magnitude 6.5 earthquake hits Argentina's Salta Province. October 22 – This second date, predicted by the Millerites for the Second Coming of Jesus (and said to be 6,000 years from creation, relating them to the 6 days of creation, using a day-for-a-year bible principle, with which they proved that the 1,000 years of rest in heaven with God would total to 7,000 years, indicating the completion of creation in the beginning, which make 7 days, but the 7th day is for rest, same as the 7,000th year is for rest in heaven), leads to the Great Disappointment. The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes this date to be the starting point of the Investigative judgment, just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus, as declared in the 26th of 28 fundamental doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists. October 23 – The Báb is publicly proclaimed to be the promised one of Islam (the Qá'im, or Mahdi). He is also considered to be simultaneously the return of Elijah, John the Baptist, and the "Ushídar-Máh" referred to in the Zoroastrian scriptures. He announces to the world the coming of "He whom God shall make manifest". He is considered the forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh – the founder of the Baháʼí Faith – whose claims include being the return of Jesus. November 3 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera I due Foscari debuts at Teatro Argentina, Rome. November 6 – The Dominican Republic drafts its first Constitution. December 4 – 1844 United States presidential election: James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay. November 13 – Hungarian becomes the official language of Hungary. December 21 – The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England. Date unknown Swedish chemistry professor Gustaf Erik Pasch is granted a privilege for his invention of a safety match. The anonymously written Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation is published, and paves the way for the acceptance of Darwin's book On the Origin of Species. The Free Church Institution is established by Reverend Alexander Duff in Calcutta, India. This is later merged with the General Assembly's Institution to form the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushers in the Bengali Renaissance. In Munich, the Feldherrnhalle is completed. In Tibet, the Temple of Guardians burns down. Births January–March January 7 – Bernadette Soubirous, French visionary from Lourdes (d. 1879) January 9 – Julián Gayarre, Spanish opera singer (d. 1890) January 11 – Franz