1856

Years: 1853 1854 1855 - 1856 - 1857 1858 1859
Decades: 1820s 1830s 1840s - 1850s - 1860s 1870s 1880s
Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century 1856 in art 1856 in literature 1856 in music 1856 in science 1856 in sports List of state leaders in 1856 List of religious leaders in 1856

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths

Events

January 8 - Borax is discovered (John Veatch).
January 29 - Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross
February 18 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President Millard Fillmore.
March 5 – Fire destroys Covent Garden Theatre
March 30 - The Treaty of Paris (1856) is signed, ending the Crimean War
April 7 - Foundation of Nelson College, Nelson, New Zealand
May 21 - Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
May 22 - Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas"). Sumner was unable to return to duty for three years while he recovered. Brooks became a hero across the South.
June 9 - 500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City, Utah carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
July 31 - Christchurch, New Zealand chartered as a city.
August 11 – Hurricane in Last Island, Lousiana - 400 dead
November - James Buchanan defeats John C. Fremont in the U.S. presidential election
November 17 - American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.

British Country and Borough Police Act extends London police model to the entire country
Western Union founded
Kate Warner, the first female private detective, begins to work for the Pinkerton Detective Agency
Pre-human remains found in the Neanderthal valley in Germany
Gregor Mendel starts his research on genetics.
National Portrait Gallery in London opened.