1847
Events
January–March
- January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government.
- January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California.
- January 16 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
- January 17 – St. Anthony Hall fraternity is founded at Columbia University, New York City.
- January 30 – Yerba Buena, California, is renamed San Francisco.
- February 5 – A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party of California-bound migrants who became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada earlier this winter. Some have resorted to survival by cannibalism.
- February 22 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista – 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.
- February 25 – State University of Iowa is founded in Iowa City, Iowa.
- March 1
- * The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.
- * Faustin Soulouque is elected President of Haiti.
- March 4 – The 30th United States Congress is sworn into office.
- March 9 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.
- March 14 – Verdi's opera Macbeth premieres at the Teatro della Pergola, in Florence, Italy.
- March 29 – Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
- March – The first known publication of the classic joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" occurs in The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine.
April–June
- April 5 – The world's first municipally-funded civic public park, Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead on Merseyside, England, is opened.
- April 15 – The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established in India.
- April 16 – New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief is accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in Whanganui on New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign.
- April 25 – The, carrying Irish emigrants from Derry bound for Quebec, is wrecked off Islay, with only three survivors from more than 250 on board.
- May 7 – In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association is founded.
- May 8
- * The Nagano earthquake leaves more than 8,600 people dead in Japan.
- * Bahrain's ruler, Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, signs a treaty with the British to prevent and combat the slave trade in the Arabian Gulf.
- May 31 – Second Treaty of Erzurum: the Ottoman Empire cedes Abadan Island to the Persian Empire.
- May – The Architectural Association School of Architecture is founded in London.
- June 1 – The first congress of the Communist League is held in London.
- June 9 – Radley College, an English public school, is founded near Oxford as a High Anglican institution.
- June 26 – The first passenger railway wholly within modern-day Denmark opens, from Copenhagen to Roskilde.
- June – E. H. Booth & Co. Ltd, which becomes the northern England supermarket chain Booths, is founded when tea dealer Edwin Henry Booth, 19, opens a shop called "The China House" in Blackpool.
July–September
- July 1 – The United States issues its first postage stamps.
- July 12 – A riot occurred in Woodstock, New Brunswick, between Catholics and members of the Orange Order that resulted in up to ten deaths.
- July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.
- July 26 – The nation of Liberia, founded as a haven for freed African-American slaves, becomes independent.
- July 29 – The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University, in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of this year, only 15 law schools exist in the United States.
- August 12 – Mexican–American War: U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco in Mexico.
- August 20 – Mexican–American War – Battle of Churubusco: U.S. troops defeat Mexican forces.
- August – Yale Corporation establishes the first graduate school in the United States, as Department of Philosophy and the Arts.
- September 14 – Mexican–American War: U.S. general Winfield Scott enters Mexico City, marking the end of organized Mexican resistance.
October–December
- October 12 – German inventors and industrialists Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske found Siemens & Halske to develop the electrical telegraph.
- October 19 – Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell in England.
- October 31 – Theta Delta Chi is founded as a social fraternity at Union College, Schenectady, New York.
- October – The last volcanic eruption of Mount Guntur in West Java occurs.
- November 3–29 – Sonderbund War: In Switzerland, General Guillaume-Henri Dufour's Federal Army defeats the Sonderbund in a civil war, with a total of only 86 deaths.
- November 4–8 – James Young Simpson discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform and first uses it, successfully, on a patient, in an obstetric case in Edinburgh.
- November 10 – The first brew of Carlsberg beer is finished in Copenhagen.
- November 17 – The Battle of Um Swayya Spring takes place near a spring in Qatar, after a Bahraini force under Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Deputy Ruler of Bahrain defeats the Al Binali tribe. The chief of the Al Binali, Isa bin Tureef, is slain in battle with over 70 fatalities from his side.
- December 14 – Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë publish Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, respectively, in a 3-volume set under the pen names of Ellis Bell and Acton Bell in England.
- December 20 – British Royal Navy steam frigate is wrecked on the Sorelle Rocks in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of 246 lives and only eight survivors.
- December 21 – Emir Abdelkader surrenders to the French in Algeria.
Date unknown
Births
January
February
- February 3 – Warington Baden-Powell, British admiralty lawyer
- February 4 – Remus von Woyrsch, German field marshal
- February 5 – João Maria Correia Ayres de Campos, 1st Count of Ameal, Portuguese politician and antiquarian
- February 8 – Hugh Price Hughes, Methodist social reformer, first Superintendent of the West London Mission
- February 11 – Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor
- February 13 – Sir Robert McAlpine, Scottish builder
- February 15 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer
- February 16 – Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer
- February 17 – Otto Blehr, Norwegian attorney, Liberal Party politician, 7th Prime Minister of Norway
March
- March 1 – Sir Thomas Brock, English sculptor
- March 2
- * Isaac Barr, Anglican clergyman, promoter of British colonial settlement schemes
- * Cayetano Arellano, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines under the American Civil Government
- March 3 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born Canadian inventor
- March 4 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist
- March 11 – Sidney Sonnino, Prime Minister of Italy
- March 14 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet
- March 18 – William O'Connell Bradley, American politician from Kentucky
- March 23 – Edmund Gurney, British psychologist
- March 27
- * Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- * Garret Barry, Irish musician
April
May
June
July
- July 2 – Marcel Alexandre Bertrand, French geologist
- July 9 – Wong Fei-hung, Chinese healer, revolutionary
- July 13 – Damian Sawczak, Ukrainian judge
- July 19 – Alexander Meyrick Broadley, British historian
- July 20
- * Lord William Beresford, Irish army officer, Victoria Cross recipient
- * Max Liebermann, German painter, printmaker
- July 25 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist, biologist
August
September
October
- October 1 – Annie Besant, English women's rights activist, writer and orator
- October 2 – Paul von Hindenburg, German field marshal, President of Germany
- October 13
- * Sir Arthur Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, British politician
- * Maurice Bailloud, French general
- October 14 – Wilgelm Vitgeft, Russian admiral
- October 15 – Ralph Albert Blakelock, American romanticist painter
- October 16 – Maria Pia of Savoy, Queen consort of Portugal
- October 17 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian composer
- October 19 – Aurilla Furber, American author, editor, and activist
- October 20 – Mifflin E. Bell, American architect
- October 22 – Koos de la Rey, Boer general
- October 30
- * Charlie Bassett, American sheriff
- * Thomas F. Porter, American politician, 32nd Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts
November
December
- December 1 – Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, Norwegian pianist, composer
- December 9 – George Grossmith, English comic writer and performer
- December 17
- * Émile Faguet, French writer, critic
- * Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general during World War I
- December 18 – Augusta Holmès, French composer
- December 21 – John Chard, British Officer
- December 29 – Alexis-Xyste Bernard, Canadian Catholic bishop
- December 30 – John Peter Altgeld, American politician, 20th Governor of Illinois
Deaths
January–June
- January 19 – Charles Bent, first Governor of New Mexico Territory
- February 3 – Marie Duplessis, French courtesan
- February 5 – Luis José de Orbegoso, Peruvian general and politician, 11th and 12th President of Peru
- March 9 – Mary Anning, British paleontologist
- March 3 – Charles Hatchett, English chemist
- April 21 – Barbara Spooner Wilberforce, wife of British abolitionist William Wilberforce
- April 30 – Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general
- May 14 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer, pianist
- May 15 – Daniel O'Connell, Irish politician who promoted the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829
- May 16 – Vicente Rocafuerte, 2nd President of Ecuador
- May 29 – Emmanuel de Grouchy, Marquis de Grouchy, French marshal
- June 11 – Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil
- June 11 – Sir John Franklin, British explorer
July–December
- July 7 – Thomas Carpenter, American glassmaker
- July 16 – Karl Friedrich Burdach, German physiologist
- September 4 – František Vladislav Hek, Czech patriot
- September 13 – Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal
- October 2 – Vasil Aprilov, Bulgarian educator, merchant and writer
- October 22
- * Henriette Herz, German salonnière
- * Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa
- November 4 – Felix Mendelssohn, German composer
- November 18 – Zebulon Crocker, American congregationalist pastor
- December 14
- * Dorothy Ann Thrupp, British psalmist
- * Manuel José Arce, Central American politician
- * Barbarita Nieves, Venezuelan mistress of José Antonio Páez
- Unknown: Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse, French balloonist and parachutist