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US CAPITAL
June. The U. S. capital is moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. -
VOTING
February 11. The electors' votes for president are officially opened and counted in Congress, which already knows that the vote is tied between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives meets separately and continues balloting for six days. On February 17, on the thirty-sixth ballot, Jefferson is elected president and Aaron Burr becomes vice president -
ALEXANDEER HAMILTON
Alexander Hamilton dies after being shot the previous day by Vice President Aaron Burr in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey -
JACQUARD LOOM
The Jacquard loom attachment was perfected in 1801, and was becoming common in Europe by 1806. -
NEW PROCLAMATION
November 27. Jefferson issues a proclamation declaring that "sundry persons, citizens of the U.S. or resident within the same, are conspiring & confederating...against the dominions of Spain" and requiring that all military and civil officials of all states and territories of the United States prevent "the carrying on such expedition or enterprise by all lawful means within their power." -
JEFFERSON DEATH
Jefferson dies shortly after 12 noon, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He is eighty-three years old. Several hours later John Adams, aged 90, dies in Massachusetts, and the nation is struck by this remarkable coincidence. The last letter Jefferson wrote to Adams was on March 23 requesting that Adams see his grandson, which Adams did. Just before he died, Jefferson wrote the following to be read at the July 4 celebration in Virginia: -
FRANCISCO LOPEZ
1842 Francisco Lopez discovers gold dust in the roots of an onion he dug up for lunch, touching off a local gold rush to San Feliciano Canyon near Los Angeles, but news of the discovery is largely ignored elsewhere. -
ZACHARY TAYLOR
1846 In March, American forces under Zachary Taylor cross the Nueces River, which Mexico regards as the Texas border, and take up positions along the Rio Grande, which is the border Texans claim. In response to this provocation, a brigade of 1,600 Mexicans crosses the river in late April, where they overwhelm an American cavalry patrol and then wait for the main body of the Mexican army to press the attack. When word of this encounter reaches Washington, President Polk takes the opportunity to d -
JAMES MARSHALL
On January 24, James Marshall, a veteran of the Bear Flag Revolt, discovers gold on the American River at Coloma while building a lumber mill for John Sutter. A brief report of the discovery appears in a San Francisco newspaper in mid-March, where it goes mostly unnoticed. -
JAME K. POLK
1848 In December, PresidentJames K. Polk confirms the discovery of gold in California, sparking a nationwide stampede to the West. -
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln, who had declared "Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free..." is elected president, the first Republican, receiving 180 of 303 possible electoral votes and 40 percent of the popular vote. -
INAUGURATION
Lincoln Inaugurated CIVIL WAR -
STEAM ENGINE
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.