1845 - What happened in 1845 ?

January 1845

Wednesday 29:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe is published for the first time (New York Evening Mirror).

March 1845

Saturday 01:

President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

Monday 03:

For the first time the U.S. Congress passes legislation overriding a presidential veto.

Tuesday 11:

The Flagstaff War: In New Zealand, Chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti lead 700 Maoris to chop down the British flagpole and drive settlers out of the British colonial settlement of Kororareka because of breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

Monday 17:

The rubber band is invented

May 1845

Tuesday 20:

HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.

July 1845

Friday 04:

Near Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond (see Walden).

August 1845

Thursday 28:

Scientific American magazine publishes its first issue

September 1845

Tuesday 23:

The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York.

October 1845

Friday 10:

In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

Monday 13:

A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approve a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, will make Texas a U.S. state.

December 1845

Tuesday 02:

Manifest Destiny: US President James K. Polk announces to Congress that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

Saturday 27:

Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time (Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia).

Monday 29:

Texas is admitted as the 28th U.S. state.