Important Historical Events of the year 1856, Year 1856 in History

List of 1856 Major News Events in History, Most Important Historical Events in 1856

What happened in the year 1856?

Date Event
January 26, 1856 First Battle of Seattle: Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all-day battle with settlers.
January 29, 1856 Queen Victoria issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War.
February 11, 1856 The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.
February 22, 1856 The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
March 30, 1856 The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
April 11, 1856 Second Battle of Rivas: Juan SantamarĂ­a burns down the hostel where William Walker's filibusters are holed up.
April 21, 1856 Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.
May 21, 1856 Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
May 22, 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina severely beats Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made regarding Southerners and slavery.
May 24, 1856 John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
June 8, 1856 A group of 194 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty, arrives at Norfolk Island, commencing the Third Settlement of the Island.
June 9, 1856 Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.
July 31, 1856 Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
August 10, 1856 The Last Island hurricane strikes Louisiana, resulting in over 200 deaths.
September 2, 1856 The Tianjing incident takes place in Nanjing, China.
September 7, 1856 The Saimaa Canal is inaugurated.
October 8, 1856 The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident.
October 12, 1856 An M 7.7–8.3 earthquake off the Greek island of Crete cause major damage as far as Egypt and Malta.
November 17, 1856 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.
November 27, 1856 The Coup of 1856 leads to Luxembourg's unilateral adoption of a new, reactionary constitution.
December 9, 1856 The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.