1853

1853 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1853; MDCCCLIII
Ab urbe condita	2606
Armenian calendar	1302; ԹՎ ՌՅԲ
Assyrian calendar	6603
Bahá'í calendar	9–10
Balinese saka calendar	1774–1775
Bengali calendar	1260
Berber calendar	2803
British Regnal year	16 Vict. 1 – 17 Vict. 1
Buddhist calendar	2397
Burmese calendar	1215
Byzantine calendar	7361–7362
Chinese calendar	壬子年 (Water Rat); 4549 or 4489; — to —; 癸丑年 (Water Ox); 4550 or 4490
Coptic calendar	1569–1570
Discordian calendar	3019
Ethiopian calendar	1845–1846
Hebrew calendar	5613–5614
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1909–1910
- Shaka Samvat	1774–1775
- Kali Yuga	4953–4954
Holocene calendar	11853
Igbo calendar	853–854
Iranian calendar	1231–1232
Islamic calendar	1269–1270
Japanese calendar	Kaei 6; (嘉永６年)
Javanese calendar	1781–1782
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 12 days
Korean calendar	4186
Minguo calendar	59 before ROC; 民前59年
Nanakshahi calendar	385
Thai solar calendar	2395–2396
Tibetan calendar	阳水鼠年; (male Water-Rat); 1979 or 1598 or 826; — to —; 阴水牛年; (female Water-Ox); 1980 or 1599 or 827

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	18th century; 19th century ; 20th century;
Decades:	1830s; 1840s; 1850s; 1860s; 1870s;
Years:	1850; 1851; 1852; 1853; 1854; 1855; 1856;

1853 (MDCCCLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1853rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 853rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 53rd year of the 19th century, and the 4th year of the 1850s decade. As of the start of 1853, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Events[edit]

January–March[edit]

January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida.
January 8 – Taiping Rebellion: Zeng Guofan is ordered to assist the governor of Hunan, in organising a militia force to search for local bandits.
January 12 – Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army occupies Wuchang.
January 19 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres, in performance at Teatro Apollo in Rome.
February 10 – Taiping Rebellion: Taiping forces assemble at Hanyang, Hankou and Wuchang, for the march on Nanjing.
February 12 – Puerto Montt is founded in the Reloncaví Sound, Chile.
February 22 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary.
March – The clothing company Levi Strauss & Co. is founded in the United States.^[1]
March 4 – Inauguration of Franklin Pierce as 14th President of the United States (his only child was killed in a train accident on January 6).
March 20 – Taiping Rebellion: A rebel army of around 750,000 seizes Nanjing, killing 30,000 Imperial troops.
March 29 – Manchester is granted city status in the United Kingdom.^[2]^[3]

April–June[edit]

April 16 – Indian Railways: The first passenger railway in India opens from Bombay to Thana, Maharashtra, 22 miles (35 km).
May
- The world's first public aquarium opens, at the London Zoo.
- An outbreak of yellow fever kills 7,790 in New Orleans.^[4]
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel accepts John Scott Russell's tender for construction of the SS Great Eastern passenger steamer.
May 12–October 31 – The Great Industrial Exhibition is held in Dublin, Ireland.
May 23 – The first plat for Seattle, Washington is laid out.
June 27 – Taiping Rebellion: The Northern Expeditionary Force crosses the Yellow River.
June 30 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann is selected as préfect of the Seine (department), to begin the re-planning of Paris.

July–September[edit]

July 8 – U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives in Edo Bay, Japan, with a request for a trade treaty.
July 25 – Outlaw and bandit Joaquin Murrieta is killed in California.
July 27 – Iesada succeeds his father Ieyoshi, as Japanese shōgun. The Late Tokugawa shogunate (the last part of the Edo period in Japan) begins.
August 12 – New Zealand acquires self-government.
August 23 – The first true International Meteorological Organization is established in Brussels, Belgium.
August 24
- The Royal Norwegian Navy Museum is founded at Karljohansvern in Horten, perhaps the world's first naval museum.
- Potato chips are first prepared, by George Crum at Saratoga Springs, New York, according to popular accounts.
September 19 – Hudson Taylor first leaves for China.

October–December[edit]

October 1 – C. Bechstein's piano factory is founded, one of three established in a "Golden year" in the history of the piano (Julius Blüthner and Steinway & Sons being the others).
October 4–5 – Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire begins war with Russia.
October 4 – On the east coast of the United States, Donald McKay launches the Great Republic, the world's biggest sailing ship, which at 4,500 tons is too large to be successful.
October 28 – Crimean War: The Ottoman army crosses the Danube into Vidin/Calafat, Wallachia.
October 30 – Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping Northern Expeditionary Force comes within 3 miles (4.8 km) of Tianjin.
November 3 – Troops of William Walker capture La Paz in Baja California Territory, and declare the (short-lived) Republic of Lower California.
November 4 – Crimean War: Battle of Oltenitza – Turkish forces defeat the Russians.
November 15 – Maria II of Portugal is succeeded by her son Pedro V.
November 30 (November 18 O.S.) – Crimean War: Battle of Sinop – The Russian fleet destroys the Turkish fleet.

Battle of Sinop, the last major naval battle involving sailing warships.
December 6 – Taiping Rebellion: French minister de Bourboulon arrives at the Heavenly Capital, aboard the Cassini.
December 30 – Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys approximately 77,000 square kilometres (30,000 sq mi) of land from Mexico, to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest.

Date unknown[edit]

The Independent Santa Cruz Maya of Eastern Yucatán are recognized as an independent nation, by the British Empire.
Arthur de Gobineau begins publication of his An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines).
Charles Pravaz and Alexander Wood independently invent a practical hypodermic syringe.
Wheaton Academy is founded in West Chicago, Illinois.
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China is incorporated in London by Scotsman James Wilson, under a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria.^[5]^[6]
The Swiss watch company Tissot is founded.
Melbourne Cricket Ground, a well-known sport venue in Australia, officially opens.^{[citation needed]}
1853–1873 – More than 130,000 Chinese laborers come to Cuba.

Births[edit]

January–June[edit]

Vincent van Gogh

Ella Eaton Kellogg

January 1 – Karl von Einem, German general (d. 1934)
January 2 – Packy Dillon, American professional baseball player (d. 1902)
January 10 – John Martin Schaeberle, German-American astronomer (d. 1924)
January 16
- Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor (d. 1937)
- Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, British general (d. 1947)
January 22 – Méry von Bruiningk, Estonian democrat (b. 1818)
January 28
- José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
- Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher), Russian philosopher (d. 1900)
January 29 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, Japanese physician, bacteriologist (d. 1931)
February 3 – Hudson Maxim, American inventor, chemist (d. 1927)
February 4 – Kaneko Kentarō, Japanese politician, diplomat (d. 1942)
February 6 – Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d. 1901)
February 18 – Ernest Fenollosa, Catalan-American philosopher (d. 1908)
February 22 – Annie Le Porte Diggs, Canadian-born state librarian of Kansas (d. 1916)
March 2 – Ella Loraine Dorsey, American author, journalist, and translator (d. 1935)
March 5 – Howard Pyle, American artist, fiction writer (d. 1911)
March 10 – Thomas Mackenzie, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
March 13 – Robert Felkin, British writer (d. 1926)
March 14
- Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
- March 14 – Max Saenger, German obstetrician, gynecologist (d. 1903)
March 25 – Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, 5th Qajarid Shah of Persia (d. 1907)
March 29 – Elihu Thomson, English-American engineer, inventor, co-founder of General Electric (d. 1937)
March 30 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
April 1 – Marcello Amero D'Aste, Italian admiral, politician (d. 1931)
April 6 – Emil Jellinek, German automobile entrepreneur (d. 1918)
April 7
- Ella Eaton Kellogg, American pioneer in dietetics (d. 1920)
- Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (d. 1884)
April 8 – Laura Alberta Linton, American chemist (d. 1915)
April 24 – Alphonse Bertillon, French police officer, forensic scientist (d. 1914)
May 4 – Marie Robinson Wright, American travel writer (d. 1914)
May 8 – Katharine Lente Stevenson, American reformer, missionary, and editor (d. 1919)
May 20 – Ella Hoag Brockway Avann, American educator (d. 1899)
May 28 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter (d. 1919)
June 3 – William Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)
June 12 – Chester Adgate Congdon, Minnesota mining magnate (d. 1916)

July–December[edit]

Cecil Rhodes

Hendrik Lorentz

Albrecht Kossel

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Teresa Carreño

July 4 – Ernst Otto Beckmann, German chemist (d. 1923)
July 5 – Cecil Rhodes, English businessman (d. 1902)
July 18 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
July 24 – William Gillette, American actor, playwright and stage-manager (d. 1937)
August 19 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (d. 1926)
August 28
- Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer, polymath, scientist and architect (d. 1939)
- Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein (d. 1938)
September 2 – Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
September 6 – Katherine Eleanor Conway, American journalist, editor, poet, and Laetare Medalist (d. 1927)
September 10 – Gertrud Adelborg, Swedish women's rights activist (d. 1942)
September 16 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)
September 17 – Henry Churchill de Mille, American dramatist, playwright; father of film director Cecil B. DeMille (d. 1893)
September 20 – Chulalongkorn, Rama V, King of Siam (d. 1910)
September 21
- Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
- Edmund Leighton, English painter (d. 1922)
September 23 – Fritz von Below, German general (d. 1918)
October 4 – Jane Maria Read, American poet and teacher (unknown year of death)
October 13 – Lillie Langtry, English stage actress (d. 1929)
October 14 – John William Kendrick, American railroad executive (d. 1924)
October 17 – Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, wife of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (d. 1920)
October 26 – Tokugawa Akitake, Japanese daimyō, the last lord of Mito Domain, younger brother of the last shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu (d. 1910)
October 30 – Louise Abbéma French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle Époque (d. 1927)
November 9 – Stanford White, American architect (d. 1906)
November 13 – John Drew, Jr., American stage actor (d. 1927)
November 20 – Oskar Potiorek, Austro-Hungarian general (d. 1933)
December 6 – Haraprasad Shastri, Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature (d. 1931)
December 14 – Errico Malatesta, Italian anarchist (d. 1932)
December 17 – Émile Roux, French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist (d. 1933)
December 22 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan pianist, singer, composer, and conductor (d. 1917)
December 23 – William Henry Moody, 35th United States Secretary of the Navy, 45th United States Attorney General, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1917)
December 31 – Tasker H. Bliss, American general (d. 1930)