What Happened in January 1853

Historical Events

  • Jan 1 1st practical fire engine (horse-drawn) in US enters service
  • Jan 3 Solomon Northup, author of the memoir "Twelve Years a Slave, is freed after 7 illegal years in slavery with aid of Washington Hunt, Governor of New York

Tragedy for Pierce

Jan 6 US President-elect Franklin Pierce and his family are involved in a train wreck in Massachusetts that kills his 11-year-old son Benny

  • Jan 8 1st US bronze equestrian statue (of Andrew Jackson) unveiled, Washington
  • Jan 10 Charles Reade's play "Gold" premieres in London

"Il Trovatore"

Jan 19 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" premieres in Rome

John Wilkes Booth Baptized

Jan 23 John Wilkes Booth is baptized at St. Timothy's Protestant Episcopal Church

  • Jan 27 US whaling and sealing vessel the Levant captained by Mercator Cooper, makes the first known landing on mainland Antarctica at Oates Coast, Victoria land
1853 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Jan 1 Hans Koessler, German composer, conductor and music teacher, born in Waldeck, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1926)
  • Jan 3 Iwan Knorr, German composer, born in Mewe, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1916)
  • Jan 7 Nikolai Arkas, Ukrainian composer (Katerina), and musicologist, born in Nikolayev, Russian Empire (d. 1909)
  • Jan 11 Georgios Jakobides, Greek painter (d. 1926)
  • Jan 11 Gustav Falke, German author and poet (Der Mann im Nebel), born in the Free Imperial City of Lübeck (d. 1916)
  • Jan 12 Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, Italian mathematician (tensor analysis), born in Lugo di Romagna, Italy (d. 1925)

André Michelin (1853-1931)

Jan 16 French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin) and publisher of the Michelin Guide, born in Paris

  • Jan 16 Ian Hamilton, British military commander (Boer Wars, Gallipoli Campaign), born in Corfu, United States of the Ionian Islands (d. 1947)
  • Jan 16 Johnston Forbes-Robertson, British actor and theatre director (Kathleen), born in London, England (d. 1937)
  • Jan 16 Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov, Russian philosopher, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1900)
  • Jan 17 Alva Belmont, American socialite & suffragette (d. 1933)
  • Jan 28 Jose Martí y Perez, Cuban poet, essayist and politician (fought for independence from Spain), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1895)
  • Jan 30 Leland Hone, Irish cricket wicketkeeper (1 Test; first Irishman to represent England; MCC), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1896)
Born in 1853

Famous Weddings

Napoleon III

Jan 30 Emperor and French President Napoleon III marries Eugenie de Montijo, Countess of Teba

Famous Deaths

  • Jan 1 Gregory Blaxland, Australian explorer, dies of suicide at 74
  • Jan 3 Theodor Uhlig, composer, dies at 30
  • Jan 9 Juan Nicasio Gallego, Spanish poet and interpreter (El dos de Mayo), dies at 75
  • Jan 13 Theophilos Kairis, Greek priest, humanist and revolutionary (b. 1783)