1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events

• January 9 - Earthquake at Fort Tejon, California with an estimated magnitude of 7.9
• February 16 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
• March 3 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
• March 4 - End of term for President of the United States Franklin Pierce. He is succeeded by James Buchanan.
• March 5 – In London, ex-solicitor James Towsend Saward is sentenced for transportation for forging number of cheques over the years.
• March 6 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, driving the country further towards the American Civil War.
• March 21 - Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
• March 23 - Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed (at 488 Broadway, New York City)
• May 10 - Indian rebellion of 1857: In India, the Mutiny of XI Native Cavalry of the Bengal Army in Meerut, revolt against the British East India Company.
• May 11 - Indian combatants capture Delhi from the East India Company.
• June 6 - Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway.
• July 15 - Second Cawnpore massacre during the Indian rebellion of 1857.
• August - Calcutta University established.
• September 11 - Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah.
• October 24 - Sheffield F.C., the world's first football (soccer) team, is founded in Sheffield, England.
• November 30 - End of term for President of Mexico Ignacio Comonfort. He is succeeded by Félix María Zuloaga.
• December 16 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.9 kills 11,000 people in Naples, Italy.
• December 31 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario as the capital of Canada.

Unknown dates

• Divorce without parliamentary approval becomes legal in Britain
• Speculation in U.S. railway shares causes financial crisis in Europe.
• Russian serfs emancipated.
• The Mormons abandon Las Vegas.
• Founding of Hollywood.
• Restoration of the Mexican republic (see Mexico/History).
• Discovery of La Tene culture artifacts in Switzerland by Hansli Kopp.
• Philip Henry Gosse writes Omphalos text elaborating a Creationist school of thought.
• University of Bombay established.
• The Mughal Empire is finally destroyed by the British Empire.
• The city walls of Vienna are demolished, allowing the construction of the Ringstraße.
• Sweden lifts its ban on Danish language and Danish books in the formerly Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania - 214 respectively 199 years after the annexion.
• William Daniel, American politician proposes Local Option for prohibition.

Births

• January 4 - Émile Courtet, French caricaturist and animator (d. 1938)
• January 26 - the 12th Dalai Lama (d. 1875)
• February 12 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943)
• February 22 - Lord Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of the Scouting movement (d. 1941)
• February 22 - Heinrich Hertz, German physicist (d. 1894)
• March 7 - Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1940)
• March 8 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
• March 30 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (d. 1926)
• April 5 - Alexander of Battenberg, first Prince of Bulgaria (d. 1893)
• May 7 - William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia (d. 1930)
• May 13 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1932)
• May 15 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish astronomer (d. 1911)
• May 19 - John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist (d. 1938)
• May 31 - Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
• June 2 - Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934)
• June 2 - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
• July 23 - Carl Meinhof, German linguist (d. 1944)
• July 24 - Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
• July 28 - Ballington Booth, Salvation Army Officer and co-founder of Volunteers of America (d. 1940)
• July 30 - Thorstein Veblen, Norwegian economist (d. 1929)
• September 5 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian scientist and inventor (d. 1935)
• September 8 - Georg Michaelis, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1936)
• September 13 - Michał Drzymała, Polish peasant and revolutionary (d. 1937)
• September 13 - Milton S. Hershey, American chocolate manufacturer (d. 1945)
• September 15 - William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (d. 1930)
• November 17 - George Marchant, English-born inventor, manufacturer, and philanthropist (d. 1941)
• November 26 - Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist (d. 1913)
• November 27 - Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952)
• November 28 - King Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885)
• November 30 - Bobby Abel, English cricketer (d. 1936)
• December 3 - Joseph Conrad, Polish-British novelist (d. 1924)
• Joseph Tabrar, British songwriter (d. 1931)
• Unknown date - Lucy Bacon, Californian Impressionist Painter {d. 1932}

Deaths

• February 10 - David Thompson, British-Canadian explorer (b. 1770)
• February 15 - Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (b. 1804)
• May 2 - Alfred de Musset, French poet (b. 1810)
• May 11 - Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal and private detective (b. 1775)
• May 23 - Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (b. 1789)
• July 15 - Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (b. 1791)
• July 19 - Stefano Franscini, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1796)
• July 29 - Charles Lucien Bonaparte, French naturalist and ornithologist (b. 1803)
• August 3 - Eugène Sue, French novelist (b. 1804)
• September 3 - John McLoughlin, Canadian trapper (b. 1784)
• November 26 - Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet (b. 1788)
• December 3 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (b. 1777)
• December 15 - Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer (b. 1773)

1857

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