March 6
March 6
Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott case
The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision on Sanford v. Dred Scott, a case that intensified national divisions over the issue of slavery. In 1834, Dred Scott, an enslaved…
A Year In History: 1857
This Year in History:
1857
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
March 6
March 6
Dred Scott decision
On March 6, 1857, the United States Supreme Court issues a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western…
June 25
June 25
Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal is published
One of the most influential French poets of all time, Charles Baudelaire publishes his book Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), leading to his conviction on charges of blasphemy…
June 28
June 28
Western writer Emerson Hough is born
Emerson Hough, one of the most successful writers of adventure novels of the romantic western genre, is born in Newton, Iowa. After graduating from the State University of Iowa in…
September 11
September 11
120 emigrants murdered at the Mountain Meadows Massacre
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints (also known as Mormons), stoked by religious zeal and a deep resentment of decades of public abuse and federal interference,…
September 15
September 15
Future President William Taft born
William Howard Taft is born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 15, 1857. Taft was born into a politically active family; his father had served as President Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary…
October 14
October 14
Elwood Haynes, “Grandsire of Gasoline Cars,” is born
On October 14, 1857, engineer and inventor Elwood Haynes is born in Portland, Indiana. Haynes designed one of the very first American automobiles, the Haynes “Pioneer.” He was also an…
December 3
December 3
Joseph Conrad’s birthday
On this day in 1857, Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski–later known as Joseph Conrad–is born in Poland. Conrad spent his early childhood in northern Russia, where his father, a Polish poet…
