1863

1863 is a common year starting on Thursday.

Events

January

• January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War making slavery's abolition in the rebel states an official war goal.
• January 1 – The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska
• January 8 – Ground is broken in Sacramento, CA on the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.
• January 11 – American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post – General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• January 10 – The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to Farringdon Street).
• January 22 – The January Uprising broke out in Poland, Lithunania and Belorussia. The aim of the national movement was to regain Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation of Russia.

February

• February 10 – The world-famous midgets General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City.
• February 10 – Alanson Crane patents the fire extinguisher.
• February 24 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
• February 26 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.

March

• March 3 – Idaho Territory is organized by the U.S. Congress
• March 10 – Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark
• March 30 – Prince Wilhelm Georg of Denmark is chosen as King George I of Greece.

May

• May 1 – May 4 – American Civil War: General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
• May 18 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends Saturday, July 4).
• May 21 – American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
• May 21 – General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists formed.
• May 28 – American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts to fight for the Union.
• May 31 – First running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race.

June

• June 9 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
• June 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Second Winchester – A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
• June 17 – Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War
• June 20 – West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.

July

• July 1 – 3 – American Civil War: Union forces under George G. Meade turn back a Confederate invasion by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the war
• July 4 – American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg – Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi after the town surrendered. The siege lasted 47 days.
• July 13 – American Civil War (New York Draft Riots): In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of violent rioting, which would later be regarded as the worst in the history of the United States.
• July 18 – American Civil War: The first formal African American military unit, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, unsuccessfully assaults Confederate-held Fort Wagner but their valiant fighting still proves the worth of African American soldiers during the war.
• July 26 – American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends – At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
• July 30 – Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah.

August

• August 8 – American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
• August 17 – American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until Thursday, December 31

September

• September 6 – American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island in South Carolina.
• September 8 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass – On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.

October

• October 5 – The Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road starts operations in Brooklyn, New York; this is now the oldest right-of-way on the New York City Subway, the largest rapid transit system in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
• October 14 – American Civil War: Battle of Bristol Station – Confederate General Robert E. Lee forces fail to drive the Union army out of Virginia.
• October 15 – American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.
• October 26 – 29, the Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference are signed
• October 29 – Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
• October 29 – American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie – Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant ward-off a Confederate attack led by General James Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.

November

• November 16 – American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station – Near Knoxville, Tennessee, Confederate troops led by General James Longstreet unsuccessfully attack Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside.
• November 17 – American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege (the two week long siege and one failed attack was unsuccessful).
• November 19 – American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
• November 23 – American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga III begins – Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
• November 24 – American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain – Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
• November 25 – American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge – At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
• November 26 – American Civil War: Mine Run – Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Meade's forces could not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give-up trying after five days).
• November 27 – American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio state prison and return safely to the South.

December

• End of term for Amasa Leland Stanford, 8th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Frederick Ferdinand Low.

unknown dates

• Bartolomé Mitre secretly backs the revolt of Venancio Flores against the Uruguayn Blanco government
• Thomas Nast draws the modern Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly, although Santa existed previously.
• Construction begins on the First Transcontinental Railroad in Sacramento, California

Ongoing Events

• The American Civil War (1861-1865)

Births

• January 1 – Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games (d. 1937)
• January 12 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian religious leader (d. 1902)
• January 15 – Wilhelm Marx, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1946)
• January 17 – David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945)
• March 12 – Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero, and politician (d. 1938)
• March 25 – Simon Flexner, American pathologist (d. 1946)
• March 27 – Sir Henry Royce, English automobile pioneer (d. 1933)
• May 24 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
• May 29 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
• June 2 – Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (d. 1942)
• July 1 – William Stairs, Canadian explorer (d. 1892)
• July 30 – Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer and industrialist (d. 1947)
• September 21 – John Bunny, American film comedian (d. 1915)
• October 11 – Louis Cyr, Canadian strongman (d. 1912)
• December 7 – Pietro Mascagni, Italian composer (d. 1945)
• December 11 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (d. 1941)
• December 12 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (d. 1944)

Deaths

• April 1 – Jakob Steiner, Swiss mathematician (b. 1796)
• May 10 – Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
• July 26 – Sam Houston, first President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1793)
• August 13 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter (b. 1798)
• September 17 – Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)
• September 20 – Jakob Grimm, German folklorist (b. 1785)