1863 in Belgium

Events in the year 1863 in Belgium.

Events

9 April – Treaty of amity, commerce and navigation with the Kingdom of Italy signed in Turin.
12 May – Commercial treaty with the Netherlands, including Dutch agreement to perpetual abolition of tolls on the Scheldt river in return for a payment of 17 million guilders
20 May – Commercial treaty with the United States, bringing relations into line with the free trade agreements already signed with France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
9 June – Partial legislative elections of 1863
16 July – Multilateral treaty for the redemption of the Scheldt tolls signed in Brussels
27 July – Commercial treaty with the Austrian Empire, bringing relations into line with the free trade agreements already signed with France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
1 August – Clipper Marnix van Sinte-Aldegonde the first ship to sail toll-free from Antwerp to the mouth of the Scheldt.
11 August – State visit of Queen Victoria to Belgium.
18-22 August – First Catholic Congress in Mechelen.
* Guild of Saint Thomas and Saint Luke for the study and promotion of Christian art founded
19 September – Convention modifying the 1852 postal convention between Belgium and the Office of the Prince of Tour and Taxis signed in Brussels.
26 December – Solvay chemical company founded.

Publications

;PeriodicalsAnnuaire de l'Observatoire Royal de Bruxelles, vol. 31La Belgique horticole, edited by Édouard MorrenBulletin du Bibliophile Belge, vol. 19, edited by A. Scheler Bulletins de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, second series, vol. 15Collection de précis historiques, vol. 12, edited by Edouard Terwecoren S.J.Dubbele wegwyzer der stad Gent en der provincie Oost-Vlaenderen, vol. 1 Revue belge et étrangère, 15Revue Trimestrielle, vol. 38Le Timbre-Poste begins publication
;Studies and reports

Prosper de Haulleville, Les Catholiques et les libertés constitutionnelles en Belgique
Émile de Laveleye, Essai sur l'économie rurale de la Belgique

;Historical editions

Louis Galesloot, Procès de François Anneessens: doyen du corps des métiers de Bruxelles, vol. 2
Jehan le Bel, Les vrayes chroniques, edited by Lambert Polain, vol. 1

Art and architecture

;Performances

3 January – First performance of Charles Hugo's stage adaptation of Les Misèrables, Théâtre Royal des Galeries, Brussels

Births

10 January – Félix Wielemans, soldier
3 February – Charles Magnette, politician
8 March – Théophile Bovy, journalist
3 April – Henry van de Velde, painter
21 April – Paul Lebrun, composer
25 June – Émile Francqui, philanthropist
26 June
* Paul Pelseneer, biologist
* Henri Quersin, marksman
13 August – Pol Demade, writer
21 August – Jules Destrée, politician
1 September – Herman Baltia, soldier
14 November – Leo Baekeland, chemist
10 December – Maurice Hennequin, playwright

Deaths

8 February – Martin Martens, botanist and chemist
14 May – Emmanuel Noterman, painter
18 July – Arnold Timothée de Lasaulx, politician
19 July – André-Napoléon Fontainas, politician
26 September – Jean Thienpont, politician
31 October – Augustus Van Dievoet, judge