Year 1833 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1833. 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: Martin Van Buren (D-New York)—Starting on March 4
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 until March 4. On that date, the 23rd U.S. Congress convened. The Senate had an “Anti-Jacksonian” or National Republican majority, and the House of Representatives had a “Jacksonian” or Democratic majority.
6. Inflation rate: -2.33%
7. $100.00 in 1833 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,964.52 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.93% per year” between 1833 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 3,864.52%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 2.522% of what it could purchase back in 1833.
8. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 97% of its value since 1833. $1.00 in 1833 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $39.65 today. $5.00 in 1833 is equivalent in spending power to around $198.23 today. $10.00 in 1833 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $396.45 today. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1833 is equivalent in spending power to around $3,964.52 today. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1833 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $39,645.24 today.
9. Consumer price index (CPI): 8.400
10. American companies founded in 1833 included Bachmann Industries (a model railroading company), Cooper Industries (an electrical products manufacturer), Eagle Lock Company (a trunk and cabinet lock maker), C. F. Martin & Company (a guitar manufacturer), and the McKesson Corporation (a pharmaceuticals company).
11. American railroads established during 1833 were the Andover and Wilmington Railroad, Hartford and New Haven Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, and the Utica and Schenectady Railroad.
12. In 1833, 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 (1833), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), and Missouri (1821). (It’s worth noting that Arkansas would be the next state to join the Union in 1836.)
13. In January, Charles Fenno Hoffman began publishing The Knickerbocker, a New York City-based literary magazine.
14. In January, Richard Bentley, a British publisher, released the “first collected edition” of Jane Austen's novels.
15. On March 14, Lucy Hobbs Taylor, America’s first female dentist, was born in Constable, New York.
16. On March 16, Parlays Magazine—an American periodical for young readers—published its first issue in Boston.
17. June 6: In Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, President Andrew Jackson boarded a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad train “for a pleasure trip to Baltimore.” Jackson, “who had never been on a train before, was the first president to take a ride on the ‘Iron Horse,’ as locomotives were known then.”
18. On August 12, Chicago was incorporated as a town rather than a village and had a population between 200 and 350 residents.
19. On September 3, The Sun, America’s first “penny press” newspaper, began publishing in New York City.
20. On October 3, French composer Hector Berlioz married Irish actress Harriet Smithson at the British Embassy in Paris, France.
21. On November 8, a train derailed in Hightstown, New Jersey, killing two people. Onboard were American business magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and former President John Quincy Adams.
22. On November 19, American businessman and inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick received a U.S. patent for a “self-sharpening, horizontal plow.”
23. On December 1, Charles Dickens published his first fictional work, A Dinner at Poplar Walk, in London’s Monthly Magazine.
24. On December 3, Oberlin College, America’s first coeducational institution of higher learning, opened in Oberlin, Ohio, and welcomed 44 students.
25. On December 31, inventor Obed Hussey of Maryland received a U.S. patent for a horse-drawn reaper.
26. In 1833, Henry Perrine, a horticulturist, planted avocados in Florida. However, they did not become a cash crop until 70 years later.
27. Agnes Strickland, a British historical writer and children’s author, published Historical Tales of Illustrious British Children.
28. Notable poetic works for the year: Alfred Lord Tennyson’s first version of The Lady of Shalott and Robert Browning’s Pauline
29. Top dramatic work in 1833: James Sheridan Knowles’ The Wife
30. Key nonfiction works for the year included the Webster Bible.
31. Famous people born in 1833 were Alfred Nobel (chemist), Benjamin Harrison (future U.S. president), Edwin Booth (stage actor), Johannes Brahms (composer), and Lucy Hobbs Taylor (dentist).
32. Notable people who died in 1833 included Hannah More (novelist), Richard Trevithick (entrepreneur), and William Thompson (philosopher).
33. In 1833 as well, the words “alternating current,” “back away,” “bloody murder,” “capitalism,” “catch-as-you-can,” “chipped beef,” “clothespin,” “coast guard,” “codeine,” “Elizabethan collar,” “hand-to-hand,” “high-class,” “ironing board,” “kneecap,” “manhunt,” “mark down,” “parameter,” “personal property,” “socialism,” “Stradivarius,” “technician,” “typesetter,” “weak sister,” “Wild West,” “wine list,” and “working-class” 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/1833_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1833
3. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1833
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/1833
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1833
8. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1833
9. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1833.html
10. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1833.html
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1833_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