1861
year
1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1861st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 861st year of the 2nd millennium, the 61st year of the 19th century, and the 2nd year of the 1860s decade. As of the start of 1861, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire.
Events
January
January 1
Benito Juárez captures Mexico City.
The first steam-powered carousel is recorded, in Bolton, England.
January 2 – Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies, and is succeeded by Wilhelm I.
American Civil War:
January 3 – Delaware votes not to secede from the Union.
January 9 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union.
January 10 – Florida secedes from the Union.
January 11 – Alabama secedes from the Union.
January 12 – Major Robert Anderson sends dispatches to Washington.
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This entry incorporates text from “1861” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.