This Year in History:
1839
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
Charlotte Brontë writes to the Reverend Henry Nussey, declining marriage. The 23‑year‑old Brontë told him that he would find her “romantic and eccentric” and not practical enough to be a clergyman’s wife.…
On March 23, 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at…
Early in the morning, enslaved Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rise up against their captors, killing two crewmembers and seizing control of the ship, which had been transporting them…
Nelson Miles, one of the most successful but controversial officers in the Plains Indian Wars, is born on a farm in Massachusetts. Unlike many of his future colleagues in the…
Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, debuts in Milan. The premiere was held at La Scala, Italy’s most prestigious theater. Oberto was received favorably, and…
On this day in 1839, future President Abraham Lincoln advances to another stage in his legal career when he is admitted to practice law in the U.S. Circuit Court. It…
On this day in 1839, Union General George Armstrong Custer is born in Harrison County, Ohio. Although he is best known for his demise at the hands of the Lakota…
