01/29/2026
Happy Kansas Day! January 29th, 1861.
Many things happened this year. Kansas is granted Statehood. But several States secedes from the Union and form the Confederated States of America. Abraham Lincoln is the President Elect and will be inaugurated on March 4th 1861. But 4 years of war mar his Presidency. 1861 begins the Civil War with 1.6 Million casualties from both sides.
The first steam-powered carousel is recorded, in Bolton, England.
William Crookes discovers Thallium.
Giovanni Schiaparelli discovers asteroid 69 Hesperia.
James Clerk Maxwell demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography in a lecture at the Royal Institution in London using a photograph captured by Thomas Sutton.
The Canellas meteorite, an 859 gram chondrite type meteorite, strikes Earth near Barcelona, Spain.
The first issue of the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano is published.
First description of Archaeopteryx, based on a feather found in Bavaria;[17] in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near Langenaltheim in Germany.
Weisshorn, the fifth highest summit in the Alps, is first ascended.
Martin Doyle is the last person executed in Britain for attempted murder.
Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States. and with it The Pony Express American transcontinental mail service announces its closure.
The first industrial meat packing plant in Uruguay is established, at Fray Bentos.
Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry.[
Send a message to learn more
