President:
Pres: James Buchanan
Pres: Abraham Lincoln elected over Stephen Douglas (N. Democratic), John C. Breckinridge (S. Democratic) and John Bell (Constitutional Union)
General
- Headlines: Succession
- Communication: Pony Express starts - lasts about 6 months
- Culture: End of period known as "American Renaissance"
- Natives: Forced removal of Native Americans
- Politics: Lincoln doesn't win popular vote, but wins electoral vote
President Buchanan denies any state may secede
East
- Massachusetts: Baseball becomes popular
- New York: Beginning of Broadway shows- unofficially
Baseball becomes popular
- Pennsylvania: Smallpox outbreak
Midwest
South
- General: Start of secession leading to Civil War
- Kentucky: Tornadoes
- South Carolina: Secession
West and Pacific
- California: US Emperor Norton bans use of the term "Frisco"
First recorded baseball game in San Francisco
Gunther Island Massacre as 188 Wiyot Indians killed by white settlers in Humboldt Co
- Utah: Goshute War
World traveler Richard Burton visits UT – writes generally positive account