| Year Summary | <strong>In UK</strong>: Monarch is Queen Victoria. Prime Minister is Lord John Russell (Whig), who wins an August General Election. The House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster opens. Factory Act limits a maximum 10-hour working day for women, and for boys 13–18. The Brontë sisters all publish novels under pen names, like Emily Brontë's "<em>Wuthering Heights</em>" under the name of Ellis Bell.<br /><strong>In USA</strong>: President is James K. Polk (D-Tennessee) and Vice President George M. Dallas (D-Pennsylvania). Samuel Colt sells his first revolver (the <em>Colt Walker</em>) to the the Texas Rangers. The Mexican–American War (1846–1848) continues. Yerba Buena, California is renamed to San Francisco, California. First USA postage stamps issued, featuring George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. |
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