Editing 1844 (section)

== Events ==

=== January–March ===
* [[January 4]] – The first issue of the Swedish-languaged [[Saima (newspaper)|''Saima'' newspaper]] founded by [[Johan Vilhelm Snellman|J. V. Snellman]] is published in [[Kuopio|Kuopio, Finland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/titles/1457-456X/data?set_language=en|title=Saima|work=Digital Collections|publisher=The [[National Library of Finland]]|access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://snellman.kootutteokset.fi/en/dokumentit/saima-nro-1-411844|title=Saima nro 1, 4.1.1844 |work=Selected Works of J V. Snellman|access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>
* [[January 15]] – The [[University of Notre Dame]], based in [[Notre Dame, Indiana|the city of the same name]], receives its charter from [[Indiana]].
* [[February 27]] – The [[Dominican Republic]] gains independence from [[Haiti]].
* [[February 28]] – A gun on the [[USS Princeton disaster of 1844|USS ''Princeton'']] explodes while the boat is on a [[Potomac River]] cruise, killing U.S. Secretary of State [[Abel Upshur]], U.S. Secretary of the Navy [[Thomas Walker Gilmer]] and four other people. President [[John Tyler]] is below decks and is uninjured.<ref>{{cite book|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography|volume=IV|location=New York|date=1897|publisher=James T. White & Company|page=552 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yiCFcMGYgQC&pg=PA552 |access-date=March 15, 2017}}</ref>
* [[March 8]]
** King [[Oscar I of Sweden|Oscar I]] ascends to the throne of [[Union between Sweden and Norway|Sweden–Norway]] upon the death of his father, [[Charles XIV John|Charles XIV/III John]].
** The [[Althing]], the parliament of [[Iceland]], is reopened after 45 years of closure.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sigurðardóttir|first1=Heiða María|last2=Emilsson|first2=Páll Emil|title=Hvenær var Alþingi stofnað?|url=https://www.visindavefur.is/svar.php?id=5268|website=visindavefur.is|publisher=Vísindavefurinn|access-date=September 3, 2021}}</ref>
* [[March 9]] – [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[Ernani]]'' debuts at Teatro [[La Fenice]], Venice.
* [[March 12]] – The [[Columbus and Xenia Railroad]], the first railroad planned to be built in [[Ohio]], is chartered.
* [[March 13]] – The dictator [[Carlos Antonio López]] becomes first President of [[Paraguay]].
* [[March 21]] – The [[Baháʼí calendar]] begins.
* [[March 23]] – The [[Edict of Toleration (1844)|Edict of Toleration]] is passed in the [[Ottoman Empire]].

=== April–June ===
* [[May 1]] – The [[Hong Kong Police Force]], the world's second and Asia's first modern, police force is established.
* [[May 23]] – [[Persian people|Persian]] [[prophet]] The [[Báb]] privately announces his revelation to [[Mullá Husayn]], just after sunset, founding the [[Bábism|Bábí faith]] (later evolving into the Baháʼí Faith as the Báb [[He whom God shall make manifest|intended]]) in Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran). Contemporaneously, on this day in nearby Tehran, is the birth of [[`Abdu'l-Bahá]]; the eldest Son of [[Bahá'u'lláh]], Prophet-Founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. The Báb's mission is to proclaim [[He whom God shall make manifest]]. `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself is later proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh to be His own successor, thus being the third "central figure" of the Baháʼí Faith.
* [[May 24]] – The first [[electrical telegram]] is sent by [[Samuel Morse]] from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in [[Baltimore]], saying "What hath God wrought".
* [[June 3]] – The last definitely recorded pair of [[great auk]]s are killed on the [[Iceland]]ic island of [[Eldey]].
* [[June 4]] – Start of the [[Silesian weavers' uprising]]. It is crushed by Prussian military on June 6, with 11 weavers killed and numerous arrested.
* [[June 6]] – [[George Williams (YMCA)|George Williams]] sets up (in London) what is often cited as the first youth organisation in the world<ref>[[History of youth work]]</ref> – "The Young Men's Christian Association", commonly known as [[YMCA]]. It will grow to a worldwide organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 57 million beneficiaries from 125 national associations. George Williams aims to put Christian principles into practice by developing a healthy "body, mind, and spirit." These three angles are reflected by the different sides of the (red) triangle – part of all YMCA logos.
* [[June 12]] –In the United States, after nine days of heavy rains, the [[Missouri River]] and the [[Mississippi River]] overflow their banks as the [[Great Flood of 1844]] begins. The water begins to recede by [[June 28]] and the rivers return to their normal level by mid-July.<ref>''Emerson W. Gould, [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fifty_Years_on_the_Mississippi_Or_Gould/udyywXOVBvsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mississippi+flood+June+1844&pg=PA248&printsec=frontcover Fifty Years on the Mississippi; Or, Gould's History of River Navigation]'' (Nixon-Jones Printing Company, 1889) pp.247-248</ref>   
* [[June 15]] – [[Charles Goodyear]] receives a United States [[patent]] for [[vulcanization]], a process to strengthen [[rubber]].
* [[June 17]] – [[Søren Kierkegaard]]'s ''[[The Concept of Anxiety]]'' is published in Denmark (as ''Begrebet Angest'' by 'Vigilius Haufniensis').
* [[June 22]] – The [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] student fraternity is founded at [[Yale College]] in the United States. ΔΚΕ will be home to many well known figures, such as U.S. Presidents George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford and Theodore Roosevelt.  
* [[June 27]] – [[Killing of Joseph Smith]]: [[Joseph Smith]], founder of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], and his brother [[Hyrum Smith|Hyrum]], are murdered in [[Carthage Jail]], [[Carthage, Illinois]] by an armed mob, leading to a [[Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis in the movement]]. [[John Taylor (Mormon)|John Taylor]], future president of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], is severely injured but survives, while the fourth man inside the upper room, then-apostle [[Willard Richards]], escapes with only a graze to his upper ear.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/135.6?lang=eng|title=Doctrine and Covenants 135|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=2019-01-22}}</ref>

=== July–September ===
* [[July 3]] – The United States signs the [[Treaty of Wanghia]] with the Qing Empire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treaty Of Wangxia (Treaty Of Wang-Hsia 望廈條約), May 18, 1844 |url=https://china.usc.edu/treaty-wangxia-treaty-wang-hsia-%E6%9C%9B%E5%BB%88%E6%A2%9D%E7%B4%84-may-18-1844 |website=USC US-China Institute |publisher=USC Annenberg}}</ref> The treaty establishes five U.S. [[treaty ports]] in China with [[extraterritoriality]] and is the first treaty that the United States imposed on the dynasty.
* [[July 19]] – The [[Bank Charter Act 1844]] is approved, which restricts the powers of British banks, limiting note-issuing powers outside the central Bank of England.
* [[August 8]] – During a meeting held in [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], the [[Quorum of the Twelve]], headed by [[Brigham Young]], is chosen as the leading body of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].
* [[August 10]] – German astronomer [[Friedrich Bessel]] deduces from the motion of the [[List of brightest stars|bright stars]] [[Sirius]] and [[Procyon]] that they have dark companions.<ref name="Bessel1844">{{cite journal | bibcode=1844MNRAS...6R.136B | title=On the Variations of the Proper Motions of ''Procyon'' and ''Sirius'' | journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=6 | issue=11 |date=December 1844 | pages=136–141 | doi=10.1093/mnras/6.11.136a| last1=Bessel | first1=F. W. | doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[August 14]] – [[Abdelkader El Djezairi]] is defeated at the [[Battle of Isly]] in [[Morocco]]; sultan [[Abd al-Rahman of Morocco]] soon repudiates his ally.
* [[August 16]] – [[Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa, 1st Count of Manila|Narciso Claveria]], [[Governor-General of the Philippines]], makes a decree announcing that Monday, December 30, 1844, will be immediately followed by Wednesday, January 1, 1845. (Tuesday, December 31, 1844, is removed from the Philippine calendar because since 1521 the country has been one day behind its [[Asia]]n neighbors.)
* [[August 28]] – [[Friedrich Engels]] and [[Karl Marx]] meet in Paris, France.
* [[September 25]]–[[September 27|27]] – The first ever [[international cricket]] match is played in New York City, [[United States v Canada (1844)|United States v Canadian Provinces]].

=== October–December ===
* [[October 18]] – [[1844 Salta earthquake]]. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake hits [[Argentina]]'s [[Salta Province]].
* [[October 22]] – This second date predicted by the [[Millerites]] for the [[Second Coming]] of [[Jesus]] (and said to be 6,000 years from creation, relating them to the 6 days of creation, using a day-for-a-year bible principle, with which they proved that the 1,000 years of rest in heaven with God would total to 7,000 years, indicating the completion of creation in the beginning, which make 7 days, but the 7th day is for rest, same as the 7,000th year is for rest in heaven), leads to the [[Great Disappointment]]. The [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] believes this date to be the starting point of the [[Investigative judgment]], just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus, as declared in the 26th of 28 fundamental doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html |title=Beliefs: The Official Site of the Seventh-day Adventist world church |publisher=Adventist.org |access-date=2015-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060310104717/http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html |archive-date=March 10, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[October 23]] – The [[Báb]] is publicly proclaimed to be the promised one of Islam (the [[Al-Qāʾim Āl Muḥammad|Qá'im]], or [[Mahdi]]). He is also considered to be simultaneously the return of [[Elijah]], [[John the Baptist]] and the "[[Ushídar-Máh]]" referred to in the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] scriptures.<ref name="gpb_58">{{cite book|first=Effendi |last=Shoghi |author-link=Shoghi Effendi |year=1944 |title=God Passes By |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, US |isbn=0-87743-020-9 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-5.html#pg58 |page=58 |access-date=2012-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119172544/http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-5.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> He announces to the world the coming of "[[He whom God shall make manifest]]". He is considered the forerunner of [[Bahá'u'lláh]] – the founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] – whose claims include being the return of [[Jesus]].
* [[November 3]] – [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[I due Foscari]]'' debuts at [[Largo di Torre Argentina|Teatro Argentina]], Rome.
* [[November 6]] – The [[Dominican Republic]] drafts its first [[Constitution]].
* [[December 4]] – [[1844 United States presidential election]]: [[James K. Polk]] defeats [[Henry Clay]].
* [[December 13]] – [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] becomes the official language of [[Hungary]].<ref>[http://www.kozlonyok.hu/nkonline/MKPDF/hiteles/MK11111.pdf Magyar Közlöny – A MAGYAR KÖZTÁRSASÁG HIVATALOS LAPJA 29 September, 2011]</ref>
* [[December 21]] – The [[Rochdale Pioneers]] commence business at their [[cooperative]] in [[Rochdale]], England.
* [[December 31]] – This date is omitted from the calendar in the [[Philippines]] in order to align it with the calendar elsewhere in East Asia, essentially moving the [[International_Date_Line#Philippines_(1521_and_1844)|International Date Line]] to the east of the archipelago.

=== Date unknown ===
* [[Sweden|Swedish]] chemistry professor [[Gustaf Erik Pasch]] is granted a privilege for his invention of a [[safety match]].
* [[Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802)|Robert Chambers]]' anonymous ''[[Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation]]'', which paves the way for acceptance of [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s ''[[The Origin of Species]]'', is published in Britain.
* The Free Church Institution is established by Reverend [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]] in [[Calcutta]], India. This is later merged with the General Assembly's Institution to form the [[Scottish Church College]], one of the pioneering institutions that ushers in the [[Bengali Renaissance]].
* In [[Munich]], the [[Feldherrnhalle]] is completed.
* In [[Tibet]], the Temple of Guardians burns down.
* [[Flags of the Ottoman Empire]]: a national flag is adopted for the Empire.