Events January–March January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. January 23 The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens in modern-day Minneapolis, a predecessor of the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge. The 8.2–8.3 Wairarapa earthquake claims between five and nine lives near the Cook Strait area of New Zealand. January 26 – The Point No Point Treaty is signed in the Washington Territory. January 27 – The Panama Railway becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. January 29 – Lord Aberdeen resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, over the management of the Crimean War. February 5 – Lord Palmerston becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. February 11 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia. February 12 – Michigan State University (the "pioneer" land-grant college) is established. February 15 – The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the Western North Carolina Railroad, to build a rail line from Salisbury to the western part of the state. February 22 – Pennsylvania State University is founded, as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. March 2 – Alexander II ascends the Russian throne, upon the death of his father Nicholas I. March 3 – The United States Congress appropriates $30,000 to create the U.S. Camel Corps. March 16 – Bates College is founded by abolitionists in Lewiston, Maine. March 17 – Taiping Rebellion: A Taiping army of 350,000 invades Anhui. March 30 – Elections are held for the first Kansas Territory legislature. Missourian 'Border Ruffians' cross the border in large numbers to elect a pro-slavery body. April–June April 3 – The Nepalese invasion of Tibet starts the Nepalese–Tibetan War (1855-1856). April 7 – Battle of Kaba: The Kingdom of Tonga intervenes in the war between the self-proclaimed Tui Viti (King) of Fiji, Cakobau, and his rivals the Confederation of Rewa resulting in Rewa's defeat and the tenuous unification of Fiji under Cakobau. April 18 – The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 is first listed. May 1 – Van Diemen's Land is separated administratively from New South Wales and granted self-government. May 3 – American adventurer William Walker and a group of mercenaries sail from San Francisco to conquer Nicaragua. May 15 The Exposition Universelle officially opens in Paris (a direct result of the exhibition is the introduction of the