Major Events
- Jan 1 Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln to free slaves in US confederate states
- Mar 19 Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, and medicines then valued over $1,000,000. Wreck discovered exactly 102 years later by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.
- Apr 21 Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters the garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days he spends there.
- Jul 1 Battle of Gettysburg begins in Pennsylvania, Union forces halt Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia
- Jul 3 Battle of Gettysburg, largest battle ever fought on the American continent, ends in a major victory for the Union during the US Civil War
- Jul 12 In New Zealand, British forces invade the Waikato, home of the Māori King Movement, beginning a new phase of the New Zealand Wars between the colonial government and allied Māori tribes on one side and Māori on the other
- Jul 30 Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah
- Oct 26 International conference begins in Geneva aimed at improving medical conditions on battlefields - beginning of the Red Cross
- Nov 19 US President Abraham Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg address beginning; "Four score and seven years ago..."
- Dec 8 Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of the South
- More 1863 Events
1863 in Sport
- Oct 26 Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby
Henry Royce
Henry Ford
Leo Baekeland
Annie Jump Cannon
Edvard Munch
Franz Ferdinand
Bob Fitzsimmons
Blanche BingleyMore People Born in 1863
Fun Fact About 1863
Four wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton in New York
Stonewall Jackson
Alonzo Cushing
Sam Houston
Jacob GrimmMore 1863 Deaths
Articles About 1863
Emancipation Proclamation
The first and last page of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham LincolnJanuary 1
The Hidden Depths of Mark Twain
Forced to find a new job when the American Civil War struck the Mississippi river, Samuel Langhorne Clemens turned to writing and Mark Twain was born.February 2
WR Hearst – The Master of Fake News
Newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst was a towering figure of his age. Immensely wealthy, he believed he had unlimited influence, even on matters of war.April 29
Words That Echoed Down The Decades
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered on this day, was as short and simple as it was immensely powerful and memorable.November 19
Famous Weddings in 1863
- Feb 10 P. T. Barnum stages wedding of Tom Thumb & Mercy Lavinia Warren, both midgets, in NYC
- Mar 10 Prince of Wales, Albert Edward (21) weds Princess Alexandra of Denmark (18) at Windsor Castle in St. George's chapel
- Oct 28 Painter Edouard Manet (31) weds Suzanne Leenhoff (34)
Charles Dickens
Giuseppe Verdi
Abraham Lincoln
Henry John Temple