Daily Life Knickerbocker Baseball Club codifies the rules of baseball. The U.S. Naval Academy opens at Annapolis, Maryland. Baylor University, the first Baptist college in Texas, obtains a charter. Belfast's Queen's College is founded by the British government for the education of Ulstermen who do not belong to the Church of England. Potato crops fail throughout Europe, Britain, and Ireland as the fungus disease Phytophthora infestans rots potatoes in the ground as well as those in storage.
Irish potatoes are less resistant than potatoes elsewhere.
Up to half the crop is lost. Famine kills 2.5 million from Ireland to Moscow and is generally blamed on the wrath of God. The famine is especially severe in Ireland where so many peasants depend on potatoes for food while exporting their grain and meat. British charity and British government relief do little to alleviate the suffering. The Methodist Episcopal Church in America splits into northern and southern conferences after Georgia bishop James O. Andrews resists an order that he give up his slaves or quit his bishopric.