Year 1832 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1832. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, retail prices, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Andrew Jackson (D-Tennessee)
2. Vice President: John C. Calhoun (D-South Carolina)—Until December 28, when he resigned from office
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall (Virginia)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Andrew Stevenson (D-Virginia)
5. The 22nd U.S. Congress was in session.
6. Inflation rate: -1.15%
7. $100.00 in 1832 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,872.33 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.90% per year” between 1832 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 3,772.33%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 2.582% of what it could purchase back in 1832.
8. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 97% of its value since 1832. $1.00 in 1832 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $38.72 today. $5.00 in 1832 is equivalent in spending power to around $193.62 today. $10.00 in 1832 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $387.23 today. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1832 is equivalent in spending power to around $3,872.33 today. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1832 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $38,723.26 today.
9. Consumer price index (CPI): 8.600
10. American companies founded in 1832 included Bailey Banks & Biddle (a jewelry retailer), the Barnard General Store, Norris Locomotive Works (a steam locomotive manufacturing company), Stites & Harbison (a law firm), and William H. Sadlier, Inc. (an educational publishing company).
11. American railroads established during 1832 were the Delaware and Maryland Railroad, Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad, Tonawanda Railroad, and the Elmira and Williamsport Railroad.
12. In 1832, there were 24 U.S. states. In order of admission to the Union, they were Delaware (1787), Pennsylvania (1787), New Jersey (1787), Georgia (1788), Connecticut (1788), Massachusetts (1788), Maryland (1788), South Carolina (1788), New Hampshire (1788), Virginia (1788), New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803), Louisiana (1832), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), and Missouri (1821).
13. On January 27, British author and mathematician Lewis Carroll was born. His most famous literary works include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
14. On March 24, an angry group of local residents beat, tarred, and feathered Mormon founder Joseph Smith at the John Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio. The attack was provoked by a “volatile mix” of “religious animosity” and widespread rumors of Smith’s “inappropriate conduct toward a 16-year-old girl named Nancy Marinda Johnson.”
15. On April 10, Julius Sterling Morton, President Grover Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture and the founder of Arbor Day, was born. (It’s worth noting that the first Arbor Day took place in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. An estimated one million trees were planted on that day.)
16. On May 21, American short-story writer and essayist Washington Irving returned to the United States after living in Europe for 17 years. His most famous literary works include Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
17. On May 21, the first Democratic National Convention took place in Baltimore.
18. On July 10, President Andrew Jackson vetoed the U.S. government’s effort to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States, “arguing that the institution was corrupt and primarily served the interests of the nation’s wealthy elite.”
19. On July 25, the first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history took place when four people were thrown off a car on the Granite Railway near Quincy, Massachusetts.
20. On September 21, Scottish historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott passed away at his home, Abbotsford House, leaving his novel The Siege of Malta unfinished.
21. On November 14, the “John Mason,” the first public horse-drawn streetcar, began carrying passengers in New York City. The fare was 12½ cents.
22. On December 5, Andrew Jackson was re-elected as the U.S. president by defeating Henry Clay.
23. On December 20, British inventor and photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot married Constance Mundy.
24. On December 28, Vice President John C. Calhoun (D-South Carolina) resigned from office to accept an open U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina. He also became the first vice president in history to resign from office.
25. In 1832, Connecticut physician Dr. John Ireland Howe invented the first “automatic” pin-making machine, thus shifting “the production of common pins from a slow, laborious hand process to mass production.”
26. Key fiction works published in 1832 included George Sands’ Valentine, Honoré de Balzac’s Le Curé de Tours, Selina Davenport’s The Unchanged, Sir Walter Scott’s Castle Dangerous, and Washington Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra.
27. Scottish children’s author Catherine Sinclair published Charlie Seymour, or, The Good Aunt and the Bad Aunt.
28. Notable poetic work for the year: Leigh Hunt’s Poetical Works
29. Top dramatic works in 1832: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust, Part Two and Thomas Serle’s The Merchant of London
30. Key nonfiction works for the year included Anna Brownell Jameson’s Characteristics of Women.
31. Famous people born in 1832 were Gustave Eiffel (engineer), Julius Epstein (pianist), Lewis Carroll (novelist), Louisa May Alcott (novelist), and Mary Edwards Walker (doctor).
32. Notable people who died in 1832 included Georges Cuvier (zoologist), Johann von Goethe (poet), and Walter Scott (poet).
33. In 1832 as well, the words “air mattress,” “back talk,” “ball of wax,” “bimonthly,” “black belt,” “booby trap,” “by all odds,” “character witness,” “cigarette,” “Dutch uncle,” “finishing school,” “flamboyant,” “horse sense,” “kitchen cabinet,” “large-print,” “latex,” “materialistic,” “nip and tuck,” “proofreader,” “publicize,” “recreation room,” “rowdy,” “stick-in-the-mud,” “still water,” “tailor-made,” “toothpaste,” “triweekly,” “underwear,” and “witness stand” all appeared in print for the first time.
34. 50 bundles of straw: About $1.00
35. One bushel of apples: Around 12½ cents
36. One bushel of beans: About $1.00
37. One bushel of potatoes: Around 40 cents
38. One fur hat: About $3.00
39. One gallon of soap: Around 25 cents
40. One head of cabbage: About 10 cents
41. One pair of shoes: Around $1.75
42. One pound of cheese: About 8½ cents
43. One pound of fresh beef: Around four cents
44. One pound of fresh pork: About five cents
45. One pound of honey: Around 10 cents
46. One pound of lard: About 10 cents
47. One pound of tobacco: Around 12½ cents
48. One pound of veal: About four cents
49. One ton of coal for home heating: Around $1.25
50. Wages for one day of mowing: Around 50 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1832_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1832
3. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1832
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1831.html
5. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015035798035&seq=21
6. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1832
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1832
8. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1832
9. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1832.html
10. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1832.html
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1832_in_literature

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor