January 23
January 23
Gun designer John Browning is born
John Moses Browning, sometimes referred to as the “father of modern firearms,” is born in Ogden, Utah on January 23, 1855. Many of the guns manufactured by companies whose names evoke…
A Year In History: 1855
This Year in History:
1855
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
January 28
January 28
First train crosses the Panamanian isthmus
The Panama Railway, which carried thousands of unruly miners to California via the dense jungles of Central America, dispatches its first train across the Isthmus of Panama. Even before the…
February 7
February 7
Cowboy celebrity Charles Siringo is born
Charles Siringo, one of the most famous contemporary chroniclers of the cowboy life, is born in Matagorda County, Texas. When Siringo was only 30 years old, he published the first…
March 30
March 30
Violence disrupts first Kansas election
In territorial Kansas’ first election, some 5,000 so‑called “Border Ruffians” invade the territory from western Missouri and force the election of a pro‑slavery legislature. Although the number of votes cast…
July 4
July 4
First edition of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is published
Walt Whitman’s first edition of the self‑published Leaves of Grass is printed, containing a dozen poems. Whitman was born in West Hills, Long Island, and raised in Brooklyn. He left…
September 3
September 3
U.S. Army avenges the Grattan Massacre
On this day in 1855, General William Harney and 700 soldiers take revenge for the Grattan Massacre with a brutal attack on a Sioux village in Nebraska that left 100…
October 23
October 23
Rival governments in bleeding Kansas
In opposition to the fraudulently elected pro‑slavery legislature of Kansas, the Kansas Free State forces set up a governor and legislature under their Topeka Constitution, a document that outlaws slavery…
