What happened in 1856

25 events　World 1, North America 12, Europe 6, Asia 4, Middle East 1, Latin America 1

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Highlights of 1856

World1

  • MarNepalese–Tibetan War: The signing of the Treaty of Thapathali concludes the war.

North America12

  • Feb 1Auburn University is first chartered, as the East Alabama Male College.
  • Mar 6Maryland Agricultural College (modern-day University of Maryland, College Park) is chartered.
  • May 21Sacking of Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
  • May 22Caning of Charles Sumner: United States Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking pro-slavery Southerners, especially elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, a relative of Brooks. Sumner is unable to return to duty for three years while he recovers; Brooks becomes a hero across the South.
  • May 24Pottawatomie massacre: A group of followers of radical abolitionist John Brown kill 5 homesteaders in Franklin County, Kansas.
  • Jun 2Battle of Black Jack: Antislavery forces, led by John Brown, defeat proslavery forces in Bleeding Kansas.
  • Jun 20General Mills is founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, as the Minneapolis Milling Company.
  • Aug 30Battle of Osawatomie: Proslavery forces defeat antislavery forces in Bleeding Kansas.
  • Sep 1Seton Hall University is founded in South Orange, New Jersey, by the first bishop of the Diocese of Newark, James Roosevelt Bayley, a cousin of future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and nephew of the first American-born Catholic saint, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Seton Hall University is the oldest and largest Catholic diocesan university in the United States and the first institution named in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
  • Nov 41856 United States presidential election: Democrat James Buchanan defeats former President Millard Fillmore, representing a coalition of Know Nothings and Whigs, and John C. Frémont of the fledgling Republican Party, to become the 15th President of the United States.
  • Nov 21Niagara University is founded in Niagara Falls, New York.
  • Kate Warne, the first female private detective, begins to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

Europe6

  • Jan 29Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross as a British military decoration.
  • Mar 30The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
  • Apr 16The Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law abolishes privateering, and regulates the relationship between neutral and belligerent shipping on the high seas.
  • Oct 121856 Heraklion earthquake: A powerful earthquake rocks the Mediterranean, killing hundreds on the island of Crete and many more in the Middle East.
  • Nov 27The Coup of 1856 leads to Luxembourg's unilateral adoption of a new, reactionary constitution, as King-Grand Duke William III signs the new constitution without the Chamber of Deputies' consent.
  • Global financial services business Credit Suisse is founded as La Schweizerische Kreditanstalt.

Asia4

  • Mar 24Taiping Rebellion: Suspecting treachery on the part of East King Yang Xiuqing, Shi Dakai garrisons Anhui and begins his march back to the Heavenly Capital, having defeated a strong Xiang Army detachment.
  • May 1The province of Isabela is created in the Philippines, in honor of Queen Isabella II of Spain.
  • Sep 2Taiping Rebellion: Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang assassinate Yang Xiuqing.
  • Oct 8The Second Opium War between several Western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River.

Middle East1

  • Nov 1Anglo-Persian War: War is declared between Great Britain and Persia.

Latin America1

  • Mar 20Filibuster War: Battle of Santa Rosa: – Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.