Year 1843: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1843. 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: John Tyler (Independent-Virginia)
2. Vice President: Vacant
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Roger B. Taney (Maryland)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: John White (Whig-Kentucky)—Until March 4
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: John Winston Jones (Democrat-Virginia)—Starting on December 4
6. The 27th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4, when the 28th U.S. Congress convened. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
7. Inflation rate: -9.76%
8. Consumer price index (CPI): 7.400
9. $100.00 in 1843 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,500.27 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 2.10% per year” between 1843 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of $4,400.27%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 2.222% of what it could purchase back in 1843.
10. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 98% of its value since 1843.
11. American companies founded in 1843 included the H. B. Claflin & Company (a New York City-based dry goods business); Johnson Organs (a pipe organ manufacturer); Robert Graves Company (a wallpaper manufacturer); and Stanley Black & Decker (a manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware).
12. American railroads established in 1843 were the Fitchburg Railroad, Montgomery and West Point Railroad, Rutland Railroad, South Carolina Railroad, and the Central Vermont Railway.
13. In 1843, 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).
14. In 1843, farmers comprised about 69% of the American labor force, and farming practices in the U.S. varied by region. For example, the Northeast focused on “diversified agriculture” to support growing urban areas like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. On the other hand, the South “experienced a boom in cotton production fueled by the cotton gin and slave labor.”
15. In January, Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, appeared in The Pioneer Literary Magazine, and his poem, The Conqueror Worm, was published in Philadelphia-based Graham's Magazine.
16. In February, Scottish brothers Daniel and Alexander Macmillan founded Macmillan Publishers in London.
17. On February 1, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York—recognized as “the first mutual life insurance company to operate in the United States”—opened for business and issued its first policy.
18. On Febuary 6, America’s first minstrel show, The Virginia Minstrels, opened at the Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City.
19. On February 6, American frontiersman Kit Carson married Mexican socialite Josefa Jaramillo at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in Taos, Mexico.
20. On March 7, Edward Kavanagh of Maine, the first Roman Catholic governor in the United States, took office.
21. On May 7, America's first Japanese immigrant, a 14-year-old fisherman named Manjiro, arrived in the U.S. on a whaling ship.
22. On May 22, the first major wagon train to the Pacific Northwest departed from Elm Grove, Missouri. An estimated 1,000 people and 5,000 oxen and cattle set out, “participating in what became known as the Great Emigration of 1843.”
23. On June 1, snow reportedly fell in Buffalo (New York), Rochester (New York), and Cleveland, Ohio.
24. On June 21, Edgar Allan Poe's short story, The Gold-Bug, appeared in the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper.
25. On July 2, an alligator “reportedly fell from the sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina.”
26. On July 25, Charles Macintosh, a Scottish chemist who invented the waterproof raincoat, passed away. The Macintosh raincoat is named for him.
27. On July 29, Nancy M. Johnson of Philadelphia received the first U.S. patent for a hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
28. On August 19, Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic short story, The Black Cat, appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.
29. On September 25, American inventor and entrepreneur Melville Reuben Bissell was born in Hartwick, New York. In 1876, he invented the carpet sweeper, which “revolutionized” household cleaning.
30. On December 19, British author Charles Dickens published his ever-popular novel, A Christmas Carol.
31. Favorite baby names for boys in 1843 were Arthur, Benjamin, Eli, George, Henry, James, John, Joseph, Thomas, and William. Popular baby names for girls were Ada, Alice, Amelia, Charlotte, Clara, Cora, Elizabeth, Emma, Jane, and Lucy.
32. In 1843, the average life expectancy at birth in the United States was about 41 years for a white male and around 43 years for a white female. During the 1800s, if an individual survived to age 10, their remaining life expectancy would jump considerably, and they could often expect to live into their 50s, 60s, or even 70s.
33. In terms of religious affiliation, over 90% of Americans were Protestant, and major Protestant denominations included Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.
34. What types of recreation were popular in the 1840s? For adults, familiar activities included berry-picking socials, card games, church socials, dominos, parlor games, picnics, puzzles, and square dances. Children enjoyed games like marbles and shinny.
35. Popular sports in the United States included boxing, horse racing, rowing, and wrestling. (Please note that participation in certain sports often reflected social class distinctions. For example, horse racing was popular with the upper classes, while sports like wrestling appealed more to the working class.)
36. Popular 1840s slang expressions included “absquatulate” (to leave abruptly), “afternoonified” (a refined or sophisticated person), “chisel” (to swindle or cheat), “chowderhead” (a foolish person), “clodhoppers” (heavy work shoes), “Drat!” (an expression of frustration), “highfalutin” (pretentious or pompous), “hornswoggle” (to cheat or deceive someone), “muttonhead” (a stupid person), “raft” (a large number), “shifty” (not trustworthy), and “whooperups” (people who are inferior singers).
37. Key fiction works published in 1843 were Alexandre Dumas’ Georges, Catherine Gore’s The Banker's Wife, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit.
38. In 1843, British political economist John Stuart Mill published A System of Logic, a book “that established him as a leader of the empiricist school of logic, grounding reasoning in experience rather than intuition.”
39. Famous people born in 1843 were Aaron Montgomery Ward (American entrepreneur), Henry James (American novelist), Robert Koch (founder of microbiology), Robert Todd Lincoln (American lawyer and U.S. secretary of war from 1881 to 1885), and William McKinley (U.S. president).
40. Notable people who died in 1843 included Charles Macintosh (Scottish entrepreneur); Noah Webster (American novelist who wrote the first American Dictionary of the English Language); and Samuel Morey (American entrepreneur).
41. In 1843 as well, the words “bandstand,” “brain-picking,” “chili sauce,” “churchy,” “clear-cut,” “common market,” “credit union,” “dinnerware,” “ditchdigger,” “electrical storm,” “fiscal year,” “folk song,” “Good Samaritan,” “Goody-Two shoes,” “humanitarian,” “infantile paralysis,” “oxford,” “paperback,” “philharmonic,” “rabble-rouser,” “soft drink,” “tinnitus,” and “Worcestershire sauce” all appeared in print for the first time.
42. 18 eggs: Around 18 cents
43. Fresh beef: About five cents a pound
44. One bushel of apples: Around 37½ cents
45. One bushel of potatoes: About 50 cents
46. One pound of butter: Around 20 cents
47. One ton of coal for home heating: About $1.00
48. Two pounds of ham: Around 25 cents
49. Two pounds of sugar: About 30 cents
50. Washboard: Around 37 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1843_in_the_United_States
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1843
3. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1843
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1841.html
5. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1843
6. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1843
7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1843.html
8. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1843.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1843_in_literature
10. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1843

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