1840

Events from the year 1840 in the United States.
==Incumbents==
===Federal Government===
* President: Martin Van Buren (D-NY)
* Vice President: Richard Mentor Johnson (D-KY)
* Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (MD)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (W-VA)
* Congress: 26th
==Events==
* January 13 – The steamship Lexington burns and sinks in icy waters, 4 miles off the coast of Long Island; 139 die, only 4 survive.
* January 19 – Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming what becomes known as Wilkes Land for the United States.
* March 4 – Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson open their "Daguerreian Parlor" on Broadway (Manhattan), the world's first commercial photography portrait studio.
* March 9 – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is completed from Wilmington, North Carolina to Weldon, North Carolina. At 161.5 miles, it was the world's longest railroad at the time.
* April – The Raleigh and Gaston Railroad is completed from Raleigh, North Carolina to near Weldon, North Carolina.
* May 7 – The Great Natchez Tornado: A massive tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi during the early afternoon hours. Before it is over, 317 people are killed and 109 injured. It is the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history.
* November 7 – U.S. presidential election, 1840: William Henry Harrison defeats Martin Van Buren.
==Memoriam==
* March 11 – George Wolf, politician (aged 62; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* March 23 – William Maclure, geologist (aged 76; San Ángel, Mexico)
* April 7 – Thaddeus Betts, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1839 to 1840 (aged 51; Washington, DC, USA)
* April 10 – Hugh Lawson White, U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1825 to 1840 (aged 66; Knoxville, TN, USA)
* June 14 – Anson Brown, lawyer and U.S. Representative from New York from 1839 to 1840 (aged 40; Ballston Spa, NY, USA)
* June 26 – William Smith, U.S. Senator from South Carolina from 1816 to 1823 and from 1826 to 1831 (aged 78; Huntsville, AL, USA)
* August 10 – Seymour Brunson, early Mormon convert (aged 40; Nauvoo, IL, USA)
* August 27 – William Kneass, second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1824 to 1840 (aged 59; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* September 14 – Joseph Smith Sr., 1st Presiding Patriarch of the Latter Day Saint movement (aged 69; Nauvoo, IL, USA)
* September 18 – Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, French polymath (aged 56; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
==External links==
* 1840 in the United States
Category:United States History: Volume 7