What Happened in March?

The initials OK came into the lime light when they were published by the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. The initials stood for "oll korrect." Just as todays teenagers, younger, educated circles during the late 1830s intentionally misspelled words and then abbreviate them to use them as slang. However ,the term has also been attributed to the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw. The Choctaw word okeh means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language and spread the term. More

William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth President of the United States.

U.S. President John Tyler signs the Congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas. Texas officially joined the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, during the presidency of his successor, James K. Polk.

Florida is admitted to the United States Union as the 27th State.

The German composer Richard Strauss is born.

The British East India Company officially annexes the Kingdom of Punjab on March 29, 1849, following a decisive victory against the Sikh Empire at the Battle of Gujrat in February 1849. This conquest, concluding the Second Anglo-Sikh War, ended the last major independent kingdom in India and integrated the region into the British Raj.

Henry Wells and William George Fargo found the Wells, Fargo & Company to handle the banking and transportation business prompted by the nescient California Gold Rush. After several mergers and acquisitions, Wells Fargo is now a major multinational financial services company.

The Crimean War begins with Britain and France declaring war on Russia.

The treaty of Kanagawa. between Japan and the United States is signed. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S. on an elaborately planned mission to open Japan and an unwavering policy by Japan's government of forbidding commerce with foreign nations found a way to reach agreement. More

The Supreme Court delivers its decision in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, ruling against Dred Scott's freedom.

Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States at the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He was sworn in by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. The inauguration occurred amidst growing tensions and the secession of several Southern states, making it a particularly significant and challenging event. Inaugural Address

President Abraham Lincoln promotes Ulysses S. Grant, to lieutenant-general and assigns him to the command of the Armies of the United States. He relieved General-in-Chief Henry Halleck.

Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States.

Nebraska is admitted to the United States Union becoming the 37th State.

The United States Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act, targeting the South for reconstruction after the Civil War. and setting conditions for readmission into the Union after overcoming President Andrew Johnson's veto. Congress passed additional Reconstruction Acts in 1867, and 1868, to implement more efficient government in the Southern states following the Civil War. More

The "Lancet" publishes an article by Doctor Joseph Lister which outlined the discovery of antiseptic surgery. Lister was a prominent British surgeon and medical scientist who established the study of antisepsis. Applying Louis Pasteur's germ theory of fermentation on wound putrefaction. He promoted the idea of sterilization in surgery using carbolic acid (phenol) as an antiseptic. Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery on August 12, 1865. More

President Ulysses S. Grant takes office for his first term.

President Grant signs the bill creating the first U.S. national park at Yellowstone. The 2.2 Million acres National Park offers unique hydrothermal and geologic features, the opportunity to observe wildlife in an intact ecosystem. It also contains about half the world’s active geysers and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. More

Alexander Graham Bell makes the first transmission of intelligible speech over electrical wires . He called out to his assistant Thomas Watson, “Mr. Watson, come here! I want to see you.” This transmission took place in their attic laboratory located in a near here at 5 Exeter Place. Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first words by telephone, to his assistant in another room. Bell had received his patent for for the telephone, three days earlier on 7 March 1876. More

Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated as the 19th President of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes's administration was influenced by his belief in government providing equal treatment without regard to wealth, social standing, or race. One of the defining events of his presidency was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which he resolved by calling in the U.S. Army against the railroad workers. It remains the deadliest conflict between workers and strikebreakers in American history. He appointed John Marshall Harlan to the U.S. Supreme Court.