29 Star Flag
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Flown from 04 July 1847 to 03 July 1848
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US President: James Polk (1845-1849)
The Twenty-Nine Star Flag became official on July 4th, 1847 after a star was added when Iowa became the 28th State on 28 December 1846. Iowa was established as a U.S. Territory in 1838. It was the official flag for one year.
Politics and Government
February 28, 1847: The Battle of the Sacramento River during the Mexican-American War takes place in California
March 3, 1847: Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a 20-day siege.
September 14, 1847: U.S. forces capture Mexico City during the Mexican-American War.
March 3, 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding California and other territories to the United States.
June 1, 1848: Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th state of the United States
July 10, 1848: The U.S. Congress passes the Seneca Falls Convention resolution calling for women's suffrage.
Science, Technology and Medicine
August 10, 1847: The Smithsonian Institution establishes the United States National Museum.
October 16, 1847: Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis introduces hand washing in obstetrical clinics, reducing childbed fever.
December 25, 1847: American physician and scientist Samuel Guthrie dies in Sackets Harbor, New York.
January 23, 1848: James W. Marshall discovers gold at Sutter's Mill in California, sparking the Gold Rush.
June 20, 1848: The U.S. patent for the first practical sewing machine is issued to Elias Howe.
Education
1847: New Hampshire establishes its first statewide public school system in 1847, advancing public education in the state.
November 10, 1847: The Sinclair Female Academy, later Sweet Briar College, is founded in Virginia.
The "Wisconsin Idea" (coined in 1904) begins to take shape, emphasizing the integration of the state's university system with government and the community, promoting public service and education for the public good. The University of Wisconsin – Madison is founded.
Arts, Culture and Literature
April 25, 1847: The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness.
September 9, 1847: American author Henry David Thoreau publishes "Walden; or, Life in the Woods."
December 21, 1847: The opera "Macbeth" by Giuseppe Verdi premieres in Florence, Italy.
Walt Whitman publishes the first edition of "Leaves of Grass" in 1848, a collection of poems that would undergo multiple revisions and become a landmark in American literature.
Sports
On August 3, 1847, the first recorded regatta on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire takes place, marking the beginning of competitive sailing in the region.
International Events (July 4, 1847 - July 3, 1848)
November 2, 1847: Scottish obstetrician James Young Simpson discovers the anesthetic properties of chloroform.
February 24, 1848: The Second French Republic is proclaimed following the February Revolution in France.
July 26, 1847: Liberia becomes a republic and gains independence from American Colonization Society control.
August 14, 1847: Charlotte Brontë's novel "Jane Eyre" is published in England.
February 21, 1848: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish "The Communist Manifesto" in London.
March 20, 1848: Wilhelm von Humboldt, German philosopher and linguist, dies in Germany.
March 13, 1848: The German revolutions of 1848-1849 begin in Berlin, later spreading across Europe.
May 22, 1848: Slavery is abolished in Martinique and its colonies, inspired by the French Revolution of 1848.