1844
| File:Decade.png ( 1840s: ) 1844 link | |
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| File:OldFleetPrison.jpg "Pray remember ye poor debtors": inmates of the Fleet Prison beg passers by for alms | |
| Year 1844 |
Events
- February 27 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
- March 8 – King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden–Norway upon the death of his father, Charles XVI/III John.
- April 2 – The Fleet Prison for debtors in London is closed, marking a significant milestone in the country's human rights record.
- May 1 – The Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second, Asia's first modern police force, is established.
- May 23 – Persian Prophet The Báb privately announces his revelation to Mullá Husayn, just after sunset, founding the Bábí faith (later evolving into the Baháʼí Faith as the Báb intended) in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran). Contemporaneously, on this day in nearby Tehran, was the birth of `Abdu'l-Bahá; the eldest Son of Bahá'u'lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith, the inception of which, the Báb's proclaimed His own mission was to herald. `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself was later proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh to be His own successor, thus being the third "central figure" of the Baháʼí Faith.
- May 24 – The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, saying "What hath God wrought".
- June 15 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
- December 4 – U.S. presidential election, 1844: James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay.
- November 13 – Hungarian becomes the official language of Hungary[1]
Date unknown
- Swedish chemistry professor Gustaf Erik Pasch invents the safety match.
- Carlos Antonio López becomes dictator of Paraguay.
- The anonymously written Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation is published, and paves the way for the acceptance of Darwin's book On the Origin of Species.
- The Free Church Institution is established by Reverend Alexander Duff in Calcutta, India. This is later merged with the General Assembly's Institution to form the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushers in the Bengali Renaissance.
- In Munich the Feldherrnhalle is completed.