History:1840

ICONS: Sewing Machines, Wagon Trains, Charles Dickens

Captain Charles Wilkes circumnavigates Antarctica, claiming it for the United States on January 19, 1840.
The first wagon train leaves Independence, MO, bound for California on May 1, 1841.
The August 9, 1842, Webster-Ashburton Treaty formally designates the border separating the United States and Canada.
On May 24, 1844, Samuel B. Morse sends the message, "What hath God wrought" over the first telegraph line from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, MD.
Alexander Cartwright and his New York Knickerbockers codify the "Rules of Baseball" in 1845.
Elias Howe patents the sewing machine on September 10, 1846.
The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia on May 7, 1847.
Elizabeth Blackwell receives the first medical degree awarded to a woman on January 23, 1849, from the Medical Institute of Geneva, NY.

The 1840 Census		10 Largest Urban Places
U.S. Resident Population:	17,063,353	Rank	Place	Population
Population per square mile of land area:	9.8	1	New York City, NY	312,710
Percent increase of population from 1830 to 1840:	32.7	2	Baltimore, MD	102,313
Official Enumeration Date:	June 1	3	New Orleans, LA	102,193
Number of States:	26	4	Philadelphia, PA	93,665
Cost:	$833,000	5	Boston, MA	93,383
Cost per Capita (cents):	4.9	6	Cincinnati, OH	46,338
Total Pages in Published Reports:	1,465	7	Brooklyn, NY	36,233
Number of Enumerators:	2,167	8	Northern Liberties District, PA	34,474
Number of Office Staff:	28	9	Albany, NY	33,721
Census Bureau Director:	William Augustus Weaver	10	Charleston, SC	29,261
Number of Questions Asked:	12	Other lists of largest urban places.

History