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Click on a hyperlink in the timeline to learn more about a subject. |
Milwaukee Timeline 1846-1879
1846
Solomon Juneau
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World News: Evictions and Deaths Rise During the Great Famine in Ireland
Also: Planet Neptune Discovered, Canada & U.S. Agree on Oregon Territory Divide, Saxophone Patented US News: Smithsonian Institution Established by Act of Congress Also: Final Ringing of Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, US Declares War on Mexico, Donner Party Trapped Milwaukee News: City of Milwaukee Founded Also: Solomon Juneau Elected First Mayor, North Pier at Harbor Entrance Destroyed by Wind and Ice, City Brewery Opened by Johann Braun, City Board of Health Created, Police Nightwatch Established |
1847
Milwaukee and Waukesha RR's "Old Number 1", the first engine in Wisconsin
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World News: Liberia Independence From American Colonization Society
Also: Birkenhead- UK Opens World's First Public Funded Park, Chloroform First Used US News: Latter-Day Saints Found Salt Lake City Also: NECCO Produces Wafer Candy, Postal Stamps Introduced, American Medical Association Founded Milwaukee News: Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad Company Formed Also: Young Men's Assoc. Forms a Public Subscription Library, Smallpox Vaccination Ordered for All, Reliance Works (Later Reliance Iron Works) Founded, First Milwaukee City Directory Published |
1848
Byron Kilbourn
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World News: Spring Uprisings in Much of Europe Leads to Large Emigration
Also: Mexico Cedes California and New Mexico Territories to United States US News: Wisconsin Enters Union as 30th State Also: John Spruce sells first commercial chewing gum, Washington Monument Started Milwaukee News: Byron Kilbourn Elected Mayor Also: Milwaukee Female Seminary (Later Downer College) Opens, First State Hospital- St. Mary's- Founded, First Reference to Horse Racing at Cold Spring Park, Section of Watertown Plank Road Opens |
1849
German Language Map of Routes to America
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World News: Austria and Russia Suppress Hungary's Bid For Independence
Also: Austria and France Crush Italian Revolts, UK Annexes Punjab, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Exiled to Siberia US News: Tens of Thousands Arrive in California Territory During Gold Rush Also: Elizabeth Blackwell Is First US Woman to Earn Medical Degree, Congress Allows Minting Gold Coins Milwaukee News: Forty-Eighters from Germany Arrive in Large Numbers Also: National Cholera Epidemic Kills Hundreds in the City, City Council Votes a 1% Real Estate Tax, St. Aemilian's Orphan Asylum Founded |
1850
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World News: Taiping Rebellion Begins in China & Civil War Lasts 14 Years
Also: London Zoo Houses Hippo, University of Sydney Founded (Australia), US News: President Zachary Taylor Dies in Office Also: Fugitive Slave Act, Harriet Tubman Leads Underground Railroad, Pinkerton Agency Founded Milwaukee News: Jewish Congregation Imanu-Al Organized Also: Davis Omnibus Line & Transfer Company Established, Milwaukee Musical Society Forms, Orphans' Asylum Established, City Population at 20,000, Wisc. Evangelical Lutheran Synod Formed |
1851
Colonel George Walker
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World News: London's Crystal Palace Exposition is First of World’s Fairs
Also: America Wins Race Sponsored by Royal Yacht Club, Est. 1 Million Dead From Irish Famine US News: Flood of 1851 Strikes the Midwest and Demolishes Des Moines Also: Northwestern University Established, Wesleyan College Founded at Alpha Delta Pi Sorority Milwaukee News: George Walker Elected Mayor Also: Railroad Links Milwaukee and Waukesha, Prof. Engelman Founds Public Museum, Fire Ruins Milwaukee Curlers' Stones, County Sheriff Responds to Leahy Riot on Spring Street |
1852
Albert Blatz
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World News: Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada Incorporated
Also: Devil's Island Penal Colony Opens, Great Ormond Street Hospital Admits First Patient US News: "Uncle Tom's Cabin" By Harriet Beecher Stowe Published Also: Harvard and Yale Meet in First U.S. Collegiate Sport Event, Wells Fargo & Company Founded Milwaukee News: Layton & Plankinton Packing Company Founded Also: V. Blatz Merges With City Brewery, 2nd WI State Fair Held at Cold Spring Park Race Course, Community Holds First May Fest, Gas Lights Illuminate Milwaukee Streets For the First Time |
1853
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World News: Japan's Isolation Ended by Commodore Matthew Perry's
Also: British Law Requires Smallpox Vaccination, London Opens World's First Public Aquarium US News: NYC Builds a Crystal Palace for Their Exhibition of All Nations Also: University of Florida Founded, Levi Strauss Incorporated, Yellow Fever Claims 8000 in New Orleans Milwaukee News: Pfister and Vogel Leather Company Established Also: George Walker Again Elected Mayor, Milwaukee-Watertown Plank Road Completed, Cream City Brewing Company Incorporated, Turnverien Society First Organized, Wisconsin State Bank Opens |
1854
Madison, WI 1855 Courtesy National Archives
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World News: Crimean War: France and UK Declare War on Russia
Also: Venezuela Abolishes Slavery, Cholera London Epidemic Claims 10,000 US News: Elisha Otis Exhibits His Safety Elevator at the New York Fair Also: Republican Party Founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, Commodore Perry Arrives in Japan Milwaukee News: Mob Frees Ex-Slave Joshua Glover From City Jail Also: Fire Consumes City Block where Mitchell Bldg Now Stands, Byron Kilbourn Elected Mayor a Second Time, Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Reaches Madison, Wisconsin Ave is Site of City's First Swing Bridge |
1855
Meinecke Toy Company
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World News: Panama Railway Across Panamanian Isthmus Completed
Also: French Bordeaux Wines Classified, Paris Hosts Great International Exposition US News: Sault Ste. Marie Locks Open Also: Levi Boone Elected Mayor of Chicago For the Know Nothing Party Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Police Department Began Functioning Also: "Antiquities of Wisconsin" by Increase Lapham Published by Smithsonian Institute, Frederick Miller Buys the Plank Road Brewery, Meinecke Toy Company Established |
1856
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World News: European Powers Begin Second Opium War
Also: Nepalese-Tibetan War Ends, Pitcairn Island Colony Resettles on Norfolk Island US News: President Pierce Declares Free-State Kansas to be in Rebellion Also: Sen. Brooks Beats Sen. Sumner, Dallas Texas Incorporated, Chicago His. Soc. Museum Founded Milwaukee News: Bavarian (Later Falk) Brewery Established Also: Original St. Mary’s Hospital Built, Dean Richmond is First Ship to Leave City's Port for Europe |
1857
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World News: India's Sepoy Revolt Against British Rule
Also: University of Calcutta Founded, African Republic of Maryland Merges With Liberia US News: Supreme Court Rules in Slave-Owner's Favor on Dred Scott Case Also: U.S. Army Camel Corps Founded, "The Atlantic" Issued, Central Park Opens, Financial Panic Milwaukee News: Railroad Completed From Milwaukee to Praire du Chien Also: Straight Cut Completed from the Harbor to the Milwaukee River and Creates Jones Island, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Founded |
1858
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World News: Government of India Act Dissolves East India Company
Also: England Builds First Electric Lighthouse, Johann II Prince of Liechtenstein Begins Rule US News: Discovery of Comstock Lode Sparks Silver Rush to Nevada Also: First Can Opener Patented by Ezra Warner, William Tweed Rises to "Boss" of Tammany Hall Milwaukee News: City Opens First Public High School Also: Trostel and Gallun Leather Tannery Formed, Milwaukee Bar Association Formed, Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce Organized |
1859
Plaque at Marquette University commemorating Lincoln's Speech
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World News: Charles Darwin Publishes "On the Origin of Species"
Also: Gloire, First Iron Clad Was Launched by the French Navy, Big Ben Bell Rings For First Time US News: Col. Drake Drills First Successful Oil Well in Pennsylvania Also: Midway Islands Become US Territory, John Brown Raids Harpers Ferry, Broderick–Terry Duel Milwaukee News: Lincoln Delivers "Agriculture" Speech at the State Fair Also: George Walker Forms Milwaukee’s First Street Car Line "River & Lake Shore Street Railway", Rufus King Organizes First Baseball Games Played in the State, First Superintendent of Schools, Milwaukee Typographical Union Organized |
1860
Woodcut of the Lady Elgin at sea
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World News: British-French Invade Chinese Ports, Burn Summer Palaces
Also: Russia Founds Vladivostok, Victoria Bridge in Montreal Inaugurated US News: Abraham Lincoln Elected President Also: Whig Political Party Dissolved, Pony Express Established, Crittenden Compromise Tabled Milwaukee News: First Post Office Building Constructed Also: PS “Lady Elgin” Returning to Milwaukee From Chicago Sinks & over 200 Persons Perish, Phillip Best Takes Charge of His Father's Brewery |
1861
Edward Allis
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World News: Tsar Alexander II Emancipates Russian Serfs
Also: Kingdom of Italy Founded, Toronto Stock Exchange Begun, Spain, France & Britain Invade Mexico US News: Suceding States Form the Confederate States of America Also: US Population at 61 Million, First U.S. Federal Income Tax for War Expenses, Pony Express Closes Milwaukee News: Riot Attack's Alexander Mitchell's Bank Also: Edward Allis Purchases Reliance Iron Works (Later the Edward P. Allis Co); Milwaukee Surgeon Dr. Wolcott Performs World's First Kidney Removal, Marshall Clark Lynching |
1862
1862 Call to Arms
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World News: France Under Napolean III Conquered Mexico
Also: First Test of Pasteurization, Phylloxera Spreads Through French Vineyards US News: Confederate Army Leaves Union Soil After Battle of Antietam Also: Draft Laws in Both North and South, Launch of First US Ironclad Warship the USS Monitor Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Draft Riot Also: Chamber of Commerce Raises $12,000 to Support a Milwaukee Regiment, Milwaukee Passes Chicago as the Largest Wheat Market in the World, Fire Destroys Albany Hall |
1863
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World News: London Builds the First Underground Railroad
Also: Denmark's Prince George Begins Reign in Greece, Dominican Restoration War Begins US News: Emancipation Proclamation Frees Slaves in Rebellious States Also: Confederate Incursion:Gettysburg Battle, First Homestead Claim, Transcontinental Railroad Started Milwaukee News: Fire Destroys Camp Sigel Barracks Also: Alexander Mitchell Organizes the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, Milwaukee Hospital Founded by Dr. Passavant Opens, First Local Polish Catholic Church of St. Stanislaus is Organized |
1864
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World News: Geneva Convention Treaty on Soldiers' Treatment
Also: University of Bucharest Founded, Brisbane Queensland Fire Consumes 100 Buildings US News: Ulysses S. Grant Given Top Command of Union Armies Also: William T. Sherman Burns Atlanta and Marches to the Sea, Nevada Becomes 36th State Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Soldier's Home Opens Also: Former Milwaukee Sentinel Editor Jason Downer Appointed to State Supreme Court; B.J. Johnson Opens a Soap Factory, New Camp Sigel Renamed Camp Reno, Capt. Pabst Joins Best Brewery |
1865
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World News: First Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cable Laid
Also: Salvation Army Founded in Whitechapel, Britain Introduces First Speed Limit (2mph/4mph) US News: 13th Amendment Abolishes Slavery, Lincoln Assassinated Also: Secret Service Created, SS Sultana Sinks on the Mississippi River Claiming 1547 Lives, Gen. Lee Surrenders at Appomattox Court House, Civil War Ends Milwaukee News: Parade of the G.A.R. at the End of the Civil War Also: Cream City Base Ball Club Organized, A New Park Honors the Memory of Solomon Juneau, House Number System Begins, Letter Carrier System Inaugurated |
1866
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World News: French Withdraw Forces from Mexico
Also: Henri Nestle’s Company Founded, Hill of New Ilium Indentified as Ancient Troy US News: Liberty, Missouri is Victim of First U.S. Daylight Bank Robbery Also: Reno Brothers Commit Nation's First Train Robbery, Sioux Massacre 81 US Soldiers in Wyoming Milwaukee News: 30 Black Men Vote in Municipal Election For First Time Also: St. Stanislaus Catholic Church Built, Total Beer Output at 68,758 Barrels, Camp Washburn Returns to Cold Spring Park Horse Racetrack, H.C. Koch & Co. Architects Begun, Union Depot Opens |
1867
Vilter Manufacturing Co in 1893
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World News: Creation of the Independent Dominion of Canada
Also: Alfred Nobel Patents Dynamite, Initial Performance of "Blue Danube", Suez Canal Opens US News: Alaska Territory Purchased From Russia Also: Chicago Completes First YMCA Dormitory, Candy Cummings Throws Baseball's First Curveball Milwaukee News: Organization of the Milwaukee Board of Health Also: Vilter Manufacturing Company Founded, St. James' Episcopal Church Built, Knights of St. Crispin Shoemakers Union Formed (Eventually Nation's Largest) |
1868
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World News: Establishment of the Empire of Japan
Also: Australian Convict Transfer Ends, London Inaugurates Traffic Lights, Granny Smith Apples Created US News: Pres. Andrew Johnson Acquitted of Impeachment By One Vote Also: Watkins Inc. Founded, Chinese Immigration Increases After Burlingame-Seward Treaty Milwaukee News: Milwaukeean C.L. Sholes Patents Typewriter Also: National Soldier’s Home Established, First Permanent High School, Small Pox Epidemic Closes all Schools, Stadt Theater Opens, School Board Approves Teaching German, Catholic Financial Life Founded |
1869
Old Courthouse
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World News: Scientific Journal Nature is First Published in London
Also: Margarine Invented in France, Mendeleev Publishes His Version of the Periodic Table US News: Wyoming Becomes First State/Territory to Allow Women to Vote Also: Transcontinental Railroad Completed, Canton and Anthony Form National Woman Suffrage Associationanton and Anthony, Cincinnati Red Stockings are First Fully Pro Baseball Team, First Football Game Rutgers Defeats Princeton Milwaukee News: Saint Mark’s African Methodist Episcopal Church Built Also: Begin Construction of a Sewer System, Courthouse Construction Begins (Completed 1873), Women's Suffrage Convention Held in Old City Hall, Milwaukee Old Settlers Club Organized |
1870
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World News: Paraguayan War Ends
Also: Mitsubishi Company Established, Cardiff Giant Revealed to be Gypsum, Deutsche Bank Founded US News: Senate Defeats Treaty to Annex Santo Domingo Also: Old Faithful Geyser Discovered, NYC Met Museum of Art Founded. National Weather Bureau Established Milwaukee News: Board of Public Works Formed Also: Adam Gettelman Buys and Renames the Menomonee Brewery, City Population Reaches 71,440 People, Main Street Renamed Broadway |
1871
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World News: Unification of German Speaking States Under German Empire
Also: Kimberley Diamond Rush in South Africa US News: Great Fire Nearly Destroys Chicago Also: Racine's Dr. Carhart Invents First Steam Vehicle Suitable for Wagon Roads, Peshtigo Fire Kils 2000 Milwaukee News: City is Largest Tanning Center in the World Also: Nunnemacher’s Grand Opera House Opens, Milwaukee Water Board Established, Germantown Celebrates Prussia's Victory Over France |
1872
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World News: HMS Challenger Sails on Scientific Mission to Study Ocean
Also: First Football Association Challenge Cup, Canada Legalizes Trade Unions, Telegraph Links Australia US News: Yellowstone Park Established as World's First National Park Also: Nebraska Begin's First Arbor Day, Mary Celeste Discovered Abandoned, Popular Science Published Milwaukee News: German-English Academy Froebelian Kindergarten Opens Also: St. Mary's Institute (St. Mary’s University) Established in Prairie du Chien Moves to Milwaukee in 1929, Reform Temple Emanu-El Established, Williams & Brenckle Cigar Mfg Co Formed |
1873
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World News: Archaeologist Schliemann Unearths "Priam's Treasure" at Troy
Also: Jules Verne "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", Puerto Rico Frees Slaves, Kennel Club Founded US News: Government Ceases Buying and Minting Silver Coins Also: Levi Strauss Patents Jeans, Barb Wire Patented, Nationwide Depression Milwaukee News: North Point Water Tower Constructed Also: McCormick Harvesting Opens Milwaukee Branch, Kilbourn Reservoir Built, Graf & Madlener Soda Company Founded, Germania Weekly Newspaper Begins Publication |
1874
Joseph Schlitz's Brewery
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World News: General Postal Union Coordinates International Mail
Also: Agra Canal Opens in India, Medieval Frankish Tower on Athens Acropolis Dismantled US News: Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings Photographed by William H. Jackson Also: Chicago Futures Exchange Established, Women’s Christian Temperance Union Founded Milwaukee News: August Krug Brewery Becomes Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co Also: John Luick Buys Curry's Confectioner and Ice Cream Business, C.J. Smith Starts a Machine Shop Precursor of A.O. Smith Corp., North Point Pumping Station Opens, Sholes & Glidden Typewriter Marketed |
1875
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World News: Ottoman Empire Declares Bankruptcy to European Creditors
Also: Major Excavation of Olympia (Olympics) Begun, Montreal Site of First Indoor Hockey Game US News: Mason County War in Texas Begins Also: Wisconsin Offers Award For Horse Substitute, First Kentucky Derby, First College Football Game Milwaukee News: Paid Milwaukee Fire Department Established Also: Blatz is the First Large American Brewery to Bottle Beer, Milwaukee Mayor Ludin Becomes Governor of Wisconsin, Catholic Church Makes Milwaukee an Archbishopric |
1876
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World News: Backerganj Cyclone Kills 100,000 People in Bangladesh
Also: Adam Worth Steals Duchess of Devonshire Painting, Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity Signed US News: Custer's Last Stand at Little Big Horn Also: Baseball's National League Formed, John Hopkins University Founded, Bell Patents Telephone Milwaukee News: Women’s Club of Wisconsin Founded Also: First Bicycle Appearance in the City, Milwaukee Mayor Term Becomes Two-Year Instead of One |
1877
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World News: Russian Empire Declares War on Ottoman Empire
Also: England and Australia Play in World's First Cricket Test Match, Swan Lake Debuts, First Wimbeldon US News: Edison Produces First Ever Phonograph Recording Also: First Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Discovery Tombstone Silver Lode, Many Railroad Strikes Milwaukee News: Alexander Mitchell Declines Nomination for Governor Also: First City Telephone Service Begins with 15 Subscribers, E.L. Husting Opens Soda Water Factory, Milwaukee City Hospital Opens, Wolf & Davidson Opens Port's First Dry Dock, Arion Music Club Formed |
1878
Leiderkranz Founders
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World News: Muybridge's Sequence of Stop-Motion Photographs of a Horse
Also: Second Anglo-Afghan War Began, De Laval Invents Cream Separator, H.M.S. Pinafore Opera Debut US News: Four Mile Sutro Tunnel Through Comstock Lode Area Completed Also: Woolworth’s "Great Five Cent Store" Opens, Green Bay to Madison First City to City Auto Race Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Streetlights Begin Upgrade to Arc Lights Also: First Public Library, City Contracts for Private Garbage Collections, Milwaukee County Insane Asylum Built, Milwaukee Liederkranz Chorus Founded, Milwaukee Grays Baseball at Eclipse Park |
1879
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World News: Zulu Warriors Defeat British Empire at Isandlwana
Also: Chile Declares War on Boliva & Peru, Oxford Admits First Female Students US News: Thomas Edison Patents Incandescent Light Bulb Design Also: United States Geological Survey Created, Listerine Formulated as Antiseptic Milwaukee News: City's First Telephone Exchange Established Also: Schlitz Park Opens Where Carver Park Is Today, Sentinel Newspaper Begins to Publish a Sunday Edition, Three Franciscan Sisters Began a Healthcare Ministry on 4th & Walnut |
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Some Sources: |
Milwaukee Sentinel Archives, Milwaukee Journal Archives, "Milwaukee: A Chronological & Documentary History" by George Lankevich, Buck's "Pioneer History of Milwaukee", various company and industry websites The majority of images are from the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear except where noted |
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