Major Events
- Jan 25 American naval expedition under Charles Wilkes is first to identify Antarctica as a new continent
- Feb 6 The Treaty of Waitangi is signed between 40 Māori Chiefs (later signed by 500) and representatives of the British crown in Waitangi, New Zealand. The treaty was designed to share sovereignty between the two groups.
- Feb 16 American Charles Wilkes discovers the Shackleton Ice Shelf in Antarctica
- May 1 "Penny Black", the world's first adhesive postage stamp issued by Great Britain
- Jun 20 American inventor Samuel Morse patents his telegraph
- Jul 23 Union Act passed by British Parliament, uniting Upper & Lower Canada
- Dec 15 Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
- More 1840 Events
John Philip Holland
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Thomas Nast
Auguste Rodin
Claude Monet
Crazy HorseMore People Born in 1840
Beau Brummell
Karl Ferdinand von GraefeMore 1840 Deaths
Articles About 1840
A Day's Pay – The Cost of Sending a Letter
Sending letters and parcels used to be a highly expensive and difficult process until on this day the “Penny Post” system began, thanks to an English teacher.January 10
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi, signed by the British Crown and various Māori chiefsFebruary 6
Penny Black
The Penny Black stamp featured Queen VictoriaMay 1
Famous Weddings in 1840
- Feb 1 Novelist Alexandre Dumas (37) weds actress Ida Ferrier
- Feb 10 British Queen Victoria (20) marries her cousin Albert (20) of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, later the Prince Consort at St James' Palace
- May 1 American women's rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton (24) weds fellow American abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton (34), until his death in 1887
More Weddings in 1840
Charles Dickens
Martin Van Buren
William Lamb