What happened in 1855

21 events　World 1, North America 9, Europe 6, USSR / Russia 1, Asia 2, Middle East 1, Oceania 1

Highlights of 1855

Feb 12North AmericaMichigan State University (the "pioneer" land-grant college) is established.
Mar 2USSR / RussiaAlexander II ascends the Russian throne, upon the death of his father Nicholas I.
Jun 29EuropeThe Daily Telegraph newspaper begins publication in London.
JulWorldSeptember 9 (August 28 O.S.) – Crimean War: Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) – Sevastopol falls to French and British troops.
Nov 15Middle EastThe Hejaz rebellion takes place in Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire, triggered by a firman of 1854 against the slave trade, which is condemned by the ulema of Mecca as influenced by Westerners and contrary to Islamic law.
AsiaThe third plague pandemic breaks out in Yunnan, China. This bubonic plague pandemic eventually spreads to all inhabited continents, and ultimately leads to more than 12 million deaths in India and China (estimated 15 million worldwide) making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. The pandemic is considered active until 1960.

JulSeptember 9 (August 28 O.S.) – Crimean War: Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) – Sevastopol falls to French and British troops.

Feb 12Michigan State University (the "pioneer" land-grant college) is established.
Feb 22Pennsylvania State University is founded, as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.
Mar 3The United States Congress appropriates $30,000 to create the U.S. Camel Corps.
Mar 16Bates College is founded by abolitionists in Lewiston, Maine.
Mar 30Elections are held for the first Kansas Territory legislature. Missourian 'Border Ruffians' cross the border in large numbers to elect a pro-slavery body.
Jul 4Walt Whitman's poetry collection Leaves of Grass is published in Brooklyn.
Nov 10Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's fictional poem The Song of Hiawatha is published in Boston.
Nov 21Large-scale Bleeding Kansas violence begins, with events leading to the 'Wakarusa War' between antislavery and proslavery forces.
Samuel Colt incorporates his business as the Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company and opens a new factory, the Colt Armory, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Apr 18The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, requested by Napoleon III for the Exposition Universelle (opening May 15), first appears.
May 15The Exposition Universelle (an early World's fair) officially opens in Paris (continues to November 15).
May 15The Great Gold Robbery is made from a moving train between London Bridge and Folkestone in England, one of the first crimes of its kind.
Jun 29The Daily Telegraph newspaper begins publication in London.
Oct 17Crimean War: Battle of Kinburn – Combined French and British forces subdue Russian shore forts. The successful use of French floating batteries makes this the first use of modern ironclad warships in action.
Dec 22The Metropolitan Board of Works is established in London.

Mar 2Alexander II ascends the Russian throne, upon the death of his father Nicholas I.

Apr 3The Nepalese invasion of Tibet (west of China) to the north across the Himalaya Mountains (tallest and most rugged in the world) starts the Nepalese–Tibetan War (1855–1856).
The third plague pandemic breaks out in Yunnan, China. This bubonic plague pandemic eventually spreads to all inhabited continents, and ultimately leads to more than 12 million deaths in India and China (estimated 15 million worldwide) making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. The pandemic is considered active until 1960.

Nov 15The Hejaz rebellion takes place in Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire, triggered by a firman of 1854 against the slave trade, which is condemned by the ulema of Mecca as influenced by Westerners and contrary to Islamic law.

Apr 7Battle of Kaba: The Kingdom of Tonga in the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean (Polynesia, Melanesia / Oceania), intervenes in the war between the self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King) of the island of Fiji, Cakobau, and his rivals the Confederation of Rewa. It results in Rewa's defeat and the tenuous unification of Fiji under Cakobau.