Events January–March January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. January 8 – Taiping Rebellion: Zeng Guofan is ordered to assist the governor of Hunan in organising a militia force to search for local bandits. January 12 – Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army occupies Wuchang. January 19 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres in performance at Teatro Apollo in Rome. February 10 – Taiping Rebellion: Taiping forces assemble at Hanyang, Hankou, and Wuchang, for the march on Nanjing. February 12 – The city of Puerto Montt is founded in the Reloncaví Sound, Chile. February 22 – Washington University in St. Louis is founded as Eliot Seminary. March – The clothing company Levi Strauss & Co. is founded in the United States. March 4 – Inauguration of Franklin Pierce as 14th President of the United States (his only child was killed in a train accident on January 6). March 5 – Saint Paul Fire and Marine, as predecessor of The Travelers Companies, a worldwide insurance service, founded in Minnesota, United States. March 20 – Taiping Rebellion: A rebel army of around 750,000 seizes Nanjing, killing 30,000 Imperial troops. March 29 – Manchester is granted city status in the United Kingdom. April–June April 7 – Prince Leopold, the youngest son and the eighth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, is born. April 16 – Indian Railways: The first passenger railway in India opens from Bombay to Thana, Maharashtra, . May The world's first public aquarium opens, at the London Zoo. An outbreak of yellow fever kills 7,790 in New Orleans. Isambard Kingdom Brunel accepts John Scott Russell's tender for construction of the passenger steamer. May 5 – Perpetual Maritime Truce comes into force between the United Kingdom and the rulers of the Sheikhdoms of the Lower Gulf, later known as the Trucial States. May 12–October 31 – The Great Industrial Exhibition is held in Dublin, Ireland. May 23 – The first plat for Seattle, Washington, is laid out. June 27 – Taiping Rebellion: The Northern Expeditionary Force crosses the Yellow River. June 30 – Georges-Eugène Haussmann is selected as préfect of the Seine (department) to begin the re-planning of Paris. July–September July 1 - The Swiss watch company Tissot is founded. July 8 – U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives