1857

Decades: 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s - 1850s - 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s

Years: 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 - 1857 - 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Year in topic 3 Births 4 Deaths 5 Heads of State

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 6 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
• March 23 - Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed (at 488 Broadway, New York City)
• May 10 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the sepoys revolt against the British Army.
• May 11 - Indian Mutiny: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
• December 31 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario as the capital of Canada

• The Supreme Court of the United States decides the Dred Scott case, driving the country further towards the American Civil War
• The Mormons abandon Las Vegas
• Founding of Hollywood
• Restoration of the Mexican republic (see Mexico/History)
• James Buchanan succeeds Franklin Pierce as President of the United States of America
• Discovery of La Tene culture artefacts in Switzerland by Hansli Kopp.
• Philip Henry Gosse writes Omphalos text elaborating a Creationist school of thought
• University of Bombay established

• 1857 in literature
• 1857 in science
  • Leon Scott invents the phonautograph.
• 1857 in music

• February 22 - Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting youth movement (†1941)
• February 22 - Heinrich Hertz, physicist
• March 8 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, composer († 1919)
• April 5 - Alexander of Battenberg, first prince of Bulgaria
• May 31 - Pope Pius XI († 1939)
• July 23 - Carl Meinhof († 1944) German linguist
• July 30 - Thorstein Veblen, economist († 1929)
• September 13 - Milton S. Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company
• November 26 - Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist
• November 28 - Alfonso XII of Spain, later one of the Kings of Spain
• December 3 - Joseph Conrad, Polish/British novelist (Heart of Darkness)
• Joseph Tabrar, one of the most famous songwriters of British Music Hall

• February 10 - David Thompson, British-Canadian explorer, the first European to explore Columbia River from source to mouth.
• May 11 - Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal, first director of Surete Nationale and founder of the earliest known private detective agency.
• May 23 - Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician.
• July 19 - Stefano Franscini, member of the Swiss Federal Council (* 1796)
• September 3 - John McLoughlin, Hudson's Bay Company Factor.
• November 26 - Joseph von Eichendorff, lyricist and narrator.
• December 15 - Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer.

• China - Xianfeng Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (1850-1861)
• Denmark - Frederick VII, King of Denmark (1848-1863)
• France - Napoleon III, Emperor of France (1852-1870)
• Norway - Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway (1844-1859)
• Ottoman Empire - Abd-ul-Mejid, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (July 2, 1839 to June 25, 1861)
• Prussia - Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1840-1861)
• Russia - Alexander II, Tsar of Russia (1855-1881)
• Spain - Isabella II, Queen of Spain (September 29, 1833 to September, 1868)
• United States -
  1. Franklin Pierce, President of the United States (1853-1857)
  2. James Buchanan, President of the United States (1857-1861)