In 1857 – 58, Douglas broke with President James Buchanan, leading to a fight for control of the Democratic Party.

In 1857, the Austrian scholar Anton Boller suggested adding Japanese to Altaic or more precisely to Ural – Altaic.

* 1770 – David Thompson, Canadian explorer ( d. 1857 )

* 1857 – Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist ( d. 1940 )

* 1857 – Manuel de Escandón, Mexican polo player ( d. 1940 )

* 1857 – Eugène Sue, French novelist ( b. 1804 )

* 1924 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-English writer ( b. 1857 )

* 1929 – Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist ( b. 1857 )

* 1857 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer ( d. 1944 )

* 1857 – Max Wagenknecht, German composer ( d. 1922 )

* 1857 – Albert Ballin, German businessman ( d. 1918 )

* 1789 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician ( d. 1857 )

* Alexander of Bulgaria ( 1857 – 1893 ), first prince of Bulgaria

* Alexander of Bulgaria ( 1857 – 1893 ), Prince of Bulgaria

* 1857 – The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.

Alfonso XII ( born Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo ) ( Madrid, 28 November 1857 – El Pardo, 25 November 1885 ) was King of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d ' état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.

* Alfonso XII of Spain-( 1857 – 1885 ) ( ordinal numbering continues from the kings of Castile )

* 1857 – Sandford Schultz, English cricketer ( d. 1937 )

* 1857 – " The Spirits Book " by Allan Kardec is published, marking the birth of Spiritualism in France.

* 1857 – Clarence Darrow, American attorney ( d. 1938 )

* 1857 – Alexander Shirvanzade, Armenian playwright and novelist ( d. 1935 )

* 1857 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom ( d. 1944 )

* 1936 – Karl Pearson, English mathematician ( b. 1857 )

* 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh ( d. 1857 )

Nobel filed his first patent, for a gas meter, in 1857.

The 1857 Congressional rejection of the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution was the first multi-party solid-North vote, and that solid vote was anti-slavery to support the anti-slavery majority in Kansas Territory.

Although the process of fermentation was not fully understood until Pasteur's work in 1857, it is still the first use of biotechnology to convert a food source into another form.

In addition to battling the armies of other European Empires ( and of its former colonies, the United States, in the American War of 1812 ), in the battle for global supremacy, the British Army fought the Chinese in the First and Second Opium Wars, and the Boxer Rebellion, Māori tribes in the first of the New Zealand Wars, Nawab Shiraj-ud-Daula's forces and British East India Company mutineers in the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, the Boers in the First and Second Boer Wars, Irish Fenians in Canada during the Fenian raids and Irish separatists in the Anglo-Irish War.

Carl Friedrich Michael Meinhof ( July 23, 1857 – February 11, 1944 ) was a German linguist and one of the first linguists to study African languages.

The term " Canadian English " is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857.

* The Professor, written before Jane Eyre, submitted at first along with Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, then separately, and rejected in either form by many publishing houses, published posthumously in 1857

The first census was in 1857 when what is now Croatia was part of Austrian Empire.

In 1857, the philosopher Henry David Thoreau, with his book Canoeing in Wilderness chronicling his canoe voyaging in the wilderness of Maine, was the first to convey the enjoyment of spiritual and lifestyle aspects of cruising.

In 1857 the first East Indian immigrants arrived.

In 1857, Matthias Hohner, a clockmaker from Trossingen, started producing harmonicas, eventually to become the first person to mass-produce them.

* The Hasheesh Eater by Fitz Hugh Ludlow ; first edition 1857

* 1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully-fledged university in south Asia.

Seventeen years ( 1857 ) after Proudhon first called himself an anarchist ( 1840 ), anarchist communist Joseph Déjacque was the first person to describe himself as a libertarian.

* 1857 – Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins.

* 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.

These reforms included guarantees to ensure the Ottoman subjects perfect security for their lives, honour, and property ; the introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes ( 1840 ) and opening of the first post offices ( 1840 ); the reorganization of the finance system according to the French model ( 1840 ); the reorganization of the Civil and Criminal Code according to the French model ( 1840 ); the establishment of the Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye ( 1841 ) which was the prototype of the First Ottoman Parliament ( 1876 ); the reorganization of the army and a regular method of recruiting, levying the army, and fixing the duration of military service ( 1843 – 44 ); the adoption of an Ottoman national anthem and Ottoman national flag ( 1844 ); the first nationwide Ottoman census in 1844 ( only male citizens were counted ); the first national identity cards ( officially named the Mecidiye identity papers, or informally kafa kağıdı ( head paper ) documents, 1844 ); the institution of a Council of Public Instruction ( 1845 ) and the Ministry of Education ( Mekatib-i Umumiye Nezareti, 1847, which later became the Maarif Nezareti, 1857 ); the abolition of slavery and slave trade ( 1847 ); the establishment of the first modern universities ( darülfünun, 1848 ), academies ( 1848 ) and teacher schools ( darülmuallimin, 1848 ); establishment of the Ministry of Healthcare ( Tıbbiye Nezareti, 1850 ); the Commerce and Trade Code ( 1850 ); establishment of the Academy of Sciences ( Encümen-i Daniş, 1851 ); establishment of the Şirket-i Hayriye which operated the first steam-powered commuter ferries ( 1851 ); the first European style courts ( Meclis-i Ahkam-ı Adliye, 1853 ) and supreme judiciary council ( Meclis-i Ali-yi Tanzimat, 1853 ); establishment of the modern Municipality of Istanbul ( Şehremaneti, 1854 ) and the City Planning Council ( İntizam-ı Şehir Komisyonu, 1855 ); the abolition of the capitation ( Jizya ) tax on non-Muslims, with a regular method of establishing and collecting taxes ( 1856 ); non-Muslims were allowed to become soldiers ( 1856 ); various provisions for the better administration of the public service and advancement of commerce ; the establishment of the first telegraph networks ( 1847 – 1855 ) and railroads ( 1856 ); the replacement of guilds with factories ; the establishment of the Ottoman Central Bank ( originally established as the Bank-ı Osmanî in 1856, and later reorganized as the Bank-ı Osmanî-i Şahane in 1863 ) and the Ottoman Stock Exchange ( Dersaadet Tahvilat Borsası, established in 1866 ); the Land Code ( Arazi Kanunnamesi, 1857 ); permission for private sector publishers and printing firms with the Serbesti-i Kürşad Nizamnamesi ( 1857 ); establishment of the School of Economical and Political Sciences ( Mekteb-i Mülkiye, 1859 ); the Press and Journalism Regulation Code ( Matbuat Nizamnamesi, 1864 ); among others.