28 Star Flag
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Flown from 04 July 1846 to 03 July 1847
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US President: James Polk (1845-1849)
The Twenty-Eight Star Flag became official on July 4th, 1846 after a star was added when Texas became the 28th State on 29 December 1845. Texas joined the Union having been an independent republic after separating from Mexico in 1836
Politics and Government
July 4, 1846: The United States annexes California following the Mexican-American War.
July 22, 1846: The United States occupies Los Angeles during the Mexican-American War
December 28, 1846: Iowa is admitted as the 29th state of the United States.
February 22, 1847: The Battle of Buena Vista takes place in the Mexican-American War.
Science, Technology and Medicine
August 31, 1846: Elias Howe patents the sewing machine.
September 30, 1846: Ether anesthesia is first demonstrated in a surgical procedure at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
November 4, 1846: The U.S. Navy launches the USS Princeton, the first screw steam warship.
December 2, 1846: The first U.S. patent for an artificial leg is granted to Benjamin F. Palmer.
January 4, 1847: Samuel Colt's first commercially successful revolver, the Colt Walker, is introduced.
February 15, 1847: The first U.S. telegraph company, the Magnetic Telegraph Company, is founded in Maryland.
March 5, 1847: Abraham Gesner receives a patent for kerosene, a valuable fuel source.
Education
July 9, 1846: German immigrant Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
Arts, Culture and Literature
July 28, 1846: American writer Emily Brontë publishes her only novel, "Wuthering Heights," in England.
October 22, 1846: The Open Court Publishing Company, the first American publisher to focus on philosophy and science, is founded.
November 27, 1846: The American statistical journal "The American Statistician" is first published in Boston.
December 6, 1846: Artist Gilbert Stuart dies in Boston, Massachusetts.
December 10, 1846: The United States issues its first postage stamps, featuring portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.
Events outside the United States (July 4, 1846 - July 3, 1847)
July 12, 1846: The United States and Great Britain sign the Oregon Treaty, settling the boundary dispute in the Pacific Northwest.
May 14, 1847: The first large outbreak of cholera in the United Kingdom kills 570 people in London.
October 17, 1846: Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician, pioneers antiseptic procedures by requiring doctors to disinfect their hands before attending patients.
January 22, 1847: The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Rio Grande, a region in northeastern Brazil.
July 7, 1846: The United States issues its first postage stamps.
February 11, 1847: British and German scientists discover the planet Neptune using mathematical calculations.
January 25, 1847: The United Kingdom issues the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black.