16th January » Hartley Colliery Disaster: 204 men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
19th January » American Civil War: Battle of Mill Springs The Confederate States of America known as Confederacy suffers its first significant defeat in the conflict.
24th January » Bucharest is proclaimed the capital of Romania.
30th January » The first American ironclad warship, the USS e.g Monitor is launched.
31st January » Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an convert 18.5 in cm adj=on telescope now located at Northwestern University.
6th February » American Civil War: forces under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and Andrew H. Foote give the Union (American Civil War) known as Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
10th February » American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
15th February » American Civil War: General (United States) e.g General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
16th February » American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant Battle of Fort Donelson or captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
21st February » American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
22nd February » Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated for a six-year term as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously inaugurated as a provisional president on February 18, 1861.
7th March » American Civil War: Union (American Civil War) Union forces defeat Confederate States of America Confederate troops at the Battle of Pea Ridge Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.
8th March » American Civil War: The iron-clad Ship CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack 1855 6) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
9th March » American Civil War: The USS Monitor and Ship CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
13th March » American Civil War: The United States U.S. Federal government of the United States federal government forbids all Union (American Civil War) Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and
28th March » American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, Union (American Civil War) called Union forces stop the Confederate States of America named Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26.
5th April » American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown (1862) called Battle of Yorktown begins.
6th April » American Civil War: The Battle of Shiloh begins in Tennessee, forces under Union (American Civil War) Union General (United States) General Ulysses S. Grant meet Confederate States of America Confederate troops led by General Albert Sidney Johnston.
7th April » American Civil War: Battle of Shiloh ends the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant defeats the Confederate States of America named Confederates near Shiloh National Military Park known as Shiloh, Tennessee.
12th April » American Civil War: The Andrews Raid (the Great Locomotive Chase) occurs, starting from Big Shanty, Georgia (now Kennesaw, Georgia or Kennesaw).
16th April » American Civil War: The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, a bill ending slavery in the United States named slavery in the District of Columbia, becomes law.
20th April » Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard complete the experiment falsifying the theory of spontaneous generation.
25th April » American Civil War: Forces under Union (American Civil War) Union Admiral David Farragut Capture of New Orleans demand the surrender of the Confederate States of America Confederate city of New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana.
29th April » American Civil War: New Orleans, Louisiana falls to Union forces under Admiral David Farragut.
1st May » American Civil War: The Union Army completes its capture of New Orleans.
5th May » Cinco de Mayo: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla in Mexico.
11th May » American Civil War: The ironclad Ship CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River (Virginia) James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
12th May » United States named U.S. federal troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
13th May » The USS Planter 1862 6, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship.
15th May » President of the United States known as President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
20th May » President of the United States e.g U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
31st May » American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & Gustavus Woodson Smith e.g G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
1st June » American Civil War, Peninsula Campaign: the Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
3rd June » A 3000-strong riot occurred at Wardsend Cemetery in the Sheffield, England, against rumours of bodysnatching from the grounds.
4th June » American Civil War: Confederate States of America known as Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union (American Civil War) e.g Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
5th June » As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
6th June » American Civil War: Battle of Memphis Union (American Civil War) or Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederate States of America or Confederates.
7th June » The United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or United Kingdom agree to suppress the slave trade.
8th June » American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys Confederate States of America known as Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George B. McClellan.
19th June » The United States Congress named U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying Dred Scott v. Sandford.
20th June » Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
1st July » The Russian State Library is founded as The Library of the Moscow Public Museum.
1st July » Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, second daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Louis of Hesse, the future Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
12th July » The Medal of Honor is authorized by the United States Congress.
16th July » American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
18th July » First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
23rd July » American Civil War: Henry Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
27th July » Sailing from San Francisco San Francisco, California to Panama City Panama City, Panama, the 'SS Golden Gate' catches fire and sinks off Manzanillo, Colima Manzanillo, Mexico, killing 231.
5th August » American Civil War: Battle of Baton Rouge (1862) or Battle of Baton Rouge: Along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Confederate States of America e.g Confederate troops attempt to take the city, but are driven back by fire from Union gunbo
6th August » American Civil War: The Confederate States of America Confederate Ironclad warship ironclad Ship CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering catastrophic engine failure near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
9th August » American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain At Culpeper County, Virginia Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate States of America Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats United States Union forces under General John Pope (
17th August » American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota people or Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.
17th August » American Civil War: Major General J.E.B. Stuart is assigned command of all the cavalry of the Confederate States of America named Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
19th August » American Indian Wars: During an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota people or Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, Minnesota known as New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
28th August » American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas. The battle ends on August 30.
30th August » American Civil War: Battle of Richmond: Confederate States of America e.g Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union Army named Union forces under General Horatio Wright.
1st September » American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly Confederate States of America named Confederate Army troops defeat a group of retreating United States Army e.g Union Army troops in Chantilly, Virginia.
4th September » American Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
5th September » James Glaisher, pioneering meteorologist and Henry Tracey Coxwell break world record for altitude whilst collecting data in their balloon.
8th September » Millennium of Russia monument unveiled in Novgorod.
14th September » American Civil War: The Battle of South Mountain, part of the Maryland Campaign, is fought.
15th September » American Civil War: Confederate States of America e.g Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, West Virginia known as Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
17th September » American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
19th September » American Civil War: Battle of Iuka: Union (American Civil War) called Union troops under General William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate States of America named Confederate force commanded by General Sterling Price.
22nd September » Slavery in the United States: A preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation is released.
7th October » Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) opens as the first hospital in the Provinces and territories of Canada called Canadian province of British Columbia
8th October » American Civil War: Battle of Perryville United States known as Union forces under General Don Carlos Buell halt the Confederate States of America named Confederate invasion of Kentucky by defeating troops led by General Braxton Bragg at Perryville, Kentu
11th October » American Civil War: In the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, Confederate States of America or Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart and his men loot Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during a raid into the north.
5th November » American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Union Army for the second and final time.
5th November » American Indian Wars: In Minnesota, 303 Dakota people called Dakota warriors are found guilty of rape and murder of whites and are sentenced to hang. 38 are ultimately executed and the others reprieved.
9th November » American Civil War: United States named Union General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, after George B. McClellan is removed.
1st December » In his State of the Union Address President Abraham Lincoln reaffirms the necessity of ending slavery as ordered ten weeks earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation.
7th December » American Civil War: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
12th December » USS e.g Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
13th December » American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate States of America or Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats Union Army e.g Union Major General Ambrose Burnside.
17th December » American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issues 'General Order No. 11 (1862) named General Order No. 11', expelling Jews from parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky.
26th December » American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
26th December » Four nuns serving as volunteer Nursing nurses on board USS Red Rover (1859) USS 'Red Rover' are the first female nurses on a List of US Navy hospital ships U.S. Navy hospital ship.
26th December » The Dakota War of 1862 Execution called largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Native Americans died.
31st December » American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the United States known as Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
31st December » American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River begins near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.