declares its independence from Spain, goes into effect. December 26 – The Richmond Theatre fire in Virginia kills 72 people, including the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia, Abraham B. Venable. Date unknown The Red River Colony is founded in Manitoba, Canada. Births January–June January 6 – Charles Sumner, American senator, civil rights activist (d. 1874) January 9 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (d. 1856) January 27 – Ernst Dieffenbach, German scientist (d. 1855) February 1 – Arthur Hallam, English poet (d. 1833) February 3 – Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872) February 6 – Henry George Liddell, English clergyman (d. 1898) February 13 – François Achille Bazaine, French general (d. 1888) February 15 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian politician, writer and father of education (d. 1888) February 16 – Béla Wenckheim, 8th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1879) March 20 Napoleon II of France (d. 1832) Alfred Domett, 4th Premier of New Zealand (d. 1887) March 30 or March 31 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist, inventor (d. 1899) May 5 – Francisco Robles, 6th President of Ecuador (d. 1893) May 11 Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese twins and sideshow performers (d. 1874) Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1893) May 20 – Alfred Domett, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887) June 3 – Henry James, Sr., American theologian (d. 1882) June 8 – Carl Johan Thyselius, 3rd Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1891) June 14 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author, abolitionist (d. 1896) June 17 – Jón Sigurðsson, leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement (d. 1879) June 24 – John Archibald Campbell, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1889) July–December July 11 Isaac A. Van Amburgh, American animal trainer (d. 1865) William Robert Grove, Welsh chemist, inventor (d. 1896) July 13 – George Gilbert Scott, British architect (d. 1878) July 18 – William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist (d. 1863) August 11 – Judah P. Benjamin, Cabinet officer of the Confederate States (d. 1884) August 31 – Théophile Gautier, French writer (d. 1872) September 2 – J.C. Jacobsen, Danish industrialist, founder of Carlsberg Group (d. 1887) September 13 – Emmanuel Félix de Wimpffen, French general (d. 1884) September 19 – Orson Pratt, American religious leader (d. 1881) September 30 – Augusta of