Year 1844: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1844. 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 Winston Jones (Democrat-Virginia)
5. The 28th U.S. Congress was in session, and both chambers had a Democratic majority.
6. Inflation rate: 1.35%
7. Consumer price index (CPI): 7.500
8. $100.00 in 1844 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,440.27 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 2.11% per year” between 1844 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of $4,340.27%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 2.252% of what it could purchase back in 1844.
9. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 98% of its value since 1844.
10. American companies founded in 1844 included the Allen Ranch (one of “the first and longest running” ranches in the state of Texas); the American Letter Mail Company (a mail company that competed against the monopoly of the United States Post Office); the Bradys Bend Iron Company Furnaces (an iron manufacturer located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania); and the Pabst Brewing Company (a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based brewery that is still in business).
11. American railroads established in 1844 were the Boston and Maine Railroad, the Fall River Railroad, and the New York and New Haven Railroad.
12. In 1844, 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). (It’s worth noting that the next states admitted to the Union were Florida in March 1845 and Texas in December 1845.)
13. In 1844, 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.”
14. On February 5, the first of many theatrical adaptations of British author Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol opened in London.
15. On February 14, United States Army officer and explorer John C. Frémont, accompanied by cartographer Charles Preussand, became the first European Americans to spot Lake Tahoe, located in northern California.
16. Between March and July, French author Alexandre Dumas’ historical adventure story, The Three Musketeers (Les Trois Mousquetaires), was serialized in the Paris newspaper Le Siècle.
17. Baptist preacher William Miller had predicted that Christ would return and “the world would end between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844.” Obviously, March 21, 1844, “arrived and passed” without Miller’s “predicted apocalypse.”
18. On May 6, the Philadelphia Nativist Riots, also known as the Bible Riots, unfolded in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. “Triggered by rising xenophobia and false rumors that Irish Catholics were trying to ban the Protestant Bible in public schools, the anti-immigrant Native American Party organized a rally in the predominantly Irish neighborhood of Kensington,” located in North Philadelphia.
19. On May 24, Samuel F. B. Morse sent a telegraph message from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, to Alfred Vail at a railroad station in Baltimore, Maryland. A moment later, Vail telegraphed the following message back to the Capitol: "What Hath God Wrought?" In summary, Samuel F. B. Morse “inaugurated the world’s first commercial telegraph line.”
20. On June 13, Linus Yale, of Springfield, Massachusetts, received a U.S. patent for an improved door lock.
21. On June 15, Charles Goodyear was granted a U.S. patent for vulcanization, “a rubber curing process” that converts natural rubber “into a more durable material.”
22. On June 22, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was founded at Yale University.
23. On June 26, widower President John Tyler married 21-year-old Julia Gardiner. At the time, Julia was the youngest first lady in history. (President Tyler’s first wife, Letitia Christian, died of a stroke on September 10, 1842.)
24. On June 27, Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), was murdered along with his brother Hyrum when a mob broke into a jail in Carthage, Illinois, where the two were being held.
25. On July 3, the last confirmed pair of Great Auks was killed on Eldey Island, off the coast of Iceland.
26. On July 27, a fire destroyed the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, North Carolina.
27. On July 30, John Cox Stevens and eight friends, aboard the Gimcrack, organized the New York Yacht Club, America’s first yacht club.
28. On August 8, following the death of Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844, Elder Brigham Young became the new leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism).
29. On August 28, French author Alexandre Dumas’ historical adventure story, The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo), began serialization in the Paris newspaper Journal des débats.
30. On September 5, iron ore was discovered in Minnesota's Mesabi Mountains.
31. On December 4, American voters elected James Knox Polk as their 11th president.
32. On December 11, Dr. John M. Riggs, a dentist from Harford, Connecticut, first used nitrous oxide (laughing gas) during dental surgery. He extracted a tooth from fellow dentist Dr. Horace Wells.
33. Favorite baby names for boys in 1844 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.
34. In 1844, 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.
35. 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.
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. In 1844, American writer Edgar Allan Poe published two short stories, including The Angel of the Odd and The Premature Burial.
38. Danish children’s author Hans Christian Andersen published New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection.
39. British economist John Stuart Mill published Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy.
40. British photography pioneer Henry Fox Talbot published The Pencil of Nature, the “first book illustrated with photographs from a camera.”
41. Famous people born in 1844 were Friedrich Nietzsche (German philosopher); Henry J. Heinz (American entrepreneur who founded the H. J. Heinz Company in Pittsburgh); Henri Rousseau (French painter); Karl Benz (German engineer); and Sarah Bernhardt (French stage actress).
42. Notable people who died in 1844 included Charles Bulfinch (American architect who helped to construct the United States Capitol rotunda and dome); John Dalton (British chemist and physicist best known for pioneering atomic theory); and Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saints movement).
43. In 1844 as well, the words “airline,” “at each other’s throats,” “below the belt,” “bite the bullet,” “blood poisoning,” “Boston baked beans,” “cantina,” “ceasefire,” “clairvoyant,” “color blindness,” “crochet,” “fiesta,” “French toast,” “figurine,” “handlebar,” “Jerseyite,” “labor force,” “left wing,” “pepsin,” “Roman collar,” “rose-colored glasses,” “rubber band,” “salesperson,” “screwup,” “shyster,” “simplistic,” “Stone Age,” “supper club,” “tightfisted,” “vacuum pump,” and “wax paper” all appeared in print for the first time.
44. 12 eggs: Around 12 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/1844_in_the_United_States
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1844
3. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1844
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1841.html
5. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1844
6. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1844
7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1844.html
8. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1844.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1844_in_literature
10. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1844

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