1841
Elphinstone's Catastrophe
The British army of Kabul - sixteen thousand souls, most of them camp followers - set out to march through the snows of the Khyber passes under a promise of safe conduct. The Ghilzai attacked from the cliffs. Nine days later, an army surgeon named Brydon rode alone into Jalalabad. He was the only man who came out.
Britain Claims Hong Kong
Captain Elliot and Chinese official Qishan agreed, in a preliminary convention during the First Opium War, to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain. Both governments repudiated the deal as too generous. The island was occupied anyway. The Treaty of Nanking would make it official, and a fishing village was born that would become a great city.
Harrison Dies in Office
The ninth president of the United States caught cold at his long, hatless inauguration, developed pneumonia, and died thirty-one days later. It was the first time a president had died in office, and it triggered the first argument over whether Vice President Tyler was "Acting" or simply president. Tyler won.
Whig Party Collapse
After John Tyler vetoed two bank bills favored by his Whig party, his entire cabinet resigned except for Daniel Webster. Tyler was expelled from his own party and served out his term as "His Accidency" - a president without allies. The Whigs would never recover fully, and by 1854 they had dissolved into the new Republican Party.