1863

See: Wikipedia.
Events:
January 1 - Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second
year of the American Civil War.
January 1 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska.
January 11 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand
and Admiral David Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
January 10 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to
Farringdon Street).
January 22 - The January Uprising broke out in Poland, Lithunania and Belorussia. The aim
of the national movement was to regain Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from
occupation of Russia.
February 10 - The world-famous midgets General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get
married in New York City.
February 10 - Alanson Crane patents the fire extinguisher.
February 24 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
February 26 - President of the United States Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency
Act into law.
March 3 - Idaho Territory is organized by the United States Congress.
March 10 - Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark.
March 30 - Prince Wilhelm Georg of Denmark is chosen as King George I of Greece.
May 2 - May 4 - General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
May 18 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends July 4).
May 21 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson - Union forces begin to lay siege to the
Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
May 28 - American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African American regiment,
leaves Boston, Massachusetts to fight for the Union.
May 31 - First running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race.
June 20 - West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
July 1 - July 3 - Union forces turn back a Confederate invasion at the Battle of Gettysburg.
July 4 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army
capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi after the town surrendered. The siege
lasted 47 days.
July 13 - American Civil War: In New York City, draft opponents begin three days of
rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
July 18 - American Civil War: The first formal African American military unit, the 54th
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, unsuccessfully assaults Confederate-held
Fort Wagner but their valiant fighting still proves the worth of African American
soldiers during the war.
July 26 - American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends - At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate
cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by
Union forces.
July 30 - Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box
Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and
northern Utah.
August 8 - American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General
Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis
(Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
August 17 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and
ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until
December 31, 1863.
September 6 - American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and
Morris Island in South Carolina.
September 8 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass - On the Texas-Louisiana
border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union
invasion of Texas.
October 14 - American Civil War: Battle of Bristol Station - Confederate General
Robert E. Lee forces fail to drive the Union army out of Virginia.
October 15 - American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley
sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.
October 26 to October 29, the Resolutions of the Geneva International
Conference are signed.
October 29 - Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
October 29 - American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie - Forces under Union
General Ulysses S. Grant ward-off a Confederate attack led by General James
Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.
November 16 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell Station - Near Knoxville,
Tennessee, Confederate troops led by General James Longstreet unsuccessfully
attack Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside.
November 17 - American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins - Confederate forces
led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege (the two week
long siege and one failed attack was unsuccessful).
November 19 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the
Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.
November 23 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga III begins - Union
forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga,
Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
November 24 - American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain - Near Chattanooga,
Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain
and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
November 25 - American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge - At Missionary Ridge
in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of
Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
November 26 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General
George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee
(Meade's forces could not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give-up
trying after five days).
November 27 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan
and several of his men escape the Ohio state prison and return safely to the South.
Thomas Nast draws the modern Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly, although Santa
existed previously.
Construction begins on the First Transcontinental Railroad in Sacramento, California.

Births:
January 1 - Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games.
January 12 - Swami Vivekananda († 1902).
January 15 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic († 1946).
January 17 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom († 1945).
January 20 - Cornelia Plantefeber.
March 12 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, poet († 1938).
March 25 - Simon Flexner, pathologist who isolated 1899 a common strain
(Shigella dysenteriae) of dysentery bacillus († 1946).
March 27 - Sir Henry Royce, automobile pioneer († 1933).
April 18 - Aplonie Troast.
May 24 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor († 1938).
June 14 - Adrianus van den Houten.
June 21 - Cornelis Meerman.
June 22 - Dingeman Jacobus van den Houten.
July 1 - William Stairs, Victorian explorer († 1892).
July 9 - Jan Holleman.
July 17 - Floris van den Houten.
August 13 - Joannes (Jan) Boslooper.
September 15 - Jacob van Vliet.
October 16 - Pieter van den Houten.
October 29 - Maatje van den Houten.
November 4 - Wilhelmina Johanna Schneider.
November 25 - Johannes (John) van Tuinen.
December 6 - Klaas van den Houten.
December 7 - Pietro Mascagni, composer (+ 1945).
December 31 - Johanna Krina van den Houten.
Mary Jane Kelly, fifth confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper (estimated date).

Deaths:
April 5 - Jacob van den Houten.
May 10 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate Army general.
May 12 - Cornelia van den Houten.
May 28 - Johanna van den Houten.
May 30 - Cornelis Louwerines Martijn.
July 9 - Jan Holleman.
July 12 - Aartje van den Houten.
July 26 - Sam Houston, Texas politician, first President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1793).
August 2 - Adrianus van den Houten.
August 13 - Eugene Delacroix, painter.
August 26 - Klaas van den Houten.
August 31 - Jacob Vreeswijk.
September 17 - Alfred de Vigny, author.

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