1863 is a common year starting on Thursday.

Events

January

• January 1 - Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War.
• January 1 - The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska
• January 8 - Ground is broken in Sacramento, CA on the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States.
• January 11 - American Civil War: Battle of Arkansas Post - General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter capture the Arkansas River for the Union.
• January 10 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to Farringdon Street).
• January 22 - The January Uprising broke out in Poland, Lithunania and Belorussia. The aim of the national movement was to regain Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth from occupation of Russia.

February

• February 10 - The world-famous midgets General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren get married in New York City.
• February 10 - Alanson Crane patents the fire extinguisher.
• February 24 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
• February 26 - President of the United States Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law.

March

• March 3 - Idaho Territory is organized by the U.S. Congress
• March 10 - Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark
• March 30 - Prince Wilhelm Georg of Denmark is chosen as King George I of Greece.

May

• May 1 - 7 - American Civil War: General Robert E. Lee defeats Union forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville
• May 18 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins (ends Saturday, July 4).
• May 21 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana .
• May 21 - General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists formed.
• May 28 - American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts to fight for the Union.
• May 31 - First running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race.

June

• June 9 - American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
• June 14 - American Civil War: Battle of Second Winchester - A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
• June 17 - Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War
• June 20 - West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.

July

• July 1 - 3 - American Civil War: Union forces under George G. Meade turn back a Confederate invasion by Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle of the war
• July 4 - American Civil War: Battle of Vicksburg - Ulysses S. Grant and the Union army capture the Confederate city Vicksburg, Mississippi after the town surrendered. The siege lasted 47 days.
• July 13 - American Civil War (New York Draft Riots): In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of violent rioting, which would later be regarded as the worst in the history of the United States.
• July 18 - American Civil War: The first formal African American military unit, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, unsuccessfully assaults Confederate-held Fort Wagner but their valiant fighting still proves the worth of African American soldiers during the war.
• July 26 - American Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends - At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
• July 30 - Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder , promising to stop harassing the emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah.

August

• August 8 - American Civil War: Following his defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee sends a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Davis will refuse the request upon receipt).
• August 17 - American Civil War: In Charleston, South Carolina, Union batteries and ships bombard Confederate-held Fort Sumter. Bombardment will not end until Thursday, December 31

September

• September 6 - American Civil War: Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island in South Carolina.
• September 8 - American Civil War: Second Battle of Sabine Pass - On the Texas-Louisiana border at the mouth of the Sabine River, a small Confederate force thwarts a Union invasion of Texas.

October

• October 14 - American Civil War: Battle of Bristol Station - Confederate General Robert E. Lee forces fail to drive the Union army out of Virginia.
• October 15 - American Civil War: The first successful submarine, the CSS Hunley sinks during a test, killing Horace Lawson Hunley (its inventor) and a crew of seven.
• October 26 - 29, the Resolutions of the Geneva International Conference are signed
• October 29 - Sixteen countries meeting in Geneva agree to form the International Red Cross.
• October 29 - American Civil War: Battle of Wauhatchie - Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant ward-off a Confederate attack led by General James Longstreet. Union forces thus open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee.

November

• November 16 - American Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station - Near Knoxville, Tennessee, Confederate troops led by General James Longstreet unsuccessfully attack Union forces under General Ambrose Burnside.
• November 17 - American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins - Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee under siege (the two week long siege and one failed attack was unsuccessful).
• November 19 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
• November 23 - American Civil War: Battle of Chattanooga III begins - Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.
• November 24 - American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain - Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.
• November 25 - American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge - At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg.
• November 26 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Meade's forces could not find any weaknesses in the Confederate lines and give-up trying after five days).
• November 27 - American Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio state prison and return safely to the South.

December

• End of term for Amasa Leland Stanford, 8th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Frederick Ferdinand Low.

unknown dates

• Bartolomé Mitre secretly backs the revolt of Venancio Flores against the Uruguayn Blanco government
• Thomas Nast draws the modern Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly, although Santa existed previously.
• Construction begins on the First Transcontinental Railroad in Sacramento, California

Ongoing Events

• The American Civil War (1861-1865)

Births

• January 1 - Pierre de Coubertin, French founder of the modern Olympic Games
• January 12 - Swami Vivekananda († 1902)
• January 15 - Wilhelm Marx, German politician, chancellor of the Weimar Republic († 1946)
• January 17 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom († 1945)
• March 12 - - Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian poet, dramatist, daredevil, war hero and politician († 1938)
• March 25 - Simon Flexner, pathologist who isolated 1899 a common strain (Shigella dysenteriae ) of dysentery bacillus († 1946)
• March 27 - Sir Henry Royce, automobile pioneer († 1933)
• May 24 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor († 1938)
• May 29 - Arthur Mold, controversial Lancashire fast bowler and alleged "chucker" (d. 1921)
• June 2 - Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (d. 1942)
• July 1 - William Stairs, Victorian explorer († 1892)
• July 30 - Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer and industrialist (d. 1947)
• September 21 – John Bunny, silent film comedian (d. 1915)
• October 11 - Louis Cyr, famous Canadian strongman (d. 1912)
• December 7 - Pietro Mascagni, composer (d. 1945)
• December 11 - Annie Jump Cannon, astronomer (d. 1941)
• December 12 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter
• Mary Jane Kelly, fifth confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper (estimated date).

Deaths

• May 10 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate Army general
• July 26 - Sam Houston, Texas politician, first President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1793)
• August 13 - Eugène Delacroix, French painter
• September 17 - Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)