb 20Kraków uprising: Polish nationalists stage an uprising in the Free City of Kraków; it is suppressed by forces of the Austrian Empire, supported by peasants.
  • May 15Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom votes to repeal the Corn Laws by passing an Importation Bill, replacing the old colonial mercantile trade system with free trade in response to the Great Famine (Ireland). On June 25 the Duke of Wellington persuades the House of Lords to pass the Act, which will take full effect from February 1849. Peel, however, is forced to resign.
  • May 16The Revolution of Maria da Fonte begins in Portugal. It will be by royalist troops on February 22, 1847.
  • Jun 16Pope Pius IX succeeds Pope Gregory XVI as the 255th pope. He will reign for 31½ years (the longest definitely confirmed).
  • Sep 19Our Lady of La Salette, a Marian apparition, is said to have been seen by two children at La Salette-Fallavaux in France.
  • Sep 23Discovery of Neptune: The planet is observed for the first time by German astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich Louis d'Arrest, as predicted by British astronomer John Couch Adams and French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier.
  • SepThe Second Carlist War (or the War of the Matiners or Madrugadores) begins in Spain.
  • Nov 17Carl Zeiss, a major worldwide optoelectronics and digital camera brand, is founded in Thuringia, Germany.

Asia3

  • Feb 10First Anglo-Sikh war: Battle of Sobraon – British forces in India defeat the Sikhs.
  • Mar 9The First Anglo-Sikh war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore. Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company, and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria.
  • 1846–1860 cholera pandemic breaks out in south Asia; in the United Kingdom, Parliament passes The Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act.

Latin America1

  • Aug 22The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established.