1844

Events from the year 1844 in the United States.
==Incumbents==
===Federal Government===
* President: John Tyler (W-VA)
* Vice President: vacant
* Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (MD)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: John Winston Jones (D-VA)
* Congress: 28th
==Events==
* January 15 – The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from Indiana.
* February 28 – The "Peacemaker", the largest naval gun in the world, explodes during a demonstration aboard the USS Princeton, killing six, including Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer.
* March 12 – The Columbus and Xenia Railroad, the first railroad that is planned to be built in Ohio, is chartered.
* May 24 – The first electrical telegram is sent by Samuel F. B. Morse from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in Baltimore, Maryland, saying "What hath God wrought".
* June 15 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
* June 22 – Influential North American fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon is founded at Yale University.
* June 27 – Death of Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum are killed in Carthage Jail, Carthage, Illinois by an armed mob, leading to a succession crisis in the movement. John Taylor, future president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is severely injured but survives.
* June 30 – The Great Flood of 1844 hits the Missouri River and Mississippi River.
* July 3 – The U.S. signs the Treaty of Wanghia with Qing dynasty China, the first diplomatic agreement between the two nations in history.
* July 25 – Exclusion Law in Oregon prohibits African Americans (including slaves) from entering or remaining in the territory
* October 22 – The Great Disappointment: Millerites (including future members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church) find that the Second Coming of Jesus does not occur as predicted by preacher William Miller.
* December 4 – U.S. presidential election, 1844: James K. Polk defeats Henry Clay.
==Memoriam==
* January 13 – Alexander Porter, U.S. Senator from Louisiana from 1833 to 1837 (aged 58; St. Mary Parish, LA, USA)
* January 25 – Horace H. Hayden, first licensed American dentist (aged 74; Baltimore, MD, USA)
* February 27 – Nicholas Biddle, financier, last president of the Second Bank of the United States (aged 58; Bucks County, PA, USA)
* February 28
** Abel P. Upshur, 15th Secretary of State from 1843 to 1844 (aged 53; Potomac River, MD, USA)
** Thomas Walker Gilmer, 15th Secretary of the Navy (aged 41; Potomac River, MD, USA)
* March 6 – Gabriel Duvall, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1811 to 1835 (aged 91; Glenn Dale, MD, USA)
* May 18 – Richard McCarty, politician (aged 64; New York City, NY, USA)
* April 4 – Charles Bulfinch, architect of the Massachusetts State House (aged 80; Boston, MA, USA)
* April 21 – Henry Baldwin, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1830 to 1844 (aged 64; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* June 27 – Joseph Smith, religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement (aged 38; Carthage, IL, USA)
* July 23 – Christian Gobrecht, 3rd Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 to 1844 (aged 58; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* August 15 – William S. Fulton, U.S. Senator from Arkansas 1836 to 1844 (aged 49; Little Rock, AR, USA)
* September 14 – Oliver Holden, composer (aged 78; Charlestown, MA, USA)
* December 7 – Thomas Morris, U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1833 to 1839 (aged 68; Bethel, OH, USA)
==External links==
* 1844 in the United States
Category:United States History: Volume 7