Revolution of Maria da Fonte begins in Portugal (it is crushed by royalist troops on February 22, 1847). June 10 – Mexican–American War: The California Republic declares independence from Mexico. June 14 – Bear Flag Revolt: American settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic. June 15 The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Launceston Church Grammar School opens for the first time in Tasmania. June 16 – Pope Pius IX succeeds Pope Gregory XVI as the 255th pope. He will reign for 31½ years (the longest definitely confirmed). June 28 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax. July–September July 7 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Monterey – Acting on instructions from Washington, D.C., Commodore John Drake Sloat orders his troops to occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States annexation of California. August – Canadian physician and geologist Abraham Pineo Gesner demonstrates a process to refine a liquid fuel, which he calls kerosene, from coal, bitumen or oil shale. August 22 – The Second Federal Republic of Mexico is established. August 28 – The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the intention of granting self-government to the British colony. Governor George Grey suspends implementation of the majority of the Act, with the exception of the creation of New Ulster and New Munster Provinces, and it is superseded by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852. September – The Second Carlist War (or the War of the Matiners or Madrugadores) begins in Spain. September 3 – Electric Telegraph Company founded in Britain. September 7 – The portion of the District of Columbia in the United States that was ceded by Virginia in 1790 is re-ceded to Virginia. September 10 – Elias Howe is awarded the first United States patent for a sewing machine, using a lockstitch design. September 12 – Poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning marry privately in London, departing a week later for the continent. September 14 – Jang Bahadur and his brothers massacre about 40 members of the Nepalese palace court. September 19 – Our Lady of La Salette, a Marian apparition, is said to have been seen by two children at La Salette-Fallavaux in France. September 23 – Discovery