1849 - What happened in 1849 ?

January 1849

Tuesday 23:

Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.

Wednesday 31:

Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.

February 1849

Wednesday 14:

In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.

Wednesday 28:

Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor.

March 1849

Saturday 03:

The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.

Sunday 04:

America goes without a President for one day. The expiration of James K. Polk's term occurred at 12pm, but Zachary Taylor was not sworn in until the next day. Although rejected by constitutional experts, some believe that David Rice Atchison, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate at the time, was the "acting president".

Monday 05:

Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th President of the United States.

Thursday 22:

The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.

Thursday 29:

The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab

April 1849

Friday 13:

Hungary becomes a republic

Saturday 14:

Hungary declared itself independent of Austria with Louis Kossuth as its leader.

Wednesday 25:

The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.

May 1849

Thursday 03:

the last of the German revolutions of 1848.

Sunday 27:

The Great Hall of Euston station, London opened.

June 1849

Tuesday 05:

Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.

August 1849

Tuesday 28:

After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent, surrenders to Austria.

October 1849

Saturday 06:

The execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad after the Hungarian war of independence.

November 1849

Friday 16:

A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group; his execution is canceled at the last minute.

December 1849

Thursday 06:

American freedom-fighter Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.

Saturday 22:

The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is canceled at the last second.