WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1856
Find out what all happened January to August 1856

John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas. (24. May 1856)

The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the second piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot. (7. February 1856)

A Peace conference opens in Paris after the Crimean War. (25. February 1856)

Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces. (21. May 1856)

A group of 194 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty, arrives at Norfolk Island, commencing the Third Settlement of the Island. (8. June 1856)

The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War. (30. March 1856)

Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city. (31. July 1856)

The Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, kills over 60 people. (17. July 1856)

Battle of Rivas: Juan Santamaria burns down the hostel where William Walker's filibusters are holed up. (11. April 1856)

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual that establishes the Victoria Cross to recognise acts of valour by British military personnel during the Crimean War. (29. January 1856)

500 Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa, and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. (9. June 1856)

Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei abolishes slavery in Wallachia. (8. February 1856)

Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas"). (22. May 1856)

The Theta Chi fraternity is founded at Norwich University in Vermont. (10. April 1856)

First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers. (26. January 1856)

The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of the Queen Isabela II of Spain. (1. May 1856)

The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta. (11. February 1856)

The Republican Party opens its first national meeting in Pittsburgh. (22. February 1856)