-
Thomas Jefferson Elected
Thomas Jefferson is elected as the 3rd president of the United States in a vote of the House of Representatives after tying Aaron Burr, his Vice President, in the electoral college with 73 electors due to a flaw in the original vote for two system, which would be corrected in the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. -
The Lewis and Clark Expedition Begins
Ordered by Thomas Jefferson to map the Northwest United States, Lewis and Clark begin their expedition from St. Louis and Camp Dubois. The journey begins with navigation of the Missouri River. -
The Arrest of Aaron Burr
Vice President Aaron Burr is arrested for treason in Alabama, charged with a scheme to annex parts of Louisiana and Mexico into an independent republic. Three months later, a grand jury indicts the former Vice President under the same charges. However, he was later acquitted. -
First Steam Powered Ship
The first steam-powered ferry service between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey is started on John Steven's ship, the Juliana. -
Invention of the Gas Engine
The internal combustion engine named the "Gas Or Vapor Engine" is patented by American Samuel Morey. -
The Texas Revolution
The Revolution of Texas begins with the Battle of Gonzales when Mexican soldiers try to disarm the people of Gonzales but are resisted by local militia. By November, Texas proclaimed the right to secede from Mexico with Sam Houston taking command of the Texas army. His Texas army would capture San Antonio on December 9. -
First Telegraph Message
Samuel B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, sends the first message over the first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. His words were, "What God hath wrought." -
Abraham Lincoln Elected
Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln, running on an anti-slavery platform, defeats three opponents in the campaign for the presidency; Democrats Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckinridge, and John Bell, Constitutional Union Party, leading to ardent cries of potential rebellion in southern slave states. ]
