Austrian imperial army, led by Franz Schlik, attacks Hungary. December 10 – Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte is elected first president of the French Second Republic. December 16 – The main Austrian imperial forces, led by Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, cross the Hungarian border. December 18 – Punta Arenas, the first major settlement in the Strait of Magellan, is founded. December 20 President Napoleon III takes his oath of office in front of the French National Assembly. Slavery is abolished in Réunion (this day is celebrated every year from 1981). December 25 – Hungarian forces, led by Józef Bem, enter Kolozsvár (Cluj), after defeating the Austrian armies in northern Transylvania. December 30 – Battle of Mór: The imperial army, led by Josip Jelačić, defeats the Hungarian army, led by Mór Perczel. Date unknown British, Dutch, and German governments lay claim to New Guinea. Admiral Nevelskoy demonstrates that the Strait of Tartary is a strait. Labuan is made a British Crown colony. A cholera epidemic in New York kills 5,000. The University of Mississippi admits its first students. Geneva College (Pennsylvania) is founded as Geneva Hall in Northwood, Logan County, Ohio. The city of Joensuu was founded in North Karelia, Finland by Czar Nicholas I of Russia. Rhodes College is founded in Clarksville, Tennessee, as the Masonic University of Tennessee. The Shaker song "Simple Gifts" is written by Joseph Brackett in Alfred, Maine. Richard Wagner begins writing the libretto that will become Der Ring des Nibelungen ("The Ring of the Nibelung"). Watch brand Omega is founded by Louis Brandt in Switzerland. Ongoing events Great Famine (Ireland) (1845–52). Births January–March January 4 – Katsura Tarō, 6th prime minister of Japan (d. 1913) January 6 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1876) January 21 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933) January 24 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916) January 27 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934) February 5 Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (d. 1907) Belle Starr, American outlaw (d. 1889) February 13 – Hermann von Eichhorn, German field marshal (d. 1918) February 14 – Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (d. 1934) February 16 Octave Mirbeau, French art critic, novelist (d. 1917) Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist and geneticist (d. 1935) February 18 – Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933) February 24 Grant Allen, Canadian author (d. 1899) Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian jurist and politician (d. 1907) February 25 – King