Editing 1855 (section)

== Events ==

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], is incorporated as a city.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Bytown |url=https://www.runottawa.ca/a-brief-history-of-bytown |website=Run Ottawa |access-date=2 May 2021 |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502205416/https://www.runottawa.ca/a-brief-history-of-bytown |url-status=live}}</ref>'<ref name="Rayburn2001">{{cite book |author=Alan Rayburn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA231 |title=Naming Canada: Stories About Canadian Place Names |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8020-8293-0 |page=231 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520061253/https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA231 |archive-date=20 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":Canadian Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ottawa (ON) |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ottawa-ont |access-date=24 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213081108/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/ottawa-ont/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> 
* [[January 5]] &ndash; [[Ramón Castilla]] begins his third term as [[President of Peru]].
* [[January 23]]
** The first bridge over the [[Mississippi River]] opens in modern-day [[Minneapolis]], a predecessor of the [[Father Louis Hennepin Bridge]].
** The 8.2–8.3 {{M|w}} [[1855 Wairarapa earthquake|Wairarapa earthquake]] claims between five and nine lives near the [[Cook Strait]] area of [[New Zealand]].
* [[January 26]] &ndash; The [[Point No Point Treaty]] is signed in the [[Washington Territory]].
* [[January 27]] &ndash; The [[Panama Railway]] becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
* [[January 29]] &ndash; [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Lord Aberdeen]] resigns as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], over the management of the [[Crimean War]].
* [[February 5]] &ndash; [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
* [[February 11]] &ndash; Kassa Hailu is crowned [[Tewodros II]], [[Emperor of Ethiopia]].
* [[February 12]] &ndash; [[Michigan State University]] (the "pioneer" [[Land-grant university|land-grant college]]) is established.
* [[February 15]] &ndash; The [[North Carolina General Assembly]] incorporates the [[Western North Carolina Railroad]], to build a rail line from [[Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]] to the western part of the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm|title=Railroad — Western North Carolina Railroad|work=North Carolina Business History|year=2006 |publisher=historync.org |access-date=2013-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030140855/http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm |archive-date=2013-10-30}}</ref>
* [[February 22]] &ndash; [[Pennsylvania State University]] is founded, as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.
* [[March 2]] &ndash; [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] ascends the Russian throne, upon the death of his father [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]].
* [[March 3]] &ndash; The [[United States Congress]] appropriates $30,000 to create the [[U.S. Camel Corps]].
* [[March 16]] &ndash; [[Bates College]] is founded by abolitionists in [[Lewiston, Maine]].
* [[March 17]] &ndash; [[Taiping Rebellion]]: A Taiping army of 350,000 invades [[Anhui]].
* [[March 30]] &ndash; Elections are held for the first [[Kansas Territory]] legislature. Missourian '[[Border Ruffian]]s' cross the border in large numbers to elect a pro-[[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] body.

=== April&ndash;June ===
* [[April 3]] &ndash; The [[Nepal]]ese invasion of [[Tibet]] (west of [[China]]) to the north across the [[Himalaya Mountains]] (tallest and most rugged in the world) starts the [[Nepalese–Tibetan War]] (1855–1856).<ref>{{cite book|first=Leo E.|last=Rose|title=Nepal: Strategy for Survival|publisher=University of California Press|year=1971|pages=110–111}}</ref>
* [[April 7]] &ndash; [[Battle of Kaba]]: The [[Tonga|Kingdom of Tonga]] in the islands of the southwest [[Pacific Ocean]] ([[Polynesia]], [[Melanesia]] / [[Oceania]]), intervenes in the war between the self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King) of the island of [[Fiji]], [[Seru Epenisa Cakobau|Cakobau]], and his rivals the [[Rewa Province|Confederation of Rewa]]. It results in Rewa's defeat and the tenuous unification of Fiji under Cakobau.
* [[April 16]] &ndash; Emperor of the French [[Napoleon III]], with Empress Eugénie, begins a 6-day state visit to Britain.<ref>{{cite web|title=The reception of the Emperor and Empress of the French at Windsor Castle, 16 April 1855|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/919799/the-reception-of-the-emperor-and-empress-of-the-french-at-windsor-castle-16-april|publisher=The Royal Collection Trust|accessdate=2025-05-10}}</ref>
* [[April 18]] &ndash; The [[Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855]], requested by [[Napoleon III]] for the Exposition Universelle (opening May 15), first appears.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wine-searcher.com/recipes/pickled.htm|title=The Official Classification of Medoc and Graves of 1855|work=[[Wine-Searcher]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330162629/http://www.wine-searcher.com/recipes/pickled.htm|archive-date=2010-03-30|url-status=dead|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref>
* [[May 1]] &ndash; [[Van Diemen's Land]] is separated administratively from the [[Australia]]n province of [[New South Wales]] and granted self-government.
* [[May 3]] &ndash; [[United States|American]] adventurer [[William Walker (filibuster)|William Walker]] and a group of armed mercenaries ([[Filibuster (military)|filibusters]]) sail from [[San Francisco]] in [[California]] south to [[Central America]] to attempt to conquer [[Nicaragua]].
* [[May 15]]
** The [[Exposition Universelle (1855)|Exposition Universelle]] (an early [[World's fair]]) officially opens in [[Paris]] (continues to November 15).
** The [[Great Gold Robbery]] is made from a moving train between [[London Bridge station|London Bridge]] and [[Folkestone]] in [[England]], one of the first crimes of its kind.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hanrahan|first=David C.|title=The First Great Train Robbery|location=London|publisher=Robert Hale|year=2011|isbn=978-0-7090-9040-3}}</ref>
* [[May 17]] &ndash; [[Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan)|Mount Sinai Hospital]], New York, is dedicated (originally named as the Jews' Hospital) in [[New York City]]; it opens to patients on [[June 5]].
* [[May 22]] &ndash; In [[History of Australia|Australia]], the province of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] (named for then reigning [[United Kingdom|British]] monarch, Queen [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]]) to the southeast is separated administratively from the earlier larger province of [[New South Wales]] to the north.
* [[June 15]] &ndash; [[Stamp duty]] revenue tax is removed from British newspapers, creating free [[mass media]] thereafter in the [[United Kingdom]].
* [[June 29]] &ndash; ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' newspaper begins publication in [[London]].

=== July&ndash;September ===
* July &ndash; [[Bank of Toronto]] incorporated in Canada (in 1955 it will merge with [[The Dominion Bank]] to become [[Toronto-Dominion Bank]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.td.com/150/history.jsp|publisher=TD Bank Financial Group|title=Celebrating a rich history|access-date=2020-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508025519/http://www.td.com/150/history.jsp|archive-date=2006-05-08}}</ref>
* [[July 1]] &ndash; The [[Quinault Treaty]], in which the [[Quinault people|Quinault]] and [[Quileute]] tribes cede their land to the United States, is signed.
* [[July 2]] &ndash; The [[Kansas Legislature|Kansas territorial legislature]] convenes in [[Pawnee, Kansas|Pawnee]], and begins passing proslavery laws.
* [[July 4]]
** [[Thomas Cook]] escorts his first party of excursionists from England to tour the European continent, travelling via Belgium and enabling the tourists to visit the Paris Exposition.<ref name=TCook>{{cite web|title=Thomas Cook's first tours to the continent|first=Jill|last=Hamilton|url=https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/thomas-cooks-first-tours-to-the-continent/|publisher=The History Press|date=2017-07-04|accessdate=2025-05-10}}</ref>
** [[Walt Whitman]]'s poetry collection ''[[Leaves of Grass]]'' is published in [[Brooklyn]].
* [[July 16]] &ndash; The [[Australian Colonies]]  are granted self-governing status by the United Kingdom.
* [[August 1]] &ndash; [[Monte Rosa]], the second-highest summit in the Alps, is first ascended.
* [[August 18]] &ndash; [[Queen Victoria]] of the United Kingdom, with Prince Albert, begins a 10-day state visit to Paris,<ref>{{cite web|title=Queen Victoria's entry into Paris, 18 August 1855|url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/920060/queen-victorias-entry-into-paris-18-august-1855|publisher=The Royal Collection Trust|accessdate=2025-05-10}}</ref> the first visit of a reigning British monarch to France since [[1413]]. While there, she visits the Exposition Universelle.<ref name=TCook/>
* [[September 3]] &ndash; The last [[Bartholomew Fair]] is held in London, England.
* [[September 9]] (August 28 [[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]]) &ndash; [[Crimean War]]: [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)]] &ndash; [[Sevastopol]] falls to French and British troops.
* [[September 27]] &ndash; [[Alfred Tennyson]] reads from his new book ''[[Maud and other poems]]'', at a social gathering in the home of [[Robert Browning|Robert]] and [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning|Elizabeth Browning]] in London; [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] makes a sketch of him doing so.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tennyson Reading 'Maud'|url=http://www.preraphaelites.org/the-collection/1904p495/tennyson-reading-maud/|work=Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource|publisher=[[Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery|Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery]]|access-date=2013-05-09}}</ref>
* [[September 29]] &ndash; The [[Port of Iloilo]] in the [[Philippines]] is opened to [[international trade]], by Queen [[Isabel II of Spain]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Henry|last=Funtecha|url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/07/21/iloilos.position.under.colonial.rule.html|title=Iloilo's position under colonial rule|work=thenewstoday.info}}</ref> This year also the ports of Sual (modern-day [[Pangasinan]]) and [[Zamboanga City]] are opened to international trade.

=== October&ndash;December ===
* [[October 17]]
** [[Henry Bessemer]] files his [[patent]] in the United Kingdom for the [[Bessemer process]] of [[steel]]making.<ref>{{cite book|first=Stephen|last=van Dulken|title=Inventing the 19th Century: the great age of Victorian inventions|location=London|publisher=[[British Library]]|year=2001|isbn=0-7123-0881-4|pages=30–1}}</ref>
** [[Crimean War]]: [[Battle of Kinburn (1855)|Battle of Kinburn]] &ndash; Combined French and British forces subdue Russian shore forts. The successful use of French [[Floating battery|floating batteries]] makes this the first use of modern [[ironclad warship]]s in action.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Herbert Wrigley|author-link=Herbert Wrigley Wilson|title=Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare from 1855 to 1895|url=https://archive.org/details/ironcladsinacti00wilsgoog|year=1896|publisher=S. Low, Marston and Company|location=London}}</ref>
* [[October 24]] &ndash; [[Van Diemen's Land]] is officially renamed [[Tasmania]].
* [[November 17]] &ndash; [[Scottish people|Scottish]] missionary explorer [[David Livingstone]] becomes the first European to see [[Victoria Falls, Zambia|Victoria Falls]], in modern-day [[Zambia]]–[[Zimbabwe]].<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>
* [[November 15]] &ndash; The [[Hejaz rebellion]] takes place in Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire, triggered by a [[firman of 1854]] against the slave trade, which is condemned by the ulema of Mecca as influenced by Westerners and contrary to [[Islamic law]].<ref>Badem, C. (2010). ''The Ottoman Crimean War (1853-1856)''. Tyskland: Brill. p.357.</ref> 
* [[November 21]] &ndash; Large-scale [[Bleeding Kansas]] violence begins, with events leading to the '[[Wakarusa War]]' between antislavery and proslavery forces.
* [[November 10]] &ndash; [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s fictional poem ''[[The Song of Hiawatha]]'' is published in Boston.
* [[December 11]] &ndash; [[Ignacio Comonfort]] (1812–1863) becomes [[President of Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ignacio Comonfort|url=https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/c/comonfort.htm|website=Biografias y Vidas|access-date=2019-06-08|language=es}}</ref>
* [[December 22]] &ndash; The [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] is established in London.

=== Undated ===
* [[Samuel Colt]] incorporates his business as the [[Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company]] and opens a new factory, the [[Colt Armory]], in [[Hartford, Connecticut]].
* The [[cocaine]] [[alkaloid]] is first isolated by German [[chemist]] [[Friedrich Gaedcke]].b
* The [[third plague pandemic]] breaks out in [[Yunnan]], China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohn |first=Samuel Kline Jr. |title=The black death transformed: disease and culture in early Renaissance Europe |date=2002 |publisher=Arnold |isbn=978-0-340-70646-6 |location=London |oclc=50102269}}</ref> This [[bubonic plague]] [[pandemic]] eventually spreads to all inhabited continents, and ultimately leads to more than 12 million deaths in [[India]] and China<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-05-07 |title=Plague deaths: Quarantine lifted after couple die of bubonic plague |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48182646 |access-date=2022-08-24}}</ref> (estimated 15 million worldwide)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frith |first=John |title="The History of Plague – Part 1. The Three Great Pandemics" |url=https://jmvh.org/article/the-history-of-plague-part-1-the-three-great-pandemics/ |journal=Journal of Military and Veterans' Health |volume=20 |issue=2 }}</ref> making it one of the [[List of epidemics|deadliest pandemics]] in history.<ref>Sanburn, Josh (2010-10-26). [https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2027479_2027486_2027498,00.html "Top 10 Terrible Epidemics: The Third Plague Pandemic"]. ''Time''. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] [[issn:0040-781X|0040-781X]]</ref> The pandemic is considered active until 1960.
* [[Palm oil]] sales from West Africa to the United Kingdom reach 40,000 tons.