Events of 1847

January–June

• January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S government.

• January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the fighting in the Mexican-American War in California.

• January 16 – John C. Fremont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.

• January 17 – Saint Anthony Hall is founded at Columbia University, New York City,New York.

• January 30 – Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.

• February 5 – A rescue effort, called the First Relief, leaves Johnson's Ranch to save the ill-fated Donner Party. These California bound emigrants became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and some had resorted to cannibalism to survive.

• February 22 – Mexican-American War – The Battle of Buena Vista: 5,000 American troops under General Zachary Taylor use their superiority in artillery to drive off 15,000 Mexican troops under Antonio López de Santa Anna, defeating the Mexicans the next day.

• March 1

• *The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.

• *Faustin Soulouque declares himself Emperor of Haiti.

• March 9 – Mexican-American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.

• March 14 – Verdi's Macbeth (opera) premieres at Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Italy.

• March 29 – Mexican-American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.

• April 15 – The Lawrence School, Sanawar is established.

• May 7 – In Philadelphia, the American Medical Association (AMA) is founded.

• June 1 – The first congress of the Communist League is held in London.

• June 1 – Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America is founded at New York University.

• June 27 – The first train journey in Denmark takes place from Copenhagen to Roskilde.

July–December

• July 1 – The United States issues its first postage stamps.

• July 24 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City.

• July 26 – Liberia gains independence.

• July 29 – The Cumberland School of Law is founded at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. At the end of 1847 only 15 law schools exist in the United States.

• August 12 – U.S. troops of General Winfield Scott begin to advance along the aqueduct around Chalco and Xochimilco lakes in Mexico

• August 20 – US troops defeat Mexican troops in Valencia, Mexico

• September 30 – The Vegetarian Society was formed in the United Kingdom. It remains the oldest in the world.

• October – Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell.

• October 12 – German inventor and industrialist Werner von Siemens founds Siemens AG & Halske.

• October 31 – Theta Delta Chi is founded at Union College.

• December 21 – Abd al-Kader surrenders and is imprisoned by the French.

Undated

• The Ottoman Empire cedes Abadan Island to the Persian Empire.

• The Architectural Association School of Architecture is founded.

• Emily Brontë and Anne Brontë publish Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, respectively, in one volume under the pen names of Ellis Bell and Acton Bell.

• The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates the railroad town of Goldsborough, and the Wayne county seat is moved to the new town.

• Radley College, a famous English public school, is founded.

Ongoing events

• Mexican-American War (1846–1848)

• Great Irish Famine (1845–1849). This was the worst year of the famine, and is referred to as Black 47.

• New Zealand land wars (1843–1872)

Births

January–June

• January 28 – Dorus Rijkers, Dutch naval hero (d. 1928)

• February 8 – Hugh Price Hughes, Methodist social reformer, first Superintendent of the West London Mission (d. 1902)

• February 11 – Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor (d. 1931)

• February 15 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer (d. 1927)

• February 16 – Philipp Scharwenka, Polish-German composer (d. 1917)

• March 3 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (d. 1922)

• March 4 – Karl Bayer, Austrian chemist (d. 1904)

• March 14 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet (d. 1871)

• March 27 – Otto Wallach, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)

• April 10 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born journalist and newspaper publisher (d. 1911)

• May 7 – Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)

• June 8 – Ida Saxton McKinley, U.S. First Lady (d. 1907)

• June 11 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)

July–December

• July 9 – Wong Fei Hung, Chinese healer and revolutionary (d. 1924)

• July 25 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist and biologist (d. 1888)

• August 14 – Robert Comtesse, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1922)

• September 5 – Jesse James, American outlaw (d. 1882)

• October 1 – Annie Besant, English women's rights activist, writer and orator (d. 1933)

• October 2 – Paul von Hindenburg, President of Germany (d. 1934)

• October 14 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian composer (d. 1935)

• November 2 – Georges Sorel, French socialist (d. 1922)

• November 26 – Dagmar of Denmark, empress of Tsar Alexander III of Russia (d. 1928)

• December 7 – George Grossmith, English actor and comic writer (d. 1912)

• December 18 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)

• November 30 – Afonso Pena, Brazilian president (d. 1909)

• December 17 – Michel-Joseph Maunoury, French general during World War I (d. 1923)

• December 17 – Émile Faguet, French writer and critic (d. 1916)

• December 28 – Giuseppe Maria Giulietti, Italian explorer (d. 1881)

• date unknown – Hale Johnson, American temperance movement leader (d. 1902)

Deaths

• January – Abbasgulu Bakikhanov, Azerbaijani writer (b. 1794)

• January 19 – Charles Bent, first Governor of New Mexico Territory (assassinated)

• March 9 – Mary Anning, British paleontologist (b. 1799)

• April 21 – Barbara Ann Spooner Wilberforce, Wife of British Abolitionist William Wilberfoce (b. 1777)

• April 30 – Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general (b. 1771)

• May 14 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)

• May 29 – Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy, French marshal (b. 1766)

• July 3 – Matěj Kopecký, puppeteer (b. 1775)

• September 4 – František Vladislav Hek, Czech patriot (b. 1769)

• September 13 – Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (b. 1767)

• October 3 – Charles Hatchett, English chemist (b. 1765)

• October 22 – Negus Sahle Selassie of Shewa

• November 4 – Felix Mendelssohn, German composer (b. 1809)

• December 14 – Manuel José Arce, Central American politician (b. 1787)