Historical Events in 1841

London Assurance

Mar 4 Dion Boucicault's stage comedy "London Assurance" opens at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London

Mar 4 Longest US presidential inauguration speech (8,443 words) by William Henry Harrison

Mar 5 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11
Mar 9 US Supreme Court rules the kidnapped slaves from the Spanish schooner the Amistad are free
Mar 22 A method for alkali starch extraction is patented in the US by Orlando Jones, which is later applied to corn (cornstarch)
Mar 27 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC

Mar 31 1st performance of Robert Schumann's 1st Symphony in B

Apr 4 Vice President John Tyler becomes the 10th President of the United States after the death of President William Henry Harrison

Apr 14 1st detective story published, Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in Rue Morgue" (April 1841)

Apr 24 Inventor and engineer Squire Temple of Utica, New York, granted a patent for an iron truss bridge [1]
Apr 26 "Bombay Gazette" begins publishing on silk
Apr 27 Imakita Kosen, 1st Zen teacher of D.T. Suzuki, found the awakening
May 3 New Zealand is proclaimed a colony independent of New South Wales

May 11 American Charles Wilkes lands at Fort Nisqually in Puget Sound

May 15 First emigrant wagon train to make it to California leaves Independence, Missouri on a 1,730 mile journey over the Sierra Nevada [1]

Jun 14 1st Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario
Jun 24 Fordham University (then St John's College), opens in the Bronx
Jun 28 The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle
Jul 1 Mammoth Cave National Park established with 45,310 acres, including world's largest cave network in Kentucky, US [1]
Jul 3 John Couch Adams decides to determine position of an unknown planet by irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus
Jul 5 Thomas Cook opens first travel agency
Jul 17 British humorous and satirical magazine "Punch" first published; it finally closed in 2002
Jul 18 Pedro II, aged 15-years old, formally crowned Emperor of Brazil after a 10-year regency
Aug 9 Erie boat in Buffalo NY catches fire; 242 die
Aug 21 John Hampton patents venetian blind
Sep 9 Great Lakes steamer "Erie" sinks off Silver Creek NY, kills 300
Sep 9 Tom Hyer beats George McChester in 101 rounds at Caldwell's Landing, NY to become first American heavyweight boxing champion

Sep 24 British adventurer James Brooke obtains lands around the Sarawak river from the Sultan of Brunei

Sep 30 Samuel Slocum patents the stapler
Oct 16 Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, is chartered
Nov 2 Akbar Khan successfully revolts against Shah Shuja in Afghanistan
Nov 4 First wagon train arrives in California after a five and a half month and 1,730 mile journey over the Sierra Nevada from Missouri [1]
Nov 13 James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads to his study of the subject he eventually calls hypnosis
Nov 16 Life preservers made of cork are patented by Napoleon Guerin (NYC)
Nov 25 35 survivors of the mutiny on the slave ship Amistad return to Africa
Nov 26 1st date in James Clavell's novel Tai-Pan
Dec 6 Robert Schumann's 4th Symphony in D minor premieres
Dec 29 King and Grand Duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon
Dec 31 Alabama becomes 1st state to license dental surgeons