WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO AUGUST 1844
Find out what all happened February to August 1844

The Bahá'í calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá'í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá'í Faith as the Bahá'í New Year or Náw-Rúz. (21. March 1844)

Declaration of the Báb: a merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith, and Bahá'ís celebrate the day as a holy day. (23. May 1844)

The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. (27. February 1844)

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London. (6. June 1844)

The last pair of Great Auks is killed. (3. July 1844)

King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway. (8. March 1844)

Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber. (15. June 1844)

The Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens. (6. May 1844)

One of the most important battles of the Dominican War of Independence from Haiti takes place near the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. (30. March 1844)

A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing eight people, including two United States Cabinet members. (28. February 1844)

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, headed by Brigham Young, is reaffirmed as the leading body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). (8. August 1844)

Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail. (27. June 1844)

Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established. (1. May 1844)

Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought" (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate the first telegraph line. (24. May 1844)