WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO MAY 1842
Find out what all happened January to May 1842

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert. (30. May 1842)

Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (13. January 1842)

A train derails and catches fire in Paris, killing between 52 and 200 people. (8. May 1842)

The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed; (17. March 1842)

The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush. (9. March 1842)

John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine. (21. February 1842)

Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long. (30. March 1842)

Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien. (7. February 1842)

Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera writers. (9. March 1842)