Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
Decades: 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s - 1850s - 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
Years: 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 - 1850 - 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855
Events
- End of the Irish potato famine
- Millard Fillmore succeeds Zachary Taylor as President of the United States of America
- The United States Republican Party is founded
- February 28 - University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah
- August 28 - Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin premieres
- December 16 - The first four ships arrived at Lyttleton to settle Christchurch, New Zealand.
Births
- August 5 - Guy de Maupassant, French writer
- August 25 - Charles Richet, Nobel Prize recipient for his work on anaphylaxis
- September 2 - Albert Spalding, baseball player and sporting goods manufacturer
Deaths
- - Frederic Bastiat, French philosopher
- January 20 - Adam Oehlenschlager, Danish poet