Historical Events
HMS Beagle Departs
Dec 27 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board departs England for a survey of South America, a voyage Darwin later said "determined my whole career"
Famous Birthdays
- Dec 6 Joshua Woodrow Sill, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Chillicothe, Ohio (d. 1862)
- Dec 10 Alexander Conze, German archaeologist, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1914)
- Dec 19 Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian philanthropist (d. 1884)
- Dec 22 Mark Rutherford [Hale White], English writer, born in Bedford, England (d. 1913)
- Dec 22 Robert Ogden Tyler, Bvt Major General (Union Army), born in Hunter, New York (d. 1874)
- Dec 25 Johann Herbeck, Austrian composer and conductor (conducted premiere of Franz Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony"), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1877)
- Dec 27 Lucius Fairchild, American politician, diplomat, and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Kent, Ohio (d. 1896)
- Dec 29 Adam Badeau, American author, Union Army officer, and diplomat, born in New York City (d. 1895)
Famous Deaths
- Dec 2 Traugott Maximilian Eberwein, German composer, dies at 56
- Dec 8 James Hoban, architect who designed White House, dies
- Dec 10 Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (Seebeck effect), dies at 61
- Dec 11 George Schetky, Scottish-American cellist, music teacher, and composer, dies at 55
- Dec 15 Paulus Roelof Cantz'laar, Dutch naval officer and colonial governor, dies at 60
- Dec 18 Willem Bilderdijk, Dutch poet, historian, lawyer, and linguist (Luchtreis; My Relief), dies at 75
- Dec 26 Stephen Girard, French-born American banker (bailed out US bonds during War of 1812), dies at 81
