What Happened in March 1861

Historical Events

  • Mar 2 Government Printing Office purchases 1st printing plant, Washington
  • Mar 2 US creates Dakota & Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska & Utah territories

Emancipation of the Serfs

Mar 3 Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them the full rights of free citizens [O.S. Feb 19]

Abraham Lincoln

Mar 4 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th US President

  • Mar 4 Confederate States adopt "Stars & Bars" flag (US Civil War)
  • Mar 4 US President Abraham Lincoln opens Government Printing Office
  • Mar 6 Provisionary Confederate Congress establishes Confederate Army
  • Mar 8 St Augustine Florida surrenders to Union armies
  • Mar 9 Us Confederate currency authorized - $50, $100, $500, $1,000
  • Mar 10 West African political leader El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Segou, destroying the Bambara Empire of Mali
  • Mar 11 Confederate convention in Montgomery adopts constitution (US Civil War)
  • Mar 13 23rd Grand National: Joseph Kendall wins aboard Jealousy at 5/1
  • Mar 16 Arizona Territory votes to leave the Union (US Civil War)
  • Mar 16 Confederate government appoints commissioners to Britain

Sam Houston Evicted

Mar 16 Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who is evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy (US Civil War)

Unification of Italy

Mar 17 Italy is unified into a single kingdom under Victor Emmanuel II following the campaigns led by Giuseppe Garibaldi

  • Mar 19 The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand
  • Mar 20 An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina
  • Mar 22 1st US nursing school chartered
  • Mar 23 London's 1st tramcars, designed by Mr Train of NY, begins operating
  • Mar 31 Confederacy takes over mint at New Orleans (US Civil War)

Famous Birthdays

Pauline Johnson (1861-1913)

Mar 10 Canadian poet, writer and performer (The White Wampum), born on The Native Reserve, Upper Canada [1]

  • Mar 19 Lomer Gouin, Canadian politician (Premier of Quebec, 1905-20), born in Saint-Charles-des-Grondines, Canada East (d. 1929)
  • Mar 23 Uchimura Kanzō, Japanese religious writer and pacifist (How I Became a Christian), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1930)
  • Mar 30 Gratton Hanley "Grat" Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (The Dalton Gang), born in Lawrence, Kansas (d. 1892)

Famous Deaths

  • Mar 10 Joseph-François Snel, Belgian composer, dies at 67
  • Mar 10 Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian national poet and painter, dies at 47
  • Mar 14 Louis Niedermeyer, Swiss-French composer, dies at 58
  • Mar 17 Petter Conrad Boman, Swedish composer, dies at 56