What Happened in 1855

Major Events

  • Jan 9 Clipper "Guiding Star" disappears in Atlantic, 480 dead
  • Jan 23 1st bridge over the Mississippi River in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, opens; today made by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge
  • Jan 28 The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway
  • Jan 31 Government of Lord Aberdeen in the United Kingdom falls, following heavy scrutiny of the Crimean War
  • Jan 31 Treaty of Neah Bay: Makah Reservation established in US Territory of Washington for Makah nation, preserving tribal rights but ceding over 300,000 acres to the US government [1]
  • Jan 31 Western railroads blocked by snow
  • Feb 3 Wisconsin Supreme Coutt declares US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional
  • Feb 4 Soldiers shoot Jewish families in Coro, Venezuela
  • Feb 6 British government of Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston forms
  • Feb 8 The Devil's Footprints, hoof-like marks mysteriously appear for over 60km after a snowfall in southern Devon, England
  • More 1855 Events

Did You Know?

American inventor Isaac Singer patents sewing machine motor

October 9, 1855

Fun Fact About 1855

The Devil's Footprints, hoof-like marks mysteriously appear for over 60km after a snowfall in southern Devon, England

February 8, 1855


Famous Weddings in 1855

  • Jun 16 British preacher and Salvation Army founder William Booth (26) weds British Salvation Army co-founder Catherine Mumford (26) at Stockwell Green Congregational Church in Surrey, England
  • Nov 14 Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart (22) weds Flora Cooke in Fort Riley, Kansas