Year 1840: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1840. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, noteworthy inventions, famous birthdays and deaths, retail prices, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Martin Van Buren (D-New York)
2. Vice President: Richard M. Johnson (D-Kentucky)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Robert M. T. Hunter (W-Virginia)
5. The 26th U.S. Congress was in session, and both chambers had a Democratic majority.
6. Inflation rate: -6.45%
7. Consumer price index (CPI): 8.700
8. $100.00 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,827.82 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.98% per year” between 1840 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 3,727.82%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 2.612% of what it could purchase back in 1840.
9. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 97% of its value since 1840.
10. $1.00 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $38.28 today.
11. $10.00 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $382.78 today.
12. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,827.82 today.
13. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $38,278.16 today.
14. American companies founded in 1840 included the Baltimore Steam Packet Company, Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company (a hardware manufacturer), Fuller Iron Works, Lackawanna Steel Company, Lancaster Brewing Company, and Lobel's of New York (a butcher shop).
15. In 1840, there were 26 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 (1837), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), Missouri (1821), Arkansas (1836), and Michigan (1837).
16. In 1840, the U.S. population was 17,069,453, which included 2,487,355 enslaved people. The most populous states were New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and Tennessee. The most populated cities were New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Boston.
17. Farmers made up about 69% of the American labor force.
18. On January 1, the first “recorded” bowling game in the United States took place at the Knickerbocker Alleys in New York City.
19. On January 13, the steamship Lexington burned and sank four miles off the coast of Long Island, New York, killing 139 people.
20. On January 18, Thomas Davenport, who invented the electric motor, published the world’s first technical journal–The Electro-Magnet and Mechanics Intelligencer. It was “the first periodical that had electricity as its only topic, and it was the first publication on the planet that was printed on a press run on electricity.”
21. On January 19, American Captain Charles Wilkes sighted the coast of eastern Antarctica and claimed it for the United States. According to History.com, Wilkes’ group “had set out in 1838, sailing around South America to the South Pacific and then to Antarctica, where they explored a 1,500-mile stretch of the eastern Antarctic coast that later became known as Wilkes Land. In 1842, the expedition returned to New York, having circumnavigated the globe.”
22. On February 1, America’s first dental school, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, was incorporated.
23. On February 1, French author Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers) married French actress Ida Ferrier.
24. On February 5, American inventor Hiram Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine. His hundreds of inventions included an automatic machine gun, an automatic sprinkling system, gas motors, a hair curling iron, an inhaler to provide relief from bronchitis, a mousetrap, and steam-powered water pumps. Maxim also experimented with airplanes and produced one “powered by a light steam engine that successfully rose from the ground.”
25. In March, the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad in Massachusetts was incorporated.
26. On March 23, John William Draper of New York City took the first successful photo of the Moon.
27. On May 1, the United Kingdom issued “Penny Black," the world's first adhesive postage stamp.
28. On June 20, American inventor Samuel Morse received a U.S. patent for his telegraph.
29. On August 18, the American Society of Dental Surgeons was founded in New York City.
30. On August 25, American inventor Joseph Gibbons received a U.S. patent for a seeding machine.
31. On September 7, American inventor Luther Crowell was born in West Dennis, Massachusetts. He held over 300 U.S. patents, including one for a machine “that folded and glued paper into sturdy, flat-bottomed grocery bags with accordion-pleated sides.”
32. On October 8, the Kingdom of Hawaii adopted its first constitution, “creating a formal government and granting all citizens of the independent nation equal rights, stating that ‘chiefs and people may enjoy protection under one and the same law.’”
33. On December 2, American voters elected William Henry Harrison as the ninth U.S. president.
34. Key fiction works published in 1840 were Charles Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop, Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, and Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wicked Prince.
35. Key nonfiction works for the year included Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (De La Démocratie en Amérique).
36. Famous people born in 1840 were Claude Monet (French painter), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian composer), and Thomas Hardy (British author).
37. Notable people who died in 1840 included Hannah Webster Foster (American novelist) and Niccolo Paganini (Italian violinist).
38. In 1840 as well, the words “Americanized,” “breathtaking,” “burglarize,” “cabbie,” “cell wall,” “cell membrane,” “Chinese checkers,” “Cinderella,” “communism,” “creatine,” “creditworthy,” “double-edged sword,” “gawkish,” “glucose,” “Hawaiian,” “industrial revolution,” “iron horse,” “mouthwash,” “ozone,” “patchwork quilt,” “pay-as-you-go,” “show business,” “snobbish,” “swimming pool,” “toolshed,” “trade name,” “ultraviolet,” and “unpredictable” all appeared in print for the first time.
39. 18 eggs: Around 18 cents
40. Fresh beef: About five cents a pound
41. Horse and wagon to go into town: Around 50 cents
42. Nine pounds and 12 ounces of cheese: About 82 cents
43. One bushel of apples: Around 37½ cents
44. One bushel of potatoes: About 50 cents
45. One bushel of turnips: Around 25 cents
46. One pound of butter: About 20 cents
47. One pound of salted pork: Around 12½ cents
48. One pound of veal: About six cents
49. One ton of coal for home heating: Around $1.00
50. Oxen and cart to haul wood: About 50 cents for one day
51. Three days of work mowing: Around $2.25
52. Two pounds of ham: About 25 cents
53. Two pounds of honey: Around 25 cents
54. Two pounds of sugar: About 30 cents
55. Washboard: Around 37 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840_in_the_United_States
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1840
3. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1840
4. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1840
5. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1836.html
6. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1840
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1840
8. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1840.html
9. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1840.html
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840_in_literature
11. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1840

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