1857
Events
January–March
- January 1 - The biggest Estonian newspaper, Postimees, is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
- January 7 - The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
- January 9 - The 7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX.
- January 24 - The University of Calcutta is established in Calcutta, as the first multidisciplinary modern university in South Asia. The University of Bombay is also established in Bombay, British India, this year.
- February 3 - The National Deaf Mute College is established in Washington, D.C., becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
- February 5 - The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States is promulgated.
- March - The Austrian garrison leaves Bucharest.
- March 3
- * France and the United Kingdom formally declare war on China, in the Second Anglo-Chinese War.
- * The largest slave auction in U.S. history is held, dubbed The Weeping Time. Over a 2-day period, Pierce M. Butler sells 436 men, women, children, and infants, all of whom are kept in stalls meant for horses at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia, for weeks beforehand.
- March 6 - Dred Scott v. Sandford: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that blacks are not citizens and slaves can not sue for freedom, driving the U.S. further towards the American Civil War.
- March 8–12 - Spirit Lake Massacre, near Okoboji and Spirit lakes in the northwestern territory of Iowa near the Minnesota border.
- March 12 - Elizabeth Blackwell opens a hospital, the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children.
- March 14 - Youssef Bey Karam is assigned, by the people of Ehden and Bsharri, to be the region's ruler.
- March 23 - Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed.
- March 25 - The phonautograph is patented by French typesetter Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. It is the earliest known device for recording sound.
April–June
- April 4 - The Anglo-Persian War ends.
- April 8 - Mangal Pandey is hanged for mutiny against the British East India Company army; the execution is a precursor event to the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
- April 14 - Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter and the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, is born.
- April 18 - The Spirits' Book, one of the Five Fundamental Works of Spiritism, is published by French educator Allan Kardec.
- April 27 - First horse race run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.
- May 5–October 17 - The Art Treasures of Great Britain exhibition is held in Manchester, one of the largest such displays of all time.
- May 10 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: The 3rd Light Cavalry of the British East India Company's army rebels against its British officers, thus beginning the rebellion.
- May 11 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian combatants capture Delhi from the British East India Company.
- May 15 - Spanish financial group, Banco Santander founded in Cantabria, Spain.
- May 28 - Banco de Bilbao, as predecessor of BBVA is founded in Spain.
- June 1 - Second Anglo-Chinese War: Battle of Fatshan Creek - The British Royal Navy defeats the Cantonese fleet of Qing dynasty China.
- June 6 - Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden–Norway.
- June 12 - U.S. mercenary William Walker is overthrown as ruler of Nicaragua by Honduran general Florencio Xatruch.
- June 20 - The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is officially opened by Queen Victoria.
- June 26 - At a ceremony in London, Queen Victoria awards the first 66 Victoria Crosses to British troops, for actions during the Crimean War.
July–September
- July 1-November 19 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: Siege of Lucknow.
- July 15 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: The second massacre at Kanpur takes place.
- July 18
- * The Utah Expedition leaves Fort Leavenworth, effectively beginning the Utah War.
- * Prison hulks are used for the last time in the United Kingdom.
- August 20 - The Dunbar wrecks near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia, with the loss of 121 lives.
- August 28 - The Matrimonial Causes Act makes divorce without parliamentary approval legal in the United Kingdom.
- September - The Panic of 1857 begins: Speculation in U.S. railroad shares, and the collapse on August 24 of the New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, following widespread embezzlement, trigger a financial crisis which will extend to Europe.
- September 11 - The Mountain Meadows massacre occurs in Utah.
- September 12 - The sinks off the coast of North Carolina with the loss of 425 lives.
- September 20 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: British forces recapture Delhi, compelling the surrender of Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor.
- September 22 - Russian ship of the line Lefort sinks in the Gulf of Finland during a sudden squall with the loss of 826 lives; 30 other ships are wrecked in the same storm.
October–December
- October 13 - Panic of 1857: New York banks close, and do not reopen until December 12.
- October 24
- * Sheffield F.C., the world's first association football team, is founded in Sheffield, United Kingdom.
- * 28 enslaved people escape their enslavers in Maryland.
- November 1 - The Indus Valley Region is incorporated as part of British India, for the next 90 years until 1947.
- November 16 - Indian Rebellion of 1857: British troops win 24 Victoria Crosses in action this day.
- November 30 - President of Mexico Ignacio Comonfort is succeeded by Félix María Zuloaga.
- December - The Reform War in Mexico begins.
- December 7 - U.S. Consul in Japan Townsend Harris meets the Shogun in Edo in a diplomatic reception, the first ever meeting between the Shogun and a foreign diplomat.
- December 16 - The 7.0 Basilicata earthquake shakes the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI, killing about 10,000 people.
- December 20 - Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria issues a decree, Es ist Mein Wille, which leads to the demolition of the city walls of Vienna, allowing the construction of the Ringstraße.
- December 28 - Second Anglo-Chinese War: 2nd Battle of Canton - British and French forces begin an assault on the Qing dynasty Chinese city of Canton.
- December 31 - Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the capital of Canada.
Date unknown
- Liberia annexes the Republic of Maryland as native groups continually attack and kill settlers in Cape Palmas.
- Bustling tourist attraction Sunny Lane in Falmouth, United Kingdom, is built.
- The first commercial tea plantation in the British Raj is opened in the Mulnicherra Estate in Sylhet.
- The Mormons abandon Las Vegas.
- Kuala Lumpur, the future capital of Malaysia, is founded as a tin mining settlement.
- La Tène culture artifacts are discovered in Switzerland, by Hansli Kopp.
- Illinois State University, the first public university in Illinois, is established in Normal, Illinois.
- San Jose State, the first public U.S. university west of the Mississippi River, opens in San Francisco as Minn's Evening School.
- Bucharest becomes the world's first city to have its streets illuminated by kerosene lamps.
- U.S. politician William Daniel proposes the Local Option for Prohibition.
- U.S. composer James Lord Pierpont composes "Jingle Bells", originally entitled "The One Horse Open Sleigh".
- Suzumoto Vaudeville Theater officially opens in Ueno region, Edo in Japan.
Births
January–March
- January 2 - Uryū Sotokichi, Japanese admiral
- January 4 - Émile Courtet, French caricaturist, animator
- January 12
- *Knut Ångström, Swedish physicist
- *Léon de Witte de Haelen, Belgian general
- January 13 - Anastasios Papoulas, Greek general
- January 18 - Otto von Below, German general
- January 26 - The 12th Dalai Lama of Tibet
- January 31 - George Jackson Churchward, British chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway
- February 1 - Lucy Wheelock, American early childhood education pioneer within the kindergarten movement
- February 13 - Almanzo James Wilder, American writer
- February 18 - Dmitry Shcherbachev, Russian general
- February 22
- * Robert Baden-Powell, English founder of the Scouting movement
- * Heinrich Hertz, German physicist
- March 4
- *Constantin Coandă, Romanian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Romania
- *Aleksei Evert, Russian general
- March 6 - George Dayton, American businessman, founder of Target Corporation
- March 7
- * Genevieve Stebbins, American performer of the Delsarte system of expression
- * Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- March 13 - Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, British general
- March 15 - Christian Michelsen, 1st Prime Minister of Norway
- March 18 - Harriet Converse Moody, American businesswoman and arts patron
- March 21 - Hunter Liggett, American general
- March 22 - Paul Doumer, President of France
- March 26 - Théodore Tuffier, French surgeon
- March 27
- * Ella Hepworth Dixon, English author and editor
- * Karl Pearson, English statistician
- March 30 - Léon Charles Thévenin, French telegraph engineer
April–June
- April 5 - Alexander of Battenberg, first Prince of Bulgaria
- April 14
- * Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, youngest child of Queen Victoria
- * Victor Horsley, English physician, surgeon
- April 22 - Paul Dresser, American songwriter
- April 23 - Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian composer
- April 30 - Walter Simon, German philanthropist
- May 1 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer
- May 7 - William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia
- May 10 - Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel, Austro-Hungarian general
- May 13 - Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- May 15 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish astronomer
- May 19 - John Jacob Abel, American pharmacologist
- May 24 - Richard Mansfield, Anglo-American stage actor
- May 27 - Theodor Curtius, German chemist
- May 28
- * Annie Maria Barnes, American author of children's literature
- * Robert C. Hilliard, American stage actor
- June 2
- * Urban Jacob Rasmus Børresen, Norwegian admiral and industry leader
- * Edward Elgar, English composer
- * Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 8 - Lawrence Marston, American actor, playwright and film director
- June 10 - Caroline Louise Dudley, American stage actress
- June 12 - Kate Lester, English stage & silent screen actress
- June 16 - Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Austro-Hungarian general
- June 20 - Mary Gage Day, American physician
- June 30 - Friedrich von Ingenohl, German admiral