1849 in the United States

1849 in the United States
Decades:	1820s 1830s – 1840s – 1850s 1860s
Years:	1846 1847 1848 – 1849 – 1850 1851 1852
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30 stars (1848 – 1851)
Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1849–1865)

Events from the year 1849 in the United States.

Incumbents

• President: James K. Polk (Democratic) (until March 4), Zachary Taylor (Whig) (starting March 4)
• Vice President: George M. Dallas (Democratic) (until March 4), Millard Fillmore (Whig) (starting March 4)
• Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert Charles Winthrop (Whig-Massachusetts) (until March 4), Howell Cobb (D-Georgia) (starting December 22)
• Congress: 30th (until March 4), 31st (starting March 4)

Events

March 5: Zachary Taylor becomes President

• January 23 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.
• February 14 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
• February 28 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay. The California leaves New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, rounds Cape Horn at the tip of South America, and arrives at San Francisco, California after the 4 month 21 day journey.
• March 3 – Minnesota becomes a United States territory.
• March 3 – The United States Department of the Interior is established.
• March 3 – The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
• March 4 – Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in office on a Sabbath (Sunday). Urban legend holds that David Rice Atchison, President pro tempore of the United States Senate was President de jure for a single day.
• March 5 – Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States of America, takes his oath of office.
• May 3 – The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• June 6 – Fort Worth, Texas is founded.
• September 1 – The first segment of the Pennsylvania Railroad, from Lewiston, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, opens for service.
• November – Austin College receives a charter in Huntsville.
• November 13 – The Constitution of California is ratified by the electorate.

Ongoing

• California Gold Rush (1848–1855)

Births

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Deaths

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External links

• Media related to 1849 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons