WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO OCTOBER 1854
Find out what all happened January to October 1854

In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. (13. July 1854)

The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared. (23. February 1854)

Crimean War: The siege of Sebastopol begins. (9. October 1854)

In Venezuela, slavery was abolished (24. March 1854)

Crimean War: The United Kingdom declares war on Russia. (27. March 1854)

The steamship SS Arctic sinks with 300 people on board. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean. (27. September 1854)

The Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War (Charge of the Light Brigade). (25. October 1854)

The watch company founded in 1850 in Roxbury by Aaron Lufkin Dennison relocates to Waltham, Massachusetts, to become the Waltham Watch Company, a pioneer in the American system of watch manufacturing. (1. October 1854)

The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the Samarang. (4. January 1854)

The first class of United States Naval Academy students graduate. (10. June 1854)

Battle of Alma: British and French troops defeat Russians in the Crimea. (20. September 1854)

The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands. (21. June 1854)

German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg. (1. March 1854)

Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden. (9. August 1854)

Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia. (28. March 1854)

The Hinomaru is established as the official flag to be flown from Japanese ships. (4. August 1854)

The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred. (19. August 1854)

The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State. (17. February 1854)

USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the US Navy, is commissioned. (28. July 1854)

England: The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead starts shortly after midnight, leading to 53 deaths and hundreds injured. (6. October 1854)