WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1861
Find out what all happened January to December 1861

Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri. (13. 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)

The Toronto Stock Exchange is created. (25. October 1861)

Medal of Honor: Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valor, is signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. (21. December 1861)

American Civil War: Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government. (20. November 1861)

American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War". (9. January 1861)

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia. (24. May 1861)

American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the British mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US. (8. November 1861)

American Civil War: Battle of Santa Rosa Island – Union troops repel a Confederate attempt to capture Fort Pickens. (9. October 1861)

American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery. (25. July 1861)

American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress. (9. December 1861)

El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bambara Empire of Mali. (10. March 1861)

Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs. (3. March 1861)

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

Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state. (29. January 1861)

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

American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: a pro-Secession mob in Baltimore, Maryland, attacks United States Army troops marching through the city. (19. April 1861)

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

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

American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy. (10. December 1861)