What Happened in 1861 — Events, Births & Deaths

American Civil War: "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.

Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.

American Civil War: Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union.

American Civil War: Alabama secedes from the United States.

American Civil War: Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States.

American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union.

Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state.

American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama, delegates from six breakaway U.S. states meet and initiate the process that would form the Confederate States of America on February 8.

Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

Italian unification: The Siege of Gaeta ends with the capitulation of the defending fortress, effectively bringing an end of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

Mariehamn, the capital city of Åland, is founded.

Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.

El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.

American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.

The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.

An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.

Alexander H. Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.

Discovery of the chemical elements: Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of thallium.

American Civil War: Battle of Fort Sumter. The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.

American Civil War: Union forces surrender Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.

President Abraham Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to quell the insurrection that soon became the American Civil War.

The state of Virginia's secession convention votes to secede from the United States; Virginia later becomes the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.

American Civil War: Baltimore riot of 1861: A pro-Secession mob in Baltimore attacks United States Army troops marching through the city.

American Civil War: Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army in order to command the forces of the state of Virginia.

Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, attempting to display the value of balloons, makes record journey, flying 900 miles from Cincinnati to South Carolina.

American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

Maryland in the American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.

American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia, with Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth becoming the first Union officer to be killed during the war.

American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.

American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.

The Beyoglu Protocol turns the district of Mount Lebanon into an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire and grants the Christians more power over the Druze.

American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.

American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.

Britain imposes the Lagos Treaty of Cession to suppress slavery in what is now Nigeria.

First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.

American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.

American Civil War: Union troops repel a Confederate attempt to capture Fort Pickens in the Battle of Santa Rosa Island.

Aboriginal Australians kill nineteen Europeans in the Cullin-la-ringo massacre.

The Toronto Stock Exchange is created.

American Civil War: Union forces under Major Charles Zagonyi achieve a minor victory at the First Battle of Springfield through a charge widely covered by the media, and Federal troops occupy the city two days later.

American Civil War: A secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.

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

American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James Murray Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus easing tensions between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.