What Happened in 1837 — Events, Births & Deaths

Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state.

Richard Johnson becomes the first and only Vice President of the United States chosen by the Senate.

The great fire in Surat, India causes more than 500 deaths and destruction of more than 9,000 houses.

The University of Athens is founded in Athens, Greece.

Panic of 1837: New York City banks suspend the payment of specie, triggering a national banking crisis and an economic depression whose severity was not surpassed until the Great Depression.

St. Joseph Mutiny: African soldiers in the 1st West India Regiment – led by former slave trader Daaga – launch a rebellion in the British colony of Trinidad in an attempt to escape to Africa.

Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper The Constitution.

The Battle of Montgomery's Tavern, the only battle of the Upper Canada Rebellion, takes place in Toronto, where the rebels are quickly defeated.

Second Seminole War: American general Zachary Taylor leads 1,100 troops against the Seminoles at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.