The year 1839 saw significant developments across the political, scientific, cultural, and technological spheres. This article highlights some of the most important events of the year.
Politics and Law:
January 5: The start of the First Opium War between Great Britain and China. This conflict stemmed from British trade of opium in China and China's attempts to suppress it. The war had a lasting impact on both countries and the region.
January 29: Charles Goodyear patents vulcanized rubber. This invention revolutionized the rubber industry, making rubber far more durable and versatile.
February 11: The duel between Congressman Jonathan Cilley (Whig-Maine) and Congressman William J. Graves (Whig-Kentucky). Cilley was killed, highlighting the intense political divisions and the persistence of dueling in American society.
March 3: Congress passes a law creating the Territory of Iowa. This marked a significant step in the westward expansion of the United States and the development of the Midwest.
March 3: The House of Representatives of the United States formally resolves that its members can no longer receive presents from foreign powers.
March 3: The United States Congress authorized the establishment of the National Observatory, later renamed the United States Naval Observatory, in Washington, D.C.
March 3: The United States Congress establishes the Patent Office as a separate bureau of the Department of State.
March 31: Treaty of London - establishing the independent and neutral Kingdom of Belgium.
November 4: The Newport Rising in Wales – a Chartist protest led by John Frost, who marched on Newport, Monmouthshire, and attempted to take the town.
Science and Technology:
January 7: Louis Daguerre's photographic process, the Daguerreotype, is announced to the French Academy of Sciences. This marked a crucial breakthrough in photography, making it more practical and accessible.
February 19: Publication of Grundzüge der Entwicklungsgeschichte der Thiere by Theodor Schwann, outlining the cell theory for animal tissues. This was a landmark publication in biology, building upon the work of Matthias Schleiden on plant cells and establishing the cell as the fundamental unit of life.
July 2: Twenty-nine Africans from the Amistad, who were captured by Mende slave traders as children and sold to work on sugar plantations in Cuba, mutinied and took control of the ship off the coast of Cuba.
August 23:The Amistad is seized off Long Island, NY, by a US Navy warship. The ensuing court case became a major issue in the anti-slavery movement in the United States.
September 19:De re metallica libri XII, a handbook of mining by Georgius Agricola, is translated into English for the first time.
James Nasmyth invents the steam hammer.
Culture:
January 29: Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" is published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. This helped to cement Poe's reputation as a master of Gothic horror.
The publication of the first complete edition of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales.
William Cranch Bond becomes the first director of the Harvard College Observatory.
Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens, is published in serial form throughout the year.
United States Specific:
The establishment of the Iowa Territory (mentioned above).
The Amistad affair, which significantly heightened tensions regarding slavery.
The death of Jonathan Cilley during the previously mentioned duel, which shocked the nation and highlighted the deep political divides within the United States.
The beginning of the California Gold Rush spurred by Francisco López's discovery of gold near present-day Los Angeles.