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United States agrees to pay France $15 million for the Louisiana Territory, which extends west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and comprises about 830,000 sq mi. As a result, the U.S. nearly doubles in size.
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U.S. declares war on Britain over British interference with American maritime shipping and westward expansion.
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In an effort to maintain the balance between free and slave states, Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) is admitted as a free state so that Missouri can be admitted as a slave state; except for Missouri, slavery is prohibited in the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30'.
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The harmonica was invented by Friedrich Buschmann.
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Felix Mendelssohn conducted the first modern performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion."
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Frédéric Chopin performed his "Piano Concerto in F Minor" and the "Variations, opus 2" in Paris.
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More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians are forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Approximately 4,000 die from starvation and disease along the “Trail of Tears.”
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Mexican War: U.S. declares war on Mexico in effort to gain California and other territory in Southwest.
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Conflict between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over the expansion of slavery into western states.
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Louis-Hector Berlioz died. In the same year, the opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod was first performed in Paris.
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"Requiem" by Gabriel Fauré was first performed in Paris. That same year, Thomas Edison patented the phonograph, which would change the way people listened to music. Also, "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky, was first performed in Moscow.
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Giacomo Puccini's opera, "Tosca," premiered in Rome.