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Year 1847 (MDCCCXLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar).

[edit] Events of 1847

[edit] January - June

• January 4 - Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S government.
• January 13 - The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in the Mexican-American War in California.
• January 16 - John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
• January 17 - Saint Anthony Hall is founded at Columbia University, New York City,New York.
• January 30 - Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
• February 5 - A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party. These California bound emigrants became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and some had resorted to cannibalism to survive.
• February 22 - Mexican-American War - The Battle of Buena Vista: 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.
• March 1
  • The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.
  • Faustin Soulouque declares himself Emperor of Haiti.
• March 9 - Mexican-American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.
• March 14 - Verdi's Macbeth (opera) premieres at Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Italy.
• March 29 - Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
• April 15 - The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established.
• May 7 - In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association (AMA) is founded.
• June 1 - The first congress of the Communist League is held in London.
• June 1 - Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America is founded at New York University.
• June 27 - The first train journey in Denmark takes place from Copenhagen to Roskilde.

[edit] July - December

• July 1 - The United States issues its first postage stamps.
• July 24 - After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.
• July 26 - Liberia gains independence.
• July 29 - The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States.
• August 12 - U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Chalco and Xochimilco lakes in Mexico
• August 20 - US troops defeat Mexican troops in Valencia, Mexico
• September 30 - The Vegetarian Society was formed in the United Kingdom. It remains the oldest in the world.
• October - Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell.
• October 12 - German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens AG & Halske.
• October 31 - Theta Delta Chi is founded at Union College.
• December 21 - Abd al-Kader surrenders and is imprisoned by the French.

[edit] Undated

• The Ottoman Empire cedes Abadan Island to the Persian Empire.
• The Architectural Association School of Architecture is founded.
• Emily Brontë publishes Wuthering Heights under the pen name of Ellis Bell.
• The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town.
• Radley College, a famous English public school, is founded.

[edit] Ongoing events

• Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
• Great Irish Famine (1845-1849). This was the worst year of the famine, and is referred to as Black 47.
• New Zealand land wars (1843-1872)

[edit] Births

[edit] January - June

• January 28 - Dorus Rijkers, Dutch naval hero (d. 1928)
• February 8 - Hugh Price Hughes, Methodist social reformer, first Superintendent of the West London Mission (d. 1902)
• February 11 - Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor (d. 1931)
• February 15 - Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)
• February 16 - Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)
• March 3 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (d. 1922)
• March 4 - Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (d. 1904)
• March 14 - Castro Alves, Brazilian poet (d. 1871)
• March 27 - Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
• April 10 - Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born journalist and newspaper publisher (d. 1911)
• May 7 - Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
• June 8 - Ida Saxton McKinley, U.S. First Lady (d. 1907)
• June 11 - Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)

[edit] July - December

• July 9 - Wong Fei Hung, Chinese healer and revolutionary (d. 1924)
• July 25 - Paul Langerhans, German pathologist and biologist (d. 1888)
• August 14 - Robert Comtesse, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1922)
• September 5 - Jesse James, American outlaw (d. 1882)
• October 1 - Annie Besant, English women's rights activist, writer and orator (d. 1933)
• October 2 - Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany (d. 1934)
• October 14 - Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian composer (d. 1935)
• Novemeber 2 - Georges Sorel, French socialist (d. 1922)
• November 26 - Dagmar of Denmark, empress of Tsar Alexander III of Russia (d. 1928)
• December 7 - George Grossmith, English actor and comic writer (d. 1912)
• December 18 - Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
• November 30 - Afonso Pena, Brazilian president (d. 1909)
• December 17 - Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general during World War I (d. 1923)
• December 17 - Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)
• December 28 - Giuseppe Maria Giulietti, Italian explorer (d. 1881)
• date unknown - Hale Johnson, American temperance movement leader (d. 1902)

[edit] Deaths

• January - Abbasgulu Bakikhanov, Azerbaijani writer (b. 1794)
• January 19 - Charles Bent, first Governor of New Mexico Territory (assassinated)
• March 9 - Mary Anning, British paleontologist (b. 1799)
• April 21 - Barbara Ann Spooner Wilberforce, Wife of British Abolitionist William Wilberfoce (b. 1777)
• April 30 - Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general (b. 1771)
• May 14 - Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
• May 29 - Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (b. 1766)
• July 3 - Matěj Kopecký, puppeteer (b. 1775)
• September 4 - František Vladislav Hek, Czech patriot (b. 1769)
• September 13 - Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (b. 1767)
• October 3 - Charles Hatchett, English chemist (b. 1765)
• October 22 - Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa
• November 4 - Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)
• December 14 - Manuel José Arce, Central American politician (b. 1787)

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[edit] External links

• Historic Letters of 1847