1864

Events
 May 5 - American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness starts in Virginia.
 August 21 - American Civil War: In the Lawrence Massacre, Confederates attack the town of Lawrence, Kansas and kill 150 people.
 September 1 - The Charlottetown Conference starts.
 November 25 - The book Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne is published.

Date unknown
 Fort Baker is built near Las Vegas, Nevada.
 Father Damien goes to Hawaii.
 The Great Central Fair is held in June in Philadelphia.
 Ponsonby's Column is destroyed by lightning.

Births
 January 16 - Frank Bacon, American actor
 May 5 - Nellie Bly, American journalist
 June 14 - Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist

Deaths
 May 19 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American writer
 December 31 - George M. Dallas, 11th Vice President of the United States