WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1861
Find out what all happened January to August 1861

First performance of Arthur Sullivan's debut success, his suite of incidental music for The Tempest, leading to a career that included the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas. (6. April 1861)

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America. (18. February 1861)

American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form the Confederate States of America. (4. February 1861)

Porfirio Díaz conquers Mexico City, Mexico. (1. January 1861)

American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America. (6. May 1861)

American Civil War, Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861): the first land battle of the American Civil War after the Battle of Fort Sumter, producing the first Confederate combat casualty. (1. June 1861)

American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in seceding from the United States. (19. January 1861)

American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States. (3. January 1861)

American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights. (13. May 1861)

American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union. (29. April 1861)

American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel - Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia. (10. June 1861)

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps. (19. August 1861)

American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia is named the capital of the Confederate States of America. (8. May 1861)

American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus. (27. April 1861)

The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. (13. May 1861)

American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union. (6. May 1861)

Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who has been evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. (16. March 1861)

Alabama secedes from the United States. (11. January 1861)

Russian troops fire on a crowd in Warsaw protesting against Russian rule over Poland, killing five protesters. (27. February 1861)

The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand. (19. March 1861)