1850
| Years: 1847 1848 1849 – 1850 – 1851 1852 1853 | |
| Decades: 1820s 1830s 1840s – 1850s – 1860s 1870s 1880s | |
| Centuries: 18th century – 19th century – 20th century 1850 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 4 – The first American ice-skating club is formed (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
- January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress
- February 28 – University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah
- March 7 – United States Senator Daniel Webster gives his "Seventh of March" speech in which he endorses the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war.
- March 18 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.
- April 4 – Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.
- July 9 – President Zachary Taylor dies while in office and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States (he is inaugurated the next day).
- August 28 – Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin premieres
- September 9 – California is admitted as the 31st U.S. state.
- September 9 – New Mexico Territory is organized by order of the U.S. Congress
- December 16 – The first four ships arrived at Lyttelton to settle Christchurch, New Zealand.
- December – Christian mystic Hong Xiuquan begins the Taiping Rebellion.
- End of the Irish potato famine
- The United States Republican Party is founded
- Foundation of the University of Sydney, the oldest in Australia
- The American System of Watch Manufacturing starts in Roxbury, Mass.U.S.A. Waltham Watch Company
- Bingley Hall, the world's first purpose- built exhibition hall, opens in Birmingham, England.
- Pinkerton Detective Agency
- France begins to transport colonists to Algeria
- Modern acoustic guitar created in Spain
- Use of anesthesia in surgery increases in USA and Europe
- Rifling becomes common in firearms
- Entre Ríos Province in Argentina revolts – it is backed by Brazil in alliance with Paraguay and the Uruguayan Colorado Party
Births
- January 21 – Paul Vinzenz Busch, ringmaster (d. 1927)
- January 27 – Samuel Gompers, English-born labor leader (d. 1924)
- May 1 – Prince Arthur of the United Kingdom (d. 1942)
- May 8 – Ross Barnes, baseball player (d. 1915)
- May 12 – Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman (d. 1924)
- July 12 – Otto Schoetensack, German anthropologist (d. 1912)
- September 2 – Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer (d. 1915)
- November 13 – Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer (d. 1894)
- December 21 – Zdenek Fibich, Czech composer (d. 1900)
Deaths
- March 3 – Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (b. 1806)
- April 23 – William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
- July 4 – William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759)
- July 8 – Prince Adolphus of the United Kingdom, 1st Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
- July 9 – Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
- August 18 – Honoré de Balzac, French author (b. 1799)
- August 26 – King Louis-Philippe of France (b. 1773)
- October 2 – Sarah Biffen, English painter (b. 1784)
- November 19 – Richard Mentor Johnson, Vice President of the United States (b. 1780)
- December 24 – Frédéric Bastiat French author and economist (b. 1801)
Categories: 1850