1856 - What happened in 1856 ?

January 1856

Tuesday 08:

Borax is discovered (John Veatch).

Tuesday 29:

Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.

February 1856

Monday 18:

The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President (Millard Fillmore).

Friday 22:

The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

March 1856

Thursday 20:

1856 – Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers

Sunday 30:

The Treaty of Paris (1856) is signed, ending the Crimean War.

April 1856

Monday 07:

Foundation of Nelson College, Nelson, New Zealand.

Friday 11:

Battle of Rivas in the war between the Central American coalition and filibuster William Walker.

May 1856

Wednesday 21:

Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.

Thursday 22:

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 Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas").

Saturday 24:

John Brown and his men murder five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas

June 1856

Monday 09:

500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.

July 1856

Thursday 31:

Christchurch, New Zealand chartered as a city.

August 1856

Sunday 10:

In Last Island, Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.

Thursday 21:

America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda. (Traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856)

October 1856

Tuesday 07:

Cyrus Chambers, Jr. patents folding machine that folds book and newspapers.

December 1856

Tuesday 09:

Bushehr surrenders to the British.