Editing 1838 (section)

== Events ==

=== January–March ===
* [[January 10]] – A fire destroys [[Lloyd's Coffee House]] and the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]] in London.
* [[January 11]] – At [[Morristown, New Jersey]], [[Samuel Morse]], [[Alfred Vail]] and [[Leonard Gale]] give the first public demonstration of Morse's new invention, the [[telegraph]].<ref>Russell W. Burns, ''Communications: An International History of the Formative Years'' (Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2004) p84</ref>
* [[January 21]] – The first known report about the [[Lowest temperature recorded on Earth|lowest temperature on Earth]] is made, indicating {{convert|-60|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in [[Yakutsk]].
* [[January 23]] – A [[1838 Vrancea earthquake|7.5 earthquake]] strikes the Romanian district of [[Vrancea County|Vrancea]] causing damage in [[Moldavia]] and  [[Wallachia]], killing 73 people.
* [[February 6]] – Boer explorer [[Piet Retief]] and 60 of his men are massacred by King [[Dingane kaSenzangakhona]] of the [[Zulu people]], after Retief accepts an invitation to celebrate the signing of a treaty, and his men willingly disarm as a show of good faith.<ref>Dominique Lapierre, ''A Rainbow in the Night: The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa'' (Da Capo Press, 2009)</ref>
* [[February 17]] – [[Weenen massacre]]: Zulu [[impi]]s massacre about 532 [[Voortrekkers]], [[Khoikhoi]] and [[Sotho people|Basuto]] around the site of [[Weenen]] in South Africa.
* [[February 24]] – U.S. Representatives [[William J. Graves]] of Kentucky and [[Jonathan Cilley]] of Maine face each other in a duel with rifles at 80 yards near  [[Bladensburg, Maryland]]. On the third attempt, Congressman Cilley is fatally wounded and bleeds to death.<ref>"Cilley-Graves Duel", in ''Historical Dictionary of the Jacksonian Era and Manifest Destiny'', by Mark R. Cheathem and Terry Corps (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) p98</ref>
* [[March 13]] – A combination of rain and melting snow causes the [[Danube River]] to overflow its banks, washing away villages in western [[Hungary]] and inundating the twin cities that become [[Budapest]]. More than 150 people are drowned and Europe's nations come to Hungary's aid to prevent the spread of famine and disease.<ref>Kinga Frojimovics, Géza Komoróczy, ''Jewish Budapest: Monuments, Rites, History'' (Central European University Press, 1999) p58</ref>
* [[March 31]] – The first installment of ''[[Nicholas Nickleby]]'', the new novel by [[Charles Dickens]], is released as the opener of a 20-part serialization in London.<ref>Catherine Delafield, ''Serialization and the Novel in Mid-Victorian Magazines'' (Routledge, 2016) p6</ref>

=== April–June ===
* [[April 4]]–[[April 22|22]] – The [[paddle steamer]] {{SS|Sirius|1837|6}} makes the [[transatlantic crossing]] to New York from [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland in 18 days, though not using steam continuously.<ref>{{cite web|title=Steamship Curaçao|url=http://www.vrcurassow.com/2dvrc/sscuracao/sscuracao.html|access-date=2011-02-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224202256/http://vrcurassow.com/2dvrc/sscuracao/sscuracao.html |archive-date=December 24, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[April 8]]–[[April 23|23]] – [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]]'s paddle steamer {{SS|Great Western}} (1838) makes the transatlantic crossing to New York from [[Avonmouth]], England, in 15 days, inaugurating a regular steamship service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840|title=Icons, a portrait of England 1820-1840|access-date=2007-09-12|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070922055840/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840|archive-date=September 22, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[April 30]] – [[Nicaragua]] declares independence from the [[Federal Republic of Central America]].<ref name=Sandoval>{{cite web|last=Sandoval|first=Victor Hugo|title=Federal Republic of Central America|url=http://www.monedasdeguatemala.com/centroamericahisIN.html|work=Monedas de Guatemala|access-date=2013-11-05}}</ref>
* [[May]]
** The [[Chartism|People's Charter]] is drawn up in the United Kingdom, demanding [[universal suffrage]].
** [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] and his entourage arrive in [[Upper Canada]], to investigate the cause of the [[1837]] rebellion in that province. This leads to Durham submitting the [[Durham Report]] to Britain.
** An insurrection breaks out in [[Tizimín]], beginning the campaign for the independence of [[Yucatán Peninsula|Yucatán]] from Mexico.
* [[May 26]] – [[Trail of Tears]]: The [[Cherokee Nation (19th century)|Cherokee Nation]] is forcibly relocated in the United States.
* [[May 28]] – [[Braulio Carrillo Colina|Braulio Carrillo]] is sworn in as [[Head of State of Costa Rica]], thus beginning his second term in office.
* [[June 10]] – [[Myall Creek massacre]]: 28 [[Indigenous Australians]] are killed.
* [[June 28]] – The [[coronation of Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom takes place at [[Westminster Abbey]] in London.<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref>

=== July–September ===
* [[July 4]] – In the United States, the [[Iowa Territory]] is formally established, following the signing of a bill by President [[Martin Van Buren]] on [[June 12]]. In addition to [[Iowa]], which will become a state on December 28, 1846, the Territory also includes most of what will become the states of [[Minnesota]], [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]]. [[Robert Lucas (governor)|Robert Lucas]], former Governor of Ohio, takes office as the first Territorial Governor.<ref>"Iowa Territory Legal Materials", by David Hanson, in ''Prestatehood Legal Materials: A Fifty-State Research Guide, Including New York City and the District of Columbia'' (The Haworth Information Press, 2006) p388</ref> 
* [[August 1]] –  Most former slaves in the [[British Empire]] are released from apprenticeships, giving them full emancipation under terms of the [[Slavery Abolition Act 1833]].
* [[August 6]] – The Polytechnic Institution, predecessor of the [[University of Westminster]] and Britain's first [[Polytechnic (United Kingdom)|polytechnic]], opens in [[Regent Street]], London.<ref>{{cite web|title=University of Westminster|url=http://beginnings.ioe.ac.uk/begswest.html|publisher=Beginnings Project|location=London|access-date=2011-02-09|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710231329/http://beginnings.ioe.ac.uk/begswest.html|archive-date=July 10, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* [[September 7]] – [[Grace Darling]] and her father rescue 13 survivors from the [[Forfarshire (ship)|''Forfarshire'']], off the [[Farne Islands]].
* [[September 18]] – The [[Anti-Corn Law League]] is established in Britain by [[Richard Cobden]].

=== October–December ===
* [[October 1]] – [[First Carlist War]] – [[Battle of Maella]]: Supporters of [[Infante Carlos, Count of Molina]], are victorious.
* [[October 5]] – [[Killough massacre]], believed to be both the largest and last Native American attack on white settlers in [[East Texas]]. 18 casualties are either killed or carried away.
* [[October 27]] – [[Lilburn Boggs]], [[Governor of Missouri]], by [[Missouri Executive Order 44]], declares [[Mormons]] to be enemies of the state, and encourages the extermination or exile of the religious minority, forcing nearly 10,000 Mormons out of the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/mormon-thoroughfare/7-quincy-illinois-temporary-refuge-1838%E2%80%9339|title=Quincy, Illinois: A Temporary Refuge, 1838-39|publisher=BYU Religious Studies Center|access-date=2013-10-27|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190234/http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/mormon-thoroughfare/7-quincy-illinois-temporary-refuge-1838%E2%80%9339|archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref>
* [[November 3]] – ''[[The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce]]'' is founded (renamed  ''[[The Times of India]]'' in [[1861]]).
* [[November 5]] – Dissolution of the [[Federal Republic of Central America]]: [[Honduras]] and [[Costa Rica]] follow the example of [[Nicaragua]] and secede from the federation.<ref name=Sandoval/>
* [[November 16]] – [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]: [[Moravia]] opens the final section of [[Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway]] ([[Rajhrad]]–[[Brno]]) for exhibition (preliminary) use.
* [[November 27]] – [[Pastry War]]: Mexico is invaded by French forces.
* [[December 16]] – [[Battle of Blood River]]: The [[Boer]]s win a decisive victory over the [[Zulus]].
* [[December]] – [[First Anglo-Afghan War]]: [[British Army|British]] and [[Presidency armies]] set out from [[Punjab region|Punjab]] in support of [[Shah Shujah Durrani]]'s claim to the throne of [[Afghanistan]].

=== Date unknown ===
* The [[Pitcairn Islands]] become a [[Crown colony]] of the United Kingdom, and women there are the first in the world to be granted and maintain [[women's suffrage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/world-suffrage-timeline|title=World suffrage timeline – women and the vote|publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage}}</ref>
* [[Sylvain Charles Valée]] founds [[Skikda]], [[Algeria]].<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8816/ |title = Philippeville, Algeria |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1899 |access-date = 2013-09-26 }}</ref>
* [[Protein]]s are discovered by [[Gerardus Johannes Mulder]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=G. J.|last=Mulder|journal=Natuur- en Scheikundig Archief|volume=6|title=Over Proteine en hare Verbindingen en Ontledingsproducten|year=1838|pages=87–162}}</ref> and named by [[Jöns Jacob Berzelius]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Origin of the Word Protein|first=Hubert Bradford|last=Vickery|journal=Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine|pages=387–93|volume=22|year=1950|pmc=2598953|pmid=15413335|issue=5}}</ref>
* [[Friedrich Bessel]] makes the first accurate measurement of distance to a [[star]].
* [[Biblical criticism]]: [[Christian Hermann Weisse]] proposes the [[two-source hypothesis]].
* [[Duke University]] is established in [[North Carolina]].
* The 5th century BC bronze [[Chatsworth Head]] is acquired by the [[William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire|6th Duke of Devonshire]] at [[Smyrna]], from [[Henry Perigal Borrell|H. P. Borrell]].