30 Star Flag
Years Flown: 1848 – 1851
US Presidents: James Polk (1845-1849), Zachary Taylor (1849-1850), Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
Thirty Star Flag became official on July 4th 1848 after Wisconsin was admitted as a state on May 29th1848.
Politics and Government
February 2, 1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ending the Mexican-American War.
July 19, 1848: the United States Senate ratifies The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
November 7, 1848: Zachary Taylor is elected as the 12th President of the United States.
December 29, 1848: U.S. President James K. Polk confirms the discovery of gold in California.
September 9, 1850: California is admitted as the 31st state of the United States.
Science, Technology and Medicine
October 16, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
November 16, 1850: Dr. Henry Jones gives ether anesthesia to a patient in a surgical procedure in Newport, Rhode Island.
August 14, 1848: The Oregon Territory is organized by an act of the U.S. Congress.
May 22, 1849: Abraham Lincoln receives a patent for a buoying system for ships.
July 10, 1849: The first U.S. patent for a safety pin is granted to Walter Hunt.
July 10, 1850: President Millard Fillmore signs the Compromise of 1850, addressing issues related to slavery.
Education
January 22, 1849: English-born Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
March 19, 1851: The first recorded use of a liferaft is when the brig Antelope uses one in Charleston Harbor.
April 1, 1849: The United Kingdom formally annexes the Punjab region of India.
October 4, 1849: The steamship SS Arctic sinks with 300 people on board, leading to reforms in maritime safety.
Arts, Culture and Technology
July 4, 1848: The cornerstone for the Washington Monument is laid in Washington, D.C.
July 19/20, 1848: The Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention, is held in New York.
November 14, 1850: Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick" is published in the United States.
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Sports
May 23, 1851: The New York City Marathon, the oldest annual marathon, is first run.
November 13, 1849: The Knights of St. Crispin, a secret trade union, is founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
March 30, 1851: American writer and abolitionist John James Ingalls delivers a speech against the extension of slavery.
International Events (July 4, 1848 - July 3, 1851)
March 13, 1848: The Revolution of 1848 begins in Austria, leading to widespread upheaval across Europe.
June 24, 1848: Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot takes the first photograph of the Moon.
June 26, 1848: Adolphe Sax patents the saxophone in Belgium.
December 2, 1848: Franz Joseph I becomes Emperor of Austria following the abdication of his uncle.
September 16, 1850: The Papal States lose Perugia to Piedmontese forces, leading to the unification of Italy.
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7. September 8, 1848: The Webster-Ashburton Treaty demarcates the first section of the U.S.-Canada border.
June 26, 1848: The first pure food laws are passed in the United Kingdom, regulating adulteration of food.
February 13, 1851: The French Academy of Sciences announces the discovery of the planet Neptune.
September 30, 1850: The United States Navy abolishes flogging as a form of punishment.
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January 29, 1849: English playwright and author Richard Brinsley Sheridan dies.
November 29, 1849: Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.