1853 Events

1853 Josephine Clofullia (The Bearded Lady) Begins Performing at Barnum's American Museum
Madame Clofullia was born Josephine Boisdechene in Switzerland. She was born hairy and reputedly had a two-inch beard at the age of eight. At the age of fourteen she began to tour Europe,...
1853 Jan 19 Martha Douglas Dies
The failure of the 1852 Douglas presidential campaign was quickly followed by a more deeply wrenching personal tragedy. When Martha Douglas gave birth to a daughter in early 1853, her hea...
1853 Mar 4 Franklin Pierce is inaugurated as the 14th president of the United States
On religious grounds, former Senator and Congressman Franklin Pierce chose "to affirm" rather than "to swear" the executive oath of office. He was the only President to use the choice off...
1853 Mar 7 Franklin Pierce Appoints Jefferson Davis as Secretary of War
Pierce won the election and, in 1853, made Davis his Secretary of War. In this capacity, Davis gave to Congress four annual reports (in December of each year), as well as an elaborate one...
1853 Mar 21 A Treaty To Provide Joint Mexican And American Protection For The Sloo Grant Is Signed
On March 21, 1853, a treaty, initiated in the Fillmore administration, that would provide joint Mexican and American protection for the Sloo grant was signed in Mexico. At the same time t...
1853 May 6 Norwalk Rail Accident
At 08:00 that morning the Boston express left New York with 200 passengers under the charge of a substitute driver for whom this was the third trip on the route. The train comprised two b...
1853 Jun 24 Franklin Pierce Signs The Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase (known as Venta de La Mesilla, or "Sale of La Mesilla", in Mexico) is a 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of what is today southern Arizona and southwestern New ...
1853 Aug 4 Stonewall Jackson Marries Elinor Junkin
Jackson married twice. On August 4, 1853, Jackson married Elinor Junkin (1825–54), daughter of George Junkin and Julia Miller Junkin. Elinor died in childbirth on October 22, 1854. Their ...
1853 Aug 18 USS Pampero Is Launched
USS Pampero (1853) was a large (1,375-ton) and capacious ship-rigged vessel purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a storeship to provision...
1853 Sep 20 Elisah Graves Otis Sells His First Elevator
On September 20, 1853, Elisah Graves Otis sold his first "hoist machines," or elevators, featuring an automatic safety brake that he had recently patented. His seemingly simple invention—...
1853 Nov 30 Charles Darwin Received the Royal Medal of The Royal Society
Charles Darwin received the Royal Medal of the Royal Society, the highest honor the society could bestow on a scientist. The medal was awarded for his three volume work on the geology of ...
1853 Dec 30 James Gadsden Signs The Gadsden Purchase
James Gadsden, U.S. Minister to Mexico, and General Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico, signed the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City on December 30, 1853. The treaty settled t...