What Happened in April 1831

Historical Events

Dom Pedro II

Apr 7 Dom Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil, passes the throne to his six year old son Dom Pedro II so that he can return to Portugal to support his daughter, Maria II, against the usurper Miguel I

Emperor of Brazil and King of Portugal Pedro I

Lewis Chess Pieces

Apr 11 The 12th century Lewis chess pieces are exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, shortly after their rediscovery in a sand bank on the Scottish Isle of Lewis

Lewis chess piece of a queen made of walrus ivory in the British Museum

Apr 14 Soldiers marching on a bridge in Manchester, England, cause it to collapse.

Events in 1831

Famous Birthdays

Apr 4 Edward Cary Walthall, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1898)
Apr 8 Allard Pierson, Dutch theologist, philosopher and art historian, born in Amsterdam (d. 1896)
Apr 12 Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, born in Etterbeek, Belgium (d. 1905)
Apr 12 George B. Anderson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Hillsborough, North Carolina (d. 1862)

Grenville M. Dodge (1831-1916)

Apr 12 American railroad engineer (Transcontinental Railroad-Union Pacific) and Major General (Union Army), born in Danvers, Massachusetts

Apr 14 Gerhard Rohlfs, German explorer and ambassador in Abyssinia, born in Vegesack, Bremen, Germany (d. 1896)
Apr 22 Alexander McDowell McCook, American Major General (Union Army), born in Columbiana County, Ohio (d. 1903)

Born in 1831

Famous Deaths

Apr 2 Charles Felix, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1821-31), dies at 74
Apr 4 Isaiah Thomas, American journalist, editor and historian (Massachusetts Spy), dies at 82
Apr 13 Ferdinand Kauer, Austrian composer, dies at 80
Apr 19 Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German mathematician, dies at 65
Apr 20 John Abernethy, English surgeon, dies at 67